A hike in the North Cascades National Park...

Federal government shutdown be damned - ain't nothing stopping us from the Maple Pass loop.

Here we are heading up the North Cascades Highway towards Washington Pass...

Going clockwise up the Maple Pass loop hike - a little snow, no big deal...

Okay, four feet of snow...  We turned around and headed back down...

Damn you, Federal Government ; )

Last Summer and this Summer...

The garage and the house...

Hunting season begins soon...

And unless he figures it out quickly, he's not going to make it very difficult for those drunk and lazy drive-by hunters...

Taken to task lately...

For not posting progress reports...

The plumbing is about 90% complete, and I will only get the placement of the switches, outlets and lights before I go.

Today I put in a dropped ceiling for the hallway and above the main kitchen area for some visual interest...

Suppose I should give an update...

The rough-in plumbing is nearly complete...

And I have a large bump on my head from leaping out of the well rings through a very small porthole after I turned the water back on from inside the casings...

I heard a noise that alarmed my primal core and turned to see a rattlesnake staring at me from a foot and a half away as he sat on one of the controls that was mounted on the inside of the concrete casing rings...  I shot straight up that porthole that had me struggling to get out of an hour earlier.

Good thing I had taken a large duke that morning or I most likely would have soiled my drawers ; )

Back to work...

Just for a couple of weeks...

Flew in this morning, with an extra bonus from a very generous friend...

And here was my greeting committee at the house...

Not to mention the sight and smell of dead mice in the RV ; )

Time lapse of the 2013 phase of the Balky Hill House Build...

Looks so easy ; )

Taking a break...

Here's some pics of the house at the present stage...

From the South...

From the Southwest...

From the West, with the garage in the background...

And the garage that I built last Summer...

Jake just dropped these off...

He welded up the brackets that will support the trellises above each of the South Side window banks...

Thanks, Jake!

The gates are done...

Just finished installing the farm gates...

Spent the early part of the day loading the Subaru interior and top rack with used building materials, and delivering them to Methow Resource Recovery - a building materials reuse center.

Today's work...

With exterior door painting complete, the lockset inserts have been chiseled and the hardware installed...

No more "wild" visitors pooping inside the house - until it's complete and the family arrives ; )

Yesterday's pics...

Was too tired to post last night after my nephew's departure ; )

We dove in the river, skipped rocks, had water bazooka fights, practiced armpit farting, cursed, checked out hot chicks, went to the Sherri's Sweet Shoppe, snake hunted, discussed the virtues of Loki, Thor, Superman and the Incredible Hulk, played bloody knuckles,  had a 2-hour pillow battle, and finished the day off with dinner with the family...

I slept in this morning.

Just found this little guy...

Trapped in a bucket in the scrap wood pile...

So cool!

A couple of morning ride pics...

My buddy, Harlequin...

A detail pic of the house...

Busy with lots of varied tasks today...

Cut the deck rails, and stained them...  Worked on drywall nailers...  And installed the posts for the farm gate(with the help of Ben)...

A Summer of building...

Will certainly take its toll on your shoes...

At least on one of them ; )

Trouble...

I just finished uploading these pics when I looked out the window of the RV to possibly take some more when I noticed all but the last of the 4 babies had disappeared into the house with mom.  I was going to leave them alone, so as not to freak them out, until I saw them banging up against the inside of the windows...  So I went in and assisted them out - they are not crazy about being held ; )

Started on the Rail Caps...

Picked up the Yellow Cedar 2x10's this morning...

Started belt sanding them...

Routed out the length of a football field - 300'...  3/4"width  at a time ; )

And finish sanded them...

Will cut to length and put some UV protection on them in the next few days before placing them, depending on what else I have going...

Exterior doors...

Painting the exterior doors to match the window trim...

I'm in love...

Went looking for the deck rail cap at Bear Creek Lumber, and fell in love with the true 2X10 Yellow Cedar...

This is just a sample piece of scrap.  I will pick the order up today or tomorrow and do a bit of router work, cutting, sanding  and UV protection before I apply it...

Last night's sunset...

Random pics of the metal siding and trim...

A few pics from today's ride...

A 65 miler with an 11.5 mile climb up Falls Creek - one of my favorite climbs as it is a dead-end unused logging road that gains 3,000'...

A beautiful old silo on East County Road...

Dining on one of the fields on the Valley Floor...

A view of Big Craggy on my way up Falls Creek...

Bump-Out siding and trim complete...

Just needs a railing...

Waiting for the metal trim...

So we finished the interior side of the deck...

Just need the rail cap and the trim metal, and the Bump-Out will be complete.

The Bump-Out siding...

Cold -rolled steel with angle iron trim...

Waiting for the flat stock steel to trim the window and the top edges.

This steel will rust over the next few months to give it a nice rusty red-orange appearance.