Guest Room: The (almost) Final Chapter

I realized yesterday that I never posted pictures of the nearly completed guest room and that just won't do. A couple weeks ago we primed and painted and laid the floor. It made for a long couple of days and we were absolutely exhausted by the end of it, but it sure felt good when we finally got to sit down.

We didn't stay down long though. This was the weekend of the ice storm and we were very lucky to not lose power at Twin Ponds or in the city. Before we knew it, it was time to pack it in and make our way home. And that was when we learned another important lesson for country living.

We started down our driveway, slowly following the ruts in the ice and snow remaining from previous trips. We were 3/4 of the way to the road when we saw it: the weight of the ice had caused a tree to bend to an almost horizontal position which completely obstructed our path.

Spence skillfully backed up all the way to the cabin which is no small feat in the dark because of the driveway's twists and turns. The fact that it's flanked by many, many trees waiting for him to make the slightest mistake doesn't help either. Once back safely, he went to the shed and got our chainsaw which was unfortunately too cold to start. So into the cabin he went, turned on our construction heater, and waited. Five minutes later Spence was back on the porch, newly warmed chainsaw in hand. It started on the first pull. After a few revs that announced, "I'm ready for this!" he turned it off and put it in the trunk.

We headed back up the driveway and once we reached the slumping tree Spence hopped out. He started the chainsaw and a second later the first big branch was severed and the tree righted itself ever so slightly. By the time branch two hit the ground the tree was standing a little straighter once again. Now, to cut off the big branch that will surely let the tree right itself enough for us to pass. Spence raised his chainsaw and just as he was about to make contact the chainsaw sputtered out. Yup.

Luckily using some muscle he and I were able to push the tree out of the way enough to make it past, but it was a close one.

Moral of the story: always make sure you have enough gas. Some extra layers of clothes and a pair of work gloves won't hurt either.