I headed back out to Nordegg on Friday July 27th. Once again I was out on my own. It was about 9:00PM before I arrived and I by the time I unpacked everything and got settled in, it was nearly 10:00. I was tired after a long week at work and turned in early.
I was up at 7:00 on Saturday morning and after a quick breakfast of coffee and toast I went to work. I cut the remaining pine boards for the ceiling and tried again to install them by myself, with no luck. So I worked on a bunch of other odds and ends that needed looking after. I installed the last electrical cover plate, and then set about working on the windows. I cleaned them all on the interior, and looked after filler and sealant around all of them. I also put up the two remaining exterior light fixtures. The soffit on the north side has a wasp nest in it, but they were fairly calm this time and let me put up the fixture without issue.
By the time I finished all this it was nearly 3:00 in the afternoon, and Margarit and Helena showed up. They had decided to come for most of the weekend, but didn't want to drive out Friday after work. Margarit had arranged for some laminate flooring to be installed in Anna's bedroom at home and they were dealing with this on Friday night as I was leaving.
With Margarit there to give me I hand I was able to install the last of the pine paneling. I kneeled on the upper platform of the scaffold and was able to reach the highest part of the ceiling. Margarit stood on the other platform, one level down, and held up the end of the pine boards with a broom. It didn't take too long to get the last seven boards installed.
Then we cleared out all the stuff in the kitchen and dinette so that the scaffold could be moved back and forth. I did all the touch up painting on the walls around the high ceiling. There were a number of spots that had scuffs and dings and dents from installation of the paneling. While I was up there I also cleaned the inside of the two high windows, and finished up the filler and sealant around them.
After this there was some pine trim to be installed around the perimeter. This work was all started on Saturday afternoon, but carried on into Sunday.
We took a break on Saturday evening for a BBQ and then later had a fire and stayed up with our friends Shelly and Eric. They were finishing up a bunch of exterior work at their cottage further west down Tamarack Trail.
By mid day Sunday the high ceiling was essentially done.... FINALLY! The only things that remain are to install a trim board along the center ridge [which I haven't made yet] and to hang the ceiling fan. I will look after that next time I'm out. Then I changed gears and started work on the stone floor. There will be an area of natural local stone, about 5 feet by5 feet, in one corner of the dinette. This is where our wood stove will be installed. I recently came to realize that I will need the scaffold to install the chimney for this stove. But, once the fan and the chimney are up, the scaffold can come down. We arranged and fitted all the stones into place and next time I'm out there I will mortar them all into place.
Things are quickly moving along. We are still waiting for our plumber to return to fix one of the room heaters, and install the shower. Once the scaffold is down the flooring contractor will return to finish the flooring. After that is in place we can put our kitchen range and refrigerator into place. At that point the only things of significance that will remain are the kitchen cupboards and sink, the interior doors, and the railings. I can take my time on that, as well as a bunch of trim and detail stuff as the building will be totally livable by that point. I'm looking forward to that day, which is not very far off, so that I can start to enjoy my time out there more and not work all day every day. I plan on working part of every weekend and spending the rest of my time fly fishing, riding the ATV's and going out with my cameras...
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