2/3-5/09 I went up to the property for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

I left home late because I had an appointment with the knee doctor and I brought Priscilla's cat to the vet. The drive over was spectacular with clear blue skies and bright sunshine. I arrived at 2:30. Bert and Ernie promptly greeted me and got their dog biscuits.

After moving in, I got up on a ladder and stapled the wire going to the first porch light fixture to the rafters. Then I moved the scaffold tower so I could work on the second porch fixture. To make it easier to chisel the recesses on the underside of the purlin, I had bought two hole saws. Actually I bought three hole saws. The third one will be for installing 2" conduit through the plate and subfloor.

I used a 6" hole saw to start the recess for the fixture base, and after chiseling the wood out of the inside of that hole, I used the 4" hole saw to continue the recess for the pancake electrical box. I was amazed and pleased with how much faster the job went compared with using a hammer and chisel alone. I used a hammer and chisel to remove the wood from the inside of the hole and to chamfer the edges of the hole. The chisel-cut chamfering matches the chamfering I did on most all log edges in the building.

On Wednesday I got the chainsaw out, cut up a bunch of pine logs and I split it all into firewood. I planned to work inside after I got the porch fixtures installed so I wanted to warm the place up a little. I started a fire in the stove using the pine firewood.

I installed the second porch light fixture, ran the wire through the rafters to the third fixture location, and then moved the scaffold so I could work on the third fixture.

I used the hole saws again to cut the recesses for the third fixture and after having the experience of the previous fixtures, I installed the third fixture with relative ease and speed. I figured that the hole saws had paid for themselves in just those two uses. But I still have more fixtures to install where I will surely use these saws again. I'm glad I got them.

After all three fixtures were installed, I put the bulbs in the third fixture and hot-wired the circuit to test it. The bulbs came on when I plugged the wire in which made me very happy. I installed the bulbs in the other two fixtures and then started installing the glass.

I was eager to learn how hard it is going to be to clean the bugs out of the glass. What I learned was that in order to change the bulbs, one of the three cables holding up the glass has to be undone. That lets the glass hang down being supported by the other two cables. In that position it will automatically dump out any dead bugs that will fall out, and it is in a position that will make it easy to wipe out any bugs or debris that is stuck to the glass. I am pretty sure that these indoor fixtures will work just fine out on the porch.

When I got to installing the glass on the third fixture, I discovered that the glass didn't have any of the three holes that are needed to fasten it to the cables. So I packed the glass back in the box and brought it down to the truck so I can bring it back to Home Depot and exchange it for one that has holes in it.

Some time during the work, Bert and Ernie came around again so we went down to the trailer to get them their treats.

I had exchanged all the 3-way switches I had bought by mistake and now I had the standard switches I needed. I installed the switch for the utility room light in box A which finally completed all the wiring in that box. I screwed the cover plate on and was pleased that I can now turn on and off working porch and utility room lights using the final switches. I would like to get as many of the lights wired up to their switches as I can before the scouts come back up in March.

Next, I ran the wire from the front porch lights down through the Grid E1 corner of the loft walls, down into the loft floor, along a joist in the loft floor, and down between the studs to box J.

On Thursday morning, I dismantled the scaffold tower and put all the parts away. Then I swept up all the chips and put them in a five-gallon bucket. I keep all the chips like that to use as tinder and kindling for starting fires in the stove. It seems that I make chips at about the same rate that I use them in the stove so it works out well. The chips I get from using a floor scraper make excellent tinder.

Bert and Ernie came by while I was cleaning the porch so I took a break to go down to the trailer to get their biscuits. We also did the usual socializing and hugging.

Next I went to work on installing the remaining boxes for ceiling light fixtures on the main floor. I mount each box on a short 2x4 that I suspend between a pair of TJI joists. Since the boxes are 1 1/2 inches deep and the flanges on the joists are 1 1/2 inches deep, I cut a half inch rabbet in the ends of each 2x4 so it makes the box stick down the extra half inch for the drywall. The 2x4s are fastened by driving a screw into each end through the joist web.

The ceilings are pretty high so I had to stand on tall stools to do the work. Since my knee is bothering me quite a bit, this work was slow, tedious, and painful. But I got it done. I installed the boxes for the front entry room, the hall, and two in the kitchen. Then, before I left for home, I strung the wire going between box N and box J and labeled the wires on each end. I left for home at 1:30 very pleased that I now had nice bright working porch lights.

2/6/09 I exchanged the glass with no holes for one that has the holes at Home Depot with no problem.