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!