Adventures in Drywall

Actually, this is a fakeout. We didn’t have an adventure. We were merely spectators in the whole drywall thing. And vacuum-up-ers. This is because we hired great guys to do the drywalling for us.

I will say that Chris did a lot of prep before Gary and Jason Barr of Mid Isle Drywall and their team could do their work. He and Nelson put seven bags of sound insulation in the ceiling and walls of the kitchen and family room.

Because who wants to hear a tap dancing yodeling cook through the bedroom floor? Not me. He also did all that crazy recessed lighting and electrical stuff. And I made him redo some of it (“Move it six inches to the left. You’ll be so happy you did!”) because I am just like that.

In case you are new to the party, this is why the drywall was being redone.

The ceilings upstairs were scraped and remudded. Altogether they put ten buckets of mud on the ceilings. That is a poop load of mud.

Then they textured it. With little lumpy bumps.

Now all you popcorn haters need to sit on your hands because that’s just the way it is. It was the best solution to some wonky surfaces, and actually it’s quite nice. I am sure you will agree. See? You do.

As to the main floor (kitchen, family room, and sewing room), I have already told the story of the tear down and the new lam beam (technical language with which I am now fluent). So here is the exciting transformation.

First, up goes plastic sheeting which is supposed to prevent the spread of dust.  Har har.

It’s just a good thing our carpets are the colour of drywall dust.

Then, the team of young lads zoomed through this job in 3 hours, nailing stuff up and cutting holes.

And making the occasional mistake. For which they apologized!

Now, my first instinct was to say, “Hey, no worries, fellas.”  Then I realized they were apologizing to Gary, who would whoop them, I think. Oh well.

Then there was the taping. It’s pretty cool to watch them snap that stuff up there. Bet they are in high demand at Christmas. Maybe working the mall gift wrapping service for extra loonies.

I like the stilts. I told Gary he could put on a lilac tutu and sparkly wings and moonlight at the Filberg Festival. He did not like my idea.

In the sewing room, Gary found a spongy part in the board under the window, probably from an old leak before the windows were replaced. He cut it out and made it pretty.

Then there was the mudding sanding mudding sanding mudding sanding part.

With lots of big noisy fans running in between.  Then the vacuuming part. Conveniently, I was not home for that part.

They really did a fabulous job–on time with minimal fuss. I can hardly wait until the paint goes on next week.

BFR

Shortly after we arrived–in fact on the first day–we asked Nelson to cut off the English ivy at the base of one of our Douglas firs.

The ivy had reached at least two thirds of the height of the tree and had the potential to completely overwhelm it. He used my secateurs and loppers, but we may need dynamite to finish off the ivy stems at the base of the tree.

At this point the leaves and vines are dead, but the rootlets that hold it to the tree are quite tenacious so the trunk is still covered in dead leaves.

This seems like a non-story, right? Bear with me. If it hadn’t been for the dead leaves acting as a passive intruder alert, I would not have heard him: the BFR, the Big Fat Raccoon.

I spent most of yesterday in the garden pruning and transplanting deer food (hostas) from the front to the back of the house. At around 9 pm I was cleaning up the tools and tubs of yard waste when I heard rustling in the top of the big fir. I stopped in time to hear a thud as something fell from the tree and bounced in the bushes. Stupidly, my first thought was, “Gee, I didn’t know we had monkeys”. I confess I was half expecting coconuts when I searched the underbrush. I found two chunks of a wasps’ nest.

As one does in such circumstances, I looked up. Can you spot him?

Sure enough, a large raccoon was looking down. Big, with a look that said Do Not Piss Me Off. And, Hands Off My Dinner.

The dogs were instantly curious, but we put them inside because a fight with a 40 lb BFR would be a nasty, bloody mess.

I kept working, with my ears open. The BFR  seemed to be working out the best way to get down, get dinner and get back up again, but the rattling dead leaves kept blowing his cover. Eventually, it worked its way to a lower limb, sprinted along the fence, hopped down, gabbed the nest, and sped back along the fence and up the tree. I was surprised by its agility: it had that low center of gravity, beamy look that made me think of it a slow, lumbering critter. But the whole maneuver took less than 30 seconds.

By this time it was quite dark, so I didn’t bother to listen to the feasting. If the BFR keeps wasps under control, it will always be welcome in our yard. As long as it keeps its paws off the dogs.

Ernie the Agoraphobic Toilet

Meet Ernie.

He has issues.

He is afraid of large, open spaces.

His issues create advantages…

And disadvantages.

Enter Chris the resident porcelain psychologist. Toilet whisperer.

Not a plumber, but handy with the tools.

Just four inches to the right, but what a difference.

As a postscript, we discovered that the plumber (professional, nice man) had plumbed the hot water to the toilet. We did consider the advantages of such a system: cleaner bowl, warm porcelain (should someone forget to lower the seat), the je ne sais quoi cachet of a bidet-like fixture. But the warm waftings from such an arrangement negated any benefits. Back to cold water. Psychosis conquered. Job done.

Around the Garden: Early July

I discovered the macro setting on my camera, so I apologize in advance for any headaches I may cause. It’s just a phase. Please forgive.

These double poppies have self-seeded in several beds. The foliage is a lovely dusty grey-green, but the heads are so big that they make the whole plant tips over onto the grass. Still, pretty fabulous colour.

So luscious.

This hydrangea is taller than I am and looks quite fit. I think it’s a mophead.

The bloom turns pink as it matures.

This lavender is at least a metre across and is more purple than this picture shows. It needs a pruning, but I am a bit afraid of ruining it.

Alstroemeria has popped up in a variety of places, including between the patio stones. It’s quite cheery, but I need to watch it, apparently, as it can become a garden thug.

And now for the audience participation portion of this post.  Do you recognize these next three flowers? I haven’t made it easy as I have focused on the blooms. But you are smart, dear reader, and I know you’ll do just fine.

Contestant #1

Contestant #2

Contestant #3

Does anyone look familiar?

I wrote earlier about the sad condition of the two currant  bushes.

Mum was right, these guys are tough. I whacked them back into sticks.

Taa daa! Obviously these guys are determined to survive so I can make jam.

Here is another unexpected discovery: meet Rupert the Sad Scarecrow. He’s about a foot tall and was under the lavender when I found him, hatless. And armless.

But worse,  Rupert suffers from really big feet-itis. I have to find the perfect place in the garden for him.

Maybe we need to plant some sunflowers.

What is sexy?

I’ll tell you what’s sexy. A man in a toolbelt. Yes, ask anyone. Verrry sexy. Take a look:

Side view

Isn’t that a sexy man? In a sexy toolbelt. Doing things with electricity. For free.

Back view

Sometimes sexy toolbelt wearing men let bystanders hold things. It should, in theory, increase sex appeal by proximity. But no.

I think toolbelt-wearing men are as sexy as brain surgeons (though not as well paid). Doesn’t this look like a brain?

That’s the corpus callosum right there.  Also, holding your hands over your head does nice things for your abdomen. Take that, flabby surgeon.

And toolbelt wearing men doing things with electricity for free also do nice things for kitchen lighting.  See?

Do you have a sexy toolbelt wearing person in your life? Are YOU a sexy toolbelt wearer? I would like to meet you. One can never have enough sexy people (or toolbelts) in one’s life.

Chaos

The last two weeks have been quite the whirlwind. I took my students to camp. Report cards were written (my personal vacation in hell). The school year ended. Charlotte graduated. We moved out. We moved in. Most of those things happened over three days.

The moving out part was managed for the most part by Chris and Nelson because I was still at work and Charlotte was writing exams. Since most of our stuff is going into storage while we do drywall, lighting, painting, and other reno-y things, they took charge of ferrying the essentials to Tofino Place. Thank you, utility trailer.  ‘Essentials’ includes all the thing the movers wouldn’t take: plants, liquids, wood. And all the stuff we are using to camp inside the house with until the end of July. So it was a dump-and-run process.

This is what you get when you dump and run:

It’s a good thing our living room is so big. But really, we can find everything we need, so it’s all good.

There. Doesn’t that seem more organized? Not so chaotic?

We actually do clean up quite well. Here is a shot of the four of us outside the Old House Hotel just before Charlotte’s graduation.

Pretty special day.

House Surgery

Charlotte has been dissecting fetal pigs in Biology 12. She has some tasty shots on her cell phone which I won’t share here. (You’re welcome.) Chris seems to be doing similar work on the guts of the house, sort of the work of an orthopedic surgeon.

Here is the beam and the supporting post between the kitchen and the family room.  The beam runs at an angle then squares up to the walls and is supported by an ugly post.  When earlier surgery exposed the the beam and revealed carpenter ant damage, the doctors determined it needed to be replaced. That and the post is in the way of the island.

So Chris consulted with Pete. Pete works with Chris and seems to have home construction in his DNA. Sort of like the Energizer Bunny meets Holmes on Homes. Plus he is very generous with his time. He recommended reinforcing the ceiling with cross bracing and putting in a recessed micro lam beam to span the room and support the second floor. This would make the upper floor less creaky and open up the kitchen-family room space.

In about six hours of work they built two temporary walls, removed the old beam and post, installed the new beam and the joist hangers.

Changes the feeling of the two rooms and gives a lot more flexibility for plans in both spaces.

Once again, each step in this reno seems to reveal something else that requires work.

Needless to say, Chris is at the house right now doing things with braces and footings in the crawl space.