Our Retirement Home Part Twenty-Three (Main Ceiling and Fan)

The past two weeks Marie and I have been busy installing our ceiling fan and continuing to put up the wood panels from the peak down and in the front wall. For me it has been a endless cycle of measuring, cutting, staining and nailing, while Marie pushes and pulls the scaffolding around for me as I go back and forth. We purchased four wheels to go the bottom of the scaffold legs last time we were in Rona's and these have been a great assist in moving it to whatever spot I am working on. The ceiling fan, a Nextek DC powered fan, is finally up and waiting for the blades to be screwed on. Marie did all the electrical, installing the 12-24 volt speed controller and put the fan up herself - tomorrow we try it. She has become quite the little DIYer and feels quite comfortable tackling any new challenge. After many cuts with my new Dremel tool I built a little wooden cover over the plastic bracket it hangs from to match the ceiling and it looks quite good I think. After all this is done we are going to have our four day break and try to relax when we head back to the city later this month. Hopefully spring will have finally shown it's face when we return! gws

Typical sight in the mezzanine

Marie splicing wires for the fan

Installing fan bracket onto roof frame

Running wiring for the fan

almost done!

Fan awaiting the five blades

Detail of wall and ceiling

Easter Weekend 2013

Marie and I spent this past Easter weekend in Montreal with the kids and grandkids, a nice break from the work on the house and an escape from the snow. The weather in the city was nice and I had a chance to go out to the small park near the duplex with Phil, Fer and Amy who is walking very well now and always a joy to be with. Lara and Joshua are doing well and he has grown quite a bit since we saw him a few weeks ago. He is a perfect little boy and I can see how happy Lara is with him in her life. Hopefully this will be the year she sells her house and she can enjoy this special time with her son. Meanwhile it is back to the snowy mountain for us and lots more work on the house in the coming weeks. A trip to Toronto is next in my plans for this month to visit with Richard and his grandkids - it's been years since I was there and am looking forward to seeing them all again soon! Hopefully when I return spring will really have sprung and the trees will be showing their first buds! Can't wait! gws

Our Retirement Home Part Twenty-Two (Mezzanine Ceiling)

Me and Joshua, Montreal, March, 2013

With what seems like ages since we returned from Montreal to celebrate with Phil his 28th birthday on the 11th of March I can announce the completion of the mezzanine ceiling. Overcoming our fear of heights was the biggest challenge here as both Marie and I had to work overhead with the thought of plunging down to the cement floor on the main level always foremost in our mind. We ended up installing three Pyle 6 inch 200 w speakers, a Kidde direct wire smoke and CO alarm, an EnGenius repeater, two Bazz LED pot lights over the shower area, an outlet over the bed for a suspended light and one over the bathtub.

As well we are both still under the weather, so much so that we finally broke down last Thursday and spent the morning at the hospital in Lac Megantic getting chest xrays and being prescribed some antibiotics for bronchitis. I have been feeling lousy for over a month now and still not 100%. I think what we need is some sunshine so have booked a flight to Florida in the middle of May.

Warm late winter day...kind of

On the home-front Lara and little Joshua are both doing well and it was a real pleasure to see them again when we were in the city, dropping off a MamaRoo for Joshua. It is a nifty bouncer that moves up and down and side to side, just like a real mother. Programmed into the seat are 5 movement modes - car ride, kangaroo, tree swing, rocka bye and ocean. Plus it comes with built in nature sounds or it can be hooked up to an MP3 player. Doris had come up for a few weeks to stay with Lara and it was nice to see her again after so many years. She hadn't changed much and still has that real Nova Scotia accent. Amy stated walking when we were there and is still as darling as ever!

Joshua sleeping in his MamaRoo

Me and Joshua

Marie and Joshua, Doris and Amy

Joshua and  mama Lara

We will be going back to Montreal for Easter and later in April I will be going out to see Richard for a few days in Georgetown. But in the meantime we have to continue our work here - Marie running wiring and me staining, cutting and nailing the rest of the pine paneling for the remainder of the ceilings. And before I forget - happy SPRING!  gws

Phil and Joshua

Fer and Amy watching Phil trying to blow out one candle!

                                       

Amy certainly enjoyed the bday cake!

My little sweetie

kissy lips

Amy and Emma kissing

March in Like a Lion

Marie and I have spent the past few weeks s l o w l y getting over the flu and regretting not getting our shots this year, while trying to do as much as possible in the house. The weather has been atrocious, snow storm after snow storm and  mostly gloomy cloudy days in between which makes us feel as miserable as ever. Including today we have had the driveway plowed 22 times already this winter! Thankfully both Lara and Fernanda send us daily photos of the grandkids, Joshua and Amy, so we can see their development and we are so proud of them both. 

Reg's tractor which we are seeing regularly!

Marie installing wiring

Why I keep running out of sunflower seeds

Speaker and skylight

Installing speakers in bedroom and bathroom

Between shoveling snow and scraping ice off the solar panels I have been plugging away staining and putting up the ceiling in the master bedroom, while Marie has been doing taxes, both for us and Mom and Dad, putting in wiring for the smoke detectors, phone booster, repeater for the wifi signal and lights. We did manage to go out this weekend for supper with another couple to a buffet restaurant in Sherbrooke. We thoroughly enjoyed it and the break was very welcome. We are fortunate to be able to see all the latest movies on the internet which we watch on our big screen TV. This week we saw Argo, which won Best Picture this year at the Oscars - why I'm not sure as I found it the worst Best Picture I have ever seen and don't recommend it all. We then watched Zero Dark Thirty about the 10 year long CIA operation to find Bin Laden and I found it both fascinating, well acted and the best picture of the year. We also had the opportunity to see The Life of Pi which was strangely disturbing  but well done. We stream these movies on a site which I won't mention here for free - don't ask me how they get away with it - and often in HD. I also am able to see every NHL game, broadcast through a European site, so I don't miss any of my Canadien games! The quality isn't the best but beggars can't be choosy I guess. This weekend we are off to celebrate Phil's birthday and reconnect with everyone. Hopefully when we return spring should be just around the corner and we'll see the sun again!  gws

Marie doing her high ' wiring ' act