New Toys for the New Digs

Our friend Mike called today and said that it was time for him to dispose of some equipment that he hardly ever used while living in Nevada and now no longer needs because he and ZJ live on the coast now.  We were excited to get the opportunity of a good deal on a snow blower, but when he surprised us with a log splitter, somehow we could not resist. 

We've been using wood heat ever since we moved to Nevada 30 years ago, but never indulged in a wood splitter.  Now that we are moving to the woods, it seems like a really cool invention.  So Mike didn't have to twist our arms to get us to load it up this afternoon and bring it back to Silver Springs.  I think both machines will come in handy in the far north.  Speaking of Cedar Creek, our NEWA Experience continues. 

Grady sent some pictures yesterday and I am getting like a kid in summer watching for the ice cream man, waiting for his emails.

As promised, the trusses have arrived!  Once these babies are up it's going to look like a house in the making.  I love this picture with the clouds looming overhead, promising rain or at least a good thunder and lightening show.  I am sure this is not necessarily the weather you hope for when installing trusses.  As you can see from this picture, there is quite a few trusses and I assume there would have to be for a 50 pound snow load roof.

I would be a nervous Nellie watching these move into place, so this is one step in the building process I am happy to miss. The beams are now in place.  Don't they look massive?  They look so straight and pretty.  Did I mention that the ceilings downstairs will be 9-1/2' tall and upstairs close to 8'.  High ceilings give you the concept of much more space in a room.  We had high ceilings downstairs in our log home.

If you look behind the progress in this picture, you may or may not be able to see several different types of evergreens.   The really tall ones are tamarack or larch trees.  I understand that they are the only evergreen that turn color in the fall and lose their needles.  I have a picture somewhere . . .

Here is a picture that neighbor Martha took from their airplane.  You can see the fall color comes from the tamarack trees.  We haven't been at Cedar Creek in the fall, but everyone says it's beautiful.  We also have several other kinds of evergreens on the property and I have to learn their names. 

My favorite is the cedar tree.  When you walk or drive through a grove of cedar trees, the temperature drops dramatically.  They are very impressive.

 
In case you are interested, it appears that our builder Keith has solved the septic tank problem, however temporary.  I don't think Grandma will appreciate his location choice, (in front of her house) but when it come to nature calling, I guess convenience beats location every time!