Snow in November

By the end of November we have a blanket of snow that did not stay.

Fall frosty

This looks like snow, but is just a heavy frost at the end of October.  

Readiness for winter

Although last year was a warm El Nino year, this one is forecast to be a cold La Ninja.   Our firewood pile is stacked to over ten bush cords and covered with a tarp - perhaps next year will bring a wood shed?  We put jacks permanently into place on this the north side of the house to facilitate easier chimney cleaning.  Every year there will be improvements.

Speed of progress and beauty

 We had hoped to get further finishing the porch soffit (just the front is done as well as the pine paneling of the arch), but building the barn took priority.  Taking in the beauty of where we are is something we remind ourselves to do, the top photo from a morning walk with Harley shows why.

Fall lovely

 Fall is getting frosty but is beautiful none the less.  Walking with Harley the Wonder Dog.

Angara sign hanging ceremony

We have a champagne sign hanging ceremony with our neighbours, the Kahles and Marshall families.   The day was graced with bright sunshine and was enjoyed by all, including the ever present Harley.   We made a dedication to Frank and Rose Cook, who were the previous caretakers of this property when it operated as a golf course.  They had a log cabin at the same site as the current "Angara", and we think that they would have approved of our project to carry on with care of this place.

Horses home

 And so they are home!  After 20 months of separation, it is really such harmony to have the whole "family" home.

Inside finishing

Stalls are in place with some skiffs of snow - just in time to bring the horses home!

Shaping up

Fence posts are in now and the cladding is caulked and sealed for this year.  Next year we will put board and batten on the outside, then will stain it the same color as the house.

Walls and roof take shape

Bob puts the last piece of plywood wall cladding into place and the shingling is done.  Frank, Bob and I completed the shingling in two days.   The shingles were left over from the house construction, so we have a nice color match.   We needed to top up with just a few additional bundles.   We also were able to use left over roof edge from the house for this roof.

Walls and roof framing

 The stud walls for the barn take shape on the double row of concrete block.  John dedicated a week of his vacation to helping us get the walls and roof trusses up.  We backfilled the concrete block wall base with concrete that we mixed on site.   With this we cast in the anchor bolts for the stud walls.   Frank, John, Danny and Lou helped us to get the trusses into place, we used pole scaffolding to make a runway up the middle of the building.

Pouring the barn footing

We slug the concrete into the above grade footings, a rugged 10" high X 24" wide with three rows of reinforcing bar.   She will stand for a long time.  Much appreciated help comes from Danny, Ken and Charlie - the brother and brothers-in-law!

Well drained base

Using the "thrower" truck to position the A-gravel base for the barn, giving us a good thick and well drained base.   This follows having scraped off the top soil and back filled with pit run gravel using the tractor.  

Barn building begins

Harley poses in front of the block and area under preparation for building the horse barn.

Harley helps

Harley the Wonder Dog helps with laying the natural stone drip line (to the left) around the edge of the porch.  This addresses both protecting the drip line from the roof porch and it raises the ground to within the necessary two foot drop from the ground necessary to have a porch without a railing.  The only side that will have a log railing is the west and basement walkout side.