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!

Lateral bracing and made ya look

 
The sky was blue and I couldnt help myself. I love the way the light looks coming through the skeleton roof. 
   
Frank was putting in lateral bracing, we were at swim lessons. As usual. The kids start swim club (team for kids under 14) Monday morning. We have to be there at 8 a.m. I am ok with that, the kids are a little alarmed! They are glad that once school starts they will go to 4:30. Swim team will be between 1 hr and 1.5 hrs depending on skill level. While we were gone, Frank got most of this bracing done. 

   
Then Tad went out to help him while I cooked dinner and Nathalie did chores. This was last wk sometime, I cant post the Friday pictures of putting up the overhang until I post the laterals. You see our tarp? This is for the goats and turkeys when it rains. The goat feeder is under there, it rains a lot here. Turkeys are not water proof, but they are also not smart enough to go under cover unless it is easy. Apparently the tarp is not as they stand out in the rain huddled. I will be glad when the roof is done, we will run them in and lock them up for a day or so to help them get used to the shelter idea. 
   
Last lateral brace here. I was not sure how this worked, the bracing between trusses. We did trusses on a small barn in Ks, but we did the bracing differently. Eric and Frank came up with a plan and it worked great but would have been time consuming on a larger project so I am glad that Frank consulted the book on this one. The lateral bracing went much faster than individual bracing between each truss, all the way up. 
   
"Daddy can you stand up top?" 
   
"Sure baby girl."
:   
"See, it isnt hard. You could do this." ("Mama... he be so strong!")
   
"Daddy can you show me your muscles?"

   
"Hey baby, what is that in the tree? Haha made ya look... Such a boy!"
   
Tad and his goaties. They like the tools, the saw, nail gun. They lick the salt off of the part where your hand goes. I find that nail gun particularly heavy but Tad does not seem to mind standing around holding it. I do not think our lifestyle would be easy without our punk kids as help. I mean we total couldnt do most of our jobs without their helpful hands, they are big enough to complete some adult tasks even alone. They have been doing the house cleaning, much of the cooking and even preserving things for winter over the last couple of months. They help on the jobsite, can do all of the chores alone, even making decisions about problems without coming to us. They put their minds together on problems, and they solve them for the animals. Sometimes they tell us and other times we just find the fruits of their labors, and see how much they cared for their animals. Friday they built a compost together by lashing 3 pallets in a square shape, standing up, and then using some stakes outside of it, and then shoveled any extra compost into it. We had just dumped it in an area behind the greenhouse but it will build up/break down better if inside of a semi-closed area.

They are great kids. I wouldnt trade them for the world, though I wish we had a few more. Somehow (this is not super nice so x out now if you will mind) it seems unfair to NOT have had more, because they are so nice. They will be a positive example of leadership and hard work as adults. There are not enough kids right now in our society who will grow up to be that. I have a friend who once said it is almost our duty as good parents, to have more children and train them up in the way they should go. If only 20 others who were not as well raised follow their lead, we have created a triangle of success. This friend happens to have amazing kids, and they are wonderful parents. 

The dead

 
The dead girl. I wonder why the fancy get up, to just come in and die. Why do children think their tongue will hang out if they die? Am pretty sure my  kids know that is not true, necessarily, but she still does it for funny. She held this pose for about 15 min and the cat looked at her like she was crazy the whole time. Or like she was in his peeing spot-not the baking soda. We have had to clean this corner repeatedly since he started spraying. We got him fixed, and he did it again this morning. He is banished for now to the out of doors. 
   
And this guy? He kept me awake almost all night 2 nights in a row. It is light 24 hrs a day here for part of the spring/summer nights. The website I was looking at before moving here concerning day light hrs in each state, showed that there was never 24 hr daylight in this region. I have no idea what 24 hr daylight is like further north, but I guarantee you can read by it all night here. I am often awake all night. It is now dark for a couple of hours though not pitch black. This guy was only shutting up during the dark couple of hours. If he would stay in the barnyard (would have rather) he would have been safe. After the 2nd night, Frank said we would kill and eat him. So we did. The net was the best way to catch a wiley rooster-it is a hooligan net. Which are fish, bait fish. Not for human consumption though people total eat them. In Tn, people eat squirrels so... to each their own. 
   
Cat carrier to hang out while we prep the area. they caught him early because he went into the garden fence and it was simple to corner him. He was hard to catch when we originally got him, he was free along with the turkeys and duck. 
   
Tad is not catching butterflies. I have not seen any of those here to be honest, not saying they do not exist but maybe they are a food source for mosquitoes. Which are bigger than any butterfly. 
   
Hark and holy crap! The sky is blue! I have seen this so very rare up here, and never quite this blue. It was wonderful! We have had at least 3 if not 4 days of sun. I cannot remember when the first sunny day was. Today the rain is coming down in sheets, and the turkeys honestly are too dumb to go under cover. This is why turkeys can drown in the rain-they look up. 
   
The spurs on our rooster. The 550 cord does not hurt the butcheree-it is just a way to tie their feet in place when we drop them upside down into a road cone tied to a tree. Sounds awful doesnt it? They are total calm upside down though and we talk so nicely to them. We do appreciate our chickens. 
   
This was my mothers day present. Dont act like you never asked for anything weird! I asked for this on purpose, you hook up a garden hose to it. It was really wonderful to use! Much easier, and cleaner. 
   
Arent these lovely? It is amazing bread! The kamut flour is some of the best whole grain flour that I have tried. I am glad we bought so many buckets of it in Ga when we visited. 
   
My garden produces salad as fast as we, the rabbits and water fowl can eat it. Ducks and geese love greens, though the turkeys are more inclined to eat bugs or meat like chickens are. the goats will eat these up too, but I do not have that many extra. The rabbits eat spinach best. This is spinach, tiny lettuce and some mixed greens that came from a combo seed pack. I am trying to let the purple ones go to seed, I do not know what they are but I love them. 
   
Hey Reno! Reno is a boy, and he is a horse. He is also a lawn mower. We were hoping he would finish the lawn, he loved it, but his mama came and took him home. I do not know why. I offered her my chickens in their roving coop for a few wks, they can fertilize her grass which does not grow like ours because we have chickens, and I could have Reno because we do not have a lawn mower. This is the horse that the kids ride and take lessons with. They learn how to work with him, brush, saddle, feed, lead etc. The neighbor lady has grown kids, and they rode him for years. 
   
My tomato plants 3 days ago, they are about 5" taller, maybe more in just a few days. The greenhouse is warm, hot actually. we have to keep the fan on during the day. Had we not insisted on trying these in the garden, we would have tomatoes already. We learned our lesson for next yr. 
   
Some beans, the picture looks foggy. It was because of the steamy heat in the greenhouse on the lens. 
   
These have also grown in the last 3 days and now have flowers! They are pumpkin and butternut squash. We planted probably 50 of these guys and Rachel gave us 2. One of hers, and a few of ours are still making it. They did not do well in the cold summer. 
   
The cabbage and broccoli are now forming heads. These are foods that we can use this winter, both store well. The broccoli has to be frozen but not the cabbage. I love both and my family likes broccoli. 
   
All 3 of these are skullcap! It is amazing how well it grows up here, skullcap likes cold. My best friend has grown this for years in Ga, and shared with me. However, it took a lot of work for her and she lost many plants because it is not cool there past may. 
   
In the past I have used about 8 ozs of this a yr, for us and sometimes shared. My best friend sends an avg of 4-6 of those ounces to me. It is wonderful to have her help in this. Skullcap is one of those odd herbs that you cannot dry for later use. It has to be made into a tea or tincture immediately after picking. This is old lore, many people dry it and sell it. On reputable sites. However, I have used it from dry and it does nothing whatsoever for the ailments that skullcap should help to heal.
   
I have 3 little pots and plan on planting and growing more this fall, and winter it in the greenhouse. There is a group in the Catskills of New York- The Wise Women Herbalists, who sell this tinctured proper. I have purchased any extra from them in the past, they do not overcharge especially considering the work to grow these plants. They are easy to break, I even have to water them gently. They keel over fast if I water them too hard. I sprinkle them just on their dirt, not their leaves.

They are anti-convulsive, nerve repairing and they are an aid in anxiety formulas to reduce stress and other side effects of anxiety. 

I just read that our economy will collapse (again) in 2013, this wasn't an "end of the world prediction" like so many things. Just some economists who said this will occur, and apparently they predicted the 2008 crash. So just letting everyone know in case someone did not read the article that I read. Because it was on Yahoo so... Just sayin'

Camping and mud

 
This is the Talkeetna sky. It was almost like being in Ks, because it was sunny for almost one whole day, and it is a hay farm. It was once all wooded, but a friend's family have cleared it and it is now a hay farm. We camped this wkend there with some new friends.
   
A view of the outhouse. It had a nice cabin, outhouse and a huge open hay barn. The barn was a great place to hang out, with a fire out front when it began to rain. For just about 24 hrs straight. Or more. We camped in our tents, as did some other people who were there. We met Rachel and Brain when we first moved here, they own the RV park that we stayed at. This is their family's farm, and they invited us along on a camping trip. 
   
I think it was beautiful there. I have seen many beautiful things here, but this place may be my favorite. I think I felt more at home there.
   
The cabin had a nice wood stove, the children took advantage of this the 2nd night as their tent did not end up being quite as waterproof as we hoped. They were very warm in here in their sleeping bags. 
   
Frank said we should split wood, we got there early and he said it was polite rather than using what someone else split. Far be it from me to object, so I split about a cord first and then he started.
   
A cord, or possibly just 1 piece. Or maybe none anyway he looked really good splitting it all the same. 
   
The wood was spruce I think, which smells quite nice when burning and does a good job at keeping the bird sized mosquitoes at bay. Or it could have been the yarrow, that was under consideration as the reasoning behind the lower quantity of mosquitoes directly around the fire. 
   
Definitely made quicker work of the wood pile than I would have. That is only because I need a wedge and sledge hammer, not because I am not great at splitting. 
   
This is my favorite picture from the whole weekend, it is not photo shopped or edited in any manner. I love the lighting and sky. 
   
Starting the fire with flint and steel. Its possible that as soon as he had it lit, I accidentally knocked it over and put it out. 
   
Which is why we used a match this time. Tad was making kindling, it matches his hair so I am glad he did not light his hair instead. 
 
Nathalie spent so much time playing in the tall grass, I do not have many pictures of her. She stayed wet and cold a lot, I somehow did not carry enough clothes. Normally it would have, but the excessive rain and off roading did cause us to wear dried muddy clothes at some point.
   
Tad trying his hand as it was made clear that I was not going to help out at all. 
   
It took a few times, and some instruction from Frank but he did catch on pretty fast. He split quite a bit our first night there.
   
And the finish... you see off to the left is half of his log. Frank made one log split so fast, half of it flew several feet away and gave Tad a pretty decent bruise on his leg. I did not laugh. 
   
He found a machete. We were there a little early so were trying to get the fire going and set up our stuff and the grass was pretty high around the fire pit. I dont think anyone has camped here a lot this year, the owner camps here to cut and bale his hay and I think the cabin gets quite a bit of use, this year has been a colder/rainier summer than normal though. 
   
Cutting the grass, I think the machete needs to be sharpened or I would have offered to do this job. 
   
This guy did not want his face to show in pictures, so I wont betray him. I think he is in the witness protection program. 
   
I was just kidding about the last comment. Tad and Frank are setting up tents, I think Nathalie helped Tad set up the first one but they were so fast I got no photos. 
   
The tents were new, and pretty nice. I think the kids tent really could have done better, we will return it for one like ours. Even in the rain day and night our tent was dry and warm inside. We bought good sleeping bags and sleeping pads, the last time we went camping we were REALLY poor and it tanked a lot. 
   
Finally, somewhere to shoot! This is Alaska and we cannot find anywhere to shoot! There are some ranges, but none close by except for shotgun ranges. This is Franks new gun, it is a 30 ought 6. It packs a pretty good punch, when his coat was off, I could see the kick push out his muscle in his shoulder. I do not care to shoot it really. 
   
Showing off a blown up can, I am not sure who or what shot this one. I think Frank, and I think the 30 ought 6. 
   
Tad's 30/30, he got this for his last birthday and it is quite possibly my favorite gun. I love lever action, Frank bought a lever action 22 at the same time and its also a lot of fun. 
   
There was also a picture of me shooting the 44 but it was not a good picture. I think the gun weighs half what I do! The other women on this trip shot a 500 (huge handgun round?) but seeing them shoot it, and feeling the wave that came over me from it was enough. Just standing, oh 10 foot away was plenty. 
   
Tad shooting the 30 ought 6.
   
He is so cute firing his big gun, I had to show another picture of it. 
   
Getting some help from daddy. The 22 hand gun is about the only thing she has interest in shooting. I think she likes Uncle Jacob's Glock as well. 
   
Check out that concentration. 
   
Frank took the kids hiking, I started out but found I had the wrong shoes. The underbrush pulled my boots off! I thought this was a pretty good picture. Only in Alaskan can you go hiking with such a big gun and not look out of place. 
   
This was the view from the top of the hill. See our tiny tent???

   
We spent a lot of time on 4 wheelers and trying out the Can Am. This is a 2 seater vehicle, I want to say it is like a polaris but its really different. I had more fun riding in that with the guy who owns it-thus drives it best, than I did 4 wheeling. I did learn to drive, but not like these guys! Look at all this mud! 
   
Crazy boys, did no one tell them it was cold!!!
   
I am pretty sure Frank's coat still weighs 15 lbs. I am not grateful right now for having a high efficiency washing machine, it does not do well with mud. 
   
Wow... what a mess. It was not much of a difference from what he looked like before this ride, he absolutely attracts filthiness.
   
Here he is telling me that they got stuck, he pushed while daddy drove out, and also one time when daddy was driving pretty fast he almost gone thrown off which was also awesome. What, what mama? Scared? I mean,why? 
   
Yeah, um we were not scared. Can we get a couple 4 wheelers this week? Or even next week would be ok. Yes?

I learned some really interesting things also. If your legs itch and you cannot go to sleep, you can scratch them with a bottle cap. Another thing that I was told, was that Sometimes grown ups are boys. 3 yr old wisdom.