All in a hot and copper sky. The bloody sun, at noon, Right up above the mast did stand, No bigger than the moon. Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I am sure that STC would not mind me borrowing his immortal words, from the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, to describe conditions here for the last month. It has been swelteringly hot with ambient temperatures in the high 30s C with highs in the sun well over 40c. One short thunderstorm has been the only relief and, with varying degrees of success, I have adopted practises to keep cool. I have tried to schedule my work around the house to keep in the shade. The trusty old slouch hat was just too broad brimmed to work under the eves so I have had to exchange it for a base ball cap with handkerchief to keep my neck protected and head cool. A long sleeve shirt with wet cuffs has helped cool the blood and seven to eight litres of water a day has prevented dehydration, cramp and constipation. Ok, too much information! Let's move on.

The good weather has meant that I have been able to get on with things without interruptions from the weather and the BIG news is that I have now finished the outside of the cabin. Starting next week I will now focus my energy on the inside. Before I take you on a tour to show off the outside of the cabin however, I'll just go through the fortnight's work.

The three gable ends were the fortnight's main challenge. I started on the garage gable as it looked like it was going to be the most straight forward. I was able to use the mobile scaffolding and stretch planks over to the steps leading up to the NW deck and strung a safety rope up to the eye that I placed, with foresight, on the overhanging beam (sorry no photo).

It took three days to get it all done and as it is on the North side of the cabin I was able to do most of the work in the shade.

Next up was to tackle the South gable and this was a bit more tricky. While I was doing the garage gable, I pondered the challenge of getting the scaffolding in place to do this side and came up with this arrangement. The photo was taken after the work was completed and just before I dismantled the scaffolding and so it doesn't show the safety rope in place which, I can assure you I used.

Another three days and the job done and then around to the kitchen gable, which was always going to be the most challenging because ….

….  I was never going to be able to put the scaffolding on the ground because the kitchen steps are in the way and the mobile scaffolding doesn't reach high enough even if I could. So I came up with this arrangement with the scaffolding on the NW deck.

Anchor points were secured to the wall and …..

…. planks securely placed for access and doing the work. Note the safety rope which again was well used.

Serious injury has always been my strategic risk and putting the fascia and soffits in these gable ends by myself was always going to be a challenge. So, getting them done without incident has been a mild relief and left one last little job to do to get the outside of the cabin done and that was ….  

…. the railings and spindles for the main entrance steps .…

…. which I managed to get done yesterday just before the sun reached them.

If you are wondering what the dustbin is doing at the end of the deck, it is collecting water (when it rains) for cleaning tools and washing hands.

And there you are. Job done.

So a quick tour around the cabin which, as I will now be working almost exclusively on the inside, will probably be the last you will see of it until the whole project is completed.

This is how you see the cabin approaching it down the driveway.

Going around anti-clockwise, this is the South side and where next year I will plant grape vines to grow along the covered deck.

Deck furniture, hanging baskets, half barrels and boxes for flowers and herbs will all also have to wait. 

I have also added stone surrounds to the base of the deck posts.

You cannot see her but, there is a deer under the deck on the right of the photo.

She was in front of the window on this side but, she moved off and if you look carefully enough she is standing under the deck outside the prow. She has been with me all week. I have been able to get a closer look at her from the basement, which she cannot see into and I have been able to get to within an arm's length of her.

NW deck and garage.

North side.

And back around to the front.

View from the road, which I have been promising you for a while now.

Same view, same stand, just zoomed in a bit.

Taken from on top of the brown electrical box.

Other news is that I have taken delivery of 8,000 linear feet of 8" x 1" pine planking. That sounds a lot I know and it was a lot to man-pack into the cabin. 

What you see here is about one third of it. I had to make four trips to pick it up from MacDonald's Ranch and Lumber. I have  brought it into the cabin to keep it out of the sun and weather. It is beetle kill pine and is a very attractive white with blue/grey stain which is the signature of beetle kill standing dead wood. It is very dry and has been planed on both sides and ship lap grooving applied to both edges.

I will be using it to board all the internal walls of the cabin, make all my shelving, cabinet fascias in the kitchen and bathrooms and all the internal doors for the cabin. I might need more! It is going to look really good and I am already wondering how to stain and protect it. At the moment I am minded to clear coat it in order to preserve the unique blue and grey colouring.

Bill and Mike, the dry-wallers came back and superbly put in and finished the dry walling between the rafters in the study/dining area and kitchen.

I then put in the counter sunk lighting and replaced the temporary lights in the centre of the room.

The kitchen is already looking lighter and will brighten up more when I have painted the ceiling.

I have made a start installing the kitchen lights which don't take long to put in and I will finish them next week.

My priority now will be to get the plumbing done. I have made a start with the outflow and a little more of that is still required before I start on the inflow. Before this however, the Tin Man needs to come and put in all the metal ducting for the hot air central heating for the basement and main floor. He is due to start on 1 Aug and will probably take the best part of a week to get all his work done. In the meantime I will finish putting in the kitchen lights and make a start on some wall panelling, which will be fun to do.

So another significant land mark has been passed in this project. It would be nice to take a break at this point and I am sorely tempted to do so but, although there is no deadline to meet, I want to move in as soon as I can. Working by myself means that everything takes a long time and I am not sure how long it will take me to get the things done that I need to do before I can move in. I need the kitchen, one of the bathrooms, the septic system needs to be commissioned and all the safety elements (banisters, railings and spindles) done before I am allowed to move in. My aim is to be in sometime in the autumn and certainly before the winter. Resources are now my main concern.

So, here's to Prince George and until next time.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Another busy and very hot fortnight with temperatures last week, after the storms and flooding the previous week, reaching 47c in the sun. A ridge extending from the High over southern USA, which caused soaring temperatures down there, was responsible and it also played havoc with the mobile phone network frequencies.

I started the fortnight, where I finished off the previous one, getting the soffits and fascia on the front of the house finished.  This involved constructing a platform to stand on to get at the en suite bathroom dormer, which is over the covered deck. It was much more stable than perhaps it looks in the photo. 

Job done. Just forgot to take the film off the window but, I can do this from the inside later.

Before going around the lake side, I thought I might show you the detail of the porch, which turned out quite well.

I started on the backside with the bedroom dormers which went quite smoothly although, the roof metal reached scorching hot temperatures and had me dancing about like a cat on a hot tin roof and I needed two layers of clothing to protect myself from getting burned while doing the sides.

Then on to the Prow, which was fun and as it is such a prominent feature of the cabin it was good to get it finished and …. I remembered to take the film off the outside glass from the higher windows so, I don't have to climb up there again.

Well, not until they need cleaning at any rate. I had to remove 6 (small) wasp nests in the process which I managed without getting stung.

The sides of the Prow were pretty straight forward and when finished I put the permanent light fittings in and the down pipes for the guttering so I can now remove the dustbins from the deck which were catching the water.

I was glad to get this done because now the pipes take the rain water off the roof well away from the basement and foundations

I even dug some small trenches to take the run off  away from the deck posts and out into the yard.

Of course, now I have got this done it won't ever rain again

Looks quite smart too .…

…. on both sides.

It was then back around to the front to work on the steps to the porch and with help from Kevin I got the posts in place including ….

…. this neat little feature to position one of the top posts correctly.

I finished the fortnight off with staining the last remaining step posts which had dried out sufficiently to take the stain ….

…. and doing some final touches to odd places around the cabin, ..…

…. including the fascia on this part of the roof on the NW deck and …..

…. putting the permanent light fitting on the same deck.

So this is where I am now. The front of the house is almost done. Only the railings and spindles to fit on the porch steps and some very minor titivations. 

The lake side of the cabin is completely done and that only leaves ….

…. the three gable ends, one of which you can just see here on the left, which are going to be a challenge because of their height and the fact that two of them are above covered decks. I'll start with the garage gable as that does not have any obstructions other that the steps up to the NW deck and I hope they will be a help rather than a hinderance.

So, getting there slowly still and the sense of achievement getting stronger with each small step. I have lots of plans for the back yard but, all these will have to wait until next year. The Rhododendron experiment I tried last year ended in failure unfortunately, although I am uncertain as to why. Did I kill it with too much water? Was the water contaminated by the bucket I used or, did it just not like the soil? I may try again next year as I think they would really make the yard look nice.

One of the pair of robins that hatched chicks earlier have rebuilt their nest I removed after the first chicks flew the nest and they are again sitting on eggs. Their nest is right outside the kitchen door and so I can't use the BBQ and as often as I can, I take the long walk around the house to avoid disturbing them.

We have a mosquito season which normally lasts about three weeks and it is here now a week later than last year but, thankfully, not nearly as bad. I haven't had to apply any repellent yet but have some just in case. There aren't as many as there were last year and I think the heat wave, which is predicted to continue for at least another ten days, is going to kill them off quite quickly. Some people have an enclosed section of their deck and it is something I may consider doing in the future.

I have had a minor problem with flying ants nesting in the roof insulation but, some ant killer insecticide soon put paid to them and every other bug and fly that was squatting in the cabin. It has taught me to keep the doors closed though and when I am living in the house I will fit all the window fly screens which are sitting in the basement at the moment. In the meantime the windows remain closed as well.

My neighbours continue to look after me far better than ever I deserve for which I am eternally grateful. There is much talk about the Calgary Stampede this year which has gone off well despite the flooding just before the event. The only events that haven't been able to go ahead are the concert gigs that are normally held in the ice rink dome which was flooded up to ten or eleven rows above the ice floor. Apparently, all the electronics were destroyed by the water and couldn't be replaced in time. People made up for it though in other ways and a good time has been had by all.

One piece of sad news was the death of a local young man 20 years of age who was the son of the owner of the First Perk Café here in Jaffray, where I sometimes have breakfast or a burger if I am working really late. His vehicle went into the Bull River, which was in flood after the storms, on the Bull River Forestry Road late at night. It is a sad loss in a small and close community and many lives have been touched.

The body is holding up well although I am in need of a day's rest which I am taking today. Saying that, this afternoon I might peel a couple of spindles which Kevin has given to me. They have got some neat features on them and will look cool on the porch steps. I hope you will see them in my next posting.

Yours aye.

And God said unto Noah, who was Canadian. "Hey, buddy, you better build an ark I think there's a storm acomin'."

The same storm system that hit Calgary and Southern Alberta last week hit us in SE BC as well. We didn't have it as bad as the Albertans but, people are still talking about it. We had three inches of rain in less than 24 hours and I watched the bank down to the lake from the cabin and the basement quite closely. I am happy to report that both the cabin and the bank came through it all without any damage which, was a bit of a relief.

Unlike some in the path of the storm we have flood controls here that prevented serious damage on the scale that they had in Alberta but, nevertheless a few unfortunate souls were unlucky enough to have their homes either flooded or, worse, washed away. Mud slides closed several roads including major arteries and at one point the whole area of SE BC looked like it might be isolated, at least from the rest of Canada if not the United States.

The lake rose about 6 - 10 feet in 48 hours and we now have a full lake adjacent to the Development with the prospect of it rising to record levels again this year. The water is still very murky and I suspect it will be a week or two before the silt settles. Still, that hasn't stopped people taking to the water, albeit in wet suits.

Murky waters

The rain interrupted work on the outside of the cabin and I took the opportunity to get a few things done on the inside, including making a start on some plumbing. But, the fortnight started with getting the gas line put in and I made it by the skin of my teeth.

The trench that I had prepared the previous week would have collapsed into itself if it had not been filled in before the storm hit. I would have lost all my sand and it would have been expensive to re-dig the trench.

Bob, the plumber and heating technician, arrived mid morning on Monday and set straight to work on getting the gas line into the trench which I had bedded with sand. 

As he went along I followed, putting another layer of sand on top of the pipe and then ….

…. filling in the trench by hand.

By the end of the first day I had got most of it covered but, I was completely exhausted and so left the last 5 or six feet until the following day.

A couple of hours the next morning saw it all done and ….

…. I had even got the forth side on the tank screen done and put the gate on it. That night the storm hit .…

…. and forced me inside for the next three or four days. With advice from Bob I set about doing some planning for roughing in the outflow side of the plumbing and ….

…. Bob bought the materials at a cheaper rate than I could get them. 

I also built some stud walls in my bedroom and the en suite bathroom to help position the shower, toilet and hand basins.

This will be a cupboard for towels etc in the en suite.

Meanwhile, Bob got on with finishing the gas lines. 

He put in the regulator and feeds up to the main deck outside the kitchen door and onto the North Wing Deck, both for BBQs - of which more later.

He also installed the gas fired water tank and …. 

…. the furness for heating the main floor. In case you are wondering, the Building Code in BC, if not for the whole of Canada, requires two heating systems in case one fails during the winter and wood burning stoves are not allowed to be classified as the main heating system, only a back up system. In practice it will actually be the other way around, only we aren't allowed to say that.

When the storm finally abated I was able to get back outside and continue the work of finishing off the deck steps.

about a dozen more spindles had to be made in addition to the 93 made the previous week because I had failed to take into account the fact that I had stretched the distance between the upper railings to match those on the deck and a few proved a little too short.

Apart front taking the sticky stuff off the windows and getting the fascia and soffits done the lake side of the house won't change much now. I still want the step posts to dry a little more before staining them and I may put an angled cut on them to match the slope of the steps.

The North Wing steps are also now complete and there are only a couple of small jobs on the deck itself to do before this whole area is finished. 

With the step spindles in place, I continued work on the soffits and fascia, although this particular dormer was actually completed a couple of weeks ago.

I have now completed it to the end of the garage and ….  

…. around to the front porch, ….

…. which I have now also finished, bar the railings and spindles. I am really pleased with how the porch is developing and hope to have the railings and spindles all in place by the time of the next posting.

The front of the house is now beginning to look quite special and I hope to have it done within two weeks.

With some gas now on tap, I thought it might be a good idea to invest in a small BBQ.

So today, instead of working on the cabin, I put it all together .…

…. and then put it out on the deck by the kitchen door.

It has been eventful couple of weeks and we are forecast to be on the tail end of the heat wave currently sweeping through the US. Temperatures as high as 38c are forecast for the coming week. I shall soldier on and as much as I am defining this house, it is defining me. Working on it has become a lifestyle for me and one that I am not uncomfortable with for the time being.