Missing Leon

Any of you who spent time in our home in the last twenty years, were more than familiar with our wonderful tabby cat Leon. He was the first one to greet you at the door, and the last thing you'd remember when you left. He was well known for quietly chewing off every one's shoelaces, whenever they left their shoes in the hall. He would leap up onto your back as you were bending over trying to figure out what was wrong with your shoes, then drape himself over your shoulder, peering down at those shoes along with you, and start purring....  I think he was a bit of a practical joker.  Sadly, after a difficult few weeks of watching his health rapidly decline, we had to say goodbye to him last month.  We are trying to celebrate his wonderful long life, (20 cat years are the equivalent of 96 human years!) but he has left a huge hole in our hearts, and we are reminded daily of the many things we miss about that sweet tabby cat.  In honour of Leon, I thought I'd post a couple of our favourite photos of him. The first one is a classic Leon pose.

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 !

Fluctuating February

I feel like I begin every blog posting with a comment about the weather.  But when I read a friend's blog recently, and she too brought weather into the conversation, I realized it's because both of us are in the midst of a building project, and the weather affects so much of what we do and when we do it.   This year, February was much milder than previous years, but with those mild temperatures came snow storms, rain, ice pellets, and fluctuating freeze-thaw cycles that turned our long roadway into a rather treacherous skating rink! I had two "snow days" in February when I couldn't make it to work, and a third one in the first week of March.

Rob loves being in the new house during a storm. The inside is snug and warm, and incredibly quiet, despite the howling winds outside, and the blowing snow that is visible from so many directions through the windows. "Snow days" are also plow days for Rob though, so once the storm passes it pulls him away from working on the inside of the house and back out into that winter wonderland. 

For me, a snow day is a great time to go for a walk, with my camera tucked away in a waterproof bag (although it does little good once I pull it out to take some photos).  I like to check the road conditions just to confirm that I made the right choice in not driving to work. This is the main road at the beginning of one of the storms, so I definitely made the right choice that day!

 I'm always amazed how our world becomes so "black and white" during a storm.

In the photo below there is a lone wild turkey making it's way to the tree line.  I'm sure there were more turkeys already sheltered there as they usually seem to travel in groups.

Along with snow days, we also had some pretty mild weather, and were surprised one day to see the temperature go up well above zero.

Rob and I make good use of such beautiful days to refill the wood boxes with firewood, clean up the snow that slides off the various roofs and piles up near doorways and walkways, and enjoy a few good walks, especially by the river.  What a difference a warm sunny day makes!  My favourite place to sit in the winter is on this log, at the edge of the river. It's sheltered from the wind, close to the river (but not too close!) and I can happily sit there, watching the occasional bird, listening to the cracking sounds of the ice, and the soft sound of the river flowing by.  I can almost - almost - imagine that in a few months we'll be splashing around in that river to cool off from the summer's heat!

February is also the month that Rob and I celebrate our anniversaries - of our first date, and moving in together, and of course there is also Valentine's Day.  Our friends Gary and Liz commented that we never post photos of ourselves on the blog so here's one for them.  It's a photo of Rob and I when we first bought this property, some 25 plus years ago, sitting near the river in one of our favourite spots, (which is just a few feet away from the log in the photo above!) 

Work has, of course, been progressing in the new house.  I've lost track of how many feet of electrical wire Rob has run, but it seems to be a lot. I've already gone back to the store twice for additional rolls of wire. (Rob knows exactly how much he has run I'm sure!)  I liked how he rigged up two pieces of extra eave extension to accommodate the spools of wire, which made it easier to unwind them as the wire got pulled through the house.

There is a certain thrill in looking at the electrical panel too!

There is also a little story about that perfectly nice timber tucked in to the right of the panel. Rob carefully chose the placements for all the timbers in the house, knowing that some would crack more than others as they dried. He placed this timber in the corner where it wouldn't be very visible as he was sure this one would crack a lot. Well, it hasn't cracked at all. In fact it's just a beautiful and perfect timber. The highly visible timbers? Yup, cracking away .... I think the cracks just add to the beauty and character of the timbers though. And it's entirely normal.

After Rob spends a long day pulling electrical wire, and wiring up electrical boxes, each evening we've been discussing lighting and lighting fixtures.  

Now, I said I wouldn't write about getting the truck stuck on the ice one day, and the wood ashes someone put down on the ice to help get some traction, that had dozens of nails in it, so I won't. (Whoops!) But I will write about the fact that Rob is a bit of a collector of things - you know - those things that you keep and never throw out? Ever?  Bits of this and bobs of that... spare parts, used parts, (not to mention several parts from scanning electron microscopes... ) And there are times, when I might perhaps suggest that he has collected a bit too much "stuff". Well, I will gladly admit that this has turned out to be a good thing more times lately than I can count, but it has proved to be really, really good in terms of lighting.  Having built three stores, a workshop, a log cabin, and the dome, we (?) seem to have collected quite a bit of lighting over the years, and it looks like now we are going to be able to put a lot of it to good use. And having spent some time on the web looking at the cost of fixtures, not having to buy some is definitely going to help with our limited budget. We've also been looking at fixtures that we like, and trying to figure out whether we can somehow make something similar ourselves.  But that is a long term plan, and in the short term, we will have to get some lighting in place throughout the house.

While working on the electrical, Rob had to put up some drywall sheets here and there in the house.  What a difference it makes to see drywall up.  This is the entrance to our bedroom. We both started envisioning a nice piece of artwork on that wall, but of course when the door swings open, it will largely cover that up.

This is a small closet in our bathroom.  We think it will be an open closet, with maybe some shelves up top and a closed unit below.  It would be a good place for extra towels and such.  I guess this is more exciting to us right now, as we have been making do with having three towels since we came here. We don't have a lot of space in the cabin, so most of our linens are in storage.  On the other hand, we haven't needed more than three towels, so I'm not sure that we really need more now, or a place to put them! Having lived happily with "less" all this time, I am pretty sure there are some things, where I don't want "more".  So maybe these will be empty shelves ! Or a place for some of our funky fun pottery pieces and artwork.

Of course, that said, as much as I don't want more "stuff", I do wish for more "space".  Especially in the kitchen.  On a recent day off, while our banana/carrot bread cooled on a rack (balanced somewhat precariously on top of the toaster),  I cleaned up the counter and made some room for the bowls I needed to make granola. So imagine my surprise when I returned to the kitchen and found my little bit of space, occupied by a bunch of tools !!
Nice...
I have to admit, I couldn't stop laughing when I took a photo of it.

I decided not to include photo after photo of electrical boxes, and wiring.  While it is exciting to see progress, when you've seen one electrical box, you probably don't need to see another one.  I will say though, that there was a lot more to it than I thought.  While we didn't need to know what exact fixture we would be using, and where, we did need to decide what kind of fixture (LED lighting, or regular fixture with LED bulb) and at least approximately where we thought we might install them, in order to ensure there was something to connect to later on. All the wiring has to be run before the insulation and drywall is put in. The floor is solid concrete and there is no basement, so unlike a lot of houses, it's difficult to add wiring later on. And of course, we had to meet all the electrical code requirements for ground fault interrupters and arc fault interrupters, using the appropriate wire where required, and the correct sized boxes etc., etc. etc.....  Today we even had to think about where we be will running speaker wires, so had to decide where the speakers will be mounted.  I think both of us could do with some sort of more mindless task for a bit, as it feels like things have been pretty intense the last few weeks. Every night Rob would check and update his wiring diagrams (see below) and make sure he had everything he needed for the next day's task.

As soon as we finished up with the "rough" electrical wiring, we arranged for the first electrical inspection and yay!- it passed!. Of course then we began to think about the next series of jobs. Within minutes of the inspection, Rob was talking about running the plumbing that will bring hot and cold water to the various parts of the house.  And we still need to decide on how we will actually get hot water. (More on that in a later blog I think!)  

Once the plumbing is complete, we can schedule another building inspection, and then we can begin to put in the interior insulation and get that drywall up.

Now the weather is beginning it's pre-spring tease though.  This weekend the temperatures rose above normal, and the birds began to stir.  It's hard to stay indoors when it's sunny and "warm" out!  There's a part of me though, that feels like I'm not quite ready for winter to be over - I lamented today that we didn't go snowshoeing once, and I never curled up by the wood stove with a good book on a snowy day... Oh well, I can save it all for next winter I'm sure (and I'm not quite convinced that we won't see a bit more winter weather yet!)  Only a few days ago I might also have been whining just the tiniest bit about having to bundle up in so many layers, so many times in one day. So today, with the milder weather, we tried to balance some indoor work, and web research, with a couple of nice walks in the woods and along the river (wearing no wool hat or mitts!). Listened to woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches, and admired the tracks of the wild turkeys all along the river edge.  And of course Jet had some playtime in that lovely snow too - as before long it may all be gone.

Rhythm of the New Year

Well, we may have had a green Christmas, but we sure didn't have a green New Year!  Two days before New Year's Eve, we got hit by a good sized snow storm. We woke up to a surprising amount of the white stuff, and high and steady winds. When we waded out into the snow for Jet's walk I knew I wouldn't be going to work that day. Fortunately I had left a note on the store door the night before, just in case, that the store would be closed if the road conditions were "poor".  Well, they were indeed poor, and the high wind and blowing snow didn't help.  Late in the day, when the storm began to taper off, Rob went out and plowed as much as he could, while I shoveled around the cabin, and spent some time digging out the truck.

Around us, the woods had turned into an absolute winter wonderland, and as soon as our laneways and pathways were plowed, I took some time to go for a good long walk.

With the snow on the ground and in the trees, everything seemed brighter again. It seemed awfully dark for the last few weeks leading up to and after Christmas.

On New Year's Eve, after a rather special feast in the cabin,  we walked over to the new house, with an eclectic collection of smudge, incense, candles, matches and glasses of wine. After smudging the interior of the house, and sending good wishes all around us, we lit some incense, and sat by the warm wood stove. While looking up at the lovely high ceilings we tried to imagine that we will one day be living in this beautiful space. We looked out at the little Christmas tree Rob had rigged up outside by using a small solar panel, and wondered if our neighbours down the river could see it's glowing lights.

I'm guessing that they probably can't see us at all as there is a nice buffer of trees between the new house and the river.  The new house is situated behind the line of trees on the left side of the river in the photo below.

New Year's day we went for some good long walks, and Rob had to plow again as it snowed lightly all day. It was however, lovely and mild, and warm enough that we BBQ'd some steaks for our New Year's Day meal!

With the holiday season truly over, Rob got back over to the new house, and continued to work on the inside. Not that he had ever really taken much time off over the holidays! He was busy reworking the stairway plans, and making changes to the final framing design of the walls.  Unfortunately, he had done some rough framing in the springtime, and some of the studs had warped and shifted, so he had to re-do a lot of his work.  But, I could begin to get a feel for the walls, and hallways, and some of the nooks and crannies that we'll create as the interior space comes together. Below is the hallway to the river-side door and the kitchen walls.

This is the doorway from our bedroom into our bathroom.  Hmmmm.... this has since changed - AGAIN!

Lots of framing - taken from inside our bedroom.

Rob and I had talked about pocket doors sometime last winter, and after doing some of the framing, revisited this option.  The bathroom off of our bedroom had no door to it, and I thought that was fine, until we decided to move the placement of the bathtub.  Now we realized that if someone walked by our bedroom window, they would see us in the bathtub. Not that a whole lot of people, or anyone for that matter  - would be walking by our window!  And we could think of window coverings I suppose. .....  Instead, we opted for a pocket door that we could slide closed if necessary, and keep open most of the time without taking up any space.  On the plus side, this will also perhaps keep out a certain German Shepherd when necessary...?

So here is the current doorway from our bedroom into our bathroom, with the pocket door framing now installed !

Rob decided he would install a second pocket door to the guest room/guest bathroom area. This one was up for some debate, and I lost.  But I have to agree now that it is probably a good idea, and allows a guest to have a more private space, as well as giving us an option to close off these two areas if needed. 

As I had a few days off of work over the New Year period, we took a day and drove down to visit our dear friend Joe, who was in the area for a couple of weeks.  I had not set foot in his sweet dome for some 27 plus years, so it was a little like stepping back into the past. Funny how memory changes things. I truly could not remember the interior having the same set up, but Joe assured me that nothing had changed. It was lovely to sit and chat, and gaze up at the familiar triangles and enjoy the spaciousness. And we all reminisced a little about some of the fabulous Halloween parties that took place there, and fondly remembered munching on fresh veggies from the enormous garden that was once out back.  It felt a little strange to leave the dome, and head out in an entirely different direction than we used to, to go home.

The first half of January continued with see-saw type weather, with temperatures one night dipping to minus 29 degrees C, and then just a few days later, 24 hours of heavy rain, and temperatures well above zero. Somewhere around the middle of January though, we settled in to more "normal" weather, and with that, began to settle ourselves into more of our normal winter routines.

One of my favourite routines is walking along the river, and looking at the changes to the river and the shoreline.  This year, due to the milder weather,  the river is still open, with only thin layers of ice at the edges.  Every day it's different though. I can't get used to being able to hear the river this winter. Last year, it was so cold that I was lucky to hear a faint gurgle as it ran beneath the ice and snow. This year I can hear it as it tumbles over the rocks, and hear the sometimes startling sound of ice coming down the river as it swishes and smooshes into the icy edge. I love being outside in the winter, and sometimes, on a snowy day, it's so quiet that I can hear every snowflake landing on my coat.

On a sunny day, amazing patterns show up in the river. If I hunker down in a sheltered spot, out of the wind, I can sit and soak up some sunny rays (and get a little vitamin D too!)

There are always lots of animal tracks along the edge. Wild turkey, red squirrel, snowshoe hares, deer, and coyote. We now know for sure it's coyote, as one appeared in between the new house and the river one day!  Didn't get a clear photo, but here it is:

And one day Rob looked out to see five deer in the same spot.

I knew this would be an interesting time in the new house, but I don't think I was quite prepared for how much would change and how quickly.  While it seems that we spend a lot of time at lumber yards and hardware stores, picking up and returning supplies - Rob is actually getting things done. When he framed in the two closets in the bedroom, we both began eyeing our small collection of clothes that are strewn everywhere around the cabin, and dreaming of closets to put them in !  And dreaming of having all our clothes in one place. We currently try to keep a minimum amount of clothing here, and swap out what we have with each change in season, for some of the ones in storage. We can't imagine having everything hanging in one or two closets!

Closet number 1 and 2 in our new bedroom :

This week when I walked into the new house, picking my way carefully over stacks of wood and building materials, I didn't even notice that Rob had installed the stairs. When I turned around to talk to him, I couldn't believe I hadn't seen the new stairs, and had actually walked right past them!

The treads are not permanent, but will do for now, and are certainly a huge improvement over a ladder.  (Anyone remember the days when we had no stairs at all in the dome, and had to access the second floor via scaffolding? That was fun. Even more fun to climb back down to access the downstairs bathroom in the middle of the night.)  So I'm pretty happy to see stairs going in at this time!  They will obviously also get a hand rail attached.

Not only did I not notice the stairs, but I was so excited to be able to comfortably go up to the second floor, that I totally didn't notice that Rob had installed the drywall next to them.

I loved being able to go upstairs, and it was amazing to me to be able to wander around, and simply walk back down. I'm still not good with heights, but this was pretty much fine for me.  I'm pretty sure I could just curl up here with a good book, and hang out for the day.

This week progress was made with the electrical wiring.  As always, each new phase brings new challenges, but on the whole it's going pretty smoothly. Rob keeps a good eye on the electrical code book, and plans accordingly. Being off grid, he has also made sure to make it easy not only to turn lights on where needed, but to be able to turn them off again when they aren't.  This means that we will be able to, for example, turn a light on for a hallway to light our way, walk down the hallway, and have another switch at the end to then turn that light off.  We know that conserving power will be key, especially this time of year!

I didn't think I'd be so happy to see a pile of electrical stuff arriving, and even happier to see wires and boxes beginning to emerge on the wall studs. Of course, there is nothing to plug into yet, as the workshop needs to be built, and then the solar panels mounted before we'll see real power here.  Still, we can dream...

This winter our rhythm is a bit different. Last year Rob spent the winter in the cabin, designing and planning the new house, and trying to figure out the best way to get things done when spring arrived. He couldn't actually do any work inside the new house, as only the shell was built.  As well, with the long bout of extreme cold weather, he spent a lot of his time feeding the wood stove here! This year not only can he can work inside the new house, but the weather has been kinder, and the cabin stays warm even if he isn't tending the stove all day. (It helps too that we stopped up some of the gaps in the cabin; in and around the doors, and stove vent, keeping us a big snugger inside!) Not only can he work inside, he can go back after getting Jet out for his last walk of the day, and continue working into the early evening.  Having a small solar panel to generate some temporary power and light has made a huge difference.

For me, the milder weather means that I'm not spending as much time filling the wood stove on my days off either. And although I like to walk no matter the weather, it sure is more pleasant to linger outdoors when it's not minus 40!  While I've been spending a bit more time indoors, keeping our supply of home made granola, bread, and soups topped up, I have also been outdoors more this winter, than ever.

Even in the early evening, as the sun slowly disappears below the tree line, I find myself at the river's edge, or outside filling the wood box, taking in a few more gulps of that sweet forest air, and one last look at the moon or stars before heading in to the warmth of the cabin. Most nights, when Rob walks home along the lane way at the end of a long day's work, he too pauses and appreciates the beauty around him, before stepping inside for the night.