Our Little Bunker

We are hoping to get more done on the shop this year but, if nothing else can get done, it's at least closed in for the winter.  Jim finished putting the main floor down and has sheeted the sides.  One of our neighbours, while getting left over clay for his yard, placed some extra inside the basement so that the floor can be leveled and readied for cement next spring.

Yes that's Jim playing in the little backhoe.  The pond managed to get filled in during the excavation process so he is trying to re-dig it and and, at the same time, make it deeper...looks like it might take a while.

We Are Floored...Well, Nearly

It took about a week (and all done after work) but the floor joists are all in.

This weekend, Jim was able to start putting the floor down

We're Beaming!

The basement walls are up and partially sheeted to give them a little strength, in case the wind gets up.

The main beam has been set and we are now ready to put in the floor joists.

Plugging Away...A Little Reluctantly...But Plugging

 Yesterday, through all the heat and humidity, Jim put the gasket seal and rim board on top of the cement wall, in preparation for the basement wall construction to begin. Today, although a little cooler, was still very humid but he toughed it out and started constructing the outer walls. For the record, I was not only supervising construction but was also mowing.

We have quite a lot of clay left over from the excavation stage and, luckily, a couple of neighbours require fill.  We are hoping that by the time they have enough, we will have little or none to deal with.

Mudslide at the Shop

Our next door neighbour, Mike, very kindly spent 2 days back filling the shop. He started on Friday and then that night we had a thunderstorm which nicely packed down all the fill he had moved.  Saturday he was back at it and we had another thunderstorm that night, as well, which not only packed down the fill but flooded the shop basement with mud...nothing a shovel won't fix.  We have spent a lot of this summer either vacationing or cutting grass so work on the shop has suffered but the floor package has been ordered. When it arrives, the yard work and vacationing will have to slow down.

The Sunroom is Finished and...

...the shop is underway, again.

 All the ducting, that allows us to direct the heat generated in the sunroom throughout the house, is in place and disguised behind this new wall. Note the nifty, outdoor, vent louvre that Jim painted the same colour as the wall. It covers the hot air return vents and a vent that goes directly into the loft. The sunroom is now finished...whew!

The weather has finally decided to co-operate and Jim has been able to get the foundation tarred. The washed rock has been delivered so next up is laying the weeping tile, covering it with the rock and calling for an inspection.

Ian and Coreens Wedding

The Wapiti Room at the Bufalo Mountain Lodge in Banff was the venue for Ian and Coreens wedding. March 29 dawned with a new carpet of light, fluffy snow but the sun decided to shine and it had all but disappeared by the 1 PM wedding time. The entire family, such as it is, were all tubbed and scrubbed and turned out in our best duds for the event...yes, even Jim shucked his coveralls. 

Ian, in his new suit, didn't show too many nerves as the final moments before the ceremony ticked away. And Coreen was calm and lovely.

There was an excellent dinner followed by speeches.  Jim, nervous though he was, did a great job. There were exactly the right number of people celebrating this event to make the dance fun.  We knew most of the people, met a few more and had a blast. Hopefully, we will be able to access more pictures when we get to see what the photographer took.