Thursday, August 30, 2012

Cabin Work

A lot has been going on around the "other" cabin at our place, especially in the last week since Andrew's dad has been here.  He has been a Godsend in the last week.  I don't know how we thought we could do this all by ourselves.
Before he arrived we were finishing up a few small projects like peeling some burl logs for the loft and front porch.  The last log didn't quite get finished before Ted arrived, so that was the first thing he helped us do.
We also applied an oil-based sealant to the exterior of the cabin to protect it against weather.

And, Andrew got to use his chainsaw to "key" (cut a notch in the logs) the window opening so that he can spline (put a 2x 4 in it) the windows.  Basically so the walls "don't get all wavy gravy" on us, as a knowledgeable neighbor put it to us.
They built all four walls in a couple days.
Pounding lots of nails.

I only pounded in like three nails.
After a few days of rain we had a day of rainbows!  This was one of many we saw throughout the day. This one was over the backyard.
Both gables were built in one day!
More window work.  They are ready to be popped in!

Andrew had to take out one extra log to make a window fit.

Off with the metal.



 And the rafters and purlins.

 Each rafter and purlin Andrew pulled off, Ted took all the nails out of it so we can use them again.


 That's a different view.
I worked some on preparing the walls for the chinking to go on soon.
First wall going up!


Second wall.

Third wall.

First gable going up.


Second gable!

The forth wall was an inch to long, so Andrew broke out the skill saw.

Calling mom to talk about the progress.
These guys have accomplished an amazing amount of work in the last week!  Andrew set a schedule when Ted arrived and they are way ahead!!!  The beam will go up today (8-30) and the metal will be finished by tomorrow (hopefully).

Monday, August 27, 2012

Light Show

Andrew's dad is here visiting us right now!  He is helping us out on cabin projects and celebrating his retirement in style!  His first two nights in Alaska we had nice northern lights shows!  These are some pictures from the second show which was at our place.





Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Mountain View

Perfect timing one evening to catch the last of the alpenglow and the moon setting over Denali just a few miles down the road from our cabin.  LOVE our backyard!