The Ring Gave to Frodo Unnatural Long Life…..Jude gets Hold of the Camera Again

 

Darkness crept back into the forest of the world. Rumors grew of a shadow in the East. Whispers of a nameless fear. And the Ring of Power perceived.

It’s time had come.

It abandoned Gollum.

But something happened then that the Ring did not intend. It was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable. A Hobbit: Bilbo Baggins of the Shire.

It gave to Bilbo unnatural long life….and his heirs.

For I have found one of the long lasting heirs of the Baggins family.

Yes, Frodo lives….and still bears the One Ring! This I will share with you.

 

 

 

 

Frodo the Cat.
Frodo the Cat.

Casey of the Brittons’ cat brings great evil here!!!!

Hmmmm. Frodo seems to have gotten a bit fury, and quite small even by Hobbit standards.

Casey’s a big Lord of the Rings fan. Her cat’s name is Frodo so I felt compelled to work that into the blog somehow. That is the One Ring attached to his collar. Cute cat. And I’m not a big fan of cats. Maybe it’s just the name?

On another note my wife and I happen to be  New York Met fans. So my wife and I went to a game Friday night. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Queens which is just an 8 minute walk to the ballpark. Had a great time even though the Mets lost in extra innings. Anyhoo, the plan was go to the Met game Friday night, stay overnight and then  go to Long Island and visit one of New York’s sandy beaches for the day. (Jones Beach West End 2) Perfect beach weather was predicted for the weekend.

So it was just me and the misses but we figured we’d invite our sons down to join us Saturday if they felt like taking the hour and a half drive from home. (Georgia had 2 college friends visiting and they had plans.) So we didn’t bring any beach paraphernalia for them because we weren’t sure if they were coming. They’ve all got their own agendas these days. But let me ask you a question. If you were going to a beach wouldn’t you bring a cooler with a sandwich in it or some snacks? Larry, Moe, and Curly show up without a scrape of food. Then Jude says, “You only brought 4 packs of peanut butter crackers?”  We didn’t even know if they were coming!! And what’s with the phones and the technology? They did text to say they were making the trip down so The Editor texted them to pick up sandwiches on their way. She says: There’s no concession stand boys!!! Stop and get yourselves some lunch!!! (Editor’s note: With the money that I left with them just in case they did come down!!!) But did they heed her texts? No.  So for lunch the boys split 3 packs of peanut butter crackers. They also got my brownie that I was really looking forward to. I’m still a little peeved that the Editor slipped that one by me. I was  looking forward to that brownie. The Editor couldn’t bear to see her sons starve on the beach.  I say: You gotta teach them a lesson.

So let’s get back into Hobbit House building and what’s been going on. Unfortunately, I asked Jude to take some pictures because I’ve been busy at work and I knew that I wasn’t going to be around this weekend. You really never know what you’re going to get with Jude. It’s like shooting dice in a sense. Check out the first one he sends me.

At least Terence is working.
At least Terence is working.

So the main objective this week was to finish the styrofoam detailing around the skylights and clean up the site. Here are a couple of pictures of what they got done.

Foaming the skylights.
Foaming the skylights.

Somehow insulating the house with styrofoam got nicknamed foaming by these two. An example. “We did a lot of foaming today didn’t we boy! Aye, that we did, been foaming all summer long!” So when I get home at night and ask these two knuckleheads how they did at the house today all I get is a foaming rant. Never a straight answer. A couple more pictures.

Skylight sidewalls.
Skylight sidewalls.

So one of the things I didn’t forsee was the mess all this foaming makes. There was a lot of waste from the skylights and every time you cut a piece the little scraps would get blown off the roof and into the pit. Check it out.

Styrofoam pit of doom.
Styrofoam pit of doom.

So it was their doom to clean up this mess. Originally I was thinking a 20 yard container would fit the lumber and the excess styrofoam. Good thing I thought better of it because they filled a whole 30 yard container!

Styrofoam scraps
Styrofoam scraps

The skylights are still not complete but the finish is a bit tricky and I didn’t have the time to show them how to do everything. So what I did have them do is start the interior framing. They finished up the plates and began the outside walls if you will. Check it out.

Exterior wall top plates installed.
Exterior wall top plates installed.

So the exterior walls are going to be double stud wall construction. If you are paying attention you can see our thermal break in the concrete slab above. The styro in the ceiling slab is going to correspond with our exterior wall styro. You’ll get the picture a little later on. Here’s a picture of the beginnings of the interior walls.

Walls going up.
Walls going up.

It’s going to be slow going with the walls. Most of the studs have to be cut to fit. Hmmm. We’ll see if we can come up with a good way of doing them.

I’m hoping to get home at a decent hour one night this week so I can show Jude how to frame out the balance of the skylights. I’m also supposed to meet with the window rep this week as well.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Jim

2 thoughts on “The Ring Gave to Frodo Unnatural Long Life…..Jude gets Hold of the Camera Again”

Leave a Comment