Garage Build Continues

Yesterday DH Jon finished building the second floor walls, and then lifted each 60 lb. rafter and laid it upside down. Today he'll have some help positioning and securing the rafter sections. The OSB sheathing will go down, followed by roof paper and architectural shingles. The windows will be installed on the north end (street side), and a larger one at the south end. Winter is coming on fast. Heavy frost this morning. The final step before winter is to cover the second floor exterior with Tyvek, install main garage doors, and wire the garage.
This photo taken the second week of September. The garage lower level divided by wall. This divides the garage parking space from the workshop in the rear. The stairway to the second floor will be installed next spring.

Photo taken Oct 5th, before second floor was constructed.

DH build north wall on the ground, then lifted it into position with the bucket truck. Remaining walls were built on the second floor and lifted into position.

Jon built the second floor by himself. Amazing patience, and skill!

Above: Photo taken Oct 5.

Above Photo taken yesterday, Oct 9. Jon was very tired last night. It's been a cold, rainy week to build the second floor. This week he built the second floor walls in 16 ft. sections by himself, then lifted each one into position and secured. He is one strong dude.

Sweet Lucille, A Porch Person (Life-Size Doll)

Porch People Like Sweet Lucille are fun to make. I made her in an afternoon.

1. Take 2 standard pillows, hand sew them together together (end to end).

2. The lower pillow is split open vertically and sewn up again to make the thighs. Two fabric tubes are stuffed with sturdy but light weight pool noodles. Socks, shoes, clothing are adding during staging.

3. I make a fabric neck tube and stuff and hand sew to join head and torso. The top pillow stuffed is the torso.

4. To make Lucille sit up straight I use a 30" long wooden dowel for her spine. The wooden dowel begins at her bowel, travels up the back spine, and ends up penetrating her entire head. Ooooo, sounds like it would hurt doesn't it?

5. Two stuffed fabric tubes make the arms.

6. Head. 6 eclipse shaped fabric pieces sewn together and filled with poly fluff make a round head--you might use a pumpkin pattern. After the pumpkin head is stuffed, sew small buttons, one at either side of the head where you'll sew on the ears. Use the buttons as anchors. With a doll head needle (a needle that is 4-5" long), wrap end of the thread around one button, then pass the needle through the head horizontally to the other ear button. Cinch the thread tight to draw the head into a more oval shape and wrap the thread many times around the button to secure. Again, pass the needle back through the head to the other ear, cinch, and wrap the thread many times to secure. Take several stitches to firmly secure the oval shaped head.

7. Make "C" shaped ears out of several layers of fabric. Sew ears on either side of the head keeping the buttons behind the ears to hide them.

8. Add wig, hat, glasses, earrings, gloves, and there you have it . . . Lucille, a porch person.

Halloween and Other Porch People

This is Jumpin Jack Flash. We welded him together a couple of years ago with steel rod frame, added a hunk of 2 x 4 for a neck, a recycled pumpkin head, pool noodles for arms, and some clothes. I had a problem getting his pants on, and had to open up the inner leg seams to dress him, then sit under him to sew his pants backup.

1903 Photo of our Front Porch

Imagine our surprise. The Iola Historical Society brought us this amazing photograph of our home c. 1903. Second left is our own Mabel Wrolstad, youngest daughter of Mathea and John Olson Wrolstad (builders/first owners of our 1893 Queen Anne). I'm guessing she's about 16 years old in this photo.

Below is the porch as it is today. Not much changed. I'm in the process of restoring the original 116 year old porch spindles (cleaning, patching with wood filler, sanding, replacing dowel ends). We refrabricated the two-piece railings to match original. When I finish spindles we'll re-assemble railings and build front steps. Later on I'll post photos as we complete the project.

Unfortunately the original railings are wafer thin, broken and decayed. Nonetheless we saved all those pieces and gave some pieces to grandchildren of the second owners.

Building the New Garage

I really know nothing about building a garage. And my words below fail to describe the building process. But, here goes . . .

Jon and Dad (Gale) are putting up the new garage this week. They've had some help from brother Willie, and friend Al a couple of days. Mom and I pick up nails, materials, and we sweep at the end of the day.

Mom and Al watch Jon up in the trusses, tying the trusses one to the other with a series of lengths of lumber.

The garage footprint is 28 x 48. The gable ends running north and south.

Willie and Al watch Jon up in the trusses. Later on Willie will begin nailing OSB Board on the roof. The 48' length of garage will be divided in half. The south end a modified workshop for Jon, and the north end two garage door openings.

Securing trusses together with a ladder type fixture (see fixture lying on the floor).

The bucket truck lifts trusses into place.

Putting up OSB Board on the exterior. Later long metal straps are attached to the side walls to add strength.

Jon coming down from the trusses.

Brother Willie helping install OSB board, while Jon attaches with nailing gun.

Preparation work was extensive before the garage could be built. Several trees were removed, tree stumps dug up and hauled away. Weeks and weeks of adding course fill, tamping, and installing floor drains. The concrete pad just below the truck is in front of a soon to be passage door.

Dad (Gale) drilling holes to mount wall section on the sillplate bolts.

Day 3--three walls are up!

Dad (Gale) drilling holes in the wall section.

Beginning the garage project.

Jon, Willie, and Gale attach OSB Board to the walls.

Gale attaching sillplate around perimeter of garage.

Earlier in August, pouring the concrete for the garage.

Bathroom things . . .

While I was upstairs photographing the Tiffany style lamp in the bathroom, I stopped a moment to take a few more photos, and describe them here. We really enjoy this bathroom.

The jelly cabinet holds dark brown baskets, making it difficult in the best light to reveal any clutter. I like that.

Mom bought me some beautiful lace towels. And, the cut-lace runner I purchased in Illinois on the Spoon River Drive. The Spoon River Drive is every October (first and second weekends), flea markets and sales one right after another. Such fun to roam and look at all the stuff.

When we first bought the house in the spring of 2007, I found this bathpowder container in the downstairs bathroom beadboard cabinet. The bathpowder Le Jade was introduced by Roger & Gallet in 1923. Inside was another surprise.

I found out the box of dye is around 1919. I bought an original 1919 magazine advertisement for Rit Dye showing the same box (artwork). One of these days I'll get around to getting the magazine advertisement framed. Right now, its in storage in a little cardboard tube upstairs. I hope nobody throws it away by mistake.

For the most part the upstairs still looks like a homesless shelter. We only have two rooms completed upstairs (master bedroom and this bathroom). We're moving along at a snail's pace. But, during the summer months we carry our restoration work outside.

I'm still struggling to finish painting the house exterior--but have a major wasp problem keeping me from finishing. The exterminator guy took care of the wasps today. Jon is building the new two story garage in the next couple of weeks. So, looks like we'll have lot of new photos to post.

Mom gave me some beautiful blue Ball jars with glass lids. I filled them with menthal scented bath salts. If I leave the lids off, I can smell it and use it as a room deordorizer. Cotton balls in a glass and chrome star dispenser hide close behind the ball jars. I love the watery blue-green colors and crisp white. But what makes it dance is the reddish woodwork in the jelly cabinet and floors.

Lamps, Oh I love the colors!

Above:

Tiffany style lamp in the office downstairs. This lamp has a really huge shade. I am attracted to the green gold and red orange accented with black and expresso brown.

This unusual oval shaped Tiffany style lamp sits in the upstairs bathroom on the jelly cabinet next to the sink.

Jon gave me this lamp for Christmas '08. I keep it lit most of the weekend, so I can enjoys its color and design. Looks great in the red dining room.

This Tiffany style lamp is in the living room. To the right is photo of the original owner/builders John and Mathea Wrolstad and their children.