PAUL'S RETIREMENT PARTY

Good company, lots of laughter and good food made Paul's retirement party perfect.

There were a few special gifts given in the spirit of celebration.

Wine with instructions on where to consume it.

Books on travel and buying those essential retirement items as one enters a new phase in life.

Friends, family, neighbours and colleagues came together to celebrate with Paul this milestone in his life. 

Like I said earlier, lots of laughs and smiles throughout the evening.

Even the little people had a good time. (click on picture)

Getting caught up on each other's news.

Owen and Oma having a special moment.

Owen having fun in the arms of his great uncle Andrew.

Too soon it was time for us to head home.


Thanks Paul and Olga; we had a wonderful time and we look forward to seeing you up here more often.

TURTLE SEASON

This is the season for turtles; the time of year they crawl out of the pond to lay their eggs. For a turtle this doesn't happen until they are about 17, so the girls in these pictures are not spring chickens.

It was a little crowded last night when we noticed two turtles within feet of each other laying eggs up by the house.

They spent hours digging and moving sand even crawling over to visit each other.

They seldom go with the first hole but as you can see, dig many, until just the right conditions are found. Not sure if it might also be to confuse predators like raccoons who are out each night sniffing for turtle eggs. 

Last year we covered any nests we found with chicken wire. This year we have decided to let "turtle life" progress without our interference. 

Off to Toronto to celebrate Paul's retirement. Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few hours. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Safe travels everyone.

PEX WATER LINE - COMPLETE

As promised the water line is in and working as it should. PEX is so easy to work with and almost foolproof.

First job straighten the pipe so Mary can feed it under the deck.

Looks like trying to feed an elephant through the eye of a needle. I did manage to crawl under there and get the water line in place.

Once the line was in place it was a simple matter of sliding the ring on ........

............... inserting the tap and clamping it down tightly.

Tap secured in place.

That black ring secures the pipe to the underside of the deck, very easy.

At the other end of the run I installed a "Sharkbite" elbow. This connection allows me to disconnect the pipe and let the water drain out in the fall. I can reconnect this elbow thousands of times with just a simple push of the pipe.

The water line enters the house behind a steel panel which is easy to remove if the line is ever damaged.

Inside another "Sharkbit" connection with a shutoff. This allows me to disconnect the pipe and use an air-compressor to blow out the water line; another step in making sure our line doesn't freeze this winter.

PEX is the easiest way to run a water line I've ever used. It beats the old copper pipe by a country mile. No torches, no solder, no burning wood, just cut, fit and clamp. You will love it.

Hope you enjoy your own PEX project as much as I did mine.

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.

MARY'S GARDEN

Yesterday I walked in town while Mary shopped for fabric. After lunch we worked in the gardens and looked after the chickens. 

I particularly like what Mary did on the east side of the house. It is a beautiful setting to see as one comes up the driveway.

Rock phlox is my favourite and produces a lovely show all summer long.

An Iris in full bloom early in the morning.

Today I will get the waterline in and post pictures in the morning. The only unpleasant part is crawling around under the deck.

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Our water line installation didn't happen yesterday. By the time we returned from town it was 4:30 and the chickens needed our attention. Today Mary is off buying fabric for her quilts so I doubt we will accomplish much today.

Yesterday's luncheon at the curling club was delightful and a chance to meet and chat with new friends. Mary has her back to the camera and Linda and Durl are to her right.

There were about 50 retired teachers present. Our meal was BBQ chicken with a variety of salads followed by two guest speakers who highlighted local services for seniors living in the Bancroft area. 

Road construction continues as usual. In Canada, once the thaw is out of the ground the construction crews are out repairing or improving our roads.

This year Bay Lake road is being widened and the sight lines improved.

The blasting crews were busy last week as you can see and next week they will move this rubble and work on the road surface.



As for us we continue looking after our chickens and enjoying these warmer days and larger crowds in town. A new candy store just opened and when we walk our circuit we walk right past it; oh the temptation. They sell candy by the piece, in paper bags, just like they did when I was a kid.

Enjoying summer in cottage country. Thanks for stopping by.

PROGRESS SMALL STEPS

Yesterday I went to town to get 100 feet of PEX piping. The local hardware store had it and the guys there are very helpful in explaining how things work or the job should be done. So in 30 minutes I had all my plumbing parts for the job back home.

But I had grocery shopping to do and also my walk to get in. I'm trying to walk 5 miles a day and walking back here in the bush isn't that pleasant these days; too many black-flies. So between walking, shopping and checking my blood pressure at the drug store it was 12:30 by the time I got home.

It didn't take long for the hammer-drill to go through the 4 inches of concrete. You can see the water line beside the drill that I will cut into later.

Water line fits through the wall, no problem and that was as far as I got yesterday. 
The next step is to remove the outside steel panel and run the line under the deck. I may wait a day or two for the bugs to disappear before tackling that. Mary will need to feed the line to me as I crawl under the deck and nail it in place. 

Today we are off to a luncheon at the curling club so it wont happen today. I think by Wednesday or Thursday we should have water running.

Our chickens are growing and happy in their new home. At night they huddle together under a cardboard box to stay warm. We've seen no predators or sign that any animal is trying to get in.

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

SUMMER PROJECT

It has been a busy few weeks with us away to see my sisters and then Leanne and Jamie here for a few days. I've just been too busy to write.

But here we are, a new week, a new month and time to start my summer project.

It's painful to cut into a wall but I need access to a water line and this was the closest line available. Fortunately it's in my office which hasn't been finished so the damage will be easily repaired.

I need to drill through the wall just above the drain plug in the floor. The wall is 16 inches thick, 4 of those inches being concrete with rebar. I don't want to hit the rebar.

The water line will exit the wall just to the right of my office window. (first window) From there I will run the line under the deck to the south side of the house where Mary has our compost bins. She has planted squash there and needs easy access to water.

The compost bins are on the south side of the house.

I'll run the water line to the corner of the deck and then we will use a hose to water the squash. I'm off to town this morning to get a 100 foot roll of PEX. 




PEX has revolutionized the installation of domestic water lines as it is so simple to work with and almost impossible to have leaks once all the parts are cut and connected. It's also good for exterior locations as it is plastic and allows a little expansion if frozen compared to copper pipe lines that would just burst.

Time to shop and I'll report tomorrow on my progress.

Still happy with our "Xplornet" service. We've been using it since May 25th, watch a movie every night and have used 4.43 GB to date. Looks like our 40 GB capacity will do us just fine.

Update - June 2/15: Today's reading for Xplornet is 5.36 GB, a usage of 0.93GB over 24 hours. That includes a movie, blog entry and general daily use of the internet.

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.