Our National Folk Farmhouse Modifications - Siding The She Shed Wall

We are due for a heatwave in the upcoming week of hot humid horrible weather around the Great Lakes. So it was a good decision to push ahead and get as much done as we could on the exterior of the She Shed conversion.

On Friday, we got up early and went right to work. Steve set out all of my saw horses and we laid out the pieces of the new manufactured fiber siding. I started out with my little roller and my paint. It seemed that as soon as I got one coat on, it was dry. So I was able to get the second coat on right away in the next hour. There was a nice breeze blowing and we were comfortable even though the humidity had been creeping up throughout the morning.  The stuff on the right is the beige primer and the stuff on the left is the bright white.

Steve started laying down the very first piece. This first one is a 8" cement board that's made to look like a piece of wood. I pre-painted it with two coats of my matching thick oil gray foundation paint. When Steve placed it on, it's still raised a little bit off of the cement foundation but I think it looks good as a starter piece.

The first piece is very important to be level and is the base piece on which we start lining up the siding, piece by piece.

Using galvanized nails that have a little twist to them, like a slight screw pattern, we started putting on piece after piece of the fibered manufactured siding. You can see in this close-up that the texture on each board mimics wood, and looks very similar to our original wood clapboard siding.  Steve made little spacer blocks to help with how much of each strip of siding is revealed. The siding pieces are 5 inches wide but we are revealing 4 inches. That means one inch is tucked underneath the previous row of siding.

We worked our way up the bottom surface piece by piece until we reached the bottom edge of the windows.  Kneeling on pads for the bottom strips, and working upside down to nail in evenly was hard.  The fibered siding can't have "blossoms"or "elephant feet" from mis-hits of the hammer not striking right on the head of the nail.

Adding in a piece of rubberized flashing under the window, we were then able to insert the top edge of the next strip by some careful cuts on the saw. Then it was time for a little lunch break. He didn't even want to come in the house so I had to make up some ham sandwiches and side snacks to bring outside so I could get him to sit down for 2 minutes and eat something. Topped off by a big icy tall cold glass of lemonade, then he was ready to jump back up and get back at the job before it got too hot.

It was time to cut some shorter pieces of siding to go up along side of the set of windows.  The strips of siding were 16 ft long when we bought them. The length we needed for the width of the wall was only 11 feet. From the leftover strips of 5 feet we were able to get four perfect little pieces that fit. Steve carefully cut each one so they snugged in, but not too tight. Also a bead of caulking goes underneath the side edge of each piece of this manufactured siding to create a good seal as you nail it in.  Later, when Steve was done, he ran another bead of caulking over the entire seam from top to bottom so every end piece is actually double caulked from behind and from the front. His little spacer pieces worked very well to hold the boards even while we nailed them into place.

We worked as a team, especially on the upper portions where we each went up a ladder with the 11 foot long piece suspended between us. He would put in 1 nail and we would level it using our spacers and then the accurate 4 foot level. It's nice that the pieces came in 16 foot length, so we have no seams in the 11 foot spans of siding.

Here we are on the very last piece! How exciting! the heat was creeping up and we were dripping wet with sweat. We were losing our shade as the sun worked its way over to this west side of the house.

I hopped down off of my ladder for just enough time to snap this picture before we were done.

Ahhhhh a job well done! It was really hot and humid, but it felt good to finish it up nevertheless. I know it looks kind of plain like a big blank white wall here, but it also looks a million percent better than what we started with.

Now for the frosting on the cake....
I found matching shutters for $8 on clearance
and I painted them to match.

Ahhhhh 

the shutters really make it looks so much better, 

don't they? 

Now we have enough extra pieces of siding that we bought to replace the few bottom rows in rough shape along the north side of the house over on the right, that you can see in this photo. We will tackle that another day.

I think it all blends together now. Even though it is an attached garage, it will add 430+ square feet of extra space for my She Shed area, but not really technically adding living area to the house. It will be for my weaving looms, quilting frame, cutting table, and some of our sunroom furniture.  We are going to let the grass grow over the original driveway that runs along side of the house up to the new wall. It's filling in pretty good already and we're going to add a little more black dirt and grass seed once we are done doing so much building and construction on the side of the house.

Considering that this is what we started with, 

I think it's a great change, don't you?

Later we will work on a little walkway, maybe of decking material and kind of a detached pergola / gazebo / arbor / pagoda thing between the big garage and the new entrance door on the side of the she shed?  Always thinking of future projects....

We also invested in enough siding to go around the sunny corner nook area of the kitchen on the east/south corner of the home too. But we won't tackle that until we replace those windows. Maybe next year?  At least we have the siding squirreled away that matches this stuff and we will work on that when we have time.

For now we are just going to sit back and admire the fact that we closed off this garage and put in a nice wall with windows.  We are looking at adding some shrubbery along the front and making a nice curved flower bed to go around and meet up with the one alongside the She Shed. Maybe a tall spire type cedar tree on the corner? Maybe some globe arborvitaes in front of the windows? We will wander the nurseries and see what we can find. This is the time of year that there are a lot of bargains and sales.

We did walk around one nursery and look at their trees and shrubs but didn't find anything that we really wanted. But what I did find were the 2 clematis plants that I wrote about in the blog two blogs back. We had looked at a couple trellises for one of the clematis but couldn't find anything at a reasonable price.

I did see a beautiful 6 ft tall wooden one online, but they wanted $79 for it. That was crazy! So Steve grabbed $5 worth of wood and cut some slats on his table saw. He both glued and screwed the cross pieces together and created this beautiful 8 ft tall trellis!!

What a goofy guy, hey?

I gave it two coats of my famous red paint and let it dry overnight. Using some little spacer blocks so it would stand away from the cedar siding a little bit, we put it into place on the North side wall of the She Shed. I carefully planted the purple clematis and unwound the strands from the little trellis that came on the original pot from the nursery.

I was able to tie each little tender tendril to a fan piece of the trellis. After it grips on better as it grows I will untie the little pieces of string.

While we were out and about looking at shrubbery, we stopped by the Mennonite store up on County A called Brubakers. Last time we were in there I had seen some beautiful slabs of Corian countertop type cutting boards with little rubber feet on the bottom side. They make them in different sizes and I wasn't sure what size would fit between my inset stove on the island and the edge of the countertop. Now that I had a measurement we were able to go back and choose one out of the stack and I found a nice color that coordinated with our island material. 

We like also buying their bulk foods and wholesome non chemical and pesticide free items like their eggs and meats. We tease the grandkids that the eggs came straight out of the butt of the chickens that are gathered in the side yard of the store!!!

Another item we picked up while we were gathering some supplies are the products that I grew up with as a child. We are close enough to the U.P. of Michigan that many of the ethnic foods that are readily available up there come to the stores just over the border into the Wisconsin as well. Things like pasties from The Pasty Oven in Florence or the Otto's Steaks from Meyer Meats in Caspian....  and pizzas, ravoili, and sauce from Dina Mia kitchens from Iron River.

This item is pretty special from my childhood.  These are either Swedish or Norwegian, I can't remember. But they are called Trenary Toast and they are made in Trenary, Michigan. They are hard twice baked pieces of toast and you can get the version of cinnamon and sugar which is very good with coffee in the morning. There is also a raisin version and a plain version, as well as I think a garlic? They are hard pieces of toast that stay forever in the brown paper bag that is a trademark symbol of their product. Think kind of like Italian biscotti but these are a little different. Maybe best described like a very large hard crouton with cinnamon and sugar on it? They're great to dip in coffee and also good to give to little babies that are teething. Similar to something called Zweibac in the grocery stores in other parts of the country.

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Two blogs back I talked about the Y adapter to our hot and cold faucets alongside of the house. In this photo you can see the faucets and adapter over my shoulder. This is why we like to have both hot and cold running water outside. We had a certain little girl Sheltie who had decided she needed to roll in the deer poop on one of our walks in our big big backyard!

Also the little boy Sheltie had a poopy butt from eating a little too many treats from the grandkids. His digestion does not work too well if he is given people food. With long haired dogs, well, you can understand what happens in the nether regions of their behind fluff.

It was time to scrub a dub dub them in the doggy hot tub. Binney doesn't mind so much, but Finnegan is really not a fan of a bath. You can tell. Look at his face!

It was pretty easy to scrub them up with nice soapy bubbles and dog shampoo as well as a little people hair conditioner to make their fluffy coats shine and feel so soft. Once they are all rinsed off, we take them on leash up to the front porch so they can dry on the clean wood surface and not go back and roll in the dirt, or the deer poop, again!

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Today is terribly hot and muggy, the heat indexes are going to soar. Steve left early to go help both of his brothers on a gardening shed at his younger brother's home in Menasha. I am taking it easy today staying indoors and I think I'm going to finally start hanging some artwork on the walls. We have frames stacked up in the guest room that need to be hung. We just didn't know what we wanted where. Steve said it was up to me and I could pick out what I wanted and where I put it. He said he trusts my judgment! Lol... So now he can't complain if I put up what I want.....

A New Motorhome???

What is this?

A new motorhome???

So do you think we traded in our big Safari Diesel Pusher

 for a smaller version?

 Downsized? 

Decided to go back to gas?

Nawwwwwww

Our oldest daughter and her husband Waylen decided they wanted an easier way to travel with three children and two dogs.  What a great choice they made!

They already own a travel trailer that they keep permanently parked on some private land. So they are not newbies to the rving lifestyle. They both have been camping in one form or another their entire lives.  But they did decide that when traveling with the family, it made more sense to have their bedrooms and bathroom and kitchen facilities going right along with them.

As opposed to hotel rooms 

and restaurants 

and stopping every 5 minutes 

so one of the three kids can use the potty?

They did a lot of research and were very careful in their buying choices. They wanted something not too old not too new, but with all the bugs worked out. They looked at all different choices of floor plans and features, amenities and benefits, and made a decision based upon their own needs.  They wanted enough storage, good cargo carrying capacity and enough seatbelts for the two older kids and a place to tether the youngest's car seat facing forward. A queen bed was a plus, and a bath that is accessible even with the bedroom slide in during travel.  They found it all in a rig the right size to fit their driveway.

They found exactly what they were looking for from a meticulous private party seller.  They went down last weekend to inspect it thoroughly and test drive it before making up their minds. They were very pleased with what they arrived as a final decision and made the arrangements to pick it up on Saturday.

Of course, their pick up arrangements involved us!

While the two older children attended a different family function, they took the youngest, Claire, along with us in our car. We drove down to the other side of Madison, Wisconsin to pick it up. After a positive walk-through and a exchange of handshakes and keys, it was time to hit the road.

I followed along behind in the car while Steve rode with them on the first leg of the journey.

After a nice stop over for lunch, which they treated us, it was time for the second leg of the journey. I got to ride with them in the motorhome while Steve followed in the car behind.

It was a beautiful trip and Waylen drove the rig like a pro. He even made it through tons of construction and orange barrels like a veteran RV driver.  We wound along through the green Wisconsin countryside on a sunshiny day of summer joy.

They decided to play a little trick on the two older children. The children had no idea what their parents had purchased. So while the two older kids were still at their family function. the parents reached their home, and quickly loaded up some of their gear for an overnight.

Then they drove the motorhome over to park in our driveway at our house. After that, they went and got the children from their other family event.

Innocently, the family decided to ride their bicycles over to our house to come for a visit. Littlest Claire had stayed at our house with us so the other kids were just assuming that they were coming to pick up Claire--- who was being babysat by Grandma and Grandpa. They had no idea that that big motorhome in the driveway was going to belong to them!!!

Here's a little video clip of their surprise. 

It was so cute:

The kids were told they could look inside of the motorhome because it belonged to some friends of ours who were visiting.

Once they were inside and looking around, Clayton was remarking that those people had a blanket just like his! hmmmm??

Of course when they realized that the motorhome was REALLY theirs, they were greatly surprised! Clayton exclaimed that his parents had "pranked him"!

(up on the bunk)

The kids explored every nook and cranny of their new RV.  We made the camping experience complete by rolling out the awning, and setting around in lawn chairs. Sitting back and admiring their choice, and the sleek clean new lines of their beautiful motorhome.

We topped off the evening of camping experiences with lighting a campfire and making s'mores.

Have you seen this new way to make S'mores? Instead of graham crackers and chocolate bars, you put the toasted marshmallow between two fudge stripe cookies!!! What an easy way to make s'mores where the chocolate is evenly distributed around the marshmallow and held firm with cookie on each side. Melty fun!

Little Claire, by the light of the campfire, 

thought they were delicious.

We sat around the fire, telling stories, and singing old camping songs. The kids were singing line after line as we taught them the songs from our own childhood.  We looked at the stars, the kids found the Big Dipper, and the almost full moon peeked out over the trees in our woods.

Staying up way too late past their bedtime, they finally tumbled off to bed. Erin and Waylen got to enjoy the peace and quiet of their motor home after the kids were all snuggled away in their sleeping spots. The ;parents sat up playing cards and enjoying their new purchase. Awwwwwww

~~~~~~~~~

Early in the morning, the littlest camper was wide awake. Of course, her daddy brought her into the house to come snuggle with Grandma and Grandpa for a while. The two older kids got to sleep in.

As the other lazy heads got out of bed, we enjoyed some coffee and donuts and fruit on the front porch.  Clayton took this picture for us....

So we took a picture back of him. 

Little Claire went to work watering my flowers.

Clayton helped Grandpa spread some more grass seed on the two large bald spots in the front yard. They are leftover spaces from when the previous owners had two very large trees taken down.  Soon the grass should take over and fill in the gaps.

After a quick slapdash and polish around inside to put away their gear, it was time to read a couple stories and play a few games while the parents got the rig road worthy.  I gave them their own copy of Brown Bear Brown Bear to keep in the motorhome. A family favorite.

They packed up their rig toot sweet, and decided to head out to a nice beach 50 miles up the shore of Lake Michigan. It was going to be a hot muggy day. They were going to day camp in the parking lot a bit, play on the beach, and make a little lunch in their cute little kitchen.

Sooo much better than cramming three wet kids, two grubby dogs, a pile of sandy swimming suits, leaking ice melted coolers and soggy leftover lunch stuff back into bags and totes to drive back home 50 miles in a car.  Nope!  

In their motorhome, Claire could take a nice nap while the older kids played in the park. Then they could change clothes, have a nice lunch, put the leftover food back in the fridge and relax in the shade before heading home.  Everyone clean and dry and comfy with enough room to spread out and enjoy the ride.

May the memories start to build

May the adventure begin

May the roads ahead be free from troubles

as you start this new chapter. 

National Folk Farmhouse - Rainbarrel - Hose Rack and Faucets

The weather was pretty hot and miserable and steamy yesterday so we didn't get a lot done on the outside wall of the She Shed.

We did do some measuring and figuring, and started to lay out the exterior siding plans. I'm going to give each piece of siding double coats of paint before they are put up. I'm waiting for a less humid day to do that.

It's very peaceful to stand out in the yard, listening to the birds and feel the wind and enjoy the sunshine while I paint on my saw horses in the yard. With this hot humid weather it just was not comfortable at all to say the least.

Once I get all of the siding painted, then Steve will be able to start putting it up. We will try to match up the lines as well as we can to the existing siding on the north side of the house. That way it will make a smooth transition around the corner to the west wall.

We did stop at a little local nursery to check out some of their shrubs and trees. I would like to get a clump or two of white birch for the front yard. Also I'm thinking a couple nice globe arborvitaes and maybe a tall spire arborvitae around the window area of the She Shed. That way it will make that section look more like a part of a house, rather than just a converted garage.

While we were at the nursery, I found 2 clematis plants that seemed to be pretty healthy, even though it's the end of the season for planting. They were an additional 30% off which was very pleasing to me when we reached the checkout. One has the most beautiful red blooms, and the other one has the deep rich purple that we used to have at our last home in Chilton.

I planted the red one down at the South end of the porch with a cute little white trellis that had been left behind by the previous owners. Steve found the trellis in a package, brand new, in the garage.

We mounted it to the edge of the porch and hopefully we can get the clematis to climb up the trellis. Then maybe it will soon get up onto the porch railings.

I decided to put the purple one on the north wall of the She Shed. It needs a trellis that we will pick one up today or Steve will build one.

This north wall still gets sunshine in the afternoon and some bright light in the morning as well. I hope it will take off there. It looks pretty healthy.

Maybe somewhere down the line we will build an arbor across between the She Shed and the big garage. Maybe I can get the clematis trained to grow up and over the arbor. Or maybe some nice ivy. Or maybe a bit of both?

I looked up arbors and found one that I thought was really pretty. Of course this one is in plastic PVC vinyl. I think we will build our own out of wood and make it the way we want.

But before we tackle anything like that, we want to get the She Shed done. I miss weaving on my looms and sewing on my quilts, as well as spinning yarn on my spinning wheel or knitting socks on my antique circular sock knitting machine.

Steve and I took today off from building things... instead we are visiting Steve's Dad up in Door County.  It's a beautiful day for a ride. The sky is blue with puffy white clouds. Sometimes we have to relax and take a break and enjoy our summer, before things get hot and humid again.


Catching up on a few of our past projects that we have done during my blogging hiatus, here is one that I thought was kinda sweet.

At our last home in Chilton, I had ordered a beautiful metal hose rack. Since it was bolted to the house, it needed to be left behind as a "fixture" when we sold the house.

I decided I liked it so much, because it was a classy wrought iron metal design instead of a cheap plastic bracket or a chunky vinyl crank device. I ordered a new one for our new home.

Steve mounted it tight to the side of the house and I brushed over the black with a layer of red paint on the outside surface. Now it's highlighted and matches nicely to the rest of the house. It's those little things that make you smile you know?

Speaking of outside faucets, Steve was replacing the cold faucet to the exterior and at the same time he ran a hot faucet as well. These are just bolted temporarily into place until that piece of siding is replaced.

We have always liked having access to both hot and cold water on the outside of the home. It's good for washing vehicles, the motorhome,  washing dogs or filling things up like grandkids swimming pools. We bought a little Y shaped adapter that allows us to blend the hot or the cold to just the right temperature as desired.

Of course, in the winter, these hoses and the Y adapter are all removed. But the faucets themselves are frost-free and the valve is set way deep inside into the basement so we can still use water if we need to in the winter.

Another project along the north side of the house was to put one of my rain barrels there for watering my flowers.  Steve first replaced all of the cracked and missing pieces of plastic rain gutter with nice new steel rain gutters and downspouts.

I had repainted the rain barrel from its original blue and white pattern from our last home, to red and white for this home. Once he was done with the downspout and gutter I was able to set my rain barrel into place. He leveled it off to get it correctly balanced so it can fill up now during the next rainfall.  I painted my little metal watering cans as well. That's another thing that makes me smile....

Our car ride is done here, so I think it's time to post this blog.

Stay tuned for more progress tomorrow on my She Shed at our National Folk Farmhouse!