I hope all you mother’s in parent land had a great day with the kids on Sunday. Shane presented me with a lovely bouquet from Seaside Flowers, blue hydrangeas and a rose like flower I don’t know the name off, offset by other lovely cream companions. I have to say I’m not much of a flower aficionado, but you don’t have to know all the names to appreciate their beauty. Flowers are always the right choice for me. I want plenty in my lifetime, not hoarded up until my funeral, I won’t get to enjoy them! Flowers are my drug, my cigarette, my glass of wine, a feel good addiction. And as for the card….it was beautiful, written as if Hallmark asked Shane what to say, it caused a bit of tearing up.
Yesterday contractors began the long and arduous task of repairing the damage caused by the ice damming after an above average winter of snowfall. At first there was a glimmer of hope when they tested the wall with the moisture meter and it came back clean. Talk of test holes to check what was happening behind the vapour barrier suggested a glimmer of hope which would only require repairs to the gyprock, a light skim coat and new paint. I crossed my fingers, toes, and my legs and waited with baited breath for the result.
I should have known better. My life is intimately connected to Murphy, Mr. Murphy’s Law that is. He’s been a black sheep, back stabbing, son of a B, pain in our collective arse. Everything we ever do comes hard, always works out in the end, but is never the short cut version one would hope for. We are always on the long, twisted, winding route with one way streets and no place for a U turn. Not only was the insulation moist, it was like wringing out a towel that fell into a bathtub so the worst case scenario verdict, the northeast wall is coming down! Not only the upstairs area but from ceiling to the downstairs floor. That means Shane’s kitchen, the laundry room, the storage closet under the stairs and the front window facing the downtown area all has to be stripped bare. Woe is me!
Hubby and I spent a couple of hours preparing the site, moving furniture and removing switch plates and anything in the way. We had to reorganize the shop, everything from the left had to be moved to the right so the shop can function at full capacity. We might be a lot more crammed but hey, it looks like we’re stocked to the ceiling, not a bad first impression walking through the door. Just keep your head facing straight so the horror on the left doesn’t put you off lunch!
Of course right now the downstairs still looks fabulous but by the end of the day, all the gyprock will be gone and insulation bagged and hauled away so that the bare studs and boards will be seen, probably wet and dark, oh joy!
The very saddest part of all this is our beautiful building was newly renovated in 2007. Everything is new, we gutted her and there is only one old board left in the place which hangs in the shop as the trophy for all our hard work. All that new construction having to be redone is very disheartening, but I must inject that because we're not doing the work this time it’s a distinct advantage. This time I get to watch others do the work, young strapping lads built for manual labour instead of us old farts with creaking bodies.
You know me and my attachment to inanimate objects….I love my shop so it’s difficult to watch her go through this raping. Ah well, it will be pristine again, hopefully sooner than later and I’ll try not to whine too much in the interim but expect a few bits here and there. The upside, shifting my front pattern desk out of the way has given me an idea for how to rearrange things in the front of the store so I'm pretty stoked about that.
I’m not happy about all the interruptions and mess but at least its pre-tourist boom and hopefully they finish before that begins. The disarray will be kept at a minimum from hanging orange tarps that cast an eerie amber glow over the upstairs and they bag up the debris immediately and keep the vacuum going full hilt. They created a path to the front door and laid down blankets to protect the floor. I‘m working in my office right now and there doesn’t seem to be any more dust than usual. I’m not overly happy with the chemical they sprayed the wall with to kill any potential mold that might have started spreading its evil tentacles. My face is burning red and I have a fan blowing across my head chilling me into goose flesh but I’ll survive. Tomorrow I’ll bring my mask!
As always my personal life is chaotic, which I refer to lovingly as a “daily shit storm”. I might be a bit crass, but no other words best describe it. There is always something happening. I long for an ordinary day, a simple rise and shine, eat three meals, go to work and home and then a bit of TV and off to bed! Last evening we ate dinner at 11:00 pm because our day kept pushing the limit on our time. I have to be at the shop at 8:30 am this morning and every morning until the reno is done. That’s usually the time I rise! Now I have to try to get to bed early so I’m not a zombie in the morning. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and although Christopher Hitchens in his last published book, "Mortality" before his death in 2011, dispelled this over-used statement, I do look forward to starting my day earlier and and ending them with fewer late nights.
The other downside, we won't be having any hook-ins until things are put back together. Sorry gals!
Yesterday contractors began the long and arduous task of repairing the damage caused by the ice damming after an above average winter of snowfall. At first there was a glimmer of hope when they tested the wall with the moisture meter and it came back clean. Talk of test holes to check what was happening behind the vapour barrier suggested a glimmer of hope which would only require repairs to the gyprock, a light skim coat and new paint. I crossed my fingers, toes, and my legs and waited with baited breath for the result.
I should have known better. My life is intimately connected to Murphy, Mr. Murphy’s Law that is. He’s been a black sheep, back stabbing, son of a B, pain in our collective arse. Everything we ever do comes hard, always works out in the end, but is never the short cut version one would hope for. We are always on the long, twisted, winding route with one way streets and no place for a U turn. Not only was the insulation moist, it was like wringing out a towel that fell into a bathtub so the worst case scenario verdict, the northeast wall is coming down! Not only the upstairs area but from ceiling to the downstairs floor. That means Shane’s kitchen, the laundry room, the storage closet under the stairs and the front window facing the downtown area all has to be stripped bare. Woe is me!
Hubby and I spent a couple of hours preparing the site, moving furniture and removing switch plates and anything in the way. We had to reorganize the shop, everything from the left had to be moved to the right so the shop can function at full capacity. We might be a lot more crammed but hey, it looks like we’re stocked to the ceiling, not a bad first impression walking through the door. Just keep your head facing straight so the horror on the left doesn’t put you off lunch!
Of course right now the downstairs still looks fabulous but by the end of the day, all the gyprock will be gone and insulation bagged and hauled away so that the bare studs and boards will be seen, probably wet and dark, oh joy!
The very saddest part of all this is our beautiful building was newly renovated in 2007. Everything is new, we gutted her and there is only one old board left in the place which hangs in the shop as the trophy for all our hard work. All that new construction having to be redone is very disheartening, but I must inject that because we're not doing the work this time it’s a distinct advantage. This time I get to watch others do the work, young strapping lads built for manual labour instead of us old farts with creaking bodies.
You know me and my attachment to inanimate objects….I love my shop so it’s difficult to watch her go through this raping. Ah well, it will be pristine again, hopefully sooner than later and I’ll try not to whine too much in the interim but expect a few bits here and there. The upside, shifting my front pattern desk out of the way has given me an idea for how to rearrange things in the front of the store so I'm pretty stoked about that.
I’m not happy about all the interruptions and mess but at least its pre-tourist boom and hopefully they finish before that begins. The disarray will be kept at a minimum from hanging orange tarps that cast an eerie amber glow over the upstairs and they bag up the debris immediately and keep the vacuum going full hilt. They created a path to the front door and laid down blankets to protect the floor. I‘m working in my office right now and there doesn’t seem to be any more dust than usual. I’m not overly happy with the chemical they sprayed the wall with to kill any potential mold that might have started spreading its evil tentacles. My face is burning red and I have a fan blowing across my head chilling me into goose flesh but I’ll survive. Tomorrow I’ll bring my mask!
As always my personal life is chaotic, which I refer to lovingly as a “daily shit storm”. I might be a bit crass, but no other words best describe it. There is always something happening. I long for an ordinary day, a simple rise and shine, eat three meals, go to work and home and then a bit of TV and off to bed! Last evening we ate dinner at 11:00 pm because our day kept pushing the limit on our time. I have to be at the shop at 8:30 am this morning and every morning until the reno is done. That’s usually the time I rise! Now I have to try to get to bed early so I’m not a zombie in the morning. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and although Christopher Hitchens in his last published book, "Mortality" before his death in 2011, dispelled this over-used statement, I do look forward to starting my day earlier and and ending them with fewer late nights.
The other downside, we won't be having any hook-ins until things are put back together. Sorry gals!
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