and the work continues....

So we are down to three this past weekend, Rex is away for 12 days @ the National Boyscout Jamboree probably having the time of his life, while Andy, Ruby & I slave away @ the castle.
We are headed up there again in a few hours, so I figured I better get a post in from last weekend.

Ruby & I were given the task of cleaning up metal around the site. Here Ruby is lifting a long piece of rebar and bringing it into the castle where she will soon learn how to cut it!

This is Ruby getting her instructions from Andy on how to run the metal cutting machine that will cut the rebar.

and minutes later, here is Ruby using the machine all by herself. She was here for a few hours cutting all the rebar, she did an awesome job and I think she felt pretty darn good about herself.

another step is poured and solid!

Here is Andy making the form work for the next stair.

a view of the forwork from below as I was coming up the stairs.

This is one of the electrical panels Andy built into a wooden frame that he is going to put into place on each floor. He got a new drill that has a special bit that drills through concrete, so he also has drilled holes between the floors where the electrical conduits will connect all the electrial boxes. Apparently it was his first time cutting through concrete and he said it was pretty cool!

This may not look like alot to you, but this is where I spend most of my time. It use to be covered with piles and piles of cut down trees and brush. You can see a pile of trees that we can reuse in the fore ground, the rest of the piles we burnt in an APA approved firepit.

This is a rocky ledge overlooking the labyrinth to the left & you can vaguely see the castle off in the background behind the trees as you drive in, well we think this would be the perfect site for a big, huge, metal sculpture, maybe of a dragon. Still thinking about that, but Andy saw something he is exploring and I'll let you know more on that as it develops!

These are some dried up flowers and seeds from Nana's garden. We are spreading them around the castle as we'd love to have lots of bright and pretty wildflowers all around. If anyone else has any, feel free to save them and send them our way!

Another productive weekend, Andy was happy with what we knocked off his list. He feels like he really has the staircase building down and feels he can get those done alittle faster now.

Two stairs closer to heaven

It was another beautiful weekend in Tupper Lake this past week. We were just telling friends that every time we have gone up to the castle, whether it was just to visit quick or work, the weather couldn't be nicer, even in the fall and winter trips! This is a view from Rex's room on the fourth floor.

These are all the center stair pieces Andy & Rex made the form work for & poured back home in the workshop. They all were transported safely and carried to the fourth floor to start the staircase to the roof.

Here is Andy, Rex, & Tosh (he likes to be where the action is) building the formwork for the first stair tread.

Andy & Rex mixed the cement and shovelled it into the formwork. then we crossed our fingers and waited a day to see how it would turn out.

Here it is from a different angle to help you see where it is going

and closer yet. in this picture you can see the center pieces the boys did and you can see they look just like the old ones.

Ta Da, it worked.
Here is a picture of the first poured stair in over 20 years! Looks pretty good and it was good and hard. We were able to pour a second one after this one dried.

Here Andy is out on the turret, I am looking down taking the picture from the fourth floor.
He is making a foam mold of the top of the turret so he can take that back to the workshop @ home and work on a form work for the second slab of water proof concrete we'll need to pour on this.

My good friend Patti came again to do a bit of work and she brought Jack and Aurora to help. here they are cleaning some of the tools after the concrete pour. We do not discriminate, we take workers of all ages, there is always a job to do and we can match your unique qualities with the perfect job!

Patti & I were off hauling twigs and brush on the property, a job that enables us to also talk alot and catch up on everything, when we heard a sweet little voice say, "mommy, look at me" We looked up and there was Aurora sitting on the edge of the turret. neither of us over reacted, we just said, "stay there, so we can get a picture!"

Anyways, besides cleaning up alot of the brush on the property with Patti, I learned how to use the weed wacker and I wacked alot of weeds. The grass had really grown around the castle and along the road, so I worked on the curb appeal while the boys did all that work inside.

Another full and productive work weekend @ the castle.
Feel free to check out our scheduled work weekends in the sidebar of the blog and feel free to stop on out and help. No personal invitation are going out, just one big open invitation to come and join us when we are there.

Hope to see you soon!

Commended by a Senator

Ok, it is hard to read this scanned copy of the letter Andy received from Senator John DeFransisco, but I thought you'd all like to know the Senator is following the story too.
The letter congradulates Andy for his Architectural talent and commends him for taking on such a big project.
Kudos Andy the Architect and future castle lord!