Now we are talking!

Except for the lame attempt, being-over-tired-after-saturday-night-party-still-trying-to-go-to-cabin-sunday, 2 weeks ago it has been 4 weeks since the last visit, luckily there won't be that long before the next trip up.

Luckily because now things are really starting to move. After this 3 day effort all the inner walls (frames) are completed, one bedroom is almost complete (The better half came on a surprise visit on saturday, so we even got the walls stained), and the other bedroom got the floor finished. Electrician is finishing off the hidden installation next week, so when I go back up 14 days from now I will be able to put panel up on all the walls! That is a very fun, fairly fast and rewarding task. Then we really see the layout of the cabin. It will be very nice to get the bedrooms done too, so we can put in a proper bed and sleep in an almost saw dust free atmosphere...

I was a bit anxious as to how it would be to put the floor on the concrete but it proved to be fast to fasten the "lekter" to the floor with expanding nails you just hammer into pre-drilled holes. I see that some recommend having cc 100 cm between the nails but to be safe from squeking floors I used cc 60 cm... better safe than sorry I guess...

Learned  a lesson this time too:
Always have candles and/or a flashlight within reach. A power failure first night turnes out to be a rather dark experience, and eventually I just tucked in as there was nothing to do in the darkness. Luckily power came back on during the night.

We are really excited about the progress now, and I will take a week off in January to work on the cabin, and with that and the upcoming weekends the winter break might be in reach after all... At least 70% :-)

Super optimist...

Annual grouse dinner with hunting friends and spouses on saturday night....and still being optimistic about going to cabin on sunday to put in some work is nothing more but naive... Home 4 a.m. in the morning lead to not getting up there before 2 p.m. and returning only a few hours later. Not much more than a few details here and there, some remaining insulation, a nap and a few nice pictures driving up there is the result...

Decorating

Ok, it is a bit premature to use decorating as a heading as most walls are just showing the insulation. There is one advantage about building a cabin; you don't have access to do work whenever you can and will avoid exhaustion. The downside of building a cabin is that you don't have access to work whenever you can... So the days in between needs to be filled with some other activity. Like thinking about the decorating... Thinking some nice pics from the surrounding nature will be nice on the walls, I have started picking out appropriate pictures...like the one below. This picture was taken in April, skiing on the last remaining snow above the tree level. A perfect day with a clear blue sky. Unfortunatly a perfect day with a clear blue sky makes somewhat dull pictures, so a little bit of Photoshoping might be needed....

A new sky was needed...and that was found on a picture taken at a vinyard in New Zealand last winter...so now the pictures will remind me of two, very different, but great trips the last year:) To test the quality provided I have ordered the picture on canvas in size 90X60 cm and if succesfull more pictures will be prepared for decorating the walls inside the cabin sometime in 2010.

Blackcock, throne and aching muscles…

I took Friday off and had another 3 day session at the cabin, this time fully stocked with beer. But this time I actually forgot to drink the stuff with the exception of 2 the first night. What an amateur! Don’t know if it was the abstinence or not but felt I got quite a lot done this weekend (too). After just 4 weekends the attic is completed, the entire ceiling downstairs is panelled and most of the framework for the inner walls are completed. If I just had one more day I could have called the electrician and asked him to finish off the hidden installation…
After spending all Friday and half of Saturday putting up the remaining panel in the ceiling I hereby make an oath; I solemnly swear never to put up ceilings alone in any kind of construction ever again! At least not with a masseur on watch and ready at my convenience!! Muscles I didn’t realize I have in possession is now screaming for peace. Worst thing is that I have earlier booked an appointment with a personal trainer at Elixia tonight, just to make things even worse. What was I thinking??

About 1100 meters of panel have now found its place where it belongs, appx. 4500 nails have been shot into the wall (the nail gun is starting to lose its entertainment value…), still the pile of remaining materials seems quite big…and I spent the second half of Saturday reorganising all the remaining materials to make room for the inner walls. Since I needed to turn the pile 90 degrees where it was situated I had to move the lot twice as it was kind of hard to do in one operation. That and getting the last pile outside safely inside did not help on my muscles either…

A more positive contribution to wellbeing is the newly installed throne! The cabin is as of now classified as high standard with electricity, heating, water and a toilet!! From the picture you can see the ingenious flushing device (red bucket, and water hose right next to it). A lot more sturdy construction than what you will find in any normal home. And you can’t really find the same view either from toilets in any other houses or cabins. Spectacular! A downside is that the view from the road to the throne is also spectacular so the daily visit demands some careful scouting and planning or a kind of exhibitionist mentality. For this reason I guess I better build some walls around it. Also note the strategically placed beer…

It was unusually quiet up there this weekend and the majority of the other cabins seemed desolated. Maybe the wildlife felt it too, Sunday morning I woke up at sunrise and noticed I had company of a blackcock (orrhane) that was lurking around the cabin. He was more of a poser than an anxious bird so when I silently opened the window and started shooting (pictures this time) he found the perfect podium and posed willingly. Unfortunately fog/snow and scarce daylight didn’t provide the optimal conditions for photographing. To show my gratitude for letting me photograph him I waited a while before I let my Gordon Setter out, at least to give him a good head start…

Unfortunately there will a full 4 weeks before I can go back up, but then I hope my better half can tag along so she can see the progress being made. Really think Norway should implement the 6th week of paid vacation now!!