Overhang

 
We made the overhang for the barn Friday. This was something new, we have never made one. The one barn we built was something put together from another persons shed. It was a tiny barn and I wished it had an overhang. They are great to stand under. 
   
I preferred being inside of the trusses over standing on the ladder. Frank will stand on a ladder, hold onto the building with one hand and lean way out with the heavy nail gun to attach something 2 ft back from the ladder. This is something that I wont do. Sometimes he says, hey can blah blah blah. I say either, sure, or um I am not sure but I will try, or Hell no everyone has to have limits and you keep finding mine! really I do not have that many. I am willing to try most jobs.
   
Nathalie was taking pictures for us and pounding nails out between. This is a fuzzy picture, but I like his hat hanging on a post. Tad was running up and down the ladder all day with tools. 
   
Here is his first time in the trusses, he wasnt sure if he was comfortable up top but he wants to be and so he tried. He found a love for roofing yesterday, he has no more fear than a cat in a tree. 
   
Ladder lessons. Frank told him to move this ladder, and it was going badly. It is top heavy and Tad was moving it wrong, so Frank got down and explained it, did a demonstration and then helped him carry it. 
   
I like to watch him teach. As parents, we get frustrated sometimes and dont always do the best thing. We make mistakes. But overall, we do pretty well. We both teach, in whatever area we have knowledge to help them be well rounded. I love how he climbs down and works with them, roofing with 2 kids takes longer than calling a friend over, but the kids learn and they become confident. 
   
The 2x4s had been bracing the top, but it was just temporary bracing. We pulled them off but need the 2x4s. We have gone through 10 x more of these than we expected at the start of the project. 
   
Tad is on my ladder. I learned not to mind the tall one, sometimes when I am up high its better to use that one. Less distance for my boot to travel before it hits a ladder step. 
   
Next nail up. She works hard at it, of course it takes her longer and without biting her tongue she can do nothing. If she sticks with it, she gets them out and we can be busy working on something else. Tad ended up finishing her last couple because we needed them. 
   
We did the first side in a different way than the 2nd, we decided the first was best. Maybe not easier, but more likely to NOT fail on the first attempt. so many of these jobs, the individual parts of building a barn would be easier with an additional adult. My best friend in Tn is about to start building a house with her husband, her oldest son is an "adult" in their life style. He works well and hard, and can accomplish the same work as a grown man. As a 7 yr old, Frank said that Calob (now 13) was worth more than many grown men on a job. I often wish we had any of the 3 of them here! Or all of them... Tad can work like a man, he is fast, strong and confident but Nathalie is not quite there, and we need 4 adults for so many jobs. 
   
This time we took the 2x6x16 up there, and attached 2x4s to it just temporarily. The 2x4s were to go back along the barn trusses as you can see them poking out on the left. We did the 2x4s first on the left, then pushed it up the ladders. This was hard. The assembly up top was also not best though it did end up working. 

   
This is the assembly, attaching three 2x4s to the 2x6.
   
Now we are trying to slide it off of the edge so that it hangs off, lined up against the 2x4s that are in place across the trusses-Frank cut out a notch in the last truss so they T-d into the 2nd one in, and were nailed into the notch hanging off 2 ft to attach to the 2x6 on the outside creating the overhang. 
   
And here the 2x6 fell off... we let it down too hard, dislodging the nails from the 2x6s from the 2x4s. So it went flying, one 2x4 hit me in the ribs which bruised a little and I was a huge wimp about it. I fussed and Frank comforted then he fetched the wood back. We tried again and let it down easy, this time standing on the ladders to control it. 

   
Getting it set back up.
   
Now he tells me, let it off easy and hold it in place till I get there with the nail gun.No problemo, I can do that. 
   
Still doing it, 5 skipped photos later. How long will this take?
   
I mean, when are you going to nail this? Soon, just a second. better be really soon because my arm is about to fall off. Is it that heavy? NO baby but my arm has been up in the air for 45 min now! Oh it has not been more than 2 min. Hmmm...
 
   
See? Now my arm does not work. I cant even climb down. I am stuck like tigger and piglet that one time when tigger took piglet...what? Huh? Use my other arm? Oh. 
   
Our leaden sky. Lovely, slate gray. Its not too bad to work in actually. The sky looks like this, but as we have learned whatever sun there is feels close and hot so we often wear hats and sunglasses to prevent glare and burn. 
   
Mama, if I plant a goose feather will I get a goose? No punk, not if you plant it in rocks. You will need better soil, some compost, manure and possibly some sun. Oh dangit. Lay an egg goose, I need some goslings!

Yesterday we put up 7/16 particle board on half the roof, and the remaining 2 sheets we hauled up went on the other side. then we did tar paper because it cannot be wet. We hope to do the other half tonight and tomorrow night start the metal. That should not take too long, we want to be siding by this wkend. Then all that is left is paint, trim, and doors. Oh and a barnyard gate. That will be 1/8 of our list accomplished before September, which we are calling the total cessation of any type of assumed so called summer warmth as warm as that be so far.

The kids started swim team, it is at 8 am every day. If they make the team at the end of 2 wks they will do 8 a.m. till school starts, then 4:30 pm. It is between 1 hr and 2 hrs a day practice depending on their level. They will be competing next semester. The fair is next month and after that we get down to serious school. There are some different requirements in Alaska for homeschool. when you move state to state, you have to change by state and that kinda makes a mess of whatever program and there is always catch-up somewhere. We could stay off the record legally, but I never do that. I want them on the books, I want real diplomas, real test scores. We have a very busy year!