I took a day off yesterday and went fishing with my cousin and another friend, Jerry. We went to Gate to the Mountains. We caught a few trout and three walleyes. The sheep you see here were 50 feet from the boat. They never quit eating.

We also saw about a dozen eagles and several deer. Below is a picture of the Gate.

This body of water is a reservoir on the Missouri River.

Sixth round completed August 14th, 2009

I finished the sixth round on Friday the 14th, and peeled the four logs for the seventh round with the help of my brother Jerry. On the 15th, my cousin Jim and I dug the holes for the 16 footings that will support the deck. On Monday, I will build the forms for the footings and prepare for pouring them this week. The road builder showed up on Saturday and started to build the driveway. He will be back tomorrow the 17th, to work on it. We are going to look for another source of better logs to install once I get above the windows and doors and need full length logs again; less knots, less taper, and straighter.

Fifth Round completed August 11, 2009

Finished the fifth round of logs today. My brother Jerry, and his family are here helping me when they are not sightseeing.

They have peeled three and a half of the four logs for the 6th round, which I will begin installing tomorrow morning.

Here is the north end of the house. The window in the middle is going to be above the kitchen sink.

Fourth round completed August, 7, 2009

Finished the fourth round today and peeled the four logs for the fifth round. I was hailed out at the end of the day on the 6th so I couldn't bolt down the last logs of the 4th round until the morning of the 7th. The hail did a number on my garden. Looks like the tomatoes were not destined to bear fruit this year!

Third round completed July 31, 2009

Today I finished the third round of logs. Now I have to plan the window placements. I am going through a lot of chainsaw fuel and oil. Each log I scribe and shape seems to get somewhat easier. 

Garden progress July 27, 2009

Here is the garden progress. Radishes and peas are doing great. The tomatoes don't seem to do much, but they are still green. The cucumbers are growing well, and I have a couple of watermelon plants growing. I don't think there are enough warm months left for the last two to do anything. We get rain every day, and it has been in the mid to upper 80's and the low 90's on some days. 

The bird house by the garden has several baby bluebirds in residence at this time. They are fully feathered and will probably start flying in a couple of weeks or less.

Second round of log completed July 27, 2009

I finished the second round of logs today. All electrical outlet holes have been drilled. When I start doing the actual wiring, I will have to enlarge the holes I drilled so they will accept the receptacles. For the rest of the wall logs I just need to peel the logs, cut them to length, scribe them, cut the notches and groves, and install them with insulation. Right now the walls are 16 inches high. There will be one more round of logs the same lengths you see here, then I will start the windows in the great room, south bedroom wall and the dining room. Once I start the windows, I will use shorter logs. This should speed up the process. The east side bedroom, bathroom, utility room and kitchen windows will start with the 5th round of logs.