Our New Home - Aug. 11/10

Our new home arrives. This one is 40' by 10' (last year was 23' by 8'). They had quite a time getting it into the parking lot. The 60' model was out of the question. I was smelling propane a couple of days after we were in and the technician found a leak in the stove (NOT a good thing for the parrots). They replaced the stove with a brand new one, but unfortunately we were without for NINE days!! Eggs for breakfast on Day 10 sure were good. This place is definitely more liveable - we figure last year was just teaching us how to be good at this! AND WE ARE. If we're still here when the snow flies, they assure us we'll be toasty warm.

More pictures - Aug. 4/10

I'm having trouble uploading pictures, so I'll try again.

Do you believe it? - Aug.4/10

Oh my goodness, where do I start? Someone asked me two weeks ago why I wasn't doing the blog anymore, and I said there was nothing to say. Wrong! Wednesday, August 4th/10 was NOT our lucky day. Two oaks from the south side near Hamilton's porch fell in a "micro burst" and went through our roof. That was one thing we HADN'T replaced. The arborist said there was about 8 tons sitting on the roof. Anna from next door counted the rings, and there were 147 - what a shame! All 3 dormers - yes, even the one on the other side - were damaged, the tree went right through the top of the roof, and ripped a big hole in the bottom near the kitchen window. At first they thought it might be a teardown, but now they're saying just the second floor is done. They won't know for sure till they start ripping down gyprock and ceilings/floors. What a horrible shame!

It's about time - Feb. 7/10

For everyone who's wondering if we're still living in turmoil - we're not!!! I've been putting off posting the pictures of the place until it's looking more like we want it to in the end. Now it's the end!! Still lots of decorating to do, but that's the fun part. We're toasty warm, everything works and I still comment often to John that "I just LOVE my new house". We couldn't be happier. You never know at the outset how these things will work out, and even in the dead of winter, we're thrilled. Imagine how we'll feel when those summer breezes are blowing!! Here's some updated pictures of the downstairs - we'll save the upstairs for later when we're more settled up there. It's sleepable, but that's about it. I have such great plans ...

We're Getting There - Nov. 5 - 10/09

After the toilet, the next biggy was the shower!!! No more frigid trips through the frosty grass to shower in the trailer - never knew what a luxury a mere shower would turn out to be. Shower curtain or not, we were in! The backhoe made short work of the cement sidewalk coming from the parking lot. The old chimney from the wood stove was the last step in the living area before delivery of the new propane fireplace - no more cold mornings soon. Mike and his guys worked on the outside during the wonderful fall weather getting the dormers finished before the snow blows.

OMG - An Almost Kitchen - Oct. 9/09

Mike and John unloaded the first part of the kitchen!!! This is BIG. I was trying to not get my hopes up with respect to moving in, but this finished that. It seems like it might actually happen now. The last (hopefully) dumpster was delivered to clean up the construction mess. I think we can see the end ...

Porch Update - Oct. 03/09

Our last post about the porch was when the vapour barrier was all that was inside. We now have our gorgeous new pine walls and ceilings and just love it. We've been enjoying it already - saw our first thunderstorm when we didn't have to go inside, but could get the full effect from out there.

Progress - Sep. 14/22 '09

Mike and Dustin spent the day working on the dormer. Their calves must have been screaming by the afternoon. We finally got to painting!!! This is HUGE - actually seems like sometime soon we may have the house back. It was a full eight days of painting.

A Glimpse of What's to Come - Sep. 11/09

When I went out to feed the dogs this morning and looked towards the lake, this is what I saw. It looked hauntingly like a first snowfall in December! Yuck! A great reminder that we want to be getting into our new place quickly.

We're Getting There - Sep. 8/09

Here's the porch now - pretty well complete from the outside. They still need to add the plastic board at the bottom to finish it off plus the soffit and trim around the roof. The stairs will go off to the North side. They're working hard on the drywall -often look like ghosts when they come out for a break. I'd get a picture, but they might hit me. On Tuesday John's sister Karen and her oldest, Laurie, with her three little ones, came for a visit. The kids were all swimming (brave souls) and I imagine it was a quiet drive home.

Using the Porch - Aug. 30/09

The kids came up today and the weather wasn't good. Rather than crunch us into the trailer during the rain we decided to take chairs, the animals, and a little heater and spend the afternoon on the porch! If we weren't sure about the new windows, etc. before, we sure are now. We love it!!! With the windows and insulation, it's so quiet we'll have to crack a window to hear the wind in the trees and the waves. Our seasons will certainly be extended.

Look at it now - Aug. 24/09

The porch is going up by leaps and bounds! The roof was put on Friday and today they got the windows and door cut out and installed. They added the Typar and now we're just waiting for the inspection - hopefully tomorrow. It looks totally different from the old porch - it's going to take some "getting used to". I don't imagine it'll take long once we have a few chilly days this fall when we can still use it.

Hydro hookup/Wallboard delivery - Aug. 24/09

We are LIVE again. Can't believe it. There's even one plug inside that we can use already! Seems like we're just getting closer and closer. The wallboard for the downstairs was delivered this afternoon and they've gotten part of the downstairs done already. We'll be painting before we know it - oh, joy!

Porch Progress - Aug. 19/09

What took three and a half hours to destroy is now in it's second day of reconstruction. They filled the holes in and built the floor one day, and put up the walls on the second. It's so exciting - things are really starting to take shape!

Back and side deck - August 14/09

Mike and Dustin spent the day today building our new back and side deck. It's recycled PVC so John won't have to paint again. We're thrilled with how it matches the siding. Ain't progress grand?