Weekend Break in Montreal

Following another crazy busy week at the cabin we returned to the city Saturday afternoon and Sunday to visit with the kids and join in on Fernanda's Mexican get-together-cum-birthday party, do some laundry and babysit Amy. Early start Monday to avoid the traffic in this orange-coned city and back to working in the basement : putting up insulation, putting in the pump for the well and building interior walls. Summer is slipping by and school here in Quebec starting soon...can the changing of the leaves be far behind? gws

Our Retirement Home Part Twelve ( Finishing Patio & Pouring Concrete)

This past week a major milestone in the house construction passed when the contractor who did our foundation finally arrived with his three cement trucks to finish our floors. From early morning till later that evening the crew worked nonstop, pouring cement over the PEX tubing I had laid out on the three floors as well as the patio below the deck - 1 1/2 inches in the mezzanine and main floor and 4 inches in the basement and patio. We were impressed with the final results and once we could walk over the cement to check the air pressure in the manifolds on each floor for any leaks in the tubing very relieved to find out everything went smoothly and none of the tubing had been punctured! Now at last we can finish putting up the remaining walls, install the electrical wiring and complete the radiant floor system! gws

The patio ready for the cement

smoothing cement in basement

the crew in the basement

pouring in the mezzanine

mezzanine after pour, awaiting next step

Main floor 

pouring the slab for patio

basement drying, waiting next step

Main floor waiting next step

finishing basement with power trowel

Marie supervising

smoothing the patio

patio drying, waiting sealer

patio finished, forms removed and ready for 6x6 posts

Memorial Service For My Mother, Now Playing With the Angels

Today will be one month since we lost our beautiful sweet Mother and not a day goes by that we don't think of her. All the family, except Richard who couldn't make it down from Toronto due to his work schedule, and friends from the area as well as Tampa, attended the Memorial service for her on Monday, July 16th at the Merritt Funeral Home in Brooksville, Florida. Mom is survived by our Father Arthur and her husband of 64 years, my sisters Lynette, Diane and Carolyn, myself and my brother Richard, grandsons Shawn, Isaac, Tyler, Ryan, Jason and Philippe, granddaughters Rande, Rachael, Lara, Christina, Jenny, Jamie, and Hayley, great grandsons Andrew, Taylor, Isaiah, Andrew, Richard, Matthew, Jack and Patrick, and great grandaughters Brenna and Amy. She will live in all our hearts forever, never to be forgotten...gws


        Mom was born on June 25th, 1927 in Canterbury, England.

Age 1 year

age 7 years

age 19 years

Richard, Jenny, Jamie, Rose and families, Georgetown, Ont

Betty, Marilyn, Pauline, Stuart and Colin and families, the UK

Phil, Fer and Amy (look after Patrick, Grandma), Montreal

Lara and Jesse, Montreal

Visiting afterwards at the Lake Lindsey United Methodist Church where Mom played the piano faithfully for more than five years...

                                           

                                           June, 1927-2012

Amy - six Months Old!

Today Marie and I are sitting in our favourite little restaurant and boulangerie in Notre-Dame-des-Bois, Chez Mamie, enjoying coffee and a sweet. They now have free wifi and it is great we now don't

have to drive all the way to McDonalds in Lac Megantic to get on the internet! Phil, Fernanda and Amy dropped in for a night at the cabin after spending a week of relaxation camping and enjoying the various cuisine of Maine, NJ and NY. Amy turned six months at the end of July and has certainly won over my heart! We all went swimming with her at our small lake and she just loved it, paddling around furiously in her floatee we picked up in Florida - the idea we got from Shawn and Lauren who have one just like it for Brenna. The kids left the next day for Montreal to spend the rest of Phil's time off remodeling their bedroom, including the installing of a new air conditioner. We will see them on the 11th as we have to babysit! Meanwhile both Marie and I are very happy to hear how well Dad is doing, attending to his and Moms affairs there and in Canada and making a real effort to bond with his kids again. Thanks to Lyn and Don and Dee and Dave who try to see him as often as possible I think he realizes how much his family still loves him and wants him to be happy even without Mom around. She will forever be on his mind and being in the same house without her will always be difficult. I think he has realized now after almost a month since we lost her that life really must go on. He has even starting planning a train trip north to see us next year and what an adventure that would be for him at 90! He had the opportunity to meet the newest member of the family this past week as well when Richard and Rose dropped by from their trip to West Palm. So things are looking up and as we get into the dog days of summer I will be updating on the s  l  o  w progress of things up here on the mountain! Stay cool! And happy birthday today Fernanda!!! gws 

Me and Amy

Proud papa!

Marie, Fer, Amy and Phil at the swimming hole

Amy in her new floatee

view of our new house from a kilometer away

A happy swinger!

Two cuties

Amy wearing my hat

Two more cuties!