Our tires get mired in the cold mud. Our bodies get achy in the cold air. We work in jackets, gloves, and warm boots. Yet we soldier doggedly on, with an eye on inspection deadlines. We must pass three before we can insulate, and we want to insulate before the deep cold sets in. If we succeed at that, we can continue inside work during the long winter. So, onward, with our DiY construction in the frozen north!
Step by step.
And today, two more steps brought the internal warmth of progress. The story of the emerging Cabin at Many Moons continues below, as “the gray season” arrives…
The first snow of the season hung around for days. It’s snowing again right now.
We no longer sleep on the waterfront, but I try to get down to it for sunrise — for this kind of gift. But that’s not easy because daylight comes slowly to Jeff’s tiny off-the-grid cabin in the woods, where we now stay. (Think headlamps, candles, 12-volt lanterns.) It’s pitch dark when we get up.
We’ve had some great help but it’s mostly just Jeff now, plugging away at final details to prepare for the three inspections we need (plumbing, electrical and mechanical) before we can insulate. Inspectors here in the sparsely-populated far-north cover a huge area, so scheduling them is a challenge. Arranging the permits and inspections is one of my jobs.
Jeff installed four vents, including this range vent. I’ve never really thought about how the air from the range (and laundry room and bathrooms) gets outside, have you? I’ll never take it for granted again. Like so many other things that make up a house…
This vent is for the upstairs bathroom. It’s scary to put a hole into a brand-new wall. Sometimes I think, “I hope Jeff knows what he’s doing!” And then I’m ashamed of the thought because of course he does. I hate that we have to interrupt the clean look of my new (not-yet-ordered) siding with these mechanical contraptions. Yet another thing I never thought about before!
Another of my jobs is to clean up the construction mess, including burning the cardboard boxes (so many!) in our fire pit. We burn a lot of fires here.
Why are we so cold when we have a wood-burning stove in the house, you ask? Because it has a cathedral ceiling and isn’t insulated yet. Jeff installed a new chimney pipe this week and it looks rather nice. We take turns keeping the fire going, which makes it manageable (though not quite pleasant) to work.
And today, as a combination of sleet/snow/rain fell for the third day, we were cheered by the arrival of a 500-gallon propane tank. Heat is coming! (Eventually.) Propane will be our main source of heat, though we will have back-ups. It will heat the water which circulates under the floor — i.e., radiant heat — and into our sinks, tub and shower.
Also today, we had our “rough” electrical inspection. We got the yellow sticker! Yay! I’m so grateful for my brother’s help on this. Two more inspections to go, hopefully within a week. (The building inspector already gave us his thumbs-up. We actually have four inspectors making visits.) Final inspections must be done before the house can be inhabited. That will happen sometime next year. (Note Jeff’s headlamp. He uses it for detail work, even in the daytime. We’re going through batteries quickly.)
I still find time for dog-walking, though it’s getting harder. Since I get in just one walk a day these days, I let Roscoe sniff as much as he wants.
It’s gray up above, but not down below!
Some of you are wondering, “What about Boo?” The cat who accompanied us on our one-year boat journey? She’s happy at Jeff’s camp, where she lives mostly in the little loft. She’s not sure yet about her new companion, a home-made “stuffed Boo” created by our good friends and neighbors. Thank you, Pat and Pete! (The photo is red because of my red headlamp. Did I mention that we practically live in headlamps now? Mine has red and green options.)
The camper trailer that was “home” all summer looks forlorn in the winter, especially with the awning pulled in. I still use it daily — to cook on the propane stove (getting water from the well and washing dishes in the bay) or to charge things or to read email — and I’m sitting in it right now to write this. I also use the 2nd tiny trailer 100 feet down the waterfront from here, but don’t always want to bother making a fire in its wood stove. This trailer is heated by propane–see the 100-gallon tank on the right end?-and the heater is blasting away right now. But my feet are still cold. Trailers! However. Step by step, we’re making progress toward a heated house. Maybe by December?
For Many Moons 
Thanks for the updates. We really enjoy the progress reports.
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Cool! You’re welcome! 😊
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