Last weekend was a very full one, we got a lot accomplished.

Kim finished #2 and #3 on his list of tasks to be done before the strapping goes on for the rainscreen, which is the 1st step - no I guess the 2nd; 1st would be the paper, which is already on - towards getting the stucco on the house.

We (by "we" of course I mean "Kim, with maybe a little help from me") framed a wall in front of the house to give us some privacy from the busy street and create a court-yard for sitting & soaking up the evening sun.

Kim had built a form and stuffed concrete into it a few weeks ago so we had a nice foundation to start with.

After some pushing & pulling, taking apart & re-doing sections (& running to the lumberyard twice for lost or forgotten bits) it was nice & straight.

Kim started putting the sheathing up, then we stood back to admire it from the street.
"What do you think?"
"Oh, it looks good."
"It's too tall isn't it?"
"Uh, well, it's practical, will give us lots of privacy."
"It's too tall isn't?"
Not satisfied with our own eyes Kim asked for more opinions, from Cole who was riding by right then & from a stranger walking down the street. Both said without any hesitation. "Yup, too tall"

So what can you do?........
but get out your trusty saw and behead the whole thing.
Damn, he's good - perfect the first time. (click on the pic to see just how level)

Much better. Now the proportions look right.

With Cole's help we got the waterproof blueskin on it just seconds before the sky opened up for a 20-minute torrential downpour.

Next, Kim added a window to the garage......

While I finished insulating, vapour-barriering and tuck-taping the walls around the tubs in all three bathrooms. Then glued the tub-deck into place in the master ensuite.

Although, after watching Holmes on Homes last night I think I'll double-check all the seams & edges to make sure everything is completely sealed up.

And there's my tub.
It's so frustrating that, after working so hard all day on the house that all I really need is nice long, relaxing bubblebath, I come home to the most uninspiring, uncomfortable, ugly vintage-70's bathroom. I just opt for a shower & dream of future baths in my fabulous new bathroom, with......

There - can you read it?
Gas. F/P. Above tub ht.
A see-through one, right at the end of the tub, between the bathroom & the bedroom.

The only stupidly extravagent feature in the house, but hey, why not? I'll certainly get a lot of use from it.
When I was ordering it I couldn't resist - ordered the remote control too so we can lie in bed reading by firelight and won't have to get out of bed to turn it off.

I can't wait.

No longer Itchy & Bitchy

Kim has been working his little butt off.
There were a few things that needed to be done before the stucco guys could start stucco-ing that Kim decided to do himself.
In the case of the soffits, because we couldn't afford to hire anyone to do it even if we could find someone willing to do this horrendous job.

Kim designed the house with such deep overhangs that the soffits are very prominent, (especially now that they're lemon-yellow). We didn't want such a large expanse of that grooved plastic-looking stuff that goes on most soffits so Kim took an idea from a development in West Van & decided to have them stucco-ed. Sounds simple, right? But the stucco has to go on something and that something happens to be a very heavy, outdoor type of drywall that sheds itchy fibre-glassy dust when it's cut. And who's doing the cutting & then hoisting the sheets over his head? Not a happy time for Kim.Kim took some time off work and did all of it, aside from a few weekends & after-school afternoons, by himself. It's a good thing we invested in a good, light-weight cordless drill, with all the time he spent with both arms above his head putting in screws.

He did the 1st floor, then had to wait until the stucco-er's scaffolding was built to do the rest. Even installing dens-glass has its learning curve, as the stucco guys pointed out he was missing an important edging that has to go on the outside edge of all the soffits he had already screwed in place. More work, unscrewing, squeezing the edging on & re-screwing. Heart-breaking to find out he'd screwed up the screwing up.

Even scaffolding doesn't help in some tight spots.

We were all relieved when this job was finished. But don't worry, his wife gave him something to reward him for all his hard work....


A nice cosy pair of hand-knit ski socks!

Yip yip yip, uh-huuuh

See why Shea was such a hit this Halloween?

He found the instructions online and then hounded, pestered, bugged and nagged me for weeks until I took him shopping in search of the perfect shaggy-monster (or should that be alien) fabric.