A break in winter, but not a winter break

I think I may have to start writing a daily journal again in order to keep track of what we've done each day. I gave up on keeping a journal a couple of years ago when I realized that I had a collection of old ones piling up on my shelf and not being used.  When I'm writing a blog post, I can usually just look back at my photos for the last month or so, and can easily write my update based on the sequence of photos. This time though, my photos are of little help to me. I work part time in a retail store and the Christmas season was busy, so I didn't have time to take as many photos as I usually do. In December, almost every photo I did manage to take, seemed to feature snow. And ice. And then more snow!

Snow, piling up on everything around the building site before we even had a chance to put things away.

Snow, lovely and white against a blue, blue sky on our walks.

Snow, sliding down the roof of the cabin ever so slowly, then freezing in place to completely block the window like a magical snow curtain.

 I opened the window, reached out with my hand to touch it - and poof - it all slid away.

Snow, deep in the woods, thick as can be on the evergreens, and on my sweet bench.

Snow, sliding down the valley of the new house and landing between the two buildings with a massive thump. (We'll have to figure out a way to deal with this - for now I just run between the buildings if there happens to be snow on the roof that looks like it wants to cascade down!)

 Snow leading down to the river, and the ice slowly building at the edges.

Snow, piled onto the truck  so that we always know how much  actually fell during the latest storm.

And for a break in the snow, beautiful hoar frost in the trees all along the river banks.

And solar panels, with and without snow.  Since these panels will be the source of our power in the future, I think this is going to become an important daily observation. When there is snow on the panels, it means there is no power coming to the batteries!

Here in the cabin, it only took a few snowfalls before we remembered that every winter we end up with ever increasing piles of wet mitts, gloves, hats and clothing, and no easy way to dry them. I came home from work one day to find Rob had taken care of the problem, with hooks and long screws. (Who knew those screws would be put to a good use other than for attaching foam?)

Not only does this arrangement work to dry things quickly, we can now find matching mitts when we need them!  We'll have to figure out a way of doing something similar in the new house.

What I don't have photos of,  is all the other things we did these last several weeks. The discussions, decision making, web site research, emails to various companies, trips to electrical contractors, building supply stores, and plumbing stores. The driving back and forth with wiring, propane tanks, and conduit. Picking up locally  milled wood, and unloading it all into the workshop, carrying it through the snow and ice. Taking back the propane tanks after discovering they were already two years into their limited 10 year "service life" (and trying not to be upset with the poor customer service on that purchase!) The many deliveries  of propane heaters, hoses, connectors, hot water tanks, and some odd shaped tools (all with many thanks to sweet Elizabeth for allowing us to use her store as an easy drop off point). We try to buy locally as much as possible, but there are a lot of items that we simply cannot find here.

There are no photos of the day Rob's hard drive ceased to function (which is a blessing); the files lost, two years of photos gone.  (Note to readers: it is not wise to leave a comment with the question "Did you have a backup?". Just sayin' ) Thankfully most of his drawing files, and building documentation were kept on another PC. so all was not lost (and there actually was a backup, but it was quite an old one) !

All this to say, that this will likely be a rather short posting, based mostly on our memory.

First though;  a quick update on the red squirrels and the flags.  My "courage" flag remains, albeit hanging by a thread.

Another string of flags are now being pilfered at another location.

It makes us smile when we see them, and that's not a bad thing...

Work on the inside of the workshop has continued when possible.  We got two exterior doors installed after swapping one of them with an older one from the new house. Unfortunately, we discovered that one of the other doors that we wanted to use for the new house opens the wrong way. Oops...

Rob worked on installing the wood flooring for the second floor of the workshop which will likely be used mostly for lumber storage.  We bought the flooring from a local mill, and it was really good quality, unlike the first load that was used in the house which we were not all that happy with (it came from a different mill of course, and there's nothing we can do about that now).

Our batteries for the solar panels arrived in early January. We had a bit of a mild spell and were hoping to get them installed before we found ourselves in another cold snap but there was still a lot of work to be done on the inside of the workshop where the batteries will reside.  Also, the workshop had no heat which is not ideal for batteries (or for the work crew, i.e. Rob). After tossing back and forth between a small wood stove, hydronic heat  (using the pex tubing installed in the slab) or going for a small propane heater; we opted for the propane heater.   It will heat the small room that houses the batteries, inverter etc., but we are hoping that the heat from the small room will also keep the main room of the workshop warm enough that Rob can work in it.  We may have to install a vent between the two rooms if this idea doesn't quite work out!  As with a lot of the decisions we've made, only time will tell whether things will actually work exactly as planned.

When our colder weather did arrive, I could hear Rob muttering "heat and light, heat and light" rather a lot. It was pretty cold to be working outside, getting the propane tanks (temporarily) set up, propane lines run, and a hole cut into the outside wall for the heater vent to fit into. I know he can't wait to have a working workshop, one that is warm, and with power and working lights.

Suddenly the weather changed again, and we had more than two weeks when both the highs and lows hovered around zero degrees C !  We've had "January thaws" before, but nothing like this.  We tried to use our time wisely, knowing that the milder temperatures couldn't possibly last.  Of course that same milder weather also brought snow, freezing rain and ice pellets on occasion, and our snow blower (which we bought used a few years ago) suddenly packed it in.  We searched around for another used one, but were advised that it might not be the best idea to go that route, and then with the help of our friend Sam back in Navan, we found a new one at a pretty decent price. Unfortunately, after spending the time to drive out and pick it up and bring it home, we discovered it simply could not move the amount of snow that our old one did, we doubted it would be adequate for our long, (long, long!) laneway.  A call to Sam, and our supplier and we took another trip to return the new blower and pick up a slightly different make and model - we were pleased to find that this one does a great job.  Sadly, our original one is of little use to anyone, as it seems it cannot be repaired.

Despite losing a couple of days to the snow blower problem, work progressed on the back room, and suddenly the heater was installed and working, and it seemed like things were finally moving forward again!  It took a few days for the workshop (and the rather cold concrete slab floor) to warm up, and the humidity in the room was amazing.  It felt like walking into a spa!  But after a dew days things started to dry out, the temperature slowly came up, and we could get to working on the the next part.

With the heater installed and running, Rob started putting up more drywall.  And then the boxes of parts slowly went out of the cabin and over to the workshop; the inverter, two charge controllers, the combiner, battery cables and various other pieces of the system. The boxes that have been piled in this little cabin, taking up most of the small dining area were gone !! Mind you, they've been replaced with 12 giant batteries and other boxes of stuff, but that's there "just for the time being" (at least - that's what Rob told me!).  Slowly all the parts for the system started to be assembled.

Unfortunately, with the high humidity my camera kept fogging up, so my photos are a little blurry!

Rob had been working on the design of the box that will hold the batteries for quite some time.  It's important to make it easy for us to access each battery as they will require regular checks and maintenance but batteries must also be contained and the hydrogen gas that is generated during charging must be safely vented.  As well, the connections all have to meet code and be safe for us to work near them  (i.e. no chance of shorting the terminals - which can be quite spectacular).  Because the batteries use acid, the enclosure floor needs to be an acid proof  and so it was lined with EPDM rubber (basically, a pond liner).

Meanwhile, the rest of the battery box is being assembled in the workshop (which is actually beginning to look like a workshop).

We are getting closer to the day that the off-grid system will be providing our power and I think that this will be pretty exciting for us, but it will be a bit of a learning curve.. We currently have a couple of lights in the workshop and in the house entrance area that are powered by a single solar panel that we set up a couple of years ago.  The weather was gloomy and grey for a long stretch of days and that panel wasn't able to charge enough and so for a few days we had no lights at all.  It's a good reminder that there will be days when the solar panels on the roof also won't be able to supply us with what we need and we will have to use a generator for charging.

Both of us are looking forward to getting back to work on the new house rather than the workshop and a bit of power will make the work easier for sure.

In other news...

Jet had a sore leg this month, so no play time for him as he is on "bed rest" orders.  Hopefully this will help him recover.  He sure looks sad when he isn't allowed to chase his "wubbas" or play with his Jolly Ball though! A normal dog might be able to play gently, but for him it's all or nothing.

GB and Sita will turn 16 this year.  Hard to believe!  GB seemed unwell early in the month so went for a quick check up at the vet, where he displayed his good manners, and allowed them to take some blood tests.  He seems to be o.k. so we will keep an eye on him, and weigh him a bit more often as he lost a bit of weight in the last few months.  I think it may just be that I used to give him extra food when I was enticing sweet Leon to eat!  With Leon gone, GB no longer gets all those extra goodies.

Christmas seems like a very long time ago, but we did of course, take time out for Christmas and New Years celebrations.  It's lovely to be in the cabin during the holiday season, but we are both hoping to be in the new house this time next year.  We miss some of our Christmas traditions, and funny little decorations:

My computer screen background of a former Christmas Tree ornament was lovely; not quite the same as the real thing - but it worked!

On these cold and snowy evenings, when we are sitting in the cabin by a warm wood stove, neither Rob nor I really mind very much that we aren't yet in the new house.  I know we each have our moments, where the cabin seems a little cramped, or the possibility of being in the new house seems too far away,  when we worry about each other, or feel it hasn't been the most productive of days.  Those are often the times when something delightful happens: the appearance of an eagle against a blue sky, an otter playing at the river edge,  a raven talking high above as it barrel rolls in the air.  Sometimes we just need a calming walk in the woods, or a few moments listening to the song of the river.

My mantra for 2017 is Peace, Love, and Joy . With recent world events I have since added "and gentle compassion". Some days it's hard to hang on to it. It's always easier here, on a forest path, with the river nearby, and the cheerful sounds of chickadees and nuthatches on the branches above.

One last time

If we had a mantra for October and most of November - it would be the words "this is probably the last time". We were thinking that the fabulous weather couldn't last and that each warm evening would be the last; until next summer at least.  And so we would take the time to sit and enjoy a glass of wine on the porch on "the last beautiful warm evening" or gather our chairs at the end of the day and go sit down by the river to enjoy the sunset "one last time"; each time thinking that this was it. But it worked out that these words were just repeated over and over - we had a fabulous fall! Of course while thinking that things would end, we also held our breath and hoped that the warm sunshine and dry days would continue just a bit longer so that we could finish the main part of the workshop construction - and holding out breath seemed to work just fine.....

We were in "foam" mode again and were adding layers and layers of  foam to the workshop roof. This is one job where we actually looked forward to it being the "last time" (in fact I think we may have been muttering "one last $#*#*%  time"). It is a fairly tedious and tiring job. Along these same lines, we are both hoping that building this roof would be "the last time"! (However, there is the wood shed and then maybe a tractor shelter....). At any rate, we were both grateful for the weather that allowed us to get it all done.

As much as the summer stretched out, there were still signs everywhere that fall had in fact arrived. The leaves were turning colour and some of the trees, somewhat stressed by the dry conditions, began dropping their leaves.

The red squirrels were busy, gathering up food, and lining their nests with things to keep them warm for the winter.  One of them discovered a stash of felt packing material in our outside shed and we watched as it dragged pieces of it through the woods and up a tree. This was no small feat - especially when it got caught in the branches! The rather blurry photo below of the little guy/gal in action was taken through the screen of an upstairs window in the cabin.

Apparently, the felt was not the only nest making material that was used. One day I noticed that one of my inspirational message "flags" was missing from where I had hung a string of four between two trees. It looked almost as if someone had sawed it off with a knife - the remnants of it still hanging on the cord. The missing flag read:  "LOVE An inspired form of giving, love breathes life into the heart and brings grace to the soul". Who would steal my "love" flag?

But then, in another location, I noticed an entire of string of Tibetan prayer flags had also disappeared.  One day they were there:

And the next day - nothing there but the knots that had been tied at both ends of the cord.

Then we noticed that the original set of flags were being moved along the cord that held them in place, and each had a new series of chewed holes in them.  Yes, the (now blissful) red squirrels were the guilty thieves!

One has to wonder "why now?" The flags have been up for years and  none have disappeared but each day the remaining flags are a bit more tattered and one of these days I'm sure that all of these will also be gone. Oh well - it is a festive and inspirational nest that they are building and I hope that they enjoy them as much as I have.

Getting back to the house...Once the foam installation and strapping were finished on the south roof of the workshop, we took a few minutes for a quick "Hurrah"  - and then moved to the north side. Rob was beginning to take stock of how long it was taking, and thinking that despite the current good weather, it was possible that we were going to run out of time this year. It was already October 5th, and he still needed to do the north side foam and strapping, add eave extensions and gable ends, get plywood up on both sides, then the metal roofing, and then the solar panels! Oh, and there were also some changes being made to the indented area at the back, as well as moving the doorway to the longer wall (we don't like to discuss the reason for moving the door - something about the voltage drop and maximum length of battery cables and one connection being on one side of the door and the other connection being on the other side of the door - which means the cable has to go over top of the door - apparently it's one of those planning things. And who would have thought that you need 18 feet of cable for a 3 foot wide door!

But moving on... as you can see from the blue, blue skies, the good weather continued, and thus so did the work!

October 12 and the north side was almost done!

The next area to be done was the "corner overhang" .  Originally Rob had planned on adding this at a later date, but realized that it was easier to do it now and integrate it into the rest of the roof  rather than having a separate lower section of roof.  The roof was framed with a temporary support for now but will have a simple timber structure inserted at a later date.

Despite the long work days, Rob was often still game for a walk together at the end of the day.  One warm evening, a thick fog rolled in and we went for a long walk as the sun slowly went down.  The light was lovely; the warmth in the air quite unbelievable for mid-October.  When we spotted the cows in the fog, I took a few photos and the images looked like paintings - I was more than pleased with the results!

In previous years, we would get more than our share of rainy days and this would enable Rob to stop construction, and allow time to research the next project, pick up building materials, or in some cases get orders placed for items that weren't available locally.  (It would also give him a chance to recuperate a bit from all the physical demands of building!) This fall though, rainy days were few and far between so he would try to work on the job site during the day and do his research and ordering in the evenings.  We were still hopeful that we might get the solar panels on, so there were lots (and lots) of details to work out and parts to order.

Rob moved to working on the east and west sides of the shop, building the rake overhangs (and moving the scaffolding way too many times).

Next we got the plywood up on the south side!

Coincidentally, it was this same time last year when we were finishing the metal roofing on the new house. At that time Rob had said he couldn't have worked any longer because of the cold and the dangerous conditions so we had serious doubts about actually finishing the roof on the workshop, but we were going to try.  We were beginning to get real frost at night, making it impossible to work until the frost melted and the roof was dry and of course the days were getting shorter and shorter, with daylight savings about to kick in as well.

I had finished splitting the firewood by early October (yippee!)

I was now doing my best to get ready for winter - start stacking all that wood (not my favourite job), cleaning up outside and pulling our winter coats and boots out of storage and finding space for them in the cabin.  And then on October 27 the snow arrived.

This wasn't the usual few warning flakes that we would normally get, it was a good solid snowfall, and it lingered for a couple of days.  We were a bit disheartened, but the weather forecast promised more sunny weather, so we hoped the snow would all melt and we could continue working. It was strange to see the trees still bearing their autumn leaves, with snow all around.

By Halloween the snow had melted, and our friend Bob arrived to help with the plywood on the north side.

The roof liner went on, the "warm" temperatures came back, and Rob and Bob got to work on the metal roof.  We had pretty much decided to just get the metal on the south roof and then (if possible) get the solar panels up . The north side would probably have to wait until spring. It was a fine plan that was much easier to say than do!

Some days this job went faster than others but it was a complex procedure.  The flashing had to be cut and fitted together and then each piece of roofing had to be cut and folded and crimped at the end so that it would lock on to the flashing. We also decided to install the brackets for the rails that would hold the solar panels since it was easier to do this as we went along.  I would have to say that things were rather intense at this point.... and for the next couple of weeks!

But they did it.

So, south roof finished - time to start installing the rails. By now the work days were beginning at around 11 a.m. because there was too much ice on the roof before then which made it totally unsafe.  By mid-afternoon though, it would be warm and sunny and the crew would be back to wearing light hoodies or T-shirts!

I was pretty excited when I thought that the first solar panel was up - but it turned out to just be a test run to make sure things were going to work out.  This was our first time doing solar panel installation, so there was a lot to learn, and a lot to think about.

We continued installing the rails, and were all excited to think that we might actually get the solar panels on this year after all!

After checking that each panel was working properly, and documenting the serial numbers and performance data for each one, we began installing them.  This time we didn't stop long to admire the first one - we just kept going!

With not much space between the panel and the roof, it was difficult to reach in and make the connections.

Each panel is held in place with an edge clip that has a built in grounding connection (it is actually difficult to reliably connect a ground wire to aluminium).

Even with knee pads on - this job is hard on the old knees. (did I just say "old knees" - whoops !)

While installing the second column of panels, work ground to a halt.  The wire connections were hanging below the panels and some were touching the roof. Rob had originally thought that they could be lifted a bit more, but as it was there was a danger that over the years the insulation on the wires might get damaged. After an evening researching the problem Rob came up with a plan to attach conduit supports to the rails and then use stainless steel wire wraps to hold the wires.  We had to do a lot of calling and driving around to gather up the supplies from various building companies and electrical supply companies, but we managed to get what we needed and a couple of days later, we were back at it. Everything worked fine.

We really have to thank our friend Bob for all his hard work and perseverance.  I'm sure it took a while for him and Rob to get used to working together, but they did a fine job and we were an excellent team!  When the bit kept falling out of the torque wrench and disappearing off the edge of the roof, Bob suggested putting some roofing sealant in to help hold it better and I suggested some coloured tape to make it easier to find when it did fall off!  It takes a community .... or a couple of extra bright minds...or whatever !

I tried to keep them both fed with hot nutritious soups for lunch, and tea breaks in the afternoon. But when I showed up with hot tea as they were putting in the last column of panels, neither of them was willing to take a break for tea time.  Luckily we have a great tea thermos to keep things hot! And I couldn't blame them for wanting to get it done.

As the light of the day slowly faded, it was finished.  No champagne, just a big sigh of relief, a sip of tea, an enormous thank you to Mother Nature, and we were done.

But a few days later, while working on the North roof,  20+ cm of snow arrived - and so that's probably it for the roof for this year! Not much power generation from those panels either.