While the project requires most of our attention, we do find time for other distractions.

Around July 15 there was some rain so we went picking chantarelles.

In the early morning of July 30 we enjoyed a magnificent moonset in the western sky.

Louise has been working hard cleaning the beach....

....but has also found time for relaxing and enjoying the sun.

The foundation slab was poured on July 16.

The space under the old cottage was excavated by hand.

A new foundation was built for the old cottage, around July 25th.

The foundation perimeter wall was parged and sealed with tar.

The floor joists were installed over the crawl space and slab.

The exterior walls were framed and sheathed at the beginning of August.

We began installing the roof trusses at 8 a.m. on August 3rd....

and were done by 11 a.m., thanks to the expert carpenters and engineered trusses.

Installation of the new septic tank.

The septic byproducts will be pumped to a weeping field.

The house is already starting to look a bit like what we had planned.

The First Step - Clearing the Land

The heavy equipment moved in this week to begin work on our renovation.

Doug Zacharias of Otter Lake works that shovel with the precision of a dental surgeon.

Before.

After.

The giant stump in the front yard is gone. Tearing it out with the roots left a hole 20' in diameter.

The bathroom too is gone, to make space for the addition.

It took about 15 truckloads to haul all the debris away.

The site of the new addition and septic system.

Who Could Ask For Anything More?

Just because we no longer have a bathroom doesn't mean we are deprived of the luxury of a shower. I simply moved the shower stall to a quiet corner under the pines, and rigged up a improvised water supply. The water is heated by solar power in a black plastic bag. We just fill it up, lay it out on the dock in the sun for a few hours, run it up on a pulley in the shower stall, and presto! - enough 100 degree F water for a nice long scrub.

Sad to See

Loggers have moved into the pine plantation just to the east of us.

They are clear-cutting about 100 acres of some of my prime mushroom picking terrain.

It's sad to see this living cathedral being cut down to make chip-board and diapers.

Open for Business!

The little shack out back is complete and open for business. The ribbon cutting and opening celebrations took place July 1st, Canada Day.

The interior is finished in a rich combination of pine and mahogony. Technical details available upon request.

Praca Nie Zając

Well, as they say, work is not a rabbit, and there were a few days of rain, so the time seemed right to seek some inspiration for the continuing work on the outhouse. After a few shots of my favourite aquavita I renewed my resolve to build tall and thin. I wonder why?

When the rain finally ended I was able to finish most of the interior, including the all important seating platform. It is a solid 2' by 4' laminate, 2 inches thick, with mahogany veneer. The rest is mainly pine.

The last remaining big task is the installation of the door, which we will recycle from the existing bathroom when we tear it down later this month. By an eerie twist of fate, the seating platform in the outhouse is actually the cutout from that same bathroom door where we installed the hung window.