Look at 'em bricks

Weekend #2 of what we hope will be 3 and only 3.

 The octagon came together for us in the middle and arms reach out in all directions.

Great fit!

garage door prep

Hemlock frames with cedar inlay.
The colours are amazing! 

These two sections are the middle and top of the garage door (prep by Cheri).
Installation tomorrow!

the laundry is nearly done

We went with a high counter to house the machines under a laundry-folding surface and kept the sink in line.
What a cool fit with a tall cabinet tucked behind the door and big cabinet under the sink!
Jen might need a step to do laundry in this 14" (deep) sink that has a washboard on the close surface.

A little eager, we had machines delivered before we were ready...
electrical is not finished and no venting hole in the wall for the dryer.
Wainscoting also yet to come.

Sleep well, friends!

Yes, this is still the reno blog, but life is more than renovations.

Tristan was the first to say hello, down at Our Place. She and Rob (from PEI, with potato in hand) got the first two mats. There is someone in town making dog mats too! Tristan says there is still great need for these in the community of 'traveling kids' (not hostel dwellers).

 Todd (clever like a fox) is in treatment and has a room at Our Place for $20 a night, but this won't last forever.

 Louie was grateful too.

Giving these mats away is what prompts me to make more. It is always a good experience to give, and I should not wait until I have four at once. Merle introduced himself to me and says his brother could really use one. He has three on order :)

Laying bricks

The old chimney bricks will  have their final resting place as pathways out front!

 We were lucky to have Kyla helping out on this beautiful day.

 Good old Saanich Rentals provides the machinery and Cheri the skill.

 A hunk of clay cheese, anyone?

 "Line them up straight!" Ruby reminds us.

 ...and away with the clay at the end of the day. Good job, girls!

Plarn

Those who followed the African adventures on www.jenniferharvey.blogspot.ca this past summer might remember the plarning project where we turned used plastic bags into sleeping mats for homeless people.

Mats #9 and #10: They went to an appreciative native fellow and another guy who got his hands on one and was gone. He must have been in great need. These two mats were donated on Pandora Street, across from the Baptist church, one rainy Sunday in the fall.

Then began the creation of mats #12, #13, #14, and #15.

I made three starters for kids at school, but their busy schedules kept them from plarning.

Guess what I did on winter break!

I unpacked,

 spread,

folded,

 and cut

300 plastic bags into "plarn" - plastic yarn!

 This quad is ready for dispersal!

Starting to finish

Let the pictures tell the story :)

Snowy, sunny days

Interior stairs

The stairs going from main to attic moved 12" west (facing north). You can see the paint line where the stairs used to be. The stairs main to basement moved from NE corner of the house to under these main stairs - service stairs. You can see the hole awaiting a rail.

The basement stairs lead to the mechanical room (bottom left) and storage room (bottom right).

The Finishing Store has two choices for handrails. We opted out of this skinny one, 

 and went with one that feels better in the hand:

(fir)

Now the living room is filled with raw fir from Courtenay - destined for the attic bedroom... later.

Laundry room (upstairs)

The old stairwell has become our future laundry room

Erik Beiderwieden is a swift and fun floor man.

He is husband to my colleague, Annie.

The sub-floor is screwed secure and the first strips of our reclaimed fir from Courtenay slide in.

Erik's dad, Mark, retired as the pastor of the Lutheran church around the corner and now works full time for his son, Erik. Mark was head chopper but too shy for a shot.

Voila - our laundry room floor!

This is the rope from which the window weights hang.

 Each window (two in each hanging) has a pair of weights that let it sit in various vertical positions.

 A pulley is crucial.

 Window goes up; weight goes down. 

Window goes down; weight goes up.

The latch holds everything in place.