Le chapeau bleu

I suppose as things go I'll have to say that last week wasn't bad. I was by myself again for most of the week and had to work with an injured arm having sprained my left arm lifting heavy timbers myself again. But, I managed to get a few things done including installing the garage side door and the front door, making some steps for getting from the garage to the main cabin level and fitting trim on the outside of the kitchen and garage side doors.

The crowning success of the week came on Thursday when the roofers turned up. I had been expecting them on Monday and then on Wednesday and by Thursday morning I had just about resigned myself to accepting that they weren't going to come this week when they turned up. Much can be forgiven when contractors work hard and get the job done and Sean and his boys did just that. They set to work as soon as they arrived and with only a short break for lunch they worked through until 9 o'clock in the evening to finish the job in the dark.

The roof is now a robin's egg blue colour in its waterproof wrap and makes me glad I didn't choose that colour for the metal. There are one or two small leaks where rain has got through but by and large the house is now waterproof. The metal has been ordered and should arrive towards the end of next week and so I am expecting Sean and his team back the week after to put it on.

The two sets of steps I built for the garage.

They have since been stained to protect them from the wet and dirt.

The garage side door installed and …..

…. trimmed

The front door in place with one side light. Owen didn't think there was enough room for the second side light but there is and I have ordered another. The irritating thing is that it has now cost me $100 more than it would have cost had Owen ordered two side lights when he originally place the order, because there was a sale on then.

In the meantime I have blanked out the space for it to keep the wind and cold air out of the house.

The roofing crew hard at work putting the waterproof layer on.

There were four of them altogether.

Friday morning and the place looked quite different. Don't you just wish you had a roof that colour.

The kitchen door all dressed up in it's trim.

A close up of the roof above the garage but, I also want to show you that I have moved the trailer with all my tools inside the garage.

Can't wait for the forest green metal to go on.

The reason I have moved the trailer into the garage is because on Monday the septic crew are arriving. They will also be digging the trenches for the water supply and the electricity hook up. Next week looks like it will be another busy week. The temperatures are forecast to be quite mild although rain is also forecast. That won't be a bad thing as long as it doesn't rain too much. A small amount will keep the ground soft for digging.

My many good fortunes

Not the best week I have had since I have been here, finding myself working alone on the house once again. It started well enough with driving over three mountain ranges in order to go to pick up the siding for the kitchen gable. In the event it turned out to be only 550 km, rather than the 721 that google maps told me it was going to be. That ensured that I arrived three hours earlier than expected, at about 2.30 pm, so I called the mill owner and asked if there was any chance of loading the wood that afternoon to save me time and the cost of a motel room for the night. He duly obliged and his mill foreman came down and we loaded the trailer up and I was away within an hour. The weather was appalling in both directions, which spoilt the enjoyment of the trip a little but, I managed to get back here by midnight.

Having gained a day on what I thought was going to be a short week, on Monday I drove down to Kalispell in Montana to pick up the last remaining windows (for the basement and the prow) and at the same time to order or, more correctly, to reorder the large prow windows that last week I discovered were too small for the aperture built for them. Having given the subject some thought, and after consultation with the sales rep in Kalispell, I have ordered two smaller windows for each aperture. The smaller windows will be easier to fit and the sizes that I have ordered will ensure that the symmetry of the window layout for the prow is maintained.

So far so good. On Tuesday I took the windows out to the cabin and fitted them. I was expecting help but, Dwayne didn't show and there was no help from Kevin who was late back from the weekend due to illness, so I got on with it by myself. I finished early but when I tried to start the car the starter motor wouldn't turn over. My first instinct was that the battery was flat but, on closer inspection all the battery indicators were normal and there was an unusual red caption on the dash board. On second thoughts therefore I thought it must be the starter motor/solenoid. Tex came out to help and came to the same conclusion so I organised a recovery to the Jeep garage in Cranbrook. Next day I called the garage only to learn that is was in fact a cell in the battery that had died and the battery couldn't put out enough power to start the engine. All in all it cost over $500 to get me back on the road, which was less than I was expecting but, it stung like a frozen lash nevertheless. Tex kindly drove me into town to pick the car up and I took him out to lunch at our favourite Chinese Takeway in the Mall, to thank him.

Thursday and Friday the weather turned, with the temperature falling and rain soaking the house inside and out - all a bit depressing. I was by myself again with Dwayne still failing to show for work but I managed to put the trim on the windows of the basement and the lower half of the prow and did some landscaping to tidy up under the decking. Friday morning I received a call from Western Building 'Center' in Eureka to inform me that the barn door for the kitchen had arrived so, on Saturday I went down to pick it up, brought it back and by late afternoon it was fitted.

The siding that I collected from Keremeos on the far side of Osoyoos, which is wine country. This will go up once the roof is on, in order to make sure there is a water tight seal underneath it at the interface. 

All windows now fitted, with the exception of the infamous large prow openings, which I have sheeted to keep the weather out. It is hoped that it will only be three to four weeks before the new windows are available.

Honest, I am not receiving a commission for advertising Jeld Wen windows. It is just that it is best to leave the plastic protection on for as long as I can.

I am quite pleased with the trim. I have cut them from old weathered grey planks; ripping them down to 4 1/2 inches on my bench saw; planing them to get all the rough grey wood off the show side with my bench planer, then; cutting them to size and staining them before fitting.

I wasn't going to bother to show you a close up of the basement windows again but, when I saw this one with a reflection of me taking the photo I thought it may amuse a few. Note, I am still in my old green army fatigues, which are wearing a little thin and won't last much longer.

The kitchen door complete with door handle. 

A bit closer - still has to be stained, which I will do this week - given the weather. If you look carefully, you should just be able to make out the line above the door handle where the door splits  in order to allow the top half to open separately.

Talking of the weather, we have had our first dusting of snow. It is still too warm for it to settle at the lower levels but, the tops of the highest mountains have a light covering - which may or may not last until the coming of winter. The wet weather this week, and a few other disappointments, has served to dampen moral a bit and at times the size and task ahead has seemed a little daunting. But, I am neither complaining nor asking for sympathy or help. I'm just saying how it is. I know that there are those that want to know and these pages are more than just a record of progress. They are also my story. Before I started this, I knew it was going to be challenging and that it would have it's low, as well as its high, moments. The challenges are what, in the end, will define this experience and many, I expect greater ones, lie in wait for me. I guess I am of an age when many of us seek to do things that we didn't get a chance to do earlier in life or try something new or maybe just to tie off a few loose ends. There is always a price to pay of course but, we do have a choice and many would be happy just to have the chance to do what I am doing here and so and I am grateful for my many good fortunes.

Zoom boom bananza

I am posting early this week because tomorrow, Sunday, I am driving over 700 kms to pick up the log siding for the wall on the kitchen gable. If I don't do it myself it could be weeks before my contractor will get it done. Of course, I will bill him for the cost of collecting it, which will still probably be a saving for him. So, I am pushed for time this week having only just got in from working on the cabin

When Kevin and Marvin, the roof framers, finished on Wednesday Marvin kindly raised me up in the basket on the end of the zoom boom (see shadow) to take some photos of their handy work.

They did an outstanding job, and are a shining example that other contractors might wish to emulate. I took them out for a meal to thank them and sent them a copy of the photos that I took.

I also wrote to their boss, "Rich the Framer," to thank him for their services and offered to recommend him and his team to any future prospective clients.

The wood burning stove people also came along and installed chimneys for the two stoves that will go into the room above the garage and the main cabin great room.

The porch was also completed and all that remains here is to stain the timber frames and board the underside, which can wait.

I am particularly pleased with the way the main roof lines have integrated with the covered deck roof.

While I was up in the basket I took a photo of my neighbours' houses. This is the one to my right as you look at the lake and …. 

this one to the north or left as you look at the lake.

The rest of the week was taken up with fitting windows and doors on the upper level, for which the use of the zoom boom was very handy.

I even managed to get the trim on all of them, which was a real bonus, and ...

... to fit the French windows to the prow and trim them both as well.

The only real disappointment of the week was to discover, when we tried to fit them, that the two largest windows in the house in the prow are 10 inches too short. After much debate about options I have decided that the only viable one is to reorder the windows to the correct size. My contractor is obviously not happy with this but in the end it his responsibility to get it right in the first place.

It will be nice to see the small decks outside the bedrooms and the main deck furniture finished. It is hoped some if not all of this can be achieved next week.

The weather continues to hold and so while I was aloft I also took some photos of the lake and the surrounding countryside. This shot looking down the lake.

The view directly in front of my place.

Finally, just off to the north.That is it for this week. I'll try to write something a little more interesting next week if I have the time.

Weather still holding

Another outstanding week of good luck and hard work. The weather has continued to hold and the work team has put in long hours and taken pride in their work. However, the pace of work has taken it's toll, with me at least. I haven't had a day off for over three weeks and a few old injuries have started to play up a bit, one or two repetitive stress injuries have emerged along with a few cuts and bruises and a few joints and muscles have been complaining. I had to resort to a fist full of pain killers and anti-inflamatories to get any sleep at all on Friday night and so on Saturday I took the day off and today (Sunday) I paid a long overdue visit to the hot springs in Fairmont. It was well worth the hour's drive to get there and I already feel much better.

As this photo shows, we eventually got the last valley and jack-rafters in place and, apart from two small bits at the front of the cabin, what you see here is all that remains to be covered by the framers. Monday is a bank holiday (Canadian Thanksgiving) and so they will be back mid morning on Tuesday and finished by COP Wednesday, it is hoped.

The large valley between the main roofline and the prow on the kitchen side of the prow. Actually, there was a blue sky but, the sun just below the roofline has made it come out white on the photo.

The roof over the deck outside the kitchen door and the tricky interface between it and the garage roof leading down from the 'dodgy valley'. The framers did particularly well here.

I hope to collect the siding for the bedroom wall next week sometime.

I also hope to get the windows for the North Wing in.

Garage doors have been ordered but, it will be two or three weeks before they arrive.

On the front of the house, the deck has now been covered and the porch dormer constructed ready to be framed and sheeted by the framers along with the hole at the corner - then it is job done.

I am very pleased with the way the covered decks have come together with the main roof.

During an idle moment we counted the rings on some of the posts and beams and it was with both pride and pity that I learned that some of the wood we have been using was around a hundred years before I was born and I have no doubt it will still be here, as part of the cabin, more than a hundred years after I am dead.

This side is also proving to be a wonderful afternoon autumn/winter sun trap and begging for some grape vines for the summer to finish it off.

On Friday Sean, the roofer, came by to take final measurements before purchasing the metal sheeting that now has to go on the whole roof. His boys should be here sometime next week to paper and baton the roof ready for it. Once the paper is on, then the roof will be water tight.

The fireplace people also came along on Friday for a recce for the two wood burning stoves that they will install on Tuesday. Next week therefore you should see two metal chimneys sticking out the top of the roof along with a couple of holes for water outflow ventilation - all required before Sean's boys put the metal roofing on.

Looking at the photos, I can see why some people think this is a large house but really the chunky logs make it look bigger than it is. Now the roof is nearly on, the inside is beginning to get smaller and it will continue to shrink as more and more goes into it.

I have tasked a sub-contractor to put the septic and water in and he should be starting in three weeks time. I have also called for a quote for bringing electricity from the road to the house but, I haven't heard from them. I will need to chase them again next week.

I was hoping to have the cabin in a state to have my children over for Christmas but, unless my prime contractor can deliver a surge to get everything he is contracted to do done then, I think I am going to miss my target again. Shame.