Amy - 4 months old!

Amy and Andoni, Mexico City

Sleeping Beauty

In the park with grandma

My first swing!!

Outside the daycare behind the duplex

In the lane behind our back yard

But Grandpa I don't think I can reach the pedals yet!

Our Retirement Home Part Six (Gravel and Cement)

Another week on the mountain and the house is s l o w l y starting to take shape! The concrete has been poured for the foundations, footings and walls, the French drain is in, and we now wait for the erection of the frame on the 18th. Meanwhile the pump has been ordered for the well and work continues on the septic field. More to come! gws

Truck with wall forms arriving

French drain being prepared

Gravel flowing for French  drain

More gravel...

and more...we will need another load

Whoops...next truck of gravel not so lucky!

But finally done!

Now for the forms...

Back of house with wall forms

Front of house and more forms

Pouring cement into forms

Cement set, forms removed next day

View of front of house

View to the back

the north wall

The finished form!

Muffy's Life...continued

It has been three weeks now since we said goodbye to our dear friend Muffy and we all think about her as if she is still here. Little things constantly remind of us of her and sometimes I swear I hear her toenails clicking on the tiles as she sniffs around! Whenever Marie drops scraps of lettuce onto the floor when making a salad or a sandwich for me we expect Muffy to be there as she always loved a bit of green... or walking in the morning as we have our first coffee of the day up our road at the cabin with her running ahead and savouring all the smells of the past night.... jumping into the camper van and sleeping on top of the fold down bed if I forgot to close the door... going nuts whenever Christina came over for a visit...drinking water out of a bottle cap in the truck wherever we traveled....snuggling into my coat at Phil's hockey games when she was tiny...teaching her to get into a bag and stay absolutely still if we snuck her into a hotel that didn't allow pets...what a treasure she was to whoever she met! Goodbye little Muffy.. and thanks for all the memories.....gws

And when life's sweet fable ends, 
Soul and body part like friends;
No quarrels, murmurs, no delay;
A kiss, a sigh, and so away....


Richard Crashaw 1612-1649

Our Retirement Home Part Five (The Footings)

Wednesday morning we were happy to see two big cement trucks arrive to start the pour in the footings. A bulldozer had shown up earlier to pull these two heavy beasts up our gravel road and into position and, after some minor troubles with the pump truck, the cement began to pour into the frames. I think at that moment Marie and I actually realized the house was now a reality! Friday we continue with the basement framing and more pouring. Now all we have to do is keep our fingers crossed the weather cooperates as we welcome June!  gws

Easy does it!

Almost there!

Now what - the pump has given up!

At last we have cement!

The final smooth with the bull float

Our Retirement Home Part Four (Breaking Rock)

Another beautiful start to another week here in eastern Quebec as work continued on our house. The contractor came up early Monday to resume breaking rock where the foundation will be in preparation for putting in the footings. The pneumatic jack hammer could be heard all over the Domaine for three days - we are sitting on a shelf of rock with very little earth or gravel. The pictures tell it all, from the heavy machinery slowly crawling up the driveway to the first dig into the ground (at last!) till the placing of the footings. It will take nothing less than an earthquake and hurricane combined to move the house once it is up! All that broken rock I had dumped where we plan to put in a garage as it will make a very firm base for the slab whenever we get around to it. Now the footing framing is done it is time now to pour some cement! gws

Finally! The first turning of the sod

Digging the perimeter

Hmmm time to bring in the jackhammer

Changing shovel to heavy duty rockhammer

This is going to take a while...

Check your measurements...again!

Day 2 and still breaking rock

Day 3 and ready for the footings!

Laying out the boards for the footings

Check your measurements!!!

Our Retirement Home Part Three (The Start of the Foundation)

Another beautiful week on the mountain and we are now hoping for some rain to fill up our two waterbarrels that we use for showers and washing dishes. Each morning Marie sits out with her coffee logging all the different birds she sees into her I-pod Touch while we are still enjoying the peace and quiet. Haven't seen a soul on the Domaine all month and sometimes think we are the only people in the world...Friday the contractors arrived to start the foundation, measuring and marking the footprint, then digging the footing. This involved alot of rock breaking and work will resume Monday. It felt good to see that first dig of the shovel into the ground to  officially mark the start of the house. The septic field meanwhile lays unfinished and no sign of the fellow we contracted....we never thought it would be easy! I will be posting pictures next time. Till then...Happy Memorial Day! gws