"Love is blind. Friendship closes its eyes." - Friedrich Nietzsche

We got up to 61 degrees today as a warm front passed through. Tomorrow we get a cold front and the high will be 49.
That warm front entered on the heels of the hardest rain we've had since moving here five weeks ago. It fairly poured overnight.

I spent almost all day yesterday getting the roof on mi gallinero. First the sheeting, then some flashing, and finally rolled roofing. I was going to do composition shingles until I discovered I could do this for 1/3 the cost, and it's essentially the same stuff. I may go back and put another strip at the ridge to strengthen it. I could see as that top section folded over the ridge that it tended to open up a bit, so another layer of tar and then roofing will ensure I don't get rain coming through.
And in case you ever use that roofing tar, don't use gloves, and get it all over your hands (and if you don't use gloves you will get it all over your hands!), brake and parts cleaner in an aerosol can makes a passable substitute for mineral spirits. Pretty hard on the skin, but it gets the job done.
And if you smash your thumb with a framing hammer it will hurt. A lot.

The next step is getting the T1-11 siding on. I thought about going with cedar shingles but that turned out to be a pretty pricey option for a chicken coop, and they make some pretty nice options in plywood T1-11.
The problem: it comes in 4'x8' sheets, and they won't fit in the Kia. I learned today that it will be another 10-14 days before the new radiator shows up, and probably about the same before the axles arrive, so I'm 3-4 weeks from having the truck on the road. Unless I rent a truck or trailer for the day I'll have to wait until mid-December, when the weather is almost guaranteed to be a problem.

With the coop on hold I spent most of today working in Fred. When I started I wondered how thorough my demo would have to be, and I quickly realized the answer is "total." The insulation is inadequate, the wiring bizarre, and the wildlife residue extensive. Today, while pulling the paneling off the east wall and removing the rodent-affected insulation one of those long dead critters fell out. He was, as the news reports sometimes say, in "an advanced state of decomposition."
Mumified.

I've got some decisions to make about how to finish it out once the demo is done. There are two windows, directly across from each other. I'll replace them both - these tilt in from the top and don't close all the way - with new vinyl sliding windows. Each is 3'h x 4'w, but because the eaves have a big overhang and Fred is in the trees not much light comes in. That means I have to do a good job of providing artificial light and keeping surfaces light.

The ceiling has exposed beams, and in between them was more paneling. I started ripping that off today and discovered wide pine boards behind that, forming the floor of the loft. Those boards are about 7' 9"off the floor, and the bottom of the beams at about 7' 4". I originally thought about tongue and groove pine across the bottom of the beams with recessed can lights in between, but I don't think that's gonna work. I'm afraid the low ceiling will make it feel like a cave, and the can lights will be so close to the floor that their light won't dissipate enough.

I like the look of the pine planks, but they're pretty dark. Painting them is an option but that almost seems ... wrong. I could do tongue and groove pine between the beams and sand the beams to lighten them up. Then track lighting.
???
Note, the lighting in these pics is bad because the only light is from a small LED light and my phone's camera.

I need to run power out to Fred and to mi gallinero, which requires a 24" deep trench per code. I called about renting a trencher and the guy said I really don't want to use their walk-behind after this much rain. The clay soil out here will be miserable to go through and a real pain when it comes time to backfill with a shovel. They rent a mini-excavator with a backfill blade, but it would have to be delivered and picked up ($200), and digs a 12" instead of a 4" trench. It's supposed to rain early next week, they're closed for the holiday Thursday and Friday, and are always closed Saturday and Sunday. So that project waits until early December, when it's almost guaranteed to be raining, and I'll be receiving and installing a radiator and axles.

Life on Baker Rd.