9.25.10

It's fall in the Adirondacks! Some said our last work weekend was peak leaf viewing and here is what that looks like from the castle looking out. "X" marks the spot!
We saw lots of glimpses of this picture perfect weather in between alot of rain, but that is better than snow, so we'll take it cause as Patti said, "it is going to snow next week" and she is probably not far off.

Andy was working back home all week on a stained glass window for the turret where Edward had a unique castle like window opening. Andy used some of our XanderBlue glass & had a friend help him make the circular cuts on the glass & then he set the glass together.
Once at the castle we had to set up a two story scaffold on the outside of the turret so Andy could set the window into place. here is the scaffolding all put together & Andy bravely standing on it!

and here is the window! The first picture is from the outside with a faint glow of light behind it. The second picture is from the inside. There will be a little powder room and toliet in this area when castle is complete.
Alot of work for a little window, but every detail is important & it is pretty exciting to have one window in!

so, the next project of the weekend was putting back the metal sign Andy found on the property. The sign was found next to the stone structure that use to house the explosives for the quarry. Andy refinished it to make it ledgible, but still kept the oldness to it. He put a wood frame around it and here he is placing it back where he found it. That is Ken, a reporter from The Adirondack Explorer, helping Andy. He came to do an interview with gloves in hand. He worked a good three hours while conducting his interview.

Ruby, a friend, and Tosh helped me continue with brush clean up. Tosh thinks he can drive now!
I took pictures of the piles of brush we moved from one place to another, but they weren't very exciting.

Andy continued to use his new cement cutting saw to work more on making the window openings bigger & he cut some interior holes between the walls that are going to be needed for heating and plumbing. he is getting pretty good at it and now that he has the proper gear to wear, he isn't getting as wet!
It was a quick, wet weekend & we're looking forward to a long weekend over Columbus Day, hopefully full of sunshine and more beautiful leaves. We have the heating and plumbing contractors coming up to install the boiler. Andy said their boiler panel is a piece of art, I will be sure to get a picture of that!

Labor Day Weekend 9.10

Tosh has decided we are done with the stairs and he will guard them until we are ready to cut through to the roof. How can you argue with that?

So Andy decided, since the concrete cutting contractors bid came in three times higher than
he expected, that he would give it a try and see how it goes. He purchased a concrete cutting saw, watched a bunched of videos, and was ready to get to work. Here he is with the new saw. He got the water one, so it is a bit messy. He got some cute wet pants and boots to compliment the new saw and to try and stay dry.

Rex & I are the set up crew. We had to go around to all the markings Andy had made the weekend before and set up platforms so he had a level ground to stand on while he was making the cuts. This is an example of one of our platforms. We used the concrete block we had lying around to make it. We made about 3-4 of these near the windows Andy was cutting. Andy cut along the orange marking lines to make the window openings longer to accomodate the windows he choose for these openings.

The saw, along with being wet and messy, also generates alot of dust and air debris, so we set up these exhaust hoses to try and keep the area he was working in well ventilated.

These are some of the chunks of concrete block Andy cut out to enlarge the windows on the front facade. We all stayed clear & Tosh was tied up to ensure no blocks fell on any heads!

There is Andy up on the fourth floor. He just finished cutting both the top windows and he said once he got the hang of it, it wasn't that bad. He said the biggest thing about the concrete cutting is having the stamina to hold the weight of the saw as still as you can while making the cuts, very tiring.

Here are Rex and I. We are the clean up crew too. Andy goes in, makes the cuts and has all the fun & then goes on to the next cut. Rex & I come in and clean up the mess he made. Rex has a concrete drill that shaves off the bumpy parts Andy may have left. I am shovelling up the water, mud, and small debris pieces he left.

This is Rex preparing to go out on the property and clear some dead trees. Andy just got this new helmut and Rex added a few of his own touches. It is the latest is camo sawing wear.

Rex found a Tarzan vine and put it to good use. ahahahahahahahahahah

Jack, my friend Patti's son, came and helped clean up some of the dead trees and low and behold he found a winner on a bottle of unopened 7up. He's going to send it in and see if they will redeem his wnner.

This is our new concrete zen garden.

OK, it was a small pit to the side of the castle and we put all the broken concrete blocks in it as part of our clean up.

This is one of the areas the kids & I cleared out, it is actually the top of a large stone ledge.

Here is Rex on the cleaned up ledge from the bottom looking up. Since Rex found the ledge, according to him, we are calling it Rex's Ridge.

This is on the side of Rex's ridge, you can't tell it very well from the picture, but they are like stairs going up the ridge. very cool.

So, that's it. It was a busy weekend & we got alot done. We also had a bunch of visitors who were in the area and saw the gate down. It is always fun to see and hear people's comments when they first see the place.

This past weekend was the first weekend we weren't up at the castle, but be assured, Andy was up in the shop working on things for the castle and our next trip up & I was able to spend some time organizing the box of papers we got from Edward's sister regarding the castle. I am trying to figure out how to incorporate some of that into the blog.

Stay tuned.

Knight fighting - 9.4.10

So our last visit to the castle Andy & Rex went up to unload trailer and drop off tools. They didn't come back for 2 hours and I got worried. When I called they said they were playing.

Boys will be boys and here they are playing night/knight games



YouTube - Knight fighting

8.28.10

So, the upper pond is starting to fill with natural rain water, that is a good sign.

Andy took a walk with Tosh last week without us and came across these. They look like big plant pots, which is what we are going to use them for, but he says they are big pipes they cut and left on the property.

Andy & Tosh also found a big split rock, so we all took a hike to see it and here it is, it'll be a nice landmark on the property when people are hiking around.

We weren't sure what this stone structure was on the property, but one of the neighbors said it was an old magazine shelter where they stored the dynamite they use to use to blast rocks when the property was a quarry. We found an old metal sign that says, "danger, explosives" near this and we are restoring it.

We placed Sir Edward on his perch above the parking lot. here are the kids with him.

and here he is on his own. He is kinda hiding along the right side as you are driving in and then, there he is!

Tosh found a mud puddle! Dirty dog!

Andy gave me a tool that made fireworks, how cool is that. we were getting ready to hang the metal frame Edward had left for the front door, but one of the metal hinges had a bunch of "pimples" on it, so I had to grind them down and it was fun!

and here is the frame on the door. Andy put some wood back in center of door temporarily until he designs and builds the permanent one. It will be pretty massive once it is done.

a lot more planning, measuring, organizing & cleaning went on, but that makes for boring pictures. Tosh & Rex worked hard and deserved this break, at least until next weekend! and that one is a big three day holiday work weekend!