A Good Weekend of Painting

Last weekend we headed to the cottage on Saturday morning, determined to get painting again. When we'd visited with Carl and Irene, we had been able to put primer on the utility room, bedrooms, bathroom and one closet, so our plan for this weekend was to attack the living area.

It snowed a bit in Renfrew, but we weren't expecting what we found when we got to the cottage road:  6 inches of fresh snow, and not yet plowed!  I was a bit nervous about driving through it, but Iain understands what the truck can do with its four-wheel drive, and knows how to use it.  We sailed through easily.

On the way in we met someone coming out, so the path was broken for us!

We got into painting right away, taping off the ceiling to protect the wood, and throwing on a coat of primer.  The work went very quickly.  We painted for six hours, stopping for a quick lunch, and managed to prime the entire living area, plus get one coat of colour on the stove wall, and one coat of ceiling paint on the utility room and mom's bedroom.

Iain cutting an edge.

After that much work, it was nice to change into comfies and have a martini!  I was glad we brought the poang chairs to relax in.  We were happy to put our feet up!

Iain with a wee 'tini.

Most of the place is pretty messy, still.  We really concentrated on doing the wall behind the woodstove, so we can use it next time we are up.  The electric heaters have been a godsend.

You can see we wrapped the wood stove so it wouldn't get paint splatters.  Don't the walls look nice with some paint on them?  We went with a very light colour called "Start Fresh"; it has just a touch of warm orange in it - goes nicely with the wood and keeps everything bright.

We sat watching the sun fade behind clouds, and had a bite of dinner (stew).  Then a movie on the laptop was our evening's entertainment.

A quiet evening, feet up:  wonderful!

We slept on the cement floor:  camp pads, foam, duvet, and sleeping bags, and a comfy blanket over top.  We were both a bit restless, though - it was like camping, but only if you made your tent on a rock.

A little coffee gets us moving!

Sleeping on a cement pad does not lead one to linger in bed.  We were up bright and early, sipping our coffee and watching the sun hit the frosted trees.

It's really hard to capture the sun glinting off the frost.  It looked so lovely, I had to try.

We got right back at it, and got a second coat of paint on the stove wall, then a first coat on the rest of the living area.  After that we packed up and headed home.  Tired!

On the home front...

I would love to make a gif of this! I'm not quite that capable, though.

Snaps and Onyx play every day.  Onyx takes it a bit seriously sometimes, I think:  it isn't unusual to hear a little yelp from Snaps, and see Onyx trying to spit out a mouthful of orange fur. 

Snaps will sit and meow plaintively as they stare at each other, as if to say "You're playing too rough!". He has the advantage in size and youth, though, and keeps coming back for more.

Weekend at the lake

It is so nice to visit Irene and Carl at their cottage: toasty warm, delicious meals, comfy bed and, best of all, pleasant, fun company. We always bring little but snacks and drinks, and the snacks are hardly touched, since there is so much food already available.

Here is the gang waiting patiently for breakfast: pancakes and sausages on Saturday morning. Yummy!

After breakfast Iain and I went back to the cottage to paint (we had started in the morning).  By early afternoon we had decided to knock off for the day, but we made good of our time:  when we finished on Sunday we had painted the utility room, bathroom, both bedrooms and two closets, including ceilings.

So far, the painting has gone well.  Nice to do when there is no flooring to worry about.

The weather turned nasty on Saturday afternoon.  The wind whipped up whirlwinds on the lake, and the windchill was unpleasantly frosty.  Walking into the wind was not fun.

Theo, who is Bob and Helene's dog, was limping through the yard in the wind and snow.  Poor old boy: he finds it hard to get around, now, but he likes to make his tour anyway.

I got out my portable weather station and clocked the wind at 43 kph; it gusted higher, I'm sure.

All the trees - in fact, every upright surface that stood still - wore what Myles called "skunk stripes", thanks to the horizontal snow.

So we stayed inside, did a puzzle, enjoyed a few drinks, and played some charades.  After a great night's sleep, another excellent breakfast (scrambled eggs and bacon), and more painting, we headed home.

There were two of these lovely deer, but one was a little shy and I didn't get her picture.  This one regarded us quite cooly, before flipping up her tail and leaping away.  Isn't she beautiful?

Just odds and ends being done at the cottage right now.

Last weekend Iain and I both went up on Saturday.  Installing plugs, switches and checking the breaker circuits was time consuming, and Iain went back on Sunday to tackle more of it on his own.

I helped as best I could, but am more comfortable having him do the wiring of the plugs etc.  My part was stuffing the plug or switch into the box, screwing it in place and applying the face plate.

Before we left, Iain took a reading off the meter.  Hopefully Ont.Hydro will accept the reading, as we have been using space heaters and we need to start paying for some of that power; I'm worried about getting a huge bill when they get around to reading it in the spring.

Today, we marvelled at how the mild weather has brought the dirt road into view!  I can't recall ever seeing so much melt in February.

Today we met with Susan, our kitchen designer at Home Hardware in the Bay; just trying to finalize things, and we're not quite there yet.  Gotta wrap it up soon, so we can get the cabinets on order.  After a quick bite to eat at Vito's, and a brief stop in Combermere, we went back to the cottage.  We have one circuit that is giving us grief:  it has a hard short, and we're having trouble tracking it down.  I can report that the heaters are all wired in and working perfectly, however:  Iain took a day off work on Friday to install them.  I couldn't get the day off, and I would have liked to go to my Aunt's funeral in any case (I was glad to attend the wake on Thursday evening, and pay my respects).

We probably won't do more this weekend; Iain has been working hard on it, and deserves a rest.

A Goodbye

Mom's oldest sister, dear Aunt Margaret, passed away last night.  She had just celebrated her 99th birthday on Sunday.

I think the secret of her longevity, if there was one, was in living well and simply.  She was straightforward, down-to-earth and loving.  Her children and their families will miss her immensely. 

Those of us in her extended family remember her with fondness.  Some people are dragged into nursing homes, kicking and screaming, but Aunt Margaret found pleasure in spending time with others and she moved into the Bonnechere Manor quite happily.  She liked to take part in the crafts they offered, even before she moved in, and I recall being amazed at the talent she showed, the first time I saw hand-painted notecards she'd made; I'd had no idea she was so gifted. 

Katrina, Wanda and Janet still like to talk about the time Aunt Margaret came to the office where we work, for an eye exam.  (It was a few years ago, while I was away on summer holiday, but I've heard this numerous times.)  The front door must have been left open a crack, and a garter snake found his way in.  Katrina made the effort to be brave, but didn't want to tackle the snake herself.  Janet and Wanda were up on their desks, scared to be on the same level as the snake.  Aunt Margaret came to the desk and offered, "Give me a glove to wear, and I'll catch it for you!"  A woman in her nineties put them all to shame; they didn't take her up on her offer, but I've no doubt she would have done it!

A wonderful lady; she will be missed.

A Beautiful Weekend

The weather has been beautiful; this is the warmest winter I remember.   It's been great for us, having to run to the cottage on the weekends.  Normally, February is not the time you want to be doing outside work, but as you can see in the picture below, Iain is able to install an outdoor fixture without wearing his gloves.

This time the sun shone when we were at the lake.  We sat in our living-room-to-be and ate lunch, looking out at the view(s).  This picture is out the south side window, but looking south-west.

This is our view out the front window, from where we sat munching our sandwiches.  I mentioned to a friend, a few days ago, that it all seems too good to be true.  We are so very, very blessed.  My greatest hope is to have the place in dwellable shape by spring, so my mom can come and enjoy it with us!

Water, water everywhere

Last weekend's trip to the cottage revealed several things:

1. Nothing adds humidity to a place like mudding the drywall, and
2. All efforts to remove said humidity by use of paper towels will be for naught (though one feels useful in the attempt).

We had lots of work to do, so Iain was a bit nonplussed at my picture-taking.  In this shot, he is just about to move out of the way because he thinks I'm trying to get a picture of something behind him.  I'm really taking his picture, though.

 Look at this ceiling! We love it.

The peaked ceiling is as nice as we'd hoped.

This may not look like much, but you see that grey conduit in the middle?  It was a son of a gun to get together.  We were glad to be finished with it.

I'm not sure what Iain is working on, here.  It didn't seem like we accomplished too much, but the time went quickly.

 It snowed while we were there.  Some of the local lads were out at the fish shack; had a fire going and the tip-ups set.

The driving home wasn't very nice, because of all the snow.  Next weekend's tour should be better; almost no snow in the forecast.

January slips away...

It has been a warm month, aside from a few cold days where the temperature dipped to -27 at night and the daytime high was -12.  Still, we have a had nice weather overall.

Iain has taken advantage of the good days to get some hydro to the new cottage, so the contractor can start mudding the drywall.  Not much has happened there this month, but they're getting close to the end of the job:  just the mudding and wood ceiling to do, and some odds and ends.  We're thinking of paint colours (though it won't be exciting, we're into cream-coloured walls).

After the rush of Christmas, it's nice to relax a bit, and have weekends where I get to do some puttering about.  Back into a schedule now, I've started working out with an exercise program on the PS3, EA Sports Active 2.  So nice to get back into working out:  I really have let myself go over the last year.  This is perfect for me, because I can exercise at home, early in the morning, when I like to do it.

The Kobo is getting a workout:  I read Stephen King's Mile 81 (pretty good, typical King; I would have enjoyed a longer story), and am now reading George Martin's A Game of Thrones; it's an easy read, and I love the imagery in it.

I finally finshed The Cat's Table, too, which I had in hard cover.  It was pretty good, but Ondaatje always leaves me kinda cold; I just don't find his books satisfying.

We've had some visitors to our feeder, most notable among them this Downy Woodpecker!

Fun in the snow

On New Year's Eve we went for a walk. It was cold but not terribly so.  None of us wanted to do anything too strenuous, so we just went down the road and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Iain and Myles patiently waiting for the rest of us to get moving.

Crossing the field on the road, I tried to capture how gorgeous the trees were - and failed; the eye can take in so much more than can the camera lens.

We passed by the Regans' barn, and stopped to admire the elk horns Paul brought back from a visit up north.

Carl wearing the horns!

I made everyone stop for a sec to get a group picture.

Kerri was outside with her nieces when we came back by the house. She's a good aunt.

Kerri at the top of the "hill" where the kids were sliding.

Hope was enjoying the stand-up sleigh (I don't know what you really call it).

Taylor trudging back up the hill.  Those kids have a ton of energy!

At the lake

We had so much fun visiting with Carl and Irene at their cottage, at New Year's eve-eve, eve, and day.   They are wonderful hosts!  Even so, we are dreaming about staying at our own cottage next year.  We haven't been able to stay at the old place for the last 6 years:  ever since the oil stove came out.  It's not got a lot of insulation, and the wood range just can't kick out enough heat to warm it up.

This probably won't be a problem at the new place.  We stopped in for a look at the drywall on Friday afternoon, and were surprised to notice that the snow we tracked inside melted pretty quickly, despite there being no heat on for the previous week, and the weather being pretty cold.

Iain checking out the lovely thick insulation in the ceiling.

Once the drywall has been mudded, the builders will probably do the wood ceiling that extends through the living room, dining room and kitchen.  You can see the nice pine all stacked up in this next picture.

Mmmmm ... pine!

I made sure to get a picture of the front this time, showing the chimney, the angled windows in the living room, and the cute light outside the front doors!



My new best friend and me

Funny picture, I know!  But here it is, the Kobo, on which I intend to read lots of new books and articles!  It was a Christmas gift from Iain (I returned the favour, and he is also Mr. Kobo now), and I've already read Stephen King's Mile 81 and Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  Just finished downloading the 4-book set of George Martin's A Game of Thrones.

Currently I'm working on a free ebook, Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago by Canniff Haight, which is a description written early in the 1900's about life in mid-1800's rural Canada.  Fascinating stuff, for me; I really enjoyed my Aunt Doris' My Heritage-My Memories, the pdf for which also sits on my Kobo!

My prediction for 2012:  I will have my nose in a book even MORE often than usual!