Front archway work

Bob works on the cedar siding under the arch and we try positioning the "Angara" sign there.  We decide that it should instead hang from the arch, so we set about sourcing some hardware to do so.

Roadwork

Bob and Harley clear the trail into our neighbor's camp.   This hemlock came down roots and all and was found the afternoon after the Wednesday June 23 earthquake tremors that passed through this area.  We did not notice anything until the 5.0 event at the Quebec-Ontario border (north of Ottawa) was reported on the radio.   Catherine and Harley found this hemlock blocking the road that afternoon, but we don't know if that's what knocked it down.

Summertime!

It is June and summer solstice!  There is a profusion of daisies, buttercups and many other wildflowers everywhere.  Harley thinks that a dead fish smells much better but he looks at the flowers to humor Catherine.

Keeping the habitat

This partly dead sumac tree was destined to be cut down until this flock of cedar waxwings decided to use it in the mornings and evenings as a meeting place.   They appear groups of 10 to 30 to chatter and conduct feather grooming, then they disperse and go about their daily or nightly bird activities.   On its own it is not such an attractive feature just outside the east side, south end window - but as habitat for these beauties, it will stay until they are finished with it.

This time a moose?

This fresh print was at the bottom of the hill behind the house, on the way to the marshy area next to the river.  This is a large print and rounded at the heels,  maybe matching the moose that we have been seeing in the area?  There are some elk around as well but we have not spotted any this spring.

Preparation for parging

The trim work is now stained so that this last outside basement wall can be parged.  We plan to just parge and paint it with a stucco-like finish for now.   Note the horseshoe maintained in the "tips up" lucky orientation at the lower left of the doors.

Its hot out here

The hot hazy days of summer are arriving before the summer solstice.   Harley looks in the back door, it's time to go for a walk..... or maybe have a snooze?

Landscaping by Bob

Harley dashes about madly at the pile of fill when Bob uses the front end loader to smooth some of it out for landscaping and a wider parking area.   It seems that Harley's bones and other special buried treasures were secured in this pile.   He was wide eyed and frantic until Bob took a break so that he could dig up and relocate his things.   It must be the part beagle responsible for this characteristic.

Feline supervision

George seems a little put out that there is too high a proportion of work to cat petting going on.  He plops himself on to the drawings and glowers at us.

Bottom to top alignment

It took a couple of tries to align the partition wall for the bathroom with the flattened log beam above.  We sacrificed a couple of inches of width for the bathroom  on our second attempt to get a more centered alignment.

Time for laying turtle eggs

This gal was a little cranky about being moved to safety off of the roadway into Angara.   Catherine pushed her with a stick as she is of the snapping turtle variety to put her closer to the bank which has nice digging soil.   She did not appreciate the gesture, perhaps thinking that the vehicle could just WAIT for her.

Bearing column jack

This section of the main floor partition wall includes a bearing column with a jack that (like the king post and porch column jacks) is  adjusted in spring and fall for the settling of the walls.   The jack is shown being installed on the ply'd column which is embedded in the partition wall.    There are two of these under the white pine summer beam that runs lengthwise supporting the mid-point of the loft, it ranges from 13 inches diameter at the tip end to 23 inches diameter at the butt end.

Main floor interior walls

Here is partition stud wall construction, looking to the right towards the main floor bedroom, which will act as the spare man cave - the room where men go to watch big screen television (when we get around to getting one), or what ever it is that men do when they go into that room???  We need to leave the end wall off of the adjoining bathroom to bring in a one piece tub/shower unit.

Inside log dressing

Work continues inside Angara!  Now that we can keep the windows open again, its back to interior log dressing.  This is a finished inside corner after three coats of the Sansin Purity Interior Clear Satin product on the white pine logs.   The logs were treated initially by the builder with power washing, a Borax solution and solution of Timbertek (dilute exterior stain).  For this final interior finish, the logs were sanded with a random orbital sander plus hand sanding for the grooves in the corners and where the logs meet each other.  Note the nicely carved out receptacle slots - they just have "fish" wire in this spot.

Deer passing through?

Judging from the size of Catherine's hand, perhaps this is a large buck deer or maybe an elk?  The print was in the damp ground between the house and the well.

Just a little more snow

Just a few more snowflakes in the first week of May, but they did not last.  We have a nice pile of cedar logs here from the harvesting earlier this year that will be peeled and used for fencing to make horse paddocks.

Trail patrol

This part of the trail system is one of my favorites, lined with white birch.   They are especially lovely in the spring as the new pale green leaves begin to show.   May brings the bugs out too, Harley thinks that if I could just run faster that we'd stay ahead of them.   He has to settle for running back and forth since I am not as quick as he is.

May flowers

May brings the Ontario provincial flower out in great abundance, here is one of the many trilliums lining the forest floor.   The spring smells are woody and wonderful this time of year.

Look who is awake!

It is not just Bob who is happy to see the spring grass growing!  This fellow is pictured about 30 feet from our back porch, munching on the new shoots in the lawn over the septic system.  Harley was in the house at the time, so I did a quick tap dance on the porch and this was frightening enough to re-route his munching to another spot further from the house.  Teaching him to be shy of human habitation will contribute to his health and longevity, being friendly and accessible does not do him any favors.   Over the next several weeks, Harley barks (which he does seldom and only for serious matters) and chases several bear visitors out of the yard.   So far we are co-existing with over 400 acres outside the "Harley home zone" that the bears are fine to hang out in.

Sandhill cranes return

Mid April brings the Sandhill Cranes back for the summer.   We think that they make their nests next down in the marshy area by the lake.  They are shown here making their ethereal prehistoric call sound as they fly to their nests after daytime feeding in our meadow.   If you close your eyes and listen to them, you can imagine being here tens of thousands of years ago.

It is still pretty frosty in the mornings but April brings some lovely mild days.  Not the stake marking the location for a barn with the house in the background.  The marine freight storage containers have been handy during construction (shown here between the future barn location and the house).

A dusting for good measure

Early April brings a last dusting of snow so that we do not take spring for granted just yet.

More equine visitors

Spring brings hungry equine visitors, good thing we have hay stored and hitching posts ready!   Note the handy bridle rack formed by the "arms" of the red pine post.   The girls came in for drinks and munchies too!

West side outer soffit done

Catherine puts some finishing touches on the trim for the west side soffit, using the pole scaffolding for support.

Harley arrives

What is a log house in the country without a dog to watch over it?  March brings spring and Harley, who seems to be a mix of beagle-corgi-husky-collie and maybe even besengi.   He is about four years old and very good about staying in the yard and coming when called.  He was a rescue, fostered by a friend of ours and so far perfect....... well except for that he has not figured out the basement stairs yet and he has a bit of an obsession with burying things.  He has taken to his job of watching over the house when we are gone very well.

Spring and getting ready for next year

Up until this year, Bob has split the 5-10 cords of wood that we use every year by hand.  In preparation for log house living, we picked up a mobile self powered 22 ton hydraulic splitter. There is no turning back now!  Time to break from house construction to get firewood lined up for next season.

Almost spring

It is mid-March, almost technically spring and the snow has pretty much disappeared.  Quite early this year, but it may not be over yet.

Signs of spring

It is early March and the deer are returning, following a long used path that runs behind the house, just the other side of the septic bed (and putting green).   If you look carefully, you can see five of them moving from left (west) to right (east).   During a period of four days we saw ten of them go through, so there likely were many more.

Knows the routine

Early March and there is still some snow around.  Catherine finds a little time to start saddling Mago.  Afterwards he knows it is time to be brushed.  We will need a sense of humor to deal with this one.

Virtual golf

On February 28 back behind the house on the septic bed (which doubles as a putting green), Bob is imagining the arrival of summer and golfing.   Just how is it that he thinks he'll have time to golf?????

Big food packages

These nice big bales of hay are stored inside a dry barn and are on their way to feed the horses.  Catherine checks the load, safety first!  The bales weigh about 700-800 pounds each and they feed the three horses and a pony for seven days in the winter.   By summertime with a little pasture, one of them lasts about fourteen days.   There's no manhandling these babies, it's up and away with a tractor lifting using a special bale fork.

Hitching post and porch column

February brings an equine visitor, who we tied up to the front porch and he was treated to a nice warm blanket, tub of hay and bucket of water.  After a few visits, he would nicker to the sound of the wheeled tub when we went to get some hay for his visits.  For visitors on horses, naturally we have more conventional hot chocolate and cookies.

Beaver art

Only in Canada....... Catherine is pictured with a chunk of poplar log that Brian salvaged from cutting near the beaver pond.   This is not the largest log that the beavers not only cut down but also skidded in water and mud lined raceways to make their dam.   If we could only get those little guys to give us a hand with house construction without demolishing the place.  Hmm.   We should be OK because they are not fussy for pine.  We plan to carve some feet and a nose to even up under the low side, then use this as an end table.

Artistic help

Two of Bob's granddaughters help out by painting murals on the plywood floor.   These are a sort of time capsule because we expect that it will be another year or so before we put the permanent hardwood flooring over this plywood subfloor.   The only trouble is that we love their murals and now don't really want to cover them up.  We're thinking that photographing them might be the answer, we can get them framed as a collage and preserve them to see.

Tractor shelter

Bob may have to tough it out but the tractor has a temporary shelter for snow, rain and sun!   This is a Shelter Logic kit that we purchased from Canadian Tire.   Although it has many bolts to assemble it, the quality is good and it shed the ice and freezing rain very well.  Behind the shed you can see a swath that Meakin cleared for us to run a buried water line to where we plan to build a barn in the summer.

After harvesting

Bob is pictured in late January on one of the trails after harvesting.   You can see that the area is left with good cover and remaining tree density.   We have a red pine plantation area that we are tending as well as the balance of the property, which is all forested in mainly poplar, maple and oak.  The harvesting was for poplar and we hope to have 50 years or so of caregiving to the place to let the maple and oak really develop.   We are making the paths left by the forwarder and harvesting into walking paths, that's a good 50 year job.  No fear of running out of something to do.

Processor - amazing log harvest equipment

This processor is Brian's machine, Jari is on the other one and Jim is on the forwarder (a machine which picks up, moves and stacks the logs for hauling away by LA).   The processor is an incredible device, it fells the tree and then de-limbs and cuts it up into measured lengths - all in about a minute or two.   The lengths are neatly stacked and the limbs are laid out and flattened (for tidiness and fire safety) to make what will be future pathways through the forest.  Meakin is the company who did the selective poplar (trembling aspen) harvest and they did a great job.   The harvest was to remove mature poplar but not mature hardwoods, cedar or pine.   In addition, the forest was left with sufficient density of remaining young AND mature poplar to keep it healthy.   Meakin did all of this, including building roadways, installing culverts and restoring areas after they were finished.   All in all they practiced good forestry methods and generally improved the property.  We'd highly recommend them.

Selective poplar harvest - log transport

Looking out the front window before 8 am (no problem as we start work on the house early) - not everyone sees a big logging truck passing through.   The log transport for our harvesting was done by LA Trucking, a local transport company that did a great job of not only shipping the logs but also they kept our road plowed and sanded most of the winter.   Note the articulating grapple that picks the logs up and loads them in the front and back trailer section.   If only Catherine could back up the horse trailer as handily as LA does these trucks!

Winter wonderland

Despite a mid-January thaw, there is a winter wonderland at the end of the month.  This is the end of the meadow, next to the house.

Time out for skiing

Skiing is for fun, well actually also for checking selective poplar harvest cut lines.....   There was no problem for Brian, Jari and Jim from Meakin to see  Catherine in her "safety first" bright pink reflective jacket.   The other advantage with this jacket is that Bob would not be caught dead in it, so there is no fear of him borrowing it.  

Using the cookstove

Bob decides that we should test the cookstove by making some fried eggs....... just like camping, they taste terrific when taken as a break from construction duties.   Note the nice big see through door for loading   the firewood.   This is the feature that allows for the use of a longer log in a cookstove.  

Road kill

Our log builder refers to the "arms" on the wrap around porch columns as "road kill".  These lovely features are red pine and were being chopped down to clear a roadside area....... that is until Ronn arrived and made a deal to purchase them for the Angara project.  The red pine goes nicely with the main house white pine logs.   The latter originated from trees that were cleared to widen Highway 400, north of Parry Sound.

Wood cookstove installation

This is a "Flameview" stove made by  by a Mennonite family business in Ontario, Canada and marketed by Mealtime Stoves.  It is not as fancy as some of the other new ones, but it is designed as a "workhorse".  It has a full size bake oven, a warming oven and a cast iron cooking surface.   It will heat a 2000 square foot house and the feature that we like is the side glass woodbox door - this allows the use of up to 20 inch long logs for burning.  A practical idea  when this is your primary source of heat!   OK, now it is January so bring on winter!!!

Handy mobile hitching post

Our tractor proves to be a handy temporary hitching post for our January equine visitor.   His rider is in the house having hot chocolate and cookies while he catches some rest and sun in the sheltered south side of the house.  He was all for climbing the stairs up to the porch but we persuaded him to stay here instead.

Snow machine trail opens December 31, 2009

Maurice zooms by on the snow machine trail, which crosses through our 430 acres.    Maurice does a great job of keeping the trails clear and groomed in season.  The trails open December 31, 2009 - this means that the lake portion of the trail (just past our place) is marked and safe to cross.

Friendly bear

Merry Christmas is this bear from Catherine's Mum and Dad!   It is the "bear what Santa brought her".....

As he was rather large, Catherine strapped him into the front seat with the shoulder seatbelt for the trip home in her pickup truck......Bob was quite alarmed when he first opened the door and saw the little face and eyes looking back.  

Christmas brought ice and freezing rain, so getting in and out of the road to the log house was challenging.  As soon as the Christmas holidays were over, Catherine invested in studded tires (now legal in northern Ontario).   No more acting like a toboggan coming down that last hill when it is icy!!!!

Mid December visitors

Three lovely mid-December visitors to the field next to the house.  Usually they move off to the area west of here to "yard" for the winter, but it is so mild this year that they are sticking around.

Snow and sun

These are the days that make winter so beautiful.   We have selective harvesting for poplar in progress, so are spending lots of time in the forest marking property and cut line limits.  So far they are doing a nice careful job, maintaining the mature hardwoods (which are not being harvested).  

Winter 2009

Although technically not winter, early December brings some snow and it sure feels like winter.

Equine visitors

Rio and Dancer dropped by with Nikki and Kyla (left to right) to check on our progress.   Naturally this is a time for a cookie break...