Back to the "Deep South" in Duluth GA

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I get a kick out of hearing the term "Deep South" in 2026. It is a crazy incredibly outdated label. I think maybe I should start saying the "Deep Northeast". I am a Yankee. My family came over on the Mayflower and moved to Upstate NY via Connecticut. Terms used in the revolutionary and Civil war days are generally inappropriate. My family is all but totally out of NY State now. I find the term "deep south" to be of the same thinking that the movie "Heidi" is what contemporary Europe is like. Watching the fireworks in Rochester, NY from the back yard of a house in the city made it look like a real war zone. It is a long drive between Berkshire, NY and Duluth, GA. Most of the 35K miles on the truck were spent in between. I drove the truck about 3k miles in 2-1/2 weeks. It was great to spend time on the farm. It was good to make some progress on needed repairs and improvements. I also felt good about making some new friends up there. I will be...
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Do It Yourself: House Exterior

The roof is done. That makes two big jobs this summer on the house. First I did the electric service entrance for the barn and the house and later the roof. Luckily, no sheathing had to be replaced. I thought there would need to be some replaced, but I lucked out. I used 56 bundles of 25 yr shingles, with new drip and rake edges, one course of snow and ice guard and rigid ridge vent. I am glad the two big jobs for this year are over.

Next year I am replacing the load beams in the barn with steel I beam. I will need to buy about 80 more feet of 8 inch beam. I get a great price on steel through work.

The other big job is probably going to be the deck. I can't start on that until we have a comprehensive design plan for the house done. We still have lots of ideas, but no definitive plan. Hopefully, I will be sponsoring a design competition at the school of architecture at SU shortly. I am waiting to hear back about the "ins and outs" of how to do such a thing. But all that work is all next year.

The small jobs I have left for this year are 1.)llamahouse improvements, 2.)south barn wall masonry tuck pointing, window/door trim and painting. 3.) Clean the chimney 4.) Work on the drainage, landscaping and seeding, 5.) Outside hose spigot and softener drain system. 6.)Generator transfer system wiring. I should mow some more, but I may not get to it.





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