Lynna had noticed some large Blackberry vines growing under the deck, so after lunch I crawled underneath & cut them off, then put a few drops of concentrated weed killer on each stub. Since I was all setup to deal with blackberries, I then went around the house & gave all the larger new growth the same treatment.

I fired up the tractor again & hauled some more rock to make a path up from the rental house to connect with the path we put into our new landscape. Rain is forecast for tonight & the next few days so now we can get back & forth without tracking mud inside.

I had about 15 minutes before quitting time, so I pulled some trim board cut-offs from the scrap pile, marked them up for size & cut all the pieces to make a couple of saw horses.

Tractor Work

I moved and spread crushed rock this morning and finished the remaining part of the circular drive. Lynna worked at house cleaning in the rental but came out and took some pictures for our blog.

This morning I used the tractor to move the remaining large trees up from the rental so Lynna could heal them into the compost/dirt pile for the Winter. I finished the Living Room floor today, next up is the connecting hallway, then the small Bathroom, the Dining Room & the Den. Tomorrow is the last nice day before some forecast rain, so I plan on doing some exterior painting & tractor work.

Sunday after church we ran some errands and stopped by Color Tile to pick up some grout sealer. I was chatting with the sales manager and mentioned I was looking for a good buy on some laminate flooring for our bonus room since we only have enough of the 1" Maple for most of the main floor. He showed me some closeout "Prairie Maple" that goes well with our flooring & offered it for $1.09 a square foot with underlayment at $ .15 a sq ft. We bought all he had (620 sq ft), & it is enough for the Bonus Room with its bathroom plus at least one of the West Bedrooms. Late Sunday afternoon, I did a few hours of tractor work moving fill dirt to make a berm along the West side of our property, then Lynna raked it smooth & started digging holes for our street trees. It was hard work for both of us.

Yesterday & today I worked at laying the Living Room floor & spent my break times loading our large, potted "Street Trees" into the tractor's bucket, tying them down, then hauling them up from the rental's back yard & unloading them by the holes Lynna dug. Some were root bound & stuck in their pots so I was called to pry them out & lift them up into their holes for Lynna to plant. We have four of the five required trees planted now and I get to do the last one after the cement work by the deck is complete. Before dinner, I got out the white paint & painted the galvanized handles on the bottom of our garage doors so they would blend in. This was bugging me for some time & they look much better now.

Finished the Master Bath & the Pantry floor. Devoted some time to cleaning up after the tile work & storing leftover tiles & materials, then started raising the sub floor in the closets so I can put in Cedar closet lining.

Reached a milestone when I emptied the staple box. 7,720 slams of the flooring hammer and I'm only a bit more than 1/2 done. I got this full box of Bostitch staples off e-Bay for only $50: they were left over from someone's project & I couldn't come close to that price again, so paid $62 for 5,000 no name staples from Freres Lumber. Maybe it will be enough to complete the flooring.

Before I could begin laying flooring, I had to spend about an hour cleaning up after the tile setters. I had it all tidied up when Lynna came up to check the tile work. We like how it turned out except for 1 of the trim pieces. We will have them re-do that one piece tonight.

I was able to put down some more flooring today & hope to finish up the bathroom tomorrow.

Lynna worked on landscaping and then I moved plants from our rental yard up the hill & found a good place for them until she gets them in the ground.

Master Bath

I made good progress today, I took pictures in the early afternoon and again when I quit for the day. We were expecting the tile setters to finish up tonight but so far they are a "no show".

I worked outside & did some tractor work this weekend moving crushed rock & then moved the larger vine maples up for Lynna to plant. Lynna dug holes, moved sand & mulch & planted some of the Japanese Maples and Vine Maples we brought from Olympia.

I started the Maple flooring in the Master Bath and got to a point where I am past the difficult fitting and set to have a big day Monday. The tile setters worked Thursday & Friday evening cutting and fitting the Hardy board. They came back Saturday & Sunday afternoon and finished laying & grouting the entry tiles, then made a good start on the tub & shower area.

Finished the Master Bedroom floor today. Next up: Master Bathroom.

Nothing much happened this week. I'm still laying flooring in the Master Bedroom. I took a few pictures as I made progress.

We went in to Salem over the weekend to shop for tile to put in the entry and Master Bath shower. Lynna found some she liked, so we bought it. Our neighbor John referred a tile setter he knows and Lynna likes his estimate for the work. I was glad to find someone so reasonable.

Tuesday I had scheduled an inspection to get a paper confirmation that we satisfied the fire hydrant requirement. We were working all day, me inside and Lynna outside. It appeared no one showed up. I called Wednesday and spoke with one of their inspectors who told me the computer showed the hydrant was approved, so I arranged to have a copy of the inspection form mailed out.(we are required to keep a container on site with the permit, approved plans and copies of all signed inspections sheets. the inspectors always put our copies inside if we aren't around when they come) Later, when we were leaving for the day, Lynna noticed a piece of yellow paper stuck into the door handle of our travel trailer. Yes, it was the missing inspection form. This was important because each inspection automatically extends our permit expiration date by 6 months and we hadn't had an inspection since early July. Now we are good through April 14, 2009.

Yesterday I broke for a few hours and put down the sub-floor for the tiled entries. The contractor stopped by late to let me know they will stop by tonight to begin the project. I will have to stop by Freres Lumber & pickup the supplies he needs.

Yesterday the forecast rain didn't happen and in the revised version it was supposed to come in the early afternoon. This was likely one of my last opportunities to drive down to my workshop with the trailer before heavy rains turn the clay into slippery mud. I got busy and hooked up my trailer then set about loading the Shopsmith, 2 workbenches and the new generator. It took a while to get everything loaded and strapped down. It had clouded up and was starting to sprinkle by the time I had everything unloaded and placed in the basement and garage. I broke for lunch and was able to lay some more flooring in the afternoon.

Today, I spent most of the day laying flooring in the Master Bedroom with a short break in the afternoon to dig some holes, then I moved two Japanese Maples up the hill for Lynna to plant.

Counter Tops Completed

The counter top crew began the morning by installing the island countertop they had set in place last night and then moved on to all the undermount sinks and the gas cooktop. I spent the morning paying bills then rode my bike downtown to the Post Office, Freres Lumber and City Hall. While I was downtown, I got a haircut. After Lunch, I was able to lay some more flooring in our bedroom. Lynna got some more landscape prep work done.