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.