Wednesday was a fun day. My Dutch friends Marlies and Nico were camping at Madge Lake and on their way home they came over for a visit. It was SO nice to see them. It was years ago when we met the last time. I made a nice light lunch, fitting for the heat wave we’re having. I think it was a success. They were camping with a nice camper but the best part is that they always take their cats with them.
They have 6 beautiful and cute cats, that travel with them. So funny to see them in front of the windows, looking outside. At the campground the cats go on their leash and can walk around and lay in the grass in the shade if they want to. Something different then a dog huh? Hahaha! It was so nice to catch up with Marlies and Nico. Once the cabin is finished, they will come over again to see it. It will be great! Thanks for your visit guys. Lots of fun and I really enjoyed it.
Thursday I worked on the gaps in my cabin again. On my way to the acreage a beautiful buck went across the road, right in front of me. Too fast for a photo though, he went into the woods before I could grab my camera. LOL After feeding the cats and drinking my coffee, I started the generator (just have to love the button start, so easy!) and got everything ready to cut the boards out on size. I am NOT that brave, and working with loud noisy aggressive tools is something I rather not do. And this electric circular saw IS loud and aggressive. Bbbrrrrrr. Hahahaha! But I learned from Paul a few things by watching him and trying things out while he was there to teach me. So there I went. I put some weight on the other side of the osb sheet, in the form of my drill, a bag of nails and a light tool box. It works but I should really take clamps with me next time. Never thought of that until Carol mentioned that to me later. I did my first cutting and YAY, all went fine. Even though the saw DID almost fly off the board one time though. But I held on to it and of course turned it off right away. LOL It’s all a huge and fun learning experience.
After I had cut the 6 boards, I got rather used to it. Now I just hoped that the boards would fit. It wouldn’t be fun to waste osb sheets because of wrong measuring and cutting. But....all boards fit perfectly! YAY!!! Only one board needed some pounding with the hammer before it got straight in, but I didn’t have to cut anymore off and that board will NEVER come out again. Hahaha!
After the boards on the north side were all in, I started with measuring the gaps on the south side. Now this side is high and height is not my favourite. I have to go much higher on the ladder. But I took my time and measured each gap separately. Good that I did that, because on this side most of the gaps were a different size in length. Very weird that it has such differences, from 19.5 inches to 22 inches! I wrote everything down, which spot the board has to go and what size. Then I gathered left over osb sheets and will you believe that I have JUST enough to cut all 11 boards? Amazing. So I can’t screw this up because then I have to buy more. LOL Anyway, all boards are measured and marked on the pieces of osb. I have to use the extra large ladder to put screws in so have to take that one from home. Another 4 hours of work done. Then it was time to go home. It got really hot with 27 c. It felt like 31c or so, and there was no wind at all. Thunder was in the air. I really hoped for a good rain shower.
In the afternoon I went to Carol’s and visited with her and her Wwoofer Christine. Of course I also went to see my horses. It was lots of fun to be with the horses again. Did some fly repellent wipe on them and brushed whoever wanted to be brushed. In the distance I could hear thunder. It was still far away. Carol hoped it would be another few hours before it would rain, because the farmer was baling her hay. When I went back home again, A nice furry red fox ran over the Canola field into the bush. I’ve seen lots of foxes lately. The young ones are getting out on their own it seems and not as careful as the adults. The fox was too fast for pictures. But I took some pictures of the canola field across from Carol’s place with the thunder clouds. It was a pretty sight! We did get rain but that was later in the evening so I guess that all baling was done.
Today I got up very early and before 7 am I was on my way to the acreage. I had the long ladder in the back of the truck. The other step ladder just won’t do with the height of the south side when it comes to put in the screws and boards. As I said before, I am not that brave with heights. But...what has to be done has to be done. So I positioned the ladder into the corner and made sure it wasn’t wobbly. Only that took me like 10 minutes and a lot of sips of my coffee. Hahaha! ok, some deep breaths and then I climbed up. Hm. It wasn’t too bad. As long I could hold on to the wood frame of the cabin I felt safe. I made sure everything I did, I did slow and secure. Takes more time but that doesn’t matter. I want to stay safe. I marked with help of a small piece of osb the thickness of where the screws had to go and put the screws in. After I put the screws in, I needed a break to cool off. I was sweating all over. Hahaha!
I had a nice big piece of water melon that I cut up in pieces. It tasted wonderful! I also made myself a hot chocolate to take to the cabin. After my little break I continued with my work. While it was still not too hot I wanted to do as much work as I could. Next step was sawing the boards on size. Carol had this great idea to use clamps and I found a couple in the basement. Handy things and much safer then putting some heavy things on the other side of the board. LOL Thanks Carol, for this great idea!
I cut the 11 pieces and was happy to shut off the generator. Another part done! Yay! It`s great to have the generator but it`s noisy. Poor Dizzy was with me when I started it, and wow, did she ever ran off. But she came back later. She is very flighty and nervous at times. She stayed with me most of the time and once I was putting the boards in, she fell in a deep sleep on the ground in the cabin. Later I moved her to the chair, out of my way. LOL Taz was also around but more relaxed. She knows farm life. Dizzy is still learning.
So now it was time to put in the boards. I kept my fingers crossed that the pieces would all fit just fine. But of course they didn`t. Hahaha! The first piece was too big. I measured with other boards and choose one that was smaller and that fitted just fine. The second one I pound with a hammer to get it in. Didn`t need any screws for that one. It will never come out. Hahaha! Then the following ones fit just right. Not perfect but it`s ok. I noticed that the height of the boards should have been a little shorter. I thought it was 7 and a half inch high, like on the other side, but it should have been 7 because the height of the gaps on the south side are not the same as on the north side for some reason. Oh well. We can drill some extra holes later in the boards for ventilation if needed. It was very tricky to put in the boards while standing on that ladder. With one hand I had to hold the board so it wouldn't fall down, and with the other hand put the screw in. That means I can`t hold on anywhere and just lean against the ladder. But again I did everything slow and very careful and made sure I had put the screw into the drill already so I only had to pick up the drill once I was ready to put the screw in. I wanted to do the 8th board and noticed I did not saw the length part. So all boards were too long. How could I forget! Too many chalk lines I guess made me confused. LOL I didn`t want to start up the generator again. It got very hot already, 27c , but it felt like over 30c. So I called it a day.
6 hours of hard work was more then enough. I cleaned up a bit and gave the cats some cat treats in front of the trailer. I put Scruffy into the truck and left, watching Dizzy and Taz eating from the treats in my back mirror. Next time I can finish the last 4 gaps. It was an awesome day and lots done. I`m very happy!