A Little Closer to Home

It's been just over two weeks since the last post, and I think it's fair to say the glacier is thawing a bit. The snow is gone. The temperatures have occasionally topped 20º C. The Meadow Larks, frogs, and even crickets are back along with Junkos and other birds. The Pileated Woodpeckers are more frequent visitors again; I even saw one of them hopping around on the ground in the verges yesterday.

Home ownership involves utility bills. We finally got our first Hydro (electricity) bill in early April. The funny thing is I had to phone and ask for it. Seems that some unfortunate soul named Gordon Peters in Lac du Bonnet had been getting our bill. The line had been connected on August 7th, and we began drawing significant current when the electric furnace was hooked up in late October/early November. Unfortunately, the other Gordon Peters had not paid our bill which had risen to $1,255 by mid-March: not bad for months of construction draw and five months of winter heating. It appears our next bill will be slightly over $100; again, very good for this time of year. It seems that our investment in an air-source heat pump will serve us very well.

The last while has been made busier by non-construction activities as well. Our church choir sang Buxtehude's Membre Jesu Nostri (with chamber orchestra) as part of a three-hour Good Friday service and, following the Great Holy hoohaa on Easter morning, performed Bach's Easter Oratorio (again with chamber orchestra) on April 10th.

Ruth had her first carpal tunnel surgery a few weeks ago. Indications are that it was successful. She is now scheduled for the second of three more procedures to improves hand function. We are also very grateful that the astronomically expensive arthritis meds seem to be yielding results. The challenge for Ruth has been the inability to take on the mammoth list of tasks she would like to accomplish. This is compounded by our continued indoor camping lifestyle, but I hope to alter these circumstances markedly over the next two or three weeks.
Speaking of markedly, our choir friend, Mark McLellan, had a bit of time between job changes and took on the task of tiling our shower. Ironically, his efforts were bent on darkening one corner of our home while I focused on bringing light to every corner of the house. Once Mark has completed the grouting, I'll be able to install the fittings and glass wall. Who knows? We may be able to finally enjoy showering again in a week or so.
Light and access to electricity is now a reality in virtually every corner of the house. I still have a few connections to make in the kitchen, basement and for exterior applications, but it's wonderful to be have permanent lighting and receptacles, and to have retired the extension cords. I managed to get the dining room and great room looking less like a warehouse yesterday so that, when Ruth returns today from a delivery trip up to Pete & Allison's new permanent home at Riding Mountain, maybe she'll feel more like this is truly her new home. I know I certainly need to get this place to that state soon.
The closets are also now ready for our stored wardrobes. Once we've dust off the stored clothes, we'll be able to sport more than two outfits each again. Oh, the fashion possibilities.

The 53' trailer that has blighted our yard for six months is also gone. Just before Easter, our neighbour, Allan Trippier (who is also building his own home), came by with one of his highway tractors and turned the trailer around. On Easter Sunday, Pete and Thomas showed up and helped us empty everything into the basement and garage. It's added a bit to congestion, but we near the point of being to stow and organize our material lives... I think.
What's next? Well, Bruce Oughten should be here any day to install our eavestroughing. Ruth and I are seeing Delaeno and his wife, Micki, tonight and hope to be able to entice him to return for a short while to help with interior doors, the deck, the siding and a couple of other small jobs. It would be wonderful to have his skilled hands on-site again.

For your humble nail bender, the next tasks floor tiling and kitchen counters and appliances. Maybe even dusting off the motorcycles one day and seeing if they fire up. Now that would be a red-letter day.

Now with More Character than the Floor of the Freakin' House of Commons

Yes, I'm on to other items on the to-do list, thanks to the completion of the hardwood flooring component on Ruth's Ridge.
I've described this house as having more angles than a federal politician. Now it can also be said that, with the Country Maple flooring installed and finished, Ruth's Ridge has more character than the House of Commons when it's in session.
Larry, the owner of Beaver Flooring, and his assistant, JP, showed last Wednesday with a van full of noisy equipment, prepared to lay siege to all the rough bits of the hardwood I'd spent over 20 days installing. My overriding concern had been whether they would fall over laughing at my novice efforts, but they seemed genuinely pleased with what I had been able to accomplish. After the get-acquainted session and a walk-around, they brought out the Hummel floor sander and got to work.
The process of finishing a maple hardwood floor involves sanding the entire floor with 40-grit, then 80-grit, then 100-grit, and then screening the entire floor with a 100-grit metal screen attached to a circular buffer. Thereafter, once the edges have been sanded twice with a hand-held circular sander, the sealer/filler is applied, followed by the penetrating oil, which is buffed off with #2 steel wool after an hour or so. Lastly, a second misted coating of oil is buffed off.
That final buffing was completed just after lunch on Sunday.

The completion of the wood flooring allowed us to release the cats from their basement prison and add our last animal, Chester, the loud orange puss-cat. Happily, the weather has turned wonderfully warm here in Manitoba, so we've been able to crack the windows and air the petroleum odours fairly successfully.

Yesterday, Jim Rodger phoned to say they had heard Sandhill Cranes and had Goldfinches at their feeders. Today I heard a Meadow Lark, but no nailers, compressors, sanders or buffers. Oh, also the occasional hiss or yowl as the three cats try to find peace amongst themselves.

Glacial (S)till

It's not yet Good Friday but, as of 8:15 last night, I can say of this hardwood installation, "It is finished." It took six days to complete the last 500 sq.ft. and, on two of those days, I managed to do approximately 125 sq.ft./day, that being the middle, open section of the loft.
As I worked through the 60+ bundles of flooring, I set aside the very few piece of bird's-eye that managed to evade the sorters and incorporated them into the stair landing. I can't imagine what Geoff Hayes' grandmother's house on Furby must have looked like with its bird's-eye maple throughout – including the pantry!
So, what the heck do I do if I don't need to be bent over the hardwood nailer anymore? There's always the unending and ever-growing to-do list should memory fail me. Today, I'll clean up the tools and left-over flooring, and then ensure that all is in readiness for Beaver Flooring. Larry and his crew will be here later today or tomorrow to do the sanding and oiling of the floor. With that step completed, we can then actually move to have the 53' trailer unloaded and begin putting some of our lives back in order. I'm a clean & order freak, so this period of complete and utter chaos has been both inordinately trying and liberating. I have learned to function even when all around demands that I should just throw up my hands and move to Australia (kids' book reference, don't you know).

One of the first tasks will be to get the closets set up so that Ruth & I can begin to select from more than two or three changes of clothing, as has been the case for the past four months and more. Then follow a raft of tasks related to kitchen set-up, electrical fixtures/receptacles, floor tiling and bathroom fixtures.

Of course, with spring rapidly approaching, the verandah and siding projects beckon. The prospect of working outside again holds great appeal.

Ruth has bravely soldiered on with painting over the past weeks despite the alarming rapidity with which her arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome have diminished her ability to function normally. Happily, she got a call from a first-rate surgeon yesterday, and it appears she may be scheduled for surgery this week or next. She and I have been brought up short by the potential impact of this relatively recent ailment. Ruth is so crafts-driven, so active; and the prospect of any significant diminution of hand-function is daunting and sobering indeed. We are both prayerfully hopeful that the surgery will address the carpal tunnel issues and that the new über-techy drugs will wage successful battle with the arthritis. It's ironic: based on history, I should be the one getting hit with the arthritis. My fraternal grandmother almost died when she was hit by arthritis shortly after my father was born, and she spent the last twenty-plus years confined to bed as a result of the damage done to her joints.

That said, we continue to love the day-to-day camping in our new home, and are buoyed with enthusiasm at the relatively imminent shift to more conventional living situation.

Happy spring.

The Glacial (S)pace

A quick update on some glacially slow progress.

The areas of the main floor which were slated for hardwood (great room, dining room, master bedroom, bedroom closet, front entrance and kitchen/back hall – 800 of 1,300 sq.ft. in total) are now officially completed. The areas on the board for tile are pending. The last of the upper kitchen cupboards arrived and are installed. The microwave is housed in its permanent location and has been wired up.

On the spring front, I spent a couple of hours yesterday and then again this morning opening up the snow drifts on either side of our driveway to get the run-off flowing through the culvert rather than over the road.

We now have two cats (Jasper/gray and Daisy/not so spooky) resident, with Chester rejoining us at month's end. We'll then be back to our full complement of three cats and two dogs.
With a bunch of luck and – mainly – a good back, I should be able to have the landing and loft hardwood flooring installed by this time next week. Once the sanding and oiling are done, we can then get to installing closets and dragging in furniture.

A spring full of promise around the corner.

And Then the Kitchen & Garage

Buoyed by the delight of seeing permanent lighting in the great room, I delayed the return to hardwood flooring and got busy with hooking up the kitchen and garage lights – both being areas where the lights were not dependent on the coincident hook-up of receptacles on the same circuit.

After getting the relay for the heat detector wired in (using macro photography inside a wall cavity to determine which wire was which) – as the detectors are to be on a frequently-used circuit, I was pleased to find that the kitchen light switches were already installed. Imagine my surprise, then, when I got the circuit wired into the panel and heard the detectors set, but was unable to get the lights up. Suffice to say, after a period of pondering, puzzling and such, I was able to determine that the three-way switches had been wired up incorrectly. Shortly thereafter, there was light in the kitchen.

With that knowledge in hand, I went out to the garage where I thought I would be able to apply the same solution to the problem of non-working lights out there. After much testing and retesting, no luck. I even tried installing another four-way switch, thinking it might be the culprit. Finally, I checked the Leviton website. Happily, their listing for the 5604 switch also included a wiring diagram. Imagine my surprise when their diagram in no way resembled the one in the Black & Decker guide I've been using as my electrical bible.

Small, but important progress today. Tomorrow, back on my knees.

Hey J&J, what light from yonder windows breaks?

Oftentimes our dear friends and neighbours, Jim & Johanna Rodger, will ask if I've made any of the interior lights operative.

As of this afternoon the answer is, "Yes, folks, I let there be light."
Now, back to flooring in the morning.

I'm Down on my Knees Prayin' "How Long, Lord?"

Today made the fourth day of hardwood flooring installation: I've marked last Tuesday as an orientation day – and not just to make my daily productivity look better!
So far, I'm crawling at between 50% and 33% of the rate of an experienced installer. Greg Martin of Finmac Lumber says a good solo installer will rack (arrange the pieces) and nail 100 - 150 sq. ft. per day. After four days, I've installed about 220 sq. ft. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but 'zat is vot it iss.' Given that we decided to go with mill select (sometimes known as Country Grade) unfinished maple, the colour and grain variation is quite dramatic. Add to that random lengths between 9" and 84", the desirability of randomizing all variables, having every other spike hit a floor joist, generally having 6" of separation between adjacent end-joins... well, you get the picture of what is involved in creating 1,400 sq. ft. of abstract mosaic.
We bought a pneumatic MasterCraft floor nailer which was desperately lacking in useful "how to use this sucker" information. Unfortunately, the 1-800 number so prominently promoted on Canadian Tire's in-store brand provided no more help so, with some careful testing, I divined the inner workings of the nailer and it has delivered fine results.

Meanwhile, Ruth has been spending three-to-four weekend days painting.

And, everyday, the light outdoors continues to inspire as we labour and perspire in what will – some many months down the road – be our dream home.

Off to bed to dream about it (I hope). The waking thoughts of protracted timelines as I roused at 4:23 this morning were definitely not dream-like.


P.S. A few weeks ago I again took a huge trailer of trash to the dump. I noticed this stuffed horse abandoned in the pile next to where I was unloading and, knowing Sadie's of things plush, brought it home. Yesterday, after watching Sadie head downstairs several times a day to visit Horsey, Ruth finally brought it up, where Sadie immediately tried to nurse (we think) from it. Of course, it may just have been typical doggie butt-sniff behaviour.