Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

We have worked hard all this week under good weather and we should really have more to show for it than we actually have. On Monday we started cutting some of the roof timbers but this was stopped in order to get on with the two gable ends still required to put up the roof beams. That is the gable over the prow and the one over the north (kitchen) end of the main cabin.

We got the prow gable about 2/3 finished when Dexter, who was building it, noticed that something was wrong. The logs on either side of the prow were not lining up with the ones in the centre. On closer examination of the situation we realised that there was an even more serious error. We were building the prow gable at the wrong vertical angle, only a degree or two out but, enough to affect how the SIPs would eventually sit on the framework.

For those interested, we were building it at an angle of 45 degrees which, is the angle for the cross section of the centre line to maintain a 12:12 pitch roof. However, the prow pushes out, away from the perpendicular cross section and therefore the base and hence the hypotenuse of the triangles on each side of the prow are extended and hence the angle of rise is slightly less than 45 degrees. Sustaining a 45 degree angle meant that we would have reached the top of the pitch before arriving at the centre line thus preventing the SIPs from resting on the central beam. So, we had to take it all down and start again. This time we put a string line from the top to bottom to follow as we built the prow and this is making sure that we keep the correct angle as we go up.

For the kitchen gable we discovered that we would need solid wood support down to concrete on the foundation walls and in the garage. I got on with this and it required moving my pantry door 12 inches to the left, putting in the fir post, putting solid beams between the kitchen wall and the utility wall, which will require a solid post to the garage floor when it has been concreted.

We also dug a hole in the garage floor for the footing for the central post that is required to support the post above it in the room above the garage that will support the roof timbers there. This was difficult, to put it mildly, as the garage floor is currently frozen solid to a depth of about 10 inches and it was like trying to pick and hammer our way through reinforced concrete. It took us a day and a half to get it done.

Having put the window frames in we started on the log work. The central column went in straight forwardly enough and you can see Dexter screwing one of the outside log pieces in place. The prow is surprisingly stable and solid and this is due to the angle it is set at and the binding of the two halves in the centre.

It was at this stage that we realised that something was wrong and both outside columns had to be dismantled and rebuilt. 

With string lines in place - you can just make them out if you look hard enough - this is what it looks like now with both sides back up to the middle posts. So we are almost up to where we were on Thursday.

And from the outside it actually looks quite impressive.

In the kitchen, the pantry door has been moved a foot to the left and this beautiful fir post put in place to support the gable above it. The post will be a feature in the kitchen.

In the utility area you can see the beams I have put in place and the solid wood coming down on the left hand side. This will have to be extended down to floor level in the garage once the concrete is laid there.

Now look here. This hole took Matt and me a day and a half to dig, hacking our way through the frozen earth with a pick axe, sledge hammer and our bare fingers - so you are jolly well going to have to look at it and marvel at its beauty and technical excellence - without whinging. Most of the stones came out broken, breaking before the ice would release them.

Last week I visited a local cadet unit in Cranbrook with a view to offering my services to them once the house is built and I am settled. I was well received and met many of the officers and supporting staff. It was a pleasant surprise therefore to meet the Commanding Officer and his 2IC (his wife) at the theatre in Fort Steele last night. Their daughter was performing in the gala show that was put on to raise money for refurbishing the seats in the theatre stalls. The gala was a bit of a cross between a nineteenth century music hall concert and a modern variety performance. All the performers were amateurs (I think) but that is not to say there was any shortage of talent or originality, with some of the acts deliberately, wonderfully corny. I took along my next door neighbour at the cabins, Tex, and we came away agreeing that we had been well entertained and that there was some seriously good talent amongst the performers. I look forward to seeing more of what the Kootenays have to offer in the way of the performing arts.

When I left England I was concerned that one of the things that I would miss most about the old country would be the performing arts, in particular the theatre and the opera. I was rather spoilt in Salisbury, which has three professional stages and at least one amateur. Last night helped to allay some of those fears. There is no shortage of will or talent here and if the resources are meagre I am sure there is the potential to over come that and I am sure there is sufficient interest in the local population to support a few performances every year. I am quite minded, once the cabin is built and I am settled, to throwing a considerable part of my energies into contributing to the performing arts here.