Thursday, January 10, 2013

Another Cold Weekend

Saturday started off as a brisk cold morning. I looked out to see Stuart with a frosty coating and a couple of birds hopping over him, probably enjoying the first warm rays of the sun. I was elated to see that one of the birds was a bluebird and managed to quickly snap a shot of him through the window. Then once I'd pulled on 5 layers of t-shirts and fleeces, it was off for some housebuilding.
 Today we were putting in the electrical outlets. The benefit of women building a home is that because this was a subject that required a lot of planning, we stood and discussed it in depth, working out where the one in the hallway would be best placed so the vacuum cleaner cord didn't have to be unplugged too often, and ensuring there would be plenty of outlets in areas where TV's and computers might be plugged in. We put an additional one in the hallway for a nightlight and I even got one approved to go in halfway up the stairs, on the turn, so a nightlight or vacuum cleaner could be plugged in there. I'm sure our house has more power outlets than the house next door that the men are building.
 These wood braces are being put in between the studs so kitchen cabinets can be hung on them.
 I put up the middle boards on the side of the house; there was a gap between the top wall and the bottom wall that needed filling. I also had to put up some nailing boards that had been missed, for attaching the dry wall to. I really did far too much hammering this week but it's like an addiction, if I have a hammer I have to use it, at a furious pace. My poor shoulder is feeling sore again...
Ruth is in charge of the supplies and is extremely vigilant on monitoring what is used and how and why. She also hates her photo being taken. I have no idea why she's pointing that pen because I was concentrating very hard on taking a photo without her realizing. I think I got away with it.
We finished the tasks set us for the day and will continue with the electrical work next week.
On Sunday I went for a hike from Meadow House. After chatting with Maggi, I'd discovered that she had more land than I'd previously assumed so, grabbing my camera, I went to explore.
I spotted this little tuft of down fluttering in the chilly breeze, probably from the underside of a passing deer.
There was still ice on the pond and snow on the ground in places.
There's quite a few rocks here so it was fun clambering over those.
I think this will be a wonderful little secret retreat when the weather warms up, a ready made chair with a backrest to keep the wind out.
I think some of Maggi's relatives have been here, hiking sticks left for future treks.
I spent a couple of hours crossing new terrain and then coming back through the meadows, still tall with brush since Maggi didn't get it cut last autumn because Philip Pheasant lives and hides out there. In fact at the start of my walk, I came across him, making both of us jump. As I came back through the fields I was able to follow deer paths through the grass and brambles and even found their sleeping areas under small trees. I was very happy that it wasn't tick season, I would've been covered with them if I'd done this walk in the summer.
When I got home the moggies were chilling out on the sofa so I took some portrait shots.
Rosie was very accommodating and posed happily for her mug shots, and looking very sweet.
Kota wasn't impressed at his nap being interrupted and gave a huge yawn and then a scowl. Love him!

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