Howell Cabin

Finally back at the property after a few months' leave, with Chase and Guinivere. The triliums were waiting for us. Unfortunately, so was a damaged trailer; apparently it tangled with the snowplow and lost. The primary mission was to re-measure the foundation. I knew the dimensions by heart from the days Eliot and I spent measuring and re-measuring. Our (new) designer had measured it on his visit, and got a different number, so we decided it was better to measure one more time. Just to be sure. The auxiliary missions were to install a web-connected scenery camera and to slap some more mud on the walls. I forgot to take much in the way of pictures, so you'll have to settle for this RJ45 crimper.

Let's just start this entry out with a moonlit view of the cabin from last night: This weekend's trip was primarily for Eliot to work on shooting scenes for the film he's making for class. We got here yesterday to prepare. In the evening, I took the shot above, and a couple of the night sky, including the lunar eclipse. Eliot shot this sunset time lapse. A first for this trip was that I brought up a folding bed. I slept better! We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise. While he is out adventuring on snowmobiles, I installed new receptacles in the attic. That lets me move the WiFi router and printer up and out of the way. The main motivation, though, was to run power through the gable to supply the webcam, so I can enjoy the views while I'm at work. I got the branch circuit done, drilled the hole in the gable, routed the wire, installed the camera mount, and then, on the way out the door to install the camera, I fumbled it onto a cinder block and...

We stopped by the cabin to grab a few tools to take with us to Calvin's Eagle Scout project. On the way back we stopped by to drop off the tools. The fog was neat (top photo), and we brought light bulbs for the porch. Lovely!

Sunrise, snow capped mountains.  Snowcicles sliding off the roof. Sunrise. Mud and tape! We got most of the seams taped up today. A small disaster distraction: a couple gallons of water spilled out of a bucket all over our subfloor. Midday scenery break! We got a few other errands done, like installing a bank of light switches, lights in the attic, and the front door lights. I put some flag tape around the foundation pit, so it'll be easier to avoid when things are snowy. So here's our tape work. We still need to tape the ceiling corners and do the second and third coats.

Well, we've got a roof, insulation, and electricity to run a heater, so we stayed our overnight in the shop.  Snow and moonlight:     Calvin and Eliot vacuumed the floor and rolled out our mats and sleeping bags.

We hung about seven sheets of drywall today, finishing up the hanging.  Siggy came along and did a lot of helping. His main job was banging the drywall to make the cuts (that Eliot and I scored). His auxillary job was making monster shadows. Here's the south end of the building with the drywall complete. Eliot is installing the second circuit of receptacles. And here are a bunch of the receptacles, installed and working. Last job: demolish a milkshake at the turtle cafe!

First stop this morning was completing the outside power receptacle and the generator inlet circuit. Here Eliot is testing the completed, powered-up receptacle. No more generator for us!   The whole family came up. We went on a walk, and kids drove shovels and the wheelbarrow. Eliot organized the tools, again.  We made a smidgeon of progress on the drywall. And Eliot installed one of our electric heaters! Dinner at Cottage Cafe!