It's HOT

The weather has been quite hot this week. The saving grace has been the ocean breeze. The basement has stayed quite cool, so it’s a good sanctuary.
Last Sunday we went to a neighbor for a glass or two of wine. It’s very interesting to hear how other people have come to be here and how they make a living now that they do live here.
I puttered most of the week and spent Wednesday morning at the Cedar house getting a couple of estimates on exterior painting. Saturday we went to Coombs and had a look around and then went to Cameron Lake for a swim. The lake was not that busy considering the mid 30 temperature and the water was very refreshing. Yesterday was Kari’s Birthday and we played it very low key, except for the bottle I drank in her honor!
Today, (Monday) we went into Courtenay to sign off on the Cedar house and do a little shopping at the depot. We want to make ornamental shutters for the front of the house to give it a little more character.
We talked to a guy about clearing the backyard and changing the grade a little bit. He has a couple of Bobcat type machines and is also doing the yard at the new house in back of ours. We told him that we were not happy about the lack of privacy (with the house in the back) and that we were going to be planting a hedge this fall. A couple of days later, the kids of the lady that lives there approached Kari to say that they would share the cost of the hedge if it were kept to a height so that they could still see the mountains from their house. I’m thinking that we should keep the hedge on our property and keep control of the hedge ourselves… we’ll see… this type of thing is a little clicky, but the old lady could go anytime and the new owners wouldn’t have to abide by any deal.
Curt left a brief message yesterday to say he was alive and well in the 40 degree heat in Summerland. Clay called to say he might be over next weekend to help with the start on the house.
I’m missing the kids and I hope they can make the trip here over the summer (for a holiday). I may have to be back in Vancouver this Fall as Kathie is flexing and has decided that she should see me back in court. I think she has nothing better to do and I’m sure that it drives her crazy to see the success I’m having in my life. I still think it’s so laughable that she can renovate a home, costume manage a play, represent herself in the Supreme Court of Canada, but can’t fill out a job application. Hmmmm. I’m sure her ICBC lawyer has forbidden her to work as it means less money in their pockets. Can you say, “bilk the system?”
I think it’s finally sinking in that we actually live here and I hope I always appreciate it as much as I do now. The smells are better, the dark is darker and the people friendlier. We notice things every day that we had never seen before. How cool is that.

July 16

Although it seems like we’re just here on a 2-week vacation, it’s slowly sinking in that we’re not going back.

Cramming 2 households into one small one, has been a feat in itself.  Kari did a great job of selling everything at a fraction of its value. Quite easy to do here on the islands where everything is more appealing if you don’t have to go off-island to get it.

The move was a ton of work (Clay was an amazing help) and I’m sooo glad that it’s over. We’re sort of settled although many things have been made operational in a temporary way, such as our computer setup, which is on a desk made of a bi-fold door on 2 sawhorses, surrounded by a mess of wires.

My new utility trailer is coming in quite handy and it’s only an extra $2.25 each way on the Buckley Bat ferry to haul loads to the dump etc.
We’ve begun to transform the back yard by slowly nibbling away at the blackberry forest.  Once that is done we’ll decide how to counter-attack the intruding neighbors. It will likely be in the form of a fence and/or aggressive growing hedges.  

Ashley has made a friend and they are inseparable at the moment.  Every day she is off to the barn to feed hoses etc.  We also have 7 hen eggs in a makeshift incubator in her room.  As the eggs have to be turned every 4 hours, what was once fun is now a chore.

Possession of the Cedar house is July 28.  We hope to have it back on the market in 4-6 weeks.  This first flip will be a real learning curve to say the least. I’m looking forward to the physical labour (as strange as it seems). Just moving and working around the house, I’ve lost 8 lbs, and it feels great, (except trying to get out of bed in the morning.)

My workshop is taking shape as I grab an hour a day to organize and move some stuff out to the shed, (which I’m in the process of sheeting in). Ultimately I hope to make it my office also… this may be a dream!

I’m hoping to make the blog a weekly or bi-weekly or monthly event depending on whether I’m working or not.