LOVE THIS WARM WEATHER

We have a Halloween Scarecrow watching the house.

Bit of a cheeky bugger.

The kids thought this was a hoot.

Carrie and I started closing in the bedroom , closet and bathroom.

The wall boards are 1.5 inches thick and 12 inches high.

They have the same profile as the outside logs and 

we plan to take them all the way to the ceiling. 

It's looking good.

We have a woodpecker hanging around and because I have turned into a contractor 

and have the home warranty I built him a house.

This isn't the first line of defence. 

I've draped the eves of the house with the bird netting the orchardests use 

but now he's moved up onto the deck.

We have a friend who bought a woodpecker house and hung it on his house.

The bird moved into the bird house and stopped eating his logs.

We'll mount this in the forest behind our house where he has been hanging 

 out during the day and see what happens.

With any luck he will move into the nice house I built for him and forget about our place.

WE'RE HAVING BEAUTIFUL WEATHER THIS WEEK

Last week I got a tour of where Carrie works.

She's on the fabrication team for these very sophisticated grown rooms built by Teracube.

A division of Hollyweed North.

They have orders for over 1000 cubes and just brought on the largest pharmaceutical co 

in Canada who want them as portable labs.

Carrie Designed and built the metal framework that they built the interiors on.

After its built they slide the finished product into the container.

Very slick.

Back home we rented a bucket boom to finish installing the windows and doing the outside frames.

We started work Saturday morning around 9:30 and finished just before dark. About 6:00

Sunday we started about 7:30 .Very cold out. Around freezing.

We finished round 7:45 that night in the dark.

Lucky for us Ruth made us stop for water and food. 

We were on such a roll we would have just kept going.

I'm not a fan of heights but would have gone up and done the work if Carrie wasn't here.

I did go up in the beginning to see what it was like and it was fine.

I am very happy that Carrie was there to do that part. 

I stayed on the ground and did all the cutting.

Looking at my iPhone health monitor Sunday night explained to me why I was so tired.

Saturday I walked 10,500. steps and did 14 flights of stairs .

Sunday I did 11,500. steps and 17 flights of stairs.

Ruth stained the door inside our house where it is warm. Then Carrie and

 I hung the door Monday evening. All the holes into the house are now filled.

Sure feels good to have all the doors and windows in.

It was nice to finish the frames at ground level.

We needed backing on the ridge beam for the insulators.

Carrie came home from work really to help .

Once again I did all the cutting , passed them to her and she installed them.

We thought it would be a 5-6 hour job but finished in less than 2 hours.

It was cold and beautiful out this morning.

This is the forest out our front door.

The insulators came today.

I had all the rim joists in the basement spray foamed.

This makes a more air tight building.

The guys used R28 batts thru out the main floor.

It's so much warmer inside now. 

Can't wait to get electricity into the place.

Fortis Gas also showed up today to dig the gas line trench and install the new line to the house.

These guys were great.

done in less than 2 hours.

I took this picture just to remind me where the gas line goes.

All we need now is for the plumber to run the gas pipe to the furnace and 

have some electricity taken to the house.

One of my friends came over with his pup Rosie.

Such a cutie. I enjoyed playing with her.

We have an unwelcome guest.

Not sure how to fix this.

Thanksgiving 2018

Jack just got glasses.

Always the cool kid.

Nine A.M  Saturday morning we all went to Kalamalka Provincial Park for family photo's.

We hired a professional photographer but these are the pictures I took with my phone.

There was a huge wasp nest in a tree along the path.

Sharon and her family.

Elliot and Isaac

We hardly recognize Isaac in these pictures.

He's worn a red toque for the last 4 years without taking it off.

This is likely about the 4th time I've seen him without it on.

There's the Isaac I know.

Everyone seemed fairly happy considering how early it was.

Ellie looks like the happiest in the bunch 

but in reality she cried a lot this morning wishing she was't here.

Both my daughters are great mom's

My three favourite women in the world.

These two love each other.

It's so nice to see.

I'd love to know what they are saying here.

We have a few pictures like this one taken over the years.

This one was staged. The others weren't.

This is the only picture I got of our Thanksgiving Dinner.

Hours to prep.  Minutes to demolish.

On Sunday Isaac and I sat for hours whittling by the fire.

This kid loves whittling and has churned out some masterpieces.

I made a peanut butter spoon for sharon.

Because of the shape of the spoon 

it is easy to get the last little bit of peanut butter out of the jar.

BACK WORKING ON THE HOUSE

Last week Tim screwed the top plate onto the facia.

I don't like heights so he said he would do it for me.

The extension ladder isn't long enough so I set him up using a series of ladders.

First I had him use the step ladder to get into my tractor's bucket.

Then he could extend the ladder to reach where he had to go.

It worked.

I had Iron Horse excavation come past to raise the elevation of the entrance.

I was tired of walking up a 2 x 12  just to get into the house.

We've been doing that since last January.

This is nice.

Instead of brushing the inside logs with varnish Ruth and Carrie

 decided to spray the finish on.

It turned clear as it dried.

They spent the better part of an afternoon doing this.

They got a system going for them.

One sprays and the other follows with a brush to remove any runs.

It's looking beautiful.

Now I have Tim on the other side of the house putting up the final trim boards.

We need to have a hard driveway to get occupency.

Something about firetrucks can't drive on steep gravel driveways.

Iron Horse put 2 dump truck loads of asphalt millings down

 and then rolled it for about two hours.

To be sure the millings bonded together I first poured on 20 gallons 

of my magic liquid using a watering can.

It bonded up beautifully and we passed the city's driveway inspection.

That's one inspection out of the way.

Carrie is designing and building the kitchen lights out of 12 foot steel beams.

I picked them up last Thursday and as I was unloading them Ruth asked me if they were heavy.

Before I could answer her one of them fell on my finger.

Needless to say she didn't need to repeat the question.

The air was pretty blue for a few minutes.

I thought I had broken my finger.

This picture was taken 3 days later. Still Purple.

Man, Did that ever hurt. Still does.

Saturday and Sunday were big days.

I don't like heights and the Log Guy's know it.

They offered to install the high windows.

Thank goodness.

We slid them into place from the inside.

The cross board is there to prevent us from pushing them out too far .

My idea.

I helped John lift them up into place from the inside.

The heights on the inside don't bother me.

End of the day 

We've cleaned up the basement and the house to get ready for the Framing inspection.

This is the big one. I've been having trouble sleeping because of it.

WE PASSED FRAMING INSPECTION MONDAY AFTERNOON.

YAHOO.

This little cabin is starting to look great.

I'm quite proud of how it has come together.

This next week we will get plumbing and electrical inspection.

Then the insulators come in and do their magic.

Once we pass that inspection we can button it up 

and go for occupancy.

Hopefully that will happen by mid November.