Spring Migration

canada geeseAs well as the birds, people are on the move and I also had my first volunteer of the year.  This is why I have not posted for a while – we have been incredibly busy.  This will consequently be a long post.  Lucky person: Katie’s initial job was to help sweep the chimney.

2 first volunteer

 

 

3 sweeping chimneyUnfortunately, the wind got up at the crucial moment.

4 black face!With Katie to look after the dogs, I could make another quick trip to town.  I left in the dark so I could get back the same day, but the sun rises early now and most of the drive was in daylight.  The road was dry and excellent, and due to break-up in the bush, there were no logging trucks, so I made good time.

5 to townA new road sign has appeared beside one of the many wetlands along the Chilcotin.

6 road signNot much open water yet, though.

7 standing geese

I have never seen the powerful Chilko River so frozen, but at last it is breaking up.

7a Chilco RiverMy own river is also opening up.

7b my riverThe main job I wanted to do with Katie was finish the storage cabin.  You can see the pale, new boards already up.

8 cabin outside

 

9 cutting boards

 

10 nailing wallNext job is the housewrap.

11 house wrapThen a layer of insulation (Katie is using her head!)

12 insulation

 

13 insulation bNext, vapour barrier…

14. vapour barrierAnd finally, the ceiling boards.  What a horrible job that was!  I had used the better boards for the interior of my house and these were the scrappy warped ones so we often could not get them to fit properly.

15 boards

One of my nearest neighbours (about 20 minutes’ drive away) had a recent tragedy.  Their house burned to the ground.

17 burned houseGlen was home asleep, but managed to get himself, his dog, and his pants out – his wife was helping her sister calving on another ranch so  was away.  Everything else, including 3 generations’ worth of mementos, was destroyed.

The community immediately rallied round with a benefit.  A potluck, an auction, and a dance.  (Katie and I did not stay for the dance!)

18 potluckHere is Gerald having a go at being an auctioneer.

19 auctioneer

A few nights later, we had a full moon with a blood eclipse, which I was able to enjoy through my bay window while lying in bed!  I did not have the patience to do a time exposure, but here is a site that shows what it looked like.  It was indeed beautifully red.  Most of the weather in the last weeks has been cold and windy and cloudy, so we were lucky to see it.

Katie and I were able to do part of the floor of the cabin.

21 floorHarry wandered in to see what was going on.

22 HarryKatie was packing up to leave – I took her to the airport on Friday – and I made a rough door an hung it.  (The sign was made by an 80+-year-old lady and given to me for Nuk Tessli.  Needless to say, I had to bring it out with me.)

23 door openI love hanging doors.  I can open and close them for hours!

24 door closedThe door looks high, but there will be a loading dock in front of it.

Completing the shell of the cabin was a big milestone in organizing my life here.  Finally I have a packrat-proof place to store unsold books and the other paraphenalia of book tours and craft fairs, all at driving level.  So far they have been in more than one location up steep, narrow attic steps.

25 storageI have run out of materials so about 2/3 of the interior is still to do.

26 interiorBut having stuff out of the attic means I can now finally clean up the cabin on the lower property and list it for sale.

 

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2 thoughts on “Spring Migration”

  1. Hi Chris,
    Thanks for the long post. It looks like Katie was a good one for getting the work done. Harry looks content, as well he should. Great to see another picture of him. Sorry to again hear your selling off some of your property. Maybe with a good book selling year you can hold on to it a little longer. I gave my copy of “Lonesome” away and need another of the reissue. Let me know the details.
    Regards, Gary

  2. Wow, your wwoofer did a great job! And good to see those birds migrating – over the past ten days, mountain bluebirds, marsh hawks, thrushes and robins, and now myrtle warblers have arrived up here.
    Also congratulations on the re-issue of Lonesome’s Memoir; looks like 2014 will be a wonderful year for you. Maybe even your knee will finally heal 🙂

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