Shangri La

Shangri La

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Ridge Poles and Rafters

LSW here. Last weekend was a busy one. Not really for me, as I was on child-watching duty, but the Vermontster and his entourage of sister and brother-in-law did some mighty serious building. It was all ridge poles and rafters for the weekend. (Excuse the tiny pictures; we're experiencing technical difficulties.)
I don't have much to say about it all, because my experiences from the weekend mostly revolved around seeing a fox, checking into (and out of) the River Bend Lodge (sorry folks, we gave it a shot, but we're not willing to share our rooms with families of spiders), and cooking on the open hearth electric griddle. But as you can see, it's starting to look like a real genuine cabin! Woo hoo!
My one big effort of the weekend was pretty much a disaster. I tried to build some semblance of a private area for doing one's private business, but it was flawed. A hula hoop, two shower curtains, some plastic ties and string have now set me back $5, bringing MY total up to $808.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

How much does it cost to build a cabin? Here's the real answer


LSW here again.
I thought I'd start my own accounting log of how much the cabin is costing us. Let's see:

Speeding ticket: $300
Insurance deductible from the damage done to my car from backing into a tree while camping: $500
Special camping salt and pepper shaker that I bought because I figured we'd be camping all summer: $1.00
Big bag o' plastic toys bought at a tag sale to keep the Boy occupied while we work: $2.00

LSW's total: $803.00

Remember: Doing a project will always take twice as long and cost three times as much as you anticipate!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

An update, of sorts

We've got the power!
LSW here. There's a lot to report from the past few weeks, but what we're learning is that, after nailing and screwing all day (the kind of nailing and screwing that people who've been married for 15+ years do), you don't really have any desire to write about it.
But there have been some big changes and a few lessons learned, such as:
1) You don't hang sheathing randomly or else you're going to have to do it all over again. And trust me, you don't want to do this any more than necessary.
2) The right tool for the right job. I don't know how the pioneers made houses without electric power tools.(Nothin' sexier than a chick with power tools. That's what they tell me, anyway.)
3) You get a heck of a lot more work done when you leave the Boy with his aunt and Memaw for the weekend.
4) Brother-in-laws can be enormously useful, especially when they want to flee a house filled with Memaw and a three-year-old nephew.
5) You're much more productive when you've had a good night's sleep in a Super 8 as opposed to a hellish experience in a leaky tent. (And breakfast is included!)

Again, I'll leave the specifics up to the Vermonster, particularly the explanation of how to get sheathing up, up, up top!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

It's all relative

Look, Ma, we got us some walls! LSW here with the latest report. This past weekend, the Vermonster's sister and husband came with us to Vermont to lend some much-needed brute strength to the process. Because the Vermonster comes from a family of incredibly stubborn determined individuals, they worked their butts off and got some major work done. By the end of the weekend, the cabin was all boxed in (I'm sure there's a technical term to be used here) and it's actually starting to look like something.
While they were busy hammering and cutting, I was off with the kids buying candy at the Vermont Country Store and looking at all the groovy shops in Brattleboro. I definitely had the good end of the deal this time.
The weekend, however, wasn't all hammers and rainbows. As you might recall from a previous post, this was going to be our first weekend camping instead of staying in a hotel. The campground was nice enough and the bathrooms were relatively clean (minus the salamander under the toilet seat)-- very important after a day of working. We set up our tent and the first night we made S'mores and relaxed by the fire. It was all kumbaya goodness. It was the second night that things took a terrible turn. A major thunderstorm came through at about 10 p.m. and it rained all night long. The boy woke up the next day and the first thing he said was, "I don't want to go camping; I want to go home." So we packed up our stuff in the rain (imagine what fun that was), and got ready to head home. But not before I backed into a tree, breaking my tail light and crushing my driver's side back panel. Good fun. Needless to say, we've cancelled our campsite for next weekend. We're going to go the luxurious route and stay at the local motor inn.
(Above, I'm a klassy camper, drinking wine straight out of the cardboard box.)