The Vestibule

I know, I know... the Christmas tree has nothing to do with building the house, but the outside shots show a little glimpse of what it is like to arrive at the house at night, with the glow of the wood and the doll-house like view of the inside.

Mindy likes to put the Christmas tree up on the weekend after Thanksgiving, so that is the Skyline tradition now. No, we didn't cut the tree from our land. Our trees are all forest growth, so they're either 70' tall and scraggly, or they're 3' tall and thin as a whisp. We could grow some just for Christmas, but those will all be a few years out. This tree came from a local tree farm, a cut your own place just up the road.A little further away, and a lot more fuzzy. Night shots are difficult without a tripod, and it's apparent that Chris didn't use one for this picture.
Getting ready for snow. One of the ag tires for the tractor needed to be inflated, so Chris took it to a shop to have the bead reset, and Andy bought a compressor on craigslist. Yes, we go there again. :) Ahh, it's good to be back. The front tires are set at 30 psi, and they're both on the tractor now, ready for the first snow. It's a little tractor, and we expect to have a lot of fun clearing the first good snowfall. After that... it may get pretty tedious.
We finished the North wall of siding on Saturday, complete with a motley selection of boards. Function over form, right? Besides, this is the back of the house, and aside from the blog, doesn't see much action right now. In a few years when the garage is in, and the bbq pit is done, the back of the house will be its own destination. Until then, it's the place where we pile everything that will one day fit in the garage.
Speaking of a garage, we decided that we needed somewhere to store our tools and spare parts and such. A full on garage is out of the question for this year, so we designed an addition to the house, one that will keep the weather off a few things over the next few months. Brian helped us finish the last bits on the North wall, and then stuck around to help design and install part of the vestibule. We chose the North side of the house, and will use the flat area just outside the craft room window. It's protected from the weather already, so with a roof overhead we hope it will really be a decent spot.
This isn't the final structure, but it's a solid start. We have a few more boards to put up for strength, some for looks, and some for convenience. It covers a 10' x 12' area.
A more distant view, but taken at the same time, so no further along in the process. Benson is familiarizing himself with the tractor. He thinks he's big enough to drive it. We think he's the right size to drive it, but we're not going to let him loose on it quite yet.
Benson helped nail the roof on the vestibule, and had a good time up there on the slant. He said he had a really good view from 12' feet off the ground. We really like the red of the finished boards, but these natural boards certainly have their own beauty, too. They will all be grey by the time spring comes around.