West Wing has walls

It's now September. It's getting really cold really fast. Doug's committed gang of builders showed up to save the day by framing in the West Wing and completing a whack of other major projects.

JJ and Russell, friends from Doug's previous professional incarnation, worked on the framing project while Iain and Tom papered the existing windows and installed a new window at the back. They also covered the house in tar paper, which went a long way to warming it up - or at least to stop the wind from whistling through over our faces at night. The finishing touch was setting up our wood stove and lighting our first fire. It's a tiny stove, but it heated up the whole house in minutes. Very reassuring given the months of cold weather ahead of us.

My part in all of this? I made sure there was an endless supply of beer, chips, cookies, steak, and ice cream - the staples of a builder's diet I'm told.

At the end of a long day of building we went for a walk around Helliwell Park. It was a much needed leg stretching and head clearing. Tom and Iain left Sunday afternoon but JJ and Russell stayed for half a day on Monday and finished the last bits of tar papering. That was when we discovered we had a house guest. JJ pulled a piece of roofing felt away from the wall to discover a tiny bat all nestled in for a day's rest. Not willing to halt construction for bat nap time, Russell put on a glove and moved the little guy. He was not amused, but he didn't fly off either. He was put into one of our bird houses to finish his sleep and hopefully to escape once night fell.

It was an eventful and productive weekend all around and once again we find ourselves indebted to these guys. Doug figures it would have taken him two months to do all this work on his own. I can pass a hammer and hold up the plywood but there is nothing like getting REAL help on this project.

Click here for a bunch of pictures of the construction, the bat, the hike, the food, and the good times.