Plug it in plug it in....

Today's picture are not too exciting. 

The electrician was on site today and most of the outlets are done.

I bought two expensive USB plug in receptacles for ease of plugging in gadgets in the living room and the other for my bedroom. No power bars needed.

The USB receptacle on the left is in the wrong spot. It should be on the front wall, where it will be close to an easy chair and a side table.

Here you can see the wood stove is not yet in ...for some reason. 

Some outlets are done, others not yet. The bedroom fan awaits installation. The living room fan is still downstairs.

Ooh look, hall light switches by the back door. Breaker is off so I did not get to see the lights work yet.

Bedroom plugs are done... There is the other USB plug in.

Meanwhile in the bathroom it is almost time to tile. Today the shower had thinset down then the special seal it membrane.

You will notice it's the same stuff that sealed up the Kerdi board.... The drywall tape so to speak. 

I guess he will cut the drain hole.

And now for your nature viewing pleasure.... Here is a deer munching on the wildflower / weeds out front of the cottage by the sea where I live now.

Cables and figs

I guess I got too excited on Wednesday with all the action, because no one worked at my house on Thursday. But it's now Friday....

It's kinda one of those days where I feel like Eeyore and grumpy cat. Maybe I should not skip lunch.

I put the clothes on the line, it rained- but not enough rain to bring crowds of workers to site.

Still trying to get media hooked up to my house. The fancy new cables will not be up and running in my area until next year. So much for switching, back to the present media provider.

The new house is now added to the system so an appointment can now be booked. This is the second call about the matter. And today.... 35 minutes later on the phone to hear the cable is already pulled to the house- on their system. There is no cable to my house yet....

Speaking of cables. The bathroom heating cable was too long.... Not sure where floor guy tucked in the extra or how he rerouted things because you can see the thinset is down on half so far.

Part of the plan was to go up the side of the tub... But it had still been about 6 -12 inches too long.

I will have to ask my contractor later.

Here is hoping the tiling gets done next week....

And so we have promises of another busy day on Monday... HRH the electrician is rumoured to be attending. How very exciting indeed. Too bad the EVSE will arrive about two weeks later!

I think wood stove guy is due on Monday or Tuesday. Kitchen cupboards...?

This is where I start to sweat a bit.... I am moving in less than three weeks. I am told that it will be finished but it's hard to believe that all last minute little things will get done.... Let alone the big things!

There are lots of figs this year.... See I found something good.

Looking up.

My new ride is pretty snazzie. Very smooth and quiet, except when I back up because it beeps.

Even without buying the SL model, it is a more luxurious car than my Toyota Yaris. It is also longer- bigger than the Yaris. I have not put the bike in the back yet.... But it supposed to be able to fit without taking a wheel off.... We'll see.

It rained much of today.

...... And I guess that is all it took to get all hands on deck back to work on site!

Floor guy was there, my contractor and the regular crew as well. The sun was back out when I took pictures at the end of the day.

Upstairs the window ledges were put in!  Here is the den.... Look at them apples.

And the south fixed window in the den.

The bedroom window.

The kitchen sink window.

The front room north window. I kinda thought I would have a wood stove in place by now.  I called and left a message for wood stove guy.

And the other front room windows.

Meanwhile in the bathroom....the shower floor is almost pre tile, pre wire completed.

Sideways ... Almost upside down picture of shower floor.

You would think I would get better at taking pictures...

Almost time to put the tub back and get it out of the front room.

Speaking of front room..... 

How about those windowsills with the 2x 8 walls? The cats are going to like sitting in them!

And looking up, (because it's good to be positive!), you can see the LED potlights are in. I have a standing light for the front room and one for my bedroom, but other than that there will be no light bulb changing.

Pot lights into the hall and the smoke detector.

The way I cook...I best get a stool to reach the reset button!

In the bedroom ... A couple of pot lights, the smoke detector and the ceiling fan installation begins. I helped install a ceiling fan once. It was not fun.

With the bedroom fan it will not necessary to install the light on it as it will not be needed. 

But I forgot... The front room fan has a light which will get installed and it will have a light bulb.

I guess once the bathroom gets wired and tiled then all the wires will get pulled upon side the walls for the thermostats.

The electrician is due back on Monday next, the day my EVSE (car plug) will be shipped I hope. So electrical guy will have to return.

Downstairs the wiring was completed and the insulation continued. 

There is still some more to go.

It sure makes things quiet! (There is a piece of plywood outside that window).

It's so exciting when lots happens on my house. I am sure there were many factors at play. But from my perspective... All it took was a bit of rain.... What I did not want months ago when this all started.

Plum tuckered out!

Over the long holiday weekend I finally got all the yellow plums off my tree!

So to recap.. I made a few different varieties of plum jam, put some plums in the freezer, made a little plum liquor and processed several large jars of plum juice. And I did have several friends come by given the offer to take as many plums as possible off my tree. This last pull was over-ripe and was dropped in a wild area where bears are known to hang out. 

This tree will get a good hair cut over the winter....

I tried a level one trickle charge to the new Leaf..... Sorry for the sideways picture.. It happened when I added the licence plate blob.

.... Anyhow, things are looking good in the backyard.

Well they were ...until I picked a few more figs. Fig trees are very disorganized and it's hard for me to reach all the figs. I had been in the habit of grabbing the trunk and pulling down one of the branches to reach a ripe fig... Only today I somehow managed to snap off a branch. Very sad... I am sorry tree.

Next up will be the hazelnuts and apples...

I only have two Italian plums on my three trees. That's right two!

Today floor guy was back at it in the bathroom...

Here is the shower base pre installation.

This other piece will connect on the shower floor....

More patchwork... Taping in the bathtub area.

Still a little more work to be done in here...

Did I tell you that my contractor has given me a move in date.... It is hard to believe at the rate things have been going... But I guess the pace will pick up sometime soon as I shall move in to my new house in the last week of August. I have indeed given my notice in the cottage by the sea and there will be a rental showing tomorrow!  Hhmmmmmm.....

Turning over a new leaf

It was Friday, but no visiting the site today. I was off out of town soon to be on an EVenture. You see me and the bank bought a new car.... An EV.. An electric vehicle... A Nissan Leaf. 

The range is about 150 km, depending on how and where you drive.  It can be charged by 110V, 220V or a quick DC charge. Can take overnight, 2-4 hours or 30 minutes or so.

And so I set off to play in it. I charged it up in various places, not for need, but just to try it out.

There is already a great network of charging stations. These first two were tourist information offices.

The car drives pretty smooth, very quiet...and it has......

In most cases the charging is .... Free.

At this point I guess there are not a great deal of customers hooking up and I guess it's an incentive to stop and visit somewhere. Tourism dollars. 

A level two charge from empty to full would only cost in the $4 or $5 range.

Nice to be off the gas addiction.

A way back- six years ago I am informed- the Nissan Leaf was launched. I was behind the scenes of the filming of the first TV commercial where the polar bear hugs the driver of this new car that did not pollute. I was only able to look in the window of the one they had on set. Today I am driving one!

I can only surmise that critters everywhere are happy with me!!

Here is a family of quail walking through the yard of a friend's place- where I am visiting for the night.

And though I have been known to curse the local deer.... Here is one of my hosts offering up some tree branches to a young buck in his yard.

They don't have exposed gardens.... I will love deer when my vegetables are not on offer as well!

I did mean to try out the 110 'trickle charge' overnight. But I was too overwhelmed with the events of the day..... excited with my new car, excited to see my friends.... Oops I did not plug things in correctly and it was 'ready'  to charge all night- but never started. We figured it out in the morning.

And then later I checked out another charging station in their town.

To activate some of these, you just phone a number listed on the machine and then report what station number you are at and things unlock and you hook up, unplugging whenever you want.

I then headed off to meet some other friends farther away in Naniamo. Plugged in by using an App this time and then went inside the mall for a bite to eat in the food court. At 80% I headed north on my trek home. I took the highway driving about 110 km/hr... 96 km later, battery at 23% ... With about 40 km to spare I arrived at my charging station as planned.

This station had both a level two (220V) and a Tesla fast charger.

It was a distillery.... vodka and gin made from mead - from honey!

Not only was the charge free... So were the samples. Hey no worries... They were very small samples and I was there for about two hours. I tried their craft soda waters too.

And of course a tour!

So with about an 80% charge I headed out. Quick stop at Hone Depot and then a ferry ride home.

Here is the update while parked on board.

I did not take a picture of the Navigation map... It showed a little house where I said I lived. 

I was taking my car home! .... Well to the building site to see what was done yesterday.

The bathroom walls were taped up with the special waterproof Kerdi board tape!

And oh look a hole in the floor for the drain. There is a special floor foam insert that goes in next.

And look, the mats are in place around the tub. This is not too conventional, but the plan is to use up the cable. It will be neat to have things warm around the tub..

Still no level two two charger enroute or shipped yet. Sent another email to enquire. 

Arrived home at the cottage by the sea with about 115 km range left.... So no need to plug in anywhere. Perhaps I will go for coffee tomorrow and plug in at the free charger.