December Flowers

Not exactly the time of year for flowers, but in Lunenburg, at least this year, you would be surprised. The Geum was still blooming up until the 23rd of December when it snowed. Inside, the African Violet has been profusely making up for its two year hiatus on blooming. The Poinsetta decided to rebloom. This is a first for me, I have never had one rebloom. The flowers are smaller and not as numerous as the ones you buy at this time of year. I can't figure it out; I almost threw this plant out. I put it out on the back porch in July when it finished blooming and didn't water it, although it might have gotten a bit during some rainstorms. In October I brought it into the house because it still looked so green, but I never expected it to survive let alone thrive and rebloom. Ah well, I will enjoy the gift.

Seasons Greetings - December 2011

I'm no poet, but if I was going to rewrite the twelve days of Christmas, I would want to talk about some of the following:

One Firehouse in Lunenburg,

Two home owners with two fire trucks,



Three talented heritage carpenters,



Four upstairs dormers,

Five downstairs windows,

Six months of building (so far),
Seven foot ceiling in the upstairs
Eight windows upstairs,
Nine plus ten stairs,

Ten times the quality of any other building methods,
Eleven foot ceiling in the downstairs, and
Twelve times twelve and then some years that we'll be able to enjoy the Firehouse.

Will and I would like to wish our heartfelt thanks and all the best of the season to the following individuals and groups who have helped in allowing the Firehouse project to progress as far and as quickly as it has so far:

Colin Edwards, Brad Quarrie and Michael Murphy of Colin Edwards Restoration;
Mike Knock of A-1 Electrical,
Kerry Oickle of KJ Oickle Concrete Construction Ltd.,
Pete Langille of Peter Langille Plumbing and Heating,
the folks at BMR - Lunenburg Hardware,
Sam Collicutt and the rest of the staff at Castle - Nova Scotia Building Supplies,
the crew at Maurice Bruhm Lumber,
the folks at Logs to Lumber,
Johnathon and Jeremy Church,
Ginny Wentzell,
dear friends, Warren and Karen Clement,
Keith Fraser - Building Inspector, Town of Lunenburg,
Ray Francis and the Electrical crew at the Town of Lunenburg,and
Peter Baker and the Public Works crew at the Town of Lunenburg.

We hope that all of you will enjoy a healthy and happy holiday season with your friends and families. If I have missed anyone in this list, it is purely because of poor memory and is in no way an indication of how we feel about you.

Insulation and Doors - 16 December 2011

The ceiling is all insulated, the bedroom is fully insulated, and all the windows are finished. The main doors are glued together. Finally, the main door openings got a thick plastic sheeting to keep them covered during the holiday season.

And now the team from Colin Edwards Restoration are off for a well earned rest. We wish them a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and Happy New Year. See you in January, guys!

Insulation and Doors - 15 December 2011

Besides continuing work on the insulation and the main doors today, the guys also did an incredible amount of clean up in preparation for the upcoming holidays. Tools and equipment that won't be needed tomorrow are already neatened up and put away in preparation for the break.

The insulation of the upstairs ceiling is nearing completion and looks particularly good. The doors, of course, are looking wonderful.

Today is a special day for us since it is our daughter Victoria's 19th birthday. I hope she is watching the blog to be able to see these good wishes.

Insulation and Doors - 14 December 2011

It is gratifying when people who are familiar with heritage carpentry appreciate the design and the implementation of what we are doing with the Firehouse. That's how we felt today when Andrew MacAdam from the Heritage Carpentry program of the NS Community College and his first year students came to visit. It was nice to see that they were interested in what Colin and his team are doing and that they appreciated the hard work and the successful implementation of heritage carpentry and conservation.

Besides the visit, there was still lots of insulation work going on by Colin and Michael, Brad continued to make progress with the doors, and the folks from Amos Millwork and Mouldings delivered the flooring for the upstairs.

Insulation and Doors - 13 December 2011

What a cozy Firehouse we have here. The second floor is now insulated and the plastic wrap was added to the main floor. Doors are looking better and better, too. The hinges are on their way from San Francisco (on a sleigh with a chubby guy, I think), so that will be good. The frames for the doors look really nice up against their openings.

Insulation - 12 December 2011

Insulation continued today and we were able to finish off the main floor with batts, caulking and every little nook and cranny taken care of. Then Colin and Michael worked on insulating the upstairs while I cleaned up and Brad continued working on the doors.

It was also nice to see Suzanne today. Thanks for helping get the snack ready and enjoying it with us.

Insulation - 9 December 2011

Cut and stuff, stuff and cut. The main floor got completely insulated today. It should be nice and cozy once the whole Firehouse is done. Colin, Michael and I did the insulating, while Brad continued to work his magic with the main doors. We saw an example of part of it assembled at the end of the day and it was fantastic. But no picture so you will get to see the whole thing at once.

Insulation - 8 December 2011

Happy Birthday Cheryl Ann! Well, we had 78 bundles of insulation delivered today. Michael, Brad and I built a castle of batts in the middle of the main floor and then Brad hid behind it to continue drilling the square holes for the main doors. Part of the time he was doing this Mike Knock and Seth were finishing off the electrical work and then the electrical inspector gave us the A-OK.

Later today the insulation work got underway with Colin putting the foam in to various places and Michael putting the batts into the wall cavities. Brad, of course, just kept on with those square holes. I keep looking for a round peg for him to put into them.

Electrical Work - 7 December 2011

I walked in to the Firehouse today and none of the guys happened to notice that I was there. I saw something interesting, so I took a photo and the flash went off. When you have two electricians working on stuff and a flash goes off it tends to startle people. They weren't actually working with the power at the time, so I'm glad I wasn't causing a real problem, but I would still like to avoid startling anyone. I'll have to make sure they know I am there in the future before I take any photos.

Besides the wiring work that went on throughout the day, Michael was priming and painting trim and Brad was drilling square holes in to main door pieces. I didn't even know you could drill a square hole - it boggles my mind. Colin has been figuring out all of the scheduling and ordering all the materials for the next little while. Lots of measuring and calculating today for him.

Roof Trim - 6 December 2011

The last historic house that I lived in was in Halifax, in the area called the Hydrostones. They were built in 1919 to offer houses to all the people who had lost their houses during the Halifax Explosion. Today was the 94th anniversary of that huge and horrible event, so I was thinking about that other lovely old house a lot today. It was a marvel of modern design of its day with closets in every bedroom, indoor plumbing and back allies for services. The house, like its 500 neighbours, was built as a planned community by a town designer. All very special.

But this house, and the Firehouse that is coming along to join it, are even more special. Also in a planned community, also marveling in designs appropriate for its day. Working with history is very enjoyable. We are fast approaching the 150th anniversary of the house (although we don't yet know the actual day that building started or finished, we have only been told the year), so it will be exciting to have the Firehouse finished in the same year as the house turns 150 years old.

The final trim along the roof line went on to the north side first thing this morning. After that a whole lot of clean up and re-organizing took place. The scaffolding came down for the first time in a couple of months and lots of bits and pieces got re-stored or just plain organized. Mike Knock and his assistant Seth also started wiring the upstairs and this also meant a lot of extra work for Colin and his team to move their tools and equipment out of the way. They handled it with their usual diligence.

Floral Cottage - 5 Decemeber 2011

I have never made a wreath before with real and fresh greenery. The Lunenburg and District Garden Club had a wreath making workshop last night and it was so much fun. Svenja Dee from Tulipwood showed us all what to do and helped us to make greenery, accent, doo-dad and bow choices. What fun to work with several friends all together and to create something lovely for the house. With the fresh greenery it even smells great!

Roof Molding - 5 December 2011

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late for a very important date! I'm not the March Hare, but I am still late for this post. It should have gone up last night, but I was away and when you see the Floral Cottage post that will come up next, you will see why.

The south wall roof molding all went up today. Funny how it was just a little unfilled space and I really didn't think that finishing it would look all that different. But once done, I was so pleased to see how polished and, well, finished it looked. The guys almost got all of the north wall done too, but darkness caught up with them.