Open House Party!

Well, we had our Open House Party - worked our butts off for 2 whole days & made some magic happen. We now have a home vs a house that we live in amongst the tools. Here are a few pics from our day:















Proud & exhausted homeowners.

The mother-in-law, Claire, was a wonder with helping prepare the food platters, making 2 awesome punches & entertaining our guests. Mucho gracias!






Joe was also a wonder with working behind the scenes in keeping the platters full, cleaning up after our messy guests & helping with the chicken wings & oysters - ummmm, fresh oysters!!




Some of our guests included 'the old & the young' such as Bob McVie & baby Eli.





Dennis Morgan & Phil






Sweet Angel Eli - slept on the chair for about 1/2 hour!







Out on the deck in the glorious sun was Fay & Malcolm







Others included Michelle Lloyd, Malcolm, Owen Richards, Lars, Jim Levis & John Evans.





The deck was the happening place to be for most of the afternoon. Larry & Linda came to chat.




Heather Alexander brough over a most lovely hanging basket.



Rowan loved running around playing with the balloons & munching, munching, munching on the grapes or carrots & dip. He had a few tummy aches later on....
It was a great day to catch up with friends who we've not seen for a while - Sarah & Tash.






The food was simple but absolutely wonderful, especially the fresh oysters cooked in the oven....first of the season & I could have eaten more!



Of course, after all the food is done, out come the guitars for a bit of sing-song, rock-along & laugh with each other goodness. There were some great new songs & some tried & trust oldies. The accoustics were good in the living room, so we will be hosting music night more often, I'm sure!



ahhh, the end of the night. Tired but happy. Let's see what we can get done this next week so that we can tick off our list a few more important items....

How to Install a Closet Organizer

Today I am still working on moving us up from the suite to the upstairs....There are many, many, many trips up & down the stairs, but the end is in sight....til Phil comes home with Claire (his mom) & Joe; which should be in about 4 hours...!!

One thing I wanted to make sure was available for their visit, was a closet organizer in the suite bedroom. So, I took it upon myself to install it while Phil was away.

Seems simple enough. Looks easy enough. Shouldn't be all that hard or take all that long.






I started out with a blank wall. Just hoping that I didn't have to remove it ALL once I was finished because I decided not to cut down the wire shelves.....








Utter confusion for the first half hour while I read the instructions & looked at all the pieces. Really, now, come on! Gather your tools & let's get going!






Instructions in 3 languages - just in case you couldn't get it via English....The pictures were a bit helpful, but not in explaining what a #8 1" screw was....Still don't know!








But I was determined to do this without 'the man's' help. I found Phil's drill & all the bits & pieces that go with it & sort of guessed. Of course, making sure that all my lines were level & in the right spot was a HUGE part of it, but after the first hole drilled, it was kind of fun! Until I hit a stud...now what?!




I did make a phone call to Phil just to check on things before I started drilling or hunting down those mysterious #8 screws...& only proved to myself that I can't read a measuring tape. Ha, ha, ha.
But things went in easy enough & yes, I found out that they come out just as easy too. Had to reposition 3 of the 17 shelf anchors...which is not bad for just 'winging it'!



So, now the anchors are in & the shelves attached, just have to put in the side wall anchors & we are ready to go! Let's check the instructions before we go too much further....







Wow - my shelves look just like the picture in the instructions! I think I'm on the right track...Just have to fiddle around with the side anchors & the front supports & we should be done before tomorrow....







These are the finished shelves. I think they are positioned nicely. The instructions called for the top shelf to be at the top of the front leg supports, but that was way too high! No one would be able to reach up there & put anything on it! So I moved it all down a level just to be on the safe side.






Now we are ready for guests - and I even found some extra hangers! It's amazing how much 'stuff' we have packed in boxes that we've not been using for the last 6 months & not even noticed. Actually, that's probably a good thing. Now I can start the 'reduce, reuse & recycle' part of my plan for unpacking....which will take another year!

All we need are the sliding doors for the closet - definately a job I'm not doing on my own!

ps - this project only took me 3 hours....

Some More Finishing Touches....Again - Part 3

Well, another crazy week of working til 10 pm to get stuff done & another posting full of photos & (hopefully) interesting facts & stories.

Phil scampered up a seriously scary, dangerous & wobbly wooden ladder - to stand on the 2nd last step, hold onto the scaffolding & try to screw in mounts & lights....Glad he didn't fall off the ladder. This wavy light is in the upper living room. We will have to wait til the tools are out & the furniture is in before we can properly position the lights.



I finally was able to get into the office to paint the ceiling, walls & floor so that we can scratch that off the list. (funny thing was I had forgotten to put it on the list!) Colour on the wall is Barefoot Beach, same as in the loft & in the suite bedroom. Amazing how one colour will look so different in each room.




This is the floor in the office - half done. I sand it with palm sander attached to the shop vac, fill in all the nail or screw holes, seams, dents, dings, drainage holes (!!) & other scuffs incurred during the course of construction with wood filler, paint, paint then varathane. Key is to make sure to wear good knee pads....







Phil played plumber for a day in the upper bathroom. We now have duelling shower heads, but no shower curtain. Actually, we need to figure out how to keep the water in the shower with a shower curtain because I don't want to have to order/buy a shower door. Dislike those things, never stay clean & look pretty scudgey after a while.....thoughts? I'm thinking of inventing some sort of 6 to 8 inch water barrier along the bottom edge (should have taken a photo to show you that there is only a 2 inch lip)....Heavy duty shower curtain called for indeed.

Phil's toilet seat. I will say no more.

This is the sink that I refinished with enamel paint - horrifically stinky job, but the end result is quite stunning. Phil managed to find the proper faucets - mint condition antiques - via the internet. We'll put a table on either side (his & hers) & probably build a box underneath with a towel rail....Still a work in progress...

This is the upper kitchen window ledge with the live edge wood. The underside of the ledge is the bark left on. We put 3 coats of tung oil on & just need to add a bit of trim.


This is the upper living room window ledge. Looks pretty cool & I have lots of room to throw on a few potted plants.





So, this is where to find all the tools. The new rule in the house is to put your tools away once you are finished a project or at the end of each day. This will be a hard one to enforce, but for the last couple of weeks, Phil & I have been working very well together & we are getting into a good habit of cleaning up every day. If only it would work that way when a 'worker' shows up.....Pretty soon, I'll be packing this all up into boxes - Phil's tools will stay out & all the rest might find their way into a garage sale.

Very memorable day today. NO MORE SCAFFOLDING!!!

Phil has finished the 2nd row of windows - casing, trim, cleaning, tung oil & dismantled the scaffolding. It will make it's way off the deck in the next couple of days & back to the guy we borrowed them from for the last 10 months. Phil is working on the lower windows & the sliding glass doors. Pretty soon the floor will be done & then furniture can be moved in!!



Front windows with casing & trim. Looking pretty sharp!




















The fridge we've had stored in the shelter outside turned out to work, but it's really ugly, opens on the wrong side, has no upper freezer & would probably die half-way through the summer. Plus the seal was soooo nasty......We got a 'new' fridge instead. We'll put the junky one on the Lady Rose & the House of Service will take it for parts or junk it themselves. The dishwasher will go in the island once the counter tops are installed. Who knows what we'll do for a stove - we don't use one very often anyway, so we'll be fine for a while.

The unfinished fir landing. It looks good, but we need to do some serious sanding & varathaning. It only took 3 weeks for the landing to get this far (thanks....) so I've got this task pushed back on the 'to-do' list. I'll just put a drop cloth on it for now so that we can get up into the loft. Who knows when the steps will be installed at the bottom of the landing......



This is the sleeping quarters in the loft. We have to put drop cloths on the bed each day since there are power tools still being used inside. But sleeping up here is wonderful! The loft isn't as bright as I was expecting - which is good since we don't plan on having curtains on the front window wall. Thank goodness we put in 2 ceiling fans - the loft does get a bit stale & warm if the windows are closed & it's a warm day - but then, we are outside most of the time anyway!


So, that's it for this posting. On Saturday the counter tops arrived & are sitting in boxes on the deck. Monday, Mark Kelly the cabinet maker, is coming to install them. I'm quite excited - too bad I'll not be here to see it, but when I'm done work at the lodge, it will be good to see what's been accomplished. We also received some of our closet doors. Phil is busy installing them, so I'll save that for the next post.

Some More Finishing Touches....Again - Part 2

Well, another week & another posting with photos. It's been busy here for just me & Phil, but we've managed to get quite a bit done & are scratching out items daily from our 'to do' lists. I actually had to rewrite the list yesterday morning to keep us on track...more to do with the priority items than finding other things to do!

Phil has been teaching himself some carpentry skills. We need to case & trim all our windows & we have some lovely cedar wood to use. Our 'experimental' window is the laundry room window. So, for Phil's first attempt, I think it looks perfect. I have the wonderful job of applying the tung oil (3 coats) to all the wood that is installed. This job isn't too bad, as long as I have 3 hours to dedicate to running around, applying the oil, then rubbing it in or off, then waiting 45 minutes & re-applying, then rubbing it off.....etc. I get lots of arm exercise!

Now, only HOW many left to do???

Saturday, May 31st, we had the use of a whole empty dumpster on the dock to get rid of the rest of our construction garbage. It was mostly the broken roof shingles from our repair job this winter, as well as bits & pieces of hardi-plank siding & other odds & ends that I've been finding in unusual places. I'm glad that Phil came out to help me - it took us about 2 hours to load the truck up - & it was LOADED, then we drove down to the dock & threw everything into the dumpster. It just fit & I mean JUST. Afterwards, we were told that if there were too many shingles in the dumpster, the Lady Rose crane would not be able to lift it up & we would have to then empty some of it.....but lucky for us, that was not the case & the dumpster left with no problems. Now I just have the fun job of moving the rest of the extra siding & a few huge pieces of yellow cedar out of the way & I've got room for my 2nd berry garden...

The grass is growing quickly & I found out today that pulling out the Scotch broom is difficult & will take me a long time. We don't want to cut the grass & the broom, because this lovely weed just grows horizontal & if we plan to walk bare foot in the lawn in the next 5 years, we have to pull out the whole plant. This will take us years...

Phil has installed the 2nd ceiling fan & we now have dueling fans! Ha, ha, ha. We need to make sure we have a good circular motion of air: 1) to cool things down in the summer & 2) to warm things up in the winter. We have no baseboard heater in the loft (my idea) so when the pellet stove is lit in the winter, the heat has to make it up there! Should be interesting!



Another one of our FABulous finds is the dining room light. We need to get some more extension rods as it hangs too high over where the table will be, but it looks very nice & Phil didn't fall off the super-scarey rickety wooden ladder while installing it!







One of the things that really needs to be done before we can start to move our furniture into OUR space, is the floor. Yes, we are spending a ridiculous amount of time & effort on the floors (sanding with a palm sander, filling in the holes, sanding again quickly, 2 coats of paint & a coat of varathane) but the end product will look nice for many years to come - or at least until we figure out what we want to do on the floors - like tile.... So, tonight I varathane the hallway. Scratch that off the list!




My poor house plants are in the 'hospital' recuperating from the move, the dust, the change in lighting, my neglect due to vacations & my over-watering....So, I hope that living away from me & in a nice sheltered & sunny local will bring them back...








I would like to introduce you to the first of my art surprises. This is the glass piece that I've been telling you about. It's built into the wall & Phil installed it today. We cased it (surrounded it) with some cedar & I've applied the tung oil to the wood. All we need to do is all the trim & it's all done!




It has a raised surface on the outter side - this shot is from the loft looking through it. There are sea stars, prawns, anchors & sea anemones on it. Phil thought there were fish & has been calling it the 'fish-glass' for months! ha, ha, ha. Again, just a bit of trim & it's complete!




Mark Kelly, our cabinet maker is in right now putting some finishing touches on the upper kitchen. I will take some close-up photos once he's gone & we've cleaned it up a bit. But as you can see, I've got my open shelves! He also fixed the central vac boo-boo on the island & I think Phil wants us to drag in the dishwasher to start hooking that up. The counter tops aren't due to arrive into Bamfield until the 14th - but that is a HUGE weekend here in town. It's the Lifeboat Centenniary celebration - to do with the Coast Guard & having the first motorized lifeboat in Canada. It's a pretty special celebration & I think most people will be busy...so Mark will hopefully find time just after the weekend to install all the countertops so that we can use our kitchen!

These are the windows in the loft, cased in with a few coats of tung oil. I'm just going to run up there & apply the last coat & then it takes about 2 days to cure. The bed is in place but I can't find any linens to put on it yet!! On the bed is a mask we got down in Cancun & it will be put on the wall - quite high up - between the 2 windows.
This is the window in the suite kitchen. Lovely to have sunshine outside!!










This is the view from the loft while sitting on the bed. Doesn't look very nice - but the sun is shining brightly outside & the scaffolding will come down very soon. I'm hoping by the middle of next week so that I can get working on those floors!!

This is a close-up of the previous view. How nice to wake up to!