First Day of Spring

I traveled out to the cottage on Friday afternoon.  It has been very mild recently, and virtually all of the snow is gone.  It seems we are on pace for an early end to winter weather.  Saturday March 20thi was officially the first day of spring.  It was a little cooler out at Nordegg, than it has been in recent days, but still made it up to about +8C.  There was a mix of sun and cloud, and it was kind of breezy, so it felt a little cooler than it really was.

After breakfast in the morning, I went out and cut up a couple of trees that had recently come down.  We had a severe wind storm back in January and two dead trees fell near our fire pit.  I bucked these up with the chainsaw, to replenish the firewood pile that we burnt through over the winter.  I also dug out my air compressor and used my brad nailer to install some trim in our spare bedroom.  Once that trim was up I installed the hardware for a rolling door.  Now I just have to finish building the door itself.  The frame of the door has been ready for a while, but I need to mount an antique window into it, and skin it with pine paneling.  In the mid afternoon I went for a walk around the subdivision.  It was relatively quiet out in the subdivision, but there were a number of other neighbors around.

I believe that all of the lots in the subdivision are now sold.  There might be one or two left, but I think even those may have recently been snapped up.  I understand that about a dozen lots sold in the late summer and fall of 2020, and then several more sold around Christmas.  Three or four new cottages started construction late last fall and work progressed through the winter.  This spring there are eight or nine more lots that started clearing and excavating.  It will be a busy couple of years of construction.

We bought the lot next to ours late last summer, and officially take possession of it on April 1st.  I have the local contractor lined up to start some site work and to build a small second cottage for us.  This will essentially be a guest cottage for friends and family to use.  We may also rent it out from time to time.  I already have our development permit in place, and will take out the building permit as soon as we are ready to commence construction.

After a year of dealing with the Covid pandemic it is very refreshing to come out to the mountains.  The mild weather, allowing for more outdoor activities, makes it even better.  Hopefully with the vaccines becoming more readily available we will soon see an end to all the restrictions.