Square peg in a round hole

My shed is filled with doors and trim. A few weeks back a neighbour down the street was doing some renos and I acquired three inside doors and two closet bifold doors. I suspect that I will not use them all, but I really want to try and use one of the bifold doors for a closet. The neighbours behind me offered up a door for my shed. It was a good solid wood door with a window.

I measured the door and the opening. The neighbour measured the door and the opening. My landlord was by and he measured the door and the opening. It was going to work, so off to the lumber yard for the door to be hung. Then the fun really began.

I now understand that there was a reason there was no door on my shed. It was not a rectangle opening, it was a trapezoid. After two days at it and help from three neighbours... The square peg was forced into the round hole.....

Never mind shims.. We used 2x4s...

Then it was back to the greenhouse project. I continued clearing out all the weeds and roots.

It appears my door and roof repairs are holding nice. 

It's really the east wall/roof area that leaks.... 

So I decided to plant some stuff to see if it will grow through the winter. I might as well use the self watering side.  Yes I know it is even better to plant little seedlings, rather than seeds... But we will see..... Into the ground went two types of kale, spinach, swiss chard, and collards.

Quickly following the rains came some cold weather, heavy frost and small spatterings of snow.

Good luck seeds...

The really exciting news is that I have my permit plans... Finally! 

I liked all those tiny houses about 120 sq ft, but I had too many toys so I thought I might build 400 sq ft. But the City wants 600 sq ft.... Then I thought I might build 350 sq ft on top of 350 sq ft.

 

I thought that was a great idea for awhile... But my property was on a slope, so if things were ground level at the front, they would be underground at the back. Then I discovered that if a level is partly under ground it's a basement and the sq footage does not count. I would need 600 sq ft on that upper level. 

More thinking....

Then I found an App and I set about designing my house. I ended up enlarging the upstairs a bit to accommodate what I wanted. In the cute little house I had stairs, but now with a 720 sq ft I did not want to make the house seem even bigger with stairs down to another 720 sq ft. 

The basement was for a cold room and storage for the toys.. the bike, kayak, dive gear, and garage stuff, tires but not the car. It would have outside access only. And then I figured if I was going to build that much I might as well rough in a washroom and ensure I have windows for egress so the space could be a suite at some point.

Off I went to a designer/drawer of permit plans... And ya know, it's really not that different from before..

So yes .... I finally have plans!!!

And I decided who will actually build most of my house. 

Hopefully in the next week or so the permit application will go in.

Now about the door... 

Back to the lumber yard for some cedar for trim.

I tried to make it look square...

Over time it will weather and look fine.

Another neighbour was doing some burning... There is so much I could drag over and burn.

I think I will wait until next April to burn ... (Backyard burning is permitted in November and April).

The sun has almost set and I am cold.

No duct tape required.

The other day I was walking around my property with a building contractor and ... well I guess it was meal time for the local deer family. They took a look at us, realized that we were in the way of my hostas and then crossed over to the neighbour's yard for some nibbling...

They did not bother my Italian plum trees...

So to recap, I was back to the house design and find a contractor stage. 

It looks like I will build a box. It will be cheaper if it's just a simple box.  I will go with just a front porch rather than a wrap around deck.  I will have a cold room in a basement. Yes, a basement or a storage area with outside access. Inside stairs take room and make it a bigger house.  It will still be a compact house on top of a storage basement that could be a suite someday. This does mean I will be building a much bigger house than I had originally planned. I will still live in a compact home.

So to help with the new design I searched the web for existing floor plans and then I found an App for my iPad and I modified what I saw on the web and I designed my house myself. Then it went through many revisions and finally I sat down with a designer who will make me permit plan drawings from my plans. These plans I can use to get more accurate quotes from builders as well. I hope to apply for my building permit this month...

Then I got out my lot survey and some tape measures and I decided where the house will go.

I staked it out.

This should be the view (below) from the bedroom window.

And this should be the view from the guest/ storage room

The weather is so nice right now that it was time to hike to the top of the local hill. 

Below you can see the neighbourhood where my small house will be.

...I don't think I will have an ocean view, but that is okay it's still close by... And so is this view.

Another nice day and so I finally decided to get back at it in the greenhouse again. 

I had previously dug out the old door, but it was in pieces that needed some work.

A few new screws and presto ... It's a door again!

The plastic hinges are in fine shape!

A golf ball has been sitting on the ground outside the greenhouse for some weeks and 

I decided to use it as a door knob. And then I improvised a swivel latch.

Next up .... Put the new piece of plastic found in the shed into place over the hole in the roof.

This was harder than it looked because I could not climb on the outside of the frame, for it would surely collapse and I would fall through. (This from someone who fell off a 2 ft stool in my rented cottage two weeks ago!) Finally I figured out how to make it work and duct tape was not involved

Next I climbed through my fig tree and put in a few screws on the end. Hopefully it will withstand the winters wind storms.

Now I can get back to clearing out the weeds again without getting really wet. I say really wet because it does leak in a few places. I suspect in a few years I will replace or redesign the walls and roof.

Now I can plan out next years garden.....

The words of Gordon Lightfoot live on

Well I suppose I am behind in my updates....

With the fruits and nuts harvested, I have done some yard work ...still digging out my property from the over growth and neglect.

I located some nice ornamental plants and shrubs along the side of the property. A couple of rhododendrons and a nice shrub called a diablo which is too close the fence I think. I think the internet said the rodos are red or white in colour ... I forget the names ...one was Lady something.  

They will be pretty and they will grow...

It will rain soon and everything will green up again..

Here is a different view from the road... 

Almost the line the hydro wire might take...

I have cleaned up the greenhouse a bit and am starting to think of what I might grow next year. There is a horseshoe of growing boxes with a centre island. The island is ready to go. I still need to clear the sides. 

I want to put a panel over the hole in the roof and repair the door. Soon. 

I have cleared most of the blackberry brambles behind the greenhouse....and have begun cutting back all the hazelnut shoots.

And I cleared out the junk in the shed... A neighbour took a load to the dump for me!

It looks a bit nicer now. I cleared out a few years of the squirrels empty hazelnut and walnut shells too!

I took the weed and feed to the local garden shop to get rid of.... Toxic stuff. 

The shed now holds a few doors and trim from a neighbour who was doing some renovations. 

But alas, the rain 'and the gales of November came early', so it's not as much fun working outside.

The houseplans continue at a snail's pace... and it seems even backwards.

Lessons being learned the hard way, as money has been misspent.

It's a long story... 

Maybe best over a bottle of red wine...

Sorry Rodent

As the design process continues and I wait to hear back from my builder I continue my clean up of the lot. 

Cut the grass- or the less bumpy parts with my push mower. I trimmed up the front bushes and around my black walnut tree. 

This year I picked quite a few purple plums or Italian plums or as I now have heard them called prune plums. 

And then you shine them up nice....

I ate most of them, but froze some.

Then it was rest time!

And outside of the cottage by the sea to enjoy the view.

Or down by the water front to watch the kayakers....

But... charge up the batteries of the trimmer and get out the clippers for more work....

Damn deer eating my hostas!

Now it appears a squirrel that lives in the clipping heap by the apple tree is into my hazel nuts already. 

And he does not understand that his half is the top of the tree....

So I had to get my share of hazel nuts off the tree before he did.

Brought them back to the cottage to husk while I watched the sun set ....

But would I finish before the sun did set...

It would be close....

And pretty....

Nope the final nuts were done by candle light!! 

The car went in for an oil change and then I went for a walk. I took the hydro cut to see how long to get from one end of town to another.... Nice view! And lilacs still in bloom!!!

Meanwhile back to the lot... And I just missed the deer. 

It was in the neighbours yard...... I asked her not to eat my hostas. 

And then as I sat on my bench .... 

I saw the industrious squirrel busy collecting hazelnuts.  

A closer look....

So my plan this winter is to wreck his plan and take that heap away (hazelnuts included) when I clear the spot for the foundation.  Soon.

Sorry rodent. 

Heron stalking.....

A few weeks have gone by and I have been busy - but not stressed.

There has been much unpacking, reorganizing, and some giving away. I had to move so quickly when my house finally sold that I was unable to downsize enough. I have moved much that I do not need.

Interestingly enough I am renting a cottage now that is smaller than the small house that I will actually build.  My small house will seem big.

The ocean is across the street from my rented cottage. I know I will miss this. The ocean will not be too far away though. In the evening a beautiful sunset can be seen from the water access across the street...

At this time of year with all the great weather... It is like this every night!

Not all of my time has been spent at home...

I have been to the blackberry street festival and to the summer muse (a mini folk fest).

The kids are adjusting and there is much jockeying for the current 'best spot'.

As I have said I have too much stuff, so the cats rest on boxes everywhere. 

Some of the stuff I will not part with until I know the former job is no longer a choice. All of 'that stuff' takes up a lot of space.

After trying out my push mower on the grass around the yellow plum tree on a hot day I returned to the cottage and then across the street for a quick dip in the ocean. It was warm!

The bear did not eat his share of plums this year. I picked 19 of my plastic bins in total. I gave away 8 bins. I lost about 2 bins to soft and bruised plums... 

I made 10 batches and that was 85 jars of jam!

I am glad my apple tree is not producing this year. It over produced last year and I had it pruned this year. I would not have any room for all the apples and the apple sause. I will miss the apple pies this winter though.

And again the beautiful sun sets in the west.

It was time to head back to the city to meet with my builder.

I decided not to battle the ferry schedule and waste two travel days so I flew.

It's only 25 mins to the big city.

And every seat is an aisle and a window!

I will be the owner/ builder of my house, the general contractor.

With that I will hire a builder to build my house to 'lock up'. For those that do not know that means the outside is done, roof, windows, doors, exterior walls... It can be locked. Then I will hire some trades and finish the inside. The builder that I am working with is helping me with my design, my budget, building plans and will help contract my foundation work.  It was a good meeting.

There was also time in the city to meet up with several friends, deliver some jam, see a documentary about the Camino Frances, help out in the taming of a front yard garden (accidentally cut a hole in the watering hose), go out for dinner to great German restaraunt.... Then it was time to head back to the kids and sunsets....

And back to my property...

Look what I found... It's really a purple and green house.

I delivered some jam to a few of the neighbours... 

I really love these sunflowers. They will be my ocean across the street!

Speaking of ocean....

 I had gone kayaking nearby with someone from the local shop, but I finally put my kayak in across the street.

I stalked a heron for a bit....

Then back to my shore access...

I like living here.

The kids are still a little unsure, but they like the view!