….sort of.    Really, we began the repairs and renovations to the house on the day we purchased it – November 15, 2013.  But TODAY, our disposal bin was dropped in our driveway and demo has started.

One man’s junk….

If you’re now looking at the dates, yes, it’s been two months since we bought the house.  Don’t judge me, we’ve been busy.  Up until now, we’ve been preparing to start the renovations and make the house livable – if not somewhat comfortable.  And the snow.   Oh boy, the snow.

There were a number of things we needed to do in order to live here – not the least of which was to dig a new well and build a washroom (an outhouse, while a throwback to simpler times, wasn’t an option).  That’s where we began.

15 storeys deep – two streams

Here’s where I need to give you some background.  Our house needs a complete overhaul.  I’m talking foundation-to-roof overhaul.  When we inspected the house, we were pretty comfortable with the structure – everything was straight and true – no sags in the roof, no racking walls, no inter-dimensional vortex in the crawlspace to drag you into some parallel universe.  Well, I’m assuming that last one is true – so far, so good anyhow.  So, to start, we’re going to live on the main floor, gut the second floor, start the foundation and roof repairs, move upstairs and then tackle the main floor.  Easy, peasy.

So, the new well was relocated and dug, trenched to the house, new pump and pressure tank installed, decommissioned the old well, installed new piping to the temporary washroom (now in what was originally the Den), installed the tub, toilet and vanity, plumbed-in the washer and dryer (in the kitchen for now) and installed the new hot water tank.  Well, that takes care of the plumbing-related stuff.  In addition to that, we painted the Living-Room-now-Master-Bedroom and the Dining-Room-now-Living-Room, installed a new wood burning stove in the Living Room and put-up two cords of firewood and shopped for and bought a new car.  Throw in Christmas and New Year’s – it’s been a very busy two months.

Yeah.  That and the snow.

PEI: “Canada’s Summer Playground”

We moved to PEI in the earliest and snowiest winter in recent memory.  In three weeks we had six major snowfalls.   The field in our backyard had at least 4 feet over it.  I know that because there is an old oil drum with a broomstick poking out of it – and it was completely buried.   The snowbanks were shoulder-high in the driveway and I was starting to get a bit desperate.  I simply couldn’t throw the snow any higher.  Then the thaw happened.  In less than two weeks, the snow is all but gone.  A few days of above-zero temperatures, rain and winds of 60-80 km/h (gusting to 100) made this winter wonderland a soggy, muddy mess.

But hey, that’s part of the adventure.  We’re going to have lots more mud before it gets better (wait till we start digging a new foundation).