Paradise in the Making

August 1-5, 2011

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July 13, 2100

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A view from the crowsnest looking down onto the dining area.

June 28, 2011

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June 14, 2011

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Staircase railing under construction.

October 22 - 24, 2010

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Freeze up...miserable snowy weather outside but a toasty warm fire inside.

September 13-19, 2010

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Sept 1-5, 2010

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Aug 17-21, 2010

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The start of the exterior log siding. A tad fuzzy. Cec adamantly claims that there were only limited quantities of libations involved. Hummmm. Don't most digital cameras have an autofocus feature!!

July 29 - Aug 7, 2010

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The surface water temperature was unusually high (25C). Great for water sports.

Ice cream, ice cream...

The loft with the chimeny removed and the ceiling completed.

Painting the bedroom.

Gillingham Lake

Bush Pies in the making.

Drywall in the bedroom.

Fireweed at the Junction of Hwy 106 and Jan Lake access.

Ahhhh. Putting up with this travelling nonsense as best as I can.

July 8-14, 2010

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Another of the neighbours has decided that the existing cottage upgrade is too much work. Cabin has been sold and moved. Sure does look like we started a major remo boom on our street in Jan Lake.

Delores insisted that this picture not be published. So I have complied with her request and not included it.

The fireplace partition (which was used to hang tools on) has been removed, the logs sanded and two coats of varnish applied.

This was taken on a bright sunny day.

June 30 - July 6, 2010

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The loft ceiling is half completed.

The stairs to the loft.

The last of the 12' sheets of wallboard bring put up.

The kitchen/den ceiling put up and with the first coat of drywall applied. The log support for the loft area is then struggled/pounded into place.

June 6 - 9, 2010

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The official mascot of this trip, Mika, supervising the job site.

The log supports in place between the old section and new section.

The front of the cabin with the green face plates put up.

The day we left was the nice clear day. Most of the time it rained.

May 31 - June 2, 2010

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The first task of 2010 was to remove the walls of the old section of of the original cabin. Opening up the old and new sections required a destructive frame of mind and good crowbar.

The hallway to the two new bedrooms was also opened..

All hands helped including Mika.

The new look with the wall removed.

October 21-25, 2009

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The loft area before the windows and drywall were installed and the support frame dismantled. Unfortunately, in our haste to "hit the road", we did not take a photo of the progress on the loft but "it looks good".

A warm fire keep the construction gang from being too grouchy and and suffering from frost bite.

August 27 - Sept 4, 2009 - Interior Walls

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A comfortable bed. Note the bed frame fashioned with bags of insulation.

This is not what it looks like (city workers ... one working and the rest looking). The Drywall installers were very busy beavers. It the electrician who was a bit on the lazy side.

Gooliaff's Week 2009 - by Angela

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He caught a shrew in the addition and thought that he done a day's work!!

Pictures taken on a canoe excursion. Beautiful scenery----makes all the work worthwhile. We didn't get alot done but had fun!

Great ride on Marv and Gloria's boat---Thank you

Frog in habitat---endangered Northern Leopard frog spotted at the marina.

August 7-15, 2009 Painting the Ceiling

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Neighbour Wayne and Linda's cabin being moved to F.A.T.S. camp to make room for a new structure.

Installing the electical ground plate.

Painting crew, Justin, Trevor and Jay. Missing is Gloria who supervised all the weeklong painting of the ceiling in the new addition as well as the deck.

July 24-28, 2009 Starting the finishing inside.

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Sandy beach near The Hook. Bush pies were on the menu.

New overhead windows were installed

Bedroom cieling installed.

July 15-24, 2009 - Install windows, roof and electrical

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A wicked storm including hail the size of large marbles (couple inches in 45 minutes).

Work load:
1. Electrical wiring
2. Windows, patio door and outside door installed.
3. Reconfigured new bath room to comply with service and subpanel location.
4. Completed roofing including roof cap.
5. A successfull R&R fishing to Split Rock.
6. Loaded unused lumber on flatbed to be returned to Cec's barn for storage.
7. Trusty horse trailer turned transport trailer returned home.

The downpour provided a leak test for the new roof. yipee .. no leaks

A successful fishing trip to Split Rock. Cec caught a 4 pound pickeral and yes Pop is frozen. It took a warm fire to get the ciculation back.

June 25 - July 9, 2009 Deck Phase of Project

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The completed deck with the railing to be added sometime in the future. We literally finished installing the metal roofing in a light rain but for a change did not have to tarp the roof. The rain continued into the evening into the next day. The deck was christened with a liquid libation under a dry roof.

One poplar tree had to be cut down to accomodate the overhang of the deck roof. A rope attached to the skidsteer felled the tree in the proper direction.

June 2-9, 2009

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Cabin has survived the winter well. No roof leaks but the indoor plumbing took a hit. serveral frost breaks were repaired with PEX plasitc piping. All leaks were fixed and water supply is working.
Weather was cold and rainy.

Also installed metal roofing until the bolt and washer supply was exhausted. Other tha the deck roof (not built yet), only a small portion of the exiting building roof needs to be completed.

For the first several days the rain kept work to inside except between showers the deck floor was installed. Completed deck floor with treated planks and left over treated plywood.

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October 27-29/08

Roofing metal delivered and installed on south roof facing.
Gus preheated the cabin with smoke (unaware of tarp covering chimney). Blames malfuntioning stove.
Weather great for end of October.
No bugs and no wind.

First Week of October, 2008

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The first week of October offered 3 days of nice sunny weather allowing the roof above the vol ted ceiling to have the rafters put up (mucho heavy), rough wiring for inside lights and then sheeted (in the dark with lights up on a roof proved rather interesting). The weather forecast predicted rain, so tarps were put down (also at night) That evening the rains came and there was water leaking into the everywhere. However, as the saying goes, it was a warm rain and the final portion of the roof was complete sheeted and tarped. It snowed two days later. Hopefully the tarps held the H2O out.

September 14 Work Bee

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A time for some R&R

Chris/Gus/Jeff celebrate a successful fishing trip. Gus provides us with a menagerie of information and entertainment throughout the summer. He is the expert on prime fishing spots, local news will not escape his attention, and he always has a tool or missing part we need. Gus has also been featured in Readers Digest. For the story go to http://www.women24.com/Readers_Digest/Display/ReadersDigest_Article/0,,938-940_11727,00.html

August 2008 - the addition

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The living room/kitchen expansion located in the forefront of the existing shack.

The two new bedrooms around the side.

This kind of work is messy, messy business. The neighbors are all thinking... there goes the neighborhood, Cec and Marv have taken over!

Gratuitous canoe shot! Gratuitous canoe shot!

And the walls of the bedroom have been raised! Where is the door for the far bedroom?

View from bedroom window? It will improve vastly in the future. We hope.

See the progress! Wow. That's a lot of lumber boys, you sure you need all that?

Cec, Value Village called. They want their floor rag back!

And also? I know it was hot but that's a whole lot of ventilation going on back there.

Um. Really. I can't say anything other than I am positive this was set up by none other than Jeff.

Work begins

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After the trees were cleared, the roots were dislodged with a backhoe hired from FATS camp.

Over the years the cabin had sunk into the muskeg. Jacks were used to lift the structure before a permanent foundation could to built.

Sister and Ceasar (Gus's dogs) survey the mess created by the backhoe.

The day it rained 41/2 inches resulting in a soggy mess. Rubber boots were a necessity.

When the exsting well could not revivied, a new sand point well was installed. Cec is digging the trench from the well to the side of the cabin for the piping..

What we started With

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These pictures represent the original structures before any modifications were attempted. There was a existing well that proved inoperative after several futile attempts, a bathroom/kitchen sink that discharged waste nowhere near the septic tank, an outhouse filled with wood (where else should wood be kept dry), and a cabin that was slowly sinking into the muskeg. Other than that it was not too bad. The roof did not leak, there was power/phone, the stove sort of worked, and the fridge kept the refreshments cool. Thx to Gus for the use of his shower.