Feeling nearly faded as my dreams

Well I'm back in Canada, my winter break's lease having all too short a date. It seems that I took the Canadian winter with me to Blighty and I stepped off the plane at Gatwick into the blizzard that was engulfing southern England at the time. London, in my absence, has been transforming itself. Everywhere I looked there were cranes on building sites. Skyscrapers appeared to be rising all over the place and the new Shard was very conspicuous on the South Bank.

I stayed with my brother Clive in Cockfosters and he was in good form considering the challenges he is facing. His strength and forbearance in the face of adversity is inspirational, as is the dedication and devotion of his partner Yuliang who is supporting him through his illness.

It was good to see my own family, particularly my children but, it was a stark reminder, as if I needed reminding, of the price one pays for a failed marriage - and it stung, like a frozen lash. I would liked to have stayed longer and visited friends, especially those who have been following this blog but, it wasn't to be - not this time. And all too quickly the visit was over and I left the grey winter skies of England feeling nearly faded as my dreams.

I stayed a couple of nights in Calgary on the way back, thank you Jeanette for putting up with me, before making my way down to South East British Columbia. It took a couple of days to get back into the swing of things, picking up the threads I had left blowing in the wind ten days ago. When I saw the cabin, with the sun shining on it, it made me feel good again and feeling good about the cabin is good enough, good enough for me.

I continued with the wiring but, the main effort this week has been putting up the last steel brackets to tie the beams and posts together and then to finish off the stairs so at least I can now get from the basement to the top floor without having to climb a ladder. That will make life a tad easier.

This bracket and the one on the other side were the last two to go in. I had to suspend myself with climbing equipment from the beam above and hold the brackets in place with parachute cord while I drilled and bolted them in place. The Middle Wallop Climbing Club would have been proud of me.

I raised the top level of the platform and straightened up the steps, which some of you may have noticed weren't exactly perfectly horizontal. 

Looking back down the first flight. The wood burning stove has once again proved useful for a hot lunch every day.

The second flight going up to the top floor from the platform.

To make it easier turning the corner on the platform, I have trimmed the bottom step.

I also put up a couple of new stud walls on either side of the stairwell at the top end of the stairs (note the wiring) ….

…. and have started laying the 2" floor boards but, ….

because I had to use more boards than planned to raise the level of the platform, I shall now have to order some more to finish the job.

There is still plenty of wiring to do and I will get on with this as concurrent activity while I do other work and wait for the engineer to come and do his inspection.

I thought you might like to see this panoramic view of the sun rising over the Rockies opposite the cabin, taken from the road coming into the Development.