Well, I thought I was done for the winter - Adirondack Project - a little more done.

Okay, I know I said I was done with this project for the year, ready to work on my kids tree house till spring.

But between having unexpected help and a brain storm (which is rare for me) I got a little bit more done on it this past Saturday.

The second log, as I have mentioned before, on the back of the lean-to was one of the second story floor joists logs in the cabin all these logs came from.
It was one of just a couple long logs to survive 20 years under tin, so I used it in a place it would not normally have been used.
As you can see in the first photo, where the joist logs would have sat left some awfully large holes to chink later on. And it would have made the chinking look a little unusual for a log cabin.

Here is an earlier photo that shows how large the notches were and gives an idea of how much chinking would have been needed.

And another.

Well, here's where the brain storm comes in.
I thought, at least from the back-side, way not make it look like floor joists were still resting in those notches.
I had one original second story floor joist log left. One that had been set around the stair opening in the original cabin.
I had been using it for various ramps and as bracing over the years, but it was still in very good shape.

It is circled in red here.

 So while I had company and help out there, we got busy.

Using the old log, we cut pieces about 8 inches long and wedged them in the notches.

We cut each piece flush with the inside, but allowed it to stick out about an inch on the outside.
This I think helped the illusion of  actual joist logs resting in the notches.

 So, at least from the outside, it  looks like the long joist log is being used as I had been in the old two story cabin. (And it now requires a lot less chinking material.)

Even after a hundred and fifty years hewn and down, the old joist log was solid on the inside.

Now exposed to the elements the new cuts will soon gray and match the other logs.

After the hard work of coming up with a brain storm . . . .

. . . . we found some time to enjoy our hard work and relax during a small rain shower.


We also made a plug for another notch, which is circled in the lower left corner, that would have been the log for an original door opening.

Leaving this notch as it was would have also made for an irregular look and lots of chinking.

I did not get a good picture of the replaced notch, but will remedy that next time I am out there.