Wood, Wood, and more Wood

Seth putting the finishing touches on our railing.

We rolled up to Concrete a few weekends ago and picked up some siding from NW Cedar Salvage.  It is good stuff and much less expensive than any place else that gave us quotes.

With our siding we got this sweet table and chair set.  Kind of a "free gift with purchase."

It's even the perfect height for Cosmos.

A couple weekends later, he had the rest of it cut for us.  There was a lot of really pretty old growth.  I learned a lot about cedar and our shop smells great right now.

You can't see it very well, but our free gift on trip #2 was a 3-4 inch thick piece of cedar with the rough edges.  We are probably going to use it for our fireplace mantel.

It is so nice to have the railing finally in so Ryker isn't about to fall over the edge at all times.

Seth has spent the last few weekends sanding.

The fireplace has been inspected finally so now Seth doesn't have to work in the cold.

Here was a fun outing for the boys.  We rolled down to Hamilton to checkout a Black Walnut tree that Clayton had given to a guy.  Clayton was trading him for a slab of maple that he was going to use for a bar top.  We were interested in seeing if we could weasel our way into a Black Walnut countertop.  We have been looking, but they are really expensive and when "Clayton has a guy" it usually comes with deep discounts.  We ended up getting a piece of maple as well because it was gorgeous and was a better size for our project.

Ryker and I cruised the property and checked out the lake. We got back in time to check out the center cuts to see if it was something we were going to want.

One slab going on the trailer. 

Of course, Clayton had to have his turn at the saw.

Good thing we brought lots of help.  They were heavy!

So this was the piece that we passed on for another.  I loved it, but it had a spot that was thin on the edge and it might have broken off.  We probably could have reinforced it with resin, but we're not woodworker's and I would have been sick if it had broken off and ruined the whole peice.  This piece had so much character.  The piece we got will be great when it is finished and it has lots of good qualities too, like more color through the middle.  Plus it could change more as it dries out.  We'll just have to wait and see.  It's a little wider than this one, but not as curvy on the edges.  We will have standard granite countertops for most but this will be raised up in one area as more of a bar with stools.

And Seth's turn.

Fun day in Hamilton.  The guy on the right is Clayton's neighbor.  He graciously delivered our slab to our house since he had brought the trailer to get Clayton's slab.  I guess Clayton already has his about finished so I'll get some pictures.  Ours won't be installed until next winter.