Day off
I like it!
Shed doors going up. So glad we decided metal frames and barn boards.
Sunny Days
It must be July.
Thirty plus temperatures, packed village parking lot and long ferry lines are once again harbingers of the return of summer and our thousands of seasonal visitors.
This means the end of any rainfall for the next three months. We entered shutdown mode for construction two days ago and fire bans are in place. So naturally we have already had our first fire department response to a campfire that got out of control. It is just insane that anyone would even think about lighting a fire when the forest is so dry. Sad to think about. I’ve lost one home to forest fire and really don’t want to lose a second.
On the work front I have a few projects I am moving along. New flooring and a fresh coat of paint for a guest bedroom, sliding barn doors for a large storage shed and managed to sneak in one last lawn mowing for someone just under the wire before shutdown made that not possible.
I’m not sure if I will start any new work projects before the fall. I have enough in my own yard to work on without adding to the list. I still have three of four weeks of client work in cold storage so if I change my mind I can always from something to work on.
Homestead chores
It has been a wet early summer for us. May and June saw more rain than I think we have had during that period than any of the years since we moved here. Not complaining, I think it is a wonderful and very welcome change from the drought like conditions of the previous several summers.
The rain has aided in my quest to do less paid work and more work for myself on the property. Good thing, because there is an endless list of things to do.
The garden
Our tomato starts were the best we have ever grown. Nice big stalky plants. Carefully babied and planted later so they don’t get cold shock and stop growing for weeks (ref: every other year we tried ☹️).
We started almost 100 plants and I think I planted 75 which is a ridiculous number of tomato plants for us. We will see in a few weeks whether we get a crop off. Stay tuned.
Also put a new rhodo in the yard and two new blueberry bushes that as of a couple days ago had a nice little crop of berries forming. Yay! The Saskatoon bushes have never bloomed in 5 years so fingers crossed for the blueberries.
Deck and tree fall cleanup
Most of the damage from the January tree fall was cleaned up a couple months ago but this week I finally got around to moving the shed deck. This move, from the side of the shed to the front (door side) allows what we hope will be better parking for the fleet.
Moving wasn’t too hard either. My little electric Warn winch and some tow straps and a couple opportune tree trunks together with a collection of spare 2×6’s and it moved reasonably easy.
Firewood
I’ve managed to split half of the rounds stacked in the yard from the last couple of trees that came down. I figure another day and I’ll be done the rest and I can start to haul it over to the mother inlaw’s .
Trailer(s)
After a couple years being embarrassed at the state of my enclosed trailer I finally got around to working on it. I installed the two extra vents to hopefully get a better handle on the condensation problems it has. Nice because I bought them two years ago.
As part of that exercise I completely reorganized the inside. Much much better. So much so that I think I could use it as a mini workshop and not just a cold storage place for seldom use tools. All I have to do is figure out how to get power to it, or how to fit it up by the house. Unfortunately those are both difficult to solve right now. I either have 1) not enough money to trench a power line or 2) too many vehicles sitting on the driveway.
That other trailer which we will call Peter needs a new deck. A new deck means I will need to do from frame straightening as well because the existing deck has quite the bow in it. Someone in Peter’s past really overloaded the poor guy. I haven’t started this work yet but it is floating higher up in the to do list.
Landscape steps
After a year hiatus work on the landscape steps has restarted. I had hoped to be farther along this weekend but once again the rain chased me indoors and I had to settle with watching sports on TV.
Let there be light
I was asked by a client a year ago to add a window to her home. Initially I said sure and wasn’t too concerned about it but as time went on I became less and less enamoured of doing the job.
It was delayed for a variety of reasons. Some health issue for me, some weather (didn’t want to open up a wall in the rainy season), and some workload.
I finally got around to it this week. She is a sweetheart and I didn’t want to back out after saying yes to it.
Cool lighting idea
I had cause to spend a few days going to the medical day care ward at our local hospital over the last couple weeks. A stubborn infection that did not respond to the first round of antibiotics meant IV treatment for a few days. Thankfully I got the all clear signal at my last appointment and hopefully that it is all behind me now.
In the hall at the clinic I saw this…
In each of the ceiling lights they have a different image of the sky. Sometimes there are trees or birds. You may have seen these before but this is the first and only time I have seen it. The effect makes the lights look like a skylight. Pretty neat, and a very welcome sight in a hospital where all the good feelings you can provide a great idea.
Wooden Propeller?
Saw this on the beach this weekend. Pretty cool I think.
Calluses
Sometimes I think you spend your life
Defined by calluses
As a child your skin is thin; you feel everything sharply
Pain is close to the surface
You age and the rough abrasions of experiences begin
To thicken your skin and you develop the first callus
You can moderate the world’s impact
By mid life you have grown a coarse bark that protects you
Age reduces your ability to repair the damage
Your shield weakens and the bark thins
Calluses wear away.
In old age once again you feel sharply.
Sadness and tears come easier, unexpected and unbidden.
My calluses are thinning
Winter has been hard
The world connected with some good punches
I needed a rest
Back soon I hope
Project Interuptus
My shed build was paused a couple weeks to fit in two client projects that have been on the list for months. First is the fifth and sixth fence of the year. It was originally only the fifth fence until the neighbour saw us there.
We’ve done wood privacy fences, wire deer fence, mesh deer fence and cedar slat fence. This time it will be a combination of three different ones.
Thankfully no 4” pencil posts on this job. I’ve had enough solo pounding those with a 40 lb post pounder. A complication is bedrock six inches down in some places. We also have ground water problems for the privacy fence. It will be another job where we have to pour piers for some posts.
Second project (third?) is a rustic storage shed. Simple three walled on a slab with sliding barn doors. The marsh right behind the shed made for an interesting couple days. Barn doors will have to wait until the new year.
Sheds of all sizes
Two shed projects started this week. A little one for a friend’s generator and a big one for me. Thankfully I have help.
Not help with the actual building. Oh no, don’t think that. These guys are more managerial. They lean toward the supervisory roles.
I figured I would start with the large shed floor. That would give me a nice level spot to build the little one. Maggie was excellent at quality control and made sure the layout looked correct.
Once I got going Grey settled in to his new role as site safety officer. He was very observant!
You may recognize the pieces laying around in the background. The large shed will be the salvaged one I got a while back. It’s been stacked in the yard waiting for me to finish my last fencing job. Now I need to stand it up before the snow flies.
Freezing weather is also the timeline for the little shed. Its purpose is to house a small genny that will be used to power a heat lamp hanging over a water pump. Only needed in cold days AND when the power goes out.
Unfortunately Grey gave in to his dark side. We caught him in the act taking material from the site. Maybe he has plans for a doghouse?
These two projects are being done over the course of a couple weeks. I do it in between other client work. I am really happy too be getting both done. My mind will rest a lot easier.
After putting the gen shed in place we have decided to replace the metal roofing. I used some salvage stuff I had but she has some nicer stuff leftover from the pump house roof. I should have known, since I also built the pump house!
Lifting the walls up single handed was a bit of a grunt, especially the back wall. It’s heavier than you would think. Even heavier yet considering Maggie the building inspector insisted on climbing on it like a goat while I was moving it into place.
My Elysium 