Uncapped

 

With additional seasonal manpower provided by Christmas guests, we got the steel up before winter set in. Actual snow has halted progress for a time, but the truly difficult bits are done...except for the roof cap.

Pump the Halls

 Guests are on their way, and I have just time to overhaul the pump, which has been behaving badly for several weeks. It cycled too frequently, so I replaced the the pressure tank, but now I have to replace several fittings blocked by mineralization and the pressure switch too: the pump fails to start at 20psi, leaving an alarming total absence of pressure. 

Powerless

 After some rain and a bit of a blow, the power is out, so I have deployed this never-before-used generator. To my astonishment, the battery worked just fine (once I found some small nuts and bolts for the terminals). The outage was over in about 20 hours, so all we missed was some showers. I kept the fridges and freezers running and saved the Christmas baking.

Camping

We had a bit of a blow, and out went the power. As we are heading for quite a green Christmas, it was easy enough to deploy the BBQ and make a late breakfast, next to the shed-in-progress. The trusses are up, thanks to the scaffold crane and electric winch, and now it is time to start on the roof sheathing. 

Raising the Roof

 Well, not the roof but the trusses. I built a scaffolding tower and attached the crane arm. I hooked the electric winch to the eye at the end of the beam and up they came. 

Going UP!

 Raised the first truss on the new garden shed. Cripes, but it was a heavy brute!

Blue Skies

 We still get some lovely days. Snow threatens, but never quite sets down permanent roots. Let it keep off a few weeks more, and the shed may be roofed! 

Dead Level

 Ah...satisfying! 

Mouse in the House

 "Get in the trap!! GET IN THE TRAP!"

Bloody mouse must be deaf.

Time Runs Out

 Once again, time is running out. The trees, confused by a long, wet summer, are all in different stages: "Yellow leaves, or none, or few" do hang upon these maples and birches. The weekend storm stripped away some of the looser foliage, and soon everything will be bare. I need the snow to hold off for just ten days: that will be enough to finish the slab of the foundation. After that, I will be content to conduct carpentry in winter weather. 

Tying Things Together

 We're getting set for the big pour. I've laced the rebar together; now I just need some fair weather...and fewer leaves! 

Autumn

 Fall is setting in. The colours are not so bright this year; the bright yellows in particular (birch?) seem to be absent. The leaves stayed green too long because of the rain, and I think they will fall without the usual display. 

Foundation

 I finally finished the footing for the new potting shed. The old shed, rotting quietly in the background, has been taken over by squirrels and skunks. On Tuesday I'll start tying up the rebar for the slab.

Discovery of FIRE

 This is the first fire of the season. We had several cold nights with frost warnings, and I decided it was time to get at least ONE heating unit going. Considering that it had been overhauled and set to rights before an unexpected cold snap, it was surprisingly soiled, with the chimney needing a sweep and a pretty full ash compartment. All done! Now for the oil furnace....

Rotarian Bliss

 

There's nothing quite so satisfying as installing a new rotor. Farewell, ugly accretions of rust! Hello, smooth, progressive braking.

Harvest

 After a dark and rainy summer, the tomatoes FINALLY ripened. It was not by any means a bounteous harvest, but we did get a few, and the larger ones yield a whole salad at one go. Tasty, too!

Door Frog

 Every now and then one of these little fellows appears on our back door. I don't know why--perhaps all the good trees were already taken? 

Hallowe'en Moon

 This would be mighty suitable later in the season...

Shed Happens

 It begins...

I've Looked at Clouds`

 Quite surreal clouds on Grand Manan. 

Moon

 Here's a dramatic ends to the month! Rain, rain, and damp so pervasive that the house filled with mildew. What a summer!

Lightning Strikes...

 I was in the kitchen doing what I usually do during an electrical storm: counting the seconds between the flash and the BANG! Five seconds to the mile. I counted to eight, then five, then CRASH! Thunder roared before I could count at all. I let out quite a squeak. It hit, we found later, at tree just across from the kitchen window. 

Pieces were blown out of the trunk and scattered about the yard. Later, we found various devices no longer worked: the dryer, the television, the computer that drove the television, Jo's metal detector (perhaps unrelated).

Mr. Knife

 This is easily the most over-engineered utility knife (and scraper) I have ever acquired.

Yes, of course I love it. How can you ask?

Shedding Light

Fiat lux! I started wiring up the lights last October--I finally finished. Just a bit of shingling on the North face, and the 25-year woodshed project will be complete!

All Hands on Deck

 I think we built the first section shortly after finishing the work on the rear foundation--so, 17-20 years ago. The tar really did its job, and because I used deck screws and not air nails, it is all quite modular. Pop out the screws and lay down new wood--simple! I did have to splint a place where two plates connected, taking about 18" out of each and putting a new section of joist between them, as well as several 5/8" bolts. All back together again--and if it lasts another 20 years, rebuilding will be someone else's problem!

The Doors

 

The left door is nearly finished (a pity the right-hand one is getting bubbly!). Still working on the spring tension, but I will manage it in time, I think. I have discovered that I can still buy cylinders for the external locks--I'll fit one this weekend.

Trenchant!

 I finally dug the ditch to lay drainage pipe for the workshop sump pump. While not as long deferred as the woodshed foundation (some twenty-five years after we built the shed!), it has taken a while. I made the first shallow incisions a couple of weeks ago, and then dug it out thoroughly on the holiday Monday. 

Garage Doors

Time to re-skin the garage doors. I did three panels about 25 years ago, and the entire second set of five about four years ago. I'm wondering just how old these doors are. They were coming to pieces 29 years ago, so that means they were surely 20 years old then. These things are antiques! 

Darlin' Buds of May

 The sumacs are starting--mere buds but soon they will be green instead of these gray skeletal growths. 

Little Doors

Quite a few years ago, I bought a Freud bit set for floating panel doors. Unfortunately, I belatedly discovered that they required at least a 3HP router, and my Porter-Cable wasn't up to the job. Eventually I acquired a 3.25HP Freud router, by which time I had forgotten about the bits. I gathered up a few oak scraps and made some doors, the final part of the bathroom renovation, and they turned out fairly well. I think I'm going to enjoy these bits...finally!

It Sucks

I finally emptied and took down the wood storage rack that has been in use for about 20 years. In its place I installed this air cleaner, which I hope will save my lungs from fine shop dust. This is before I rotated it 180 degrees--it seemed better to have it sucking from the chop saw than blowing towards it!

Sky

 The snow has retreated, but has not gone. The days are often bright, but not warm. We still have woodfires, front and back. Still--lovely sky! 

Winter Light

This picture shows that there is still lots of snow to plow, but the real point is that gleam of light under the red pines. We have a lot of winter ahead, but there is a bright line of orange hope low amongst the trees.

The Beast

It was quite a wait--about a month--but the little beast has arrived, and there is still snow to plow. Later, we'll find a trailer for it so that it can replace the lawn tractor in hauling tasks, but for now...it's a plow!

Gleaming Winter

This is a winter of resurgence: as we inch toward Spring, we keep backsliding into hard winter. I suspect that when our little plow finally arrives, there will still be plenty of white stuff to push around. 

Best Brake Job Ever

Many factors made this a good brake job. First, the old rotors came off with a light tap; the "copper" no-seize did its work well. Next, I FILED the notches in the mounting bracket for the pad clips, right down to bright metal. Then the clips seated very nicely, and I inserted the pads with light hand pressure--no hammer work! This is partly because they were premium ceramic pads, and the backing plates were either machined or so well stamped they seemed so. No filing there! Although it was as cold as -25C outside, the garage was between -6C and -8C, so that was reasonably comfortable. The result was dramatic: smooth, progressive braking, even at high speed down Graveyard Hill, and not a hint of a shudder. Oh, and I used the coated rotors. Why not, eh? The culprit appeared to be the outer pad on the driver's side: it was firmly jammed in place. I also made use of my new piston compressor--very nice.

We're in for a few weeks of this. Never mind. We've made it this far and it can't last much longer. 

Midwinter

 It is now the middle of January, and we have burned one stack from the woodshed--about 90 cu.ft. or two-thirds of a cord. Not bad!

Yesterday we went for our first snowshoe, just out to Panama. The snow was crusty and sufficiently deep to justify the footwear. Everything was sheathed in ice and we went on to have freezing rain that lasted all night, as did the howling wind from the East. Winter may come early or late, but it always arrives eventually.

Fire in the Sky

 Bitter cold though it is, the sky is on fire!

 

For once, the ice from a storm is actually visible. Every branch is coated and each twig has its own icicles.