A crane, two roofs, and a whole lot of progress

After three weeks back home in NY, the progress on the house here in HI has been amazing! The roof on the master suite is complete (except for the corrugated metal top). I am so glad I was at the property this week to witness firsthand all the hard work that went into building the roof on the smaller of the two structures. By midweek, as you will see in the pictures, you could no longer see sky from inside. Also, after some second-guessing our decision to pickle all the exposed wood inside the two structures, I am very pleased with the way it looks. The pickling gives a nice sense of "clean and bright"to the beautiful wood slats that are already covering the inside of the ceiling, and will soon  cover the walls, too.

On Wednesday this week, a huge crane arrived to lift the large, heavy ridge beam that is 34 feet in the air. Well, 34' above ground, firmly planted on the two support beams that the crew erected to hold it in place. There's a great video of the crew putting the beam and the first of many cross-beams in place. I left after the first two cross-beams went in, then visited again at the end of the day along with my niece Samantha who's visiting this week. We were impressed to see that all the cross-beams were in place, ready to start the next phase of building this larger structure's roof. It will take longer than the separate master suite since the crew first has to build scaffolding all around the building. Working 34 feet in the air may have a great view, but it requires great care when moving around!

I apologize in advance for the larger than usual number of pictures. But there's a lot to show, and I hope you enjoy this edition of the blog! (Even though Samantha and I have visited Kehena Beach, McKenzie Park, the warm ponds, Lava Tree State Park, and today hiked Volcano Park and were in two craters (Hale Maumau and then Kilauea Iki), I am not including a travelogue this time.

Ty and helper Chris working on the master BR roof

My niece Samantha who's visiting from PA

Note the extra thick slabs used for the steps, a nice touch 

You can see what the whitewashed boards look like very clearly in this picture

Samantha about to try some awapuhi juice from the ginger awapuhi plant. Paul Mitchell introduced America to using it as a hair conditioner, and it works!

Kaye Howe doing a nice job on the staining of the exterior trim 

The crane arriving! 

Putting the cross pieces in place for the master BR window

Ty is 34 feet in the air here! 

Putting the ridge beam in place

Ty fastening the ridge beam

Ty grappling with the ridge beam 

Master BR with the roof complete, ready for the metal top

Raising a bundle of boards to the deck

Weeding crew

Happy homeowner!

Roof with all the cross beams in place

Pano shot of crane, main house, and master BR hale

Selfie with the last bit of sunlight before they complete this roof. 

I haven't seen this one blooming before, any idea what it is?