So the blower started up and I managed to clean the driveway not too bad at all. Said neighbour was outside with me for a while and gave some useful pointers, not the least of which is that the driveway is on a huge incline and the best method of getting back to the top is to turn the snowblower around at the end, put it in transport and let it drive itself back up. Sounds easy but it's not very willing to drive itself. Second recommendation - wear ski goggles (check).
Notes to self:
- switch on gas line - red switch on right (can stay on all winter)
- black key in - turn on
- speed high
- choke on
- pump a few times
- pull starter cord - presto! (with any luck)
- there are different gears for different kinds of snow; + reverse; neutral; + transport
- It's very sweaty work - so dress accordingly, although hands get cold so mitts are essential.
As for other handyman jobs things have been relatively quiet. Or maybe it's the time of year for hibernation.
On to cabin thoughts...Google sketchup is giving me enough to show what I envision. The Bavarian folks took a while but eventually got back to me with a rough estimate for a 3 season cabin. I definitely need 4 and I'm not sure what they leave out in the 3 season so immediately wrote back and asked but haven't heard anything and that was quite some time ago.
I've also contacted a carpenter I found on Kijiji, He included photos so I'm pretty sure quality is good. I sent him my idea and subsequently we talked on the phone. His rough esitmate is higher than I'd thought it would be but he kept saying throughout the conversation that it could be lower so I suspect he just throws out higher numbers rather than lower. The problem was that my sketch, as I suspected, wasn''t enough for him to give a really good quote. My next step then is to get a materials list made up. After that's done I'll reconnect with Robert. He was very nice, very helpful, and quite willing to take the job on. He also lives in the area and knows about getting building permits etc.
In the meantime I've also emailed Summerwood Homes in Toronto asking for a rough estimate but haven't heard back from them yet either. To be fair it was only a few days ago and since then the snow has hit Ontario so things are sluggish. I'm hoping they get back to me.
As for other things, I had a nice week away skiing and meeting up with friends and family in Mont Tremblant. Discovered I'm a terrible skier. Not that I didn't know that already but I was certainly hoping to be doing better after 3 days of lessons. A year off with a broken wrist clearly hasn't helped. Working on it though and I look forward to getting back to the local ski hill and testing out the level of improvement because I'm sure there's some even though I'm still really bad. Won't be this weekend I think because the roads are just not good for traveling at all. Dragged the cross-country skis out though and maybe I'll get out on those tomorrow. I love cross-country. Used to do a lot before I moved here 9 years ago but the snow here usually doesn't last long enough to get out there. I'm hoping that the chances are higher when the cabin's built. I suspect that area is more likely to get snow that stays. In any event it won't be such a long drive to find it.
For now it's a reading blogging day :)
