Big day - July 27 the water gets turned on!!!!

Huge thanks to Micky, Nick and Mike for getting us hooked up to the well supply with cold AND hot running water. It may not seem like a big deal to many folks but it was a really big deal for us.

Reunited with our stuff

Thanks to the McWilliams Mayflower team, we get our "stuff" back again in July. That said, it's going to stay in boxes for a while yet until we can get to dealing with it. By then we'd likely do best to just have a yard sale.....after a year can you say that you really need it after all???? Here we are having lunch on the porch after a successful unloading operation.

Looking lovely

Here we are in July (what happend to June????) looking lovely for Chantal (hoping that she will let us continue to stay with her for a little while longer). Mago looks to come for a visit but his girls are happy to keep grazing.

Back at the house Bob finished staining the north facia board and porch log, brush hogged the big field, completed the framing of the first rooms and we got a forest management plan set up for the bush.

Early May brings Internet by satellite

High speed internet is a challenge when you are far from land lines and cell towers, so here is Catherine slugging with a swede hoe finishing the trench to the post for the TV and Internet satellites. We are not taking any chances with frost heave, so it is a 16 foot 6X6 pressure treated post that is buried 8 feet in the ground and secured with a deadman to prevent twisting. John helped by doing the tricky backhoe work for the main trench and post hole, Catherine just does the finishing touches. Normally you'd put the satellite dishes on the house, but that did not seem to fit the log house "look".

Framing starts

April and May see Bob starting to frame the first two rooms, a bedroom bathroom combination in the basement. Initially we plan to use it as a place to shower and watch TV or access the internet while we stay at the trailer on site. See on the right at the end is the main electrical panel that was put in last fall and the temporary insulation/vapor barrier that we had in the basement ceiling (first floor's joists) so that we could keep the basement heated through last winter. This came out in April because we'll be insulating the gable ends, gables and ceiling to heat the whole house this coming heating season.

Another rest spot - basement cabana

Here is a little cabana that we created at the lower level (walk out basement) door. This is to give the impression that we need for a spot in the shade and out of the heat. That notion is quite an illusion this year because the weather has been unbelievably cold and wet.

Sun and Muskoka chairs - April 29

We put the two red Muskoka chairs on the front porch for rest breaks but there are not many of those as things are busy April to August with getting the Maple Grove Road house sale closed (April 15), Catherine is back at work in May, June and July for a bit, then a flurry of initial prep work to set up to live at Bunny & John's, the trailer/log house AND barn - we are officially homeless and vagrant for a while.

Snow persists at April 10

Catherine shows how much snow is still at the barn on April 10, Bob asks just why is it that we wanted to come back north again. We ponder this but carry on....

You can see our 4WD Case backhoe in the background. It has been invaluable so far in the house building and we use it to handle the big round bales of hay for the horses.

Horses out in their new home in April

Note the snow, which in 2009 persisted until mid April. Here are the horses their first day out, April 10. Mago looks on while the girls munch happily. The horses love their new paddock which is full of trees, branches and interesting things to look at and do. The barn is first class with big box stalls for the horses and a nice "custom" little stall for Princess.

Horses travel north April 9

Mago, Angie, Belle and Princess travelled north in STYLE in a 15 horse air ride van with BWD Horse transport. They had excellent care from Jason during their trip and arrived less tired than I was following with George (the cat...) in my truck. Frank and Elaine arrived in time to help with unloading at Chantal's barn, where the "herd" will be resident until we get our barn built.

Furniture moves April 6-7, 2009

Moving van day loading day was April 7 and we had to get the van "unstuck" to proceed. Jim Blakely arrived on the snow plow and opened the path up to help Chadwicks to pull the van out. A divine message of some sort????

Winter 2009

Looks in March 2009 as though it's goodbye Maple Grove Road, hello moving to Angara. Tentative closing date April 15, which is fast approaching.

View From the Air

Many thanks to Raymond for taking this terrific shot while doing moose counts. The view is from the east, looking west. The 40' sea container (orange box) sits just in front of where the barn will go up this summer.

Perhaps we can shoot this one again in 2010 with siding on the house and ponies in the field!

Early March Checks

Catherine snowshoed in the first week of March to check on things. Thanks to our snowmachining friends who watched the place for us all winter, everything is in good shape awaiting spring work to start.

The only catch was it sure looked like cougar tracks following me on the trail..........turns out on closer inspection that it was the crampons on my snowshoes. Phew.

December view

Snow snow snow is the recipe for the winter of 2008/2009.   This shot was taken at the end of December 2009 and you can see Bob on the porch - we were working on making sure things were well closed up for the upcoming winter weather.

Angara sign from Ronn Hann

Here is the gorgeous log sign that Ronn made and left for us to find like a Santa gift in December. The images of the rearing horses are a prelude to the arrival of the Morgans and Princess (Shetland pony) in 2009.

North and South Gables get soffit

Here is the nice job Don's crew did on the "Sandlewood" coloured steel soffit to close up the north and south gables.  An easier option for maintenance and looks OK with the colour of the logs.  We ran out of weather so the east and west gable ends are closed up temporarily with plywood and insulation until spring.    See also from this shot what a great job Jim did with constructing the arch on the south side (under the eyebrow).