The Kitchen is Closed!...

...for a month (at least!)!...
Another busy week, with carpenters tearing out cupboards and cabinets. Removing and replacing floorboards, dry-walling and installing a newer, bigger window.

...before...

...the "how to" guys...

...awaiting pick-up...
So, for now there is only a range (with no working oven) only 4 stove top elements, a toaster oven and a fridge. Dirty dishes are in the bathroom sink and tub...and dishes and pots/pans are scattered throughout the house and barn. So needless to say cooking is down to soup, toast and cereal!

note the new window!

IF all goes according to plan (and I'm not sure why it would start now) the electrician will put in all plugs, switches and lights...Martin will do the plastering, Steve & Rob will lay sub-floor and flooring (wood floor is toooo far gone!) and with fingers crossed, IKEA will deliver cabinets and worktop, Sears the appliances...all by the end of October?!

But wait! There's more!
John & Benny spent Thursday under my direction (and I'm sure he was mumbling "crazy lady"!) cutting out all future gardens, removing sod and then replacing all with new topsoil. So when we return from Ontario with a trailer load of plants, they will be planted right into their new homes.
The banker was mumbling something else watching an excavator, two men and many dump truck loads for 8 hours!

...the circle for the "fire garden"...

...the "water garden" spot...
...and no pics of the "wind" (all grasses) and vegetable gardens...but you get the drift, right?!


Friday was the arrival of the new cement septic tank.

first the pumping out the old...

After a good hour of digging to remove the old steel barrel from the ground the new one arrived on a "boom truck" and without incident. Inspected and re-filled by day's end...we can now flush to our heart's content! Happy days are here again!!!



However, fingers are crossed over the condition of the weeping bed (known as a "drainage field" here).

And, though we're not ready for livestock, I did adopt a new pet...meet

"Fish"! (no name yet)...alpacas & horses to follow?!

It's Freezing!!!!...

...here and to make things worse...I keep following the weather in Ipperwash...the lows there are our highs here...so safe to say...summer is over!
Everyone in the neighbourhood is frantically harvesting and canning, where as we are just content to be prepared for the onset of winter!
This is the result of burying coompost all summer...

...so now I'm going to try storing them in our cellar and see if will stay cool enough for them to get through the winter.

Mark & Barb Howe from Whitby were our first offical in-house guests this past weekend...

the new dining room table...chairs to follow!
Sooooo glad we had a room for them to sleep in and a half finished room to eat in!

We had a great day for giving them the obligatory tour of the Fundy Trail...and the taste of St Martins.

Even nice enough to dine on fresh scallops out on the deck...



...followed by Cuban cigars!

Because there are only two seasons here (winter and getting ready for winter!), I went over to help at Brian the barber and assorted friends and family move wood up into his shed. He devised a neat system for this by converting a hay bale conveyer to take the logs up his steep lot. The "dancer" is Jimmy Walsh...entertaining us to the Irish tunes that were playing!


Today, we're off to shop for appliances, so the banker's bracing himself. Next week, we have plans to rip out the entire kitchen, drywall and put down subflooring. Then on our return from Ontario Thanksgiving, in with the new! Again the banker's gettin' nervous!

More on Jack...And a Bedroom Redo...

More pics of Jack and family!...but not me :( ...looks like my holdin' time has to wait till October!


Jim's back from ONT...and arrived to a surprise...master bedroom is DONE! ...o.k., so it still needs curtains, skylight trim, night tables ...

Our neighbour Doug, kindly came over to install lights, and move furniture ( I held the flashlight!)...and of course nothing ever goes easily - parts missing from my bargain basement fixtures! So after much running around into the village and town, they're up and radiant!

It is sooooo nice to start "downloading" boxes and stuff from the barn. Not to mention having one clean and almost completed room!
Remember this pic?

...bedroom before...

...and before (check out that floor! and closet!)...

...and now - the winter "dressing"...

closet's gone...and the floor!

Prints and wall stuff still to be found!

...and summer "dressing"



the empty dressing room...well one print has been located!
...some furniture here would be nice. (that's Jerome's duty, but the banker personality keeps coming forward, so it may be awhile!)

So now, only six more rooms to go!...I'm taking leave of durabond and paint to start back on the outside work that has been ignored for weeks...and the "popals" are starting to take hold again! AARRGGHHHH!!!

Our New Grandson...

...Sorry there's not a lot to see yet...and wish I had "scratch and sniff" for the wonderful scent of a newborn!...but Jack Cole is doing fine, Kristen is a bit uncomfortable with swollen legs (as well as the other after effects of a 30 hour labour and c-section!) and Rick?...over the moon! ...an new fishing buddy!

Back Home...

...in our lil ol' house again! and back on-line!
Floors are done! but still need to be careful on them for a few weeks.

see any difference? (kitchen's looking worse each day, and that's my plan ;)!

banker does the inspection...

Kate is thrilled with to go barefoot in the house !

our dining room is starting to take shape...

Sara and Ivan left the morning of the "great rain" on the tail end of Hurricane Hanna that hit most of southern NB on Sunday. We fared well compared to our neighbours that were all struggling with flooding basements and washed out driveways. Kathi & Jim's basement needed a wall "punched out" in order to get water out and prevent their furnace drowning!
Sara and Ivan arrived home safely after a km. filled week from On to PQ to NB to NS to PEI and back again! Ivan wanted seafood ...and boy did he get it! Scallops roasted over an open fire (thanks to Brian!) and two feeds of lobster (thanks Jim!) as well as mussels and oysters during the trip...he may be back to salads for a while!

Ivan gets a lesson on opening oysters

outdoor dining at the cottage

ooooh...this is a happy man!

roasting scallops (they look like marshmallows on a stick!)

I'm back into my painting clothes, but now it's even slower to protect the new floors, which are even better than we thought they'd turn out. I hope to finish our bedroom first so we have at least one room clean and finished so we can finally start unpacking!
All plumbing in the basement has been replaced, right out to the septic tank (new one is on order). Jim spent the day with Rick helping to remove all the old cast and install the new PVC....and of course in an old house...nothing goes according to plan!

Jim, after his day as plumber's apprentice

awaiting a new tank!
Toilet is up and running upstairs, but now the down stairs one is not working...so still hiking stairs to have a pee! (but at least not at 3 a.m.!)

toilets do NOT work well sitting OFF the drain!

AND OUR BIGGEST NEWS? !...
...our new 7 lb 2 oz grandson arrived safe, sound and handsome! He popped on Monday night at 7:02p.m. after a long and arduous labour by C-section. Kristen & Rick are both doing fine and proud!...We're waiting on his first pictures too!

A Lovely Day...

...the first day of September blew in with all the promise of fall! High winds, cold, rain and this was the day I was to show my daughter Sara and boyfriend Ivan a good time in St Martins!
So right after breakfast we decided to brave the elements, meet some local residents and just make the best of it...and it turned out to be...
... a lovely day after all!



And now a week of floor finishing begins...so Jim and I are taking up residence in Kathi's cottage (where we rented for the winter) to escape the dust and Varathane smell.
No internet...so communication may be interrupted!