Home, sweet home!

Remember when the boys were working on drawing plans to replace an aging tent structure?

Through the months, they’ve been working on it, seeing their plans through to completion. First, they learned how to select and fell the right trees for their project.

Then, the laborious job of skinning the logs by hand.

After site preparation, the framing starts.

The frame is held together with pegs, notches, and twine, all done with hand tools.

They need a floor before they can go too high. Flooring joists are a bit trickier - measure twice, cut once!

Once the floor is in, they can start work on the roof. Beams are tied off at every crossing.

Then, cutting the tarp for the roof! Our Multi-Purpose Building has a large floor that is perfect for this (and basketball, car derbies, packing for canoe trips, math tutoring, family day gatherings, organizing groceries, painting bee boxes…).

Then, wait for a still day to install it. It takes lots of team work to get the tarp safely in place on the roof.

Tying on the tarp is a lot of work.

Phew! Time for a victory pose.

And don’t forget the structural testing.

But wait, there’s more. Next step is to build the walls, doors, and windows, and insulate it.

Not bad, eh! They still need to install beds, a woodstove, lockers, mosquito nets, pegs for clothes. But it will be really exciting to move in! They built it from scratch, designing the plan, felling the trees, skinning them, and painstakingly fitting it all together. We’re so proud of the campers!