We now have most of the walls up in the basement and on the first floor. We will have to move the steps back to the center load baring wall before we can finish the wall along the steps and the two bedroom closets.

The bathroom which still has small wall pieces to put up, which at this point we can't do because the bathtub still has to be brought in, and the plumbing has to be done.

The windows and doors will be here this week and will be put in on a priority basis.
We have to put in 5/8 thickness boards on the floors before the doors go in. And the frame for the basement window still has to be finished.

The great news this week is, my electrician is getting my permit and then we can start wiring and my plumber can start the end of the week.
The venmar people are on for the end of the week as well.
So it sounds and probably will be mass confusion, with people tripping all over each other (always good for a laugh might I add).

After three weeks we have made a big change in this house, but in the next three weeks doors, windows, wiring and insulation will be done,as well as the siding and deck.

The caterpillar will become a butterfly.

   The first week in our new house project has flown by. The old roof was stripped away despite snow on Sunday night and over the next couple days a new roof was installed. I went with a two toned brown to compliment the siding to come. There was some fascia to replace and a few rotten lower boards but on the whole it was very sound.

   The inside work started with stripping and clean-up. The load bearing wall in the center of the house had to readjusted  to the center of the house about. And as with any reno on an older house you find little surprises, like one side of the house is one inch wider than the other and that old roof rafters can hold up a roof for fifty years with very little support. All the tile and vinyl tile and plywood subfloors are now gone and everything is looking like bare bones. Or possibly a painters canvas if you will, allowing us to change things as we see fit to make our masterpiece.

   This week we are concentrating on getting off old siding and getting on Typar in preparation for the windows which I am hoping will come next week. Good luck with that! There are walls to build inside and the old carport will be coming off. There is still a couple of big things in the basement to come out that will no longer be needed, the old oil furnace and hot water heater. On a funny note two local idiots pulled a board off a window and went into the basement and pulled out the furnace motor and exited the building. While congratulating themselves on a job well done in a slightly drunken state, the town of Kentville police pulled up and arrested them. They spent a night in jail which is their second home anyway and I had a good laugh out of it. They will pass on to their idiot friends that their is nothing worth stealing left and we will not have to worry over small things left there for people with small minds to trot off with. Thank you officer Jason Seal ( I hope I spelled your name right) for your vigilance on the job.

   Stay tuned for bigger  changes and future developements.  

  What a week ! A good week to get out and get something started , and this is just what we did. A sunny warm week meant sunburns and blisters and spring backache ,but it felt good to get out there and play in the dirt. First we had to jack-hammer the concrete and get rid of it and then dig out for our base for our new paver walkway. Then we had to put in drainage for our downspouts and cover everything with class A and tamp it all in layers. The original deck going up to the door was dumping water into the house and causing rotting . Now water will go away easily and looks will much improved.

  Normally we don't start paver jobs quite this early but it was an emergency and there really is no frost this year to speak of. We will be doing mostly spring cleanups for the next two weeks after this, and hopefully the weather cooperates . As long as it doesn't turn wet forever like last year, will be OK .

  I will comment on the weather and our on going jobs every week as well as answering any questions that people put to me , as time allows. I will be answering questions from a practical point of view , unlike most opinions you get from gardeners today. I will give you the chemical way to fix things if any or an organic way if any, because all of these things should work together and not stand alone. So I don't expect to be popular and I don't care either , I'd rather be honest.

  This week a woman asked me to spay her lawn and kill the junebug larvae that are destroying it. The lawn was also heavily mossed after years of lying dormant without treatments . They were going to get me to fix these problems and then they were going to till in compost and rebuild their lawn. I told to save her money and till in good composted manure and plant premium grass seed. Sadly the only fix for junebugs at the moment is to make the lawn as strong as you can and keep it that way. I'm sure they will come out with some pathetic treatment sometime with a higher price tag but not today.

  We will probably see some snow yet but soon spring will be summer and I will be digging in the dirt all the time. Hope you will be to and enjoying yourself.

You knew it had to happen soon. This spring has been cold and wet, making it almost certain that farmers in the Annapolis Valley would be thinking back to the wonderful spring we had last year and also would be talking about how difficult it is this spring to get on the fields and to get started. The Halifax Herald today had an article titled "Soggy spring soaks seeding schedule" which goes into the issue in some depth.

http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1243879.html

Of course, this weather also effects our work, making it impossible to do some of the projects we had planned. We are looking for a change as well.

Jonathan