Some pictures of the work done in 2004.

4-01-04 I made a trip up to the castle just to drop off some building materials. This is what the keep looked like on a cool, rainy April 1st. The exterior is just about finished except for the crenelations which will go around the top of the straight walls as well as the towers. The addition of the crenelations will give the keep much more of a castle look. We expect to get back to work in a couple of weeks or so, depending on what the weather is like. Our immediate plans are to continue work on the interior.

4-21-04 We decided to add one more row of blocks to the building that will hold the fuel for the oil furnace, and the emergency back-up coal/wood furnace. This building still needs a roof and three sets of doors. Now that the oil tank is in place, we will soon be ready to have the oil furnace installed in the castle.

4-26-04 We arrived at the castle just after a heavy rain. Most of the side of the building looks wet, but if you look closely, you can see that the area in the lower left part of the wall looks dry. This is because last year, we sprayed this area with a water repellent. We just did this one area as a test. Eventually, the entire castle will be coated with a water repellent solution.

4-28-04 I have mounted our second breaker panel. Each panel has a rating of 200 amps, for a total of 400 amps coming into the castle. We don't need that much right now, but it's a lot easier to install them both at the same time.

5-6-04 Our good friend "Moatmonster" helped dig (okay, he did all the work) a trench that is 80 feet long and 3 feet deep. This trench holds the pipe through which the electric wire will run from the power company transformer to the meter box on the side of the castle.

5-18-04 I have been working on electrical, but also on plumbing. In this photo, you can see most of the pipes I have installed in the area of the second floor guest bathroom. For those of you who don't know, the copper pipes are for the hot and cold water supply lines, and the white plastic pipes are the waste pipes.

Cheryl - Lloyd - Michelle - Katrina

6-5-04 Katrina Price and some of her friends stopped up for a visit. Katrina has been a frequent contributor to the castles website. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, Patty and I were glad they were able to come.

6-7-04 I have been working on the bathroom in the second floor guest bedroom (the Duchess Suite). The drywall is up for the walls, the door is installed, and I put down the flooring. I still have lots to do, but it's coming along.

7-1-04 The men from the power company came up to connect our main power. We now have 64 horsepower available to us in the castle. Thanks guys.

7-11-04 Galin wants to play with his friend Lenny Lizard (see arrow), but he can't find him.

7-11-04 No - not in here.

8-8-04 Galin was not able to encourage Lenny Lizard to play with him, but he was able to find a new friend. Galin discovered this kitten in the brush about 150 feet from the castle. The kitten was malnourished and had infections in the eyes, ears, and on the pads of his feet. The vet said he is probably about six weeks old. We are taking care of him, and will probably keep him.

8-9-04 He looked much better the next day. He says his name is Merlin.

8-18-04 I have not posted any construction photos lately because I have been doing mostly electrical and plumbing work that is not very interesting in a photograph. Now that most of the electrical is finished, I have started doing other things such as installing drywall in the "Dutchess" guest bedroom. The bathroom for this room is just about finished. The bath is the door to the left. The space to the right of the entry door will someday be a closet.

8-18-04 Also, we are almost completely finished with the framing work in the kitchen. We will probably begin the drywall work in here soon.

8-23-04 I just finished pouring the concrete pad for the kitchen tower door sill, and replacing the old weak temporary door with a stronger one.

9-2-04 I also poured the concrete pad for the entry tower door sill, and replacing the old weak temporary door with a stronger one. The castle is a bit more secure with these heavier doors in place. I guess it's about time I start planning what I am going to do about a porch of some sort.

9-7-04 We have started installing the wallboard in the kitchen. This photo is of the same area as the photo labeled 8-18-04 above.

9-10-04 We've done a little more wallboard work in the kitchen. The door just to the left of center is the door to the pantry. The door just to the right of center is the doorway to the family room.

9-17-04 We've started installing the wallboard in the "Queens Chamber" bathroom.

9-23-04 Many people don't know it, but block is porous to the point that in a heavy wind driven rain, water can come through it. In order to prevent this, we will need to coat the outside of the block with some sort of water repellent. We are in the process of testing some of the products designed to do this. Here, I am spraying on one of these products. We will see how they work and how long they last before they need to be re-coated. We will then decide on which product to use, and coat the entire castle.

10-8-04 We were visited by Beth, Teddi, Wulf, and Rachel. They are members of the S.C.A. - Shire of Sylvan Glen. We enjoyed their visit.

10-10-04 Sunrise at the castle. The photo does not do it justice.

10-11-04 We've started installing wallboard in the "Queens Chamber" bedroom. It would be nice to find someone in the local area who we could hire to finish (mud and tape) the wallboard, I've got lots of other stuff to do.

10-24-04 We were visited by our friends Charles, Colin, and Bentley. They are pictured here with Galin, who seemed to enjoy their visit almost as much as we did.

10-29-04 Our oil furnace is now hooked up, so we have been putting insulation in place so we can start the furnace without losing too much heat through the walls. So far, we have all of the insulation in place on the second floor with the exception of the towers. We have most of the insulation in place on the first floor. We still need to insulate the third floor. This is a photo of the sewing room which is on the second floor.

11-4-04 Bambi and one of her friends stopped by the side yard for a short visit. If you want them to stay around, my suggestion is to NOT open the window and call "here kitty, kitty". They left in a hurry, apparently they don't like being called kitty.

11-8-04 And, speaking of kitties, I have been asked how Merlin is doing - he's fine, he's just about doubled in weight, and seems to be happy. Every castle needs a black cat, I guess this is ours.

11-13-04 Lately, I have been working on things like adding gravel to the driveway, cutting and chopping wood, etc. I have not had much time to work on the interior but I did find time to install the wallboard in almost all of the queens chamber. Although it is up, it still needs to be finished (mud and tape). You will notice that the queens chamber has its own fireplace. This is one of three in the castle. The hall on the right of the photo leads to the queens tower. The temporary light will someday be replaced with an appropriate light fixture.

Year-end round-up

As we come to the end of 2004, here are a few photos of where we stand.

12-3-04 Most of the circuits have been connected to the breaker boxes. When I am completly finished, I will spend some time to make this look neater.

12-3-04 The oil furnace has been installed in the basement.

12-3-04 Insulation has been installed on the third floor. We now have insulation on the straight walls of all three floors. We still need to insulate the towers.

12-3-04 There will be four closets in the queens chamber. Closet number two is finished except for installing the molding and doors. The opening just to the right of the closet will have bookshelves installed.

12-3-04 Closet number three in the queens chamber will have a rod to hang clothes, and shelves for - yup, you guessed it, shoes, and hats.

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