Glorious June

June was a glorious month. I don't know what it is about the human brain that makes it possible to forget about the long, cold, snowy winter, and move into thinking that life is a lovely endless summer, but it does. When I walk along the hot, dusty road, with sweet white clover growing higher than me at the side of the road, and the myriad of wildflowers and plants that provide such vibrant colours and textures, it is as if winter never existed on this land.

There is a smell in the air that only ever exists here. It is the smell I remember when we would drive up to the cabin late on a Friday night, winding our windows down and breathing deeply, relieved to have arrived safely, and anxious to unwind and relax on our usually brief "weekends" here. It's the smell of the river, and the earth in the forests, the sweetness of the wildflowers, the waft of pine and cedar, all in some crazy combination that I love.

These days, there is a bit of a different odor in the area where Rob works.  There is the smell of pine as he sands the timbers, and the stains that he is applying to each one.  But there is also the lingering smell of a skunk, sadly decomposing, as Rob found it dead on the road, and for reasons only known to him, thought he should dispose of the body close to where he is working, with plans to bury it properly when he has a chance to get the backhoe onto the tractor.  "Your friend isn't smelling so good" is about all I can say to him about that.....

Sanding and staining timbers is pretty much what June has been about, at least anytime the weather was decent. When there were heavy rainstorms, Rob would stay indoors, trying to work out things like screws, house wrap, sill sealer tape, scaffolding, safety harnesses, and all of the rest of the details that will soon be upon us. Every time the weather cleared (and we certainly had a lot of beautiful days) he would be outside finishing off the last of the timbers, and then sanding them all, vacuuming them, and staining them.

This process will continue into July.  We did have to order a few extra timbers, as we didn't get everything we needed in our first order last year. And there may have been one or two errors as he went along!

If you can't read it upside down it says - A well crafted very expensive piece of firewood. Check your measurements.

Now the biggest problem is where to put a timber while it's drying. Each one gets a preliminary coating, then at least one topcoat. Each coat has to dry for 24 hours. That's after Rob sands each one, all four sides, with four different levels of grit of sandpaper for each side. He's working up some pretty good muscles as he flips each timber over, and over, and over.....

I could see that a gigantic empty barn would be useful at this point.  Rob works outside under a tarp cover that helps to give him a bit of shade, and also protects the timbers somewhat. But he has to move out the ones he's worked on, to make room for the next ones. Although we can stack them up on the concrete pad we have, that's a lot of moving around, and every time he moves them with the tractor, there is a chance of dropping them, ramming them into something, or even catching them on the plants at the side of the road which gives them a greenish hue.  At the first chance of rain too, we rush around trying to get gigantic tarps up over them, and weighted down (gently) with bits of wood.  I get pretty excited when I realize that everywhere I look there are stacks of timbers - all nicely carved - and now a lot of them are also sanded and stained. They look beautiful.

I think Rob was a bit sad when he finished carving the last one though. He's certainly enjoyed most of that process, and it really is a lovely place to hang out. Most days he is visited by chipmunks and red squirrels, hummingbirds, sapsuckers, chickadees, phoebes, robins, ravens, crows and turkey vultures, just to name a few!

(Of course he will be back to carving timbers when he builds his workshop)

While Rob has been busy with the timber frame, I found myself filling my days with helping to move the funky good karma store I work at part time, to it's new location on the main street. It's in a beautiful new location, and Elizabeth unknowingly chose all my favourite colours - lime green, turquoise, gold and terracotta to paint the walls and fixtures. We moved everything over in a couple of days, and set everything up in 2 1/2 days, throwing open the doors on the 3rd day even though we still had lots to unpack, and we were rewarded with lots of appreciative comments from our lovely customers. It's a beautiful space, and I am so pleased to be there!

I have managed most weeks to take a few hours to continue my gardening education at my friend Sally's. Together we have planted scallions, 3 types of onions, sweet peas, peas, two types of bush beans, cilantro, various lettuces, more than 20 tomato plants, 1 sad habanero plant (something is nibbling on it) a few different radish varieties,  and I can't remember what else!  I've learned about mulching and watering and tilling.  I learned how to make manure tea out of goat manure.  I've learned how to plant a tomato plant sideways when it's spindly (and how easily it will snap in two if you don't do it right! Oops.)  As the season progresses I will learn much more. There is now dill and arugula springing up everywhere on their own, and there are numerous fruit trees and bushes that will bear fruit. I will also learn more about the garden 'pests' that will move into the garden and how to deal with them.  Mostly though I am getting a good feel for what I would like to plant in our own garden in the future, and how to go about it.  After each session we sit and chat and Sally always offers delightful teas and goodies, and I would have to say again - I am so pleased to be there!

As July 5 approaches, we have been reminiscing about our arrival here, two years ago on that date.  We didn't realize at the time just how tired we were. We had just closed the business, sold off all remaining fixtures, and dealt with 20 years of business "stuff" in the warehouse next to the store. We'd been going through 35 years worth of stuff in the dome, Rob had attended two timber frame courses in both Canada and the USA, and we were dealing with a newly diagnosed diabetic cat with a broken leg, and our elderly cat had been diagnosed with possible cancer.  (Both are still happily with us!)  We packed up a few belongings, 4 cats, and one dog, (it took two trips!) and ran away to this lovely little place on the river, and all we knew was that this was what we wanted to do.  What an amazing two years it has been.

There are days when we feel a little tired or overwhelmed. There are nights when both of us fall asleep even before our heads touch our pillows.  There are times when I secretly wonder whether Rob is really working on various timbers, or in reality those are the same two timbers up on those blocks every time I go up there and he's not really building a house.  (Just kidding Rob!)

But every day we share a new story. It may be the sight of the dragonflies emerging from their nymph state, it might be a new insect or wildflower at the side of the road, a magnificent cloud, a bird song, or the early morning mist on the river.  It might be a mortise or tenon that worked out perfectly (or not!), a particularly beautiful piece of timber, or the views on a drive on a back country road.

In some ways I'm anxious for the new house to be built, and for us to be moved in.  In other ways I'm happy to just be here for now, enjoying the building process and the varying routines of our days.  We are both excited, as the timbers near completion, for the next part of this adventure.