New Lights for School House ...

December 16, 2016

Our neighbours had contacted us ... saying that they had some antique light shades given to him ...

and wondered if the Mayook Community wanted them for the School House ...

Mike and Chris had made adjustments to the shades ...

adding chains and hooks to be hung from the fixtures ...

December 17, 2016

Mike and Chris went down to the Schoolhouse ... to install the new shades ...

new plates for the fixtures were added ...

for the chains to be hooked on ...

All this was completed before the Mayook Christmas party ...

 

Thank you to Michelle and Chris ... for donating the light shades ...

and to Mike and Chris for installing them ...

What a difference they made to the lighting ...

of the old School House ...

 

 

 

Our Old Home ...

July 11, 2016

On our way back from Alberta ...

we also drove by our home in the Crowsnest Pass ...

we spent 4 years in this little town ...

The grandchildren were eager to see it ...

some changes had been made ...

The first picture is of what our home looked like without the fence ...

and the deck on it ...

One of the new owners after us ... built the deck ...

The owners that live there now ...

had taken part of the front stucco off ... to expose the logs ...

We were surprised to see that the original log home ...

in the backyard had been torn down ...

Apparently it was no longer a safe structure ...

Nathan, Ian and their friends loved playing there ...

this was their domain for their dirk bikes ...

and other toys ...

The new owners saw us drive up to have a look at the house ...

They thought we were stopping to check it out ...

as there was a For Sale sign in the front yard ...

I had the car window open ... pointing in the back yard ...

telling the kids about it ...

The owner came down towards the car ...

and we told him that we used to live here ...

and the grandchildren wanted to see it ...

The gentleman had said that there had been a lot of changes in the house ...

that they had done within the last few weeks ...

they had actually just moved in that weekend ...

He invited all of us into their home ... the kids were so excited ...

We were surprised to see the changes ... a few walls were torn out ...

to open up the space for their living room ... and the new wood stove ...

Walking thru we remembered how it was ...

our bedroom was now part of the living room ...

The computer/laundry room is now the dining room ...

the kitchen was exactly the same ...

except for the painted walls ...

We then ventured upstairs ... on the very, narrow steep stairs ...

we talked about some of the shenanigans... that when on ...

In fact ...

the owners mentioned a defect in the wall at the bottom of the staircase ...

They said that the renters had damaged it ... Mike and I chuckled ...

we told them that it was a friend of the boys ....

that had slid down the stairs on a sleeping bag ...

and put a large hole in the wall ...

The only difference in the two bedrooms was the color of the walls ...

We had a lovely visit ... and fond memories of years gone by ... !!!

 

 

Kendall's Car ...

May - June 2016

Ian decided it was time to work on Kendall's car ...

They were given this 1932 Ford Model B Mustang ...

from Kendall's dad ...

which originally belonged to Barry's grandfather ...

It was going to be a big project ... but Ian was excited to get it done ...

In May Ian and his family also received their Green Cards ...

these give them permission to stay in the United States as long as they want to ...

no more worrying about getting Visa's to work in the USA ...

Ian is very talented in the fabrication of parts ...

He ended up making custom bent spindles ...

and the rear end mounted with trailing arms ...

When Ian had sent these pictures ...

this is what he had written ... and it touched my heart ...

"Thought you would like to see Opa's hammer ...

I've been using to build the car as well as his plaque always looking over the build."

On June 11 ... Ian sent these pictures ...

"Finally mounted the rad, utilized some new old stock clips from Ernie's Auto body. Also made a mount for the power rack and pinion."

On June 21 ...

Ian had made custom shock mounts ...

We are so excited for Ian & Kendall ...

can't wait to see it done ...

Of course it still has a long way to go ...

I do believe he will get the 32 done before Mike finishes the VW ...

they both love tinkering with cars ...

 

 

A New Roof ...

April 19, 2016

The work began on a Tuesday ... removing the old metal roof ...

and putting on a new one ...

They started at one end and worked there way across ...

making sure to cover the exposed areas before ending for the day ...

I was sitting in the living room and watching as they removed and lowered the old metal ...

down the scaffolding and then it was tossed onto the lawn ...

to be picked up and set on the flat deck trailer for us to store ...

It was still good enough to put on an outdoor building ...

April 22, 2016

The ladder by the chimney was taken down this morning ...

for Mike to repair and repaint it ...

The roofers continued to work around the chimney ...

This is Amy ... rolling out the Rawhide underlay ...

which is a breathable and waterproof backing ...

Working around the chimney was a challenge ...

when the chimney was rebuilt many years ago ...

it was not sealed properly so it had been a haven for bats ...

The roofers were really happy when that messy job was cleaned up ...

sealed up and done ...

The newly painted ladder was lifted up ...

and fastened into place again ...

It will take the roofers another day to put in all the screws on the roof ...

A big job all on its own ...

 

April 23, 2016

The roofers were finished with the old metal ...

We took the trailer up to the log pile area ...

and Mike used the tractor ...

to lift it off the trailer and set it down on the ground ...

It took all the power the tractor had to lift this load ...

as it was extremely heavy ...

 

Work & Break-time ...

The crew have been working really hard ... cleaning up the logs and the wood ...

in the cool ... damp weather ...

They were invited to join us for lunches ...

coming indoors to warm up ...

First day was Potatoe Leek Soup ... and cinnamon buns ...

next was Chili with Skillet Cornmeal bread ...

Then the following day was Homemade Chicken soup with dumplings ...

and baked goodies ...

With all the fresh vegetables from the garden ...

I decided to make a pot of Borsht ...

fresh cabbage ... carrots ... onions ... garlic and beets ...

and fresh baked biscuits ...

Today was leftovers ...

chili ... chicken soup and BBQ moose Brats ... (thank you Nathan for sharing them with us)

then a Fresh Peach Crisp for dessert ...

I love spending time in the kitchen ...

making and baking all sorts of dishes ... !!!

 

Log Work Being Done ...

October 21, 2015

We were pleased to hear from the crew of Ram Creek Log Homes ...

that they were going to start working on the logs ...

sanding ... grinding ... staining and sealing them ...

It was a beautiful sunny morning ... perfect weather to get this done ...

It was impressive how well these guys worked ...

finishing all the prep work ...

and spraying and brushing on two coats of stain ...

in one day ... !!!

The front of the house was the last to be done ...

It looks great ... !!!

Calling it a day to let the staining coat dry ...

returning the next day ...

to put on the seal coat ... !!!

Hoping this weather holds out ...

so the top part of the house will done as well ... !!!

 

Eavestrough Installed ...

September 22, 2015

It was the perfect day ... weather wise ... to have the eavestrough installed ...

It was an interesting machine ... making the continuous eavestrough ...

a flat piece of aluminum fed thru the machine ...

producing a well formed tray ...

We were impressed with John ... working alone and getting the task done ...

by the end of the day ...

He also attached all the downspouts and leaf guards ...

Happy to have this part of the renovations finished ... no worries now if it rains ... !!!

While John was working on the house ...

Mike was out in the shop ...

working on the VW ... sandblasting parts ... getting the pieces ready for the next phase ...

Mike welded some pieces of metal on the frame ...
and ground it down smooth ...
I enjoy watching the process of the VW being restored ...

It is going to take a bit of time to before it will be put back together ...

 

Time To Work ...

July 2, 2015

It was time to finish the special cut decking boards ...

around the pool ...

Nathan helped us this day to get it done ...

the children enjoyed their time in the pool ...

often hitting grandpa with the ball ...

and splashing the two of them with the water ...

It was so nice to finally have this section of the deck completed ...

While the guys kept working ...

Ella helped me transplant a few flowers into the flower pots ...

Then we went into the garden to pick the broccoli and cauliflower ...

James and Ella love the hot tub ... especially when the jets are turned on ...

so the bubbles begin to form ...

It was another hot day ...

the best to be was in the pool ...

Katie had gone into town ... and picked up some pool toys for the kids ..

those little blow-up rings were great ...

the kids would try and jump or dive ...

into the centre of them ...

they had a lot of fun staying cool ...

Once Nathan and Mike were finished with the last of the decking ...

they also jumped into the pool to cool off ...

then into the hot tub to relax ...

It was an awesome day ...

getting everything done with another set of hands helping ...

 

Deck Boards Going On ...

June 24 & 25, 2015

The deck boards were picked up on June 21st ...

we were ready to start putting the deck boards in place ...

starting with the 30 foot section ...

The 30 foot section was completed in one day ...

we started on the smaller area by the hot tub ...

The next section we worked on was the step down area ...

to the other side of the hot tub and gravelled section ...

the weather was extremely hot ... 30 - 40 celsius degrees

the last few days ...

we needed the umbrellas to at least give us a shaded area to work in ...

Mike knew earlier that we were going to be short on the quantity of boards ...

a miscalculation by the contractor sales person ...

we had a few days now ...

to wait for the rest of the deck boards to be picked up ...

in order to finish it off ...

We were delighted with what we accomplished in just 2 days ... !!!

GREAT TEAM WORK ... !!!

 

 

Adding Supports ...

June 18, 2015

Today we were adding support braces ...

between the boards ...

and

building the step down deck to the hot tub ...

June 19, 2015

Another big job was completed ...

we started to remove the screws and nails from the old boards ...

but after a while ...

we decided to pry them off with a crowbar ...

because the screws and nails were so rusted ... the heads were snapping off ...

we were not able to pull them out ...

It took us a while to hammer out the screws and nails ...

from the boards ...

then hauling the planks away with the tractor ...

dumping them on the other pile of wood ...

The old boards will be good enough to add onto the fort ...

for the kids ...

We finished off the day with constructing the joists ...

to be added to the old frame ...

it was built with 24" centres and the new decking needs 16" centres ...

We're ready now to place the new deck boards ...