February started with more cold and more snow.  Long term residents say this is the longest, snowiest and coldest winter they can remember.  Lots of sun tho’, and lots of opportunities to snowshoe around the property.  And we are walking Hime without a leash (she is older and cannot easily get over the snow banks).  As I write this on Feb 27th, it is snowing again.  At this time last year, we were a week away from golfing.  Did not get much done on the house the first half of the month – we had doctor/dentist appointments (finally found a family doctor taking patients), went to the Ballet (excellent) and I gave a three hour lecture on trade policy and negotiations to a 3rd year poly sci class at UBCO.  Also had presentations to a Roundtable I chair from Kelowna’s mayor and B.C.’s newest senator, Yeun Pau Woo, formerly head of the Asia Pacific Foundation.

In mid-Feb we went on a week-long break to Mexico – lots of tropical cocktails, some very good and interesting food (a deconstructed lemon pie pictured below), a visit to the Mayan ruin of Coba, and some sport.  I got a dead center bulls eye on my first shot (although the target was a bit less than Olympic distance).  Pat and Pat graciously took care of the house and the hound.

Cut and fit the dark stained maple on the downstairs landing, and some nosing on the right hand side.  Still need to make a few adjustments, and then install the flooring and baseboards, and a railing.

The parts for the first flight of stairs going up are mostly finished. I used tinted epoxy to fill some cracks and checks, oiled the stringers and treads (same as maple floor) and cut and drilled angle iron for the supports.  Next step is to paint the angle iron, drill holes in the stringers, and lag the iron to the wood.  And then Coop and I will disassemble the existing stairs and install the new stringers and treads.

Dear Friends, a most happy new year to you!  2017 started a bit slowly for us as I was ill with a cold for about 2 weeks.  We then got involved in a lot of social activities – dinners, movies, concerts (Beethoven and Blues), ballet rehearsals, and other fun stuff.  As such, progress on the house has been a bit slow.  Having realized that life and leisure will occupy a greater part of our days, and progress on the rest of the work on the house will slow somewhat, I thought it appropriate that I provide, punctually, one update a month, at or around the end of each month.  This is the first installment.

Been doing a bit of snowshoeing and playing in the snow – this is a snowdog modeled on Daisuke.

We have been having an unusually cold winter with very little snow melting. As you can see, I have burned a lot of wood in the shop stove.

Good news is the Bobcat has been running well, ever since I replaced the starter.  I have only used it twice since November as the ATV does a great job in plowing the drive.

Below is the landing going down.  I am installing natural maple flooring around the perimeter, and will use stained maple in the middle (waiting on my supplier for the wood).

Have revised my plan for the upstairs bookshelf. I was originally going to make a sort of Inuksuk out of birch but then decided to just make one long top.

I am expecting to make lots of progress in February so I should have a fulsome update in a month.

Mizuho made this wreath from some fir branches, some pine cones, and some fur from Hime

And this is Mizuho and Hime in their osoroi (pair look) jackets.

We cut one of our trees for a Christmas tree this year and decided we needed to do some snowshoeing around the property to identify and trim/shape trees for future years.  We have lots of trees but most are far too big.

We have about 6″ of powder snow, with more coming tomorrow. But the longer term forecast is for much warmer weather.

Our tree.

We wish you a most Merry Christmas and for health, happiness and good fortune in the new year. And we hope we have the opportunity to host you next year in the Okanagan valley.  This past year we had the delightful opportunity to welcome more than 20 friends chez nous, with 105 nights of guests staying over.

2nd last posting of the year.  Have just enjoyed the warmest November on record, and some nice skies.

Things changed in December.  For the past two weeks, highs have been around -10, but lots of sun.  People are panicking :).  Forecast is for above freezing weather early next week.  My favorite lumber mill is now closed but managed to buy some wood before the end.  This pile is about 600 sq ft of T&G pine and fir that will be used for soffits on the porch and siding for the garden shed.  Coop bought some nice clear 2x10s and is making two tables out of it.

These are the fir treads and stringers that will be used to construct the stairs to the upper floor.  Stringers are 12x3x8′, and heavy.  Treads will be 11x3x40″  Next step is to template the stringers and cut them, likely early next year.

These are the maple treads that we (Coop and I) finally got around to installing over the plywood rough stairs that we have been enjoying for 18 months.  Stair treads run into drywall on either side with no other trim as we were seeking a clean modern look.  Used same flooring as was used on main floor.  Am now figuring out how to do something creative for the landing.

This is the back of the bookshelf/railing on the top floor made of fir with a live-edge birch top.  I made the shelves out of fir flooring about 8 months ago and finally got around to assembly and installation.

And this is the front. Still need to design/finish each end.  And given all the books I have, I will need to make another larger bookcase soon.

We have been enjoying some warm sunny weather here in late November and some cultural activities as well – Grey Cup Game party, ballet rehearsal, blues concert, crafts fair and dining out around town.  On the downside, my favorite lumber mill will be completely out of business in a few weeks.  Over the past 2 years, I have purchased from them several pickup truck loads of fir flooring and trim, fir for cabinets and doors, cedar and spruce timbers, and a bunch of other wood.  Went last week to buy some hard to find and well-priced clear vertical grain wood for future as-yet-unknown projects, and built a wood rack in anticipation.  Below are some clear fir 2×10, cedar 2×4 and 5×5, material for two mantle pieces, and some rough cut 1″ thick clear fir. 

This is the temporary wood rack made of spruce construction grade 1x4s left over from construction.

Group from Kelowna Newcomers Club that had a very informative tour of the Campion Boat plant, a family-owned firm that has been building fiberglass recreational boats for about 40 years and selling them all around the world.

New type of motor with prop on front.  Boat and motor are designed for wake surfing – boat goes about 20k/hr and surfer surfs wake behind boat without a tow rope. As he/she can step from transom to board, the inboard prop is much safer.

This is the time of the year when the weather changes from sun to cloud. This photo is of Kelowna but all one can see of it is the top of Dilworth Mountain and the mountains to the south of Kelowna.  It is rather nice looking down through the cloud and fog, which usually come from the humidity off the lake.  The price of warmer winters here is lots of cloud and fog.

These are some of the shelves and verticals for a book case that have been oiled and are drying in the garage.  Shelves were made of surplus fir flooring and maple plywood.

Have leveled and widened the far side of the shop and put down some crushed rock for quicker drainage. This is where the Bobcat will spend the winter, and where it and the ATV will live during the summer. Next year, I plan on putting up two cedar posts and a 16′ long beam to hold up a 12′ wide shed roof slanting away from the shop wall.

Some live edge birch boards that I am jointing on the saw to make a wider top for the bookcase I am building.

Woke up yesterday morning to snow!  Way earlier than usual.  Thankfully, it was all gone by the afternoon.  Historically, we get 3 days of snow totaling about 10cms in November, but it all melts away before the snow comes and stays in mid/late December.

After two years of having just exterior-grade plywood as siding for the power shed, we finally got around to putting on the siding and trim. Coop had a great idea to use smartboard siding, a treated OSB product that looks like wood siding.  I used cement fiber board offcuts for the back, and cedar for the front and trim. Still need to paint the door but that will be a project for next year.  Mizuho painted the siding and stained the trim.

Also got the barn door installed with the help of Coop. This should help keep dust down in the garage, and provide a warmer working environment in the shop.  Ended up getting a steel bar made up for the rail as it was longer than what I could get with the hardware.  $15 for the bar and some labour drilling and painting.

Next up is working on upstairs railing/bookcase, using the new shelves in the storage room to organize stuff, and getting the starter on the Bobcat rebuilt.  Weather is good these days for outside work – about 15 and mostly sunny.

The Okanagan has quite a food/drink focus – long growing season, 150 wineries/craft beer and cider brewers/distillers, a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables. And at the end of September, there is a weekend rib-fest for us carnivores.

In early October, there is a week-long wine festival – this is a view of the opening wine tasting event where some 50 wineries were offering their wares for tasting.

Our neighbor invited 25 of the neighbors for thanksgiving and we dined on roast lamb grilled all day on charcoal, smoked turkey, halibut from Haida Gwaii, roast veggies and on and on.  We hosted a dinner for 12 the night before to celebrate our German neighbor obtaining his Canadian citizenship.  Have also been busy working on the house and getting ready for winter – should have an update on the house in a week or so.  And this also marks our two year (and one week) anniversary of starting construction on the house – what a long, strange and satisfying trip it has been.

View of roof lines.  Hope to get cedar and stain it then install it as soffits still this year, and to decide on and install lighting.  Possible but not probable.  B in law Steve and nephew Seth, who are here for the weekend with my sister for the wine festival, are in foreground.  Gazebo will be stored for winter.  Been busy the past several months with outside work and busy the past week with clearing dead branches, moving some rocks and dirt and doing odd jobs to get ready for the winter.  Wine Festival Gala last night and tomato sauce canning and log splitting today.

Moved the TV downstairs and like it much better. We only have netflixs but that is more than enough for us.  This room is now all done, except for the trim around the wood stove which will be done this week, and the trim around one of the bathroom pocket doors.  Still need to put some art on walls and hook up the sound system. 

Guest suite bathroom mirror and tile on the wall done by Coop.  Ties into the shower tile as you can see.

Trim around guest bedroom and bathroom doors is finally done, as is the trim in the basement (except for one pocket door).

Finally got around to building some sheet goods (plywood) storage in the shop. I can now bring home 4×8 sheets on the truck, slide them off and into the rack, and then slide them onto the saw table when needed. Also got a few pipe clamps for the barn door I built (photos in next blog).

And finally got the leaded window installed between the shop and garage.  A bit of trim on the shop side left to do.  Sister Susan gave me the window about 30 years ago and I had been looking for an application ever since.  You can see a bit of the barn door on the right.

Cleaned up a lot of dead branches around the property and had a burn on the weekend. When the fire died down we roasted some marshmallows.  That’s my nephew on the left and me framed by the fire (sort of a burning man motif).

We have been having a nice fall, with lots of red skies. And have been having a lot of visitors, from Japan, Saskatchewan, Vancouver and the U.S., and have thoroughly enjoyed them all.  Work – fun balance has definitely shifted to the fun side.  Have more than twice as much wood dried, cut, split and stored as last year and got 7′ fir blanks that I will make into stair treads.  On the fun side, M and I have played a few games of golf, I had a couple of motorbike rides to the U.S. and around the far side of the lake to Vernon, I am now the chair of the Kelowna Roundtable (we bring in speakers on public policy issues twice a month) and M and I (mostly her) are the Arts and Culture coordinators for the Kelowna Newcomers Association.  We have also been going to concerts (many more on tap in Oct and Nov) and wineries. and have been eating a lot of local veggies, most from Ogi’s, a Japanese couple from Kagoshima that have been here for 46 years and grow amazing veggies and a great many Japanese varieties.  We hope they will continue their good work for many years to come. 

Hard-working Coop and I finally got around to putting up the posts and beams for the porch roof, and the roof itself.  First time either of us had done post and beam construction.  The posts are 8″ x 8″ cedar with a notch at the top to receive the 3.5″ x 9″ spruce beams, and a slot at the bottom to receive the raised standoff plates which are bolted to the concrete patio.   We built the assembly as I had originally planned, except the roof is 1′ lower than the house roof so as to provide better shade and make a more attractive roof line.  Area within the posts is 14′ x 14′  (4.2 metres squared).

Posts were cut with a circular saw, and cleaned up with an oscillating saw, hand saw and chisel.  Two or three 6″ Timber screws tie the posts and beams together at each joint.

Mizuho and her mother (here on a visit from Japan) are inspecting the work.  Rafters are 2×4, 12″ on center with a span of about 7′ and an overhang of 3′.

This is the view from the driveway – posts and beams were done the same for the porch and the front entrance.

This is with the roof sheeted. The feeling is very much like an outdoor room, not a porch, with level access from the dining room.  Next step is to install the fascia trim and get the roofing done (part of the contract for the house :)), decide on lighting (likely dimmable down lights), and get, stain and install the cedar soffits.

And after about 22 months, I have finally replaced the spray-paint-on-OSB sign. The new one is made of off-cuts from the front stairs, and a few pieces of rebar. We shall see how it works in the winter snow. M insisted we hid the numbers.