March 2012

March I continued work on the interior window trim, and also set about retrieving the donor van from Kitchener.   My friend Don took me up to Kitchener where the money was transferred, and we got the transit licence I needed to move the van, to Newbury and eventually to Newfoundland.   Dean, my son-in-law had a trip scheduled to join some of his friends living in Toronto, and go to a rock concert (Van Halen).   When that was completed he took the train to Glencoe, where I picked him up and I had company for a few days, and we got the  interior of the solar chimney lined with whiteboard.  We checked out the van thoroughly and I loaned him a tool set just in case, and he was off.   Everything went very smoothly, he made it to the Ferrry  terminal in North Sydney in 29 hours.

Framing the guest room window.

Putting the meleamine lining in the bathroom window well.

Unfinished window well in entry hall.

Aluminum flashing on the mounting of the meter box and of the power entry into the mainpanel in the garage.

Starting work on the melamine liner of kitchen windows.

Partly done melamine in small kitchen window.

Melamine done in big kitchen window.

The donor van for the clutch/transaxle transplant brought home from Kitchener.

Getting ready to put the whiteboard liner in the solar chimney.

Dean working on the solar chimney lining.

More on the chimney lining.

Mostly done on the lining of the solar chimney and border trim

Finished the melamine and oak trim on kitchen windows.

Finished melamine and oak trim on master bath window.

November 2011

November turned into a strange month in construction operations. I was preparing to drive to Newfoundland to spend the holidays with my wife, and to bring back a bunch of things for the house which had been stored. So in addition to finishing up the solar chimney facing, and making another increment in getting the kitchen cabinets installed, I designed and implemented a scheme for putting a top, and lockable doors on my utility trailer. This was also season for the various choirs in which I sing to have their final preparations for Christmas concerts so some extra out and about for that, the major one singing Messiah with the London Pro Musica and Symphony London the first week in December. As that approached conversations with Elena determined I was not going to Newfoundland for Christmas, but we were trekking to Sarasota, FL for a “white Christmas”, sand not snow 🙂 The van minus trailer but with a bike rack went South rather than East for sun and fun. Below is what I accomplished before the Holiday exodus. Just to make life interesting in addition to a lot of beach time, we also did a sing-along Messiah in Sarasota…. can’t stop singing!

Finished the paneling on the north face of the solar chimney, with help from my dear friend Don; two old guys fiddling on the roof.

View of solar chimney from the northeast.

Installing the wall units of my kitchen cabinet.

Wall units on the kitchen island.

View of house with breezeway, and solar chimney finished.

Turning my utility trailer into an enclosed trailer for bringing stuff back from Newfoundland.

Trailer now with top and lockable doors.

Southern view of house with trim and solar chimney finished.

First dusting of snow of the year, and also now water in my backyard pond.

Snow on my stockpiles of topsoil, eventually to be used for landscaping.

Looking through the breezeway to the driveway.