I got a lot done today, almost all of it after dark. My plan for the day was to finish the first coat of paint, install a window, and build the loft/cot thing. After installing a support column for the loft, I moved on to the window, which, being underneath the loft, I needed to do first. But after drilling holes for the corners, I realized I had the wrong blades for the jigsaw. I even asked someone at Lowes for help, but I still got the wrong ones. Figures. I decided to make a run to the local hardware store, but before what would inevitably become a 2 hour trip (it takes about an hour just to get there and back), I decided to finish painting. But when I went to retrieve my roller and brush, I found them solidly frozen into the tray of water I left them to soak in last night. With my painting supplies frozen (the paint was also frozen), my jigsaw inoperable, I did the only thing I could: I caulked. Every seam in the hut needs to be caulked, and there are lots of seams…

After an hour or so of caulking, I made myself a sandwich, using up all the alfalfa sprouts, which had also frozen over night, and headed down to the car. At the hardware store I got a gallon of “ruby slippers” red (the color card looked like the kind of red barns are painted in, but I doubt the actual barn red color would be called “ruby slippers”) and a couple of thermometers. For once, I didn’t spend too much time online; I stayed only long enough to check my email and post yesterday’s journal entry.

It was 3:30pm by the time I got back to the camp, and the sun was starting to set. I had just enough sun to finish painting, then I gathered some firewood and got a fire going outside the hut. This gave me enough warmth and light, and energy to do work inside the hut.

It’s 12:22am as I write this. The fire is dying, but I’m going to try sleeping in the hut tonight. Since sun down, I’ve managed to install a window, and build the loft. I broke a screw driver bit, no doubt the freezing temperature contributed to the bit’s brittleness, and ran down both cordless drill batteries, so I had to resort to hammering nails at the end. I still have some big gaps I need to try and seal up, but the loft is done and hopefully good enough to sleep on. I guess we’ll see. I’m tired. The thermometer outside reads 20F. The one inside was hovering at right around 32F, but is now down to 30F. I’m not sure the hut will be warmer than the tent. But we’ll see.