Another classic pose; this time with our former dog Zuni. They were best buddies. Leon welcomed Zuni the first day he walked into our house with huge meows and rubbed all over him. We'd been told to keep them separate and introduce them gradually, but Leon had other ideas. Leon lived long enough to train 3 dogs, and he did a fine job of it.
Leon curled up with our other three cats, (Axle, Sita and GB) who snuggled with him every day, but even more so when he was sick. GB is trying his best to fill the purr-void with some purrs of his own now, but it is still strangely quiet in the house. We all miss our boy.
And so we find our moods somewhat suited to this long grey cold spring. We are still spending most evenings close to the wood stove, and haven't yet dared to tuck away winter boots, coats or mitts. On my days off I check the progress of the snow and ice melt around the timbers, and try to imagine that soon Rob will be carving them for the workshop. The glorious days of spring have not yet arrived, and for now, we are content to wait. Both Rob and I had some kind of long lasting upper respiratory bug that hung around for several weeks, and only now are we feeling like our energy levels are coming back up to normal.
Despite the cold spring though, the birds are returning to the area, and each morning we hear another bird song added to the symphony. And Rob spotted our first woodland spring flower, so it won't be long before more pop up.
The snowshoe hares have been taking advantage of the cedar that covers the ground this time of year, and have been munching away in the clearing near the cabin. Their white coats are slowly being replaced by their brown summer coat, but they are still pretty patchy.
The river is high and fast, and we can hear the roar of the falls both upstream and downstream. I love to visit it's banks in several different locations, to listen to the sound, check the levels, and scan for wildlife.
This is the one time of year too, that the river flows into the lower areas, (what we like to call the bayou!) and provides a good habitat for muskrat, beaver, ducks, frogs, turtles and the occasional blue heron. Jet likes to check out one of the areas where the river flows in. The beaver is kind enough to often leave him a nice stick to pick up!
Hard to believe but in a couple of months, the river will drop, the vegetation that is now under water will spring up, and it will look more like the photo below that I took a couple of summers ago, from the very same spot.
And the new house? Well, it has gone through quite a lot of changes since the last posting. As the snow began to recede, and the daylight hours got longer, Rob's work days got longer too.
He completed the rest of the plumbing, and it passed inspection. Even though we probably won't use the radiant heat system that we laid out in the concrete before it was poured, he still had to deal with the runs of tubing. The pex tubing for heating is that group of lines on the left, and the plumbing lines are on the right in the photo below.
He rough framed in the bathtub, and yes, I had to stand in the frame and try to imagine my first bath in our bathroom!
And then he started packing insulation in the walls. I don't think I got one single photo of him, wearing a white clean room suit, goggles, toque and dust mask for protection from the fibres. Although not as itchy as the old style insulation, it still isn't entirely pleasant to deal with, especially when it's overhead! The ceilings will also be packed but with a slightly thicker insulation for more R-value.
As soon as the insulation went in, the timbers seemed to emerge into view again. As well, the rooms suddenly began to take shape! Below is the guest room on the left, guest bathroom on the right.
Our bedroom.
Even more exciting though, was when the drywall went up. Rob had "fun" trying to fit some of the drywall up under the beams, and may have uttered more than a few choice words at times. It was also a bit of a challenge to try to make the best use of each sheet, to eliminate unnecessary wastage. We are using the new lighter drywall which is mercifully slightly easier to handle, but has it's own challenges.
The living room and upstairs ceilings will be packed with insulation and then have whitewashed pine boards attached. In the photo below you can see where Rob has tried putting some Tyvek wrap over the insulation in the ceiling. He is thinking this might work to prevent any insulation particles filtering through the ceiling planks, especially if the planks shrink over time, allowing the fibres to escape out. In a regular house, the vapour barrier would prevent this, but this style of building doesn't use one, and the Tyvek is moisture permeable which is important. The dining room and kitchen ceiling will be drywalled, so shouldn't be an issue.
Rob checks the fit in the guest bathroom.
Installing drywall in our bedroom was a challenge. Rob rigged up some clamps to help ease the drywall up into the tight spaces between the timbers and the wall studs.
With scaffolding, and the help of our friend Bob (thanks Bob!) we were able to get the high peak sections of the room done, and Rob finished the lower sections himself.
And that's pretty well where we are at. The huge stack of drywall has disappeared, (poof!) and we need to get more so that we can complete our bathroom, and the kitchen and dining room ceilings. Rob cleaned up a bit, and we can now get a real feeling of the spaciousness of the living room, dining room and kitchen area. And talk about wall colours. And artwork !! And pretty much just grin a lot....
The timbers for the workshop are almost free of ice and snow, and as soon as it is warm enough, Rob will switch over to working outside and getting the timbers carved and ready for the workshop. On rainy days he can continue to work indoors on other projects.
And so, as the last of snow disappears, and the warmer weather (hopefully) arrives, we view our woodpile and are pleased that we didn't run out of wood this year. We did pretty well, considering we kept the cabin toasty all winter, but also kept the inside of the new house warm enough for Rob to work in. It's wonderful too, to be able to dry our clothes out on the line again, although it still takes them most of the day to truly dry!
And despite the chill that lingers in the air, Rob and I were able to sit out at the end of one sunny day, sheltered somewhat from the wind, and enjoy a cool beer together.
The best part is that with the snow still in the shadows of the trees, we had our own handy refrigerator too !
