A little rain a little pain

So Janet and Wayne came up for the weekend and we spent Friday cutting into the last big jobs. The playful backandforth banter of this ideal married couple was better than CBC radio. I could listen to their dialogue all day, and did. Even funnier than my script with Deborah.

We decided to tackle the Westend gable wall which hadn't had any attention at all, not even tyvek. It has more than strategic importance because it houses to screen-in porch and overlooks Deborah's award-winning monumental garden.

So we tyvekked, strapped, tar-papered and built a dividing line at the base of the top triangle to accommodate our 10 foot planks and Wayne was deeply disappointed to only complete 1/3 of the surface. But what can you expect if you have to learn how to do it before you start? By the time you get to the end you are racing along. And I explain that now it represents only a good day's work to finish and shows me what I have to do down the other end. We even managed to complete the tyvekking on the other gable wall which I hadn't managed to cover by myself. And I was able to install the fascia metal sheet along the south side so that we can now put on the gutters. Rain in the cistern!
I'm blogging here in Sydney at Mary-Anne's home where we're hanging out with Patrick while she treks off up to the highlands. It's pouring and I can't wait until our drains are directing all this water into our cistern. We really needed a couple of day's rest, with Deborah straining her back sanding overhead beams and I slamming my ribs down on the bathedge.

Amazing though what a couple of days can do to restore muscular energy. I can now actually imagine finishing everything we want to do with the house in the next 15 days. And even enjoying the 16-hour drive back to Quebec to get started in on a hard 6-months Premiership soccer, Cinéma du Parc, trips to Toronto and Ottawa and, why not?, Thanksgiving in Princeton and New York with David and Rosemary.

The frog in the well on September 24 2012

Apologies go out to the frog which got caught in the well and almost ended its days there. I was unable to catch it in a bucket and it was not able to defy the mathematics of jump up and fall back which seems to preoccupy most of the websites which come up when you ask how to rescue a frog from a well. Try it: lots of frogs in the well.

Well, the Cape Breton downpour filled the crocks and I was finally able to lean down with Michael's fishing net and scoop up the exhausted frog which immediately slipped through the mesh. Did this three times and this is not a fish story. Finally, I decided to catch the frog and flick it up in the air out of the crocks which I did and the flying frog just disappeared into the clay and brush. Didn't even thank me.

Sorry, frog. Very indecorous. We both looked ridiculous.

On the other hand, the 3-foot crock for catching rainwater is in place and I did manage to fix the faulty wiring in two light switches, sand the beams of the bedroom door, prepare the last wall for putting up boards and install a toilet with its wax ring and fix a basin to the wall. Not bad. Getting quite good at this.

Commenting: here's how to comment if that's what you want to do.

Just been through the commenting issue with Mary-Anne and we've solved the problem: just double-click on trhe "No comments" link and bingo you can leave a few comments. Check out my observations on Mary-Anne trying the new toilet in the chalet.