Tuesday, October 15, 2013

SNEAK PEAK OF THE SHACK.......MAIN FLOOR and some pet pictures

The shack was occupied this past weekend by our daughter Jennifer 
and 
 cats 
Iris and Stella 
and 
dogs 
Alice and Josephine



Hunter and Rosco soaking up the warm fall sun
Rosco's master Les is up in the mountain area hunting
He comes down periodically for a shower and food run

Nikki (Rosco) and her friend Jane are here for the grape harvest
and
The pulling in of the nets!!
HARD WORK

We had a full house over the weekend
Ten holding hands at the dinner table
for Thanksgiving dinner
Counting the pets in the shack and in the house
 6 cats
and
5 dogs

OH HAPPY DAY!!


The cats trying out Joe's chair
It is picture hanging time with Jen here!
Note the photo over the small table
It is of my brother Gary and I at our cottage which we called
The Shack
We are playing in the waters of the St. Clair River and in the background you can see Stag Island
It looks like I didn't want to get my feet wet but was probably looking for a pretty rock




The cats spotted a bird up near the bird house
Curiosity came right into play
or
They were on a mission to get the bird!




Iris is a beauty
She is a rescue cat arriving at Whistler Wags when she was only 2 weeks old
Although her siblings were all different colours Iris has the traits of a Flame Point Siamese with blue blue eyes


Stella comes from Squamish and is also a rescue cat

We had discussions about where to place the kitchen table
Stephanie and Joe did not like it in the middle of the room
I thought it would be a good place as there is very little counter space and could visualize myself working at the counter and turning around to work at the table
As you can see we found another place for the table
Fits in well I would say!




Joe was going to build a 'shelf'' under the bed for books
but
We left the bin of books either at the cottage or at the storage unit
I found two of Jennifer's trunks that she had left behind
They will be put to good use 




There's a good view of the table!
It actually came from Sarnia some years ago
Rod's Mom Elaine had found it in the basement of a home that she and Tom had purchased
Elaine did  not have a use for it so Jennifer 'grabbed' it!
Who would have thought that Joe and Dianne would be sitting at the table!!!!!!!!




Oh boy
Lots and lots of shelves
Lots of baskets
We have 'blackboard' paint for the front of the fridge
It is on my 'to do' list




Brought out photos of Joe's Mom and my Mom




Do you like our little 'sitting' room?????
Tight quarters but it will be fine




As you can see I have a bit of painting to do in the bathroom yet
Also on the list





Some treasures on the shelf above the door and window
One box in particular............
Written on the front of the box is
Meanie Fisher
Her 'real' name was Amelia
She was the Aunt of my Father
Mother of my cousin Margaret of whom many of my family and friends knew and loved
Stephanie was married with Aunt Meanie's  gold wedding band




The view from our window

This week Joe is concentrating on the basement
Today he was securing the 'new' wall and was going to start working on framing in the windows
Tonight he said he finished the windows!
Good job Joe






Saturday, October 5, 2013

SHACK RENO 2013 # 2


Progress is being made on the shack


The hole is cut to make room for the stairs that will take us down to our 'future' bedroom



The support beams are going in
Joe used old cedar posts from the vineyard



Will clean up this area
Looking outside from the basement door



 Joe putting in the 'landing' step




What a time I had with the ladder
It is sooooo long
My upper body strength is for the birds
Had to call Joe for help!



The old vines are coming off
Some were super stubborn



The stairs are in
Garen checking out Papa's fine work




A few years ago Joe had built a double bed for the shack 
He made it into a single bed which is going to be our sofa
It was tooooo high
Cut 5 inches off
Still a little high
However
We were limited to height due to the stairs
Will have to remember to duck our heads each time we go downstairs
KNOWING US
WE WILL FORGET
But
Will only do it a few times then we'll remember!!!!!



My next job
Painting the side of the shack
Lyndsay had painted it last year but of course the vines were still living at that time



All done


Grabbed another window from the old farm house
Due to the electrics in the kitchen area Joe had to put it in sideways
Thanks to Graham's friend Ted Joe had some help 




Stuff everywhere



The new window 'sort of' fits under the sink
Not to worry......
Between Joe, Jennifer, Stephanie and I
We'll figure something out!!!!!!



This is my find from the second hand store
As soon as I spotted it
My mind went into overdrive



The walls are all freshly painted
We are just about ready to put it all together
Still have the bathroom to paint
and
Of course the basement
Have a new pane of glass in the front door



I found this chair in the second hand store
Perfect for Joe for his late night reads




Found this chair for Di
Actually it was about three weeks ago when I saw the chair
Wasn't sure if we had room so did not buy it 
When I was talking to Jennifer the other day telling her about the chair and how I didn't think we could squeeze it in she suggested we move the kitchen table across from the sink 

PERFECT

Now there's room for the rocker
 Monday morning I went back to the store
CLOSED
OH SHUCKS
Tuesday morning 10 a.m.
I was at the door
There 'she' was sitting right where I last saw her
I was soooooo excited
and
To top it off the store had 30% off all items
My lucky day!




This is what it looked like this morning
Just wait folks!!



Joe has started building a wall to hide the sewer pipes

************


The weather this week has been crazy



It has pretty well rained at some point in time almost every day 



When I came upstairs the other morning my eyes came upon this............
AH
LIFE IS GOOD