Christmas break

Mild weather returned to Taos for the final week before our Christmas break. We finished up some details. Here we finish the parapets on the master bedroom.











Here are the lookouts and fascia on the guest bedroom. We use rough cut cedar for these details.











Here is the view from the dining room to the kitchen and breakfast nook.




We will be back to work on Jan. 2nd. 2008 Have a merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Shaping up

The house starts to take shape. This view is from the street looking at the South end of the house.

Digging out

Yesterday we spent five hours clearing snow off the work site. This morning we woke up to a beautiful blue sky and a brisk 9 degrees.


Ivy and Johnathen assemble the posts and beams that will be part of the kitchen living room area






A view above.

snow day

It has been snowing for the last 5 days. We are not working of course. I would like to use this time to vent about my pet peeve. long term weather forecasters. They come out of the woodwork around October and predict what kind of Winter we are going to have. This years prediction? A dry, mild Winter with little or no moisture. Don't buy a ski pass it will be nothing but mud up there. OK all meteorologists repeat after me, "We can't predict the weather beyond five days and we will stop trying"

Corbels, paripits and canales

Ivy plumbs the post that will be between the dining room and living room. The decorative pieces that support the beam are called corbels.

Ivan and I start building the paripits (false walls) above the garage. The paripits will give the garage the appearance of being the same elevation all around.

I set the canale which is a copper lined decorative spout for water.

Pay attention to these Southwestern building terms there will be a quiz at the end of the term.

Kiva wall

Ivan and I finished up the kiva wall today. The wall is made of two rows of cinder blocks stacked with 2 inch rigid foam insulation in between. The fireplace builder will use this corner to create a beautiful fireplace.

Ivy prepares the first post which will support the center of the kitchen area.

Trusses

We got some of the trusses this week. Trusses are an engineered roof support. We order them according to the length and pitch of the roof. They come pre made and we set them on the beam. This is a fairly easy and quick way to get the roof up. There is plenty of room in the trusses for blown in insulation.