Our next adventure

Remembering Catherine

2008-09-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

Its been a year now since Catherine left us. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. I miss her dearly. It has been a challenging year doing things for the first time without her (birthdays, anniversary, vacations, family get togethers). The void is greatly felt. It was especially difficult being isolated out here at the new home. Thinking back, I feel it was perhaps a good thing, giving me a lot of quiet time to reflect on our life together and to learn how to move forward with my life. I have had a lot of support from family and friends over the year, and for that I am thankful. Emotionally I am in a much better place now and look forard to my next adventure. I will never forget Catherine, I can't, she was too big a part of my life. She helped make me who I am today, and for that I am grateful.
This past weekend Tim and Tracy came up to visit me. We looked at old photo albums, lit some candles in Catherine's honour and talked about good memories. It was nice.
Below are a collection of random photos of Catherine with family and friends. I hope you enjoy them.

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Laying in a field of heather..

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Story time

Tim's first day at home

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Cath and Tim

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Catherine and Jennifer

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The first picture Catherine gave me!

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Karate competition

Catherine and Tracy

Boy's Weekend

2008-09-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

In August we had a "Boys Weekend" at my place, which is short for "Holy Hanna Horner the Hammer's He-man Hellraise" (I didn't come up with the name). It was a lot of fun and I thank you all for coming.
The fishermen made if back safely from their trip. I think they're talking about the one that got away....

I have no idea...and don't ask...

We played horseshoes...

Bocci Ball....

Archery.....don't ask. I have no idea what he is doing

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Kevin...your hands are so soft.....you must tell me your secret...

Keep running Carlos!!

and darts of course.

and a little bit of golf....

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Salmon steaks on the barbeque. Cooking by flashlight

Kevin and John have the same poker-face

Liars Dice...good game

And the winner for the stupidst thing done over the weekend goes to Carlos. This is a shot of
him heading off to retreave the arrow he purposely shot into the woods. I now have an arrow somewhere in the forest.

I have no idea...some sort of new sign language...

Roland showing Kevin how to hold a fishing rod...yes Kevin...the guy who just came back from a week of deep sea fishing just south of Alaska...

My beer is empty.....

Searching for arrows is tiring.....

I tried to tell them there were no fish on the property, but they wouldn't listen...

And the winner of the Holy Hanna Horner the Hammer's He-man Hellaise was...........
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......Carlos "the Hitman" Silva. Congratulations!!!

US Bike Trip

2008-09-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

On July 12th 9 of us headed to the US for a week long motorcycle trip. By the time I got home I had travelled over 4000 km. We went through New York, Pennsilvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. It was a great trip an the weather was perfect!!!

Lunch stop at the Dam Inn, where we had some dam food served by the dam waitress:)

On your marks....

The stadium holds 120,000 people

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Shameless photo of myself...

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Stonewall Jackson's house

Stonewall's grave

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This place was neat. I've never seen a radio wave telescope.

The radio telescope below is huge. It is 485 feet tall, 17 million pounds in weight with a 110 meter reflector (bigger than a football field). It is the worlds largest steerable radio telescope.

I just loved this sign....

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Entering the Blue Ridge Parkway. Beautiful views...

Another shameless photo of myself.

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Shameless photo of my bike...

Al heading into a tunnel.

Camping at Presquille

2008-09-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

The weather this year was the worst I can remember in the 22 years we have been coming here, but bad weather can't spoil a good time when you are with great friends and family. Below are some pictures.

Bonehead (alias Greg)

The lovely Jennifer

Jan

Lots of tarps to keep the rain off

We saw this beautiful old sailing ship

I didn't say it was big.....

Tracy and Elroy

We even got a game of golf in(the weather cooperated!)

Dinner after golf

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Thanks for the entertainment Danny!

Tim

Bruce, you are enjoying that too much...

Where are those pesky frogs?

Wheel barrow race

Cheese!

Wet sponge relay

Pull Tim....Pull!!!

Beautiful scenery at Presquille

Beautiful sunset

Americade

2008-09-03T09:03:00.001-07:00

In June, 4 of us went to Americade. It is a motorcycle rally held in Lake George New York. I don't know how many people were there this year, but probably around 50,000. We had a good time, but the weather didn't cooperate for us (lots of rain)

On the Glenora Ferry on our way towards Kingston.

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Arriving at out cabin

That first beer always tastes so good!

Shameless photo of my bike.

Boat cruise on Lake George.

Our cabin in the background.

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The gang.

Lunch stop somewhere.....

Finally an update

2008-09-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't been updating the blog because I haven't been working on the house. I took one job in May building a deck for someone and it has snowballed from there. I am booked into the winter. I've had a great summer. So many people have been bugging me about not updating the blog so here are my non-house events. Enjoy!

In June Tim turned 20. He invited a bunch of his friends up to my place for a party. The all had a great time.

"Happy Birthday!"

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mmmmmmmm.........steak..........

There may have been a little drinking.....

They slept outside in tents (or tried to). The rain drove most of them indoors.

Brian brought his jeep and found a few puddles on the property...

Those girls can really scream!!!!!

A bunny came by for some seeds.

Just another beautuful sunset.

Everything is now green

2008-05-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

I've had a new friend visiting my feeder lately. I've never seen one before so I had to look it up. It is a Red-breasted Grosbeak

The magnolia is doing well.

This is a wild lilac growing on the property (Catherine's favorite bush). She wanted to plant them around the house. I will one day.

With the nice weather I have been doing some work outside. I am moving some leftover sand to fix the grade around the house.

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Power

2008-05-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

It was a difficult winter to produce power....especially if your panels are configured wrong. I started to suspect something was wrong when we had that week in April of pure sunshine. My generator however continued to run, and my panels were only producing around 600 watts. I have enough panels to produce over 2500 watts. My suspicions were confirmed after I visited some of the homes on the Green Homes tour 2 weeks ago. They all had smaller systems than I had, but were producing more power. After a few phone calls to various people I soon realized that my supplier is a clown! Even after I told him what I had learned, he still insisted that he was right. To make a long story short, I reconfigured my panels and am now producing lots of power. Below is a picture from today showing what I was producing. The upper left hand number shows how many watts my panels are producing (1992 watts). The number near the bottom of the right hand of the screen shows home many amps are going into the batteries (35 amps). My generator didn't run yesterday for the first time since it has been hooked up (approx 8 months). Yes.......my supplier is a CLOWN !!!!! This has been a slow, painful learning experience for me. It amazes me that these people are out there selling this stuff.

Colour !

2008-05-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

Adding colour to the walls is probably not a priority in the greater scheme of things, but I didn't feel like looking at white walls for months on end. Below are some of the colours Tracy helped me pick. Below is the bedroom on the main floor.

Below is the main floor family room/bar room (I don't know what to call this room)

This is the TV room. Crown molding still needs to be installed between the ceiling and the walls as the upstairs is slowly being lowered down as the logs shrink.

The kitchen area.

Glass door leads into the mud room.

Below is the loft upstairs.

Master bedroom. I still have some painting to finish, but I'm getting there.

My magnolia survived the winter and is starting to bloom. I may have to cut the grass !

The garden Tracy planted is starting to grow. Not enough for a salad yet.

"Green" Homes Tour

2008-04-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday Prince Edward County held a tour of 'green' homes. It was nice to see what other people have done. The homeowners opened their homes to the public. The house in the picture below was featured on the Discovery channel with David Suzuki. Their home is off grid with solar panels and a wind turbine. They have straw bale walls and a green roof.

Tracy beside their wind turbine.

This is their green roof.

This next house is grid tied with solar panels and 2 wind turbines. He doesn't sell his surplus back to hydro, he just lets him meter run backwards and then draws from his credit when needed.

The next home had a 900 watt wind turbine. The wind turbines I was were surprisingly quiet.

This home is off-grid. Solar panels and a 3000 watt wind turbine.

Shameless photo of my off-grid home (not on the tour)

My solar panel array.

Tracy planted a vegetable garden for me this weekend. I'm anxious to see what comes up. The trick will be to eat the produce before the rabbits do.

Paint

2008-04-21T05:59:00.000-07:00

Tim and his friends came up for the weekend again.....They asked me if I could buy some dry ice.....they wanted to show me something........ They blew up a bunch of plastic water bottles. Then they wanted to see how high they could launch my yellow bucket (the one by Tim's feet). Lets just say my bucket is now in about 10 pieces....

They had a chopping competition to see who could get through the log first. I think Tim won.

The drywall sanding is now done (yeah!!!!) I am now starting to prime the walls.

The loft upstairs

The master bedroom.

The spare bedroom

Shameless picture of my bike. My first ride of this season. It was great to get on it again!

Update

2008-04-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Though I find drywall very exciting I fear the rest of you don't. Below is a picture from Easter. We had dinner at my sister's and had a great time.

I had one more wall in the house that need staining(in the TV room)

The drywall in now all up (yea!!!!!) and I hired someone to do the taping(I really hate that job). They are doing a great job.

I took a walk on the property today. With this warm weather, the snow is melting fast and the river that lines my property is really flowing

Soon I'll have to picks colours for the walls(not my strong suit!!)

A fun weekend

2008-03-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

When ever Tim and Brian get together you know something is going to happen. Brian brought up his jeep and was anxious to go off-roading, and he had his eye on the snow.

Below is one of his attempts.

He wasn't always successful. Here, he is buried up to his axles.

It took alot of digging, but they made it out.

Now on to something else......

How about a back-flip off the snow...

Tim's tug-of-war attempt against the jeep.... he didn't win....

After a fun day of play, it was time for dinner. Oma and Grandpa joined Tracy, Tim, Brian, Tim, and myself.

We took off the stairs so we could drywall behind them.

A couple of Blue Jays at the feeder.

Mixed Feelings

2008-03-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

I am really happy at the good job the county does at clearing the snow off the roads......but not so happy at the way they cleared my mailbox off its post.....My mail was scattered all over the snow. Luckily it didn''t snowed, or I would have not found it until spring.

Back in business ...nothing a little wood-working can't fix...

My chairs are now almost burried.

This morning I saw a large rabbit in my backyard.

Rob stopped by for a couple of days to hang out and give me a hand with some drywall. Thanks again for your help. Rob is proudly showing off the TV room we finished.

It was a beautiful day so we put on the snow shoes and went for a walk on the property.
Rob on snow shoes.

Yours truly on snow shoes. I think Elroy could have used them as well.

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Elroy with a bunch of snow balls stuck to his fur.

Elroy running in the snow.

Is it ever going to stop snowing ??!!?!!!!

2008-03-03T06:35:00.001-08:00

Another beautiful morning in the County......that is if you love to shovel snow !!!

My driveway.....waiting to be cleared. It goes for another 200 feet beyond what you can see. It is a very beautiful driveway...but for me...it is starting to loose some of its charm! I just want to know who keeps singing "Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow !!!"

Inside, where it is warm, I am continuing with the drywall. The stove pipe from the woodstove goes up through the masterbedroom so I needed to build a frame around it and then drywall it.

This is the short wall in the masterbedroom that looks down over the great room.

The woodstove pipe is now hidden from view. All the drywall is up in the master bedroom. Yea !!!!!

The view from down below.

Yesterday Mark came by to give me a hand with some of the more dangerous and awkward drywalling. Thanks again Mark. Then we got a fair bit of drywall up in the spare room.

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It is getting there...

Have I mentioned I'm sick of drywall!!!!!!!

2008-02-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

I guess I should have brought my chairs in from around the fire pit......oh well......too late now.

Drywalling continues. Last week I bought another 18 sheets of drywall and after carrying them into the house and up the stairs my back finally said "What the hell do you think you are doing??!!?" I took a few days off, my back is letting me move around again. Today I did a little more drywalling. Below is the closet in the master bedroom.

This is the back of the wall in the master bedroom that the bed stands in front of. I plan to make his and hers custom storage for clothing (still to be figured out).

Cheers!

2008-02-16T14:49:00.001-08:00

Today was a beautiful day! It was -5C and very sunny, so Elroy and I hung out on the porch for awhile. The snow here is very deep. I put on some snow shoes and took Elroy for a walk. I did OK, but Elroy was having a difficult time. He needs snow shoes too. These past couple of days have been great for the solar panels. Yesterday I had over 40 amps of power coming in and the generator never ran.

This past Wednesday I finally got connected to the world via the internet. I now have my second dish on the roof.

Drywalling continues. Below is the finished pocket door on the first floor bathroom.

The ceiling in the TV room

I have now started on the upstairs master bedroom.

It is getting there...slow...but sure....

Taking Shape

2008-01-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

Putting up drywall really makes the house take shape. This past week I have been working on installing the pocket doors. I really like these doors because you don't need to leave space in a room for the door swing. Below is the beginning of the pocket door for the mud room.

Drywall in place.

One done....two to go...

Below is the pocket door for the laundry room.

The house is taking shape.

I don't think Elroy is too happy....these doors tend to slow him down.....

Carlos came up this past Saturday to give me a hand with the drywall upstairs. We made great progress. Carlos is a hard worker. He hardly had time for a beer. Thanks again for your help.

This is my last pocket door to install. It is for the bathroom located in the mud room

Next week......more drywall.

I would also like to wish my daughter Tracy a "Happy Birthday!"

The drywall continues.....

2008-01-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

I had some help this past weekend. Al came by with his buddy Dave, and Tim and Tracy showed up as well. We go alot of the ceiling done.

Al and Dave brought their chainsaws too. They got my other pile all cut up.

I stacked it yesterday. I should be good till next year.

I am continuing with the drywall.

Happy New Year

2008-01-09T14:23:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. It was very beautiful on the property over the holidays. Lots of snow.

I spent New Years with Jan and Carol. Below is our traditional photo. 2008

I have started putting up drywall. It is proving to be a slow process as too much time has passed from framing to drywall and alot of the 2 x 4's have twisted so badly I have to cut them out and replace them. But I am getting there.

I got it done!

2007-12-25T17:21:00.001-08:00

I finished the bathroom just in time before Tim and Tracy arrived. Below are the finished pictures.

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When the kids arrived they helped me decorate the tree.

It was definitely a winter wonderland.

The Horwoods and the Stams came over Christmas eve for a visit. It was very nice.

Elroy was very festive as well...

Christmas morning.

It was a nice Christmas, very different without Catherine, but as always, she was in our thoughts. I hope everyone reading this blog had a wonderfull Christmas and I wish you health and happyness in the coming year.

Ken

My first shower (in my home)

2007-12-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

My bathroom is getting close. This morning I had my first shower (Yes I've had a shower before.......this was my first shower in this home). It was great. Below is a photo of the painted room. Picking colours is not my strong suit. I hope it looks OK.

The shower fixtures are now installed.

I picked glass doors instead of a shower curtain. I went with clear glass because after you spend that much time installing the tile, it didn't make sense to put in frosted glass or a curtain and not be able to see the tile.

The vanity is in place, now I just have to install the plumbing.

Privacy is sort of important in a bathroom, so I put in a door. Just a few things left to do and then I have finished my first room. Yea! Now I just have the rest of the house to do......

The Bathroom is getting there

2007-12-17T14:17:00.000-08:00

The shower tiles are all up. This is a big project with a short deadline. I am trying to get this room done before the kids come up for Christmas......I have a week left.

The two shelves are now up.

Time to start on the floor. The cement board is down.

All the full tiles are in place.

This morning I installed all the cut tiles. It's starting to look like a bathroom. Now all I have to do is grout, seal grout, paint, install toilet, vanity, mirror, towel bars, install door, trim, finish door and trim, christmas shop, clean the house and decorate the house for Christmas...I hope I make it.

Christmas

2007-12-13T16:53:00.000-08:00

Tim and his buddy Brian were up this past weekend to give a hand. We put up our fake tree. None of us liked it....it just didn't seem right living in a log home in the middle of a forest and having a fake tree for Christmas.

So....Sunday morning I went shopping and purchased a real tree. After I trimmed it, it was still over 12 feet tall.....much better.....

It was taller than Tim + fake tree....

Tim helped get the drywall up over the weekend, and then this week I started finishing the walls.

Starting the tiles. I chose large tiles (10" x 16")

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This is a video of my woodstove. It is amazing. It keeps my house so warm.

Woodstove

2007-12-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

With the wall done, I ordered the tile for the hearth. Now I need to get the the floor ready for the tile. First I cemented the 1/2" cement board in place.

Next I cut the edge trim to fit.

Below is the tile. 17" x 17" (the biggest tile I have ever layed)

All done and ready for the wood stove.

The stove arrived today. A very exciting day!

It looks great! There is nothing like a nice fire on a cold winter's day.

As soon as I lit the fire, Elroy came over and sat beside the stove.

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I have enough wood for a little while.

Now I am working on the upstairs bathroom. Why is it there is always a 2x4 right where you need to install the water valve. Its got to go.

Water valve is installed with plumbing to the shower head and tub.

The tub is in place.

Starting to put up the cement board.

Woodstove wall

2007-11-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

The cultured stone arrived on Thursday so I had a job for the weekend. Luckily Al showed up to give me a hand. The cultured stone will be behind my woodstove. Below is the process. first I had to put up some cement board.

Then we layed out the stone according to size and shape.

We then screwed some wood to the floor in the shape of the wall so we could lay out the stone. It was quite the jigsaw puzzle.

It took us the entire day to fit all the pieces together. The goal is to make it look random. I think we achieved it.

Then we moved the stone, one by one, and cemented them to the wall.

Almost there......

We did it! Thanks for your help Al.

It was alot of work, but I am really happy with the end result.

Now I need to pick the tile for the hearth.

Catherine's Tree

2007-11-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, a tree was planted in Holland in Catherine's memory. It was planted in Wilhelminabos, a forest named after Queen Wilhelmina. The forest is located in the northern part of the Roggebotzand in Dronten opposite Kampen. The forest was started December 9, 2000 and is dedicated to people who have died of Cancer. Some of Catherine's relatives in Holland got together and arranged to have a tree planted in her memory. On this day there were around 3000 people. A tree was planted and her name was engraved on one of the glass panels. After 1 minute silence, they let red and white balloons into the sky, and then they went to a field to plant a tree.
To all involved in arranging this for Catherine, I thankyou all. It is a beautiful memorial. Below are some pictures of the day sent to me from Loes en Kees.

Below, Loes,Okko and Oliver are shown planting the tree (Kees is the photographer)

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Loes en Kees

They chose an evergreen tree for Catherine.

Catherine's name is engraved on the glass panel (28-9) for September 28th.

Thanks again to all involved.
Ken

Progress

2007-11-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

I now have a bird feeder. They are fun to watch(the birds, not the feeder). I have mostly chick-a-dees and blue jays. I can see it is going to cost me a fair bit to feed them this winter as they go through about a bag a week! Oh well.
The backup generator is now up and running. It has been a tough week getting it going. After the propane was connected and the power lines run, we fired it up. It worked beautifully for 1/2 hour, then it died. After I found a service tech for Briggs and Stratton engines they came out and removed the engine. The next day it was back and running. It was a pinched wire that failed. Then, because the weather has been so cloudy lately, the generator was running every 2 hours for 15 minutes. It was driving me crazy. After a few phone calls I adjusted the setting and it now runs less frequently. The depth of knowledge in this field seems to be a little weak at times so it is a big investment in your own time to figure things out. I am getting close.

I built a room to house my solar components, namely the batteries since the temperature outside has been dropping. Batteries at 0 degress have 1/2 the capacity at room temperature so I need to keep them warm.

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They should be alot happier now.

I received my new appliances this week. With being off-grid I had to switch my stove and dryer from electric to gas (propane). The other appliances need to be energy star rated to save on power. Now I need to get a gas guy to run the propane lines. I am looking forward to having a stove most of all as it getting too cold to cook on the barbeque all the time.

This weekend I started putting the clear coat over the inside of the logs. Two more coats to go. Tracy, Tim and Brian came down to lend a hand. Thanks!

It will look great when done. I need to get it done soon to reduce the amount of checking in the

logs as they dry out. The humidity in the house has dropped from 85% to 60% once I started heating the house.

Tim and I put drywall on the ceiling in the bathroom today. I am getting ready to install the bathtub.

I bought a nice tall soaker tub for those days when to just need to relax.

My cultured stone is supposed to arrive this week for behind the wood stove. I am anxious to get the wood stove in so I can save on propane, and I just love a wood fire.

Back at it.

2007-11-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

My appologies for the lack of updates. I have had a hard time getting back into gear again, but I am hard at it again. The amount of work left to do on the house is a little overwhelming at times, but I am committed to move forward and finish our dream.
I woke up the other day and I could hear my neighbors, so I went to see them. Below is their picture. They weren't very friendly. Tim walked over to get a closer picture and stampeded the herd.

I figured it was time to get rid of the skids and make some actual stairs. Below are some pictures.

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With the help of Bruce(thanks), I finally got my bell line trenched out to the pole at the road(approx 5 days of hard labour). Bell showed up last Friday to do the hook-up........Yep.......we should get it done in 2 to 3 weeks.....tic.....tic.....tic...

Now that the outside of the logs are stained and sealed, it is now time to do the inside of the logs. This is a shot of the inside when I started staining . It is now done, and I now need to put on 3 coats of clear to seal them.

Today I changed the angle of the solar panels. I was shocked at how much they needed to be lowered. The sun is still not at its lowest angle yet (December 21st). Lowering them should help with my power production. I don't yet have any backup power so I loose power every night for a few hours.

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This is my propane backup generator. I hope to get it operational this coming week. When it is finished it will be fully automatic and start and stop as required. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks!

2007-10-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I had asked for help sealing the exterior of the house. It's a big job as there is over 4000 sq ft of wood that needs to be sealed, and it is a 3 coat system. I was overwelmed by the number of people that gave up their weekend and travelled 3 to 4 hours just to get here. Al came up Thursday afternoon and installed an extra toilet and did some wiring in preparation for the rest of the crowd. Thanks again Al. The rest started showing up Friday afternoon. Catherine passed away that evening and I wasn't sure what to do. I decided to continue with the project(I know Catherine would have wanted me to), and I was really glad I did. It was nice to be surrounded by friends and family during a difficult time. Thanks again to everyone. The place looks beautiful. Below are some shots from the weekend.

Getting started.

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You really are tall Ake.

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You can just feel the concentration...

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Lucky Al's not afraid of heights.

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The girls' corner.

No John....we don't stain the windows...

A beehive of activity

The staining crew. They finished 2 coats of stain (1 coat per day)

On Monday Al's son and his buddies came down to help with the final clear coat. By Tuesday morning they were done.

No ladder required for this tall guy.

Caught them goofin off.

The final crew that finished the house. Thanks guys

The house looks great.

A before picture.

The end result. I love it.

The weekend prior to this weekend, Danny came up to give me a hand burying the bell line. It was a hard days work and we advanced the cable another 150 ft through the forest. Now I only have another 200 ft to go. Thanks Danny.

We started at the well.

It was tough digging through the woods, but I can almost hear the phone ringing now.....

"Goodby Dear"

2007-09-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

It is with much sadness that I have to tell you that Catherine passed away yesterday. For those of you who knew her, you know she was a truely amazing woman. Beautiful, smart, always smiling, caring, supportive are a few words that come to mind when I think of her. We celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary last month. When I started dating Catherine, after our third date, I knew she was the one for me. After 6 months we were engaged to be married. My life with Catherine has been wonderfull. She was my best friend in life, my soul mate, and I will truely miss her. Though she is gone from our lives, she will be forever in our hearts.

Catherine's memorial service will be held on Saturday October 13th at 2:00 pm. It will be held at Burke Funeral home located at 150 Church Street, Belleville (613-968-6968). Guest will be received 1 hr prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, if friends and family so desire, donations to the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital (Burlington) or Belleville General Hospital - Oncology Department would be appreciated. Thanks

Goodby Cath, I love you.

Ken

Sorry for the lack of updates

2007-09-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. We don't have any internet at the house. I send these updates from Catherine's parents house. We finally got the solar panels hooked up and with a running fridge, Catherine and I have been spending most of our time at the home. You should see her when we are at the house...she beams with happiness.
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We set up a couple of beds upstairs for visitors.

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It is getting homier.

One of my many projects is trying to get a phone. I only have another 300ft to trench the bell line to get to the road.

A couple of weeks the panels were connected together and connected to the house.

Two weekends ago Tim and his buddy Brian came up for the weekend. They had lots of their own projects. The tied a rocket to this car and launched it down the street. The first attempt ended with a grass fire. The second attempt went into the trees. But the third one was perfect....right down the centre of the road.

A nice dinner together. This was Jan's last good dinner before his surgery.

At night, Tim and Brian launched their potatoe canon. The potatoes go very far.

Carol having a good laugh.

This past weekend Tracy and her boyfriend Peter came to the house.

They collected a bunch of rocks to see how they looked for behind our woodstove (not yet installed) Peter is washing the rocks by the well.

On Monday our water was hooked up. Yea!!!! We now have a toilet that fills itself. Amazing!

This is a poor picture of the screen on our power inverter for the solar power. At this moment 16.8 amps of power was being fed to the house. Cool.........

Another beautiful sunset.

Catherine really enjoys her time at the house. I had a walker for her but she only used it for about a week. She spends all her time in bed now. We have a hospital bed at our house now. I haven't been able to get much done on the house as it is a fair bit of work looking after her, but that's OK. I don't mind at all. I love her company. Last Wednesday I took her to the hospital because she was having a hard time breathing. Apparently the cancer creates fluid and this fluid formed around her lungs and collapsed her left lung. They stuck a needle in her back and drained 1 1/2 litres of water out of her. She felt much better the next day. But then she started having troubles breathing again. I took her to the hospital on Tuesday and they admitted her. They drained another litre of fluid. She is currently in the hospital. She is very skinny now( I thanked her for loosing the weight as I now carry her around). I'm not sure what the plan is now. I hope to bring her home soon.
Take care
Ken

Soya

2007-08-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

I built a temporary sink in our kitchen so we could do dishes in and have a little counter space to work on. The bag hanging above the sink is a portable shower from Canadian Tire. You fill it with water and hang it outside. The sun heats up the water. We use it for rinsing the dishes. We don't yet have running water (I need power!!!!)

Our crawlspace was sprayed with a soya based foam. It is an ecological insulation made from renewable vegetable oils and recycled plastics. It turned out great. I'm sure it will do a great job keeping our heat in, in the winter.

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I just love these sunsets!

Almost taste the power

2007-08-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Catherine and I went back to Burlington to visit friends and family. Our trip didn't start out so well. After the truck was loaded up and I put Catherine in the truck, it wouldn't start. CAA towed it to the dealership for me and luckily Jan and Carol lent me their car. We had a great time in Burlington.

This week I got a little closer to having power. I mounted the "brains" that control everything on the wall. It probably weighs a couple of hundred pounds.

I was very nervous lifting this thing!

I got it mounted

I built a platform for the batteries so they are at a better height for maintaining.

The components are now ready for wiring.

Solar panels are up!

2007-08-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful sunset in the county!

My latest project continues.....building the deck so I can mount the solar panels.

I walked out of the house this morning and Catherine told me to look at the door frame. This is a "walking stick bug". I have seen them before, but never this big.

The bugs grow big in the county.

Deb (my sister) and Jack (her husband) showed up this week to spend some time with us and help out. It was great spending time with them and they were both a great help. With the deck completed enough to work off of, Jack and I started to mount the panels.

Yea! Our first panel mounted!

Deb helped out by burning the left-over wood from the house construction. (there is a fire bug in everyone!)

Each frame (unirack) holds 2 solar panels. These panels are 180 watts each.

Debbie (Vanna) showing off the solar racks.

This sunflow just popped up in the middle of our construction site. We have tried to grow them in the past but with no luck. Apparently you have to wait until they are good-and-ready to grow.

Finally done! All the panels are up. Thanks for your help Jack.

The extra pole on the left is there for future expansion. Easier to add it now than later. (See John, some things I do plan).

Now I have to get busy and hook the panels to the inverter. Right now, all this power we are making is just spilling on the ground!

Propane

2007-08-23T18:35:00.000-07:00

They showed up yesterday to drop off our propane tank. It will hold 1500 L of liquid propane. Hopefully with all our insulation we won't need much to heat the house.

It was a pretty slick rig he had.

Now all I have to do is pay to have it filled!

An enjoyable evening

2007-08-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

When there are no contractors at the house, Catherine and I sleep at the house. It is so peacefull.

Jan posing by the pole.

It is peacefull at the house but I don't sleep so well (too many things on my mind). I woke up the next morning in time to see the sun rise. It was beautiful.....

Solar!!!!

2007-08-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

The solar components arrived this week. Now all I have to do is figure out how to connect them all together!. These are the panels. There are 14 of them and they are 180 Watt panels.
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The batteries were not fun to unload. The trucker and I had quite a time getting them off the truck. This skid of batteries (16) weighs 750kg (approx 1650 lbs).
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This is the power inverter. It converts the 48 volts from the battery into 120 volts for the household. It also takes care of charging the batteries using the solar panels. This controller is HEAVY. I thought it was screwed to the floor when I tried to lift it up!!!
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Motorcycle buddies

2007-08-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

To me, this is a most beautiful site. Motorcycles parked in front of our house. Mine is off in the distance. The guys won't let me park next to them. ( I think they're jealous!)

We had a great evening. Dinner in the county, a little riding, and a few beers by the campfire. It doesn't get much better than that!

The next morning Ake and Rob took off on their week long bike ride. I'm sure it will be a great trip.

Insulation

2007-08-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

The insulation we went with for the house is called BIBS (Blown in Blanket System). It is a blown in insulation that gives us an R-40 in the cathedral ceiling . First they staple in cardboard forms that give the air space for ventilation.

Next they cover the framework with a fabric. The fabric holds the insulation in place while letting out the air during the blowing process.

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The following day the truck showed up to blow in the insulation.

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You can see the insulation blown in the left 3 cavities.

All done!

The next day the crew came to poly the insulation

The effect this insulation has on the house is amazing. Prior to insulating, on hot days, the first floor was cool (the logs keep the heat out) and the upstairs was unbearably hot. After insulating, on hot days you would swear the house was air conditioned! It is great!

Panel Preparation

2007-08-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

Once the poles were in the holes, cementing them in was easy.

I realized just how tall the poles are when I tried to paint them. Too tall for a ladder, so I painted as far as I could reach. I then realized that I would not be able to install the panels or even change their angles for summer and winter operation because of their height.

And so begins the next project....

I need to build a platform so I can reach the top of the poles. This is the start.

Poles for Solar panels

2007-08-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

I needed to install the poles for the solar panels, but we only have 6 inches of soil, then rock, so I found this company with this neat machine that drills into rock. It was fun to watch, but it was very noisy!

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They drilled 8" holes to a depth of 4ft. They were there 2 hours and drilled 8 holes.

The poles are 4" sch 40 steel poles that are 20 ft. long. They weigh over 200 lbs each, so I needed a little help from Ralph to get them in.

Now I have to level them up and cement them in.

Pesky Deer Flies!!!!!!!

2007-07-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

I had another word for pesky, but I'm not sure who all is reading this blog. I asked Ralph the other day when do the deer flies leave. He said "When they are full". I didn't find it all that funny. I bought these deer fly strips you put on the back of your ball cap. They are supposed to work. Below is the before picture.

They work very well. I will buy more of these!

Today Jan and I installed some sun tubes upstairs. The one in the picture on the left will light up our closet area. The one on the right I will be extending through our bathroom down to the first floor to light up the entrance from the garage.

This is the one in our bedroom.

This one will continue through to downstairs. They are very bright (approx 3 - 100 watt bulbs)

This is what they look like on the roof. I hated cutting a hole in our new roof!

Sunset

2007-07-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Catherine and I spent Saturday night at the house. It's a great place to be. Catherine was tired and went to bed. I sat on the porch and watched the sunset. I tried to capture its beauty. Someday I plan to take a photography course so I can do a better job at it.

It's getting dark...time to go to bed.....

Outside is now done!

2007-07-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Lots of wires!

Impressive. A nice job done from the guys at Horwood Electric

The following pictures show the completed exterior from all sides. A special thanks go out to the framing crew, Ken,Kathy,Tim and Rob who did a great job and took pride in their work. Thanks again.

A great weekend!

2007-07-23T18:16:00.000-07:00

We went to the house on Saturday for the day, and Tracy felt right at home.

Tim and Catherine put together one of our new adarondak chairs.

We had a new guest to the house.."Jasper" He is very cute!

We had lots of company and everyone enjoyed the afternoon. We had a barbeque and a campfire after dinner.

We had a couple of "fire bugs" as well.

Carol was a little overdressed for the campfire. But she did look very nice!

Jan was also a little overdressed, but Tracy didn't seem to mind.

Tracy, Tim, Catherine and I spent Saturday night at the house. It was great having the whole family together again for the evening. Tracy, Tim and I spent about an hour on the roof of the house before we went to bed looking at the stars. They were amazing. We must have seen 8 shooting stars! In the morning, the hot sun on Tim's face woke him up.

We had our breakfast on the porch.

Our grass need cutting but I'm not sure the best way to do it.....

Tracy.....hamming it up.....She is very camera shy....

I don't know who this guy is.....

We all had a great time, and wished it would never end......

Services are well under way

2007-07-19T14:58:00.001-07:00

Well, the plumbing rough-in is now complete. This is the pipe that will connect to the septic tank.

This is the pressure tank that pressurizes the water for the house from the well.

The window in the crawl space is now installed. The only vinyl window in the whole house. What the heck am I going to do with a no-maintenance window.

The wiring is well under way. Some boxes look a little complicated....

Stairs

2007-07-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

The wood underneith the porch is almost done. I like how it looks.

Today I built some stairs so we don't have to use a ladder to get upstairs. The framing crew said "Sure, you build the stairs after we are done upstairs!!!!" I should have done this earlier...

On my way out tonight I notices the flag was up on our mailbox....MAIL!!!!!! Yea!!!!!!

JUNK MAIL!!!!!!!! DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They found us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Relaxing Weekend

2007-07-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Ake, Dale, and Kai came by for a visit on their way back from Ottawa on Saturday. We had a nice lunch and spent some time by the fire. I think Kai is going to want a fire pit in his back yard.

Apparently fires need alot of poking!!!

Today we put up our mail box. Our new address is:

Ken and Catherine Horner
86 County Rd 14
RR3 Demorestville, Ontario
KOK 1W0

I checked, but no mail. It may take awhile.........

We also put together our barbeque....now we're cooking with gas!

It's gettin' there

2007-07-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

With all the trades working inside, we set up an awning for Catherine to relax and sit outside next to the house, complete with fake grass.

The underside of the porch is getting finished.

The plumbing has started...yea!!!!

This is the half wall that divides our bedroom from the open space down below. It stops us from falling over the edge.

With only a half wall we will get a view out our dormer window.

Ready or not we're moving!!!

2007-07-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I realized I was in trouble. I have 3 vehicles to move to our new place, and I am the only driver at the moment. So Tim and Maryann volunteered to help out. The weekend before we moved, Tim drove Catherine's car, I drove the motorcycle and Maryann followed in their vehicle. It was a nice day and they look forward to coming back when I have indoor plumbing. Thanks again guys.

Moving day.....If you are planning a move in the future, start throwing stuff out now!!! Our moving day was last Thursday. We had so much stuff (17 years worth) it didn't all fit in the truck. They had to come back on Friday.

Unloading at the new place

As you can see, out garage is very full.

My dart buddies gave Catherine and I some adarondak chairs for the porch. You can see here that Catherine approves of the chairs.

Bruce and Gabriela also came up for a visit on Saturday. Thanks Bruce for your help building the shelves for the garage. I think our stuff in the garage is multiplying!!!

Today Pat, Danny and tante Jannie came for a visit. We had a nice lunch in our kitchen.

Almost there

2007-06-21T16:10:00.001-07:00

Today Tracy and I installed the other garage door. I had to do some finish carpentry to the opening first.

My model (Tracy) is standing beside the finished doors

Some siding going up on the dormers

And more siding on the back.

Tracy "hamming" it up on our future septic bed.
Publish Post

Windows and siding and doors...oh my

2007-06-20T16:01:00.001-07:00

All the shingles are now on the roof. Now we can keep the water out of the house! All the first floor windows are now in.

The siding on the ground floor is also complete.

The dormers are almost ready for windows.

Tracy and I installed one of the garage doors today.

A look from inside our family room.

Time for windows!

2007-06-16T14:30:00.001-07:00

Time for some finish carpentry.......with a chainsaw????? Tim is cutting the log opening to the right size for the window.

They look beautiful!

Part of the door frame installed.

One of our doors installed.

With the windows in, it is starting to look more like a home.

Bedroom windows installed.

The framing of the upstairs is now starting.....very tall ceilings...

Cathering and I enjoying some quiet time on our porch....one of many to come.

Roof almost done

2007-06-13T16:45:00.001-07:00

The roof on the porch is now complete and the remainder of the roof sheathing is done and ready for shingles

The log siding is now started on the garage.

Porch Roof

2007-06-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Now that the porch decking is done, it is time to put a roof on it.

Large pine beams and posts will support the roof. These timbers are heavy!!

Framework for the roof.

Starting to look nice...

It won't be long 'till we are sittin on the porch!!

Great progess

2007-05-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

Both dormers are now framed in and this half of the roof is almost sheathed.

The cedar decking is almost complete.

It's going to be a nice porch. I can see Catherine and I sitting there in the morning...Catherine with her tea, and me with my coffee.....listening to the birds sing (and the cows mooing...)

Moving along

2007-05-30T16:33:00.001-07:00

Progress is going well. Here you can see the sheathing is on the back half of the roof. The wrap around porch is also started.

We even have some shingles on the garage.

One of the dormers is now framed.

Some topsoil has been delivered. We have had so many hundreds of tons of fill brought in, I think there is a mountain missing somewhere!

The trees have eyes!...Part of our high tech security system.

Camping

2007-05-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

Catherine not only wanted to see the house.....she actually wanted to camp "in" the house. So yes, that is a picture of our tent set up "in" the house.
Jan and Carol came for a visit. Here is Catherine and Carol
And yes, Elroy was there too!
We enjoyed our first campfire on the property.
And can you believe it....someone left a tractor on the property!!! All in all it was a great weekend.

Interior walls

2007-05-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

After 3 weeks in the hospital I finally brought Catherine home. The first thing she wanted to do was go to see the new house. So Catherine and I headed up on Saturday to have a look at the house. (that is her in the doorway). The roof sheathing was on the garage.

We were very surprised when we went in to find all the interior walls framed in the first floor. It was great to walk through the various rooms.

Our framing crew even left flowers on the picnic table for us (thanks Kathy!)

Taking shape

2007-05-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

The house is now starting to take shape.

The two dormers still need to be framed in.

The garage floor is now poured. It is so smooth I won't want to drive on it. Frank did a great job.

A look inside the home.

A shot upstairs. The ceilings will be nice and high.

Inspector Oma on the job making sure things are done right!

2nd Floor

2007-05-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you need to have a little fun. Ralph put the office on top of the shipping container. Tim is in the office reading the blueprints

The back wall is framed.

Gettine ready for the ridge beam to be installed.

Here comes the crane to do some serious lifting.

Dropping the ridge beam in place.

These are beams for the garage.

Roof trusses for the garage.

Backfill

2007-05-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

It has taken many many tonns of sand, but it is starting to look good around the house.

Ralph's new toy hard at work.

Piping installed to control the water around the house.

All cleaned up. No more small lakes around the house.

To stop theft of materials from the job site we've install lots of high-tech video serveillance cameras that don't need power.

If that doesn't keep them out, the gate should.

2nd floor

2007-05-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

The ceiling joists are in to support the second floor.

The view from our kitchen window.

The tie rods that keep the logs tight.

The sheathing for the 2nd floor is installed.

The opening in the floor is in the great room that is open to the upstairs.

Garage and water

2007-05-06T17:49:00.000-07:00

With the logs done, they got started on the garage.

Before they could go too far on the backfill, the waterline from the well had to be run to the house.

Our first service to the house.

Filling the garage

2007-05-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

It took a large crew and alot of stone to fill the garage, but they got it done in a day. I heard the crew slept well that night.

They filled it one block at a time and tamped it.

All done, ready for concrete.

Logs are done!

2007-05-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

The crew made great progress on the logs and finished it in no time. This is the east face of the house.

This is the west side.

The north face the the garage

And so it starts

2007-04-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. The weatherman predicted rain , but the sun was shining on us for most of the day...and no rain. We got lots done. My arms are sore....those logs are heavy! Here are the pictures from today.

It is starting to take shape!

Getting Ready

2007-04-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of preparation. Dry fit the first row and drill all the holes for the tie rods and electrical. Then they had to put blocking under the floor to support the tie rods.

These corners are going to look beautiful!

Apparently you have to own a Ford truck to work here.(boy was I lucky)

The logs are all laid out, ready for assembly tomorrow. All the logs are number by wall, row, and from left to right.

There are even a couple of small logs there that I think Catherine could lift. Most of the logs are pretty heavy.

The logs are HERE!!!

2007-04-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

The logs arrived today. But before they got there, Ralph was doing some backfilling around the house.

This is picture of Ralph's new toy.

Inspector Jan on the job keeping a watchfull eye on the project.

Here come the logs.

Another great day.

2007-04-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

The blockwork is now complete. The exterior of the walls have been parged and sealed.

The sonotubes are in to support the wrap-arround deck.

This is a shot of the garage. It still needs to be filled with stone and a pad poured.

We now have a subfloor!

Another shot of the garage. Our TV room will be in the gargage. Catherine kicked me out of the house.

A shot of the house through the trees. The well is in the foreground.

The house continues

2007-04-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

Though my time has been busy elsewhere, the house continues. Frank and his crew are doing a great job. Here are some pictures Ralph sent me.

Tamping the stone, getting ready for cement.

This is a shot of the media to be used for the septic bed.

Pouring the floor in the crawlspace.

Update

2007-04-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

I would first like to thank everyone for their thoughts a prayers. Everyone's support has been overwhelming. Catherine cannot believe how generous and helpfull people can be, even from people she barely knows. I have told her that she is a beautiful person and has definitely touch many people in a positive way and she deserves all the attention and support she is getting. It has truely helped , and I thank you all. Catherine is home now and very happy to be here. A week in the hospital is a week too long. She believes hospitals are for sick people. She is getting ready to start radiation treatment for the cancer in her brain. They have told her that her hair will probably fall out, but she is OK with that as she is not very fond of her current hair style. She also has cancer in her left lung and hip. They have yet to tell us the treatment plan for that. Catherine feels well and is very positive she will get through this. She still plans to live to be 100, and to live in a log house, so I had better get my butt in gear and finish the house.

Take care,
Ken

My heart aches

2007-04-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

This is not the kind of entry that I want to make into the blog , but I feel that I should, as I will not be updating it for a little while. Yesterday I rushed my wife Catherine to Joseph Brant hospital in Burlington. She has been having headaches for the past few weeks and yesterday her left arm went numb. After some testing and a cat-scan, it was reveiled that she has cancer in her brain. It was the cancer putting pressure on her brain that was causing the headaches. She is currently on medication to reduce the pressure in her brain and her headache has now subsided. Today she is undergoing further testing to look for cancer in other parts of her body. This was definitely not meant to be part of our next adventure, but we are dealing with it the best we can. Catherine is strong and has a positive attitude and determined to get through it. That is my plan too.

Take care,

Ken

Blocks

2007-04-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

What the heck is with this snow in April!!! Today was a little chilly (-3 degrees), but any day working on the house is a great day! When I arrived, the first load of blocks was already there.

The sand for the mortar arrived.

The second load of blocks ...

Frank sets the first few blocks of the wall.

It has the makings of a wall!

The 3rd load of blocks arrives...

Done for the day. Hopefully tomorrow is warmer...

Mud Bowl

2007-04-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

Today was a bit wet! It rained all night and this morning while we were taking the forms off the footings. We now also have an indoor swimming pool. The footings are now ready for block. They arrive tomorrow.

Our 911 number sign has been put up, so now people can find our place. 86 County Rd 14.

Cement

2007-04-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

The inspector came by this morning and gave us the thumbs up, so Frank order the cement (Frank is the foundation guy). By noon we were done. The forms come off tomorrow. Here are some pics from today.

This is a shot of the cement truck backing down our driveway

Frank had to "banjo" the cement in this part of the form.(don't ask me...something about a Mexican shovel...)

Almost done!

Finished!

Lets get this party started!!!

2007-04-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

We decided to install an outhouse. This will save us a ton of money, no more septic tank, tile bed, indoor plumbing. Definately the way to go. I have included a picture. She's a beauty.

Today was a great day. Not too cold and the rain didn't slow us down. All the forms are finished. Tomorrow the inspector is due in the morning. If he gives us the thumbs up we will pour the cement. It is taking shape!!!

SOLD!!

2007-03-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Our house in Burlington is SOLD! We listed it on Friday afternoon, and it sold Sunday afternoon. We did alot of work on the house getting it ready to sell; renovating a bathroom, ceramic floor, painting 5 rooms and alot of de-cluttering and rearranging furniture, but it was worth it to have it sell so quickly. Now we can focus on the next phase....building the house. I better get started because now we have a moving date ....July 6th.

The logs are done

2007-03-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

I spoke with Colonial Concepts this week and the logs have been cut and they have test assembled them. They assemble them in two halves. The top half and then the bottom half. They can't assemble the full height as they don't use any hardware to hold them in place during the test assembly. Below are some pictures of the top half.

Address

2007-03-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

We received a phone call this week and they gave us our house number. Our new address will be 86 County Rd. 14

Winter Wonderland

2007-02-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

After picking up the Building Permit, I took a trip out to the property to take some photos. This is a shot looking down part of the driveway.
Another shot of the driveway continuing down the ridge.

Looking back along the driveway. That's going to be alot of snow to shovel.
I will gladly take donations to my tractor fund!
This shot shows the area that has been cleared for the house. The septic bed is located in the back.
Future firewood. Now all I have to do is cut it and split it! (that's all)

The skidoos like the property.

The remnance of an old house foundations on the left.

Building Permit

2007-02-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

I drove out to the county yesterday to pick up our Building Permit. Very exciting! Now all we have to do is wait for this blasted cold weather to leave!

Property Location

2007-02-10T06:53:00.000-08:00

When people ask us where we are moving to, most people have no idea where Prince Edward County is. Prince Edward County is next to Belleville and Trenton. The County used to be a penninsula before the Murray Canal was built (1882 to 1889). Now to go to the County you must cross one of either 3 swing bridges, or the 2 larger bridges.

To learn more about the County, check out this link http://www.pec.on.ca/Welcome.html

This shot shows the location of our property in the County.

Our property is located on County Rd 14. As of yet we don't have a street number, but we have applied for it.

I have shaded in roughly where our property(red) is. We will be the last house on County Rd 14.

House design

2007-02-07T05:09:00.000-08:00

These are a couple of drawings of our house design.

The log home is being built by Colonial Concepts in Lindsay. It will be built in the factory and then disassembled and shipped to site. I have attached their web link so you can see their homes. http://www.colonialconcepts.com/index_noflash.html

Fall colours (Oct. 06)

2007-02-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

We took a trip out to the property to have a look at the fall colours. Here they are...

The river has slowed down.

Our own little lake. This water never seems to drain. You would think that it would drain through the limestone!

The forest down in the ravine.

WET

2007-02-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

We received a phone call from Ralph(Lil Dipper) telling us we should come have a look at the property. There has been alot of flooding in the county and our property was very wet, and right where we were going to put the house. The water you see in this photo is where the house was to built. We found a dry spot about 100 ft further into the forest and and decided the house will go there.

So, back to the driveway...make it longer! The bottom of the ridge was very wet and there was about 3ft of soil on top of the lime stone.

Twenty-two dump truck loads of stone were brought in to build the driveway up out of the wet area.

We now have a good,strong (and thick) driveway!

The house will now be located beyond the vehicle to the left.

Our driveway is now 400ft long!!(I'm gonna hate winter!)

February /06 visit

2007-02-06T16:49:00.000-08:00

We took a drive to the property in February to have another look. By this time we had already made an offer on the property. The property is 23.5 acres located on County Rd 14 in Demorestville, Prince Edward Counth.

This is a path that leads in from the east side of the property. As you can see by the vehicle tracks, locals are using it on their ATV's

This part of the property opens up. The trees were clear cut and the soil stripped off. It will be many years before it is a forest again.

Catherine is standing on the edge of the escarpment. Our property extends down the hill to the river at the bottom. There is also a nice forest down there.

I am standing on the bridge that crosses the river that edges our property. Our property is on the left of the river

This is a view of the forest down below the ridge.

The quest for water

2007-02-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

The first thing we needed to do was find water. We had a guy out to the property with his divining rods and he located 2 underground streams that crossed, so that is where he blasted. We only have a few inches of soil and then it is all limestone. He had to blast the hole twice. The well is 23 ft deep and 3 ft in diameter. On this trip we went to see how much water was in the well. This photo tells the story ...NONE!! We were nervous, but the guy who blasted wasn't. He said it may take a week or two for the water to come in. It eventually did, and now we have about 2o ft of water.

Catherine is standing beside the capped well. Her smile is forced because we have no water in our well.

We had to clear the forest and make our driveway longer so the well company could get their equipment in to blast the hole. Our driveway now is about 300 ft long (alot to shovel in the winter). Our plan is to locate the house in the forest on the right side of the driveway looking at this photo.

Driveway

2007-02-01T04:45:00.000-08:00

The first thing we had to do was make a driveway. This is a shot as the forest is being cleared. Ralph from Lil Dipper Excavating did a great job.

This part of the driveway extends from the road back about 200 feet to a small ridge that drops approx. 10 ft. The house will be located below the ridge.

Levelling off the stone.

This is a shot from the finished driveway looking back at the street.

The finished driveway from the street. It has a nice curve to it so you cannot see in to the property from the road (Ralph's idea).