We have had a few dustings of snow the past two weeks, with an accumulation of about 10cm or 4″. The snow is dry powder but begins to melt whenever the sun comes out. I have been using the ATV with the snow blade and find it works great. Takes about 20 minutes to clear the entire driveway, although I need to go slow as there are still many bumps and rock.  By next winter, I should be able to blast up and down the driveway.  Will need goggles.  Last winter, we had a cold spell with snow at the end of November and then a two week warming that melted all the snow.  At this time last year, there was no snow and we were putting the roof trusses on the house but had only the footings/foundation completed for the garage/shop.  The snow arrived after we got the trusses up but before we got the tall wall up and the roof over the living/dining/kitchen so we had to shovel out the house a few times.  Roof is working well this year 🙂

This is the rock wall at the switchback looking nice with a dusting of snow.

These are the baseboards for the upstairs, made out of the same flooring material used for the floor.  Still need two coats of tung oil, and two coats of wipe-on polyurethane, and then I will cut the pieces to length and miter the ends and install them.  The wood stove in the background is great.  In the morning, the garage/shop typically is about 8 degrees and will drop another degree by the following morning if not heated or used.  The stove heats it up to about 12 degrees (a good working temperature) in an hour, and to 18 in two hours (better for glue and oil and polyurethane). 

This is the new floor for my den/library, about 500 sq ft.  This is the wood I got from a local sawmill that went out of business.  I was planning on doing this myself but given what else needs to be done, I decided to have one guy install it and another company to sand, seal and finish it.  They were telling me about 2 other hardwood flooring jobs they have going for two different hockey players – 6,500 sq ft for one and 7,000 sq ft for the other.  There are apparently more than 100 NHLers who have properties in the valley, mostly used only in the summer (a bit longer for the Toronto players as they are usually here before the playoffs start). 

The wood needs to dry for about 48 hours before I can place things on it.  My plan is to install the baseboards, and then to start bringing up my desk (piece of plywood on boxes) and the many boxes of books that will eventually be kept up here.  This will be followed by some planning for bookcases and railings (actual construction will be after the kitchen and bathroom cupboards are completed Mizuho tells me), and then the art and photos can go up, along with the feet.