Sliding doors

Friday

We picked up our first batch of electrical supplies from branches in Lynnwood and Ellensburg. As you can see from the sign, we weren't able to buy a receptacle.

Jon oiled the last three windows. Siggy climbed a tree and attached plywood to it.

Eliot re-framed the bottom course of stairs.

Saturday

Toby & Dan joined us today for the heavy work of installing the sliding doors. We cut out and furred the openings to the correct size.

Lots of strong people to lift these monsters into place.

There they are, the last of the glass!

It's impractical to oil the panels after they're installed, but we didn't want to leave a hole in the house. So we went to work getting the wood treated and the sliding panels in place.

Siobhan puttied holes left in the ceiling by overzealous nail guns a floor above. Christina sanded it smooth, so the ceilings are ready for oil.

Christina oiled the fir window screens ... and sang Bohemian Rhapsody.

Jan came to enjoy the chaos ... and knit a hat.

Siggy worked on building a pantry for the little cabin.

Toby improved the steps to the toilet for Grandma Jan.

Siobhan made a thing. Guinivere made a plastic utensil holder for the shedlet.

Folks took an afternoon archery break. Bullseyes were made.

Sunday

Remember the wall we re-framed for the electric panels? Our electrician wasn't crazy about that placement. Jon and Eliot fiddled around with the panels looking for a better option.

Guinivere and Eliot loaded up a trailer of brush to take to the neighbors' brush pile. We also grabbed some of their piles on the way up the hill.

Eliot fixed the steel-rope swing. It's safe now!

Meanwhile, Jon put another coat of varnish on the BA column and other bits of structural lumber that needed more attention.

Eliot and Guinivere took tools and pressure-treated lumber down to the canal bridge and gave it a little tune-up.

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The trim finishing journey begins

The last time we installed wood trim (almost two years ago!), we sanded and cut the material inside the cabin (it was winter) and installed it unfinished. Finishing it meant taping everything off and applying three coats of finish in place. Removing the masking was frustrating (the finish glued it to the wall in places), and in other places the finish still got where it didn't belong. Now the cabin is full of nice, finished floors, cabinets, and counters. It's not a shop. So this time, I'm sanding and pre-finishing all the boards outdoors. Thankfully, there's still pretty nice weather; that black tarp garage heats up pretty well when the sun's out. Today I got the first batch of wood sanded and a coat of finish applied. Christina installed eight receptacles in the kitchen and great room. My mom came up to enjoy the warm ambiance of the not-yet-active wood stove.

Uncrating the wood stove

I drove up to the cabin today to meet a tree contractor. Since I was up there anyway, I took care of some other business. I got the wood stove out and ready to install on Monday. I vacuumed up the tiny particles of styrofoam packaging material from last year's roofing panels that would have been much easier to clean up last year. I put the bathroom outlet back into its adjusted place above the backsplash. I corrected my installation of the heat pump wiring with a pair of reducing washers. Now it's really done. I replaced the emergency brake battery system in the flatbed trailer. I bucked a bunch of old logs into rounds for firewood.

Odds and ends

I made progress on a bunch of little things today. I painted a fencepost in 12" segments and pounded it in at the property line, where the outdoor camera can see it. Now we can measure the snow accumulation. I worked on finishing up almost-complete receptacle branch circuits. The first one I worked on was a little mystery: all the receptacles were installed, but the power didn't reach past a certain point in the line. After some investigation with a wire tracer and watching through the videos we took before covering the walls, I worked out what had happened: two receptacles shared a stud bay, facing into opposite rooms. The plan had been to bring power up to one box, jump over to the other box, and continue back down to the crawlspace to the next box. We forgot the jumper. I couldn't fish a wire between the boxes myself, so that repair waits. Upstairs, installing two receptacles completed the branch. The bathroom vent hole in the tile backer board was a skosh too small. ...

Howell Cabin

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