Big Rocks

My brother Chris stopped by for two weeks to help with rocks.  The stone walls around his farm are works of art and I was excited to see his ideas for Hull.  Chris took charge of Anna and Paulo and the equipment for five or six days of landscaping work.  Chris was in heaven getting things done and making things happen. They cleared logs and brush, moved dirt, uncovered and moved large and small rocks, created rock storage yards and more.  It was amazing how much Chris did himself, and the three of them together made the entire area look so much better.  


Ben, Dave, Chris at the top of Heartbreak Hill

Chris, Paulo and the Big Rock. Campfire in the background.

One day I was wondering, where were all the builders?  I found them off the job playing on the equipment.  Chris had lured them away with more fun - with Ben on the excavator and Dave driving the green machine they picked up and moved a large stone that now highlights our driveway entry.  

On another day, with Paulo driving the excavator and Chris digging for hours by hand, they uncovered THE BIG ROCK.  The rock was too big to move so they cleared around the base to find it was sitting on bedrock.  The rock looks at home on the hillside and is a new landmark to walk around and visit.






Comments

  1. JonathanNovember 19, 2025 at 5:43 PM

    Chris has always been an inspiration.. from his early days making White Rabbit posters and playing all the cool music, to his family and farm, then Hull Island and beyond. Chris is the strength of our family 100%.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Captain's Log 2024 - Site Development

Image
  2024.    Another wonderful summer on Hull.  Great participation from family and friends, 7 first time visitors and significant progress towards year round, dry and comfortable living. April 18th - 21st. On our way home from Whistler,  Heidi and I took the Lions Bay Ferry to Vancouver Island and spent the night in Campbell River.  The next day we took a 9:00 am boat taxi from Eve River to Hull for a quick check up and make sure everything's ready for summer living. Last year the water tank was empty, this year it was full but the plastic stop valve had cracked.  I expect the cold winter froze the water left in the valve, it expanded then cracked.  No big deal as we had back-up drinking water to last a few days.  Next trip I'll bring a replacement valve and get it fixed. A small portion of the wood pile had fallen over, but the rest was well covered and dry. The cairn was still standing strong.. has it been three years now? The weather was ge...
Read more

The Builders

Image
On May 1st the Marine Link barge arrived with 25 loads of materials and 12 passengers to watch the show.  The road Paul built held up really well, and all but the giant glulam beams were hauled up the hill.  The barge had staff on board and on land to guide the huge four wheel drive forklift off the boat, up and down the ramps and up the hill.  The barge was there from very low tide to almost high tide - five hours!   Costs including the charge for handling on Campbell River terminal was about $12,000 CAD or about $8,500 USD.   With plenty of materials on site, and the second barge scheduled to arrive May 14th, serious construction got underway.  Led by Ben Frieitag, Tyler 1, Tyler 2 and I set to work on foundation posts, it took six or seven, 10 - 12 hour days of work over two separate trips and we're almost there on the longhouse.  Thanks to a huge effort by Paul, Anna and Vicki, the bedrock was exposed and dirt cleared away. The house will...
Read more

Captain's Log 2023 - What a Great Year!

Image
2023 -  Another spectacular year!   Lots of family and friends, new equipment, massive woodpile, big salmon, helicopter rides, significant 2 BRNR 40th anniversary cruise, and more!   April 21st - 24th 2023 Heidi and I took the BC ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.  On our way north we stopped at the Kubota dealer (North Island Tractor, Courtenay BC)  to see examples of the excavator and mini 4WD I ordered. We spent the night in Campbell River, got up early next day and met Tyler and his boat taxi at Eve River.  I love taking the taxi at this time of year when making short visits - it's much easier and more relaxing than having to deal with getting 2BRNR in and out and driving back and forth to Port McNeill.  I ordered same size and model with a 6 way blade. When we arrived on Hull the morning of April 22nd, we encountered three significant failures. The rainwater tank was empty, the solar system batteries were dead, and ...
Read more