Everything is coming together

More and more progress every day. I just wish I was there all the time to capture the excitement. 

The garage end of the house

 We had a surprise visit from National Grid. A surprise because they never seem to tell you what's going on. A nice surprise because they're starting to put in our power.

Downed trees before poles go in

 They did a great job clearing for the poles. They trimmed trees rather than taking them down whenever possible. They also left larger diameter trees that could be turned to timber in long lengths while small diameter trees were cut into four foot segments. Those are easy to load into the tractor's front bucket and will be next year's firewood.

Beautiful fall color

The split from our road to Matt's

I confess I like the openness of the road. I'm extremely reluctant to cut down trees (it's not like you can go "oops" and stick them back up), but this goes to show how some judicious thinning helps the view.

Ridiculously big beam

 This is the huge beam in the garage with the rim board on top. The floor joists for the Bridge connect to that rim board.

Action photo!

Chris and Matt putting up a wall. This one was tricky as it had to be raised over the stairwell opening.

Looking East

 I'm standing on the Bridge (what we're calling the covered deck over the garage) and looking East. You can see the stairwell cutout and the North and East walls of the center aisle. The open rooms to the left are the North wing and will remain one floor high.

Buffet rock and fortress

 I mentioned the rock fortifications earlier and the darn building heard me. It's starting to look like a strange castle. Eventually it will look like the monitor style barn that it's supposed to be.

Wicked high windows

My brother laughed for a very long time at these windows. No, I can't see out of them without standing on something. They aren't for capturing a view - they're for cross ventilation and light. They had to be this high in order for the wing roofs to have snow clearance. I can't wait to get a final picture of this place so everyone can actually understand where all this is going!