Weeks 28-36

So here we are again. I’ve failed to keep the blog up to date; partly because we haven’t been doing as much, partly because we had visitors so we took a holiday and partly because I just haven’t been on top of it.

Now where were we…

The washroom is now tiled, painted, wallpapered and installed with a mirror and a light. All it needs now is trim and a lock.
 

 The bathroom has the in-floor heating laid, self levelling concrete on top, more self levelling concrete on top of that because it wasn’t level(grrr!) and all the drywall up. The cement board is in the shower area so the next step is tiles. Ah, the tiles!  After much contemplation, I decided that I’d really like to do something in keeping with the style of the house. I think that small black and white tiles laid in a diamond pattern will look really nice. The only snag is that you cannot get small black and white floor tiles in Canada! I’ve been to multiple suppliers and followed up on their recommendations only to hit a brick wall. It seems my best bet is to order them through an American company and pick them up in Buffalo (incidentally they are shipped from the UK).What a palarver!


Infloor heating=warm tootsies!

Shower stall
 

Callum's room has had the wall fixed (where we took down a dividing wall) and been patched and sanded and patched and sanded and patched...you get the idea!





 

The pool took much time and effort to get it usable, many lives were lost in the process (chipmunks, squirrels and mice all tried to swim and couldn’t get out)! It is in need of a new liner ($$$) which we’ll have to live without for now. We did get a new filter since the old one leaked and didn’t really work. Now we can go for a dip whenever the weather decides to be nice, which isn’t nearly often enough for this time of year!

 Since the weather had been warmer, than winter anyway, there has been lots of activity outside: we planted our little trees, weeded, pruned many dead branches, took down a few trees and mowed and mowed and mowed! We’ve discovered apple trees and plants we didn’t know we had. Now that the plants have grown and filled out, everything is green J
Also, the septic guys came back to grade the soil...

Apple Blossoms

Sunrise...

 

 Septic done!

Look at all this space!

 

On the wildlife front, other than the casualties from the pool, we’ve also had to bury a few squirrels and birds L

We had a couple of swallows build a nest on the side porch.

We had an up close encounter with a robin's nest, it was at eye level near the barn so we saw them grow from eggs to fledglings.

 

 A family of baby red squirrels were orphaned and we tried to help them but the dog killed two of them and one fell from a wire so only two survived(we think). Here (-well down there, this blog won't let me move the picture here!)is a squirrel house, designed and built by moi on the spur of the moment to give them somewhere to stay, not sure if they took me up on my offer.(Yes I may be just a little obsessed with these guys)

 

 

Baby squirrel, wet from the rainFeisty little things 

 

 

We also had a baby bat in the kitchen (I think it fell from the attic through the hole where the chimney used to be and the cats brought it down) which squeaked and squeaked.  We put it in the attic in a box and it was gone when we checked so we think the mum must have found it J

JM found some baby mice under the seat of his motorbike (newborn, so pink baked beans with legs!) which he had to fish out. The problem was that while making the nest, the mum chewed through some wires! We think they are all in tact, we’ve taped them up so fingers crossed…

 

On the whole, country living is all I expected and more. We’ve seen deer close up, as well as raccoons, birds, squirrels etc, oh and a tree frog. This is why I wanted to move here. The property is beautiful and the location is so convenient to everything. It has been a year since we put our Ayr house on the market, how time has flown!

 

 

Week 27

Things are still coming along.

A bit more drywall, some cement board on the floor of the washroom and the shower base is installed (a long story that I won’t elaborate on). The electrician has finished the rough in for lights, switches etc. too. The electrical inspector has passed everything so we can move on…and we now have potlights in the soon to be washroomJ

One ready to tile shower base

 

Huge celebration…the last sections of the chimney from the kitchen stove have been removed from the attic and roof, the hole has been patched on the roof and we now have nothing stopping us finishing the bathroom. Hooray! Massive thank yous to Murray for providing all the gear and expertise.

This chimney is going down!



Helllooo down there...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve also weeded a bit around the patio/pool area. Someone from a pool company came out to take a look at the pool and said it looked O.K. We filled it a bit to check if it leaks and the level dropped a small amount so we repeated the process and it didn’t seem too bad. Now we’ve put lots in and I fear it may have a leak afterall L Time will tell. If it leaks then a new liner will be needed $$$, although a patch job might do to see us through for a bit.

The septic guys (remember them?) came back to tidy up and grade the soil but were hindered by the moisture (the guy was sinking in the mud in one spot so machinery wouldn’t fare too well!) They did a little but can’t finish until the ground dries up some more. They did a good job tidying up around where the trench for the well was dug though. It is all progress…

More flowers are appearing daily, the trees are greening up nicely and we’ll be mowing the lawn before we know it (JM did a trial run with Shabana and cut a little strip).

This one is my fave J

 

Week 26

Yes, it is a significant week, 6 months we’ve had this house!  Looking back we’ve done a lot but at the same time I’d hoped to be further along by now. Half a year and still living in mess. JM says we're a tenth of the way through our 5 year plan...

The drywalling has begun! We started in the main bath and have done the bath alcove. We’ve also pretty much finished the little washroom too.

 

We installed a ceiling fan in the washroom and have marked the position for pot lights, we’re now waiting for the electrician to come and get those in.

The shower pan has finally made it here so we can now get that installed and plumbed in.

 

The lawnmower has been given a test drive, the pool cover is finally clear of water and the warm weather is just around the corner, life is good.

 

 

Wildlife still abounds including a black squirrel and blue jays which haven’t visited before. Kaiya also frightened a poor raccoon, she must have chased it up a tree because she was at the bottom barking at it and the poor thing looked scared to death! While fitting the bathroom fan in the attic we had a bit of a look around and where there is some bat poop on the insulation, we looked up and there they were, a little family of bats hanging from the ceiling! I think we counted 7 but it was hard to tell since they were mainly huddled together (don't tell Shabana!). Time to get some bat boxes..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve also had our first signs of flowers, a single daffodil is open, along with a couple of grape hyacinths and a whole bunch of violas dotted around. Finally feeling like spring J

Weeks 22-25

Three more weeks, we’ve had sun, we’ve had snow and we’ve had an ice storm!

The weather picked up and we had a lovely day outside clearing up and trying out our new super long ladder. We had a “3^rd Rock from the sun” moment when we all headed up onto the laundry room roof to enjoy the warmth and the view…

 

We also tried to empty the water from off the tarp covering the pool. Every time we got it draining, we had more rain and it filled back up again. We are hopefully getting an old sump pump from the plumber to clear it off.

The ice storm didn’t bring as much devastation as we expected based on neighbourhood trees, luckily we only lost a few branches and some flattened sumac. The power went out for 6 hours, which meant no heat and no running water, maybe a backup generator would have been a good idea after all.

 

 We plodded along doing subfloors for a while and we finally got them all replaced. Next was the framing… We put up a wall, started putting up another, noticed a mistake (we didn’t have all the crowns facing the right way) and took them back down again! Fixed the problem (or is it an opportunity?) then put the wall back up. After much measuring, sawing, screwing, checking for plumb, and overall building, the walls are up, hooray! We had to take the ceiling fan down (no great hardship since it wasn’t pretty) because it was right in the way of where the wall needed to go so now we have no lights in our work area.

 

The plumber came over to install some outside taps after we discovered that the tap outside had been cut off in the basement so we had no water running to it! Another mystery as to why the previous owners did what they did. I’ve stopped trying to understand the logic behind the things we find. We also discovered that the well which was decommissioned a month ago is still hooked up to the pump and bringing water to the house! I had asked the plumber to remove the old pipes and luckily he checked them before cutting them off. We would have had an indoor pool if he’d gone ahead and taken the pipes out. Now I need to contact the well company and find out exactly what we paid all that money for?

We’ve put the snow blower to bed and started up the ride on lawnmower, bring on spring!

After much deliberation we also decided to replace rather than fix all the eavestroughs and downspouts (that’s gutters and drainpipes to all my English speaking friends) so now tha rain will hopefully be diverted away from the basement a little better.

We had the building inspector visit and he’s approved the framing, he must have been here three minutes tops! I guess it must look good for him to not check anything, their next visit will be final inspection J  We can begin hanging drywall next…

Weeks 19-21

You can tell I’ve slowed down, three weeks in one entry!

The plumber and electrician have done their thing and we are ready to build bathrooms.  We also have a whole new water treatment system and water to our fridge. The doorway for the upstairs washroom was expanded and framed, we even reused the old door and hung it J The old doorway has been framed up ready to drywall and hang a wall sink.

This will be a sink...

Old door in a new frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have started clearing out in the floor joists again, filling the gap with insulation and then laying the subfloor. We needed to make sure that there wasn’t going to be any more plumbing or electrical work before gluing and screwing the plywood down.

In Callum’s bedroom to be, we had to support under the floorboards to the adjoining room and now that is done, the subfloor can be laid in there too.

We took the spare door to James’ old bedroom in Ayr (a French door) and reused it for the laundry room. The old door didn’t have a latch to stay shut from the kitchen side but had catches which held it shut from the laundry room side. That meant the dog could get in there but then trap herself in! Now we have more light coming into the kitchen and a door which stays shut J

 

Another reused door, now the sun can come into the kitchen J
 

 

On the wildlife front, more tracks which I can only assume are coyote, two red squirrels (Nutkin -on the left and Tufty-on the right)who visit daily to clear out the bird feeder and a mouse in the kitchen! Did I mention Steve? He’s our resident male red cardinal, and Mrs Steve(the female red cardinal) who we see every day too. There is an abundance of birds out there now, they kept their presence hidden when we first moved and we were worried there were no animals here at all. We also had a whiff of skunk one day, they can live elsewhere thank you very much!  A slightly disturbing discovery, we found a raccoon skull in the barn A: How did it get there? and  B: Where is the rest of it?

 

Week 18

And we’re off again!

The electrician came back to do some more work, he’s moved a kitchen light, changed the location of the bathroom fan switch so it is near the door (rather than at the far side of the bathroom) replaced the bathroom plug receptacle with a GFI, moved the switch for Callum’s bedroom light( so it’s not hanging down from the ceiling anymore) and removed an extra light which wasn’t needed. The latter was a very messy job up in the attic and he came down covered in insulation. He also discovered a spot where he found bat poop, (yes, bat poop in the attic, ewww! ) He brought a dead, dried up bat down to show me but before I got a chance to view the poor creature Kaiya ate it (double ewww!) Now I shouldn’t be surprised because she eats everything but really? Bleurgh!

The plumber finally made it out to hook up the new well J We have great water pressure now and this means the well guys can come back and decommission the old well. Fill that sucker in! Although cool to look at and being a piece of the home’s history, it is also a safety concern so I’ll be happy when it’s gone.

The old stone well, soon to be filled in...

 

The plumber also began roughing in the plumbing for the bathrooms upstairs which is soooo exciting!!! We’ll be able to put everything back together again and move our bedroom upstairs. The downside, he opened up an exterior wall to run the new vent, only to find it has no insulation, only the brick and some parging. We thought we may have to remove all the lath and plaster, possibly reframe, and insulate; something that wasn’t part of the plan. It would also mean that I’d have to try and remove the window frame while keeping it intact to drywall the wall.( Most of the trim is held in with huge nails so it might end up splintering L ) I spoke to the building inspector and he said that because it is a reno on an older home, we just need to patch it right back up, no need to panic after all J The inspector came out to look at the plumbing and found a low spot in the drainage so the plumber has to come back and remedy it…

The makings of a bathroom...

 

The HVAC company came and installed new ductwork in our bedroom, moved a floor register in the kitchen (so we can move the fridge away from blocking a window) and ran a gas line for a future gas stove. At our old house we ran a gas line and eight years later we still didn’t have a gas cooker, let’s hope we get one before we move from here! One of the guys cut his hand pretty badly on the duct work and lost copious amounts of blood, he wrapped it up and carried on working all day, what a trooper. When they came back the next day to finish off I found out he ended up getting three stitches.

Lovely, shiny new ductwork, no more baseboards heaters in our bedroom to be...

 

My job this week was to punch a doorway through into the closet, which will become the new upstairs washroom. Lots of mess and dust again but it feels like we might be getting somewhere. One step closer with each job…I also started removing the door trim to try and reuse it.

 

Before and after= more mess

 

We’ve ordered some building supplies J