September 7th

Today was concrete slab day at May's Garden. And I took the day off! On account of my bad back I was pretty much a spectator as Mike and Craig mixed and poured many wheelbarrow loads of concrete to make a 4" thick slab in both the living room and the utility room.  As luck would have it, an old friend, Melanie and her partner Michael sailed into Mansons and gave me a call. I met them on the beach and we spent the day leisurely visiting friends, having lunch and swimming at Mansons Lagoon.

Michael is an old friend of David's so we connected really easily. The three of us had some great conversation and lovely quiet times. 

Melanie reminded me of a haiku I told her many years ago...

The moon on the water;
Broken and broken again,
Still is there.

Chosu

September 6th

This is the floor of the living room with insulation and heating pipe in place. The pipe gets hooked up to a small hot water tank and circulating pump. Tomorrow it all gets covered up when we pour the concrete slab.

The group shot is a gathering of friends and family for a salmon bbq on Sunday evening. The 16lb Chinook salmon was courtesy of Simon who caught it while working as the chef at Sunds Lodge on Malcolm Island this summer.

And the last shot is of the big cedar beam that will grace the front of the upper deck support frame.

September 3rd

We've been back at work this week and have completed the last details on the roof and installed the two skylights upstairs.
Mike also did a great job building the deck/balcony  upstairs.  The post and beam support structure is very interesting. I also like the way we but pine T&G down on the deck before installing the plywood and the torch on membrane. The wood looks great from underneath, especially with the Penofin oil finish we applied.

Roof on!

 

After two weeks away from May's Garden it was great to return and see the new metal roof installed. This means that the house is now water tight (more or less because there are still a couple of finishing details to do on the metal roof). While we were away the weather was was mostly sunny and everything GREW! Unfortunately we had another deer raid our veggie garden, but there's still some stuff left for us. Today we're cleaning up, mowing the grass and relaxing while our bodies adjust from the 8 hours of jet lag from our travels in Ireland.

July 25th - wrapping it up

Today we started wrapping the house in one inch thick foam insulation. This is just the first step in making the house energy efficient. There will also be thick fiberglass insulation in the 6" deep wall cavities, plus under the main floor in the crawl space. Even the concrete slab in the living room gets a layer of high density foam insulation under it.

Tonight I walked the trail through the woods to the coop store. (I was out of granola... a dire emergency:) Along the way I took this photo of Hague Lake just before sunset. Today was "Floatopia" on the island in the lake known locally as Turtle Island. Lots of young folk paddle or swim out there for a day of music and whatever kids do these days when their parents aren't around;) It sounded like fun from the shore...

July 21st

Waiting for the sun - July 16th

Rain in mid July is not unheard of in this wet coast climate, but still it is unusual. And as far as building a house is concerned, it's a pain. Until we get the metal roof on everything inside the house is wet. So getting that roof on is a priority, but we need the roof to be dry so we can measure it for the roofing (walking on a sloping wet roof is not advisable). Snookered. Similarly with the exterior foam insulation; it's sitting there ready to be glued on, but we need the plywood to be dry so that the glue adheres properly. One project we can move ahead with is shoveling the pile of gravel into the living room to raise the floor level before we pour the concrete slab. Luckily, Elgin is coming up here for a few days to help out with this and some other work... splitting firewood comes to mind.

Anyway, tomorrow is Cortes Day, the island's annual summer festival. (it was supposed to be today but guess what... postponed because of the rain.) We're keeping our fingers crossed and gazing anxiously skywards looking for a break in the clouds...