MyWorld Tuesday ~ Sun at last

We have had a cool, grey spring and summer to date.  You can count on one(maybe two) hands how many warm days we have had.

When the high tide and the sunshine arrive at the same time, swimming is the order of the day.

As we have shallow sandy beaches you wait for the tide to come in over the warmed sand which in turn warms the water, it also shorts the walk to the tide line.

Marley waits patiently while we swim.  With the warmer weather and water come jelly fish.  The small dollar size ones are not a problem but yesterday we encountered large egg looking jelly fish which have dangling, stinging tendalls.

As I was wading(I did go for a swim) into the water to take this photo I was stung on the ankle by one of these new comers to the beach.  A great swim despite the new visitor.  We are on day three of seven days of clear skies!!!

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MyWorld Tuesday.

Scenic Sunday ~ Could I be any luckier.....?

Didn't know Crocs came that small!

 Grandson Hudson Daniel....loving his baths (his mom is the photographer)!
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SkyWatch Friday ~ Dramatic skies

When we get weather out of the southwest anything can happen....estuary of the Yakoun River at low tide.

I was walking out to the beach when I turned around and captured this....

when what I was going to capture was this!

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Wordless Wednesday ~ Walk in Peace Barry

As I was catching up on my blog reading last night I was saddened to read about the passing of a fellow blogger,  Barry Fraser at An Explorers View of Life.  I came to his blog through someone else's about a year ago and found it poignant and candid as he shared his life through the eye's of his dog Lindsay and  by the time I started reading his blog his fight with Esophageal Cancer.  He was a very special person, an amazing story teller and a wonderful example of a humble and loving human being.

May the bells ring loud and long for you Barry and for all of those who fight this menacing disease.

Wordless Wednesday

My World Tuesday ~ Make sure you want the answer

Having coffee just after sunrise from the deck of the cabin yesterday.

So we have a good friend who is a building contractor and is building a home a couple of kilometers down the road and beach from us.  As you know we are very proud of what we have accomplished on the Dune Cabin so far.  We invite Phred and his family over for supper and to show off what we have done.  As we walk out to the building site, which he likes there is silence, a long silence!  I don't have to look at his face, I know what he is thinking..."what the heck are they doing!"

Let me put this in context.  We all know what happens when people build homes on cliffs overlooking the ocean, or up the side of mountains or too close to the water.... Mother Nature is the great equalizer!

The prevailing weather for these islands is out of the southeast, the winds that come with this weather are warm, wet and feasome strong.  From October through March "southeasters" can be an almost daily experience with sustained winds anywhere from 80 to 110 kph.  You can lean into the winds and not fall over!

The cabin has been built on the edge of the dune along the tree line.  The site and cabin face directly into the southeast but is set back into the trees...just barely.  It is sitting on pads and posts on and in the sand and has a loft overhanging the four foot front deck.  The ability of the wind to get under the cabin and the "kiting effect" caused by the loft over the deck CAN (but may not) put the cabin at risk of no longer being where we built it!  So we are taking a break from the cabin building for bit while we anchor it more securely and are building the wood shed.

Despite not wanting to hear what Phred had to say I personally am very grateful for his input..I really like terra firma! 

The wood shed

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My World Tuesday

The Loft

We worked hard today even though the weather was not promising.  The view from the loft looks east across Hecate Strait towards mainland British Columbia.

Todays project was to get the floor in the loft installed so that meant putting in the the floor joists.

Can you tell how professional we are....Work Safe BC would have a field day!

"Now where did that nail go?"

Finally the loft floor was installed, 9 p.m. Wednesday evening!  There are three of us working on this cabin....Cacilia and myself and Peter who is a WOOFER from Switzerland who is pictured in the previous post.  It has been an interesting excerise at times as we are working without plans, by consenses and in two languages!!!!

Celebrating with friends who are building a real home down the road.

The cabin as we left it tonight!  We were exhausted but extremely satisfied with our accomplishment.

My World Tuesday ~ The Dune Cabin

 I have been going on about cabin building so I figure I had better show you what we are doing.  This is the site location....

on the edge of the dunes.

We asked Donald if he would cut down some "regen"(regenerating new growth) and level the site.  His little hoe just picked the trees out of the sand.  We harvested the new spruce tips to make beer, tea and cough syrup and burned the trees.

The levelled site.

We mixed and poured concrete pads and drove the three front posts into the ground.

These old hand milled timbers are from a garage that was taken down on the property.

This is the "critter proof" floor, tar paper was placed on the timbers and then a sub floor was pieced together with old 3/4" plywood....recycle, reuse, reduce!  Another frame will be laid for the installation of 1.5" tongue and groove pine flooring and insulation.

Celebrating the completion of phase one.  The cabin is 12' x 16' with a 4' deck.  As the weather comes directly at the front of the cabin from the southeast the door will be to the left(north side) with firewood storage.  The cabin will be clad inside and out with red cedar.

Our stash of locally cut and milled dimensional timber.

The documentation of each days progress with the walls was lost when my Olympus camera died.

It took five days to put up the walls under the watchful gaze and attack of  "no-see-ums" and "black flies"!

The best part......the view!

There are wall to wall windows in the front and around the corners overlooking the dunes and the ocean.

Several days ago we headed to the beach to look for some character wood for the porch supports.

The choice was a little overwhelming!!!!

Trying out the pieces we found.

I think they add character...

Looking towards the southwest from the dunes.

Looking northwest from a higher dune.  In the forground is a picnic shelter and campfire.

And the cabin as we left it tonight.  The roof line is temporary to see if the pitch is what we want and the rafters won't be that long.  There will be a sleeping loft over the deck, wood heat, composting toilet, cystern for water collection and outdoor rainforest shower.

P.S.  To those who stop by my blog for the first time or those wonderful regulars I apologize for not visiting your blogs as regularly as I would like.  Out on the islands we have to "make hay while the sun shines" so between cabin building, painting contracts and technical difficulties I haven't had much time or energy to connect but this to will pass!

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SkyWatch Friday ~ Changing Weather

Heading up the coast from Skidegate/Queen Charlotte, Skiass Island(prounounced "sky ass"!)

I finally got my computer back (no worse for wear and bless computer techs!) and a camera however my ten days without all my tech stuff showed me how much time I was spending on the computer.  I actually read two books and we got the walls up on the cabin. The time really gets away on me!!!  Anyway, the weather has been clear and hot the past couple of days but there is change in the sky.

 It was still warm when I got home so we headed out for a swim in the ocean at 10 p.m. with a beautiful sunset evolving.

The ocean is warm and very refreshing as we slip through unusually warm temperatures for these islands...but you won't hear me complaining!

Heading back after our swim at 10:28 p.m.....the days are getting shorter!

And change is on the horizon....looking northwest.

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