Packing and Moving and Building, Oh My!

Spring photos (complete with evidence of wildlife)...

2008-05-29T21:54:00.002-07:00

Here are the latest pics of the house. You can see all the hard work Sean and his dad have done on the driveway - we now have proper road base down, so we no longer park in mud puddles when it rains :)

Here's a view of my little perennial bed - things are starting to grow:

and proof the bear is passing by from time to time - just outside our kitchen window:

More to come over the next few months, as we keep working on the outside.

Adieu pour maintenant!

Teresa

Christmas House...

2007-12-17T15:54:00.000-08:00

We've had some snow here over the last few weeks, though it's all gone now. Still, it certainly put us in the Christmas spirit:

Happy Christmas!

Teresa

Frosty morning...

2007-11-23T10:34:00.001-08:00

We've had hard frosts the last few mornings - doesn't the house look lovely?

Teresa :)

All moved in now...

2007-10-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

On Friday September 28, we moved into the house, at long last. Here are a few photos - I'll post more as the rest of the house gets set up:

The front of the house with the cedar doors:

The door from the deck:

The front hall:

The living room - with Chloe well ensconced on the love seat:

Another view of the living room - from the hallway:

and from the kitchen:

Sunrise through trees and fog:

The kitchen, with our cabinets from Kensington Cabinets here on the Coast:

The cats now feel quite at home here, as you can see in the following photos - Cleo is the black and white one, Chloe is the black one:

More soon!

Teresa

Latest photos...

2007-09-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some assorted shots of the living room hardwood in progress.

Day One of hardwood:

Day Two of hardwood:

And a glimpse into my writing nook with desk now in place:

We're hoping to complete the move over the next couple of days. Sleeping here has been fun!

Teresa

Updates...

2007-09-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we now have a stair rail, ceiling fans, woodstove, toilets, sinks and a stove and dishwasher. Our floor will go in some time this week, depending on when the subfloor is dry enough for it. Everyone cross their fingers it's sooner rather than later.

Sean and his dad also did landscaping work on the weekend, in the rain, no less. We really appreciate his dad's help with this :)

Here are a couple of shots of Sean surveying the results of their considerable efforts:

And now, the interior.

The main floor bathroom:

My stove, installed!!

The ensuite pedestal sink:

The stair rail:

And finally, the wood stove, doing its thing:

Smoke coming from the chimney:

More soon, I hope :)

Teresa

Wow, has it been that long...

2007-09-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

since I posted here? Things have changed quite a bit. We have paint in all the rooms, including one of the basement rooms where Sean and I did the work ourselves. And we now have trim started, a sink, toilets, shower fixtures, appliances and more. Final electrical and plumbing is happening this week and maybe next, depending. And most of the flooring is in too, which makes a huge difference to how things look. Below are some photos.

Trim in front hall:

Sink in the kitchen:

Another view of the sink, plus the dishwasher:

A somewhat fuzzy view of the late afternoon sun in my writing nook - I hadn't realized quite how bright it would be in there on a sunny day:

Paint and trim in the bedroom - you can see the doors for the walk-in closet and the ensuite:

Our toilet in the ensuite - yeah, the little things do thrill me at this point *g*:

View of the hearth pad in the living room - the hardwood is going in almost last, to avoid damage to it while the other work is happening:

A view of the kitchen from the staircase - the balustrade should go in soon.

Gutters - we need them here in rainy BC during the winter:

The house from the back:

Teresa

Update...

2007-08-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

It's definitely September now before we'll move in. Still, not really that bad, considering. The mudder is about half-way through now - one coat done and sanded. We're hoping he'll be done for the painter to come in on the 27th, followed by the flooring guys and cabinetry installer during the first week of September.

Here are the latest pics.

Mid morning light in the living room on a sunny day:

The front of the house with almost all the siding done. That last bit will be done over the next couple of weeks. We're still waiting for our permanent doors to arrive, but the frames have been installed now:

Mudding in the Master Bedroom:

Library and writing nook:

Living room:

Kitchen:

Front hall - with the temporary door (we're still waiting for the door we ordered to be delivered):

Sean's workshop:

Rec room:

Siding and soffit, around and above the master bedroom window:

View from behind:

I'll update again once the painting is done :)

Teresa

Good news and bad news...

2007-08-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

The good news is - dry wall is complete!! The guys worked Saturday and Monday (a holiday) to finishe - yay. Bad news is, the taper can't come in to start the next step until Friday :( That puts us a few days behind on interior finishing. The regular crew is continuing its work, however, so it's not like nothing is getting done. Still, a tad disappointing as this pretty much guarantees we won't be in until early September now.

Basement/Stairs:

Rec room:

Main floor:

Front hall

View from deck - August afternoon:

Living room - from upper and lower landings

Staircase to upper floor

Kitchen

Upper floor:

Walk in closet

View into ensuite

Master bedroom from ensuite

Library

Writing nook

Library from writing nook

I'm hoping we'll have more siding photos this week.

Teresa

Drywall - day 2...

2007-08-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

Lots of progress yesterday.

Let's start in the basement with Sean's workshop:

And here's the rec room - where we'll have the tv:

And now the main floor.

Front hall - taken from the living room:

Kitchen:

Eating nook in kitchen:

Living room:

The pantry:

Spare room:

Main floor bathroom:

Laundry area (it's adjacent to the bathroom):

And now, back to the outside. The siding on the bay window side is now finished.

Here's a detail shot:

And the full effect:

Here's what it looks like from behind - they're almost finished with the window trim:

We're still hoping for doors this week.... but won't hold our breath.

Teresa :)

Drywall has started...

2007-08-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

and we were quite surprised, considering that we hadn't heard extra noise coming from the site. Must be quieter work than we imagined. Also, they guys are almost done siding the bay window side of the house :)

Living room:

Kitchen:

Corner of eating nook:

Spare bedroom:

Front hall:

Main floor bathroom:

Bay window siding and soffits:

They've also been working on window trim - yesterday they did the trim around the living room windows:

Updates as they become available.

Teresa

Ready for drywall pics + more...

2007-07-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

Lots of pics today. First up are those of the inside of the house ready for drywall.

Living room:

Kitchen:

Library/Office:

Master bedroom:

Basement:

And now, outside photos. They've been working on window trim, soffits and siding and we're thrilled with the results:

More soon - hopefully of the inside with drywall!!!!!

Teresa

Siding...

2007-07-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

We have siding now too! Well, not ALL of it, but enough to give a real idea of what things will look like in a couple of weeks. AND, the drywall has been delivered, so our bedroom window has now been installed. Even better, the mystery of the missing doors has been solved - we should see them by the middle of next week.

Here's a pic of the one wall that has all the siding:

From the front:

Side view:

Close-up, with a bonus pic of our younger nephew:

Round the back:

When I have a chance, I'll take more inside pics - the insulation is all installed and vapour barriered. Drywall work should start very soon. Yay!!

Teresa

We have insulation...

2007-07-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

which is the step just before drywall. Yay!!!

Alas, our doors are still AWOL :( We hope to hear news of them tomorrow when we see our contractor. I'm sure he wants them to arrive as much as we do.

The drywall is scheduled for delivery late next week and our cabinets should be here in about three weeks. Yippee! Things are starting to really take shape.

Please note, we'll be away for a few days, so there won't likely be any more updates till next weekend. Below are the latest pics:

Insulation in the living room.

The kitchen, with the big window now installed.

My office.

Sean's workshop.

More strapping, soffit work and outdoor views.

That's all for now, folks :)

Teresa

Soffit work...

2007-07-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

There's electrical and plumbing work going on too, but it doesn't make for very interesting photos, so I'll post the ones that show the lovely job the guys are doing with the soffits:

It's really raining now, so I'm not sure what other work they'll get done today. Guess we'll see later on this afternoon :)

Teresa

Windows, strapping and a deck, oh my...

2007-07-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Things are moving right along. Most of the windows were delivered last week (1 was damaged, the other somehow didn't make it on the truck). And our bedroom window (the one over the front door) won't be installed until after the drywall has been passed through it:

The deck is done as well!!! Yay - and it's gorgeous. We just LOVE it:

And yesterday they started installing the strapping, which goes under the siding:

And finally, here is Sean with the new picnic table, the one we picked up at the Scouts sale:

It just needs a good scrubbing and some stain.

More soon!

Teresa

We have a roof AND a chimney...

2007-07-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Yep, you heard me right. The roofers were done in 2.5 days. And the fireplace guy came by Friday to put in the chimney, so we're good to go for the wood stove when we reach that stage.

Teresa

Roofing has started...

2007-07-05T09:32:00.001-07:00

Yep, our roof should be done by the end of the week. And windows are arriving today or tomorrow, hopefully the doors too. Yippeee!!! Several steps closer to being done. Here are some pics:

Teresa

Framing Day 26 - and we're done :)

2007-06-27T10:44:00.001-07:00

Yep, framing is finally complete! It took five weeks exactly. Pretty cool. Hopefully roofing will start next week - there was a delay in getting the tiles and with the long weekend coming up...

Here are the last of the framing pics, taken this morning just after 7am. When we dropped by the site yesterday, the guys were still there and we didn't get back over in the evening. Hence my early morning visit.

Window box in the kitchen:

Window box from just inside door to the deck:

View up the stairs taken from the living room:

Another angle up the stairs:

View into the bedroom:

View into bedroom looking the other way:

View into bedroom from just outside on the landing:

Walk-in closet with walls completed:

Ensuite:

Looking through into the bedroom from my office:

Two views of the writing (formerly book) nook:

Two views of the library/sitting area of my office:

Another view of the kitchen window box, this one taken from outside on the deck:

And finally, a view from behind, with the kitchen window box:

Teresa

Framing - Day 25...

2007-06-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, this should be my second to last day blogging about framing. Hopefully I'll be blogging about roofing by the end of the week! I met the flooring guy today so he could take measurements and discussed the staircase handrails with our builder :)

Today's pics:

Doorway to book nook off my office:

View into the book nook:

View of ensuite and walk-in closet doors from entrance to my office:

View of above from the where the bed will be:

Bedroom door from bedroom window:

Framed linen closet:

Completed rafters and sheathing on eating nook:

Looking upstairs from the living room - bedroom/linen closet/en-suite:

Looking upstairs from living room - bedroom and my office:

Eating nook with rafters/sheathing from inside:

And from outside, on the side of the deck:

Views from back/side/front:

And there we go - final framing photos tomorrow! Then the updates likely won't be so frequent as things won't be changing so obviously - roofing, electrical work, insulation etc.

Teresa

Framing - Day 24...

2007-06-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

The roof is now done! Well, the sheathing part, anyway except for the little one over the eating nook which should be done Monday. And the last few inside walls will go up Monday and Tuesday. We're hoping the actual roofing will start some time next week and then the electrical work. Yay!!!

Future little library:

Start of roofing over eating nook from above:

Looking upstairs from the living room:

Teresa

Framing - Day 23...

2007-06-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

Roof almost finished!!!

Teresa

Framing - Day 22...

2007-06-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

More detail work and prep for the final push on the rafters:

Two views out our bedroom window:

Two views of the centre beam of the last part of the vaulted roof:

Teresa

Framing - Day 21...

2007-06-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

We arrived to find significant progress upstairs. Sheathing on our bedroom dormer and more! Even better news - roofing starts next week!!!!!

Looking into the walk-in closet:

Looking into my office from the doorway:

My office ceiling:

Teresa

Framing, Day 20...

2007-06-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

We saw significant progress today, first and foremost, sheathing on quite a few of the rafters!!! Our entire living room is now covered and half the bedroom. Very exciting :) Framing on two of the final three dormers has begun and more fascia was also put up today:

Teresa

Framing - Day 19...

2007-06-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well, the "fiddly sh*t" (our builder's exact words) on the roof was completed today - yay!! Plus some fascia was put up and other minor things:

Below you can see that they've also taken the time to clean things up in the rooms where they're not currently working. Always nice :)

Teresa

Framing - Day 18...

2007-06-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

More work on the roof. Things are really starting to take shape now:

Teresa

Framing - Day 17...

2007-06-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

More rafters!!! The roof line is really starting to come along. Very cool. We also hope to get a quote over the next couple of days on our flooring choices.

My office dormer:

View from my office dormer:

Cool rafter detail with scaffolding:

More tomorrow!

Teresa

Framing Day 16...

2007-06-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

They started on the rafters today!!! Very exciting as now we'll get to see the roof line take shape. Walking around inside is kinda fun, given all the scaffolding that's now in place. Here are the pics:

That's it :)

Teresa

Framing - Day 15...

2007-06-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

The top walls continue to go up - today saw the raising of the en suite/walk-in closet wall and the completion of the upper staircase:

The view from the en suite bathroom window:

More soon! I've been hearing them hard at work since 8 this morning, so I'm sure there will be lots to say later on :)

Teresa

Top floor walls...

2007-06-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

We now have 'em. Well, 1.5 so far, with another lying in the master bedroom and over the staircase, waiting to go up on Monday. Still, it's looking good :) And the weather yesterday was perfect for taking pictures (unlike today). And the second staircase is done too, so we don't have to climb the ladder any more. Piccies below:

More on Monday, when we hope the rest of the walls go up. Then it's the dormers and roof line - that could be a bit tricky, so I imagine things will slow down a bit.

Teresa

Framing - Day 13...

2007-06-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

We now have floor on the top story!!! Very cool - we climbed the ladder and stood up there to see what kind of a view we'd get. Photos below:

Sean waving down to me from the bedroom:

Views from my future office:

Me in the bedroom:

More updates tomorrow! The weather is supposed to be half decent, so hopefully they'll get some walls up on the top floor :) They have them framed out on the floor, so it should happen. Very cool.

Teresa

Framing - Day 12

2007-06-07T08:24:00.002-07:00

Today saw more joist work inside the house, prep for framing the top floor along with more work on the front porch:

Teresa

Framing - Day 11...deck building continues...

2007-06-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

The temporary decking is in place, enough for them to use to frame the top floor of the house. They also started on the floor joists for the master bedroom. Piccies below:

and, they framed the doorway for the basement staircase:

They're working in the rain today! I do feel bad for them - it's slowed right down for now, let's hope it stops for the afternoon.

Teresa

Framing - Day 10...

2007-06-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today the guys concentrated on starting our decks, front and back. They'll need them, especially the back one in order to complete the upper floor framing and the rafters. Here's what it looked like about 6:20 this evening:

As you can see, our weather has changed slightly and they ended up working in the rain. Fortunately, it didn't last too long.

In other house news, we received the quote for the kitchen/main floor bathroom cabinets today and were quite happy with it :) Yay! Measurements will be taken this week. It's all so exciting!!!!

Teresa

Weekend bliss...

2007-06-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

We spent half the weekend with our camper over at the house site. By noon Saturday we were ensconced:

and after a bit of lunch, we headed out to build our official fire pit. Of course, it took me a while to figure out where to put it and after some input from Sean, we finally picked a nice spot. Fortunately, we have lots of rock over there, so it wasn't too difficult to find the raw materials.

After an hour or so of lifting and rolling, we had everything in place. Sean fetched some smaller stones to line the circle with and I arranged some smaller rocks between cracks to make sure none of the bigger ones would be dislodged. Then we moved our bench/picnic table (it folds and unfolds) and chairs into position. Here's the result:

We can see it from the living room too:

Now it was a warmish day, so we celebrated our hard work with a beer each and some salt and vinegar chips before heading back to the big house to watch the hockey game. The Sens showed what they're made of and came from behind to win the game :) Go Sens Go!!!

With that excitement behind us, we walked "home" and laid match to flame for our inaugural fire:

My in-laws joined us and we chatted, roasted marshmallows and listened to the birds and frogs. After they left, Sean and I stayed out for at least another hour:

This morning I was awake early and decided to document the way the sun moves across the property at this time of year - fortunately it was a perfect morning - warm and sunny.

The fire pit just past 6 am - it's the last place to lose the light in the evening and the first to get it back in the morning:

Here's the house, also just past 6 am:

This shot was taken just a few minutes later:

Sun on the basement stairs:

After all that hard work with the camera *g*, I fetched coffee and a chair before settling into the eating nook in the kitchen:

Talk about bliss - the birdsong was about the only sound I heard as I watched the sun continue its ascent - here's the driveway around 7:25 am:

Around 8:30 I discovered my woodland garden gets far more sun than I'd ever imagined - at least early in the morning at this time of the year:

Soon after that, I walked over to our little cabin to check on the cats and give them some food. As Sean wanted to putter on the site, I had a quiet walk, well, except for my little bear bell ringing in my hand *g*.

By the time I'd satisfied the needs of the beasts and retraced my steps, I found Sean had built a platform for the firewood and stacked it for me:

If you're planning a visit, know that early June in the sun is a good time - by around 10 am the deck will be just perfect to sit and sip coffee, tea or another beverage of your choice:

We puttered some more, then headed home so Sean could play in his regular ball hockey game. Hopefully within a couple of months, we'll be there permanently. But for now, we're enjoying our moments of bliss as our dream slowly takes shape.

Teresa

Framing, Day 9...

2007-06-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

Friday was very exciting - they framed our living room window as well as some of the other outside walls:

And, as you've gathered from the post above this one, we spent Saturday night at the site as well :) Very cool to be able to drink coffee in my own eating nook - even surrounded by construction paraphernalia!

Teresa

Framing - Day 8...

2007-06-01T09:17:00.001-07:00

Yet more progress on the main floor :) We have more walls!!! And you can see the outline of the kitchen a lot better now:

More later today or some time tomorrow!

Happy Friday :)

Teresa

Framing - Day 7....

2007-05-31T07:34:00.000-07:00

We now have some walls on the main floor :) Very exciting. Here are pics:

More soon.

Teresa

Framing - Day 6

2007-05-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Lots of photos today, but I won't make your eyes glaze over by posting them all *g*. The big news is, we have a basement ceiling/ground floor! Yay!!! We were able to walk out on it and get a sense of the views from the various rooms. If you click on the thumbnails below, you'll be taken to the main album where there are details in the captions.

More soon :)

Teresa

Framing - Day 5...

2007-05-28T20:24:00.001-07:00

We have floor joists and our first set of stairs!!! Here are today's photos:

+++++

More photos soon :) As you can see, it was a lovely day here today.

AND, our septic system passed inspection!!!!!! Yet another hurdle down.

Teresa

Framing - Day 4....

2007-05-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

The plywood sheaths went up on day four!! Have a gander:

Yep, that's me - looking out what will be the rec room windows.

That's all for today, folks :) More photos in the coming week.

Teresa

Framing - Day 3...

2007-05-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

The basement is now completely framed!!!

More photos tomorrow!

Meanwhile, I played fetch and carry girl for Sean as he and Rod finished off the septic field today. Now we have to wait for the inspection. It was a glorious day - sunny and 20º Celsius.

Teresa

Framing has now officially started...

2007-05-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

Framing - Day One:

Framing - Day Two:

Teresa :)

Progress over the last few weeks...

2007-05-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Lots has happened since my last post. Here are some pics, starting in late April and working down to those from yesterday:

Poured walls in forms.

Walls half stripped.

Me making a foundation offering.

Sean securing the offering.

Foundation before backfill.

Rear view before backfill.

Another angle of the layout, with sun.

We have power - yay!!!! Our builder was relieved as well - now he has somewhere to plug in the power tools.

Foundation with drainage pipes in place, awaiting inspection.

View from above - one of the last I'll take from so high up.

Sean has been working on the septic field with help from a family friend. First order of business was to redistribute that huge mound of earth that's been beside the house site for months.

An action shot.

Backfill complete - you can walk right up to the front of the house now.

The foundation slab was poured on the morning of May 17 - we carved our intials into it that evening.

A view of the slab and walls.

Another angle - yes, we already have some pipe laid in too.

And from the side - our deck will be L-shaped - you can see its posts - the lower part is above the smaller slab outside the main walls, on the right side of the photo.

Looking up to the septic field - probably lawn in the future (but not this summer).

Rock wall - site of a future rock garden.

So, there you have it - you're now up to date :)

More pictures as the framing goes up!!

Teresa

My Easter weekend...

2007-04-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

was a busy one. On Friday, Sean and I were over at the property till just after 4:30. Upon arriving home, we chatted with a visitor while Sean helped his dad with a construction project, then our neighbour came home with beer! As it was about 18º and sunny (sorry, Kelly), we all grabbed one and gabbed for a while before Sean, me and my in-laws headed out for dinner.

Saturday I spent five hours over at the property by myself while Sean did a spring clean and check of our camper. I had a fantastic time - put my MP3 player on and bopped along to the music while dragging branches etc over to the merrily blazing fire (I managed to start it that day without even matches!). Did grocery shopping on the way home, then settled in to watch the Habs/Leafs game. Spent much of the third time muttering about the ref. (pout, pout)

Sunday we went to a pysanky party! A friend of ours is Ukranian and hosts an egg painting party every Easter. Very cool, though I learned it's more like batique on eggs than painting. Lots of people, yummy food (potluck) and I actually managed a half-decent couple of efforts. Funny thing - if you break an egg by mistake you get to chuck it over the back fence (they live out in the country too). Both Sean and I had the satisfaction of watching our cracked eggs hit the trees (we each cracked one). I vaguely remember my Polish grandmother doing eggs as well, somewhere in the deep distant past. Am looking forward to next year. We were there for hours, socializing between sessions at the egg table - good fun.

Monday we cleaned the cabin and did other general chores, before consuming an early Easter dinner. My contribution was a citrus cranberry sauce. After Sean went to bed I started judging contest entries. Also pulled up my contemp story from NaNoWriMo and discovered it actually shows some promise! The first entry I read through has all the earmarks of a beginner writer - hope my comments prove useful.

The regional fire ban for backyard burns goes into effect this weekend, so next week I should be able to dive back into my ms. Until then, I'll be either at the building site or running errands. Cement for the foundation should be poured tomorrow!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!! If the weather's decent this weekend we may take the camper and spend our first night on the property.

Ok - on with the rest of my day. Have to meet Sean at the local building supply store in about an hour to choose a roof tile colour :)

Teresa

PS - Hope those of you with pets haven't been affected by the food recall. I almost fell out of bed this morning when I heard Royal Canin had recalled one of their tinned foods. Thank the Lord, the one we feed Chloe and Cleo wasn't the one - theirs has no gluten in it at all. Still, very scary, especially as I thought the recalls had finished.

Currently Reading: Dark Angels by Karleen Koen
Also Currently Reading: The Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

2007-04-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

Outline of the new house...Check the album again to see photos of the foundation forms - they give a pretty good idea of the outline of the house. Just click on the photo below!!

New House

Teresa

Work has begun!!

2007-04-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

As promised, early April has seen the official start to construction on our house. Baby steps so far, but things are afoot at last :)

You can see photos here - click on the album cover and you'll go to my online album:

New House

The rhodo you see in one of the garden photos is a gift from my mother-in-law. It fits in perfectly!!

Teresa

Let the work begin.....

2007-03-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

Another photo from our walk...

2007-03-16T11:19:00.001-07:00

Pic from a walk...

2007-03-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Just over a week ago, Sean and I went for a walk near the location of our new house. We found a cool tree, so had to take a pic:

Teresa

Latest pics from the building site...

2007-01-21T14:51:00.000-08:00

I've taken these over the last week - we now have a hole for the foundation - yay!!! AND a driveway - yay again!!!

And Sean having fun with his new toy!!!

Enjoy!!

Teresa

Come over to my house...

2007-01-14T20:44:00.000-08:00

One of the really nice things about our soon to be built house is that we can access it via a path through the woods. Come along with me as we trundle over to our building site...

Teresa

More pics from the site...

2007-01-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

We were over the other morning to do the test for the septic. The site is now completely logged and the cleanup from that is about halfway done. Here are some more pics:

Sean surveying the building area:

Other views of the rest of the lot:

The hydro right of way - you can see our well head on the right. Sean's going to build a small shed over it:

Looking up from the road:

The road itself:

More pics as they become available :-)

Teresa

Logging has started....

2006-12-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

Yep, you heard me :-) We have started logging the property. Well, not by ourselves, but trees have fallen so we have a much better idea now of the area in which our house will stand in the next few months. Below are some photos we took last weekend.

Timberrrrrr:

Sean in the driveway:

The view from the driveway towards where the house will stand:

The house will be in the far corner:

Sean surveying the downed trees and imaging the house in their place:

That's all for now, folks - more details as they become available :-)

Happy New Year!!

Teresa

New house and site...

2006-10-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while again since I've updated here. That's because we didn't have much news. However, we've decided to go with a different (smaller) house on a different lot.

Note: click on the images below to get bigger versions.

Here's the house, and here are pics of the new site, starting with a view of it from across the lake:

we'll be up the hill somewhat, not right on the shore of the lake, but you get the general idea.

Here's the driveway:

and here are a few shots of where it will be sited, along with different views of the driveway as you go further along it:

We're hoping to start in March - fingers crossed etc. We have a fantastic builder, which is so important, and we're happy to wait for him to be free. Looks like we'll be spending the winter here in our cozy little cabin.

More updates when we have more news :-)

Teresa

Update on the house...

2006-07-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

Well, there's really not much to tell. All the builders up here are super busy, so we're looking at next spring before we start. Which, although it seems far away now, really isn't too long to wait.

We do have someone who will give us a quote in a few weeks and we're hoping it will come in at the right price. He does great work.

So for now, we're looking for somewhere temporary for the winter. There are several options - will keep you updated once we make a decision :-)

That's it for now. I'll try to post some pics of our temp digs when I get a chance.

Teresa

Blogged with Flock

Photo blog from our trip...

2006-06-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

You can see it here:
Teresa's Windshield Chronicles

Teresa

Got dem empty house blues...

2006-04-27T11:17:00.002-07:00

yep - it's kinda weird, rattling around in this place with no furniture etc. The cats have adjusted, though - this morning we could hear them running, jumping and skidding around on the hardwood with complete abandon *g*.

We set out on our trek on Sunday morning - bright and early!! I'll be taking photos along the way and will post the first lot from my sister's in Saskatoon - we'll be spending three days there. It's been since Christmas of '04 since we've seen them, so it will be lots of fun - our nephews are now 8 and 5, while our niece is now 3. We hope to go to the zoo with them - it's actually more like an animal sanctuary, with wide open spaces for the majority of the animals to roam. Only the most dangerous are kept in cages - not really very good advertising if the wolf goes after a wee visitor!

Here's hoping we get good weather along the way :-) And as little construction traffic as possible.

Teresa

A Surprise on the Sunshine Coast

2006-04-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

So, Sean and his dad got home yesterday evening to find quite a surprise waiting for them. Similar to the surprise waiting for my mother-in-law earlier in the afternoon when she went to the llama shed to check on their feed (long time readers of this blog might remember the pics I posted of the llamas last August). She was thinking that Dusty, the older llama, was getting a little plump, so maybe she should cut back on her food a bit.

Into the shed she walks, only to notice something quite unexpected. This:

Pretty cool, huh? Turns out Dusty wasn't getting fat - she was pregnant! And was probably just pregnant when she moved into my mother-in-law's last summer. Isn't the baby adorable? I'd no idea she'd be so big! I'm sure our niece is going to be THRILLED. Have to admit, I'm looking forward to seeing the baby when we get there in a few weeks.

Sean and his dad missed all the excitement. But they did have fun skiing - here's a shot of Sean enjoying the slopes:

Happy Friday!

Teresa

Link of the Day: More info on how to find us.

Another of Sean's trip photos

2006-04-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

He says he used the self-timer and balanced the camera on his backpack in the passenger seat *g*. Very resourceful, is my Sean :-) Click on the photo to get a slightly bigger version - he's sending them on dial-up, so he's reduced the size considerably.

Teresa

Horseshoe Bay by 4 pm!!!

2006-04-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

That's right, Sean made it across Vancouver and to the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay by 4:00 yesterday. Traffic wasn't too bad, hence his good time. He called me from there, to let me know he was safe and since the lot was barely crowded, he'd make the 5:30 ferry with no problem.

The pictures he emailed me from Canmore finally got to me. Here's the one I like best:

Today will be spent cleaning the motorcycles *g*. He says they look like he actually rode them across the country!

----
Comments from Haloscan - they seem to be back! Yay! They only disappeared when I altered the auto message Haloscan left when I reinstalled them. Now, the message I got said I COULD edit it or delete it, but as that didn't actually work last time, I'm just gonna leave that message there.

It's another cool morning here - frost on the grass and there's a bit of snow floating about. Must finish judging my entries today, once I shake the sinus headache I woke up with.

Teresa

Currently Reading: Someone like You by Cathy Kelly
Link of the Day: Gibsons, British Columbia

And on to Canmore!!!

2006-04-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

Yep - Sean got past Calgary and stopped in beautiful Canmore instead, putting him that much closer to BC. Hopefully today his drive through Rogers Pass will go well and he'll be up on the Coast by nightfall. Of course, much depends on the drive and what time he hits Vancouver rush hour. That's never fun, though at least he won't have to cross the Lion's Gate (not that the Iron Workers Memorial bridge is much better, mind). We're still hoping he'll make that last ferry and be welcomed by his parents and Tiva the dog :-)

Back here, I had a good day. Went to lunch with a friend, came home and talked to Sean when he checked in, then trundled off for a brief walk to get some groceries. Once home, I tackled my filing cabinet and emptied three of the four drawers!! Read some after dinner, then watched my tape of Grey's Anatomy while putting away laundry. Chloe decided Sean's t-shirts didn't really need folding - they made a better bed. She curled up on them at about 10:30 last night and didn't move from them till about 6:30 this morning!

It's snowing here this morning *groan*. Nothing major, but still. And people ask me why I'm moving to the BC coast (see the current weather there in my sidebar).

Off for coffee with another friend soon, so had best eat some brekkie :-)

Teresa

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UPDATE!!

He's now on the Coquihalla (the super highway from Merritt in the interior to Hope in the Fraser Valley), so should get to Vancouver in about three hours or so! Hopes to make the 7:30 ferry up to the Coast :-) The weather there has been good (knock on wood).

Back to packing boxes.

He made it to Portage la Prairie!!

2006-04-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

yep, that's right, Sean went past Winnipeg to Portage la Prairie. Talk about a long day, but at least he had a good drive. :)

I was very relieved to hear from him when I did. Today he's already well on his way towards Calgary. If all continues to go well, he'll (knock on wood) be on the Coast tomorrow evening.

As for me, I spent yesterday playing with my new Opera browser (it has some advantages of Firefox, though a mix of the two would actually be perfect) and even set up a blog over at the Opera community. Then I judged another entry, dictating most of my comments via Dragon Naturally Speaking. Now I'musing a stand-alone mic, instead of a headset, it's far better at understand what I'm saying *g*.

Around 3, my mum came over and we went out shopping - it was a beautiful day, so we walked down to the shops and spent some time browsing, before going for dinner at a Mexican place that had just opened. Yum!

By 8, I was curled up in front of the TV, glued to West Wing. Wow, this election campaign storyline has been fantastic (except for the live debate ep, just couldn't watch that). And last night they left us hanging at the end. Arggghhh.

L&O,CI and Crossing Jordan were both repeats last night, despite the info in our tv guide (grrrrrr), so I read more of my Cathy Kelly book instead, with Cleo on my legs for company :-)

Today I'm going to lunch with a friend, but other than that, more office packing is on the agenda.

Teresa

Currently Reading: Someone Like You by Cathy Kelly
Link of the Day: Historical fiction author Elizabeth Chadwick's Blog

Georgian Bay in the spring...

2006-04-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

Sean took this yesterday afternoon and send it to me:

Isn't it lovely?

He made it as far as Wawa last night and went to bed early, so he could be back on the road by 6am this morning. At this point I'm guessing he's about half-way to Thunder Bay, but hopes to make it to Winnipeg by this evening.

Meanwhile, here on the homefront, Madeline and I had a lovely dinner and a good old-fashioned natter :-) I was in bed by 10:30, watching the boys on American Chopper and by midnight, both cats were on the bed with me. Unfortunately, Chloe decided to get up at 5:30, which, with the time change, means I didn't get much sleep. Oh well - it's a beautiful day here today, so I'm sure I won't suffer too much.

Happy Sunday!

Teresa

So, he's off

2006-04-01T05:11:00.000-08:00

he left early this morning. And I mean, early. Before 6 am.

That's right, Sean is now officially on his first-of-two, drive across Canada adventures :-)

And I'm actually pretty calm about it, calmer than I thought I'd be. Probably because it's not snowing here, only raining a bit. And because I figure that freaking out really isn't going to help me or him. Instead, I'm filling my day with lots of busy stuff.

Turns out one of the first things I had to do was ring Sympatico tech help, because I couldn't collect my sympatico email. And what do I find out? That somehow they manged to mix up "Cancel my account in 30 days" with "Cancel it NOW." Yep, that's right, even the tech guy was confused. "You're right, Mrs. Eckford, it says '30 day cancellation - I'm not sure what happened. You'll have to call our business office on Monday morning.'"

Thank goodness we already have our telus account, though it's dial-up *sigh*. Not that it stopped me from getting a tad angry - though I did apologize for taking it out on him.

Now I just have to hope no-one tries to send me anything important on my sympatico account until I get this cleared up. Sheesh. Fortunately I have a box of Timbits here to help with the stress.

Moving Stuff
Things are coming along on the moving front. I have a lot more of my office cleared out, though still have yet to tackle the tall filing cabinet. All the files and assorted office bits and bobs in there need to be removed and put in boxes.

Chloe and Cleo, needless to say, are thrilled with the presence of so many new things to explore - mostly things into which they can climb *g*.

I was going to post a photo of the chaos here in the basement, but without the high speed connection to upload the photos, it'll have to wait now until next week. I'm sure it won't change much between now and then, though - the boxes will just shift locations!

Writing Stuff
Nothing to report, except that I didn't final in the Golden Heart. Strangely enough, I wasn't nearly as disappointed or upset as I thought I'd be. Maybe it's cause I've so much on my mind with the move and all the excitement/anticipation involved in that, but I also think it's cause I recognize that not finalling isn't any lasting indictment of my writing skills. Of course, how I'll feel after receiving my scores in a few weeks is another matter, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Anyway, that's about it from here. It's a grey morning, but I've lots to do inside (including loads of laundry). Plus a friend is coming over later to do dinner with me. We haven't seen each other in months, so we'll have lots to catch up on. She hasn't yet met C&C - they'll love her as she's a real cat person.

Happy Saturday, everyone :-)

Teresa

Currently Reading: Someone like You by Cathy Kelly
Link of the Day: Beauverre
Extra links of the Day: Maggie Toussaint's Writing Articles, Part 3 of Janna's reflections on Story Evolution

Summer by the lake

2006-03-22T15:03:00.000-08:00

So, this is where we'll be staying this summer

and here is the view from the deck:

and from the lake:

Teresa

Fun link: Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts

The house!

2006-03-05T04:52:00.000-08:00

I realize I haven't spent much time here talking about the house we hope to build. That's partly cause I don't want to jinx things. Still, I figured I'd give you a peek at our dream home.

It's called Swede Hill - cool name, huh? There are a couple of minor changes we want to make - like enclosing half the front porch to make a mudroom. But overall, it's perfect!!

Teresa

2006-02-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Something fun.

Teresa

Some more photos

2006-02-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

These were taken last November/early December. The first shows the curve in the driveway just before you get to our spot, the second is the building site with sun streaming through the trees (some of which will have to come down before we can build), the third is of the lake from our spot. Of course, since these were taken, they had about 30 days of rain, so there's not a spot of snow left there *g*.

So, here's how we're getting there...

2006-02-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

after Sean takes the car/motorbikes across the country in April, he'll come back here and we'll drive out together in this:

and stay in this:

It will be a big adventure for all of us, including the cats:

but I am looking forward to it :-) We're already training them to ride in a cage in the car - they'll be in the back seat of the truck (it has an extended cab), so they'll be close to us. Now we just have to figure out the litter thing.

More soon!

Teresa

It's almost official, now....

2006-02-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

things are moving (excuse the pun) at quite a pace, so I decided to start a separate blog for the move. I'll post pics and updates on what's happening with the house etc.

Enjoy!