A Spyder and Beetle

We headed over to Gatlinburg Friday afternoon too late to perform any sanding on the wall.  Saturday, we were able to sand the sheet rock and apply another coat.  Brent was able to face another beam on the stairwell and install the small amount of sheet rock on the side of the stair well that opens to the den.  Got up early Sunday and headed back early with the girls in tow.

We surprised them each with a convertible for their upcoming UT graduation on May 11, 2012.  Jennifer got an orange Mitsubishi Spyder and Jessica received a Volkswagen Beetle.  The were both surprised excited and appreciative.  We topped it off with each driving us to eat lunch at Pappadeauxs.

It was a great day.

Jessica's Beetle on the left and Jennifer's Spyder on the right.

Lunch, Dinner and Lunch - The Three Essentials

We did not head over to Gatlinburg this weekend to work for the first time in a while.  Instead, Becky and Tommy were dropped off by Rebecca and David for an overnighter.  We did make the most of it, that is in eating out.  After arriving on Saturday around noon, we wasted no time in heading over to a local restaurant Riccos World Kitchen for lunch.  Oyster poboys was the unanimous choice and it was a correct one.  These were great.

So after lunch, napping and shopping were on the menu as we prepared for dinner.  We headed to Mi Mis' which was a  new restaurant for us but one Becky and Tommy had eaten in before at Las Vegas.  The food was great and afterwards we headed over to Starbucks for some coffee.

Then after a full night sleep (minus one hour) we were prepared for the main event.  After David, Rebecca, Conley and Stella arrived, we loaded up headed over to Pappadeaux's.  As usual, the food was great and we had a good time.

It was great to take a break from the work at Blackbearry Ridge, but the work still needs to get done before the May 11th graduation date, so we will be back in action the upcoming weekend.

Good News - Bad News

The good news is that Jessica did not break and/or damage any ligaments in her ankle.  The bad news is that she does have a severe high ankle sprain and must wear a boot for one (1) month.

We have decided to take the weekend off and not work on Blackbearry Ridge this weekend.  We will have two (2) more weekends to work before heading down to Louisiana for the first week in April..

Jessica withering in pain........ha ha.  She was showing her acting skills in this photo, but she did get the boot.

The girls in their living room at UT.

Hitting The Wall

This was a rough weekend at The Ridge.  Brent was at meetings in Wyoming and did not return till late on Friday.  We dodge all the bad weather (tornadoes) on Friday night and made it to Gatlinburg around 10:00 pm.

Sleeping in is goes only as far as what Cookie allows so we were up and moving early.  We did manage to get all the sheet rock installed on the stair well wall, but we were too tired to tape and put the first coat of mud on Saturday night.  We did have a fire going all day and never left The Ridge.

We received a call Saturday night from Jennifer telling us that on returning from the UT basketball game, Jessica had fallen and had a very swollen ankle, which she could not put any weight on to walk.  So after they hobbled back to the apartment, a trip that night to the emergency room was on tap.  X-rays proved negative, but ligament damage was a high probability, so crutches and an appointment with an orthopedics were given.

Sunday morning we applied the tape and first coat of mud with a few pieces of trim.  After all the travel this week, Brent hit the wall and we decided to leave early and stop by Knoxville to check on Jessica.  The morning brought several snow showers  that were pretty constant throughout the morning did not leave anything but a dusting.

After spending some time in Knoxville with the girls we headed down south and made it back around 8:00 pm.  The pictures will show the progress made this week.

The last section of dry wall to install and the starting line for this weekend.

The "Little Giant" ladder has been very useful on the stairs.

The first two (2) pieces of dry wall are installed.

The tape and first of three coats of mud.

Oh boy.  We get to look forward to more sanding.

The four pieces of drywall went up fairly quick, but the amount of taping and mudding  seemed to never end.

Another shot of the canvas we will have to sand.

Some of the trim work has been installed along with more drywall on the left side of the stair well.

Jessica with her injured ankle and new crutches.  Her foot is not swollen she just got those big feet  from Grandmother.

The End of February?

This sure was a mild February for Blackbearry Ridge and much appreciated with the ongoing work.  The girls drove over from UT for the weekend and we had a fun visit.  They had not been over for about three (3) weeks due to studying and the fact we were sanding the walls which creates a lot of dust.

We only install one (1) piece of drywall in the stairwell and focused instead on more prep work for trim and finishing the skirts.  Brent installed the skirts directly to the framed wall so we could save 1" of width on the stairs.  This has caused more than once thinking ahead and trying to vision how all the trim including the columns will tie together.  It has also caused more the once the removal of work and re-installation but so goes the process of renovation work.  The remaining skirt board on both sides were finished and had to be delayed until the new landing had been installed at the top of stairs.

The original half wall along the stairwell was removed.  This required some new framing and the base area of the half-wall was brought up to match the existing sub floor.  Now we will be able to run the hardwood floors up to the edge.  The prep work never seems to look like much but it is necessary and time consuming to allow for a good finish.

Another item which seems trivial but for us is not is that we brought up four (4) more sheets of drywall.  Bringing supplies up 38 steps is never easy or fun.

We are now set up to install all the remaining dry wall in the stairwell next weekend.  As a side note-we have not seen any bears on The Ridge since September of 2011.  Not sure why we have not seen any, but there are signs of their presence.

The scaffolding was dismantled.

The original half-wall at the stairwell.

Another view of the half-wall.

The half-wall after demo.

The new framing and sub floor where the half wall stood.

A better view of the new framing.

After adding the top trim and skirt board.  The nail holes have been filled.

The one (1) piece of sheet rock installed this weekend.