I have been incredibly busy this last 10 days.  I was loaned another volunteer worker (who signed up with HelpX) from the Precipice.  I picked him up on my way back from Bella Coola.  I had him for only a week so have hardly had time to think.

Barry is from the Netherlands but has travelled the world with the navy.  He already had some building and chainsaw experience so I put him to work building a porch.

First we had to clear trees.  The big snowplough found it  very tight last year and the new porch would make even less room in the yard.  It was a shame to cut the trees down.

I do not have money to buy all the materials I will need to finish the porch, but we could make the main structure with logs and timber salvaged from the packrat palace.  Barry is cutting grooves in the corner posts.

The days are frustratingly short, now.  It was also quite cold in the mornings so difficult to get going. We were lucky to get five good working hours.

When the posts were up, we braced them temporarily and raised the main cross log on skids.  If you tie one end of a rope to the building, wrap the other round the log twice and pull on it, the log acts as its own pulley and is easy to raise.

Two more posts have been added and some shorter beams are being placed.  (That’s me on the ladder.)

Next came rafters salvaged from the packrat palace.  Being so high and well exposed to the weather since the metal has been removed, I figured they would not be too stinky.

Strapping came next.

I had no metal for the roof or boards for the walls, so an old army tarp was dragged over the top and tied to the strapping.  It is not very pretty, and the tarp leaks a bit, but it will keep the snow off the porch.  And when I can afford it, the roof will be easy to put on.