Fall 2024!

 Hard to believe that summer is over and we have almost lived here one year.

Some of the problems that we had last month have been solved! The portion of the roof that was showing rust has been repainted showing that warranties do work! I am really happy that they came out and did that for us free of charge. Thank you Toiture Fortin!

Before being repainted.

While some people may disagree with my choice and I understand why, I cannot live another winter with box elder beetles flying around the inside of my house.  I had my house sprayed for beetles two weeks ago.

The house is almost completely repainted except the area under the porch. I was going to do that myself, but the truth of matter is a) I just don't have time and b) our painter is so much better than  I am. Credit where credit is due our house painter is amazing. As soon as he's finished the porch I will post photos. It should be done by the end of October,

He has also very kindly given us the name of woodworker who may be able to help us rebuild our porch for less than $50,000 Canadian and have a look at our barn since we don't want to spend $40,000 stabilizing the barn before we can do any renovations on it. As my husband says, "This place is a money pit." He isn't wrong. 

Porch posts are going to be the most expensive thing to replace but I expect the ceiling will be super expensive too if we have to do that as well!

The barn, back and front, 48X24. 

We also had some unexpected street repair which we hope helps with all the water coming onto the property from the other side of the road. They have paved but we are still waiting for them to finish the entrance to our driveway.

And everything was covered with dust of course!

The kitchen is coming along but our plumber is just coming off being sick so we are still waiting to have our sink reinstalled. I know my husband can successfully install the sink and all the plumbing but he just doesn't have time with all of the other projects we have to do around here. So we will wait for the plumber. In the meantime, the walls are installed on one side and I am putting a final coat of Varathane on it tomorrow.

Our aspen wood walls for the kitchen.

The walls have eyes.

I mentioned that we had puffballs in my last post. I did in fact harvest one puff ball and as everybody told me, they are so stinky when they dry in a dehydrator I did it outside. I am not sure if I will do it again. 

Before and after.

On the other hand, since I now own a dehydrator I have been drying my tomatoes, apples, lemons, oranges, beans, corn, carrots and zucchini. This is not easy to do when you do not have a kitchen yet but I persevere. I have two bushels of apples to peel and core and dehydrate still to go.

Macintosh ! Organic!

With fall here, I have so much outdoor work to still finish. I still have to plant fruit bushes, fruit trees and garlic. The tree closest to the water has got a lot of dead branches and I have to see whether I can take them down myself or ask  a professional to do it. It may have to wait until spring but just makes our waterfront hazardous. 

Hibiscus looking amazing as they do!

When I got the 7/8 gravel for the drainage for the sump pump, I got way too much. We are now using this as the base for one of our driveways at the side of the house, so this means I have to clear all the greenery along the south side of the porch. This will allow my husband to get underneath to check on all of the supports for the porch before winter as well. The question is will I actually get this driveway completely installed before winter as I now need to order a load of 5/8th gravel. At least this fall/winter I won't have vehicles bogging down in the soft earth even if I don't have it completely to the width we want yet. 

The basement also needs to still be cleaned. This is a big deal because it is filthy and disgusting. But it needs to be done before winter. So when is winter coming? Well the long range forecast says that the first serious frost will be at the end of October. But the geese are already flying south so maybe they know something the meteorologists don't know. By mid November last year we had snow. I am just feeling a little pressure to get the house sealed up as tight as we can make it and have a kitchen ready for Christmas baking-which puts pressure on my husband. And I still need to spend time with family which is also very important!

Why we have to get the fascia replaced this fall! We've had birds and bats in the attic!

We have to build a shed for the new garden tractor/trailer before winter. This task is all on my husband and son. I know my husband is a construction god but I am tempted to buy a prebuilt shed just to take some of the load off of him. Do you think if a shed suddenly shows up he'd notice?

The list of stuff to be done is daunting. But we are chipping away at it. 

Last but not least Chris and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this  month! We had a wonderful celebration with the whole family in late August all arranged by my sisters! On the actual day itself, I got to go to a fibre festival and a museum! The man loves me!