Leb, wais nit wie lang

Another week of solitary toil while we wait for the SIPs for the roof to be completed in the factory and delivered. Much of it was spent erecting stud walls and I have now completed all the walls that I am currently intending to have in the house, save for the firewall between the house and the garage, which is the responsibility of my contractors. This will have to wait until the concrete in the garage is laid and the floor of the main cabin is extended into the 'utility area'. Hopefully, this is not far away. There is still some studs to put up but these will now be solely for cupboards etc and I might get on with some of these in the next week or so.

When the last remaining flooring and the last stud wall is in place, I can start planning and installing the 'rough-in' plumbing for all the bathrooms, wash room and kitchens. I am probably going to employ Tex to help me with this, initially for a week but maybe for two. He has very considerately offered his services to me at an exceptionally low rate to give me a hand and to guide me through the building codes, with which he is more familiar than I am. He can also guide me through all the purchasing because he knows the best materials to use and the places to get them at the lowest prices.

First to go up this week were the walls for the second bathroom. It is larger than I thought it was going to be and there will be room for five pieces, including a bidet, hopefully. I am thinking of making this a wet room rather than a conventional bathroom but, I will dwell on it before I make the final decision.

To complete this area a small wall was put in the narrow end of the bathroom, where the shower will be, and the doorway into the second bedroom was installed. The photo (above) doesn't show the tricky stud work needed to cope with the two roof beams, which are at different heights, that had to be negotiated. As I know you are dying to see this masterpiece of carpentry skill, so I will try to remember to include a photo of it next week. 

At the other end of the cabin (the South Wing for those mansion dwellers amongst you) I put in the final pieces to complete the entrance into the master bedroom and although, …

... it was considerably less challenging, I did manage to take a photo of the upper work at this end.

On the weekend, my contractor attended another industry show to advertise his business and I went along on Saturday to lend my support. This time the show was a Gun Show and you might ask what we were doing selling log homes at a gun show. A good question but there is a logical answer. Many of the people who are interested in guns (as well as other outdoor pursuits) are also interested in having a little cabin or cottage in the wilderness where they can enjoy their sports and leisures. Hence, the link and interest in what we had to offer.

Being a gun show, I am afraid for me it was a bit like taking a five year old into a candy shop with no lids on the candy jars, or, indeed a twelve year old along to a gun show. I was in my element here. Most of the stalls were just selling guns of one sort or another and believe me there was no shortage to look at, play with and to BS (bull shit) about.

Just one of many gun stands at the show in Kimberly. I am glad I took this photo early, when I did, because as soon as the doors opened the place was full of 'red necks' eager to get their hands on the hardware. Sorry about the poor quality of the photo but the light in the exhibition hall was very poor.

Apart from all the gun stalls there were lots of stalls selling stuff closely and not so closely affiliated with shooting. My eye was caught by the life size stuffed wolf, which was pretty impressive, if a little tasteless.

My eye was also caught by a number of exceptionally interesting exhibits (well to me anyway). This one is a WWII British Army .303 sniper kit, completely intact with all it ancillary equipment, including its original box. It wasn't for sale, understandably, but if it had been it would probably have cost about $5,000. I had a great chat with the owner and we BS'd about it and all sorts of other things for at least half an hour. There were other British .303 sniper rifles for sale at much more reasonable prices but they did not come with all the ancillary equipment. Mind you, I still have some of the kit myself, ie; cleaning kit.

I am not going to bore everyone with all the things that kept me busy for most of the day but there were three other rifles that sorely tempted me to put my hand in my pocket and it took a huge amount of will power and a bit of luck to come away with my bank balance still intact. The first was an 1943 Australian .303 (same as the British rifle but built in the Lithgow factory in Aus). This was a beaut. Completely original, full wood and still in very good working condition and quite reasonably priced. At $400 it was a good buy and if it had been the only thing I was tempted by, I might well have bought it but, there was another and another.

The second was an 1886 .458 Martini Henry. This was the rifle used by the British Empire forces in the latter part of the 19th Century and many may recognise it from the movies, particularly the film Zulu, where there were many close ups of it. There were five for sale at this exhibition and four of them were in good working condition. You can't buy factory made ammunition for them any more but you can buy hand made cartridges, or, you can make your own at very reasonable cost. About fifty, re-useable brass shell cases should be more than enough and the balls are quite easy to come by. The tricky bit in making your own really comes down to using the correct and right amount of powder. The average price of these rifles was $600 and I was again tempted. I made an offer of $500 on one with exceptionally clear markings and I suspect that the vendor is now sorry he didn't accept it. As all these Martini Henry rifles are classified as antiques, one doesn't need a firearms licence to purchase and own them.

The third little beauty was this 1949 Brno .222 hornet. Made in Czechoslovakia this was one of the sweetest little rifles on display. I have been looking for one of these rifles for years and was delighted to see it at the exhibition but, at $995 it was a bit more than I wanted to pay for it. Oh well, there is always next year and if I still have any money left over from building the cabin then I might well treat myself to one or more of what I saw. 

For those not into guns there was also a wide selection of bows for sale and this was one of the up market versions. I think I would prefer a long bow.

On a slightly sadder note, Matt Sample is coming to the end of his round the world trip. Over the last year, I have looked forward to each of his postings on his blog with eager fascination to find out where he is and what adventures he has been having. I have to say, I have never been disappointed. It was his blog that provided the inspiration to start this one and I have come to view him and his scribblings as a co-spirit in living the dream. As such he has become more familiar to me now than ever he was when we served together. For keeping me so well amused, I (and I suspect many others) owe him a great debt of gratitude which, I know, he will brush aside with humble self deprecation.  But I am going to miss his postings and hope that after a suitable period of R&R (to write his book) he will embark on a new adventure.

Leb, wais nit wie lang,

Und stürb, waiss nit wann;

Muess fahren, waiss nit wohin;

Mich wundert, das ich so frelich bin.

(Old Austrian spelling)

Live, don't know how long,

And die, don't know when;

Must go, don't know where;

I am astonished I am so cheerful.

Inscribed with chalk (circa 1500) on a cellar wall of Schloss Tratzberg in present day Austria by Maximilian I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May

Rising water levels in the rivers and lakes and strong winds have been the main themes of nature this week. The snow on the high peaks is melting fast now and some flood warnings were issued last week which, fortunately, did not materialise. But, low lying areas are not yet 'out of the water' because the melt water flow is predicted to reach its zenith in the first week of June. The clouds are also starting to change and the low, dull stratas of winter are starting to give way to massive cumulus cells that bring thunderstorms and 'rough winds that do shake the darling buds of May'.

Robyn has chosen the site for her nest well for keeping protected from the gusts of wind and she sits contentedly in her nest as we work around her. She gets a little nervous when visitors that, she is unaccustomed to seeing and hearing, appear and she leaves her nest and flies around in an attempt to draw them away. I am still a little concerned that the work around her will eventually have a terminal effect on her family when it arrives. I will do all that I can to protect her and her family but I can't stop work altogether and at some stage it is going to get uncomfortably (for her and us) close to the nest.

I was standing on the upper floor on Monday, contemplating how to divide up the bonus room above the garage into bedrooms and living area, when a humming bird suddenly appeared and hovered not more that a foot away from my face. I was startled at first, not realising what it was. Initially, I thought that it was a large moth or other flying insect and waved it off. Recognising it for what it was as it flew away, I realised it was time to get out the humming bird feeder that was thoughtfully given to me by Jeanette at Christmas. Literally, less than a minute after putting it up, outside one of the bonus room windows, the first humming bird was there feeding from it.

The feeder with liquid feed in place. For those not in the know, the feed is just sugar and water with a red dye which, seems to  have little trouble in attracting the birds.

I wish I had a decent camera because I could have spent all day photographing these fascinating, colourful and seemingly playful little creatures, who effortlessly draw the glance and hold it. Sometimes five or six will swarm in, dancing the dance around the May poles that are my rafters, beams and posts, oblivious to my presence, in what is either a mating ritual, a fight over females, or, just horse play. Their speed and many splendid colours dazzle the eye and raise a cherishing smile that acknowledges their innocent presence. They have been an unexpected pleasure to living here.

It was moment moreover, I thought, to put up this little wreath, that was also given to me for Christmas, this time by Elizabeth. In Northern Europe this is a tradition that is supposed to bring good luck to new houses and their occupants. As the custom predates Christianity by a few thousand years, I trust the pagan gods of the North will now gaze down benevolently upon this humble abode.

And so to the work, which has continued steadily with interruption only to fetch materials. Kevin brought over from Lethbridge the tele-posts for supporting the ceiling in the garage. These were put in place on Monday and, on Tuesday I did the planning, estimating and purchasing of the materials for putting up the internal dividing walls in the bonus room above the garage. From here onwards the bonus room will be referred to as the Annex. I was intending to leave this area until last but, after some deliberation, I have decided to complete the Annex first and move into it while I finish the rest of the house. Looking forward to its eventual use a rentable maisonette to the main house, it will need bedrooms and a living space which will include a galley kitchen. (The bathroom for the Annex will be in the main house area and I will be able to isolate it from the main house when required). There were really only two options for the bedrooms, either on the west side of the room or at the north end. I won't bother you with all the details of the considerations but I have decided to put them at the north end and I spent most of the rest of the week putting up the walls.

The tele-posts were quick and simple to put in place. This one will be enclosed in the wall that will divide the main house from the garage and …

 … the other, in the centre of the garage, will be boxed in.

Wednesday, I put up the central wall between the two bedrooms. Fortunately, Ron came along at just the right time to help me lift the structure, which I had constructed on the floor, in place. Without him it would undoubtedly have been very difficult and I suspect there may have been a few casualties. On Thursday, I put up the first bulkhead wall (on the left above) and on Friday, as it was forecast to rain, I did the planning and purchasing for the second bathroom in the main house area, which will be the one shared with the Annex.

On Saturday I got on with the second bulkhead wall (right above) with visions of being able to start the bathroom walls as well. However, I didn't count on the long weekend holiday, which brought countless visitors (all my neighbours at the development) who wanted to see how things were going. If they had all come at the same time it would have been quite efficient but, needless to say, they drifted in at different times. Where's the Visits Officer? I didn't begrudge any of them their sojourn and shamelessly showed off what had been accomplished since their last visit but, I did lose nearly four hours, all told, from the working day. If the truth be know however, I was pleased by the interest shown and their polite words of encouragement and delight. I am content to remain ignorant of what they really thought.

This is the stud wall that I promised to show you last week, which separates the master bedroom from its en suite bathroom.

Here too the timber for the second bathroom, that will be on the other side of the wall dividing the Annex from the main house.

On Friday afternoon I spent a few hours in the workshop working on spindles for the deck railings, etc. We have made approximately 500 so far and next week Kevin, Tex and I will go out into the forest with my new Salvage licence to collect more wood for spindles and railings.

This work will continue as background concurrent activity until the SIPs for the roof are ready to be collected from the production facility (factory) in the US.

The "Sorry" valley is still lying where it fell. Unfortunately, the Indians don't have another one and so we are going to have to either use this one and patch it, where the mistake was made, or, try to source another one from elsewhere. 

In preparation for putting the decking in place, I want to put a flexible parging material on the basement Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs). To that end I shall be buying the parging material as well as the external and internal wood stains for the logs on Monday. Hopefully, it will all arrive within a few days.

The weather doesn't look that good for next week so I am guessing that much of it will be spent in the workshop on spindles and railings. Until next weekend …...

The Guest Who Stayed

No shortage of things to write about his week. On the current ops side of things it was busy and with the help of good weather we managed to get quite a lot done. We almost got all the last remaining heavy timbers in place for the roof; we poured concrete in the foundations holes in the garage and for the decking, and; I built three stud walls on the top floor.

We started on the final phase of the heavy timber work on Wednesday. The first valley over the prow (see above) went in very well and I was particularly pleased with the joints which were all a snug fit.

Although not yet complete, it has already transformed the appearance of the great room from the inside as well as from out. All was going swimmingly well until we started to cut the second valley when, a brief lapse in concentration meant that, it was cut on the wrong side and hence would not fit and could not be used. It wasn't just the fault of the person doing the cutting. We all stood around and watched but nobody noticed, including myself who should have spotted it. The wood will be used elsewhere so it is not necessarily an expensive error but, it is another delay, which is frustrating for me and the contractors.

On Monday I built a stud wall between the master bedroom and the en suite bathroom but, I forgot to take a photograph so you will have to wait until next week to see it. Friday and Saturday however, I put up stud walls in both the upstairs bedrooms, on the great room side of each, and I did take a photo of these. I framed in space for a window in each wall which, with less scaffolding to obscure the view, is more clearly seen …...

… from the second bedroom. The primary purpose of this is to aid the circulation of air through the cabin. I have designed it so air can pass all the way through it from one side to the other. In the summer this will help to keep it cool and in the winter these internal windows will draw air warmed by the wood burning stove in the great room. They also have the advantage of offering a view of the great room from the bedrooms, which will be a neat (if not unique) feature of the house. We also built a post into this wall to support the beam coming in from the garage and with it in place we were able to remove the temporary support. With that gone, it has opened up this part of the upper floor and I can now more clearly plan the layout of the second bedroom, second bathroom and passage way into the bonus room above the garage.

On Tuesday, while I was down in Kalispell to meet Owen coming in from Missouri, in order to do a bit of future ops planning in Home Depot down there, Kevin and Dexter got on with pouring concrete. First up was the post foundations in the garage (two out of the three shown above).

Then outside for the deck foundations - the front (west side of the cabin seen here).

Then down the south side, ….

… and then out towards the prow. The wooden blocks are for protection from the rebars in the concrete that are a hazard if you should fall or stumble.

Then, across the prow over to the kitchen side of the house. The red tape you can see here and ...

… here is the limit of exploitation beyond which I cannot place any foundations in the ground. This is to preserve the integrity of the slope down to the lake.

The last foundations for the deck outside the bonus room which, when it is in place, will give me a nice semi-covered area outside the kitchen door for stacking wood.

Still with current ops. On Monday, while I was building the stud wall between the master bedroom and the en suite, Kevin, Dexter and Tex were busy making spindles and we now have about 280. The bad news is that we now estimate we will probably need over 500 and so there is still a bit of work to do yet. Anyway, they decided to break early and go for a spot of fishing and realising that, if you can't beat them, you might as well join them, so I decided to go along. I bought a fishing licence (at last) and we went up to this lake (above), where the steeleye trout are. If you look closely enough, you can just make out Tex in his little yellow kayak and ...

… on the other side of the lake, Kevin in his self paddler dinghy. Dexter and I were in his metal boat and when we rowed out a few yards into the lake I noticed it was taking on water. Dexter had forgotten the plug for the drain in the stern of the boat. So, while I put my finger in the hole, Dexter rowed us back to shore where we quickly rigged up a plug with a stick and some plastic sheeting. We were only permitted to bring away five fish each, so Kevin and Tex had to throw most of their catch back and as Dexter caught only three I was able to keep all seven of the ones I caught.

Fish are not the only inhabitants of the water here and we must have seen between 50 and 100 of these turtles, who allowed us to approach quite close before slipping off the wood (where they were soaking up a few rays) into the warm water.

When we got back we had a delicious supper of barbarque'd fish and chips, the latter cooked by Tex.

I guess most of you will have gathered that when I came here the last thing on my mind was finding another female, let alone starting another family. Well, last week I had a guest, a native of North America who arrived uninvited and despite some pretty frank and brutal dissuasion she didn't seem to take the hint. The meaner I treated her, the keener she became although, when I packed up on Monday evening to go fishing with the boys I thought I had seen the last of her. And so it probably would have been if I had been there on Tuesday.

When I arrived at the cabin on Wednesday however, she was still there and more to the point she had made herself well at home and was not only sitting in her nest but, ... 

… I quickly discovered she was sitting on three beautiful blue eggs.  She doesn't seem to be disturbed by the comings and goings of all the workers, or, by all the noise that we make around her. While she was away foraging, I was able to take this picture from a hole in the floor above where she has built her nest. So 'Robyn', the guest who stayed, is here at least until her babes have flown the nest and my eye has been turned, for awhile, from eagles' nests to a robin's.

I have since covered the area above the nest with the board you can see above to the right of the pales.

Dinner with friends yesterday evening was a pleasant end to the week and I hope next week will be just as productive as this week was. Kevin is due to bring back from Lethbridge the posts to go in the garage and I hope it won't be too long before we can get a replacement timber for the last valley for the prow. In the meantime there are plenty of spindles to cut and stud walls to put in. My wood salvage licence has been approved and I have noted with interest that they have not put a limit on the size of the timbers that I can extract, only on the volume. It is going to cost me $2.50, not bad.

A Time of Gifts

With the trade show to prepare for and attend at the end of the week, it has been a short week working on the cabin and I have continued the job started last week of putting fir blocks between the sub-flooring rafters and their beams. It has been a bit repetitive and has required a conscientious approach and a steady pace and, as I predicted, I had just enough cast offs to complete the task without having to sacrifice any of the larger pieces of timber that I am trying to save for furniture projects, once the cabin is built.

The weather has improved and with it the opportunity to pour some concrete in the foundation holes for the decking and the footings for the posts in the garage. To that end I cleared all the holes for the decking foundations and cut re-bars to put in the cement once it is poured. The footings in the garage had to be deepened and widened and the now soft ground made this task a lot less strenuous than it was when the ground was frozen. It made me wonder why we even attempted it when the ground was frozen but reminded myself that we were concerned about the integrity of the garage ceiling especially under the central post supporting the roof above the bonus room. I will be pleased therefore and a little relieved when the permanent posts are in place.

Four cubic metres of cement has been ordered for Tuesday but, I shall not be there to help with it. Kevin, Dexter and probably Tex will manage it without me because I will be going down to Kalispell in Montana to meet Owen who will be returning from a few days in Missouri, or Misery as it is often referred to in these parts, with his family. I want to take the opportunity, while he is in Kalispell, to choose the eternal doors for the kitchen, main entrance and garage (not the garage doors). I shall also drop into to see the kitchen man in the Building Centre in Eureka, whom I have missed twice.

Nearly forty blocks in total needed putting in which, …..

… look much smarter from their front side. Several needed notching on the rear to accommodate rafters coming in from behind.

One of the infamous holes in the garage. You didn't think you were going to get away Scot free, did you?  

Tex, Dexter and I attended the Home and Recreation show in Cranbrook this weekend. Kevin supervised most of the preparation for it and attended on Friday but, left the rest of us to it on Saturday and Sunday so he could be with his family. I attended in support of the contractors with a view to becoming an agent for them once my cabin is finished and in practice was really one of them when dealing with enquiries. I also took the opportunity to go around all the other stalls and managed to make a few contacts that may come in useful at a later stage of my project or as an agent.

Our, Creekside Log Homes, stand at the show with...

Tex and Dexter ready and loaded for bear. Note my D shaped logs left front.

One of the stands selling hard kitchen and bathroom tops.

One of the Kitchen stands.

Outdoor lifestyle stuff.

Last but not least, one for those in touch with nature.

The April showers, that we have been getting for the last few weeks, seem to be gradually giving way to some longer sunny days and the warmer weather, after the wet, is starting to transform the countryside from the stark colours of winter to the bountiful blushes of spring. There is still snow on the tops of the high Rocky Mountains, which contrasts blatantly with the deep rich blue of the sky and, everywhere at the lower levels, green shoots are springing up and at any moment I am expecting to see the blooms of the wild flowers on the property that are there in abundance.

I guess that if you lived here all your life and never ventured far, you could be forgiven for taking the wonder of this beautiful landscape with its flora and fauna for granted. I don't think I will live that long and neither will I ever really be able to express in these pages the true emotion that these mountains, forests and lakes evoke. On days like today, when the sun is shining, it reminds me of how lucky and, yes, how privileged I am to be here. I have come to appreciate what a gift it is to live in this wilderness and I see myself now in "a time of gifts." A time to give as well as to receive. The views from the property possess a healing charm and power, which soothes the fevered brow and never fails to cause even the lowest spirit to soar.

Here, with a loaf bread beneath the bow,

a flask of wine, a book of verse - and thou

beside me, singing in the wilderness -

and wilderness is paradise enow.