greenhouse (roof panels---south side, gable panels, and ridge cap)

the roof is looking pretty good.  yesterday staal finished putting up the panels on the south side and i got the gable panels tacked up.  it's starting to look (and feel) kind of greenhouse-y.

working with the wiggle board and poly panels was a new experience and staal did his learning and technique building on the north side of the roof---he was working pretty efficiently by the time he got to the south side.

we have a roof!

i saved some flat dual-wall polycarbonate panels from a kit greenhouse i built (and exploded) a few years back.   it's a handy material in the garden and pretty easy to work with.  i've used some of it to build cold frames.  i found several pieces from the gables of the kit---the roof pitch is different here so i've had to cut them to a different angle to make them work for the new gable.

fortunately it's pretty easy to cut with a utility knife.  

i cut a couple pieces to fit above and below the vent and then worked my way from the center out to each end adjusting the recycled panels one by one to make sure they would fit together well.
once i got all the panels cut i got them tacked up on the gable.

since i used recycled material some of the panels don't line up exactly with the existing stud spacing so i've got some more work to do to get everything sealed and looking spiffy.  i think it will work out well though.

today staal started work on an adjustable ridge cap.  the roof panels were put up leaving an open space along the ridge which we'll use for ventilation during the warmer part of the year.  in cool weather the ridge cap can be lowered to seal out most of the cold air, rain, and snow.  

the ridge cap is 16 feet long and a little awkward to handle so i helped staal get it up and down...and back up onto the roof.  staal put an eye screw into one end and attached a rope to make moving it easier.

after a little adjusting and measuring we hauled it back down to the ground and staal got the rest of the metal attached.

 

then glued some inverted pieces of wiggle board to the tops of the roof panels along the ridge so that the ridge cap will have a flat place to rest and get a good seal.

applying an adhesive caulk to the wiggle board

after the inverted wiggle board was stuck down we lugged the ridge cap back up and set it in place to help the wiggle board keep good contact while the caulk dries.

at some point staal will work out a mechanism for raising and lowering the ridge cap from the inside so we can vent as needed but we won't need to worry much about that until we get closer to spring.  for now i think staal's pretty excited about figuring out how to get the glass on the walls---so am i. 

one fear of many

from the garden i hear the familiar whine of metal through wood,
then, some indistinguishable utterance of reproach,
barely audible above the whirring of the saw blade,
then silence,
and a second later the back door opening and closing,
my mind conjures a variety of horrors,
as i walk,
swiftly,
then run,
to the house,
from the other side of the screen door,
i see you,
one hand in the other,
i am calm and terrified,
still and frantic,
and as i open the screen door,
relieved,
to find you,
removing a splinter from your thumb

morning rounds---fulfilling the contract (for zane)

in the morning, you walk with me to feed the chickens,
a few feet ahead,
nose to the ground,
reading the log of recent activities,
breathing in all the comings and goings,
deciphering time stamps,
distinguishing the signatures scrawled by moonlight,
from those that tinge the morning dew,
you slow,
go still,
i look in the direction of your focus,
100 ft ahead under the big oak,
breakfasting on an acorn,
bushy-tailed and insolent,
i whisper, squirrel, to you,
and you tear off,
a wild blur,
a flock of quail bursts from the brush pile in your wake,
a flurry of sputtering wing beats and alarmed squips scattering skyward,
you near your quarry,
closing fast,
eager jaws and a predator's fantasies,
in the space of two feet and a split second,
an acorn abandoned,
a gray streak up a nearby cedar trunk,
mocking chatter from a high branch,
countered with a few frustrated whines and yips from below,
the round concluded,
score tallied,
the contract between predator and prey found intact,
and an agreement to resume the game at your next encounter,
then, nose back to the ground,
and on to the next appointment,
a neighbor's cat has wandered into the yard

greenhouse (purlins, roof panels, and stucco removal---south wall)

we had a lot of family time last week---gabe came monday evening and spent tuesday with us and nick, aischa, soumaya and malaak came friday night (halloween) and spent the weekend with us.  it was nice to see everyone. 
staal got the purlins up on the north side of the roof on monday before gabe arrived and i planted some garlic and worked in the garden.

gabe brought fresh oysters with him and he and staal cooked them on the grill with some nice garlic butter gabe fixed up.

delicious!  thanks, gabe

staal spent a couple afternoons adding railings to the stairs that go up to the room above the garage so aischa and the girls would be safe during their stay.

i got things cleaned up around the greenhouse---shoveled up all the stucco fragments and picked up as many stray nails as i could find with the magnet.

we spent some time friday afternoon getting things ready for rain---we got a little over an inch between friday evening and saturday morning. 

nice lunch at the sugar pine saturday.

on monday it was back to work.  staal started putting up wiggle board and roof panels on the north side of the roof---i was up and down the ladder fetching tools and panels etc. 

tacking up the wiggle board with the pneumatic nailer

drilling and screwing down the first panel

each screw has a rubber washer that seals the screw hole

a bead of silicone caulk creates a watertight seal where the panels overlap

staal got most of the panels up on the north side yesterday (monday).  today, before he went back to putting up the rest of the panels, he cut a break in the stucco on the south wall so i could get to work tearing it off.

i found an artifact attached to the window frame underneath the stucco---wish there was a date

screwing down the last panel on the north side

rescued a mantis egg case

after getting the panels up on the north side, staal started putting up the purlins on the south side.

i got all the stucco down, cut up, and hauled out of the way.  i decided to leave the paper up to fool the deer and keep the chickens out of the garden.

a girl and her wrecking bar

it's looking really neat with the roof panels up.

can't wait to see it with the rest of the panels on.