Mon & Tue 8.19 & 20.2013

Monday started off with light rain that held off the masons

and the Studio carpenters, but Bobby & his framing crew

made great progress on the machine shed conversion.

And this afternoon (Tuesday) the new hay loft was under roof!

 Two days of demo last week and two days on new work this week!

These guys are good!!!

Kenny, one of the mason's laborers took a turn with rolling the new bent grass sod

 in the Parterre garden this afternoon. 

 

Almost two weeks since installation, the sod is taking

root nicely, and periodic treatments with additional

sand (pictured left) will hasten the overall process.

New blinds have been installed in the refurbished Studio.

We'll soon be ready for guests in this great space.

(Sadly, the pictures--and no furniture--don't really do

this nice addition justice.)

On site today: Tuesday

Sherry
SY
John with J&A Painting
J.C. Arnold - excavation consultation
Richard & Kevin
Masons, brief update with Arty & Kyle Lundgren
Bobby's framing crew
                                                           Rachel Lilly and Zeke (Grelen Nursery) here on Monday

Friday 08.16.2013

A little less hectic at Ramsay today 

with only two major projects in action.

 

The machine shed is receiving quite a make-over.

Rough-sawed 8x8's lend new stability to the old shed!

The old facade was over 2 inches out of plumb

Rough-sawed true 2x8's, custom milled for this project

 

New hay loft deck

At the new Studio deck, Kevin & Mike have custom-milled 

 the hand and bottom rails, and each individual picket--all on site!!

On site today:

SY

Guest family from Washington D.C. at the Guest Cottage for the weekend

Richard and Kevin - back to mowing, weeding and debris clean-up

Kevin and Mike - custom carpentry at the Studio deck

Bobby Curtis and crew - remodeling the machine shed

Thursday 08.15.2013

Work continues in good fashion on the Carriage House 

and the Run-in Shed conversion of the old machine shed.

Curtis Heating & Cooling techs were completing 

their rough-in today at the Carriage House.

Pieces of the air supply "rabbit trail"

Shingles and sheathing gone

Bobby Curtis's crew began removing the roof of the Machine Shed which will add room for a hay loft and a run-in shed for the horses.

Rafters coming down

On site today:

SY

Richard and Kevin - adding "concrete finishing" to their resumes today

Bobby Curtis and his framing crew at the machine Shed

Don Wright and his brother getting up the 2nd hay cutting of the seaon

Curtis Htg. & Cooling techs at the Carriage House

Don and the masons - continuing on the walkway to the Guest Cottage

Kevin & Mike - custom milling the new hand rails for the Studio deck

Top rails being primed

Bottom rails ready to install

Wednesday 08.14.2013

The most frequent comment from newcomers or guests during the week is, 

"There certainly is a lot going on here!"

(And they're quite right!)

Current major projects:

1. Restoration of all brick walkways - Parterre Garden, & Main House to Guest Cottage

2. Installation of bent-grass sod in Parterre Garden

3. Installation of new deck at the Studio

4. Restoration of 2nd floor of primary garage - now called the Carriage House

5. Conversion of machine shed to run-in shed

On site today:

Sherry Swink - housekeeper, preparing Guest Cottage for B&B weekend guests

Richard King & Kevin White  - part-time summer handymen

Kevin Kennedy & Mike Deane - carpenters at the Studio

Don, Nate - masons;  Harrison, Adam, Patrick - laborers

Don Wright - starting 2nd cutting in the hay fields

Paul Vencil & Chris - plumbing rough-in at the Carriage House

Curtis Heating & Cooling - 2 technicians doing HVAC rough-in at Carriage House

Patsy Wallenborn & 3 crew - gardening at Guest Cottage for B&B guests for the weekend

Piedmont Lanscape - 6 guys mowing 8 acres of manicured lawns

Greg Austin - Territory Manager, Revels Turf & Tractor re: equipment for bent grass maintenance

3 deliveries of material: Better Living, Blue Ridge Builders, Martin Marietta

Stephen Yowell - Estate Manager, coordinating and overseeing all of the above

Kevin & Richard

4" stone, 8" blue stone dust

Mike and Kevin

The end is in sight!

A busy, busy day again at Ramsay...

so busy that I (SY) didn't take a single

  picture to post from today's activities.

But we're never wanting for great pictures

at Ramsay, so here's one from last week!

Looking east from the barn.

On site today:

SY, Richard,  Kevin - ground prep work for Machine Shed Modification

Mike - at the Studio

Paul Vencil & Chris - plumbing rough-in at the Carriage House

Don & the masons - pressing on with the sidewalk

Rachel Lilly - consult with SY re: restoring plantings around masonry work

Darin - with TruLawn, returning after some mechanical difficulties on Friday

Friday - last week

Monday 08.12.2013

A very good Monday at Ramsay 

with muggy but sunshiny weather allowing many activities to continue.

On site today:

Sherry

SY

Richard King

Kevin White - returned from Alaska with a couple of weeks to work before heading back to school!

Melvin - Ramsay's long-time Orkin rep treated the main residences

Don & the masons - making great headway on the sidewalk with the help of an excavator:

Matt and Hunter from Arnold Excavators

Arnold excavators begin groundwork for Machine Shed expansion.

                                             And, Yes, Virginia, tractors do get flat tires!!

 

Friday 08.09.2013

The humidity and temps were back up today, 

but even so, it was a beautiful day at Ramsay.

The late evening light over the Main House gave

a soft, painting-like texture to the view.

On site today:

SY

Richard - tending to a little bit of everything!

Kevin and Mike - Studio deck and Guest Cottage, custom made window replacement

Don and the masons - extending the ellipse sidewalk to the east

Bobby & framing crew - extending the Carriage House portico & finishing framing on schedule!

Jessica Beverage - gardening and fish pond maintenance

Darin -  technician from TruLawn - 1st of 3 applications for weeds/fertilizer, etc.

Wanda - from Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services, LL, removed three racoons!!!

Look closely to see irrigation sprinklers in action!

                                 

New wrap-around portico at the Carriage House

Richard rolling the new bent grass