It's been a while......

Our days have been filled with thoughtful and the somewhat tedious steps needed before erecting the frame.  At least a day and a half went into the building of rafters, ( which I don't have a picture of at the moment) and laying out mentally how it all was going to go together.  Once again, how can something so small require so much thought and preparation?  Top this off with reminders from Carlisle of Alaska's ongoing seismic events  and the need for the cabin to withstand these as well as heavy snow loads and extreme cold.  It was exciting to watch Bucky and Carlisle heft the first beam into place which happened a few days ago.  Since then several more posts and beams have been placed making the frame take shape.  To be honest, despite seeing it all laid out on graph paper, I hadn't had a clear picture of what the cabin would actually look like.  I'm now pleased to say that I can visualize it and I like what I see!

the first beam

Working alone can be challenging.

Bucky has yet to build sawhorses, I'm not really sure why, but he spends a lot of time working from the ground which I'm sure hasn't been great on his back.  He now seems to follow a regular regiment of Advil which usually keeps him moving around quite well.  While he builds, I've tried to rake the surrounding land roughed up when the driveway went in.  With so much rain, it often is more mud than soil.  I have transplanted some lupines and spread Arctic grass seed and an Arctic wildflower mix.  I don't have a lot of hope for either, but it felt good to try.  We spent this past Saturday in Wasilla, a 70 mile drive from Talkeetna, and the hub for shopping.  At Lowes, we purchased everything necessary for Bucky to build the pedestal required by the power company before they will hook-up our electricity.  They are very specific about how this pedestal needs to be built and the components that MUST be used.  It seems quite different than home.  We also bought the 265 feet of electrical wire that we will lay ourselves underground from the pedestal to the cabin.  Luckily, we have the help of Pete, an electrician, who lives in the house I showed you with sled dogs.  He has been by twice and is anxious to help Bucky get electricity before we leave in August.  While at Lowes, we compared their price on vinyl windows versus our local hardware store.  It made sense for us to buy our windows while in Wasilla and having Carlisle's truck.  We are anxious to support the local businesses, but in this case the savings was too much to pass up.  So, now we have our windows under another tarp!  We were again reminded of the friendliness of Alaskans after our neighbors, Dennis and Sharon, invited us to come by last night for home brew and dinner.  They brew their own beer which was excellent.  I had a raspberry wheat made with local berries grown by Johnny Baker, who I'll write about later, while Bucky tried the stout, and stout it was, 9% alcohol.  Brewing beer seems very popular here.  Vermont maple syrup made for a good exchange.  Dennis is originally from Schroon Lake, NY.  He and Sharon seem to enjoy life and have lived in a variety of settings, Taos, New Mexico, Prince of Wales, AK, Cheyenne, WY, and Talkeetna.  Their house is now for sale and I asked where to next?  They replied they didn't really know, but would travel around until they decided where to stay for awhile.  Sharon has managed the Sunshine Clinic in Talkeetna for 5 years and is ready to leave, but the two folks who were offered the job, dropped out when they actually came to Alaska.  It's not for everyone!

So, here it is!