March On!

The Heating Tubing

March marches on! And we finally are getting some warmer weather. We installed the tubing in the slab at the cottage this weekend, and are now ready for the floor to be poured. Church went well today, John Chapter 3 was the reading (the Book of John is my favorite... I love God's promises in it and how they are presented). I am teaching the 4-6 year olds in Sunday School. They are precious. Gabriela was home for the weekend with Adam and is relieved that she can go back to school next week. Jane made a salad for a birthday party today at her sister Kathy's. We had a blast...John cooked these huge hamburgers and Jane's mom brought a chocolate cake made by Robert Smith. The cake disappeared. I ended up in their hot tub, stargazing.

Bud's Van

Bud's Van

We interrupt this blog to pay homage to Bud's Van (Actually it was Bud's van for many years, but he generously gave it to us last year if we promised to love it and feed it oil and gasoline). Bud had babied it, had it serviced only at the dealership, shod it with the finest Michelin tires, and ran it up to 375,000 clicks. Now normally we don't approve of large, thirsty V-8 engined vehicles, but this one has been so darn handy that we are getting attached to it! We didn't have to do much to get it on the road, just patch up a few holes in the floor and put in a killer MP3 sound system. This machine will hold 16 foot boards INSIDE it's hold for the trips to the lake. It will sleep two in comfort. It has a great heater. It holds more tools than you will ever need. Thanks Bud, your van has made our cottage project a pleasure!

March Madness

Jane's sibling weekend at MacGregor Point Provincial Park

Another week has flown by at the convent. The shed is coming along nicely, and we are just about ready to put the roof on. The insulation has arrived for beneath the slab floor on the cottage. We will install it along with 6x6 inch rebar. After this, we'll run the plastic tubing for the in-floor heating. Then the McCann boys will pour the floor. Exciting, eh? Gabriela came home this weekend with Adam. We pray that the teacher's strike doesn't last too long.

Foundation is poured!

Now we can get hammering!


It was to be a shed, but it grew into a monster!

The McCann boys were up at the lake this week, and poured us a fine foundation in freezing cold weather. We will have to haul but and get the exterior insulated with styrofoam and install the tubing for the in-floor solar heating before backfilling and slab floor are completed next week. Many months of planning have culminated in this early spring start to our build...it is good to be on the right end of summer for this project (we have done it on the other end and it's a drag).