Autumn Walk at Pine Creek

Now that winter seems to be kicking all of us in the ass in the Yukon, I feel it's necessary to share the gorgeous fall pictures we took in Atlin last week. We went for a walk on the "Crocus Trail," near Pine Creek. Our kids love this walk, it has amazing views, is relatively short, and as a bonus, part of the path is called the "Pompom Trail." That's because of the pompoms that people have attached here and there to trees along its length. In the summer, a friend of ours was kind enough to spend time making more pompoms with our kids, and then they hiked the trail, adding their new creations.

Sadly, although we had a fantastic hike last week, we were disappointed to see that most of the pompoms had been removed from our favourite trail! I guess we'll have another project next time we hike there. I should remember to get some yarn...

Atlin Lake

Crocus Trail

Rosehips

Looking up Pine Creek Valley

Bedroom Window

We finally replaced our parlour window! Our contractor was able to install the new, triple-pane, wood frame casement window in the bedroom of the LBH. I had to choose paint colours for the sash and trim, and paint it prior to installation. I settled on Benjamin Moore Origins paint, in Aspen Bark (how appropriate!) for the trim and Beyond Midnight for the sash. My husband laughed at that, and commented on how perfect a colour that is for a former brothel.

The air was blue as I single-handedly wrestled the massive crate into submission. I keep meaning to call the manufacturer to complain about how it was crated. Should you have to use a pry bar and hammer to remove an $1800 window from its crate? Really?? It was all stapled with those big, industrial staples, not screwed together even on one end so you could safely open the wooden crate to remove the window. I was glad that our kids couldn't hear the stream of profanity emanating from the bedroom. Once I settled into priming and painting the window, it was a little more meditative, and I was able to calm down.

We are pleased with how it looks, although we've been hesitant to replace any of the 116-year old home's original leaded glass windows. But the fact that both panes were broken we took as a sign that we were "allowed" to replace this one. Not to mention that a nice, energy-efficient window will make that bedroom super cozy in the wintertime. :)

Bedroom Window Before Replacement

Bedroom, with New Window in Stupid Shipping Crate

Window After Coat of Primer (Tinted Primer for Black Sash)

Here it is!

Parlour Ceiling Raised!

The ceiling in the parlour has been raised, insulated and strapped. We were super happy to see this development, as it meant that we could carry on with insulating the walls before winter sets in. Our contractor and his team did a great job with it (we decided that the ceiling work was way beyond our capabilities)... I have many more photos to post, and will do so in the coming week!

Higher Ceiling, all Snug!

Still Missing a Parlour Window Though...

The Woodshed, with Construction Stuff!

Playing Soccer Amongst the Aspen Leaves

More Insulation

Now that the mouse nests have been removed, and wall cavities bleached and cleaned up, we are installing styrofoam insulation panels. They're in big sheets, 2" thick. My husband has a system for measuring & cutting the pieces. We explained to our kids that it's like Tetrus, and they didn't know what we were talking about.

It is satisfying though, when the parts fit together, especially in these irregularly shaped spaces in our ancient walls. We put two pieces in each space, so it's 4" of insulation. This is followed by spray foam in the wee gaps and corners that remain. We finished the gable end wall, on the front of the house. We've lots more to do!

Paint Schemes

Check out this blue house I saw this afternoon in Dawson City, Yukon! I've been admiring Victorian painted ladies lately (you know the ones I'm talking about). Our LBH needs jazzing up. I think painting will happen next year, but I am researching colour schemes... What do you think of two blues, an off-white and brick red? Plus, we shall keep our existing black window sash colour. Let me know! Our wee house should be a painted lady, to honour her shady ladies.

The Raging Queen

After some tinkering, a few F-bombs, a friend taking apart our kicker motor & putting it back together, minor bloodshed, and some cajoling, the Raging Queen II took to Atlin Lake once again. Oh, did I mention that our retro motorboat (it came with the house) is named after the boat my family owned when I was a kid? She was named the Raging Queen, the original and one-and-only (I think).

Boats are like racehorses, right? You can call them absolutely anything.

Atlin Lake, August 2014

The Ceiling Comes Down in the Parlour

My hubby went to town with the crowbar in our front parlour. Now the rafters are exposed, along with the attic... It wasn't as bad as we expected, although he was covered in dirt from head to toe afterwards. There are a myriad of ancient wasp nests up there, but at least this time there weren't any bones in the attic! Our contractor was lucky enough to experience that in March.

After removing the rough hewn lumber ceiling boards, my husband cleaned up the room and hauled most of it to the dump. We will have our contractor raise the ceiling in the parlour, just like he did with the home's original bedroom ceiling. It will be insulated and vapour-barriered, and we'll end up with a foot or so of extra headroom. He is going to re-install the parlour window for us, too. That will all happen before mid-September, so we can spend some time insulating the room with styrofoam insulating panels... 

One of our main obstacles now is finding an electrician to install new wiring in this part of the house. We had an electrician come in, and he promised us a quote within a week. That was about 3 months ago now... It's a trick in the small town of Atlin to find people to do work like this. We really can't afford to bring an electrician in from Whitehorse to do it. I'm not sure at this point how we will overcome this challenge.

Front Door of Little Blue House, from Parlour

Some Wasp Nests

Parlour Attic Exposed!