#56 “I am the boss”

Howdy,

here again for your ears:

https://bit.ly/48SNABR (48 minutes)

It's slowly getting colder and colder. We now have ground frost and around 0 °C every day. 🥶Unfortunately my jacket was outside and due to the rain at night it was very cold in the morning, but I can't say it often enough, as soon as the sun comes out it gets very warm very quickly. Otherwise, on Monday I had the thought that if I had all the materials I needed, I could finish the shell in one day (I thought so until then 😂). There really isn't much left to do other than the windows, remaining ceiling paneling and the rest of the floor. Then everything is sanded down, a propane fireplace is put in and hopefully a lamp somewhere. I also hope that Jenny puts up a lot more plants. They are completely missing here.

I turned my attention to the last opening on the roof. I first conjured up a small construction in the sloping roof before I could saw the chipboard to size. Sawing the chipboard parts to size actually took a lot longer than expected. So the day passed with a still very big hole. I longed for the night because it was possible to see the northern lights! 😍It was getting late and dark. The first friends in Canada posted northern lights pictures and the Tagesschau also reported on northern lights over Germany (!). What can I say, my expectations were completely shattered again. I always, really ALWAYS, have shitty clouds when northern lights are possible in my area! It can't be that a huge front of clouds just passed over me. What a gift it would be if I could see the Northern Lights in Canada. How annoying that the road trip to the north doesn't work out. 😭💔😩

Tuesday started with a surprise. On the way to the main house I looked to the right and what did I see? Snow covered mountains. The winter season in the mountains has now begun. 🥶It always looked impressively beautiful when you walked from the kitchen into the living room and saw the mountains. First time snow. The later combination was also interesting. There were dark clouds above and underneath them the red smoke from the forest fire was drifting along and under this smoke it was snowing on the mountains.

Wednesday was now the day on which I had to take on all the tasks. David had his heart operation on Wednesday and Jenny didn't want to go at first. To be honest, I didn't like this decision, after all, it's her husband who is simply having heart surgery. But she had decided on the construction site and the lodge. Fortunately, she changed this decision after David's departure (he had already gone to Vancouver on Monday for various reasons) and informed me that she would fly to Vancouver on Wednesday.

So I was now alone and "the boss of the lodge and construction site" 😅😎 and the day started with the guests' breakfast. There was a couple from England and one from Switzerland. The couple from England always finish their meals very quickly and don't talk much, so they were already finished when the other couple came. These were the complete opposite and talked the whole time. So the morning was over really quickly. The couple then left and I went back to the construction site. Progress continued slowly, but the inside was finished. I'm really grateful that Jenny had cooked everything in advance and all I had to do was fry the vegetables and make the salad. That's why, as every chef does of course 😂, with a towel over my shoulder, my shirt only half tucked in and dancing to good music, I cleaned the kitchen and chopped the salad until suddenly two men appeared in the house. 😅 Those were the two new guests who probably didn't see the bell. I showed the two men their cabins and the property before they went back to the kitchen and then I was interrupted again because a new delivery of wood was of course also arriving. 😂 Luckily I started preparing dinner early enough so that everything worked out. Since I was rarely in the room while the guests ate and the English couple finished very quickly, they didn't have much to say to each other and so all three courses were over after 48 minutes. Bomb! 😂I know, of course I could have provided some entertainment, but I knew the English couple didn't talk much and the other two had a long day at work (good excuse, I know😎😅). So the first day ended successfully.

Thursday began with breakfast and the check-out of the two men. They are responsible for the new locations of e-charging stations and are looking for suitable places between Bella Coola and Williams Lake. The English couple also left early as they were also heading to Bella Coola. This meant I could calmly insulate the roof, cover it with plastic and attach the chipboard. But that wasn't so easy. Inside I still had the stage (I still don't know what this thing is called) and I can stand on it and take a step or two, oh and I was also able to hold on to the other side of the roof. So I felt much more comfortable there. The outside could only be done with a ladder and I hate ladders. It was just terrible at times. You're standing on a rickety ladder with a piece of chipboard that's overestimated and therefore cut too big, which you're trying to hold in position the whole time, groaning loudly, and your other hand is trying convulsively to screw in a screw using the cordless screwdriver with perfect pressure. The ladder wobbles every now and then, only slightly, but enough for a shocking moment. 😁😩 I couldn't hold on to anything anymore because the other side was already covered with the chipboard. Oh and another point was that nothing was allowed to fall down because I didn't want anything to get into the new window (it sucked expensive! 😅). In the end I survived it at some point and then turned my attention to the ceiling covering. But since it was getting later, I wanted to slowly tidy up the kitchen and prepare the salad. I knew that the guests would arrive later (a journey to Bella Coola takes about 3 ½ hours) and so I expected them at 7 p.m. at the earliest. After the kitchen was clean, I treated myself to the bathtub downstairs in David and Jenny's bathroom. Because of the dogs, I “lived” in the main house at night. Once again I took a bath that was way too hot and because the water balance was way too low, I had a real headache afterwards. I love taking hot baths, but I always neglect drinking. However, I also noticed that I hardly drank anything in general. I always had something to do that felt like healthy stress, which in the end wasn't so healthy because I had forgotten to drink. 😅 But with a headache, the waiting went on and on. It was getting later and dark and I was already thinking about packing the food in boxes and leaving it in front of the cabin so that they could warm themselves up, but then shortly after 9 p.m. the guests came back. The man then asked if it was still possible to eat dinner and yes, of course. I know Jenny always says she closes the kitchen by 8 p.m. at the latest, but hey...people have had a long day, there's almost nothing to eat on the way and they're on vacation, so the late dinner is theirs granted. The best thing about it is the gratitude anyway, because they hadn't expected that the food would still be possible and were therefore really very grateful. But I was also grateful when we left again and I fell onto the couch with my head buzzing. 😂

This Friday, after breakfast, I cleaned the cabins and went back to the ceiling paneling. David and Jenny came back for lunch and so my role as “boss” was over.😭😅 I have to say that it wasn’t a bad experience and I enjoyed it too. However, of course, this in no way reflects the real lodge business.

But another possibly funny anecdote about today's title: Before I was here, Fatih once introduced himself to a lady as the manager of the Eagle Bear Lodge in order to make an impression. We can still smile about that today. But he generally liked Jenny's "executive chair" at the front of the office when she wasn't there. 😅

That was actually it. Today four new guests came and David immediately overdid it with the effort and was back in bed with heartache after just three hours. Sometimes it wears you down. Hopefully everything will heal well now. Oh, and I sustained three small injuries after Jenny & David returned today. Now I know what the problem is. 😁 I once lost a piece of skin on the ball of my left thumb because I got trapped, a falling ladder grazed my thigh and, last but not least, I “hit” the hammer over my right eye on my own - although hitting would be an exaggeration. It got stuck on the stage and my head wanted to “climb” further down and yeah. Finally, I stepped on a stapler with my bare feet and hit my right index finger against a stone a few days ago, which also hurt for two days. 😂 BUT HEY, I'm still alive .😅 And I can watch these incredibly beautiful stars. ❤️😍The Milky Way is so clearly visible here and how it runs exactly towards the mountains. With every blink of my eyes I feel like I'm falling in love all over again. ❤️ And that's why I'm going to go out and record audio today while watching the stars.

Until then.

Samuel ✌🏽