My 15.75 x 30 Jemez Cabin

[Sassy]

Nice gazebo!  The area looks really lush.  I didn't realize the elks did that much damage to the trees.

[glenn kangiser]

My uncle was an Elk in Oregon. :-/

I've seen him clear cut entire forests.  He was a foreman for a paper company.

Maybe Elks clubs should be outlawed.  I didn't realize they were so destructive... and I'm not even a tree hugger. :-?

[MountainDon]

Sassy: They do that to rub the velvet off their antlers.

Glenn:    

[John Raabe]

I think Glenn sometimes gets a little velveta on his antlers.

[glenn kangiser]

Doo-doo-doo dooo ---- Doo doo doo dooo...   this is getting a little too eerie, John.   :-/

It's like I've entered the [highlight]TWILIGHT ZONE.
[/highlight]
First the talk about my uncle.... :-? ...as if that wasn't enough...

and now this.

You are sending shivers up and down my spine. :-/

How did you know I LOVE VELVEETA?  :-? :-? :-?


Only yesterday as we went to the river, Sassy brought me 3 pieces wrapped in those little impossible sandwich plastic wrapped slices.

I was driving down the road trying to keep the truck on it and get the wrapper off.  The cheese was getting hot and sticky.  Sassy was getting excited and still a bit nervous at the same time.   :-?

I was all over the place.   :-/

Lucky there wasn't a cop.

I had Velveeta on the steering wheel , my fingers , the shifter, the plastic, my shirt , my pants, and yes -- you guessed it --- maybe even my antlers. :-?  At least on the horn.

Sheesh.  Too weird.    

[John Raabe]

The Swami sees all!

Maybe I should start picking stocks?

[PEG688]

I was driving down the road trying to keep the truck on it and get the wrapper off.  The cheese was getting hot and sticky.  Sassy was getting excited and still a bit nervous at the same time.   :-?

I was all over the place.   :-/

Lucky there wasn't a cop.

 Humm sorta  like takin photos from the car above Lake Tahoe    

[glenn kangiser]

Dang, PEG.  Was I driving that bad.  :-?  You should have been with me when I used to do it in the airplane.

I did get some nice pictures of the guardrail as we were flying down the road. :-/

At least I wasn't fiddling with my cheese, eh?, John.

[PEG688]

Dang, PEG.  Was I driving that bad.  :-?  You should have been with me when I used to do it in the airplane.

I did get some nice pictures of the guardrail as we were flying down the road. :-/

At least I wasn't fiddling with my cheese, eh?, John.

Nah wasn't that bad , well,  only the once  ::)when you where taken that photo of the guard rail

I won't even touch that last line  

[glenn kangiser]

I had it timed just right --- nice shot of the lake -- then as luck would have it -- when I looked back to see if I was still on the road a tree and guardrail jumped in front of my camera. :-/

[jwv]

Hey Don, that's a beautiful spot.

It's good that we're finally getting some rain. But of course, I'm not trying to build a house this year.

Judy

[MountainDon]

Thanks Judy. The rain is simply super! Very good for the trees. The rain, increased humidity (80% at times) and cooler weather has lowered the fire danger to moderate (from extreme) as well. There were a couple small lightning caused fires within a 5 miles radius of us a couple weeks ago but the FS and volunteer fire dept jumped on them right away.

This summer also has a few more people visibly thinning their forest acreage, but there's a whole lot of public lands forest that's way too thivk... most of it around here is that way.

[MountainDon]

I guess we're never happy with the weather. First it was too hot and dry. Now that it began to rain, we're getting too wet!  :-/  Between the hour long drizzles, the brief but heavy deluges, the squalls with hail, we did get some more done on the gazebo over the past three days.

I thought I'd post a few detail shots...  
One of the perfect fit concrete block (on 6" poured concrete pier 36 inches deep) mid beam supports... Yes, it's just sitting there; I'm not too worried about uplift forces since the 4 corner posts are set 40 inches deep. As for tornados and hurricanes, I'm more concerned about the volcano waking up than them.  



... and one that didn't match up so perfectly, hence the PT & plastic shim material...



One of the corner posts and bolted beams. I don't know if this is a normal process but it's one I used for years when I was building playground equipment. I've one the same in the backyard that's about 15 years old now. No problems.



In case anyone is wondering (PEG) those are hot dipped galvanized 1/2 inch hardware. Any of the fasteners that so much as touch the ACQ PT wood are either hot dipped (mostly 12D & 16D spiral or ring shank nails) or those fancy, made for ACQ, deck screws.

Persuading one of the 2x6's to go where I wanted it to be...



Trimming the deck plank ends...



Close tight fit for now. We'll see how much shrinkage we end up with. The PT wood was very fresh and the rain never gave it much chance to dry out!



Three wall sections framed in for the screen and lower T&G walls.



A happy supervisor...



[edit]made a couple edits, one where I forgot the photo tag   [/edit]

[glenn kangiser]

Looks great, Don.

[PEG688]

Looks good Mtn. D , one thing others might want to do , IF they remember is to cut that first or two( enought for the saw shoe  to cut the other boards off clean before it (the shoe ) hits the post)  deck plank to the exact lenght then you don't have to finish the cut witha jig saw / and or hand saw.

The cross bolting looks real good to me as well .

The decking ran tight as well , a guy can sort of judge what the gaps should be just like you did , wet wood , wet conditions gap smaller , knowing that when they dry like your will in that covered gazabo.  Same as dry summer, &  dry summer  wood better be gapped a bit wider to allow for the winter swelling.

 All in all a fine lookin job  8-)    

[MountainDon]

... exact length then you don't have to finish the cut with a jig saw / and or hand saw.

Or the super duper twist any which way PC Tiger Claw  

Yes, it would be easier/simpler to to have thought that far ahead, but then I wouldn't have had a reason to play with the Tiger.

Hope to finish the fourth wall with the door, the T&G lower walls and screening later this week.    Oh, and I still have to do the shingles and build the cupola.

[glenn kangiser]

I was looking for the Tiger in one of the pictures -- I didn't see it.

[PEG688]

Ya it can be done that way but I'm rarely happy with that "change of saw "part of the cut , but I am a , ah , lot more fussy than most . And I'm pretty good with the saw , I only pointed it out for those who want to do "better" work easier.

Not to say your work isn't good Mtn. D , just a way to do it easier , faster and well better  all with a few easy cuts a fore thought
 

[MountainDon]

Nah, that's a good point, a good hint. I must admit the Tiger cut does not have the same smoothness as where the circular saw was used. However, in this case the T&G lower wall siding will cover it. But you and I will still know it's there.  

Glenn, I'll have to remember to call the photographer next time the Tiger is loose.  8-)

[glenn kangiser]

Don said,

I'm more concerned about the volcano waking up than them.

Glenn said,

Is that a pet name for your wife?

[MountainDon]

Nooooo.  

The volcano referred to is north of me, the edge of which is about 5 miles away. About 1.1 million or so years ago it collapsed and left a large bowl, a caldera. According to the forest service guy I spoke with at the Cerro Pelado (bald mountain) lookout, the elevation has been slowly increasing for years. The caldera is classed as a dormant, not an extinct, volcano.



Okay, I'm not really worried about it; but I'm also not concerned about tornadoes in my area of the state. There have been the odd tornado sighted in the eastern and southern plains of NM though, but infrequently.

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks for the clarification, Don.  I thought you were afraid she would awaken and light a fire under you.  :-/

Just funnin ya.  You made great time considering that stuff you keep talking about -- you call it rain.  I'll have to Google it.

We also are next door to a major volcanic area - pretty active - The Long Valley Caldera.  Around Mono Lake area.  It's a bit cranky too.

[PEG688]

 You pikers , I live in the ring of fire .



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ring_of_Fire


Pacific Ring of Fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cascadia subduction zone

Structure of the Cascadia subduction zoneThe Cascadia subduction zone is a 680 mi (1,094 km) long fault, running 50 mi (80 km) off the west-coast of the Pacific Northwest from northern California to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The plates move at a relative rate of over 0.4 inches (10 mm) per year at a somewhat oblique angle to the subduction zone.


When was the last time you had a eruption?  Ah Valcanic Glenn   Such a dirty mind  





 For this little belch I was on  a USN C-9 coming back to NAS Whidbey from a det. on USS Ranger, the Aircraft comander  came on and said "Well guys we got a lil detore  around this valcano plum!"   , they had us go east :-/  around it out by Yakama then back into NAS from the north . My camera  was in MY SEABAG    in the cargo hole   It was pretty cool that plum came up right to here we where at about 30K and then hit the jet stream and spread out.  Of course it went east , so we had to out run it more or less to get around it. Maybe due to civilian traffic around SEATAC is why we , a military jet, had to take the LLLLLLLLLLLLLLooooooooooNNNNNG way home  

For the May 18 gig me and my then girl friend , now wife , where sleeping , ah the good ole days sleeping past 0800   of course I was working nights back then so maybe it wasn't really sleeping in  :-/ :-/

   

[MountainDon]

I am humbled    

G'nite

[PEG688]

I am humbled    
G'nite

Ya should be