Sunday, July 15, 2007

photos

seems my photo hosting website is going out of business which is quite a shame :( i'm working on finding a new service.

Friday, June 29, 2007

kc & the lunchbox band?

ok, i am admittedly a little late in getting this little news tidbit (well, really late since they have apparently been around for years), but WTF???? one thinks it must not only make one's lunch be of poor taste, but taste pretty poor as well!

kc & the lunchbox band

Friday, June 22, 2007

before pix


the front, from roughly the same angle as the sidebar photo


a good shot of the hedge

the back alley (that's my "cell" just to the right of the chimney)

the rear entrance

interior shot - yes, that is a car (a triumph spitfire)

stairs up to the choir balcony

oooooh, scaaaaary choir balcony

the patricia theatre - opened in 1913, it is canada's longest continuously operating movie theatre

we had a beautiful rainbow yesterday

Saturday, June 16, 2007

going with the flo

well kiss my grits and order me about! seems i'm servin' it wrong all over town. or, at least i am at manzanita, a new restaurant that has opened up at the old courthouse inn here in powell river. i have successfully managed to bamboozle owners al & amy sharp into hiring me to wait tables at their fancy-shmancy establishment, located conveniently just down the street from the church so i really have to make an effort to show up late for work.

aside from gainful (?) employment, my mom has been in town and we've been doing some yard work. i've been ripping out grass from choking out the hedge, and mom has used her advanced weed-eating skills to tame the front yard of the church.

Monday, June 4, 2007

the bees!!

how could i forget!! bees made a huge hive inside one of the walls of the old parish hall. my brother had already killed them, but the carnage had yet to be removed from inside the walls. eeeeuuuwww! fortunately, i made marty do most of the disgusting removal work, but i was still forced to hold open the garbage bag to receive the rotting fruits of his labours. eeeuuuuwwww!




and today, i added garden gate building to my impressive credentials. this is not to be confused with golden gate building, which is something all together different and infinitely more time consuming ...

Sunday, June 3, 2007

all this, and cast iron too!

sunday evening at last! this last week has been really busy. my brother martin, who was supposed to be working out of town until june 22, came home last monday. i was a bit nervous since i hadn't really had a chance to finish up my initial projects (ie ripping out carpet, repainting, re-deploying greasy dust-catching ephemera, etc); however, he was surprisingly calm and - dare i say - even pleasantly impressed? he even showed me how to repair the windows, something which i'm not sure i should thank him for ...

on wednesday, his friends matt and marlise showed up for a few days as well so it was a full house; however despite the enjoyment that was had by all, a lot of work was also accomplished, thanks in no small part to matt & marlise's help.

this week:

* one window 99% complete
* one window 50% complete
* one 'wall' removed (more like a temporary 'fence' with windows and constructed from a wall pulled out of another building)
* one small plot of land freed from the tyrrany of grass & weeds
* one lilac tree pruned, and various other gardening/weeding done

NOTE: further progress would have been made on the windows if it weren't for the state of the putty with which i am forced to work. my brother bought about 8 years ago so it has almost entirely separated and thus requires intense and arduous kneading to bring it back to a usable state.

i foolishly did not take any before photos so my next order of business is to take a few photos around the property. i must also make a concerted effort to remember to take a few 'before' photos when tackling any new project.

saturday is garage sale day so yesterday was no exception. the competition is fast and furious in powell river, let me tell you! fortunately, the church is basically at one end of town so it's fairly easy to plan your route to be able to hit all the sales in geographical order and, since the town is so small, you can hit every sale in no time. marty and i started out at 8am and were done by 10am. of course, after about 9:30am, the pickin's are mighty slim so you tend to spend less and less time at each sale as you go along. among other things, i managed to pick up a 10" cast iron skillet for $1. it has now been cleaned out, re-seasoned and is ready to fry up some grilled cheese sandwiches. yum!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

one window (almost) down

endless panes yet to go as i have started tackling my first church window. it's not one of the big ones but at 18 panes, it's still a pain. (ow!) it's slow going but as i become proficient with the blow torch - yes, blow torch - i hope that future efforts will go somewhat more quickly. after a day and a half of steady work, i have a frame that is fully stripped of paint and putty and even has one coat of paint. i should have a fully painted frame ready for glass by thursday. that's four days for one window, and it's not even one of the big ones! fortunately (?) i am only concentrating on the 6 kitchen windows for now.

in other news, finnigan is now officially an indoor/outdoor cat, although he definitely doesn't seem to stray too far from the kitchen door. and garbage cans.