Gutters Are Reinforced and Cleaned

Well, since we have now moved closer to Tennessee, we are able to spend more time at The Ridge.  Over the past few weekends, we have strengthed and cleaned out the gutters such that now there is no overflow of water in the gutters.  Last weekend, we attended the UT football game in Knoxville.  During the pregame, an unexpected storm quickly formed and we had to evacuate the stadium for about an hour.  That storm headed to Gatlinburg, and Sunday, Brent had to clear off some down tree limbs off the roof.  While on the roof, he also cleaned out the back gutters. 

During the weekend, we saw three (3) bear cubs with their mom.  They came down the bear path next to the house.  It was quite comical as two (2) of the cubs were wrestling and rolled down the hill.  One (1) of the cubs pulled up our termite inspection trap and then walked away.

We installed a temporary light in the kitchen to help with the poor lighting.  Being this close, we expect to perform alot of work on The Ridge during the nexf few months.



Prior to the kick-off of the Montana game.





Some of the limbs that fell on top of the chalet.



The three cubs.



First New Construction in Four Years

We spent the majority of the Presidents Holiday weekend at home in Gatlinburg on The Ridge.  We did take a short day trip over to Zelda to bring the dining room table and chairs.  The set really looks great staged in the dining room at Zelda.  You can click on the link here http://restoringzelda.blogspot.com/ or at the top right of this page to view the dining room.

The girls came over to The Ridge on Friday evening and stayed until Sunday afternoon.  We sure did have a great time with them.  Brent was able to install a couple sheets of sheet rock on the dining room side of the wall that separates the bathroom from the dining room.  It sure seemed like it would be easy, but after learning a lot of code enforcement issues while working at Zelda, Saturday was spent fixing items that had been constructed back in 2007.  We were able to get the two (2) pieces installed and Brent did admit to making a few bad cuts for the receptacles.  Oh well, as he learned for the Workmans at Zelda, a little mud will fix anything a make a sheet rock installer look great.

We were very excited to start putting things back together at the The Ridge and look forward to starting the kitchen.  We did not have any snow this weekend at The Ridge but we did run into snow Monday night upon our return to Maryland.


Jessica helping with preparing the wall for sheet rock by holding the hammer and posing for the picture.

 

The wall has been in this stage since 2007.  The picture hanging on the wall makes the area look nicer.

 

One lesson Brent learned was that no junction box could be hidden in the wall.  Also, for some reason, the mixing valve was originally not supported by wood in 2007.

 

Finally some progress in new construction.  We sort of miss the exposed wiring and pipes.

 

Notice those precision cuts Brent made for the receptacles.  Looks like a lot of mud and elbow grease in the near future.



Back to The Ridge

We will be heading down to The Ridge early Friday morning.  Looks like we will load up the duncan phyfe dining room set and bring over to Zelda in Kings Mountain.  Depending on the weather, we may drive over and back to Zelda on Friday.  We are going to use the dining room set to stage the dining room at Zelda.  We also picked up a few other items at the thrift store in Maryland to stage at Zelda.  We have decided on our new real estate agent for Zelda and all the information will be posted at the Zelda site.

Quick Trip to The Ridge

After interviewing prospective real estate agents in North Carolina for Zelda, we arrived at BBR on Friday evening, February 4, 2011.  Jennifer and Jessica were already at the Ridge waiting for Cookie's arrival.  We were all tired as we left Maryland at 2:00 am Friday morning and had not slept during the day. 

Saturday was more of a recovery day, but we did drag the streets of Gatlinburg before heading back to the Ridge to eat supper.

We woke up Sunday morning to an unexpected blanket of snow.  At least there was no shoveling required as the sun was out and the driveway and roads were clear when we headed down the mountain around 1:00 pm.

Our first snow storm in 2011

We headed back down to Blackbearry Ridge the first weekend of the new year, to bring Jessica and Jennifer back to UT.  We left Maryland around 8:00 pm on Thursday to beat the snow storm heading towards I-81.  The snow caught us near the Tennessee-Virginia line and we had intermittent flurries till Gatlinburg.  We headed up Ski Mountain Road, when the snow became heavier.  By the time we reached North Baden Drive the roads were completely covered and slick.  It was around 5:00 am on Friday morning and very dark.  We were glad to be in the Jeep, but there were more than a few spots that we slid and made you pucker.

The sun came out and so did the snow plow on Friday around noon, so Brent and Lynn headed to the grocery store in between the storms.  The driveway was completely clear by Friday afternoon, but the snow arrived around midnight and did not stop until Sunday morning.  The photos below were taken on Saturday and Sunday.



Looking at Blackbearry from the side woods.



The heavy snowfall coming down on Saturday.



Where did Mt. LeConte go?




Clearing the driveway on Sunday morning.




Ok, the driveway is clear but we need the sun to clear that thin slick layer of ice.



We need the snow plow to come.  The Jeep stays in TN and we have to drive back in a rear drive pick-up.



The free labor seemed happy to finish the driveway.



The familar sign in winter.




The sun is coming out.



After a snow ball fight the girls are ready to head back to UT.




Mt. LeConte appeared and so did the snow plow.  We headed down around 3:00 pm on Sunday.