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.