My New Grandson!

 

It is with great pleasure and joy I present to you this most beautiful little boy, my grandson!  On February 11th, after a long and exhausting labour of love, my daughter Lara brought forth into the world the newest member of the Steward family. He weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce and although four days early, Mother and child are both healthy and ready to take on what will be a wonderful adventure together! A cousin for Amy and a friend to Roxie the dog this little fellow is going to charm everyone who sees him. May God bless and keep him healthy as he starts his new life in Montreal.  gws

Exhausted but happy parents

Christina and nephew

Happy Grandmama

Me and my grandson, 5 hours old

Our Retirement Home Part Twenty-One ( Central Vacuum )

After a day trip to Montreal to sign the mandatory lease forms for our new tenants, who will be moving in March 1st, Marie and I returned home to finish wiring and venting the central vacuum system to the outside. We chose a Honeywell H750 for the cvs because it is one of the few machines that offer a slow start - important for our solar powered electrical system. Running the 2 inch tubing through the wall studs and up overhead was a bit of a chore as all the electrical wiring and the bulky air exchanger pipe was already up in the ceiling so I had to find the shortest as well as the most manageable route to the vacuum, located in the mechanical room. Yesterday we had our propane stove hooked up to the propane lines and are now quite cozy with the two fireplaces and radiant flooring. Maybe too cozy even when the temperatures dropped to -30 last month we were more than snug as a bug in a rug! This month we will see warmer averages and longer days and no doubt a big snowstorm. We have gone three weeks without any accumulation and nothing in the short term forecast. The rain we had last week caused a good lot of the snow we had left to melt and washed part of our road away. Most of this snowmelt came from the woods on higher ground above us and naturally once gravity took over all this water found the easiest route - our road! Tomorrow I am going to Sherbrooke to pick up some pine panelling and Brio stain to do the ceiling in the mezzanine - our next major project. Now we await the call from Lara telling us she is on the way to her hospital in LaSalle! gws

connections at the three outlets - one per floor

drilling through studs for the tubing

one of the easier runs from under the kitchen floor

Marie connecting the low power wires

one of our latest visitors - a female common redpoll - with her red cap

the  Napoleon in action