Ok, this is embarrassing. Wasn’t even going to post as I have no pictures, but going to anyway, so you can all have a laugh. 

Remeber that big Ford F150 truck I bought? I found it odd that even after 300 miles, it still showed 50% full on the dash gauge for my battery. 

The day before yesterday I pulled into my Subdivision Stallion Springs and just before I arrived my radio and AC switched off. I turned off the AC and could switch the radio back on, so thought it was a fluke. 

The next morning, the battery was dead; no starter engine, nothing. Dave, the guy doing work on the log construction suggested I’d back up, so he could park next to me so he could use jumper cables to get the truck started. So I backed my longer than my Dutch home is wide long truck up. Only a bit too far, tilting me half into the ditch next to my driveway culvert pipe. 

I thought I’d still be able to pull out, and measured that the alternator (that charges the battery) was dead. So the next day Dave had arranged his mechanic buddy Mike to swing by and recharge my battery using the AC outlet on my power pole on the driveway. ( having a power outlet at the entrance of a 200 ft driveway can be useful)

We let it charge and indeed the engine started fine and kept running. Next step was to obviously get out of the ditch. 

This proved not so easy; pulling with my neighbor Milla’s car did not work. It is a 6350 LBS ( 3000 kg) truck. Luckily both Mike, Dave and Milla’s son are all muscles. So with them 3 pushing the car up, I could finally pull out.

Today the alternator was replaced and I am once again mobile. 

Funny way to meet your neighbors but now known Milla, Tim and Ulla wich are all very friendly people. Everyone waves as they see eachother pass in the Stallion Springs subdivision. 

Sometimes you just want to get higher up. With the final 3 joists in place, this can now be; on these joist will be the three quarters floor of 2×8 tongue and groove white pine.  

Chinking is a fancy word for filling in the gaps inbetween logs using a cement like stuff from a caulking gun. It is grey and makes a nice contrast with the wood color. On this picture, the bottom gap was chinked after staining and satin gloss finishing.  One line done, 89 to go…  And that’s just the outside. 

Just caught up with Dutch news and saw long traffic jams due to wet snow and hail…

  
As you can see I don’t have that problem. My only problem is that it’s a bit hot to work on the house. (Tempearure is in Celcius, in fahrenheit it’s 90 and feels like 100)

But for those of you reading this thinking “ah man, he’s got it made” my car won’t start; battery only 8 V  

Today I managed to stain the top of the east wall, not using a ladder but from the inside 

The back wall consists of three sections, separated by 7″ cedar beams. The framing wasn’t hard, no windows or doors in these walls as they face the hill. 

The septic has been installed a long time ago, but there still is no pipe going from the house to the septic. Using a shovel is really no option; after 4 inches of soil it is mostly rock. Fortunately it is’nt the hardest rock, so with a pick axe I was able to hack out this trench; 

The roof has been covered with plates and felt and is now drying in. 

Although most of the floor joists were up, the 1/4 area on the westside, which will have the stairway to the first floor, is still open. Luckily today Hippie Dave showed up to work on that.  

 The beam shown here was made today and will carry the final 2 joists. For extra strength a pole will be placed where this beam and  the other joists meet up

Usually stains are not a good thing, but this time it is. Staining the logs means coloring them and coating them with a protective layer against sun and rain.

It’s not hard, but takes a lot of time, especially when moving the ladder all the time. Today I’ve done the west side, and 1/3 rd of the north and east side.  I started out with just a brush, but that takes forever. Using a airless paint sprayer it’s faster, but back brushing is needed so it’s awkward having to hold a brush, a paint sprayer and hold on to the ladder.