House building summer scramble

Wow, has it really been a month since my last post?!  My sincere apologies to my faithful readers.  We have been in full house-building blitz for the past couple of months, and it's hard to slow down and savor the milestones.  Looking at photos today, I've found plenty to share of our house project and other happenings around our yurt. 

Since putting the windows into the house, we've kept busy in finishing the windows (which we ordered unfinished for the freedom of the end result, and saving some money in the construction budget) Installing exterior doors, building stairs for the loft, and beginning framing of interior walls.

Finishing our windows turned out to be more up close and personal than most homeowners experience in their windows.  It was a long, tedious chore, but the windows look great, and hopefully they'll be long-lasting in their endurance with the elements.

Don't forget the screens!

Taking a quick break to pick some huckleberries.  We've had a great year for lots of berries on the property.  Our spring was quite warm, with several rain showers, causing the berries to be large and numerous.

Huckleberries

In other news:  Tanner hung a clothes line for me.  Our weather has been rather dry and quite hot this summer with temps lingering in the 90s for a week or more.  The thought of running the dryer on such a hot day seemed sacrilegious, so the line comes in handy.  I think it gives our yurt a rather 'hippy' flair.

North facing door

The exterior doors for the main living space went in with no major problems.  They are 'temporary,' meaning that when we have more time and extra money in the house budget, Tanner wants to build custom doors for our home.  In the meantime, we found some really nice, insulated doors that will do the trick nicely until someday arrives.

Deck door, eventually to be a dutch door.

Loft stair landing

Kyle, cutting stair treads

 Our biggest, and most beautiful project this month has been the stairs leading to the loft.  Tanner built them stringer and tread style, and though they evolved to be more time consuming than originally intended, they look marvelous.

Tanner worked to build the stair landing and the stringers, while Kyle worked on stair treads.

Always underfoot, Moose enjoys a sawdust shower as Tanner builds stringers.

Enjoying the view from my loft while finishing screens.

The first stringer fit nicely, as did the second.  The challenge for Tanner in these stairs was that you will see them from every angle when the house is complete.  Being a good finish carpenter, and a raging perfectionist, the treads needed to fit perfectly.

Thankfully, I wasn't around to witness this monkey business.  I would've been a nervous wreck, and maybe even a nag if I would've seen this work environment.  Watch out OSHA!

                                      The camera lens gets a bit dusty....

Tanner with finished stairs

As you can see, they turned out beautifully.  I couldn't be more pleased and proud of my husband!

Kyle has framed in the bathroom walls and much of the interior walls in preparation for enclosing and insulating them.  Unfortunately, framed construction walls in photos just look like a lot of vertical 2x4s.  Take my word for it when I tell you:  It is so exciting to have these walls to go off of when visualizing rooms.  It is so much fun!

Here's to hoping I can share some pictures in a more timely manner next time.
Cheers!