Project Completed (wall destroyed)

Well, I got everything cleaned up and all my stuff carted home. I will have to share the project in two blogs as they limited my number of pictures. The first picture is taken from the kitchen side of wall before I tore wall out. The second picture is after wall is gone with support beam holding ceiling.











The next group of pictures shows the wall from the dining room side first two before pictures and last one after picture. I didn't do anything to these two rooms other than taking this wall out. This gives the room a much bigger feel and more flexibility than having two tiny rooms.

Road Conditions

The road coming up from Cedar Run is mostly mud all the way to Leetonia. There are a few spots of ice put I didn't even need four wheel drive to make it to Leetonia. However, at Leetonia starting in front of Valley Hi up Leetonia Rd to in front of Micks it is a sheet of ice. Go very slow. It is supposed to be colder next couple of days but no significant snow. If you are planning any trips on State Forest roads make sure to have chains with you for emergency and do what I do and let someone know exactly what roads you will be taking and when you will arrive. It is always nice to know where to start looking it is a big forest.

Winter still missing?

There are still patches of ice on forest roads so chains are a must if you come back. However, winter seems to have missed us or been put on delay. Temperatures have been above freezing everyday.
I have seen quite a few deer moving around lately. I am sure they are happy for the warm weather too. Also Elk have been spotted on Sliders and out towards Parker Hollow. I have yet to see one myself, but am keeping an eye out.
I took today off to get work at home done since Lee is again gone helping her sister in Wisconsin.
I also took some time to walk through the woods. When I used to visit and not live here, I practically lived outside during the day. Now that I live and WORK here it is easy to go a long time without enjoying the very place I love.
The dogs enjoyed the walk and if I didn't know better I would have thought it was Spring. There was only small patches of snow and mostly mud to walk through. The birds were out singing like they were on Spring break. Usually, in the winter it is quiet and cold. The animals slow down to reserve energy and there is a feeling of hibernation in the air. Bears have also been spotted out and about. So I enjoyed February 3rd...alone in the woods...breathing a breathe of fresh air. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Winter?

This has been a month for the records. High temperatures have kept most the snow away. We got our first real snow of about 5" last week, which was quickly washed away in the days following with rain. The creek remain high and unfrozen as well. Last week I was able to travel down to Cedar Run on Leetonia road three different days. However, on the last day the temperature dropped from 40 to 32 as I came up and I wished I had not gone that way without chains.
My chains spent a week with UPS as they didn't seem to want to deliver them down a dirt road. Now I have them and feel a lot better if I get stuck in a quick freeze again. Yesterday, we had some weird snow squalls. I was heading north on 287 towards Wellsboro and was met with high winds and blinding snow that accumulated to an inch fast. It lasted for about 5 miles and then was gone as fast as it came and I was back to wet roads only.
Without snow the back roads that aren't winter maintained are extremely unpredictable. It looks good when you start and by the time you realize you are skating on a layer of thin ice it is difficult to stop or turn around. Chains and nerves of steel are a must or best yet go around until we get more snow or it melts completely.
I don't remember a winter like this in the last ten years. I am hoping we are getting a mild winter and not just a late winter. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Road and weather conditions as of 1-19-12

CAUTION!!!! Today Paula drove down Leetonia Road to RT 414 in the Subaru with cable chains. She called me from Slate Run to let me know that she would not be going back that way. The roads are ice covered in most places. Paula said you would have to have ice cleats and nerve's of steel to maneuver on the ice. Maybe a bulldozer would suffice.

It is snowing as of this writing but we are only expecting an inch or so today. Late Friday night a snow system is supposed to be moving in with some (????) accumulation of snow. The snow will help with the layer of ice but it will still be tricky.

Make sure you are prepared if you decide to venture up this weekend. The road is maintained on Leetonia Road from Cedar Mountain Road to Elk Run Road heading towards Route 6. There is also ice on that part of Leetonia Road even with the cinders so take extra care.

The other mountain girl (Lee) signing off.

Project progress

If any of you ever decide to put cedar shingles on a building be aware it is a long slow tedious process. The small amount of shingles shown on this addition took me a week to finish(there is about 8 foot of wall not visible) and the ones you see here cost $600. I must admit they look nice when they are done. The shingles will need a coat of preservative in the Spring.
The inside is getting finished up as well. I installed handicap rails next to toilet. The curved one folds up against the wall, which is nice when you need access to toilet.
Paneling in bedroom should go up fast. But we added another project, putting in a beam between the kitchen and dining area to open it up. I will be finishing that next week due to an unexpected trip to New Jersey today to see my Great Aunt, 96, who is in hospital.
As you can tell from the pictures we have NO SNOW! Also the roads have very little ice on them coming up to Leetonia. So we have been lucky to as far as doing this project so far. A eagle visited me almost every day I did the siding. There are times I complain about the hard work, the aches and pains, but not many jobs come with your own eagle to keep you company. This property has a pretty drastic cliff that drops down to the creek and Scooter loves sitting at the top in the warm sun keeping track of all that goes up and down the creek. It is another sunny day today and this mountain girl is off to the big city, which I don't care for at all. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Wellsboro ER Open House

Wellsboro Soldiers and Sailors hospital had a open house of their new emergency room today so Lee and I went. We figured since we were such frequent visitors we wanted to see the new area without an emergency involved. There was a lot of interest as you can see from the line outside the building. The room is scheduled to open at 4 am this Tuesday. I guess that is an low emergency hour. In fact, they said their busiest time is between 3 pm and 11pm daily. So plan your emergencies around that if you don't want company.
It is such an upgrade from the old room; 16 beds, and a division between the trauma patients brought in by ambulance and the walk-ins. A large office space in middle of rooms, which circle the area. A tube transport system for blood and other tests that goes directly to lab. They have all sorts of big screen information boards all over the place so it is very 21st century. It looks like you can pretty much lay in one bed and be examined for just about anything. I can tell you it is much more fun to look at the equipment when you aren't hurt. I am hoping by going there in one piece this counts as my annual emergency visit.

On a sadder note. Longtime resident of Slate Run, Dottie Weber, passed on a couple days ago. She was 89. Her and her husband Bob Weber lived in an non-electric camp in the middle of the mountain far from the regular road. Bob is a retired Forest Ranger and I believe that is why they let him stay at the leased camp. Usually, it is forbidden to make a leased State camp a permanent resident. They couple is well known in Slate Run, I am sure Bob will miss Dottie's company, but no one expects him to leave his piece of heaven soon.

Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.