Cold, Snow, Windows, & Arches

Welcome to Winter @ Leary Castle. That's right, we finally got some snow in the Adirondacks! I think we got over a foot last weekend and it was a beautiful winter wonderland, but enough of that, let's see what work we got done!

The windows arrived from Erie Materials (Auburn, New York) right on time @ 11am Friday morning

Big truck scared me pulling in, but there were just 25 windows. Remember on the smaller, thin windows we are going to do out own XanderBlue stained glass, so this is not all the windows.

My awesome cousin Nancy and her husband Brian, also awesome, came to help us unload the windows, which we did in record time according to out task master. Not only did we unload them, we placed each window near the opening where it was to be installed. Brian, Andy, and Rex did the windows to the third and fourth floors, it was a good thigh workout!

After a great brunch @ the Lumberjack Inn with the cousins, it was back to work for us. We got the red steel beam up that will support us being able to cut through the current tool room wall into the Fungeon/wine room, we are opening it up so we have more room for fun and wine!

Here you see Rex on a big ladder in the wine room tightening the bolts tothe red beam on the other side of the wall. Can you just picture how great that is going to look when all the concrete in front of his ladder right now goes away!

Andy wanted the third and fourth floors cleared of all equipment that wasn't necessary for window installation, so here we are lowering down the broken and new cement mixer with the crane.

Time to get back to those arches, I have kept you in suspense long enough. Andy stumbled upon a farm jack that can crank up ridiculous amounts of weight to high levels in one of his catalogues, so what castle doesn't need that, we got it! His new arch plan was to use that to get arches in place. He made a wooden support to go into the arch and a wooden support on each wall and then Andy, Rex, and I were able to push arch from flat position on the floor to an upright position and lock it into the wooden frame, then we just slowly jacked it up.

The red handle in this picture is the jack handle and look at how high the arch is, right above the door where it is suppose to do. Same process on the other side and ...

The arch above the spiral staircase entranceway is up and secure and it only took a few hours with no major problems.

that wasn't the case the next day when we went to do the double arches over the Fungeon/Wine Room. same concept and plan, but because this area didn't have the walls right there at the door frame Andy had to make a frame with wood and apparently the stone arch getting jacked up was stronger than the wood frame, so the arch kept moving, ever so slightly within the framework and we had alot of extra manuevering with this one. Here is Andy trying to wiggle it back into place.

We finally got it up, but ran out of time to do the other ones. What would a weekend be without one problem or another.

My good friend and college roommate Barb happened to be in the area this past weekend and she stopped for a visit with her daughter Hallie and their gorgeous dogger, Caymen. The girls (Hallie & Ruby) and dogs had a great time sledding.

Tosh loves peeing in the deep snow and he looks so regal doing it!

The boys allowed Ruby & I time off on Saturday to go snow shoeing around the property with tosh, it was goreous and we had a great time.

Ruby is never without the camera. We were stopping every other step taking pictures.

Ruby found some ice on the mout and was trying to clear an area to skate on. Unfortunately, it was snowing just as fast as she was shovelling and she didn't get very far, but again, had alot of fun.

That was it for the long weekend. getting redy to leave now to head up and get those windows installed, can't wait!