Believe It Or Not, We Locked The Back Door

Saturday, February 28

The last day of Feb and the wind remains nasty and it has only managed to creep up to -13C so no roof work today. However, the last of the windows have been installed, as well as, the garden door off the basement. Jim installed the door lock set on the garden door and we dutifully locked it before we left. "Why?" You ask as you realize that there are no other doors installed in the house and the sun room wall is missing. Because we can.

The Problem, As I See It, Is That I Can't See It

Wednesday February 25

In the picture, along with the house, you see the paved subdivision road, our paved approach road and our gravel road. You also see the ditches and fields. The problem is, which is which? Although it is certainly nasty to build in the bitter cold and nearly impossible to deal with the wind, our mightiest nemesis is snow. The weather broadcasters love to refer to our last couple of days as a "snow event". We only managed to get 12 cm of snow, but it puts the guess work back into driving...never a good thing. Jim tried to get to the house yesterday while it was still snowing and he almost made it...luckily it didn't take the tow truck long to get there and haul the truck out of the ditch. We waited until the snow stopped today and tried again. Success!! We have now created a track all the way up to the house and I even managed to identify an extra parking spot. We shoveled snow out of the house and are all ready for work to resume when the wind dies down. We really need the roof sheathing finished before Monday and another predicted "snow event".

Meanwhile, back on Monday, Jim, James and Rob managed to get almost all of the windows installed. The doors and the windows in the basement and garage still have to go in and I have to re-order one, that turned out to be the wrong size, for the dining room. Still, it's very nice to have the argon gas filled windows in place. Not only does it brighten the old hacienda up, I'm told they make the house warmer. Ha, Ha, Ha...a little Canadian Winter Humour...very little.

Honestly, How Much Longer Until We Reach Lock-Up?

Thursday and Friday, February 19 & 20


There isn't too much to take pictures of, as we (this is the royal "we", of course) are down to a lot of piddly work. The east end has been sheeted and the second dormer is well underway. The sun room roof has been tied into the main roof and the stairwells have been started. The only excitement that we had was when Curtis Ryll (the guy who did all the dirt work) dropped by and got his old moose of a dump truck started and moved. The poor, old thing had frozen up in our front yard but is now basking in the sun, with it's truck bed raised, trying to get the dirt that's frozen in it to thaw and fall out. I hope to be some distance away when this happens as it would scare the poop out of me, at the very least.

One Down and One To Go

Tuesday, February 17

We have a dormer! One down, one to go. It started out at -27C this morning but managed to drag it's way up to -9C by the afternoon and, with no wind, made it quite pleasant to work outside. The east side gable wall was put in place and was sheeted by later in the day. Now comes the interesting part of tying the main roof to the garage roof to the veranda roof. Hmmm.....that will take a little thought

It's Family Day

Monday, February 16

Winter returned last week and caused a work stoppage but the brave Jim, James and Rob resumed the attack today even though it is the family day holiday. It was still pretty cold but the west gable end was sheeted and work on the stairwells and dormers got underway. The weather promises to warm up for the next few days. Here's hoping we can finally get to lock up before next Monday, when more snow is expected. It is truly a pain to have to shovel out the house...not to mention the comment it makes on my housekeeping abilities.

Tub Party at the Farrells!

Thursay, February 12

Sheeting continues with the south roof nearly finished and ready to move on to the sun room roof. The main roof has been tied into the garage roof and sheeting has begun on that. Luckily, the one piece bathtub has finally arrived. The only way into the house was through the front window opening. The bathtub for the ensuite bathroom was damaged and had to be returned and re-ordered but it's a 6 foot tub and, as they don't come with the tub surround attached, we should be able to get it in through the door when it finally arrives. Yes...we can finally clean up our act...no toilet or sink, mind you, but the tub's a start.

Oh The View!

Wednesday, February 11

As you can see, there are other houses in the cow pasture with us. Our road is a cul de sac and these are the only other houses under construction, presently, and they are at the end. I think I'll ask Santa for a telescope for Christmas as I seem to have a great view of the neighbours...er...the neighbourhood, I mean.

Also, the floor is now going down in the loft area which is why I was able to take the picture out of the west end loft window.

Holy Sheet!

Tuesday, February 10

Jim is playing King of the Castle and, as I was down on the ground, I must be the dirty rascal. Actually, judging from my muddy clothes that description isn't far off. As you can see, approximately 3/4 of the back roof is sheeted and, at the front, the valley between the front bedroom and veranda is done and the veranda is sheeted. The second picture today is a rare view of the west wall. There again, the wall is in place and ready for sheeting. We're seriously hoping that one of the zoom-booms operating at the end of the street can be talked into lifting the plywood up for the west and east end and the rake wall. If not, I have noticed some new scaffolding that has not only shown up on site but also on the credit card bill. Hmmm...Jim has been shopping.

How Rakish

Saturday, February 7

The rake wall (the south facing sun room wall) is in place and awaiting sheeting. Sheeting has begun on the roof at the back of the house. Jim continues to work at tying the ancillary roofs to the main roof. Luckily, the wind has stayed down. Blogging at this stage is difficult because it takes a long time to get the roof ready for sheeting so days go by where lots is accomplished (like blocking) but none of it is really visible.

Power To The People!

Thursday February 5

Yes, It's a Banner Day here in the cow pasture as The Battle River REA was out early this morning and hooked up electricity to the house. No more gas cans of fuel, no more generator, no more carbon monoxide poisoning...so much for the rosy red complexion and the blue lips. We also have a new worker, Dillon. He and James sheeted the rest of the garage today while Jim started sheeting in some of the roof and joining different sections of roof together...testing out his skill at building blind valleys. It was +3 today and the cow pasture is a gooier, muddier mess.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Mr Rogers

Wednesday, February 4

We can't believe that it's +9, no wind and sunny and it's only February 4th. Makes one wonder what's in store for March? Here's hoping it's not ugly.

The trench in the dirt is what I started digging and Perry finished. It's to hold the ground wire from the house so that we can finally have electricity.

Jim and James have been putting up fascia and more joist hangers. That's James trudging up to the peak but, in his defense, Jim has spent many hours scrambling up and down it.

Getting in Shape is Labour Intensive

Tuesday, February 3
Jim, Perry and James spent the day positioning the trusses that were lifted yesterday. Most of the trusses that will form the roof over the master bedroom are now in place and secured and some of the garage ones, as well. Tim and the zoom boom were back again this morning for a brief time to raise up the end wall of the garage. The house is really starting to take shape...the shape of a house, that is...not just a pile of sticks and plywood.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Please forgive my video. I didn't realize that I had the camera set on "video" and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't take the picture. Now I don't know how to get a still picture from the video so you're stuck with this. It all happened on Monday, February 2, as Jim and James with the assistance of Tim, one of the framers and zoom-boom operator working on a house at the end of the road, wrangled more trusses into place. They were able to get the trusses for the master bedroom and the garage up and ready to be put into place and secured.