Rebuilding the Back Porch Cover

We were rebuilding the back porch cover but Tyler and Terry had to take off the old boards on the top.

Then we had to take off the framing of the cover.

And we decided to put insulation in the walls above the cover because that's where the sun beats down on it in the afternoons.

And that drain pipe that's coming out right in the middle of the insulation was rusted and needed to be replaced. We found that Saturday evening around 5:30pm just before Ray's Hardware closed. Good thing I got some extra parts because we used them.

Then, Friday afternoon there was a forest fire to contend with. It was about 10 miles away and heading toward our house.

We kept a watchful eye on the progress. Fortunately, the weather turned cool and it drizzled a few times on Saturday morning. We lost power for about 4 hours but that wasn't too much of a deterrent.

Sunday morning the fire was no longer a threat and we finished putting on the ledger board on the house and covered up the insulation with newly made 1" x 6" boards that we milled from the trees right on our property.

As Tim said, just like they did in the old days way back when the mill was started!

Good thing Tim Sr. was there to SUPERVISE!!

Back Porch

We worked this last weekend on repairing the back porch at the Mill.

Tyler is taking apart the old roof.

Terry working, Tim sitting.


The house with out the back porch.

Tyler and Terry working.

Tim supervising!!!

Timmy wishing he could score!

Great form Terry.

Birthday slap for Timmy.

Terry with tools, scary

Tim needs a spotter!

Terry wont go there!

Fire started by Bullards Bar Dam.

This is looking down the canyon from the top of the parking lot at the Dam.

The flames were jumping from tree to tree.

Water drops by helicopter

Flames crossing over the dam and road then on to the other side.

Smoke blocking the canyon.

You can see the top of the dam and fire trucks on the top of the dam.

Not much work done on Saturday because we lost power because of the fire.

We were on fire watch all day.

All the lumber we made from trees on the property.

Just like the old days!

Broken Cat D4!

Here's what happens when you run into a tough stump in the front and a nasty small stump on the downhill side. The trak comes off the Cat D4 and you're stuck!!

I'm working on a condensed video of the whole bloody affair... more later!

Tractor Work

This is what happens when tractor work is done in the dark.

Broken water line!

The log deck loaded with logs and truck loaded with lumber for the house.

Terry and Tim off to work!

That's right we are smiling now!

Tyler, Terry and Tim ready,willing and able?!?

Tyler and Terry ready to work.

Grandpa Don and Connie.

Grandpa Don and Connie inspecting the old Mill.

Terry, Dewey and Chris looking at a overhead picture of the mill from the 50's.

Taking a break after doing some hard work.

Making a Beam 7-29-10

Cutting a tree into a big beam

Big Tim started by cutting off the top and rotating 90 degrees then slabbing off the second side.

Here's the third side getting cut off and slabbed.

Here's the finished product, a 12" x 12" x 16' beam. It's green, full of water and heavy!

We moved it off the saw, rolled it on small logs we call 'rollers' and it's a bench until it dries a bit more.