Renovation update - The Beam, the first leaves, the loch ness llama.
LJ ate the big edit, so let's try this again...
I wasn't there when it happened, and didn't quite understand the magnitude of what was being undertaken, at the time. I apologize in advance for my primitive terminology/concepts.
The Beam was needed to address some engineering problems with the structure to help support the ceiling/roof in the Great Room. This required a bit of planning with V and his father - his father is an engineer, and V definitely inherited engineering genes, it comes very naturally to him. Walls were hollowed out (poorly installed insulation removed, I think?), vertical wood supports added in the walls, and then the beam rests on the vertical wood. Once a central/somewhat central support is added, The Beam will be "lifted" to support the ceiling, which will further support the roof. As it turns out, the previous wall that went through the center of this large area (now dubbed the Great Room) was not actually supporting the ceiling or roof in any way - it was just filler.
So here is the photo of V with the beam, taken by my MIL (?):
It's kind of hard to tell what is going on, due to the sheer scale, so here's the finished product. I took this photo this past Tuesday:
To get this shot, I'm laying on the ground. It's HUGE. The Beam in constructed of multiple pieces of wood, of the highest quality at the cheapest price. I'm learning very quickly that many of the things I see in fancy photos have exorbitant price tags. There's a current trend for things to be on a large scale - large beams, large windows, even large furniture - but these are things that require massive funds and a small army to create, not to mention the amount of labor needed to maintain.
I hope this makes some sort of sense. The facade has been mostly removed from the fireplace. The vertical supports are just to the left of the fireplace, and The Beam is visible in the upper left corner.
Shiny red device that allows one person to lift large, cumbersome objects to high ceilings.
------
V's future workspace and greenhouse, currently dubbed "Dome 2" (although not resembling the geodesic dome, it is so far planned to functionally copy the current use of the geodesic dome): floor slowly being replaced, and the structure was just re-engineered/re-supported by V and FIL. After the most recent trip to Lifecycle, there are now MANY slightly used double-paned windows that can be installed on the southern and western sides (these are sunniest - trees are blocking sun from the east). The in-laws just took the many windows up there, along with more plants from the garden. About 50% of the garden has been moved I think, what is remaining: large heavy containers, the moderately-sized greenhouse contents, the indoor plants.
V has done minor work on the porch, which is where I spend most of my dabbling time, it is so wonderfully sunny I can't even begin to describe how happy-making it is. I have a long history of Seasonal Affective Disorder, and even though I'm only up there part of the time, this has been my best season YET. More than the many LED lamps, sleeping adjustments, and exercise, a sunny porch has done wonders!!! I brought up my beloved bird feeder and stocked it with black oil sunflower seeds. The birds are loving it, though we're hoping to change out to white sunflower seeds as they are larger, and the holes in the bird feeder are rather large. The local farmer's coop sells white sunflower seeds for a fairly reasonable price.
Early NC growing results:
This is in a large mixed container, but I think this is very baby broccoli!! I've been planting so much I just started tweeting as what-was-planted-when. I know lots of people recommend keeping garden diaries, and this LJ often serves as that, but IDK. One day I'll figure out a better system than haphazard notes in various places.
On the most recent trip V made me TONS of absolutely wonderful soil for container gardening. Here's he's testing the pH, after adding in a ton of peat moss (+ water) from a concentrated mix he made in here in ATL and we transported up there. The pH continued to lower after I took this photo. IIRC, this particular batch of soil was used for broccoli, cilantro, daffodils, anenomes, a little flax, a little breadseed poppy, repotted 2 creeping phlox, repotted 6 small dianthus.
-----
With my mother's assistance, we tracked down a carpet that was very briefly sold at CostCo that I really liked, but wanted to think on, and then it was gone - by going to the manufacturer, who just so conveniently, has their major warehouse open to the public right on I-85! It's a great rug, but I'll wait to pull it out once we are a bit further along. Also if you ever want rugs, seriously just go to the warehouse if you can, it's sooo much cheaper. Apparently rugs have a short life cycle, like clothing. Who knew?
-----
Made a draft dodger for a particular door/doorway. The door leading to a bathroom has about 2" of open space under it, and it both moves cool air and allows light to spill into the room where we've been sleeping. I used some tough scrap cloth my MIL gave us, and then picked up some loose-fill fiberglass insulation designed to go around plumbing. I plotted out a plan to make what appeared to be an elegant black cat with a large tail... but did not really take seams into account. Ended up with a black llama/loch ness monster, that took forever to fill b/c I was wearing appropriate protective gear for fiberglass - NEVER AGAIN. Seriously ignore any craft page that tells you to go with fiberglass. Must confess that the loch ness llama does work as intended, however. I'll try to get a photo of it in action.
---
Very grateful for all the love and support we're getting for this project, and for V being so... V. He's pretty incredible. Hope he gets some rest soon. Today involved felling trees that posed a hazard to structures on the property, among a million other things.
I wasn't there when it happened, and didn't quite understand the magnitude of what was being undertaken, at the time. I apologize in advance for my primitive terminology/concepts.
The Beam was needed to address some engineering problems with the structure to help support the ceiling/roof in the Great Room. This required a bit of planning with V and his father - his father is an engineer, and V definitely inherited engineering genes, it comes very naturally to him. Walls were hollowed out (poorly installed insulation removed, I think?), vertical wood supports added in the walls, and then the beam rests on the vertical wood. Once a central/somewhat central support is added, The Beam will be "lifted" to support the ceiling, which will further support the roof. As it turns out, the previous wall that went through the center of this large area (now dubbed the Great Room) was not actually supporting the ceiling or roof in any way - it was just filler.
So here is the photo of V with the beam, taken by my MIL (?):
It's kind of hard to tell what is going on, due to the sheer scale, so here's the finished product. I took this photo this past Tuesday:
To get this shot, I'm laying on the ground. It's HUGE. The Beam in constructed of multiple pieces of wood, of the highest quality at the cheapest price. I'm learning very quickly that many of the things I see in fancy photos have exorbitant price tags. There's a current trend for things to be on a large scale - large beams, large windows, even large furniture - but these are things that require massive funds and a small army to create, not to mention the amount of labor needed to maintain.
I hope this makes some sort of sense. The facade has been mostly removed from the fireplace. The vertical supports are just to the left of the fireplace, and The Beam is visible in the upper left corner.
Shiny red device that allows one person to lift large, cumbersome objects to high ceilings.
------
V's future workspace and greenhouse, currently dubbed "Dome 2" (although not resembling the geodesic dome, it is so far planned to functionally copy the current use of the geodesic dome): floor slowly being replaced, and the structure was just re-engineered/re-supported by V and FIL. After the most recent trip to Lifecycle, there are now MANY slightly used double-paned windows that can be installed on the southern and western sides (these are sunniest - trees are blocking sun from the east). The in-laws just took the many windows up there, along with more plants from the garden. About 50% of the garden has been moved I think, what is remaining: large heavy containers, the moderately-sized greenhouse contents, the indoor plants.
V has done minor work on the porch, which is where I spend most of my dabbling time, it is so wonderfully sunny I can't even begin to describe how happy-making it is. I have a long history of Seasonal Affective Disorder, and even though I'm only up there part of the time, this has been my best season YET. More than the many LED lamps, sleeping adjustments, and exercise, a sunny porch has done wonders!!! I brought up my beloved bird feeder and stocked it with black oil sunflower seeds. The birds are loving it, though we're hoping to change out to white sunflower seeds as they are larger, and the holes in the bird feeder are rather large. The local farmer's coop sells white sunflower seeds for a fairly reasonable price.
Early NC growing results:
This is in a large mixed container, but I think this is very baby broccoli!! I've been planting so much I just started tweeting as what-was-planted-when. I know lots of people recommend keeping garden diaries, and this LJ often serves as that, but IDK. One day I'll figure out a better system than haphazard notes in various places.
On the most recent trip V made me TONS of absolutely wonderful soil for container gardening. Here's he's testing the pH, after adding in a ton of peat moss (+ water) from a concentrated mix he made in here in ATL and we transported up there. The pH continued to lower after I took this photo. IIRC, this particular batch of soil was used for broccoli, cilantro, daffodils, anenomes, a little flax, a little breadseed poppy, repotted 2 creeping phlox, repotted 6 small dianthus.
-----
With my mother's assistance, we tracked down a carpet that was very briefly sold at CostCo that I really liked, but wanted to think on, and then it was gone - by going to the manufacturer, who just so conveniently, has their major warehouse open to the public right on I-85! It's a great rug, but I'll wait to pull it out once we are a bit further along. Also if you ever want rugs, seriously just go to the warehouse if you can, it's sooo much cheaper. Apparently rugs have a short life cycle, like clothing. Who knew?
-----
Made a draft dodger for a particular door/doorway. The door leading to a bathroom has about 2" of open space under it, and it both moves cool air and allows light to spill into the room where we've been sleeping. I used some tough scrap cloth my MIL gave us, and then picked up some loose-fill fiberglass insulation designed to go around plumbing. I plotted out a plan to make what appeared to be an elegant black cat with a large tail... but did not really take seams into account. Ended up with a black llama/loch ness monster, that took forever to fill b/c I was wearing appropriate protective gear for fiberglass - NEVER AGAIN. Seriously ignore any craft page that tells you to go with fiberglass. Must confess that the loch ness llama does work as intended, however. I'll try to get a photo of it in action.
---
Very grateful for all the love and support we're getting for this project, and for V being so... V. He's pretty incredible. Hope he gets some rest soon. Today involved felling trees that posed a hazard to structures on the property, among a million other things.