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The Beginning
It was with great excitement that we watched the driveway push into our small piece of Alaska. We have spent considerable time in consultation with Carlisle making lists of materials needed and creating a final design for the cabin. I have heard that creating objects in miniature is often more difficult than not. We'll see if our small 12 X !4 foot cabin proves this to be true. Sam arrived Saturday, as scheduled, and went right to work. He will return today, Monday, so Sunday was spent working hard to separate the logs he had set aside, some for firewood and others to be hauled to Artie's log yard and put through the mill. We were interested at the soils encountered as Sam dug, including a layer of frost !
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| Frost layer |
Shallow roots made the trees easy to knock down. The Boreal forest consists primarily of Birch, Spruce and Poplar. Our trees are on the older, more fragile side so some needed taking down. Amazingly, not more than 18" from the surface soil, a layer of gravel is located. This is typical of this area and some of the reason the root systems are so shallow. Sam dug gravel and placed it on the drive, making it look like dump trucks had just placed it there. When the drive is complete, Sam will place the tree trunks and other debris into the holes. I worked with loppers cutting high bush cranberry and other tangly roots. We had our rain jackets on and then off as showers passed through. Cooler temperatures felt good following the hot sun of the past few days. Carlisle mentioned that I would regret these words and I'm sure I might.
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| Bug gear, so attractive! |
Bucky was happy to find that there were enough birch and spruce logs to take back to the mill for the cabin frame. We have been fortunate to find either downed trees near the log yard or have trees offered to us making it seem as though we will have plenty of wood.
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| Dueling chainsaws. |
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| Carlisle doesn't waste anything. She worked debarking slab wood for use on the outhouse. |
Carlisle is anxious to start building so as soon as the pad is set for the RV, we'll know where to locate the outhouse and she can start digging. We're excited about putting a sod roof on it.
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| Camouflage |
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| Lovely ladies :) |
