Office walls done

All of the office walls are up and the main building is ready for the roof trusses.

Looking up at the office from the front of the house -- the front door is to the right.

Two Ladies Kitchen

Today we visited one of Hilo's famous food spots -- Two Ladies Kitchen, makers of mochi and manju (a Japanese confection, usually filled with anko (sweet red bean paste)).  Two Ladies Kitchen has been in business for about 20 years and is extremely popular among locals and visitors.

Their signature item is strawberry mochi -- a whole, large strawberry, surrounded by anko and covered with soft, light mochi.  They make the strawberry mochi only on certain days and they sell out quickly,. so you have to get there early.  The strawberry mochi is a popular gift for visitors to Hilo from the other islands to bring back home.

The store is somewhat nondescript

The famous strawberry mochi

A half-eaten strawberry mochi

A sampler of some of the other 20 or so varieties available

More office walls and roof trusses

The second office wall is up.

And the rest of the master suite roof trusses are in.

View of the master suite from the side

A corner truss seen from below

The master suite roof trusses from the front

First Office Wall

The first office wall is up.

View from the front

The full moon that night

Master Suite Trusses (Almost) Done

Most of the master suite trusses are installed.

View from inside

View from the office

First trusses installed

Most of the walls are done and the posts are up, so the trusses can be installed.

View of the whole house with the master suite on the left, the main building in the center, and guest house on the right

Back of the master suite. The metal straps are intended to transfer load (from strong wind, for example) from the roof and walls down to the foundation

Side of the master suite

The trusses are carried in one at a time

Then lifted up so the ends hang on the tops of the walls, upside down

Once the truss is on the walls, it can be flipped up by a single person,

moved into place,

and nailed in.

 

Roof trusses delivered

The roof trusses were delivered today.  They are factory-made by the building supply company.  It's much easier and faster to buy them than build them in place, and probably a little less expensive.

The ends of these trusses will support the exterior overhangs (eaves), so they'll be visible and exposed to the outside and they need to be painted. It's a lot easier to paint them on the ground than after they're up, and we need to get these painted as fast as possible so they can be installed.

Guest house floor continued

We've been doing the guest house floor little by little, and we're getting faster as we go.

Three rows are laid out in the living room/kitchen area to check the seams and appearance

We move the boards out of the way, apply glue to the floor, and trowel it.

Diana putting in the first row

Two rows are done

Putting in the final board. Now we repeat the entire process.

 

Second floor subfloor

The subfloor on the second floor is done. Now the last of the walls can go up.

View from underneath

View from the front

One of the ohia posts (in the kitchen). The tarp is to prevent sun damage.

Closeup of the post grain

Second floor blocking and views

All of the joists are in and the blocking is done, so the second floor is ready for the subfloor.

Blocking between joists

View of the master suite from the second floor

Looking straight down towards the front of the house

View of the pasture

View of the lot on the other side. We're not exactly sure what's being done there, but it looks like there a greenhouse and a tent, but no buildings

Unfortunately, the trees are two high to get a view of the mountain, even from the second floor.  Here, just a bit of Mauna Kea can be seen through the trees.

Second floor joists

Most of the main beams are in place, and the joists for the second floor are being installed.

Handing joists up

Joists are nearly done

Mitch surveys the situation from above

During the work, a praying mantis landed on one of the posts, climbed up to the top, and enjoyed the view for a while.

Climbing ...

Almost there ...