Matilda Comes Home - 30 April 2012

After nearly a year and a half living in a small museum in Fall River, Matilda finally came home today.  The Firehouse fits her like a glove.  Our thanks to Philip from Corkum's Towing for bringing Matilda from Fall River.

And while I was waiting for Will and Matilda to arrive, I managed to finish painting one of the windows and do some paint touch up on the main doors.  There's no time wasted around here right now!

Hardscape - 28 April 2012

It was cold and windy, but it didn't stop the team from Heritage Landscaping and New Leaf Horticultral.  I was remiss, though.  I had intended to get them to stop for a few minutes just before left for a group photo.  It might not have been possible to get Gordon and Pamela in the picture, but at least I wanted to get Doug, Kirk, Frank, Chris and Nick to sit still for a minute for a group shot.  I missed the opportunity. To be fair, it was probably better to let them finish up and get home, so they could have some family time.

We are very pleased with the work.  It looks so great!

Driveway - 27 April 2012

The driveway is in!!!  The day began with pouring rain and so I expected that the team from Heritage Landscaping wouldn't get here at all today.  But then, the rain eased off and eventually stopped completely. Within five minutes of the rain stopping, up drove the crew in their wet weather gear all ready to continue laying the tumbled pavers.  By this afternoon the sun was out (and then in and out of the clouds).  They just kept on trucking until they were done.  And it looks great.

Meanwhile, Will has spent this week "populating" the upstairs of the Firehouse with all things fire related and collectable.  It, too, is looking great.  I know he hasn't got all of the collection out there yet and perhaps he never will, at least at one time.  Nevertheless, it looks really good. Here is just the corner representing the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation (CFFF).  As the founder and first president of the CFFF, Will has a special place in his heart for this cause.

Driveway - 26 April 2012

The guys made such great progress today.  The driveway went a lot further than we expected and I think Doug and his team where pleasantly surprised by their own progress.  It looks so great.

Landscaping, Painting & Cleaning - 25 April 2012

The landscaping continues with the french drain being finished, the ground being smoothed, and a bit more slate being laid.  The nicest thing today was seeing the pavers being delivered and then their installation beginning.  It is going to look so great.

Dennis finished the painting on the stairwell, so now all that is left are two windows.  One of which is going to be quite challenging to get to.

Cindy is cleaning everything to sparkling.  What a difference it makes.  So nice!

Painting and Cleaning - 23 & 24 April 2012

The beam and pillars are now done and the stairs are coming along nicely.  The paint really adds a nice polish to great work that has already been done.

We are also very pleased that Cindy Hirtle has come to help us with cleaning the Firehouse.  Having someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to cleaning really helps.  We were able to get rid of the big dirt and dust bunnies, but there is still so much dust that needs help. You do good work, Cindy!

Patio, Walkway & Signage - 20 April 2012

Another day of making great progress.  Work continued today with the folks from Heritage Landscaping and New Leaf Horticulture working on the patio, the walkway, the stone steps and garden beds.  They also pruned some very large and thorny rose bushes. Everything is moving along very well.

Another wonderful addition to the Firehouse are the signs that grace the front of the building.  Don Wilson and the folks at Chiselworks have done a stupendous job.  These aren't just signs; they are art.  What can we say - elegant, beautiful and so fitting with the character of the building. Well done and thank you. Here they are installing the five signs that tell the story.

And here is the full picture of the Lorne Street Fire Co. of Lunenburg, with all of the details showing. Go ahead, click on the picture, you can see it up close and read it for yourself.

Patio, Walkway & Moving Furniture - 19 April 2012

It was a busy day and I managed to miss all but the final discussion of how everything went.  Doug and Kirk continued making good progress with the walkway and the patio.  From the looks of it you would think they were burning the stones.  It looks like smoke, but is actually stone dust.

Some people, seeing the smoke might have thought the fire department should be called.  But there was no need to call them, Will had already accepted the kind offer of Trevor, Kendall, Brian and Trevor to come over and help move the heavy furniture up to the Firehouse. By the time I got home it was all over but the refreshments.

Slate Walkway - 18 April 2012

I've never actually watched anyone laying a stone walkway before.  It seems like it should be so simple - drop a couple of flat rocks down on the ground and start walking on them, right?  Wrong.  The gravel went down and was tamped smooth, then the fine stone went down and was further tamped down.  Then the stones were roughly placed and lots of leveling went on as there is a bit of slope to work with.  Stones had to be evened up, too, so that they were level with other edges or steps.  No tripping hazards here.  I'm so glad that Doug and Kirk from Heritage Landscaping are doing this for us.  We can be comfortable and confident because we can see the kind of care they are taking.

Landscape and Compliments - 17 April 2012

I met someone today to told me about a gentleman who drives people to see the Firehouse and points out historically and architecturally great it looks.  Even better; this fellow is an architect himself. What a lovely compliment to hear about.  We hope he will stop some day and visit with us; we'd enjoy showing him inside.

On the landscape front, there was a whole lot of smoothing going on today on all of the pathways that will soon receive slate or paving stones.  Kirk and Doug also placed some granite pieces at the front of the house to fix a worrisome huge space on the front steps.  We feel a lot safer having this gap filled.

Landscaping - 16 April 2012

Doug, Frank and Kirk worked today on putting a culvert across the driveway for the Firehouse and filling the trench around it to allow for good drainage under the driveway.  They've also smoothed out the whole area in preparation for the smoothing and flattening to come. Pamela has been dropping in regularly to see how things are going and to adjust the plans as required. As a result, we were able to find and move some nice squared off granite pieces for the patio area. They will be a nice edge on a slight incline leading to the patio.

All the garden rocks are now in place. Of course, we have more than we needed.  We may have to have a rock sale.

Landscaping - 13 April 2012

Landscaping continues with more rocks added around the back side of the Firehouse and a culvert being put in at the edge of the driveway.  We've also picked out some nice dark grey stones for the driveway.

Rock Garden - 12 April 2012

Doug and the guys are continuing to make great progress with a lot of very large rocks.  The three steps at the side door are in, there are side stones to guide you on the stairs and the rocks around the foundation are making good progress.  These are BIG stones.  And yet, Frank deftly handles them with the tractor, while Doug, Kirk and Chris prepare the area, set the stones and make everything fit together like a puzzle.

All the while this activity was taking place outside, Dennis was inside continuing to paint.  There is a lot of detail work, but it is looking good.  To add to the activity today, Johnathon and Scott came over to help move the off-cuts of wood so that they would be out of the way of the landscapers.

Landscaping, Painting and Handrailing - 11 April 2012

Oh my, a busy day.  The folks from Heritage Landscaping and New Leaf Horticultural arrived this morning to start building steps, walkways and driveway.  When you start moving dirt, gravel and large rocks around with tractors and backhoes, things change quickly. Pamela and Gordon got them started and the Doug and the crew carried on for the day.

While all the work outside was going on, Dennis just kept painting away steadily inside the Firehouse.  All of the wainscotting on the main floor is done and it looks pristine. Brad did the door sets, striker plates, door knobs and several coats of varathane on the handrails.  Very nice.

Main Doors & Painting - 10 April 2012

Dennis finished all of the top coating on the second floor today and I managed to do the same to the small bathroom on the main floor.  Brad was working on the handrails, but he also came to shave some edges off of the main doors.  I thought they were perfect, but he just wanted to take off a teeny tiny bit more.

It was a beautiful, sunny and relatively warm day.  Even the birds liked the curlicues of shavings from the doors.

Painting - 8 & 9 April 2012

Undaunted by a slight change in the paint trim colour (we couldn't get an exact colour match), Dennis has been putting the top coat on the trim on the second floor.  It looks great. Crisp, clean and very bright white.

Floral Cottage - Spring 2012

Plants are sprouting early this year, as we have had so little snow and relatively warm weather.  These crocuses were up and blooming on 19 March.  

 But nature has a wonderful way of keeping us from becoming too relaxed or smug.  

Here are the day lilies on Easter Sunday morning, 8 April.

Caulking & Cleaning & More - 5 April 2012

My darling husband, the primary owner of the Firehouse, has taken to working in it like a duck to water.  He spent the whole day there today finishing all of the caulking by taking care of above the main doors and along the beam. He also got down on his hands and knees (the only real way to clean a floor) and, along with Mrs Murphy and her famous wood floor soap, washed the collection room, upstairs bathroom and bedroom floors. This may sound pretty straightforward, but keep in mind this is the first washing for these floors.  They still had quite a bit of drywall dust and general building dust on them, even after their installation and several coats of varathane. Even Will didn't realize how much work this was until he changed his clothes after the fact and realized he had blisters on his knees.  He also did some more touch up painting and cleaned windows.

What a guy! I'm so glad I had errands to run all day and was able to leave him to it. I think the true "sense of ownership" is growing stronger every day.

Doors and Trim - 4 April 2012

A little bit of caulking, a little bit of touch up paint, some nice work on the main doors and the interior doors.  The boxing of the drain pipe from upstairs looks really good. It sounds minor, but it took the whole day.  But we are getting so close!