poplar road

It's a good thing we spent the first five days of July relaxing and recharging our batteries, because since we got home a week ago it's been full steam ahead. Chris came up over the weekend to do the gas-fitting for us, and while that was underway, Richard got most of the plumbing done as well as removing most of the old ducting. Rob stopped in on his way east and joined us for a rotisserie roast Saturday night and breakfast Sunday morning, then he went on his way and the guys went back to work. I continued with my drywall demolition in the upstairs master bedroom Saturday, but a cold has slowed me down a bit, so I left the last hard-to-reach edges around the ceiling for another day (the ceiling itself has to come down soon, too). The transformation going on in the basement was rapid and gratifying, so each time I took a break I headed downstairs with the camera.

Because I took so many photos over the past week, I think I'm going to make this post more of a photo-gallery and keep the explanations to a minimum. So, here are Chris and Richard threading gas pipe in the yard, the scrap ducting behind them. The canopy is up over his threading machine because it is still raining daily here. Also below are shots of the new gas lines and the plumbing – including our Rinnai "instant-on" hot water heater, 2.5 gallon tank, filters, and hot and cold manifolds – in what will be a closet in the downstairs bathroom.

There are a few photos from the 7th as well, when we were tidying up around the house and enjoying being back at home. We visited with the neighbours, a group of us all gathered at the llama pen fence to watch Smoky's new baby, born at 2pm on Thursday. (The Barbados sheep also provided some unusual bedtime entertainment: on Friday night as we waited for Chris to arrive, Jonathan and Sandra roamed the neighbourhood with flashlights. Richard went out at midnight to help track down the flock, which was discovered missing when one of the visiting grandchildren realized she hadn't closed the front gate. We'll have to nickname her Bo Peep! The Barbies were found curled up on the next door lawn soon after.)

This week, our next door neighbours' son-in-law Kevin, an electrician, has been working on our electrical upgrade (which is why I'm so late getting this post done – we ripped out the corner wall in my office and it's a mess in here). We've also hired a neighbour with a backhoe to dig a 13 foot long trench from the foundation through my poppy field so we can lay the ground wire for the upgrade perpendicular to the house. (Bye bye, lilac.) Then Jason arrives on Friday with our heat pump. Hopefully he and Richard can install the heat pump components, ducts, and other equipment by the end of the weekend, and then maybe Richard will frame in the mechanical room and the plumbing closet. When the HVAC stuff is done, it's on to the master bedroom and bathrooms, starting with the new shower in the en suite (so we have something to bathe in once we rip out the old sea-foam-blue tub). To add to the excitement this weekend, Bob, Kahlyn, and little Anika are staying over Saturday night on their way to a local beach. Another full house and lots of work to be done. I won't be on the computer tomorrow or Friday, most likely, because Kevin will need to get at the main wiring in my office and shut the power off in here for a while, but I'm sure I'll have lots more photos to post on Monday! Playing House, Part VIII continues…