Category Archives: fun stuff

More Urban Wildlife

May 30, 2013 – 12:28 pm

The neighborhood geese and duck families are out in force, and growing quickly. It was just about 10 days ago that we watched the goslings hatch. Now they are busy eating grass and bugs all day. The mother duck has to keep charge of 10 ducklings—yellow fluff balls that follow her like a magnet. It [...]

By Ray Cox | Also posted in Community | Comments Off

Urban Wildlife

May 23, 2013 – 6:10 am

It always amazes me at what wildlife you see in urban areas today. One early morning this week I snapped a photo of this white squirrel busily eating seeds from under a bird feeder. Some mallard ducks were content to watch. From our living room window at home I’ve seen deer, wild turkeys, a red fox, a [...]

By Ray Cox | Also posted in About Minnesota, Community | Comments Off

Birdhouse with dormers

March 11, 2013 – 6:04 am

I finished up another birdhouse over the weekend. This ‘model’ has an upper shed dormer on each side of the roof, as well as a front porch. The siding is birch backer boards with cedar vertical trims, and maple lap siding on the gable ends. Copper flashing at the base of the dormer adds a nice [...]

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Winter and Wildlife

March 8, 2013 – 10:31 am

Yesterday I traveled to St. Paul to visit with legislators about some pending legislation. It was one of those perfect mornings when frost covers everything but the roads are good—a fun time to travel in Minnesota. I snapped a photo of a farm with a pretty green roof and white frost covered trees.   Then [...]

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Winter Walk in Northfield

December 7, 2012 – 7:53 am

Last night was the Winter Walk community event in Northfield. The temperatures were mild and it was a lovely evening to be strolling around on Division Street seeing people and vendors. I attended with my family that now includes two grandchildren. This was a perfect event for little ones as it was exciting to be [...]

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Passive House….foundation

September 27, 2012 – 11:52 am

We have been working at getting the foundation installed for our Passive house project. It has taken quite a bit of time to get things squared away. We first laid down a layer of rock to allow water and radon to migrate properly. However, once that was in place the structural engineer was concerned about [...]

By Ray Cox | Also posted in Residential | Comments Off

Wildlife

August 13, 2012 – 6:25 am

I’ve enjoyed seeing wildlife around our new shop location. The new shop has windows facing north to the Cannon River which gives us the ability to notice all sorts of birds and animals. We of course have the local geese stopping by from time to time. Our most recent visitors have been a group of [...]

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Laura Baker Services

July 10, 2012 – 1:42 pm

Northfield Construction Company had a foursome at the Laura Baker Services golf fundraiser  outing yesterday. What a beautiful day for an important and fun event! Phil Olson and I represented the NCC part of the foursome, along with Mike Schulz of Schulz Electric and Bill Johnson, retired Rice County District Judge. We had a great [...]

By Ray Cox | Also posted in Community | Comments Off

Truss Patterns

May 22, 2012 – 7:02 am

We set the roof trusses on our office expansion project. The roof has a single slope to match the slope on the existing building and the trusses run the full width of the building. I like to see the patterns that trusses create. I always think back to my 10th grade geometry teacher as I [...]

By Ray Cox | Also posted in Commercial Remodeling, Community | Comments Off

Birdhouse and flowers

May 15, 2012 – 8:53 am

Last weekend Ellen and I were at our lake cottage in the Carlton County area of Minnesota. The woodland flowers were out in full bloom. The trillium were spectacular and full. It is a bit early for them to be so full, but I’m guessing the warm spring got them going early. The little blue [...]

By Ray Cox | Also posted in About Minnesota | Comments Off