The Wizard of Aus

With the week's delay in posting, I suspect that you will have gathered that I was serious about taking things a little slower and taking time out to do some of the things I came here to do.

The highlight of the last three weeks was the visit of some special friends from Australia. Actually Steve and Charmaine Rule are currently living in Maryland, USA, working on an Australian military procurement project. They decided to pay me a visit during their tour of Western USA and Canada with their son David (16). They started their amazing trip in Anchorage, taking the cruise down the coast to Vancouver and then venturing overland to visit me via Seattle. They spent the best part of a week with me before continuing on down to Denver, from where they will fly back to Maryland. On route they are visiting all the great national parks and other sites between here and there.

Before they arrived, I did some reconnaissance of places to take them which as we all know is time never wasted.

On the first day I took them to the Heritage site at Fort Steele near Cranbrook. It exceeded all our expectations and we spent five hours there looking at all the exhibits. This one was behind glass, hence the glaze and ghost figures.

This was the officers' quarters and ….

…… this is where the mounties lived.

To be honest, I could fill this blog with photos we took but, that would spoil it for guests coming later in the year whom I shall also take to Fort Steele.

Next day, at Charmaine and Steve's insistence (David and I were all for rock climbing) we did some work at the cabin and over two days, separated by a trip to Montana, ……

we prepared all the timbers for the dining room table.

There was a lot of work involved and …..

…..  what took us just a couple of days to complete ……

….. would have taken me a week to do by myself.

Once all the timber was prepared we had to put it all together. As some of the timbers were warped …..

…… a little persuasion was required to get the table top flat. Even then it wasn't quite level but, on account of it weighing nearly 300 lbs, it straightened itself out once it was in place.

With it all together, just a few finishing touches were required before taking it apart and carrying it inside in manageable parts.

Then we had to put it all back together again and ….

….. voila, one dining room table ready for staining. We then set to work to make the first bench so we had something to sit on for  ……

…… the first supper.

As concurrent activity, while the dining room table timbers were being sanded by David and Steve, Charmaine and I made the bed for Bedroom 4 (The Matterhorn Room).

Subsequently, I have put in some rugs and hung the curtains.

Before they arrived, I had managed to finish all the cabinetry and trimming in the North Wing bedrooms and got one of the beds made, ready for David. I have since added the curtains and the picture in this room as well - Bedroom 3 (The Mont Blanc Room).

In between getting all this done we took a day trip down to Montana and drove around the Flathead Lake just south of Kalispell.

It was a long day but, the scenery was wonderful and we stopped at a typical country pub for a typical American lunch.

Next on the agenda, and the highlight of their visit to me, was a hike up to Bear Lake in the Rockies. Armed with a can of bear spray we took to the trail after an hour's drive up the Wild Horse Creek Forestry Road.

A steady climb of over a thousand feet, at first through the forest and …. 

….. then into more open country, eventually brought us …..

…. to a saddle overlooking Bear Lake, where we had a picnic and …..

….. a swim.

Despite icy, crystal clear water …..

…. the Aussies had to go in as well to avoid being outdone by a pommie bastard.

On our way home, we stopped off at the Bull River Inn for a drink and to see the spectacular collection of taxidermy .…

…. that adorns the walls in the bar.

Their visit came to an end all too quickly and before I knew it they were on their way to the next destination on their odyssey. It was great to have them at the cabin and good to see them again. All the photos of their work and our trips to Fort Steele and Bear Lake are curtesy of David, who is a wiz with the camera and whom I last saw when he was six years old.

David Rule - Intrepid explorer and Wizard of Aus.

After the Aussies left I set to work making a second bench and applying three coats of stain to the table and benches. Yesterday evening I had Rod and Candy Phipps over for dinner. I was hoping to have more people but, I chose a bad weekend to have my first dinner party and only they were available. I am very pleased with how the table turned out and very grateful to all the Rules for helping to build it.

It has been very hot here recently with temperatures reaching into the mid 30s and (except when the Rules were here) I have been swimming in the lake almost every day. The ground is very dry and there is a fire ban on at the moment and we are all very conscious of the risk and danger that fire poses to us. I have also been continuing my war against weeds in the garden and at last seem to be winning that particular battle. Next year however will be the 'year of the yard' when I really get to grips with the garden. It has the potential to really compliment the work I have put into the cabin and I am already giving the matter some serious thought.

There is still quite a lot of work to do inside the cabin and that doesn't include the basement, which I am going to wait a couple of years before I tackle. Not because I am shying away from the work but, because I have not yet decided what to do down there and I want to live in the cabin for a while in order to get a better feel for making the most of it. It is a large area, over 1000 square feet, and I want to make the most its potential.

The work still required above the basement is mostly finishing work but, includes the bar opposite the kitchen and the bonus room in the North Wing that still requires a desk area and a galley kitchen. I'll get on with this but, in slower time now so I can enjoy some of the fruits of my labours to date.

There is still plenty of wildlife about at the moment. We saw this moose on the way up to Bear Lake and ……

The humming birds buzzing around the feeder provide endless amusement with their agility and hovering skills.

At the other end of the aerobatic spectrum is the grouse, of which there are a large number about at the moment. They have to rival chickens as the most stupid animals on earth but they are a joy to have about.

I will publish again soon but, it will probably be in three weeks time as I am expecting more guests in August, which will be another welcome break.