Some more building pictures

Here is how far I got on the cabin last week.

This is what it looked like not too long ago...

Pictures of the Boys

Wrangell and Stryder. Peace.

Hey look at me! Stop paying attention to that baby. Wrangell sure does let us know when he wants to be held and pampered. He sure can be a jealus boy.

Wrangell and Stryder. He does like his brother alot even though he gets jealous sometimes... most of the time... whatever.

I do remember Wrangell getting black eyes in the past and that was always while I was at work. Lask week I came home to find out that Charity had stuck Wrangells hand in the treadmill. Actually I found out later that he must have put his tractor on the back of the belt while Charity was walking so that the tractor could drive. The tractor fell off the back and Wrangell got his hand stuck between the belt and cover when he reached for the tractor. Charity shut the treadmill off quick and its a good thing she was only walking and not running. Later I found the tractor underneath the front of the treadmill. The belt pulled it all the way to the front and tore off a tire and some other things.

A quick picture of Stryder while he was awake. I took this so I could show a friend, whom I haven't seen in some time. I went over to Wally's to use his shop to rip some boards for the basement. It is nice to have friends with tools and shops with stoves.

Wrangell after a peanut butter sandwich.

Wrangell in the morning. He is about as lively as I am in the morning.

Wrangell eating breakfast with his cats. He has to take them everywhere with him. They aren't allowed in church though.

Here is a video of the obnoxious noise Wrangell's new saw makes. We hide it sometimes so that the batteries will still be good when it warms up enough for him to go to the cabin and help me build it. I'm sure it won't seem so loud outside in the open, but in a 14x20 kitchen it is very loud.

Updated Building Pictures

Here are some pictures of what I accomplished on the cabing last week while I was home. I'm starting to get the working itch again as the weather should start warming up soon. I am at work now and the temperatures have plumeted this week. I was hoping it would be above zero so that when I am home and building next week I won't be so cold. It has been 30-40 below at home and between 20 and 30 below at work. Saturday and Sunday were terrible at -23 and 15-25 mph winds. The forecast for next week when I'm home to build is highs of 5-20. I'll have to get my wood stove and pipe set up temporarily. I would like to have the walls up and gable ends done by the time the weather gets warm enough to rain instead of snow. That way maybe I can get a roof covering on before too much gets wet inside. Last year was terrible for weather. It rained so much. At work we had more rain in one month than we normally have all summer.

Here is a picture of the first two steps leading from the main floor to the 2nd floor. All the stops will be notched into the log walls. The first step is resting on the floor but all the remaining steps will be notched into the wall on one end and free floating on the other. The second step is only resting on the blocks underneath of it temporarily. A one piece (narrow bent over log) banister will connect to each step with a railing. Its kinda hard to describe how I picture it, but it should be one of the highlights of the main floor.


This is a picture from the south west corner. Note the basement windows are covered with plywood so that I don't drop a log or tool through them. I should have waited to install the windows after all the log work was done but I couldn't sit around all winter and do nothing. Therefore I installed the windows and some stringers in the basement to cover the block with insulation and sheetrock.

Another picture from the south. It is exciting to start seeing window openings and more prominent door openings in the walls.

A second picture of the south wall and sw corner.


8:00pm time to finish putting tools away, return borrowed generator (ours is elec start only and won't start below +35F or so. I have sucessfully ordered a recoil starter to put on our generator so it can start now via arm strength!) and head home for dinner. Tonight I must pack my bags and get to bed so I can catch the bus to work at 12:55am.

Another picture of the work accomplished this week. I leave Tok at 12:55 am and usually arrive at the mine around 5:30 to start work at 7, therefore I can usually get another hour of sleep in my bed at work. The van broke down near Dot Lake this week and I didn't arrive at work until 8:15 I did get some decent sleep in the broken down van however.

A wide view of the work accomplished. It snowed several days and I only really put in 3 days of work on the logs... At that rate I could have the 1st floor logs done in a week or two (2 wks - month including time at the mine) and the gable ends up in a third week. But as one of my favorite characters would say "you can't rush it, a proper notch takes time. I don't want my cabin looking as though a boyscout were turned loose on it with a dull hatchet" (paraphrased).

How I would have enjoyed meeting Dick Proenneke. He did write quite a bit about making mistakes or falling and then having to meet his maker, or settle with the Lord right there on the mountain, but he also didn't seem to like it when good old Babe Allsworth tried to talk to him about "religious" matters. It would be nice to meet Dick in Glory when I get out of this wretched place.

Wrangell and Stryder

Wrangell somewhere in the 1-3 month age.

Stryder a little over a month.

Looks like double trouble!

Windows Installed in the Basement

Here is our cabin with all the basement windows and the door installed. There are two smaller windows on the south west side, a door in the center of the south side, a small opening window on the south east corner, and a large window on the east side of the basement.

This was originally supposed to be one large window, but when I left the top row of blocks out of the wall for window space I forgot that a girder ties in right over the middle of the opening. I then decided to install two smaller windows with a vertical log support in the middle under the girder tie in location.

This is the large window on the east side of the cabin. This will be a bedroom window if we ever put a bedroom downstairs. It is appx 30" x 70" and weighs about 80 lbs. Some how I managed to put it in myself without breaking it.

This is a view from the inside of the large window facing east.

This is a view of the two smaller windows on the south west corner of the basement.

This is a picture of the small opening window on the south east side of the basement. This window will also be in the bedroom if we decide to put one down there.