Category: Garden Bay

Time is flying by and it’s great to be busy working around the house.  The weather in April was ugly enough so as to appreciate the gorgeous days we are having in May.  We swam in the lake a couple of days ago albeit with wetsuits.

My house was built in the early 60’s in Richmond and sometime in the early 90’s someone moved it to Garden Bay.  It’s fun to imagine the process.  Even stranger was that the neighbour across the street knew the house growing up in Richmond.

My first house project this year was to prepare to replace all the windows.  The 2nd generation windows are non-thermobroken aluminum.  There are leaky and they sweat in cold weather.  To measure the replacement windows I had to remove the current ones and cut away the concrete-like drywall.  This took the right tool and lots of time as I could only work in days without rain.  The new windows have been ordered so on to the next job.

I’ve been staining the sides of the house one side at a time.  This year I’m doing the side where the electricity wires attach to the house.  I have prep’d and stained as much as I dare working around the live feed.  Next step is to schedule a day to turn off the power and finish the job.  I have also finished staining half of the back siding.

The house came with a really nice back cedar deck but the house inspector told me that the joists were badly damaged by insects.  The repair/replacement job has been on the list since the beginning and yesterday I committed to getting it done.  First step is to dismantle, saving the cedar deck boards for possible reuse.  Once I can see exactly what’s there I’ll be able to design the repair.  If at all possible I don’t want to remove the exterior frame and railings.

Happy to be busy and to have the time to putter away, working a few hours every day while not ignoring Aimeé and other activities, such as gardening.  My garden is coming along nicely and a real joy.  I received 15 young rose plants in April and had to be creative to find good spots for all of them.  That’s a sign that the garden is quite full but I’m not done yet 🙂

It has been a glorious summer with almost no rain.  The drought finally broke a few days ago and the heat as well.  I’ve been very busy and productive with tasks around the property.  The garage is finished and I completed many smaller projects also.  I am forcing my compulsive self of not start anything new as we leave Garden Bay in less than a month.  I’m tired of projects but at the same time not sure what to do with myself otherwise.  Mexico will provide a welcome break.

We fly to Ontario to visit my family on September 13.  From there we travel to Guanajuato to spend the winter, return within my 180 day tourist visa limit near the end of March.  We are leaving Garden Bay too early but Aimeé’s 180 day limit expires September 24.  Next spring we plan on applying for immigration and that will enable us to travel when we want.

In Guanajuato we have rented a very nice one-bedroom apartment near el Centro.  This year we’ll be there for all of the Cervantino festival which is a huge bonus.  Life in Guanajuato is care-free and relaxed, but I’ll be bored and ready to return to my projects in March even thought it will still be cold and rainy here.