The End in Sight

These two pictures show the tasks completed in the last two weekends, a door, ceiling, siding, and heat. I thought we were almost done two days ago, but I learned quickly that each piece of the project entails a detail that is easily overlooked and it is only afterward that either the mistake or a more efficient way is revealed. A good example is the tongue and grove ceiling. We thought working with the 16 foot lengths would be easier, but soon discovered with a small inside working space, warped boards, high ceiling, shaky scaffolding set-up, and two people, the job became labor some quite quickly. Near the loft part of the ceiling, boards were eventually cut into a 8 foot, 4 foot pattern, which helped tremendously. As we labored through the weekend, the country song "life's a dance, you learn as you go" kept repeating itself in my mind. While there are plenty of details to finish up, it is no longer a major construction zone. Our plan next weekend is to overnight at the property, and bring snowmachines instead of a compressor.

For more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jillcaho/Shabin

Back to the Shabin

This past weekend we made our way out to the property for the 1st time since Christmas break. Unfortunately, the good fairy didn't come along and complete it for us, but at least we had a cabin to finish under 1 1/2 feet of snow. We must be doing something right when it comes to construction. I told Bryant to give me the grunt work, because I didn't want to think. I spent my first hour sweating from clearing snow off of the roof and generator shack. Later on, I became Bryant's helpful assistant and go-for. Here's an excerpt from an email Bryant sent a friend regarding our cabin progress.

"I got eight sheets put on the walls of the cabin today. Doesn't sound like much and it's not. But it's starting to look pretty nice. There's probably two more days of wall sheathing, one day for floor and door, one day putting up ceiling, one day to install the window and get the stovepipe through the roof, two days of stove installation, one day for wiring, four days for building counters and beds, two days to finish log railings and posts, one day to build the ladder and ten days to do the unexpected. Almost done."

Knowing we have about 8 days a month to work on the cabin, we actually might finish this project about the same time the mosquitoes start biting in May.

Because I Can

I found the black and white button on my camera, so I decided to change the color of my mountains. There are a few more buttons on this camera than my last and I am quite convinced I'm not using many of them correctly. I've even taken to reading the manual, which goes against my typical learning style of trial and error. The manual likes to repeat the words aperture, shutter speed, exposure, and focus. The only one I completely understand is focus, because the pictures look blurry if I don't get it right. The other three sometimes make sense when I read them and people explain them to me, but when I look at the camera and the conditions I'm taking pictures in I get a little lost as to what I should do. The arrows and numbers in each direction get me confused.

Last weekend, Bryant and I walked down to the river bottom and all my pictures were overexposed. I obviously didn't adjust the camera correctly for the bright snow and afternoon sunshine. Had I read the manual prior to our walk, I'd have known that when the numbers on the camera flash red, something's wrong. Unfortunately, I didn't know this information then. So, this afternoon I set the tripod on the back deck and figured I'd experiment a little between loads of laundry and house chores. After clicking a few times under different settings, I made my way back to the computer. I downloaded the pictures and erased the images and only then realized the camera setting information also erased. Oh well . . . I guess I'm not totally clueless because I was able to figure which ones were taken on the black and white button!

Wow!

On Saturday morning, Gus and I were heading to Palmer for his basketball game. As I crossed the Matanuska River on the Old Glen Highway, I spotted this beautiful sunrise. Gus worried that we were going to be late, but I knew we did see this everyday and couldn't resist taking a few minutes to snap a picture or two.

For the record, we arrived early. His team won their first game and Gus scored 2 points.

Scenery Doesn't Move

At the beginning of the school year, our principal was asking for volunteers to head up different committees. Knowing these kind of commitments can raise the level of insanity in one's life, I did my best to lay low and then the I heard him say, "Yearbook?" Well, my interest was aroused, guilt kicked in and I found my hand going up. For the first half of the year, I managed to ignore this obligation. It is easy to do that when you're a teacher because almost every minute of the day is filled with little children asking you important questions and telling important stories that need your attention now, so the yearbook can easily fade into the background.

January rolled around and I realized the yearbook wasn't making itself. Yearbooks generally look better with pictures in it, so I decided to take my camera to school and take pictures. Lots of them. To the point that one of the four pregnant teachers in my school started to call me the paparazzi. I dutifully reminded her that I too have a due date of March 9th. However, my picture visions I had of kids intent on learning, sharing, and enjoying school were crushed when I realized that kids move, they move a lot, and they move quickly. And if I made the fatal error of asking them to look this way, I received the cheesy grin, high chin, and bunny ears. I think after this experience I'll stick with scenery. Scenery doesn't move or talk back!