Painted Dome

There is actual paint going on the actual dome! Mike started the primer coat today. He's using Loxon, an acrylic primer specifically meant for concrete. He has to roller it on because it's almost always too windy to spray on the ridge -- it'll probably be a four-day job.

Finished Dormers

The dormers are all complete! We finished the wide first-floor ones with a colored stucco product called Dryvit... the smaller upstairs window dormers are plain concrete & will be painted with the house.

It rained off & on last week (what a wet season we've been having!), but the forcast says sunny & cool for all of next week. Paint at last!

The apple trees, by the way, responded well to spraying & put out another batch of leaves just in time for the coming frost. Oh well. It looks like they are in good shape to thrive next spring.

Bad News from the Orchard

Something is eating the leaves on the apple trees. We thought that deer were the culprits, so Mike built some protective cages; but alas, the deforestation has continued unabated. Now there's also some kind of little green worm spinning spiderwebby cocoons around the branches. Hmmph. I have no idea what the critters are, but we'll hit 'em with a broad-spectrum pesticide & see if that does it. I hate spraying, but I don't think we can avoid it here.

More concrete

Mike & Mark are plugging away at it -- the strike coat is done on all but a couple of upstairs dormers. It's been a long slow process over the last couple of months, interrupted by a week's vacation out of state, a week when it rained 12 inches, a week when Mark was having (minor) surgery on his hand... well, you get the idea. This week, due to the killing heat, the guys have been knocking off after half a day, thus avoiding heatstroke. Cooler weather's on tap for next week.

Concrete (at last)

Finally, the concrete is underway, but it's moving ahead in fits and starts due to the off-and-on rain that is typical in spring & early summer in this part of the world. It's actually a good time for doing concrete work because it doesn't dry out too quickly (which can result in cracks). Here's the front entry with the first coat about 80% done!