Well Well Well

 Over the past few days we have finally had the well plumbed and now we have water!

It began with Rick The Water Guy installing the pump in the drilled well. The well is 450ft deep and we set the pump at 300ft, to make sure it had enough power to push the water to the surface, through the buried water lines to the pump house, into the pressure tank -- that's the big blue one -- and from there to the house and all the various faucets and washing machines that will usew the water.

Today Rick came back and made the final electrical connections and bingo, the well is is working!



We need to run it a lot to flush it out and then get the water tested to see what kind of purification we will need, if any. The chances are there will be iron in the water, as it's a common issue here on Cortes.

Tiles and more

 Here is the newly re-painted "feature wall" in the living room. Basically we decided the original colour was too wimpy so we chose this "Indian Orange" which seems to work happily with the other walls, the ceiling and the wood floor.





These are the kitchen tiles, freshly grouted.











And this is the bathroom floor. JP the tile setter, still has the shower and wall tiles to do. This will happen next week as he is leaving tomorrow to spend a couple of days on Quadra where he has cats that need his attention.


 

 

Last night I went to the opening of an interesting installation art piece at the Schoolhouse Gallery in Whaletown. Noba and Pete created this three dimensional spiral structure that is very beautiful.
We were invited to bring drums to the opening so I took my big native style drum to its first public event. There were a few other drummers and we played for about 15 minutes before everyone was invited to "circle up". At that point Leilani read two poems on a spiral theme and then Shivaun  led the group in a spiral song and dance that eventually wound its way into the structure. I played my drum throughout and felt very connected to this lovely group of people.

August 3rd

 Well it's been a while since I updated my blog but progress is still being made. Only now I'm into finishing stuff and the changes are not so obvious or darmatic. Also it's high summer and I have this increasing urge to go sailing...
However, the living room floor finally got finished after a bit of as false start. Basically, my pal Eric and I got it all done and then found a dip in the middle. So we pulled about two thirds of it up again, poured two bags of levelling compound and then I put it back down. It's pretty good now.

Also in the living room, I did the finishing trim around the edges of the ceiling. It's simple but nice

 And... I got the trim detail at least partially done around the spiral staircase opening. There will be a circular trim piece around the bottom and top of the short vertical boards to hide the edges.... when I get around to it.

Meanwhile, JP the tiling guy has started work and will be here for about 2 weeks. He's quite a character and full of stories. His quote about bathrooms; "I build jewelery boxes for people to be naked in." While here he's staying in the Cortes Hilton (our big tent) with his dog Monk. He's known as being a great tile setter with a few personality issues. Basically he's a very ADHD 50 year old skateboarding kid. We get along just fine!