Playing Catch-Up
First off, thank you for all of your kind words of support and encouragement! I loved hearing about others who have lived or are currently living a similar kind of live/work arrangement.
So, as promised, here are a few photos to show you what we’ve been up to (none of them are very new, but I thought I’d start at the beginning).
I mentioned in previous posts that one of the things we love about this place is the abundance of wildlife. Vancouver is pretty “wild” as far as cities go, but never have I had so many of them coming into the house! We arrived to find this little guy stuck in our house one day while the drywalling was still happening.
We think he must have been trapped inside for days, desperately trying to get out to the seasonal creek that flows just outside the kitchen window, completely ignoring the fact that there were several open spaces where windows and doors had yet to be installed. By the time we arrived, he was pretty out of it and just sat quietly in my hand for several minutes before flying down to the creek to have a good long drink and a bite to eat.
Last week we had a hummingbird fly in through the french doors, and my daughter and I spent a good 20 minutes trying to get the poor thing out (those things are fast!). We finally managed to free it only after it had completely worn itself out and we were able to catch it in a large glass and transport it outside.
My daughter got this adorable duckling photo one day when its mother brought her and her siblings through our yard. They all scattered when the neighbor’s dog discovered they were here, and their frantic mother nearly took my son’s head off trying to defend them before he knew what was going on! It wasn’t long before she had them all rounded up and back on their way.
Here’s my poor husband trying to dig a hole for the cherry tree in our very rocky soil. A shovel just doesn’t cut it (you get it in about 1/2 an inch before you hit rock and are stuck), so we’ve been using a pick-axe to dig all of our garden beds. On the right you see Princess and her buddy Taiga wrestling, which quickly inspired a “No Dogs in the Garden” rule.
Above are the tomato beds, looking very space-agey with my favorite supports, Lee Valley’s tomato spirals (which, sadly, they’re no longer selling). In the distance there are peppers and eggplants. As you can see, we have a never-ending supply of rocks. 
This was taken the day that we successfully got water to travel the 160 feet from our well to the house. Now if only we could drink it!
Here’s my very brave husband teetering on a ladder on our not-so-scary lower roof while installing our chimney pipe up through the very steep (and scary) upper roof.
My son’s room was the first one in the house to be painted – I was a little worried about the colour, but it’s actually a very cheery blue, and it goes nicely with his fish light fixture.
This is what the kitchen looked like the day we moved in. Thankfully, Chuck quickly wired the stove plug so we could have a warm meal.
It wasn’t fancy, but we were happy to finally be moved in!
And lastly, a peek at my high tech dish washing setup (note the rust stains in my nice enamelled cast iron pot from cooking with the well water). Thankfully, I am doing dishes inside the house these days.
YAY!!!!!
What an adventure!
Love that duck photo, you can tell it’s really moving fast.
So glad to see the photos(:
Fantastic! Everything is looking like it’s coming together nicely. I think the family at the table is my favourite shot!
Ah, Lee Valley. Some people think I’m a nut for randomly suggesting products I’ve seen in the latest catalogues. It’s an obsession really.
From Vancouver Island,
Annie
Welcome back to the blogosphere! And thanks for sharing your pictures. Your new place looks awesome!
Love the duck photo. How funny was that to see? ๐
Wonderful update. Your house is looking great. Animals are great for creating excitement. Your garden is looking good. It is always frustrating when you want to do something and it takes so much effort that isn’t normally expected.
I love your tomato supports. I can’t find anything here that I’m satisfied with. It’s quite frustrating as nothing is working quite right. In fact I’m contemplating planting nothing but bushy cherry tomatoes next year which wouldn’t need any support. And all the wildlife! Fabulous! Poor little birds though getting stuck in the house. And how do you manage with your water issues? That could be a post in and of itself. I think I would find that the toughest. The house is looking great though. I like the colour in Jayden’s room.
Cheryl, I just found your blog, and I loved reading through it. My husband and I are in the very first steps of doing exactly what you’ve done. It’s a little scary, it’s great to see how it’s turned out for you. Thanks for sharing, and wish us luck :-/
Just stopped by for a visit. I wanted to say Hi and nice Blog!
Carolyn
Lovely pictures! I love your family photo!Nice to see you!Your new place looks awesome!I know itยดs still a lot of work but it looks already fantastic!
Your photos are so good – they really give a good idea of what goes on at your place !!
(…and of course the duckling’s my favourite one!)