The Tank has Arrived

Today the tank arrived. Steve was here before 7 a.m. to get the hole dug and ready for the septic tank to be installed.

Steve guides the tank into place. There are certain regulations that must be followed for the installation to pass inspection. The tank must sit at the correct level to achieve the correct slope for the pipe exiting the house. 

We used a transit (yellow box) to ensure accuracy of the correct placement.

Here Steve checks to make sure the tank is level front to back and side to side. Any idea what those green lids are for? Are you sure you want to live in the country?

Next job was to install the 4 inch PVC pipe at the correct slope.

Another hot day and Steve and Ben are working in the full sun as they complete the last connection of pipe.

While we worked outside in the 30*C heat, Paul was working inside where it was cool. He enjoyed coming out to remind us how cool it was. No beer for Paul at the end of the day, oh, nobody got beer, just water.


Tomorrow we install the septic bed. Pretty exciting, right. Bet you can't wait to see the pictures.


OK, one last piece of news. Not sure how to word this because it is a delicate matter, but we need lots of visitors once we move in. You might say, each visitor would hopefully help fill the "gas tank" if you get my drift.  According to Steve, who installed our tank, we need to get our system up and running asap so that it is working properly and producing the necessary heat before the snow arrives. This is all very technical, just rest assured, we need visitors.


Thanks for stopping by and remember when you come to visit, come loaded. We have a 1,000 gallon tank to fill, and that's no sh_ _.

Too Hot to Stay Home

Southern Ontario has been under a "heat" advisory for the past week, so we decided to take a drive and enjoy the comfort of our air-conditioned truck.


It doesn't matter what road or route you take, they are all beautiful. We headed east from Bancroft, on 28 towards Renfrew with no set schedule in place.

The day was sunny, hot with huge white clouds floating across the horizon.

This is the Madawaska River, an important river during the early logging days up here. Imagine log rafts floating down the river as the logs were sent to the mills. As a kid I remember the logs floating down the Ottawa River to Hull Quebec. Today all the logs are shipped by truck.

Then it was on the Renfrew where they were holding a festival and had this street blocked off. We enjoyed a  seat in the shade as we listened to the performers, ......... some quite good.

Main Street Renfrew, where people still make U-turns on a Saturday afternoon. Can you see the car turned sideways?

Eaganville, another town started by lumber and full of history. These small towns up here are so interesting to explore.

This was a perfect day to have a picnic, explore the local history and find a shady spot to sit and enjoy an ice-cream cone.


Hope you are staying cool. Thanks for stopping by.

Vintage Friday

Bancroft packs a lot of events into their summer program. Last night the main street was closed and we celebrated "Vintage Friday"


Enjoy the pictures. They may bring back some memories.

The crowd was big, the night was perfect.

Sitting in this cockpit, you had power.

Folks of all ages came out to view the cars.

My favourite. I didn't realize I was "vintage" material. Were did the time go?


Thanks for dropping by.

North Gable End

Yesterday, Ben and I were able to finish installing the steel siding on the north gable.

Just about finished. We had to carefully cut each piece to fit the slope of the roof and sit properly on the drip strip. The shelters helped to keep the sun from scorching us as we measured and cut each piece to fit.

Done and very happy with the results.

I see I need to add a strip of facia to the pitch of the roof. 


I'll put that on today's list.

While we worked outside, Paul was working on the inside, mudding and taping the ceiling.


Another productive, successful day and my blood pressure is actually going down as I scramble up and down the ladders. Checked it yesterday and it was 105/72. YEA!


Thanks for keeping an eye on us. 

Gable Ends

Today it was hot and we worked in the shade as much as possible.

This is Ben, our student helper for the summer. I often need another pair of hands and Ben often knows what is needed before I ask him.

Here we are working on the north gable getting the 2x4 in place.

Mark, measure, cut, drill, attach to frame. It seemed we spent all morning just getting the 2x4s in place .

After lunch we put the canopies up for some shade and made a jig for cutting the steel siding. Actually cut one piece and was quite pleased with the accuracy and ease with which we cut the steel. Tomorrow we hope to install the steel siding on the north gable.

The chickens are doing very well and Mary will have a blog entry soon on our new "girls".

Thanks for stopping by.

Back to Work

It was great to see Marvin and Annie yesterday and to have a relaxing day with them but now the long weekend is over and it's time for us to get back to work.


Today I will work on the gable ends and Ben will replace the screws in the steel siding. If it rains we will work on the ceiling on the back porch.

Here is the north gable end I'm working on.

I need to build it out about 7 inches so designed these wooden boxes to do the job.

This is a close-up of the construction. I place a 2x4 vertically against the existing roof truss then attach plywood to both side. Finally another 2x4 gets attached to the front making a solid box to extend the gable surface out flush with the wall below.

Another few hours and we should be ready to start installing the steel siding to the north gable end.






Our drywaller comes on Thursday so we may get the interior walls started this coming weekend. 


Lots to do if we want to be living in the house by the end of August. 


Thanks for stopping by.

Canada Day Celebrations

Today we celebrated "Canada Day". This is a long weekend holiday right across Canada and used to be called Dominion Day but now called Canada Day.


So down to the dock we went to watch the fireworks over the lake. A perfect night to enjoy the festivities over the water; warm, no breeze, water flat and reflective and a full moon to add some light when we walked home.


There are certain skills needed when trying to capture sharp clear shots of fireworks, skills I'm still trying to acquire. So here are a few feeble shots from my attempts tonight. Please be kind and simply enjoy them for what they are; a mere record of the noise, smoke and light across the lake.

Thanks for stopping by and have a safe drive home on Monday.