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April 28-30, 2023: Back to Slaney's New Camp (133 Photos)
Just two weeks after our initial work weekend at Terry's new backwoods camp in Central Newfoundland, we were headed back out over the highway with plans to knock more projects off the list. If you haven't seen the first article check it out: Heavy Hauling, Rough Country, New Cabin Work Weekend.
Weather was overcast and cold but roads were clear which made for an great drive. Terry was already out there having left at dawn Friday, French and I left town around 1:30pm and Stroh is set to arrive Saturday morning.
That morning while we were still busy at work, Terry was flat out hauling in the first load of gear before heading to Gander to pick up building supplies.
The order today included enough v-groove spruce board to finish all the ceilings, 2x4's, plywood and wall insulation.
His track equipped 2018 Argo Avenger certainly earned its keep hauling in multiple heavy loads across the rough boggy licensed trail into camp.
When French and I arrived we loaded up the bikes, my Project Foreman and French's 2014 Yamaha Grizzly. Terry had just loaded up the last of his construction supplies so we threw a few things in the back of his machine for the ride into camp.
French wasn't having much luck with the trail and extremely wet conditions, even Project Foreman got hung up for a minute. Terry's Argo came to the rescue and hauled his steel trailer loaded with 10 sheets of 1/2" plywood, a dozen 2x4x8's and a 6 pack of insulation plus French's bike through the last of the worst spots with ease!
French picked up a couple more items for camp comfort, a large stainless pot to keep a good supply of hot water at the ready and an eco fan for the woodstove which really helped move heat throughout the camp.
Since it was late by the time we got everything sorted away, I got to work putting supper on the stove. Tonight's menu was Iris's famous one pot goulash made with ground moose, macaroni, onion, a tin of diced tomatoes and some Lipton onion soup mix.
A little hot sauce sparked this already delicious dish right up!
Friday night was a evening of relaxation as it had already been a very long day. However with that said, Mark did manage to get a wire ran across the attic to install one additional flood light on front of the cabin tomorrow.
After this weekend, much of this clutter will hopefully be installed, vents, insulation and more!
Having gone to bed relatively early Friday, we were up good and early Saturday morning. I was back on the stove and threw together a quick breakfast of homemade moose sausages, homemade apple wood smoked bacon, white fish puddings and fried eggs.
After breakfast we all started banging out projects. Terry continued on where he left off previously installing ceiling insulation.
Mark and I tackled installing proper headers over the bedroom doors.
I also took on trimming out the curved wall paneling with my Milwaukee oscillating saw to make the outlet covers fit in the living room.
Mark and I also installed an additional high mounted plug for a future TV installation.
Both new headers properly installed.
Stroh arrived around 10am so Terry ran out and picked him up in the Argo making very short work of that trip!
After lunch we got the burn barrel fired up to continue cleaning up dead wood and old lumber from around the property, keeping a close eye as we worked inside and outside.
Few pics from inside the old trapper style cabin also on the property.
Terry kept on with ceiling insulation, I tackled the wall insulation, Stroh was working on outside vents and floodlight while French installed the bathroom ceiling fan, ventilation ducts and electrical rough in.
Now with the woodstove finally cold, came the tangly task of installing ceiling vapour barrier. It actually went quite well with four people working and using wall paneling as a guide to keep the large 20' sheet square.
French and Stroh continued on with wall vapour barrier while Terry and I started installing the v-groove spruce ceiling boards. We squared up the first strip with the font wall and I pulled a few tricks from my experience doing tile work to make the cuts around the stovepipe while keeping the starter strip true.
With vapour barrier complete, French and Stroh moved on to plywood paneling in the kitchen. Terry came across an awesome technique online, one that's actually been around for decades and will suit this camp perfectly. Using a tiger torch the boys lightly burned the plywood to highlight grains on the panel. The sheets will be installed then clear coated for a real tidy finished product.
As it was getting dark I decided it was time to get supper on the stove. Tonight's menu was moose stew and a special dessert. I cut up and fried two moose roasts and a couple onions before adding water, cubed turnip and carrot and placing on the woodstove to simmer.
With the pot simmering I got potato cubed up which will go in after the other vegetables are cooked.
My special dessert is Jell-O no bake cheesecake, an easy to make camp dessert, especially with no oven. It will be served with canned blueberry pie topping.
Once everything was cooked I thickened up the gravy with a flour/cold water mix and a little beef oxo to enhance the flavour. This was my first time making stew completely by myself (usually Sandra makes it at home with some assistance from me) and it came out great!
We worked pretty late Saturday night getting quite a bit of the ceiling finished, more than enough to protect the vapour barrier from the heat of this monster Acorn Ranger woodstove!
Temporary accommodations as one bedroom is not finished and the other is currently in use as a tool room for the weekend.
Sunday morning we took advantage of a quiet morning and started a little later after than normal having gotten a great nights rest. Breakfast menu today was the exact same as yesterday.
After breakfast Slaney and French started assembling a new cell phone booster as there is absolutely no service at camp.
The booster although very temporarily mounted worked great and actually got us a couple bars of LTE cell service! Plenty to stay in touch and be able to check in with family at home.
Sunday French and I continued on with the ceiling boards, French also finished sheeting in the outside walls of the utility room making good use of off cuts from the Kitchen job.
Meanwhile Slaney and Stroh looked after outside operations, most importantly knocking down quite a few trees that were very close to the cabin. Some were at risk of falling onto the cabin, many were causing a lot of shade to the point of moss forming on the roof.
Lunch today was the leftover stew from last night which heated up perfectly on low heat.
By suppertime it was time to call it a weekend, pack up and start heading out to the trucks for the long drive home. Slaney is staying one more night but carried out a load of unopened leftover insulation, Stroh and some of our bulky gear.
French and I took a different path out of the country today, this one although much longer, completely avoids the flooded marsh. It was a great ride and we were surprised to still come across 3-4' snow drifts in the woods!
It was well dark by the time we got back to town, but the drive was great, we seen just one moose east of Gander, and a U-Haul van that smoked another east of Whitbourne.
One last pic from Terry before he packed up Monday morning. Kitchen walls are Varathaned and looking truly spectacular! Up next will be finishing the ceiling, installing cupboards and replacing the two front windows.
Cheers, MIKE
Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith |
