The door frames

Dad thought it would be cool to make a rounded door, so after some internet research, he came up with a plan. First we needed something to form the board to in order to make it bend the right shape. This old tire bolted to this board, and straps ready to hold it in place untill it cools, will work just fine... Now, in order for the board to bend, it must be made pliable. Steam is the fastest way to do that. So, Dad made a steambox out of 1x12 cedar (the same stuff we used for the floor) .

He inserted supports along the length of the box to keep the board from sagging inside the box. And a hole drilled in the top let us insert a meat thermometer to make sure that it reached a sufficient board bending temp. We found some usefull instructions here .

We took the side burner off of the gas grill to heat the water with. These pics are from our second attempt. The first was successful. The second try failed because the board (pictured) had a grain pattern that caused it to split instead of bend :( But the first one turned out well and here it is installed. I'll post more pics when we do the upper story door frame.
Isn't it cute!

And here's what Daniel likes to do in his spare time, build his own cars out of leftover lumber.

Who needs a Suburban!?!

Fort catch-up

With the floor in place, it is time to put up the pre-built wall frame. And when moving something heavy, always use something with wheels :)The boys helped to move the wall frames...and to hold them straight while Dad lag bolted (pre drilled of course) them to the floor. If you didn't notice, the frames are also painted (or going top be), to keep down the weather damage that they may encounter I took alot of muscle to keep it straight sometimes. And many power tools to fasten it together :DAnd here's the paint crew.Daniel's finally able to swing a hammer. He's our natural builder. He is walling the inside of the fort with plywood so that we can paint it. So now the fort has a foundation, floor,frame, and walls. The boys are having a-lot of fun building it, not to mention the learning that is going on :)

Daybook

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/
FOR TODAY March 26, 2009...
Outside my window...it is sunny and windy; so it looks nice out, but feels cold.
I am thinking...that I need to get back into a routine and also that I will start posting on the fort again soon. Also, I think it is time to take my baby ticker down ...
I am thankful for...the little things that make a difference in life.
From the learning rooms...the kids made this swallow mobile, that Anne had blogged about, to hang from the cieling fan for "Swallow Day" and will be planting a garden this week.
From the kitchen...we made the sugar cookies from
Catholic Cuisine, with blue sugar sprinkles,for the feast of the Annunciation.
I am wearing...my denim tennies, denim skirt, and a red t-shirt that I will change as soon as I'm done with this because I has been spit upon by my cute little baby James.
I am creating...so many things all at once that none of them are getting done :(This is a lenten tree that I made from seeing this one at Shower of Roses, but I am using Dom Guarrenger's Liturgical Year books and making symbols to match it day by day.Needless to say I am a little behind with the symbols, but it's coming along.
I am going...to get more wood for the boys' fort with the money dad made fixing up an old bug and selling it for 3 times what he paid for it. (he's so smart :)
I am reading...not much right now, no time.But I am learning more about HTML :)
I am hoping...our garden works this year.
I am hearing...Peter helping Thomas put on his shoes and Amber play out back.Everyone else is quietly doing math.
A picture thought I am sharing... The circus car (there's 7 clowns in there :)

We were Bug owners for a week! The kids almost voted to keep the VW to play in and forgo the fort...almost.

Love, Gloria

The Fort is underway!

We pre-built the flooring and walls in our carport, so that we could put the framework up quickly when the ground was prepped. With reclaimed, 1" cedar siding, 2x6s and 4x8s, we built a ground floor skid that will support the fort. (isn't recycling cool!) Dad is explaining how the space left is too narrow for a full board and how to measure twice and cut once :)

After leveling the ground, and marking out our perimeter, we dumped a yard of roadbase on our building site.The skid was easier to move without the flooring attatched, so we put them back together on the site. Notice the pre-built wall frames in the background? The boys took advantage of some rainy weather to put them together. They will bolt down quickly once the flooring is secure.

With all of the floor boards in place, Dad pre-drills the nail holes to prevent the wood from splitting ( a must when using reclaimed boards), while Holly keeps him company with her constant chatter and dances on the new 'stage' :)
When all the holes are drilled, the boys get busy filling them with nails.

Daniel got to fetch tools and supplies for everybody so that the building would go smoother, but he's still bummed about not getting to swing a hammer :(
The smiles say it all! :)

The fort is underway!

It has been a while since I've posted on this, but I have been taking pictures so that I can keep track. So I'll make this a catch-up post and try to be more regular about it from now on.

A brief history... We have been talking about building a play/tree house for/with our boys for about 6 years and never had the rescources or time to do it. Well, DH heard that a house was being torn down and he obtained permission to salvage what building materials he could from it. So we got enough used lumber to start The Fort (so named because the boys are a little too old for a 'playhouse' now :) It will be built on skids so we can move it if we ever move, and it will have an upstairs for the big kids with a first floor for littles. Since DH is in construction, he is using this oppertunity to teach the boys how to build a building, and, of course, everything is being done 'to code'. That means 2x6s for the first floor walls and everything! My more 'akward' boys are actually getting the hang of using a hammer, and Daniel and Peter are just loving 'shop class'! Well, when I get all of the pics downloaded, I will give a play-by-play of the project. I have already posted the preperation of the construction zone by removing the pecan stump with Amber overseeing the whole operation ;)
Our goal is to finish it by summer.
Till next time~Gloria

The stump is GONE!

Allen worked untill his chain saw bit the dust! Then he resorted to his beefy drill and sawsall. The boys helped to hammer the wedge into the crack that dad made while he cut the remaining parts of the stump that were hanging on and a prybar did the rest. The funny thing is, that about three people stopped by to tell us that we could have a stump grinder come and take care of it fast. I asked Allen if any of them offered to pay for it:)

The smell of RAIN

I so love the way the rain smells. It has been such a DRY summer that you can almost hear the trees sighing with relief in this blessed shower. I hope that it returns often this winter (although, maybe not too often:) Peter is all dressed up in his black rubber boots ready to go 'puddle jumping' in the rain. He is always wanting to be in water, a regular river rat. I've got all the windows open to let that clean, fresh air through the house.
It looks like our stump will have to wait a while before Allen can finish cutting it out. The boys are so anxious to get their fort started that it's a shame that the stump of our old Pecan tree is being so stubborn, but, alas,it must be gone before Dad can grade the yard so that the fort will be level. Here's a picture of the stump after the boys dug all of the dirt from around it and dad has cut a few roots away. Amber likes to "help" when everyone's working on it:)