We haven’t posted for awhile because things do not look much differently. That does not mean they aren’t different, however.
We do have a name for our place – Sawmill Ridge. This picture explains that name. All of this started so that Noel had a home for his sawmill. He has been so busy that he hasn’t had time to use it. That changed this last week. It took awhile to get it running because it had been unused for so long. But it is up and running now. He has a sliding door on his shed so he can bring the logs with his tractor directly to the sawmill. And yes, his sawmill does have a great view.
While nothing has happened in the house, things are happening for the house. You might already know this, but Noel isn’t just building a house. For the finishing work, he’s cutting the trees down, putting it through the sawmill, drying it in the kiln, and then building the doors, baseboards, and cabinets. The wood for the cabinets is now dried and ready to go. Some of the wood for the doors will take approximately 2 months to dry. They were just put in the kiln.
The kiln took several weeks to build. It is heated by the boiler. The boiler is not being used for a couple weeks, so right now the kiln is heated with heat lamps since it only needs a low heat for the first few weeks. We have been gone for a couple days, and the dehumidifier has already taken 5 gallons of water out of the wood while we have been gone.
Now that the boiler is working great, firewood had to be a priority. Our boiler heats a large shop, the house, the kiln, and our hot tub. It was heating our garage floor, but in an uninsulated garage, that was taking a lot of wood. Once that was shut down, we use much less wood. Our hot water heater will soon be heated by the boiler.
I might have mentioned before =), Noel doesn’t do anything halfway. He decided he needed some totes for his firewood. He found a source for IBC totes – lots of IBC toes. The plastic can be cut and makes wonderful raised beds. The metal framework holds his stacks of wood. He can use the forklift on the tractor to move the totes to the boiler. The inner plastic tub gets cut apart and is used to cover the wood and keep the rain off, but most importantly he makes raised beds with the plastic tubs.
The Sawmill Ridge lumberyard is well on its way! Noel has made a rack for his wood, so he can have all the kinds of wood and thicknesses organized. He really isn’t planning a lumberyard, but he does hope to sell some wood.
We have had busy family times over the last couple of months. Jon came to help Grandpa cut down trees, and he brought his family along.
Jeremy and his family have moved back to Wisconsin. We are here this weekend for his installation service as the new pastor of Redeemer Church in Milwaukee. They could use prayers right now. They are having a hard time finding a house. The housing market in Milwaukee is a crazy seller’s market. The house will be on the market for one day. They look at the house, immediately make an offer, and so do 7 other people. They have offered on two houses, substantially over asking price, and lost them both. Rental properties are very few; a 3-bedroom rental house is at least $3000 a month. Their car also died on the trip out, so they need a car. It’s not a luxury; Anna will be in a different part of the city than Jeremy for work, and the kids have to get to school. This is a God-thing, and it would be so great for the whole family to see God answer big!
I brought my mom last week to see all of her great-grandkids at the same time, as Jeremy’s family made a stop-over in Kansas City to visit Zak & Josh’s families. And it is exciting to see Jeremy’s family this weekend again, just one week later. I could get use to this! And besides that, Noel got to buy all of his favorite Wisconsin foods to last him for a few months.
We are soon to get top soil in our front yard so we can try to plant grass. “Dirt cheap” is not a true statement! We are trying to get some more trees cut down in the back, so our view is opened up before the leaves come out.
Noel has actually just started a new part-time job which he is very excited about. It has to do with building, wood, and spreadsheets. What more could you want in a job! He is an estimator; he creates material lists from building plans for our local lumber yard. They have gotten to know him well over the last 2 years and have repeatedly told him he needed to come to work for them. He can do this on his own schedule, from home. This is the perfect job for him! He is going to need some minor surgery this next week; he cannot lift for 6 weeks, so the timing is perfect as he needs to take it a bit easy, so he can work some extra hours getting his spreadsheets set up.
There is always something to do. We have enjoyed having quite a lot of company in the last couple months. You are welcome to come for a visit. It’s always nice to take a break and visit with friends and family!