As 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.

 

 

Unfortunately, the wind got up at the crucial moment.

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.

A new road sign has appeared beside one of the many wetlands along the Chilcotin.

Not much open water yet, though.

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

My own river is also opening up.

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

 

 

Next job is the housewrap.

Then a layer of insulation (Katie is using her head!)

 

Next, vapour barrier…

And 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.

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

Glen 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!)

Here is Gerald having a go at being an 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.

Harry wandered in to see what was going on.

Katie 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.)

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

The 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.

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

But 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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