You can’t say much about the weather…….other than winter’s not over yet !
Considering Halifax has approx.. the same latitude as Merano/Italy……hmmm……time to consider to move again ……no, no just kidding……I think 😉
But….thank god we’re not in Newfoundland…Canada’s cold spot yesterday at – 46….without the windchill…..wow !!! …and latitude wise it’s even below Berlin/Germany …..sitting at +15 and flowers popping out ready for spring !!
Well considering yesterdays temperatures at -28 with the wind chill even our “Log Wizzard” (the chainsaw attachment for peeling) has a hard time to get off the bark …….and standing in that kind of weather for hours isn’t really motivating either 😉
So we decided to drive up to the valley to visit one of the professional log home builder up there to pick up some sheeps wool that we need for insulation and to maybe also pick his brain for some hints and ideas 😉
But why sheeps wool when there are so many other highly sophisticated materials on the market ?
We fit our logs by scribing them……..meaning the shape of the lower log is “penciled” to the upper log, then you take down the upper log, turn it and cut (with a chainsaw) and chisel out everything to make them “fit like a glove” when you put it on top again.
That works quite well but the corner’s are the weak spot and to achieve a good tightness and insulation we take sheep wool.
It has the advantage of being a natural material which also insulates being wet compared to synthetic materials which is important as the corners of the structure shrink and dry differently the the straits.
As we work with “green” (wet) wood while building we always have to consider the whole structure sinking while drying out for approx.. 5 years to a total of about 15 cm/6 inches.
That’s great on walls as they really press together nicely and prevent wind and rain pressing through but the corners are different and sheep wool really has proven best for that matter………yep….sometimes Mother Nature has the best solutions 😉
Because of the shrinking you really have to plan carefully and leave gaps above doors and windows to prevent them from being crushed while the structure settles…….but I’ll get back to that when we’re at that point……….and that can take a couple of month 😉
After having left with our wool we decided to drive down and have a look at the Bay of Fundy in stormy conditions…………and don’t forget……….we never tend to drive anywhere without picking up on a stupid idea and following through with it 😉
So we found a nice shore drive and enjoyed the sight of the waves and the incredible shore line when we just wanted to turn inland and Frank discovered a peace of drift wood (always searching for that for my wood projects) ……well it actually was a “drift wood tree”…….no bark on it anymore and the most awesome root system !!
Well as “wood people” you never leave the house without your chainsaw …..so we got out in the ice cold wind and weather, had a look at the root and decided that it would be coming home with us J
Of course there was still a lot of other debrids lying around and with all that wind and really freezing within minutes we didn’t see that tiny bit of twine that belonged to a big peace of rope that came flying when the twine got stuck in the chain and immediately blocked the drive of the chainsaw …..great L
Because of the wool we had emptied the back of the truck and didn’t have the tiniest bit of tools with us…….besides Franks pocket knife (over little MacGyver never leaves the house without it 😉 )
In the meantime I had collected a lot of other driftwood couldn’t feel my fingers anymore and wanted to call it a day…………well but the day Frank get’s defeated by a piece of twine ……not gonna happen 😉
So he’s standing there in the elements for 20 minutes, picking and popping out tiny pieces of twine cursing and swearing until finally getting the saw “to show her teeth” again and then it was only a matter of seconds until the roots were detached and the war won 😉
Well…..there she was …..the beautiful root that had been floating around in the water for who knows how long……..and therefore of course heavy as hell……..so the root obviously still had a little something up her sleeve for us ;-))
Those are the moments I finally turn out to be useful for something and was allowed to start helping dragging it from the shore to the truck…………but with the thought of getting into the warm truck after standing out there in that storm for over 30 minutes at -28……..you wouldn’t believe how that root just flew onto the back of the truck and we raced inside……….
where by the way the dog was sitting in the passenger seat the whole time watching us out there !
Right at the beginning I had actually opened the door and wanted to let her out…..only for her to brace herself to the seat with all she had………and I really think I saw her showing me the finger with one of her claws………..no doubt………at least one of us is at her senses J
I can tell you…….was it all so nice (and painful) when we finally got some feeling back in our fingers …..but the root’s worth it and I can’t wait to see what I can do with it !!!
And for all you “woodsies” around……if you ever know of any tools (beside Log Wizzard and Lancelot) that make working on the logs easier……….we’d love to hear from you………..of course also if you might have any questions or suggestions you’d like to give us !
Well……..that’s it for today………..we better go out and start shoveling………after all it’s still winter J
PS…….Log peeling count : 22 peeled…..24 more to go………..hopefully done by end of the month !
Restless Roots 