You Never Know What You'll See

I try to remember to take my camera with me whenever we leave our property. Usually on our drive into town we will see deer, turtles, turkeys, jays, downy woodpecker, loons, etc. Sometimes we are surprised.

If it's sunny we usually see turtles out on a log, necks extended, heads held high, enjoying the warm rays of the sun. These guys had a perfect spot. (double click on the picture)

Looks like the little one is learning from the older one.

But this was a surprise. Stopped to let these folks cross the road, and at first glance I thought they had a large dog on the leash.........

No dog, that's a goat. I have no idea why they were walking around town with a goat. Maybe he's their pet, but do you walk into a store with a pet goat? You never know what you're going to see in Bancroft.


Tonight is the "Run for the Cure" and it starts at 8 and goes all night down at the park. Lots of trailers and booths already set up for that.


Up at the curling club is the "Home and Cottage" show this weekend, so lots happening.


Thanks for dropping by.

Visitors

Wasn't sure what to write about today. I thought maybe "turtles" as we see them frequently this time of year. Then on the way into town I got some pictures of a mother grouse and her babies so thought that would make a good entry for today, but changed my mind again. Pulled into Foodland and saw the camper pictured above. I knew these folks were special so waited for them to return. You never know what you will see around the next corner or meet at the next parking lot. That is one reason we like living here; everyone is so friendly.

Meet John and Elizabeth from Brisbane, Australia; world travellers who know how to do it right. Their custom rig is built on a Mitsubishi truck chassis  with a unique fully functional camper on the back. This rig is designed to take them anywhere, in comfort and without hassle. They can fit two of these in a shipping container so the cost of shipping from continent to continent becomes very reasonable.

Here they are getting set up for the night. The roof is retractable, pneumatic, so at the flick of a button the roof is up and they have room to walk around inside.

Cooking is easy. If they want a hot supper, just place the food inside the pot, bring to a boil on the stove then place the pot inside this insulated container. It will continue to cook throughout the day and by suppertime you have a one pot meal ready to enjoy.

John giving me the escorted tour, really just an explanation of all the hidden storage and gadgets in their rig. See for yourself how well built these units are: http://www.earthcruiser.com.au/home

This morning John and Elizabeth will continue their trip east. Newfoundland is their destination but there are many stops planned before they get to the "Rock"

Can you see their camper parked by the house? I'm sure they had a very quiet, peaceful night.

Safe travels John and Elizabeth. It was a pleasure meeting you and having you stay overnight. 

Solar Power

Since returning to Bancroft in April we have been living on solar power. With the clouds and rain over the past five days I thought for sure we would need to get the generator out and charge up our batteries; not so. Even when it is cloudy our panels will take in some power. 

Here is our setup. We have three 7 amp panels feeding 4, 6 volt Trojan batteries. We are surrounded by trees but usually get direct sun on our panels between 11 and 4. This shot was taken this morning at 6.

We will be running our house on solar as well and feel confident now that we have survived on solar in our trailer for two years. The house system will be much larger, 12, (235 watt) panels and 16, (East Penn 6 volt 8L) batteries. Of course it will be running more appliances such as the refrigerator, washing machine and don't forget all the pot-lights  which we don't have in the trailer.


Our goal is to be living in our house this winter. We will keep you posted.


Thanks for stopping by.

More Pot-lights

A much more productive day yesterday. We came up with a new strategy for our pot-light installation and after four hours we had 19 pot-lights installed. What an improvement.

Mary's task was to install the wire clip seen above in each box. Because these lights will have insulation around and over them we had to use a box rated for contact with insulation. This is a code requirement so the heat from the light doesn't start a fire in the attic insulation.

Next she placed them in the ceiling exactly where the architect plans called for. Then we would step back, consider the furniture placement, task we wanted the lights to illuminate, and make little adjustments if necessary.

At the end of the day this is what it looked like, nineteen pot-lights all ready to be hooked up to our solar system.


Tomorrow we will install some baffles under the eves and maybe some more 1x4 strapping in the ceiling. At this rate we should be ready to install the ceiling drywall in two weeks. 


Thanks for stopping by and let us know if you have any questions.

Three Pot-lights

It has been cloudy with rain since Thursday so we take advantage of getting out and away whenever we can. It looks like we will have the same weather for the next 7 or 8 days so Mary is off to Toronto on Wednesday and I'll be looking after things here.
Yesterday was a slow day; had a late breakfast and then sat discussing what we could do in the rain. Fortunately, Sharon and Ted (closest neighbours) came by and we had a lovely visit. They also brought a little gift for Owen. The way he is putting on weight these days he will appreciate the new clothes. He is quickly growing out of all is tiny baby things. As Ted and Sharon were leaving, Jim and Pirouette came up the driveway so we went over to the house and chatted, showed them where the turtle had laid her eggs on Saturday and discussed plants and what grows best in a garden up here.
After they left we decided to go into town and get some groceries. By the time we got back and had lunch it was 2:30 so time for a nap and then work on the house. From 4 to almost 7 we worked on installing three pot-lights in the ceiling. Then, when we looked at the location of the kitchen island, decided the lights were in the wrong spot, so they will have to come down today. At this rate our grandchildren will be finishing this house.
After supper two cars pulled in and we wondered who could this be? Turns out it was Chris (from Pipe Lake and friends {Victor and his wife}) about to head back to Toronto. It was great to see them and give them the tour. Hopefully they will drop by later in the summer when things are warmer and drier.


So that was our day. Lots of great visits, very little progress on the house, but still a great day.


Safe travels and drop by anytime.

Tail-gate Sale

Every weekend there seems to be something going on in Bancroft. Yesterday there was a huge garage sale in downtown Bancroft in the parking lot off of Flint street. It was billed as a "Tail-gate" sale and every organization seem to have a tent, truck or van from which they were selling donated goods: clothing, appliances, games, sports equipment, etc, etc, etc. Lots of fun and great for community spirit.

Next weekend is the "Home and Cottage" show and next month the concerts in the park return for the summer.

Peterborough

Drove down to Peterborough yesterday to get a break from the trailer. Visited with Marvin and Annie then we all went out to "Hot Belly Momas" for a burger and sweet potato fries. Unfortunately they don't serve burgers on Fridays; so I ordered a "pulled pork" on a kaiser bun, delicious.  The ladies had "catfish" and Marvin had chicken. We all left full and happy. Stayed for the night and the plans are to do some shopping at "Home Depot" for Fathers Day, then head home this afternoon.


Special, Happy Birthday wishes to my sister Annabelle. She is 22 + a few today. OK, we are all 22 + quite a few, but we are all young at heart and enjoying the retired life.  Have a great day sister.