It's getting better all the time

Mark and I were the only people working on the cabin for the vast majority of last week.  Owen has two other projects which require resourcing and trying to keep all his customers happy is proving a challenge for him and a frustration for me. That said, Mark and I made steady progress putting up the remaining posts, beams and most of the joists to support the upper floor and I took full advantage of the opportunity to sand some of them before they were put in place. Not all the joists are up in the main cabin area yet and we still have the garage to do, and these, because they will not be seen, will be I joists similar to the ones used for the basement ceiling. I hope that all the cabin and garage joists will be up and secure by the end of this week.

With help from a friend, I managed to rig up that short cable for powering up my 240 volt power tools, which I mentioned last week, and I am now happy that I will not have to replace them all. It also gives me the freedom to work independently at the weekends if I wish. I haven't done so this weekend because, frankly, I was knackered and sore. On Friday I managed to fall off a ladder from the height of the upper floor and landed on the wretched thing that was supposed to be helping me up but decided at the last minute to slip away (on the icy floor) from under my feet. I think it frightened Mark more than it did me but the result was a tender back and a sharp reminder of the potential for injury that is never very far away in these conditions.

Friday was altogether a bad day. On the way to the cabin in the morning a stone (or something) hit my windscreen, thrown up by or having fallen off a passing truck.  Shards of glass sprayed off the inside of the screen into my face and it was very fortunate that I was wearing my spectacles or else some of them would have gone into my eyes. The good news is that the windshield was replaced the next day, and thankfully the cost was covered by my insurance (mostly). By lunchtime we also ran out of glue (again) and we broke our remaining tape measure, which we needed to size the joists accurately. So we finished early and called it a week. Nursing a few bruises, I decided to have a lazy weekend and have spent most of it reading, which is a pleasant change. (A man called Intrepid, by William Stevenson - highly recommended).

The joists over the study area are all in place and mostly sanded down. The joists for the other side of the cabin can be seen beneath the temporary flooring in an attempt to keep the frost and snow off them.

Seen here are the posts and beams for the landing - in place, with the joists above the entrance visible on the left. Mark and I needed help lifting the beams that will support the landing. It hasn't been possible to plane or sand all the frame-wood because some of it has ice from the frost and snow still on it and in it. This clogs up the sand paper very quickly and so I shall have to wait until the ice melts and the wood is dry before I can finish it all.

Here you can see the framing for the partition wall that will separate the main cabin area from the garage. The cabin flooring will actually extend six feet into the garage and this 'partition' area will accommodate a number of small sub rooms/areas. From left to right along the wall; door into a cloak room for the main floor; a door between the main cabin area and the partition area leading, through another (fire) door, into the garage; a wall behind which will be a utility room; a recess for a fridge/freezer; and finally, a door into a walk-in pantry.

This view shows the same wall from the garage side. The second partition wall will be six feet closer towards this end of the garage and will be the main fire break between the garage and the main cabin area. The side door into the garage seen here on the right will lead directly onto steps or a ramp (haven't decided which yet) going up to the fire door leading into the partition area. 

The broth (stew) turned out to be a great success, so much so I have decided to repeat the exercise again this week with some minor variations to keep it palatable. I am looking forward to the time when I can keep a pot on the wood burning stove, for which I have now received a quote. I am hoping to be able to invite the installers up to the cabin in early January to plan the installation.

Some days you just gotta let it be.

I am going to turn in now and have an early night and hope I wake up in the morning feeling better than I did this morning. But I mustn't complain - it's not the English way.