Oh Baby Your So Hot

Today was a smoking hot day here at Kitpu Manor.  The temperature climbed into the thirties and some serious sweating was happening.  Even though the temperature was making things a bit on the overheating side the renovations continued.  In fact today's renovations were along the lines of making the residents of Kitpu Manor hot on those days which will not be hot, in fact they will be frigid.  Meaning of course, that today the old fireplace has been transformed into something which is not so ugly, and in addition will be ready to receive the new high efficiency insert which when lit will hopefully make the shack a tad bit more comfy toasty.

So this is what it looked like to start with.

During the phase which will give the insert an easier fit.

Almost there.

Bye, bye, yellow bricks on the wall.  Hello cement.

And here we are almost ready for the tiles and the mantel.

Oh and just as a note, there be fish in that lake.  Here is the proof.  They were tasty.  Yummy.

Looking For A Partridge

I estimate that there are about five thousand pears on this pear tree in the back yard.

I also estimate that there are about a dozen or so partridge kicking around in the back forty.  I know this because they love nothing better than waiting until I am walking right by them before they leap into the air and fly away causing my heart to jump into my throat and freaking the shit out of me.  The dog love, love, loves this because she can chase after them with canine glee.  I wish she would catch one or two so I could snap their little feathery necks.  Ha, ha, no I'm kidding, I wouldn't do that, actually I'd use their little fluffy butts like a football and punt them into next Tuesday so only a small mound of feathers remain behind.

Anyway I digress.  Something about having a pear tree in your yard makes you burst into song about partridges.  I know. It is sick and wrong as this should so obviously be summer.  The last thing anyone should be doing is singing Xmas songs right.  Even though we did have a frost warning for last night, and it was in the single digits this morning.  Perhaps I can come up with another song about pear trees.  As anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I am a brilliant song writer and singer.  I have a Kitty Kat song that gets the house rocking every single time.

Pear Tree Song

I have a pear tree in my yard,

A scare tree in my yard.  

I have a tree, 

which will never be a home to fluffy birds. 

I have a pear tree in my yard.  

I'll snare thee in my yard. 

I have a tree,

which can only ever be a dream for ruffly grouse. 

Written by:  Iron Bess

Ah yes, I am glad to see that my song writing skills still haven't deserted me.  I will have to work on the tune a little.  Maybe I will sing it to Mr Renovator until his head explodes.  Ha, ha, I mean until he is so moved by my lyrical talents that he will be motivated to go into the bush and fire up the chainsaw so he can cut more firewood.  

East Meets West

Yippee!  Ya-hoo! Skip to my Lou my darling!  That is me cheering on the fact that I have finally managed to meet the back trail up and make it into one long looping trail.  I spent the better part of the morning trail cutting today and just when I was about to give up for the day I looked up and saw that I was only about five meters away from the other trail I had hacked out earlier this spring.  I was ecstatic, and then some.  So now I technically have a loop from my house to the back forty and back.  Admittedly the trail needs a lot of work in order for the quad with the trailer to negotiate it, but the worst of the under brush and over brush has been cleared away making it easy for a person to walk the entire length of the trail.  Now all I will have to do when I go out is keep improving it, getting it wider and neater.  Me so happy!

Yesterday I had a couple of fireplace guys come out and check out the existing fireplace in the living room, it is circa 1970`s like the house, and typically when you light a fire in it the actual heat has a tendency to get sucked up into the atmosphere, leaving the house a little more chilly than before.  So the idea is to put a fireplace insert into the hole and potentially capture some of that heat.  The good news is that we have plenty of room for a new insert, we can put anything in from a small to a large.  The bad news is that it is mucho dollaros.  The good news is that the company has a fireplace in store which is a medium size that was ordered for another person who ended up not wanting it.  So if we want it we can have it for the price of a small one.  Apparently a medium insert will heat from 800 - 2000 sq ft, which would be perfect for Kitpu Manor.  (I really have to find a name for this place before it ends up becoming Kitpu on a permanent basis.)  So sometime today we will have to haul our butts into town to have a look at the insert.  As long as it is a plain Jane I will take it.  I hate those fancy assed ones.  This will also give me a chance to check out their stock of little air tights, I want to put it into the new master bedroom.

Sigh.  So much to do still, and the worst part about it is that we had to banish Karson from the house for awhile.  What with all the drywall dust, wood chips, and destruction dust she was starting to have a hard time breathing.  So she is vacationing with relatives while her lungs develop a bit more.

Boing!

Yes Boing! is the sound I think that my computer should make when it comes back on line.  Three days after a "weather event" I am finally back on line.  Even though I took the precaution of turning all my electronics off and unplugging them from the walls when the booming was still a way away, my internet crashed.  It is frustrating but I do have to remember that I am living in the land of power outages and shit like this will always continue to happen here.  Apparently the tech guys they sent out said that the tower which we are getting our signal from was not reset after the storm.  Plus, our receiver may have gotten wet.  Really?  I can't believe that.  Just because the heavens opened up and poured bucket upon bucket of water on us that our receiver could have gotten damp?  Hard to believe.  And, oh yeah, we live in a land where that happens a LOT, do you think you might want to install a receiver which is a little more protected?  Seems to me it would save the company a bit of coin.

Speaking of buckets of water, did I mention that we had a big assed hole in the side of our house?  Luckily our speed at getting plywood attached to the hole appeared to be quick enough that the entire house did not fill with water and sink into the earth.

Speaking of holes in the side of the house, we no longer have one.  Yeah us!  Mr Renovation Man managed to build a frame to hold our window, and with the help of a couple of kindly neighbours we managed to get the bay into place.

This is what we started with.

This is what it looked like two days and a bit of rain later.

This is what it looked like after a considerable amount of pretty-fying.

This is what it looks like now.

The outside view, while still under construction.

Oh and here is a picture of a very helpful dust bunny.

Wait.  That isn't a dust bunny, I think it may be a dust kitty.

Admittedly I have absolutely no experience with cats and therefore did not have any idea how helpful they could be.  But it turns out that they are as helpful, if not more, than German Shepherds.  What do you think would possess a tiny little fur ball like Karson to have a nap in a dust pan?  Out of the thousand other places in the house which would be much more conducive to a nice afternoon nap, she picks a hard, cold plastic surface to bed down for a snooze.

It Is Wet, The Hole is Large

Today started like most days at Kitpu Estates.  Which means that the loons were calling, the dog was pacing, and the air was humid.  Is it really strange that I still think that humid, soggy, wet, damp, moist air is a novelty?  There is a smell to the wind that just makes me want to breath deeply.  It reminds me of the tropics but with a lot less palm trees blowing in the wind.  And a lot more black flies.

Anyway suffice to say that it was overcast but warm and tacky.  Almost the perfect day for pulling out the front window and replacing it with a new bay window that has a lot less wear and tear to it.  Things were humming along nicely.  Well maybe not nicely, but there was some progress, meaning that the old window came out lickety split and the framing was finished in record time.  That is when progress went from 100 to zero very quickly.  Suddenly there was a lot of head scratching and measuring happening all over the place, but a lot less actual movement of the new window from garage to big hole in the front of the house.  And of course, that is when the weather went from cool wind which keeps the bugs away to some serious huffing and puffing.  It also was the time that the humidity went from 68% to 100%, so now not only could I smell it I could also feel it on my skin, shirt, pants and hair.  This folks, is not a good time to have a big assed hole in your wall.

Mr Renovation, was all for continuing along trying to fit the window into the hole.  I, on the other hand, had visions of the gale force winds ripping the new window from our hands and leaving it on the ground in a big tangled, splintered mess.  So the new window continues to sit in the garage, the hole in the wall now is sporting the latest in plywood wear, and Mr Renovation is napping on the couch.

This reprieve gives me a chance to write a quick blurb in this blog thingy, but it also gives me the opportunity to check for news about a certain brother of mine who is near and dear to my heart.

Disappointed and Disgusted

I cannot believe how disgusting the actions are of a few idiots in Vancouver, and what is even worse is the actions, or inaction's of the crowd of people who allowed them to run amok in their city.  I am certain that the majority of people, although heart sick and disappointed, would not go around destroying their city just because their hockey team lost the cup.  It is obvious to me that whether the team had won or lost some people were already planning to have their "fun".  The worst of it is that out of ten thousand people perhaps a hundred or so were the culprits, and no one tried to stop it.  This is a sad reflection on us as Canadians.

When I think about the Middle East and all the danger that people are putting themselves into for a slight chance of finally being able to shake off the shackles of their dictators it makes me even more disgusted at my fellow citizens.  Shame on you.  People are being tortured, are losing everything they have, have died by the thousands recently for a cause they thought was important enough to make the ultimate sacrifice for.  Yet here in Canada thousands of people mill around watching as a few morons are allowed to destroy their city and their reputations.

Shame on us.

Rainy Days and Nap Time

Today was day two of rain, not serious rain mind you, just enough to make it not all that much fun to do outside things on the house.  It turns out that this camper wouldn't have been all that much good at doing anything anyway, I had a serious case of staying up way too late last night and getting up way too early in the morning.  So after lunch I did a crash and burn on the couch so me and the One Pound Wonder ended up napping until six thirty in the evening.

 Kit and Karson having a little supper together.

This is what the bedroom looked like just as we started renovations.  It broke my heart when we had to get rid of the lovely wall paper, and the beautiful closet, but some things just have to go when you are renovating.

No your eyes aren't going all wonky it's just the drywall dust in the air.

Making a jail for the new window, either that or having to support the wall until a new window frame can be built.  I can never remember which one it is.

And here's the first new window!

Here's window number two.

Oh and here's some R20 to replace some of that R2.5 we pulled out.  The pink kinda reminds me of the old wall paper.  

No Friends

For the first time in weeks I have no friends keeping me company while I sit at the computer.  Tonight my dog sitting responsibilities came to an end and I have officially returned to a "Two Pet" household.  Which means that I no longer have an auxiliary back up dog sitting under the desk emitting random odours at me.  My main, official dog, has retired to her crate for the evening, and the One Pound Wonder is curled up on a warm spot on the couch.  Its a little bit strange.  A person gets used to being discombobulated and then adjusts and then starts thinking of it as normal.  I'm sure I will adjust.

The good news is this means that the doggy gate can come down and we can start to finish the doggy "time out" zone.  Perhaps that will mean that we actually will have three rooms completed (of course I'm not counting my chickens who happen to be holding their breaths).

The Antisocial Shall Inherit A Tree

Our one and only full time neighbours asked us if we would be interested in a tree that they have growing in front of their steps.  She wants to build an addition onto the deck and this tree is in the way.  So I wandered over to have a looksie and it doesn't look too bad.  She doesn't have a clue what it is and neither do I.  To me, it looks more like a hedge, or bush, than an actual tree.  Perhaps it is the way it has been groomed. 

So there we were this morning, shovels in hand, backhoe puttering along to go over and dig out this plant.  Really how hard could it be right?  It will only take a half hour at most, right? Wrong.  It turns out that this tree was VERY happy where it was living.  It did not want to move, ever.  So first we tried to dig with shovels, that didn't work.  Then we tried digging with the backhoe, that didn't work.  Then we took a net and wrapped it around the tree, then put two slings around it, then another sling or two and tried to pull the sucker out of the ground.  She wasn't budging. 

Three hours later after a LOT of shoveling, some backhoeing, some bucket work, and using a ten foot, four inch square log as a lever we managed to excavate the tree.  It was a tad bit worse for the wear, but it has now been successfully (maybe) replanted in the yard.  I will be vastly surprised if it manages to live after the shit kicking the roots took. 

Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures of the leaves? Needles?  They are almost neon green here but that is only the new growth, the old growth is definitely a dark forest green.  I've also included a pic of the stems.  Does anyone have any idea what it may be?

Put Your Hands Up, We Have You Surrounded

As I sit here writing this I am surrounded by three out of three pets which are currently residing at Kitpu estates.  Karson, the One Pound Wonder, is sleeping on my lap and has her "purr" turned all the way up.    She weighs next to nothing (well a pound) but is positioned in such a way as to make it impossible for me to get comfortable, for fear of crushing her with my sweater, or accidentally blowing her onto the floor when I exhale in her direction.  Sully, the Peeing Pup, is lying right under the desk and smelling like a moldy, wet, drool intensive dog, which he is.  He is just a temporary pet which we happen to be dog sitting for another four days.  Kit is lying right next to me doing her damnedest to smell like a moldy, wet, slobber factory.  She is very, very good at it. 

All three are KOed, they had an incredibly busy day of chasing each other around at Mach V, then sleeping.  Munging each other up and then sleeping.  Jumping into the lake while chasing each other as they tried to mung each other, well everyone but Karson, and then sleeping.  Oh and wait they also had to take up mouth fulls of kibbles then drop them into random places on the floor before finding a place to sleep.  Karson included.  Ah the wonderful world of spit covered furry things. 

I had the Internet guy come out today to fix that thingamajig which is attached to the cable and the power cord which gives this magic box the capability of speaking to all the other magic boxes in the world.  As you may already have determined by reading this, we are now up and working.  Or should I say, we are working consistently as apposed to sporadically like before.  All hail the Internet guy.  Which means that if I felt like blathering on and on, and on, and on I could.  But would you still love me in the morning? 

Today was a beautiful day here at Kitpu Estates, the sun was shining, the wind was warm, the fish were jumping, and the humming birds where fighting up a storm.  Have you ever watched humming birds?  They are mean little suckers.  I put up a feeder last week and immediately one little guy laid claim to it and ever since then an incredibly fast war has been raging.  There have been aerial acrobats which the fighter pilots of the world would be seriously envious of.  It is the ultimate "small man's complex" of the bird kingdom.  They buzz each other sending themselves along with the enemy into the windows, screens, doors and trees.  Two of them flew past my face so close I could actually feel the wind from their wings. 

I also spent a couple of hours today trying to scrape that crap off a bedroom ceiling which people think look good, but in fact looks like dried flour.  I managed to fill my bra up with about a half pound of white dust, my hair was completely white and so was my face, oh what fun.  I scraped and scraped and scraped but only managed to get about a tenth of the stuff off.  There has to be a better way.  Sigh.

Moving Along

Hmmm, I'm a tad bit tired today but I figure I'd better put something on this blog thingy before I forget how.  I have been rather on the busy side these days, and my horoscope predicts that I will continue to be busy for the foreseeable future.  So if I don't take a couple of minutes to add a few lines now I may not get around to it again for a goodly amount of time.

I can most assuredly say that things are moving along at a pretty good clip.  (On the renovation front that is.)  This place has effectively been pulled apart and is in the slower process of being put back together, well sort of.  We now officially have brand spanking new windows in four rooms.  We are lacking some drywall in three rooms seeing as we ripped and tore out a bunch of it in time for the big spring pick up.  And boy did we ever have a lot to get picked up. Here is a picture of a bit of the pile. 

I had to take two days off to run the parental unit into hospital A in one town, and then hospital B in the city, so the other half of this renovation team (the most useful member of the team) was left to fend for himself.  He managed to get one window in all by his onesies.  That man never ceases to amaze me.  Luckily we had gone wild with demolition before I had to leave so he only had to work on putting things back together again.  A little like all the kings horses. 

Oops, I have to sign off now, the thunderstorm that they have been predicting all day is starting and I want to shutdown and unplug this magic box of mine.  More later.