Our Lifestyle Blog as We Create a Homestead in Northern Ontario
I didn’t accomplish much the day following the installation of the water tank. I spent much of the morning doing a bit of laundry, and washing up the dishes that had accumulated while our water supplies were so diminished. I did remove the water filter (after much cursing!) and re-wraped the threads of the connectors … Read more
After completing the electrical work and seeing that the pump and everything seemed to be working just fine, it was now time to press on with getting the cabinets and plumbing aligned. With Kenny’s assistance, I dismantled some of the old plumbing arrangements, and realigned them for the new system. I had to drill three … Read more
I am not often a smart man. This is another tale to illustrate my point. In the kitchen, which is an outside wall, I had previously just put up my electrical very ramshackle with the intent of hiding it behind the cabinets and eventually some sort of wood panel “cover” to bridge over any exposed … Read more
I headed to Home Depot first thing in the morning and dropped more money than I care to admit on plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, and a countertop. It took me two trips through the checkout and then another trip to Maier Hardware to finally get everything I was going to need. Basically blew out the … Read more
In an effort to streamline the kitchen, we opted to purchase presized and made cabinets from Ikea. This was also facilitated because Ikea had the best deal on a corner sink that we were able to find. Our existing sink was placed directly under the kitchen window, which at first made sense to us, but … Read more
The arrival of the kitchen cabinets from Ikea the other day prompted even more pressure on me to find space in an already overwhelmed cabin. Luckily the way Ikea flat packs all their products certainly takes up far less space than one would even expect. 22 boxes and a sink prompted me to bring the … Read more
A day or two ago I got the telephone call letting me know that our kitchen cabinets (courtesy Ikea) had arrived in Thunder Bay. I arranged to take delivery this Friday when I am scheduled to be close to the city anyway, and then figured that I needed to keep up my pace on getting … Read more
So now that I have the paneling complete in the kitchen corner right up to the top edge of our log wall, plus three runs above that, I feel like I can begin construction and mounting of the water tank. I was ready to start on it a day ago actually, but then realized that … Read more
While I still haven’t finished all the other projects that will lead up to us actually using the new well, I haven’t forgotten it either. After observing that some scum from my concrete patching and the clay soil still on the rock face was floating on top of what would soon be our drinking water, … Read more
It seems we have an unusual child – at least, he isn’t always what I would have expected. It has been getting progressively harder to find gifts for Kenny as he matures and develops more and more specific tastes and interests. This year is proving no exception. In spite of asking him if there is … Read more