Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines

This week has been mostly one of prior preparation and planning for future events. I finished off the last bits and pieces to the stud-walling that I started last week and I began to get things ready for pouring the concrete in the garage, which it is hoped will be done next week, depending on the availability of the laying crew.  I want to use the same guys that did the basement. They were outstanding and I have, I believe, the only basement on the Development that does not have a crack in it. If you saw them on the street you probably wouldn't consider them but, don't judge a book by the cover as they say because, they really were professional, as I think I said at the time.


I also had some good news from the planning department. When my plans were approved and my building permit issued, they stipulated that I had to rough in at least a three piece bathroom in the basement. I didn't really want to do this because I want to keep this area open (save for a storage room and small utilities room) as a large hobby and recreational area. So on Friday I went along to the planning office to see if there was any flexibility on this issue. To my utter surprise, no sooner did I mention that I didn't really want to dig holes in my wonderful basement floor when the inspector informed me that it was no longer a requirement to rough in a bathroom, only to put in a vent pipe up to the roof, just in case a future owner wishes to put a bathroom in the basement. Not quite believing what I had just heard, I asked him to repeat it and I staggered out of their offices much relieved and in a much lighter mood than when I went in.

Last week I promised to show you the top of the doorway into the second bedroom - here from inside the bedroom and ...

… from the landing area.

I dragged my utility trailer out of the garage, to allow us to start levelling the floor, and have now parked it on the edge of what will be the apron. Using the rotten valley (14" x 4" x 26'), some OSB board and some old dunnage that I planed off, I have built myself a sturdy work bench (8' x 28"), which I have put in the trailer. I thought that it was going to take up too much room and that I wouldn't be able to get much else in, but I was wrong and so I spent a day getting most of my large heavy tools, that I bought a few months ago, out of my lockup. I had lots of fun unpacking them, setting them up and learning how they work. I can't wait to start using them, after all, this is what I have bought them for. I just wish we were a little further along with the build, so I could set up my workshop in the garage. There is still the large bench saw and thickness planer to bring out and it is hoped that it won't be long now before I can do this and I hopefully await the moment when we can secure at least the garage.


I was quite glad there wasn't too much really heavy work this week because we have entered the season when 'sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines' and on a couple of occasions the temperature rose above 30c. Not that I am really complaining, its much better than 30 below.

My new workbench in the trailer with a few tools.

There is still plenty of room for smaller tools and enough space to work at the bench, not that I will be doing any major work in the trailer. I also bought the electrical cable you can see on the bottom shelf. We will need to lay some on top of some of the beams just before the SIPs are put in place and, this week, I also routed out some groves for this very purpose.

On Wednesday, Kevin and I hitched up his large flatbed trailer to his pickup and we dragged it off into the forest along with my new licence, in order to salvage some wood for furniture and the decking. We grossly overloaded the trailer as well as his truck but, brought it back safely with some really good wood. I am still reeling over the opportunity and value that this licence represents. Kevin estimated that the value of the wood we collected exceeded $2,500, if we had bought it at a timber yard. There is so much of it in the area that has been allocated to me that we could collect ten times the volume I have been granted and it would scarcely make an impression on what is just lying around.

All the wood you see here was part of our load.

My robins continue to struggle to bring up their young chicks while I work around them. If there is a brighter side to the slowness of work at the moment then it is this. I managed to sneak this photo of the chicks at the beginning of the week, but I am reluctant to intrude any more lest I frighten the parents off. I have tried to help out by leaving bread out for them but they don’t seem to be interested. I am not sure what else I can do, other than leave them alone.

If you look hard enough, you can just make out three chicks amongst all the feathers and beaks

The deer are losing their winter coats but, I have yet to see any of this year's fawns. There are plenty of last year's about and the males are all starting to grow new horns. We always have plenty around the development but at the moment there seems to be more than usual. I'm not quite sure why. I am also having a bit of a problem with gofers, who are digging up parts of my yard. There is a local badger who lives on the common land and I guess he will eventually get around to culling a few for me. Otherwise, I may have to trap a few and take them over to the other side of the lake to start a new life over there.  

John Sheppard, the homeless man, has been reported missing by the people on whose land he has been camping. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) don’t appear to be very interested because he is homeless. A number of us are concerned because his dog, of whom he was very fond, was found apparently abandoned in the truck camper John was using. This is very unlike John, who took great care of the dog, and we feel he would have taken it along with him if he had decided to move on.

I am looking forward to the arrival of my brother Rod and sister-in-law Pam in a couple of weeks, who are stopping over on their way from Australia to the London Olympics. They will be with me for a couple of weeks and an extra pair of hands between site seeing, fishing, bear watching and barbarqueing will be welcome. I have ordered all the stain for the logs and this may be a suitable task for them to help me out with. I have also arranged for them to stay in one of the cabins where I am currently living, free of charge thanks to Owen my contractor, thank you Owen. Although these cabins are fairly basic and small, at least they have running water and electricity, which Rod and Pam wouldn't have if they were in the trailer (caravan).

Talking of barbargues, Tex treated me to a fantastic T bone steak on Friday that he had been marinading in grape seed oil for three weeks. It was as big as both my hands layed side by side on a table and I made a salad for us to go with it that didn't really do it justice. The bottle or Merlot I provided however did, and a couple of glasses ensured that the meat was digested without any tummy rumblings in the middle of the night. T bones are one of my favourite steaks and, as they are quite hard to come by in the UK nowadays, it was a real joy.

Tex singeing the T bones.