Author: Mike

Hi everyone, Mike here.

It seems that its been a while since we posted here.

A long while. According to this blog, poor Leah has been painting that door for nearly two years!!

In truth, that door has long since been painted; we’ve been so busy doing things, some fun, some not fun at all, that we just sort of neglected to write about the stuff.

Ok so, lets see..last post was in September 2013.

October saw us ramping up preparations for our first house concert. Aside from finishing up a few light reno/upgrades, the big thing was cleaning. How do two people with full time day jobs clean a giant church? Every day, for a week, that’s how. Some of the fixtures presented challenges:

I also got to design and install our sound system, which was pretty fun. I used an old A/V cart that was left behind and modified it to hold the front of house system. I also set it up so it can be wheeled all around the sanctuary, so its easy to use for recording and practicing too!

So on a cool November evening, after much prep, and even more worrying and fretting, we welcomed Karyn Ellis and Kim Beggs for our first concert. I don’t believe I have ever taken on a project as big as this whole “lets live in a church thing”, but I also have never experienced the the payoff of seeing the fruits of our labour so intensely. Every cursed stroke of a paint roller and bruised thumb from a poorly aimed hammer evaporated instantly once the music started.

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So, having passed the hurdle of hosting our first concert, we began working on the next 4. At the same time we began what would be a very difficult year.

In the spring of 2014, my father was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and had been undergoing treatment. We received word in March of 2015 that his condition was terminal and we would only have a matter of months with him.

During this time, and between weekly trips to and from Sudbury to visit my family, we were able to host Brian MacMillan and Scott Cook. Two of my favorite songwriters, performing in our house. If that’s not comforting at a time it was needed, I don’t know what is. You may remember from the last post (the one from two years ago) that I recorded a short video of me playing one of Scott’s songs (easily one of my favorite songs of all time). I have also been playing with recording the audio from the concerts, mainly as a way to stream it online so my family up north could take part. I haven’t had a chance to do a whole lot with the recordings yet, but you never know. I did however get to put this together with some pictures of the concert:

Despite my father being stronger than I could ever imagine, he lost his fight on June 4th, 2015, with his family by his side. I knew he was in pain, but he never complained, he just wanted more time.

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During the crazy months driving back and forth to Sudbury, we did have some other excitement. We had an unexpected house guest, who decided to move into the ceiling. Squirrels can be cute, from far away, and definitely not when they are chewing their way into your house higher up than any ladder you own. We had to hire a pest control company to come and convince them to move, but it seems to have worked.

The other exciting thing that happened was Leah and I got a little camper. A vintage 1972 Serro Scotty Gaucho. It’s has some quirks, but we love it. We aren’t really the giant camper types, but its nice to have something that will fit in a parking space, and the table is big enough for some rainy day boardgames. This is going to be our home for a few weeks this summer for sure.

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After losing my father, we were in need of some musical therapy. Luckily we didn’t have to wait long. Aside from a busy season of festivals, we still had three concerts to go in our own house before winter took hold again.

We started in late June with a great concert from our friends Shawna Caspi and Allison Brown. We learned a valuable lesson about scheduling and long weekends. Despite a relatively light crowd, we got a great intimate show. Followed by a wonderful day at the beach!!

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A couple of months later we welcomed our friends Karen Morand and Manitoba Hal. We did some touring with Hal on the east cost a few years ago, so we were looking forward to hosting him in our house. The life of a touring musician being what it is, Hal was working his way back from British Colombia on the train, which, due to a derailment out west, was not running on time. Not to worry, Karen played a little longer, we had a nice meet and greet, and just in the nick of time, Hal came roaring in, plugged in his pedalboard, and before catching his breath, played one of the best sets I think I’ve ever seen. Sometimes that’s the thing about stress, if you can focus that energy just right, it can make for amazing results.

For our last concert of 2014, we snagged Gathering Sparks, essentially a supergroup with Sam Turton, Jane Lewis and Eve Goldberg. Between the three of them, there are more than enough songs and talent to make a whole season of concerts. It still amazes me that we get to host performers of this caliber in our own home. The joy we get sharing it with our friends and neighbours, and the satisfaction of giving the performers a positive experience, makes all the hard work worth it.

With our last concert of 2014 completed, we went back to focusing on our normal day to day. My mother is moving down to SW Ontario, so we spent the winter looking after her new home. Lots of board games and hot chocolate during the cold winter months .

Oh and music, more music too. Leah spent most of the winter planning and writing and planning some more, and in a few weeks will be recording her second album, right in our own house!! This is another of the dreams we had when we started this adventure, and to feel it coming to fruition is wonderful.

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Aside from Leahs upcoming album, Manitoba Hal stopped by for a few weeks in March, and spent some time with a recording setup upstairs.

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The music in this video is the result of some of these sessions.

Also, I’m learning to fly.

 

So that’s about it. Sorry for the long post, but its been two busy years, hopefully we’ll be able to update more frequently.

In the meantime, look at this page, it seems relevant too!!

 

Mike

 

 

Hi everybody, Mike here. Looks like it has been a while since an update. We are starting to get settled in, and it is really starting to feel like home. One of the drawbacks to this, is that after a full day at the day job, we don’t tend to do as much when we get home (the living room is very comfortable). That being said, the last month and a half have still managed to be extremely busy. I built a shed, then performed hurricane repairs the next day. We had some friends over to use the kitchen like it is supposed to be. We finally had our open house, and we also had a wonderful housewarming party (followed by a parade the next day!).

Halloween

I’m not big on Halloween. It’s not that I have anything against it, I just find I get busy and it sneaks up and I’m scrambling to figure out a costume. Leah, on the other hand LOVES Halloween. We have a whole Rubbermaid storage bin full of costumes and accessories. Living in the city we never got any kids trick or treating. Partially due to the neighborhood, and as we were on a side street. However this year, Leah was very excited by the prospect of handing out candy. She got dressed up and when she saw a group turning down the street she would jump and wave and call them over. There were a lot of people who didn’t know someone lived here now, or didn’t think we would be handing out candy. We ended up getting 39 kids, hopefully next year it isn’t raining.

The Shed

So the shed was supposed to be a two day project done by two people (according to the manual). It ended up being a month and a half project done mostly by me. I’m not entirely convinced it is more cost effective to go with the kits, having done it. I may have been further ahead to just buy some lumber and a table saw. Cause then I’d have a shed and a table saw (and probably more money). The kit gives you most of the wood you need to build the shed. You need to buy whatever you are using for the floor system, plus the floor panels, plus the shingles. Plus more nails. Plus more wood if you want it to be able to hold something heavy (like a motorbike). Plus more nails again. All money frustration aside, I think it was a good experience. I learned a lot about building things. Slivers hurt. Don’t do roofing at night. Most importantly I learned why it is important to MAKE SURE the floor is square before continuing. It is the kind of issue you don’t see the consequences of until the last roof panel does not fit, and you are too far ahead to take the whole thing apart and start over. I also learned that those fancy looking shingles are really just a cash cow, cause you have to buy three different kinds of shingles to get the job done, rather than normal three tab shingles that you can complete a whole roof with. The day I finished putting the shingles on, Hurricane Sandy blew through and decided that it didn’t like how I did the top three rows, so it took those off for me. Oh well, I know now for the next shed I build. It is done now, and our gardening stuff, bicycles and Leah’s motorcycle all fit comfortably. It still needs to get painted but that will happen next Spring.

Art!

When Leah and I set the deadline for our open house, we had to get on hanging the art. After much research, we decided to go with a gallery art hanging system from ashanging.com. I’ve used this hanging system several times when helping setup for the Visual Fringe show every year at The Arts Project in London. It uses an aluminium rail, and aircraft wire hangs from it. You attach a special hook to the wire and that’s how you hang your picture. It’s nice as you can have unlimited configurations for your art, and it doesn’t cause a bunch of holes in the wall. It took a couple of days to get it installed, but it looks great. I had to get several prints replaced that had sold, but we got our Fringe displays from the last two years hung. We also got a large china cabinet, and Leah is using it to display her fibre art, as well has hanging several of her pieces. We also put the art up in the living room, a combination of ours and other artists we know. As an early Christmas present for Leah, I ordered a large canvas print of a picture I took at the French River, and we hung it over the fireplace.

Giving The Kitchen A Proper Test Drive

Our friends, Lionel and Juanita, came over to help us put the storm windows up in the sanctuary before the winter hit full force. They actually went up a lot easier than I thought they would, though working on a 20 foot stepladder while holding a ten foot tall window is somewhat nerve wracking. After we finished the windows, we all went to the kitchen where Lionel showed us how to prepare Gnocchi from scratch (Leah also made some amazing bread sticks ). It may have been the most fun I’ve had cooking. Having a kitchen where four people can work comfortably really helps.

The Front Staircase

As we got closer to the open house, we decided we had to get the painting done in the front staircase. It was a bigger job than I had thought it would be. The staircase itself is rather big, I’ve had bedrooms smaller than the landings. Even though I have done A LOT of painting over the last few months, I like it about as much as when we first started. I have gotten better at it, I suppose. The hard part with this space was not having scaffolding. There were areas we couldn’t get to with a ladder, but we did our best, and I think it turned out ok.

The Open House!

So finally we were ready to show off the place to our friends and neighbours. We put a flyer at our mailbox, and told people from work, as well as the folks who used to attend church here. We got up at 7AM and did some finishing touches, cleaning up and sweeping and laying out snacks. People started showing up promptly at 1PM, and continued till around 4. We had in total about 75 people through the place. It got so crazy that people who had attended here were helping by showing other people through the building. We got a lot of positive feedback on our work, especially from people of the congregation. It was very important to us that we treat the building with respect, and we wanted to keep the heritage of the building intact. We were glad that they thought we had done so.

Later that evening , we had about 35 or so friends come by and had a wonderful housewarming party. As we showed people through the house, it became something of a kitchen party, with several of our friends from different circles meeting and getting to know each other. At one point some people went upstairs to start jamming, and when we followed we were met with the most wonderful sound. Cresting the stairs to hear the place filled with music is probably going to be one of my favourite memories for a long time. It seems that everyone had a good time, I know we certainly did.

Note – the day was so crazy that I completely forgot to take enough pictures – so imagine the pictures of the room, but full of people!

The next day we walked out into our front yard to watch the Annual Fingal Santa Claus Parade. Apparently the parade used to start in our parking lot, but this year they started it in the municipal office lot (we would have been cool with it starting here, who wouldn’t want a parade to start in their yard?).

Well as we go into Christmas , hopefully we find the time to update more often, thanks for continuing to check in and see how things are going!

 

 

 

 

 

OK so at some point I’ll stop making excuses for not posting more often. I’m not saying I’ll post more often, I’ll just stop making excuses.

The last three weeks has seen a lot done, but one of the most noticeable things, at least from my perspective, is that we can find time to sit and relax. For the first month of the project, we were working almost 18 hours a day, counting the day jobs. Days start to fade into one another when you don’t take some time to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Now that the “must-finish” items are moving off the list, we can get home, work for a while on a given project, and then start to feel at home. Watch some tv, play some video games, make some music, work on pictures. We even found time to go out of town and photograph Eaglewood Folk Festival (see pics here). The flip side of that is I forget what got done when, and am stuck going back to my photo record, which gets sparser as things get done. Not much point in taking a picture when all that got done is the floors getting washed (that’s actually a massive project, there is A LOT of floor). Its not like a new wall went up.

Anyhow, I’ll try and recap as best as I can.

Living Room: When last we talked about it we had temporarily hooked up the TV and surround sound. The TV has now takes its rightful place on the wall, soon to have its cabling concealed. We got a nice little rug for in front of the couch. Oh, and we got our new leather couch. I can say easily that it is the nicest couch I have ever owned. It is comfortable, sturdy, and the reclining is motorized, so it can be set to any amount of recline you would like. Turn on the fireplace, dim the lights, and it is a welcome retreat after a long day. We moved the old couch to the sitting area of the living room, and it looks good there too.

Dining Room: Painting is done. Mostly. I spent a weekend and did a few coats across the whole room, and it looks very good. A bit of touching up, and cleaning up some blotchy areas on the ceiling left to do as well as painting the trim. Once that is done, we can start to clear up the protective plastic, and make it less of a construction site.

Laundry room: Is now a laundry room! We installed the stacking front loading washer/dryer and once again we can have clean clothes, without a trip to a laundromat. Much nicer.

Bathroom: this is definitely the focal point of the work. Dan and Shelley came back several times, and helped us get the tile put down in the whole room, as well as grouting, and then caulking everything. It looks great. Just have to put baseboards in. We also have a toilet and working sink. And as for the centerpiece, we have a working tub!! The unfortunate hole has been repaired, and you can’t even tell it was ever there. The jets all function, and water only leaves by its intended route. Once we seal the grout we can start bringing in furniture and decorations, Leah tried out a couple things and this is gonna be a nice room.

That’s all I can think of for now. I have the feeling like I’m forgetting something, but I can’t seem to think of what.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m glad I’m getting these updates done. However I should put a disclaimer here, I am pretty tired. I think these sentences are making sense, but for all I know it’s a random bunch of letters going up here. But I suppose if that’s the case, than you can’t understand this disclaimer. So there’s that.

Week six. This was a very, very important week. We passed a major milestone, and I can pretty safely say, that in the 133 year history of this building, it was a first.

Ladies and gentleman, we have a working shower. That’s right, the bathroom floor may, as of this posting, still be plywood, but there is a handle, and when you turn it, water comes out, and then goes into a hole in the floor. It’s amazing how important the simple things are to just feeling comfortable.

Anyway, lots of other stuff happened too. Another big one is that this week is technically the last week of contractors. Pretty much everything from now on, other than a few last-minute items, is up to Leah and myself, and anybody good enough to help us.

So I already mentioned the shower. Leah and I applied the grout after my parents left. It was our first time grouting. For those planning a project, I do not recommend learning how to grout on a wall. It is not fun. Or clean. Or calming. It does however, look pretty good, considering the mess we made. The next day they tried to install the shower handle, but found that the box was missing a major piece. We had bought the faucet set in a clearance section, but it looked like everything was there.WE took a drive to Rona and they were nice enough to provide a replacement part.

When we returned, we were happy to see that the part fit. But we also noticed that it was missing the two screws required to install it. I went on a treasure hunt through our many, many piles of screws, and managed to find a screw with the right thread, but it was too long. I cut off the excess, and promptly dropped it into the drain. Seriously. Don’t cut small things over a drain, should be taught right after measure twice, cut one. It should probably be common sense, that’s more likely. Anyway, another treasure hunt and I found another one that fit. I think it was from the old furnaces, and it will be one of the few things that still had the original shade of pink on it on the house. Got the handle installed, and tested the water.

The next day we came home to find the glass installed, and it looks great. We were a little nervous that the design of the shower would not keep the water in, but after using it, it does a fine job.

In other plumbing news, we also have an outside hose, which has made cleaning and prepping painting and tiling a million times easier. Which reminds me, I also primed and painted the whole bathroom. I almost forgot about that. That happened before the shower glass went up.

Another exciting thing to come home to was the electrical work being completed. We ran around like kids turning lights on and off. After a few days coming home to bad news, it was refreshing to feel excited about what got done. With the electrical being done, it wasn’t long till the tv and entertainment stuff made its way downstairs. Not that we have much time to sit and watch tv, but its nice to know it’s there.

The living room and bedroom taking shape has been a major inspiration to keep working. Doorknobs have been installed, the pocket door is in, trim is mounted. It is really starting to feel like home. We also got some of the displaced appliances out of the kitchen, putting one into a utility closet Leah tiled.

Speaking of tile. Since my parents were not able to help with the tile on their visit, Dan and Shelley once again have earned our gratitude, coming over several times to help. The first trip ended without much getting done, as we discovered a problem in the bathtub box that would have likely caused tiles to crack. After that was fixed they returned and over the next couple evenings, we have gotten the bathtub box tiled. We still have to grout (tomorrow) and tile the floor, but it is going pretty smooth.

Again, Dan & Shelley, you guys are awesome.

So this weekend Leah and I are planning on painting the dining room, grouting the bathtub, and getting some stuff organized. Once the dining room is painted, we can hopefully take a break from rollers and brushes for a bit. There is still much to paint, but other things need to get done before that.

Sorry again for not posting more, I’ll try to keep on top of it better.

 

 

 

 

See, I told you I’d eventually get to updating! We have literally been working on the place every spare moment we have, and by the time we are done, I have been far too wiped to even think about writing.

Since I havent been able to update daily, the pictures have built up quite a bit, but the daily excitement (or frustration) has had some time to dwindle down, as the next days excitement (or frustration) takes it place. What I do know is that we have gotten an enormous amount done.

We started the week with a setback. On any construction site there are bound to be mishaps. Unfortunately, our involved our new tub. During the installation, somehow a screw managed to puncture the bottom. Since it was a special order tub, it’s not like we could just go get one off the shelf. We are told it can be fixed, and are anxious to see that sorted out. The next day,  Leah’s brother Dan came back and sprayed the living room and bedroom with primer. We got it all prepped and he got the whole thing done fast. The next morning it was surreal, since everything in the room was the same shade of white. Later Shelley came with some helpers and put a few coats of blue on and got the ceiling pretty much done too. Shelley also mowed the lawn. Dan and Shelley are Awesome.

Outside, they started getting the siding in place, and it makes a big difference, rather than looking like a shed it is starting to look like a house.

After letting the paint dry, we were excited to get our bedroom stuff setup. We got the floor scraped and washed and not long after we were moved into our new bedroom! It was a great feeling to be sleeping in our own bed, let alone not be sleeping on an air mattress.

The other reason it was good to not be sleeping in the air mattress, was that we needed to free it up for company! My parents came down to spend the long weekend helping us get stuff done, and did they ever! The original plan was to have them come down and get the tiling done, but since the bathtub was damaged, we couldn’t do that. We decided that just the shower stall would get tiled this weekend, and we’d find other stuff to do.

We ran into a setback that required the shower base to be removed and reinstalled, but after that my mom was able to get the tile on and it looks great. She also took the pink support posts and transformed them into majestic marble pillars, with elements of colour from the rooms they are in. They look amazing, and I think they will be a centre piece for years to come.

My dad an I got a majority of the lighting installed, as well as reinstalling the shower base, which took the better part of a day. Having an electrician for a dad is very handy. Leah and I were having trouble getting the lighting fixtures for the dining room to, well, stay on the ceiling. They are somewhat heavier than the ones that were there.

After my parents returned home, I got the closet systems installed. We bought two kits from home depot and they are great. I haven’t had a proper dresser in a ling time, so this is new for me.

That’s about all I can remember for week 5. I’m going to try and get the update for this last week done now too, so stay tuned.

 

 

Sorry again. I haven’t been updating frequently as I should. We have been working like mad. My parents came down for the long weekend to help paint. We also now have a bedroom and a tiled shower! Anyhow, I promise I’ll have a proper update soon, I just need to stop working for a few minutes!

I have to apologize for not posting more. It has been very difficult to find the time, as this last week we were in the process of emptying the apartment, and finally moving into our new home. This hectic schedule means I have a camera full of pictures, but haven’t had a chance to even upload them to my computer, let alone sit down and write a post.

So I also have to apologize for the lack of pictures in this post too, I guess. Cause right now, there aren’t any.

That being said, there has been some great progress over the last 5 days. On Thursday night Leah and I stayed at the church till 2AM, priming and then painting the box for our fireplace, so it would be ready for delivery the next day. Leah was there to see them put it in and said it went well. It looks great, even without the mantle, which we will be adding after all the other construction is completed. We turned it on, and are very happy with it. It will be very nice to have in the winter, and makes a great centerpiece for the living room.

In the bathroom, they have completed the insulation and drywall is going up. It looks like it will be pretty comfortable. The base for the shower stall is in, but they still have to build the box for the tub. I had some plumbing adventures of my own over the last few days, as I tried to diagnose and repair the toilet in the other bath room. I am not a fan of plumbing.

The bedroom and living room drywall is almost completed and as I write this, I think they are sanding it, so we might be able to start painting soon! Having those rooms completed will be a huge milestone, as we can start to empty the upstairs and get furniture delivered.

The other big milestone is that as of yesterday, we are completely moved in! We turned in the keys to our transitional apartment, and have spent the last two nights, albeit on the floor of the office on an air mattress. Our bedroom set, though in the building, is covered with a tarp until the drywall and painting is done.

It is such a relief to not be living in two places anymore. There is nothing more frustrating then looking for something only to realize it is at the other house, then having to plan a trip to get it, only to realize something you need for that place is back at the first place. Plus the trip ever goes as planned, and you usually end up spending an extra hour or two on something you weren’t expecting. Now that we are completely in the church, we can head straight there after work, and hopefully get a quicker start. We have also had two successful commutes into work, and it takes exactly as long as we were expecting, barring some big traffic problem.

Anyway, that’s all I can think of for now, when we left this morning there was a pile of new siding, so maybe the outside will have a new look to it when we get back.

UPDATE – I found time, here’s a few pics:

Mike here again from the office in Fingal. We’ve had another busy week so far of day job followed by getting as much done as we can on the church. I have been heading home at 4:30, throwing as much stuff as I can into the van, then picking up Leah at 5 and of to the church. Leah has done a bunch more sorting the kitchen, and it is really starting to feel like home. Some of our food has even made the journey!

Construction wise, it’s tough to list progress on a day by day basis, so I’ll try splitting it into parts of the project:

The Bathroom Extension

The bathroom extension is really coming along now. For a while it felt like it was slowing down, mostly because we aren’t there to see all the work going into it; I imagine there is a lot that goes into framing an external addition that I don’t know about. We have now got a full set of shingles on the roof, as well as the plumbing roughed in for our new bathtub and shower (can’t wait can’t wait can’t wait!). The electrical is roughed in as well, and the whole space has been insulated. There is also an attic door that wasn’t there before, plus the bathroom fan now vents outside, rather than into said attic.

The Dining Room

After our adventure in spraying the ceiling with paint last week, Leah and I finished priming most of the walls we could. After a trip to Home Depot for some very heavy buckets (barrels is more like it!) of paint, we also got a first coat of colour on the east wall. It went very well. I think I may be finding my groove with this painting game. Just in time too, there’s plenty left to paint. We did what we could, but stopped short of where the old furnace had been removed from, as it needed drywall to be completed, which as of today has been completed, so we will likely finish this room up soon. We also have to prime the new wall, which we will likely use the sprayer for, as it is very, very fast.

The Living Room

A lot of drywall has gone up in here this week. They framed in the dropped ceiling, and have the drywall and mudding done on half of it, as well as the mudding and drywall on all the walls and the fireplace. Just needs to be sanded, and we are ready to paint here too. Good thing, cause they are coming to install the rest of the fireplace in a few days!

Plumbing

In addition to the plumbing for the bathroom being roughed in, we also had some plumbing added to get to the new laundry room. After a couple days with no drainage hooked up, it was a relief to be able to wash dished and use our new air conditioners without having to empty a bucket several times a day. I think the washer and dryer set we picked out will fit in nicely in this room.

That’s all I can think of for now, but I’m sure I’m forgetting something. The last month has been a surreal whirlwind of activity, and living in two places is starting to get old to say the least. But we should be able to really call this place home soon. Not that that means the work will be done, but it will mean a shorter walk to the bed at the end of a long day!

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Hello again! Mike here writing this post from our new office! Leah is up in her fenced off desk area (she prefers “raised office area”). I’m watching a Ray Charles concert DVD (yay for unpacking and finding things I forgot I had!) and Leah is looking at colour swatches. She is making me nervous.

Sorry about the lack of posting in the last few days. Our internet connection was moved to the church at the beginning of the week, but we were still living at the apartment. In addition we are back in full swing to our 9-5 day jobs, and by the time we get here all the contractors have left, so we have to piece together what got done by what looks different, which isnt always an indicator of everything that happened.

Even though we only had a few hours a day to work, we still got a lot done.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Leah’s Brother Dan and his wife Shelley came out and helped us both paint the ceiling in the dining room and sort out the amazing amount of dishes that were left here.

I helped Dan mostly, and unfortunately there aren’t any pictures yet of the sprayer in action. If you had seen us after we were done, you would understand why, spraying a ceiling means a lot of paint everywhere else too. I didn’t want to get any in my camera.

Despite the large amount of prep that goes into spraying paint, it is amazingly quick when you get going. We had the whole section of ceiling covered in under a half hour, for both coats. A quick touch up with the roller and we were done. Now its just the walls.

I can’t wait to be done painting.

Leah and Shelley in the meantime went through and organized the kitchen. We were able to dramatically thin down the dishes. Which is good, as we need room for food!

I’d like to take this chance to again thank Dan and Shelley so much for their help, it really has gone a long way!

On Friday, Leah and I headed to the apartment right after work and started packing. I managed to get my office workstation dismantled and packed, and Leah got a bunch ready from the kitchen. After we filled the van, we drove to the church and unloaded it.

On the construction front, the guys from Lake Excavating have dug, installed and covered up our new septic system! Two days, that’s all it took. It doesn’t look like much (we have yet to name the new mountain in our yard), but I guess if you can see your septic system, that would mean there is something wrong. We also had a plumber out Friday and he started getting the drains done

The guys from Construct 3 did more work on the bathroom extension and the drywall. The walls for our bedroom and living room are now drywall and taping and mudding has begun! Our electrician was back and started roughing in the bathroom electrical. With the drywall up, I roughed in my installation for the speaker ports and network jacks in the living room.

On Saturday we got up early for a meeting at the bank, and then headed back to the apartment. I got my desk dismantled, and packed several boxes, while Leah got more form the kitchen and office ready to go. Once we got it to the church, I started working on setting up our desks. A friend gave us some old cabinets they weren’t using and one of them  fit perfectly in the spot where Leah will have her desk. I don’t have my networking finished, but we are able to use our wireless well enough from here. In fact considering how horrible cell reception is in the building, the wifi does a really good job everywhere.

While I was upstairs Leah did an amazing job of consolidating dishes we don’t need, while unpacking and organizing all of our stuff. This kitchen is gonna be great.

It sucks to be missing Home County Folk Festival (Joel Plaskett was tonight) but it is worth it to see so much progress. Having our offices functioning is a major milestone, since we will be spending a lot of time in here.

Even though we missed the festival, we did have some music. I packed my trumpet and last night took it for a spin in the main hall. It sounds awesome. I can’t wait for some of the jam sessions we are gonna have here.

We are likely gonna do more moving and painting tomorrow, then back to the grind. Now that I have an office again I’ll try to post more frequently.

Thanks everybody for reading, I hope you are enjoying our adventure!

 

Today was the first day since the third of July that we didn’t go to the church. It was apparently also the hottest day in recorded history. Since we now have working air conditioning at the church, it would have made sense to go there, in hindsight.

Instead, we took a much needed culture break. A friend of ours, Jeremy Smith of the Driftwood Theatre Company, was in town with his Bard Bus Tour. They put on an amazing outdoor (and musical!) production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night Dream.” It was nice to take some time to sit and enjoy some great theatre. If Jeremy’s tour is coming your way, I highly reccomend it.

Speaking of recommendations, I updated the links page on this site as well, so you can find some of the contractors and service providers we are using for this project. Everybody on this page has been great, and if we ever do something crazy like this again, we would be glad to deal with them.