Chaos

After a certain point in renovations, the careful plan turns to utter chaos. Nothing is straight, nothing is square, and bloody-mindedness threatens to set in. Note the 19th-century "dead air" technology: two layers of plaster. We kept the horror to a minimum by shovelling out the plaster as we went along. Nothing erodes morale faster than tromping over piles of what were once your walls. Keeping the site clean keeps it somehow saner. This was the worst stage; the wind blew freely through the walls in many places, and insulation was often conspicuous by its absence. There was no tar paper (itself a turn of the century innovation) over the sheathing. Eventually, we progressed to the vapour barrier stage--an innovation this old fabric had never seen.


The windows are still covered with plastic, and it certainly improves them. It will be sad to lose these arched window frames, but I really cannot wait to have something more efficient. Even with "modern" aluminium storm windows, they are draughty.
After a few days of this, a walk in the woods is most welcome, and the weather cooperated. We are entering the best part of winter: warm, sunny days; moderate nights; and mild breezes. The dogs approved of a return to morning walks. The woods are full of rabbit tracks this winter, and Ollie is constantly lured off the trail by enticing smells. Then he has to swim back through the deep snow. Every trip, I tear down the branches that impinge on the trail (otherwise, when I walk before dawn I get slapped in the face). Even so, I find more branches to take down daily; I think the path must be well above ground level at this point. I'll try to measure the snow depth today, but I think there must be about three feet of it. The trees generally look quite healthy, but many have lost their leaders. Much of that damage took place during Arthur, and they haven't had a chance to recover. Everywhere I go I see more work for the spring--perhaps a hundred full-grown trees to take down. Forestry guidelines suggest young trees will recover fully from a lean of no more than 15 degrees; we have plenty at about 90! Most, unfortunately, are Tamarack--very poor firewood. Some I may dry out and use for supports for the workshop.