Colors fade under the influence of UV light. And Texas has plenty of UV light,
so fading happens fast. The cedar that has gone up last year, (unstained) turned grey.
Today I stained the west gable end, again overcoming vertigo on a ladder on a three story scaffolding.

Here’s a picture halfway: Pretty clear which part I have stained.

After staining bottom to top, it looks like this:

Now only the extension needs staining, but I’m running out of stain too,
so another thing for next time.

Sometimes it’s handy to be an electrical engineer. For instance when you want to save on installation costs. Today I added two outlets and a lamp over the table. The light is smart, so by voice it can be dimmed, and set from cool to warm. There’s something cool about entering your home by telling your watch to unlock the door and then ask Siri to turn on the lights. A boy has got to have his toys 🤠

The one thing that I did not count on is the pre-drilled holes for power cables in the log walls weren’t properly checked; spent 1,5 hours poking a hole in a blocked log before I could get the wire in. Guess that’s why the quote from an electrician to do the wiring came to 10k. I’d rather spend an hour more and save 9K

Today was a good day. Started out with a run at Canyon Lake park, not too long as I wanted to do some Chinking as well.
And so I did. Almost finished the last pale, so I will have to order at least 3 more pales to finish all walls.
But for now it will have to do. The master bedroom is now for the first time not visible from the great room.
And I noticed how the R-value (insulation value) keeps increasing;
today was 87 degrees (30.6 Celcius) and inside it stayed very comfortable downstairs. Upstairs not so much,
as the roof still has no insulation, so it was above 90 upstairs. At night I noticed the same thing;
in the great room, it was comfy late at night, were as in the master bedroom (non insulated) it was pretty nippy.
I may put in an exhaust upstairs to let the hot air out when needed.
Below is the two now mostly chinked walls of the great room.

Funny how rope expands when it dries up. Notice the curves on the ropes in the picture below after a nice sunny day.

Yesterday, after a wet 24 hours with heavy thunderstorms and rains, the ropes were completely horizontal; I could almost play the base on them. I may have to engineer something to keep ‘m straight even when dry, as that offers a little more security.

Not a very rewarding job, as it is the only wall that isn’t visible unless you climb up the hill,
but it needed to be done; siding the back wall. After 2 years I guess it’s about time siding went on there.
It’s not finished, although a bit further than shown on this picture, as I ran out of cedar.
I had to buy cedar as the cabin builder has not supplied enough to cover the back at all.
As he did supply cedar that I ended up using for the railing inside and table,
I won’t push him to supply more. I’m kind of done with him. Another 6 boards and I should be done.
Hopefully I will be able to stain the sides and east gable end,
as they are now quite grey compared to the stained log walls and west gable end.

I’m expecting a delivery by UPS, and for that reason I have posted this little sign, so I can be found.
Although probably just as easy a reference is the Log home on Appaloosa drive, as it is the only log home on the street.

Finally all tiles are in. It’s been a bit muggy here, and with 85F (29 C) that makes for some hot tiling.
But the result is nice:

Finally there is something all hands on deck can grab on to; 1″ Manila rope railings, both at code described height and one lower for esthetics ( and toddlers, although they might still crawl under)

Yep, I did find a hidden treasure. As the label states; Texas has more buried treasure than any other state in the US. An abundance of American hops marks the spot. Google it. Or drink it. Like I do with the “Lost Gold”; cheers!

Just in case, my deck is nautical themed with Manila rope ( actually made in the Philippines). Here’s a detail of one of the 14 post that will be holding the ropes in place. The front 4 have a solar powered post light.

Of course I would much prefer California to stay where it is. I know a few pretty nice people there.