We were finally able to have the brickwork done on the building in late October. There were issues with the buttresses and their caps, many shattered bricks under the front rosette window and cracks all around the building. We started to have some moisture issues (especially in one corner) and needed to correct that issue before doing any other renovations. Also, with the shattered bricks underneath the window, there was some concern about the stability of the precious stained glass window. Apparently, when renovations were done in the 1950s or 60s to make one central entrance instead of two separate entrances, the incorrect mixture was used in the mortar. Because the mortar was stronger than the brick, the bricks would just shatter during freeze and thaw periods – yes, like explode – and fragments would land 5-10 feet from the house.
We chose someone who specialized in heritage buildings to repair and replace the damaged bricks. Elite Masonry did a terrific job and we are quite happy with the outcome. He even created custom made buttress caps to replace the crumbling ones. I would certainly recommend them if you have a building that needs some TLC.
The Annual St. Thomas Elgin Branch ACO Heritage Awards
The annual ceremony to present awards for good practice of architectural preservation from across Elgin County and within the City of St. Thomas was held on Tuesday May 8, 2018.
We were very honoured to have been chosen to receive an award for Heritage Restoration and had our photo taken with our neighbour Shelley who nominated us.
PURPOSE OF THE AWARDS
The ACO (Architectural Conservancy Ontario) Heritage Awards are designed to:
• Promote the value of heritage conservation in St. Thomas and Elgin County
• Recognize individuals and organizations which have shown exemplary effort in heritage conservation
• Celebrate the quality and value of the built heritage in our communities
ABOUT THE ACO
Through advocacy and direct action, ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVANCY ONTARIO has been involved in preserving Ontario’s architectural and environmental heritage since 1933 by helping communities and owners preserve buildings and structures of architectural merit, and places of natural beauty or interest.
To find out more about the ACO you can visit the website – http://www.acostthomaselgin.ca/about.html
Well, as you can see, it has been quite a while since we have done any HOH updates besides the events. There have been a few things going on the last few years with family illnesses and deaths so working on the building has not been the priority. Once we were finished with the roof (that was a biggy) we had to save and plan for the brickwork (and wait until the bank would lend us more money). Well, that is scheduled to start at the end of May – yeah! It is a BIG job and we will be posting photos of that for sure.
The roof was a HUGE deal. There was a bad wind storm and we lost some shingles. Actually – you could see the old wood underneath so it needed a fairly urgent fix. We ended up getting a metal one so we shouldn’t have to worry about it ever again. Mike picked the green colour and it looks great. You can see it as you approach Fingal.
We have been doing small projects like the vegetable garden and stuff like that. I began a sourdough starter a few years ago and have been enjoying the yummy bread and other sourdough recipes. I found a great recipe to be able to use the sourdough as well as the abundance of zucchini from the garden. Also, if you have ever enjoyed roast beets – you will know how amazing it tastes. If not – you should try it. This weekend I finished planting the garden for this year. Looking forward to more fresh vegetables in a few months.
We planted a Fringe tree as a memorial tree for our friend Kevin Johnston who passed in 2016. It was because of Kevin that we were able to find this treasure of a home.
We have been playing music and also found a bit of time for travel and camping and visiting people as well as the usual music festivals etc. We love to play board games and play music and have people visit.
We got the septic emptied after 5 years and it was hardly needed at all. I guess we can wait another 7-10 before we need to do it again. It is a bit bigger than we needed it to be but they went by square feet for the calculations rather than the fact that there are only 2 of us 98% of the time…
We had a few exciting things like when the backup battery for the hardwired smoke detector needed changing and we didn’t have a ladder tall enough. Poor Roxy didn’t like the beeping every few minutes for a whole night. Thanks to Dan for the ladder and for Jayne for letting Roxy sleep over until we fixed it!
There is never a dull moment with a big old building – that is for sure. We will try to update more often.
Sign up for the mailing list to hear of upcoming concerts and we hope to see you soon.
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!!
Painting doors…
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:
Yup, that’s 3 broomsticks and a painter’s pole bolted together. Works like a charm, an unwieldy, hazardous charm…
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.
[ezcol_1half]
Karyn Ellis telling a story (w/Leah Morise and Allison Brown)
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
Kim Beggs blows us away
[/ezcol_1half_end]
Our first Audience
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.
[ezcol_1half]
We took a trip to Blue Mountain together in February.
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
This picture is how I’ll always remember him.
[/ezcol_1half_end]
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 wire mesh is a one way door. No squirrels were harmed in this eviction.
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.
[ezcol_1half]
Driving it home for the first time!
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
CHEERS!
[/ezcol_1half_end]
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!!
[ezcol_1half]
Shawna Caspi wows with her guitar skills.
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
Allison Brown, Jedd House, Vera Colley, Dan Henshall and special guest Leah Morise, even Roxy enjoyed the show!
[/ezcol_1half_end]
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.
In addition to starting the show, Karen backed up Hal with some wonderful harmonies.
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.
Leah and our audience take in an amazing performance.
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.
[ezcol_1third]
Leah recording some rough demos of the new songs
[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_1third]
Roxy helps me lay down some demo tracks too
[/ezcol_1third]
[ezcol_1third_end]
Leah rehearses, while Roxy tries to get her attention
[/ezcol_1third_end]
[ezcol_1half]
Our friends Jim Johnston and Carol Birchmore go over parts in our living room.
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
Steve Clark and Daniel Baerg work on the bass and percussion parts
[/ezcol_1half_end]
Aside from Leahs upcoming album, Manitoba Hal stopped by for a few weeks in March, and spent some time with a recording setup upstairs.
[ezcol_1half]
Allison Brown sings some harmony for Manitoba Hal’s new record
[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
Leah listens back to the rough mix of her parts
[/ezcol_1half_end]
The music in this video is the result of some of these sessions.
Also, I’m learning to fly.
Wheee!
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.
We have been quite busy – both with things around the house and living life!
Mike and I made some shelves to use upstairs that can be put on the sloped windowsill so we could put things on the sill. I painted them to match the rest of the wood and they look like they belong there. I bought some light sensitive candles that come on at night and shut off during daylight hours. I have already received several compliments about the candles in the windows.
Painting, painting, painting
I have been painting more of the interior doors and finally got to the front and back doors. The front doors were quite a chore. They had to be scraped and some minor repairs made. I chose “dried basil” green for the front. We removed the hardware and I spray-painted it black. While I was out painting several people stopped to say how much they liked it. Someone from the municipal office even said that she almost called me to say how much she liked the colour choice.
I started on another room and began by filling some nail holes. However, then we had to move all the paints and chairs back in there so that project is on hold.
Railings
Scraping the rust off railings is NOT easy – I’ll tell you that right now! My back was killing me from using the wire brush and sanding off the rusty bits. I sprayed it black and am really happy with how it turned out. Hopefully that will last a few years!
Sheers
I bought a bolt of fabric from Lens Mills and spent several days sewing sheer curtains for the front of the church. We cannot do the repairs required to the walls at this time so I made some long sheers that drape across and fancy it up. Mike helped me hang them (which was quite a chore) and even the tallest ladder was barely high enough. Those ceilings are TALL.
Celebrations
We have had a couple of parties to celebrate events of friends and family. It is a great space to be able to have people over. My family loves the large kitchen which is great for potluck suppers. Whether an anniversary party or just a games night with friends – we are liking this space!
Mike has recorded a couple videos of himself practicing upstairs too!
This post is many months late but the summer has flown by and I am just doing some catch up now.
It was interesting going through the first winter season here. The temperature wasn’t bad and we learned to wear slippers and housecoats. We know which doors are best kept closed and the fireplace kept us cozy on supper chilly evenings.
Our first power outage Well, it was bound to happen. We had our first power outage this winter. We were ready for this. We sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, lit a few candles and played one our favourite games – Carcassonne. It turned out to be a nice relaxing evening.
Ravioli We are enjoying the large kitchen and making some homemade ravioli was an enjoyable use of the space. Mike and I rolled, stuffed and cut out a huge batch of ravioli. We cooked up some for supper that night and put the rest in the freezer. I think we are going to do that again soon – yum!
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!
The shed foundation, getting leveled by my work crew
Shed wall getting assembled.
Shed roof stored for later.
Mostly done. Just have to cut roof panels to fit.
Shed Interior.
The wires and hooks for the art hanging system.
Installing the hanging Rails
Rails and wires in place.
Some of the art going up.
The #hometime project in its new home.
Lamp study.
All the art hung up.
Leah waiting to hand out candy.
Leah waiting for a knock at the door. It got cold, so we went inside for a bit.
Making Gnocchi
Lionel mixes dough
Leah checking on her bread sticks.
Dough proofing. It seems happy about it.
Leah brushes egg whites onto the bread sticks.
Sauce cooking up.
Lionel divides the dough into pieces.
Making a dough snake before cutting out the pieces.
Making a dough snake before cutting out the pieces.
Forming the pieces.
Leah waiting patiently to eat.
Lionel making a side salad.
Coffee and tea station ready for our open house. Some of Leah’s art is hanging behind it.
Snacks for the open house.
Snacks for the open house.
Best. House-warming. Card. Ever.
This is what we saw when we went upstairs. It made us happy.
Jam session from a different angle.
The house lit up from outside.
The start of the parade.
Honking the horn. I always wanted to do that as a kid.
Parade floats.
Parade floats.
Marching band in front of our house.
Classic car from the parade. If not for that van it would make the whole thing look vintage.
Well, as I mentioned earlier – we bought a shed. It is a pre-cut kit and made of wood. What they don’t really make super obvious is that the floor isn’t included and extra reinforcement for the floor and screws are needed. You also have to buy shingles of course.
Then the building of it begins. Working all day and only having 90 minutes or so of daylight after work makes it take longer than the weekend project it is supposed to be. Also, rain days slow down the project quite a bit. So Mike has started working on the shed when he can. He is doing almost all of it by himself. He does have the help of the 6 year old neighbour boy on occasion. He comes over and says “I am good with tools – can I help”? Heehee! Mike will probably share more on this when he is finished the shed.
October already…
Well, we have been busy and lately it seems that we’ve been doing mostly painting
and other things that don’t look like big changes. How many photos of me painting
would you like to see?
We were especially focused on getting ready for Thanksgiving. We hosted
Thanksgiving dinner for 18 people. As you can see, the floor is a mess and that
side still looks very much like a construction zone. We cleaned and tried to tuck
away some of the painting stuff that we would still be needing soon. Painting
continued until days before the event. Then there was more cleaning to do. There
has been so much drywall dust in this building and do you know that it gets
everywhere? So, I washed the entire kitchen – took 2 days. Scrubbed every surface
and the cupboard doors and the floor and the appliances. The 8 burners especially
took some time. Then, before the celebration I washed every dish, glass, cutlery
and serving container before setting the table. People are teasing me about being
“Martha” now. I was very excited to be able to celebrate something we are very
thankful for with family. We set two tables end to end. One was kindly left by
the congregation and the other was given to us in early October by Mike’s
parents. They are both fairly long with extra leaves for each. It worked
perfectly. It was a bit tricky to find nice but inexpensive tablecloths for them
but I did. Then I made several centrepieces. You need several with a table that
long. We washed all of the chairs and set everything up. Then I also had an idea
to add a Maple cookie to each place setting. I was happy with how it turned out!
Yeah!
We purchased a couch, loveseat and chair for cheap on kijiji. It really is just to fill the space that looked so empty. We had the coffee table and end table but nothing much for visitors to sit on. It is sort of a Victorian style but I am sure it is from the 80s. It has cat scratches on the sides (may seem funny to some when they see it – they will think we have a cat hiding somewhere). I cleaned them up thoroughly and they fit in the space fairly well. That allowed us to set up some of the other things in the livingroom. I have started unpacking some of my hobby books and fibre art. We put a few bookcases in there and a cabinet for a few of my music boxes and other collectibles. It is feeling more and more like home. We took a short break from painting. It was nice to not wear painting clothes for a week. Mike assembled the wall mount for the television and put in some cable plates that allowed the cables to run inside the wall behind the television rather than dangle down between.
Mike’s parents came down for another visit. We were able to use their truck and pick up a garden shed for outside. I hope to get my tools garden stuff out of storage soon. We are plugging along.
