Category: Home Fires

So the hope of having all the vehicles happy has been dashed. I sit in the coffee shop waiting for the verdict on the truck, which is STILL leaking coolant. I really really hope this is a silly little thing like a hose clamp that didn’t get tightened enough.

(Update: nope. It’s rat damage. Little bastards)

Fully retirement mode has been a bit of a slow start. I find that I am not too motivated to do much. I am tired, although that is getting a bit better the last few days as I try to get a longer sleep. My plan to get the trailer up onto the driveway hasn’t progressed very far. I still need to move the car shelter and straighten out the lumber stash so I can move the boards currently sitting in the car shelter to the their proper home in the shelter by the garden.

BaBoo’s surgery recovery is keeping me occupied. She is not allowed to lift anything heavier than a dish rag (Dr’s words) for 6 weeks. That leaves me as Dobby the house elf for now.

October rains are beginning now and the weather is cooling. I figure I will need to winterize the yard in the next two or three weeks. Empty the flower pots, blow out the water lines, do a fall lawn cut. I should weed the driveway too. The focus on closing out all the work projects really resulting in a lot of yard work being ignored.

For now though it’s been a lot of ball game watching (Go Blue Jays! ).

Getting very close now!.

The carport is complete!

One more project to finish and I’ll be done and officially retired. By the end of the week if all goes to plan. Can’t wait. Just in time to start the fall yard clean up tasks.

Well, I’ve had enough.

It’s been nine years since I started to do handyman work after moving here. I have learned so much in that time, I really have to say a huge thanks to Sean for all the things he taught me.

In that time I have met some great people. I feel blessed to be able to call some of my clients friends as well, relationships that will outlive my working life.

Yet the time has come to hang up the tool belt and empty the Schneider ring, returning the keys people have entrusted to me. For the past couple of years I have come home at the end of the day to see the state of things on my own property, half started projects and deferred maintenance items. These things have begun to weigh on me, making a not insignificant impact on my peace of mind.

I look at the hobby supplies I have collected in the last ten years and sigh. So many things I wanted to do and so few tried. So the time has come. By the end of summer I will take down my shingle and retire for the second time.

Did I save enough to put up a workshop? Nope. But I did buy two vehicles, two purebred dogs, a LOT of tools, a greenhouse, hundreds of feet of fencing, new furniture. In short, lots of things that will be good for the home and family, just not for my hobbying. Not sure what I will do about that now, still scratching my head. I do have the rented workshop still, and there is always the driveway. Maybe I can move the enclosed trailer up to the house and convert it to a workspace in conjunction with the shed.

So looking forward to the days ahead

Hey.

It’s been a while eh?

I had to go back and look to see what the last thing I posted was. Canceled travel plans I see. So let’s see where we are…

Travel is rebooked for the spring, and we will be flying. Fingers crossed. The off grid bathroom is 90% done, just the vanity and sink left. This could have been done by now but choosing a sink turned out to be a 2 month exercise. I didn’t mind although we’ve lost our weather now so I will have to move construction of the vanity to the workshop so I can apply finish.

Building reno client either changed her mind or didn’t like my price and went away. Car shelter up.

I think that catches us up. New business: I have a referral client who has a lot of work for me. Tore out a wall and moved another one in his house to create a new music studio space for him. He is a creator and producer of meditative zen music. Lots of recording equipment, lots of instruments, lots of sound control on the walls. In the new year he wants a bathroom and a kitchen reno. Yay for indoor winter work!

December will close out doing what I think will be my last fence. They are just too much work. Setting posts in rock and humping around a few thousand pounds of concrete bags is a younger man’s game.

On the home front we survived another multi-day power outage. We are now ready to spend some money to up our backup power game. Definitely going to do a transfer panel and external hook up to back up generator. The remaining question is a larger gas generator in the 7-10,000W range or a whole home Generac solution. Either way it will be more than a few thousand dollars. Maybe I need to do another couple fences 🙄.

Mail strike is complicating gift for Christmas. We will courier some but will be e-transferring more cash gifts than usual. Our preference is always a physical gift, personally wrapped and mailed. Might cost more especially with double shipping in some cases but it feels better to us. More Christmassy.

My poor truck continues to have issues. I fact I’m sitting in the shop waiting room as I type this while they figure out why I still have belt squeal. Immediate reason is a belt with something on it. Root cause TDB. Why do I still get oil or some other bodily fluid on my belt? The belt is going to be warranty. Not sure what else they will say. If they say main seal we will have words, since I brought is in a couple months ago to have it done and they said oh no, not required, but here are other seals/gaskets that are leaking.

Lights and tree going up this weekend. I’ll post a pic.

TTFN

The trip to see the kids and attend the wedding is off. We are learning to live with the uncertainties of aged related health issues and climate change related travel complications.

It was our intention to drive this time as each of the last three times we flew we caught some kind of virus and spent weeks hacking and snuffling afterwords. The gong show that is the domestic airline business also makes me prefer driving.

In order to make the trip we need to go through the interior, which for the last several years has either been underwater after atmospheric river events or burning down with forest fires exacerbated by record heat and pine beetle caused die off. Whether or not the roads are open has become a bit of a crap shoot.

Not that you can’t get through if you wanted to. The only time there was no actual route was when the roads were washed out after flooding. The fires just add to the uncertainly of our travel plans. The straw which made us decide to not go was health related this time. When you wait 18 months for a test you don’t just cancel the appointment haphazardly.

Instead I have started two new client projects. First an off grid bathroom with outdoor shower and then renovate an off grid A frame cabin. Same client, which is nice. No hard deadlines, which is nicer!

Additional projects continue to fall in my lap as well. I met the new neighbour the other day and he has a few things on the property he asked me to look at. Re-standing a collapsed (a.k.a rotted out) arbor and sketchy deck rails.

The other day I was loading up tools from the workshop and a random walker stopped and ask if I could come look at her project. Turning a 16×24 foot unfinished outbuilding into a guest/studio space. The estimate I sent last night came to $20K. If she decides to give me the work, in addition to the other stuff on the list, will probably book out the remaining calendar space until the end of the year.

Somewhere in there I need to find time to put new metal roofing on my two sheds and rebuild the car shelter. Rains will start in a few weeks and I want three BMW under a roof by then.

The garden is winding down, maybe a few beans left to pick this weekend then we wait for the squash and potatoes to be ready. Good thing too as I suspect the cisterns are getting low. Might see an inch of rain this weekend, fingers crossed.

I’ve been trying to knock a bunch of things off the job list before we head east for a couple weeks. Made pretty good progress too, with only one small job left to do before I can either work in the yard for a couple weeks or start the next major job. I spoke with that client a couple days ago and she’s not totally convinced to go ahead yet, so maybe I get some time to do my own thing soon