New Nova Scotia Home

Eagle's Landing - The Final Chapter of Construction

2008-01-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

This is the last entry in the saga of the construction of what shall come to be known as "Eagle's Landing". That is the name I have chosen for this property, and it is so named because of the bald eagles that like to land on and near my riverfront property - at the tops of the tallest trees. The work as far as my contract with my builder is virtually complete. It is now time to enjoy the house, and the property, and all that goes with it. Here I will display some of what I will be there to enjoy. Thanks for joining this journey with me. So when are you coming to visit? :-)

This is a video - push the arrow to play it !

This too is a video !

- THE END -

More Winter - And More Progress

2007-12-09T15:09:00.000-08:00

Here we are 2 weeks before Christmas! The house is pretty well done. And even better, the water passed the lab tests with flying colours! Here is the first result, for coliform bacteria - ND = None Detected. Now for you city folk, this may not seem like a big deal, but when a well has been drilled and it's your only source of water, and when your bank's final property evaluation depends on the water being good, this is a big deal! So this is a very large load off my mind, to have good, clean water. The second test was for Arsenic and Uranium, standard tests, I'm told. There was no arsenic and only 2.5 ppm of uranium - the allowable limit for uranium is somewhere around 20 ppm, so all is good!

Dave got the taller stair balusters installed, Eric the plumber got the water sediment filter installed in the basement and the carbon filter on the kitchen drinking water all in too. So the water tastes and looks pretty good now.

In closing for today, here is a bird that was around my feeder briefly today - never seen one before, but I'm told it's a pine grosbeak. It was about the size of an evening grosbeak but instead of yellow and black and white, it was red and black and white.

Here are 2 short videos of the pine grosbeak - click on the arrow in the bottom left of the picture to play the videos.

And one last video - down by the river on Saturday morning, around 8 am -

Winter Has Arrived On The Wallace River

2007-12-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

After a tough week I needed some peace, so headed up to the Wallace River, and was planning to head back to Halifax the next day for the office Christmas Dinner. These videos show what the weather looked like that developed throughout that day, so needless to say I stayed put for the weekend. The wind stayed quite high all night but Sunday was bright and sunny and the wind had died down nicely. Still cold though.

Details, Details

2007-11-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

The end is near! The bank inspector has been in and declared the house 100% complete. However the county building inspector had a few things he wanted corrected before he would issue the "Occupancy Certificate", which is required for the final bank payment to be issued.

Issues that require final completion and correction include : (1) higher handrail on the stairway from the main floor to the second floor; (2) handrails on the basement steps; (3) handrails on the steps to the 2 porches from the front door and the deck; (3) more strapping and bracing here and there; (4) and a couple more small items I can't remember.

I also need to get a copy of the final septic certificate from the installer, and a water test.

Al seems OK. Here are a few recent pictures :

Living and dining rooms, taken from the kitchen.

Master Bedroom, taken from the doorway to the deck.

Master ensuite, taken from the doorway to the shower.

Powder room off the main front hallway, near the front door.

Guest bedroom on the second floor.

Main entry of the house, with the handrails installed from the porch and from the deck.

All for now!

We have Water! (that means all the conveniences!)

2007-11-14T16:06:00.000-08:00

Have you ever considered what a pleasure it is to have indoor plumbing? Try staying in a building with none for entire weeks at a time and see ! The good news is that Eric the plumber showed up today to get the water running and the heat turned on. The water is somewhat "murky" yet, but it already started to clear up just by running the taps and flushing the toilets and running the hose outside for a half hour or so. Here are 2 videos - the first was taken at 10:30 am, and the second one was taken at 11:30 am. Quite the difference!

I thought I'd throw in a few sunset photos taken today, from the deck off the bedroom. This is 1 of 3.

This is 2 of 3.

And this is 3 of 3. These were all taken around 5:00 pm.

Only days to go ---------

2007-11-12T15:02:00.000-08:00

November is here and so is snow - just a bit of snow, but snow nonetheless. The house is still just being heated by a little construction heater that's plugged into my welder outlet in the garage with a long heavy cord. Makes me wonder why I paid so much for in-floor heat, as this little heater makes it quite comfortable inside.

So this past week, Eric the plumber was in doing some work installing toilets and faucets, but no running water yet. Mike the Electrician was in finishing some stuff up (inspection this week coming). No sign of Dave though, so the final trim, door handles, stairs treads and handrail, etc are still waiting - I hear me may do some of that work this week.

Here are a few shots taken this past weekend - outside temp about -2C.

The ensuite bathroom, with vessel sink, waterfall faucet, and tile work done! And the toilet is in! There's a story behind this toilet. It's Spanish, and I bought it several years ago when I was living in Richmond Hill. I have moved it (in its original carton) from Richmond Hill, then to Aurora, and then to Halifax, and now to Wallace, where it has finally been installed! I hope it's worth the effort.

The master bedroom, with ceiling fan now installed. Looks great, and works well with the fancy dimmer and wireless controller.

The living room is slowly getting usable. I took up the easy chair from my home in Fall River.

This sink is in the kitchen, and the faucet was installed this past week.

This is the door to the basement. I wanted a French door there for the look, but I didn't want to be able to see down the stair. So I bought this wisteria-patterned window film and put it in this weekend. It does the job, especially when the lights are on in the basement!

This is looking into the kitchen from the dining area, showing the bar and the 2 new bar stools located at the bar.

Picture taken from the driveway. The garage is just out of the shot on the right, and the roadway down to the river is just out of the shot on the left.

This is looking from the path down to the river, looking westward though the poplar trees at the deck on the east side of the house.

From "below" the house, looking northward. The stairway from the deck is done, and the lights have been installed on both sides of the door into the basement.

This is the view you get as you drive in the driveway from the dirt road, and turn right toward the house and garage. Just off to the left is where you would drive down to the river where I keep the boat in the summertime.

This video is just a pan from inside the living room, ending out on the screen porch. If you're on a slow internet connection, sorry about that, it's a biggish file.

View from below the House

2007-11-06T08:30:00.001-08:00

95% + Done !

2007-11-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

It's the first weekend of November, and construction is pretty much done. It has taken Dave Gullens and crew 4 months of hard work, and some inventive processes, to get to this point. Dave's crew is ready to start their next project, and about all that's left is a day's work for the tile guy to finish, and a day or two of finish trim work, plus installing the stair treads and balusters, then the carpet guy to lay the broadloom upstairs, and the stair runner, then the plumber will need a day or 2 (Dave says it's just a day's work, but........) to install all the sinks and faucet, plus the outside shower, and get the water system connected and running. And THEN - - -we're done! Whew!

On top of all this, the tail end of Hurricane Noel blew through last night, causing some power outages cross the entire province (although not at my new house), trees down, etc. Here are a couple of videos from this morning after the rain had stopped, and the wind was still quite high. For some reason though it doesn't seem as dramatic here on video as it was in person! Winds were gusting to 135 kph and I'm sure some of that was around my area. I heard a loud "crack!!" at about 4 am that sound like a rifle shot, but was more likely a tree snapping.

Also this weekend I took up a love seat and a dresser plus a couple of TVs from my home in Halifax, to start making the new house look a little more lived-in. I also moved an oak table and 6 chairs in from the garage and set them up in the dining room, and here is what all that looks like now - also note that most of the light fixtures have been installed, and the electrician has another day or two of work left.

On the left is the finished screen porch, with the screening in and the wood ceiling in as well.

And on the right, is the walk-in closet with the racks and shelves installed.

And this is the almost-finished shower in the master ensuite, with just a bit of grouting left to do to finish the shower tile.

Stairs From Deck + 2nd Floor Insulation

2007-10-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

The last full week of October saw some progress, but it is now seeming slowwwwww as I await completion. The stairway from the back of the house down to the yard were started.

I got the bed set up in the master bedroom, along with a small stereo system and a reading lamp, plus a couple of night tables, and I spent my first night in the new house!!

Toward the end of the day on October 26, a load of cellulose insulation arrived on a truck, along with the machine to blow it into the attic space above the second floor. Gerald was the lucky one to go up in the attic with the hose, and Steve kept the hopper loaded with insulation as it was blown in.

A Windy Fall Day

2007-10-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to report on today. It was a warm Autumn day today and yesterday, very windy yet still colourful. Not many leaves left, but these yellow ones on the poplars (called "popples" here) alongside my new house are still hanging on- (the garden bench is new-to-me - - - got it for $15.00!!

>>>>>and this shot of the road looking north-east from the end of my driveway.

and 3 small pics if the fall scenery around the Wallace River property!

Kitchen and Hardwood Floors

2007-10-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

This will be a series of pictures without much commentary. The progress now is rapid. The kitchen is mostly in except for some trim (all maple cabinets), the hardwood floors are complete and look great (they're hickory), and the bathroom vanity is in.

The kitchen sink is a bit different (round bowls). Next week, we'll see the return of Mike the electrician, plus I have to deliver some more tile for the master shower and some mirrors and medicine cabinets for the bathrooms. So, here we go!

This mosaic tile (below) is about 3 feet across and it's inset into the tile in the front hallway. I'll get a better shot of it after the cardboard is taken up.

Hardwood and Tile

2007-10-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

Tuesday October 16 saw me make an unplanned trip up to the house - it seems I ordered insufficient tile for the main hallway and powder room areas- I guess maybe they were bigger than I understood from the plans. Anyway, I got lucky and the store I bought the tile from still had a supply of the same tile and all I needed was one more box. So, off I went and thoroughly enjoyed the drive up in the blue sky and beautiful fall colours.

When I got up there, everyone was in full hardwood installation mode.

Dave Reedy, the tile installer, was also on site and has the ensuite shower almost ready for tile. The blue stuff (below) is applied as a liquid and hardens into a pliable rubbery substrate that is supposed be totally leak-proof.

Above, Dave R. is seen on the porch cutting a piece of tile on his wet saw.

Dave Gullens has most if not all the window trim done. This is the guest bedroom upstairs.

.......and this is the upstairs office/den.

And this shot is a nicely sunlit in-later-afternoon shot from below the house.

Paint Is Done!!

2007-10-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

OK, I THOUGHT the blue in the living room-kitchen was too bright, but now that Dave has the white trim up, it looks amazing. I am very happy with the result. The pale blue ceiling looks white. Here are a couple shots of the living room-kitchen -

The tile is partially down in the front hallway, and it too looks great with the taupe walls......

The master bedroom will also be outstanding. It's painted in Pumpkin, with a light tan ceiling, and the same tan colour in the walk-in closet.

The tile is also partially down in the ensuite bathroom, and the floor of the shower is also ready for tile......

OK, now for something a little different - the upstairs bathroom (left) is painted in 2 colours - pale yellow and pale green, on opposite walls. Then, the 2 upstairs bedrooms (actually the guest bedroom and the office/den) are painted one of those 2 colours - the bedroom is yellow, and the office room is green. Here we go -

Here's the guest bedroom upstairs - (to the right)..............with the doorway leading out to the second-floor deck/porch.

And here (on the left) is the computer room/office. The trim isn't on here yet, but that'll be done Monday. You can also see the doorway leading out to the second-floor outside deck, that can be accessed from either the guest bedroom or from the office.

Here's what the house looks like now, looking up from the pathway leading down to the river. You can just see the garage on the left edge of the house.

And here is a trio of brief videos - all taken today. This first one is a pan around the master bedroom (on the main floor). That's the ensuite bathroom through that doorway.

And this one is a pan of the guest bedroom on the second floor - - - -

That's it for now - more to come soon!

Painting Begins

2007-10-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

October 10th (the week of Thanksgiving) saw the beginning of painting, and Dave says he intends to have it all done (the painting that is) by the end of this week. The oil tank goes in this weekend, and today (I took this as a vacation week) I rented a 5-ton truck to pick up and deliver the kitchen cabinets, vanities for 2 bathrooms, glue for the engineered hardwood floors on the main level, some supplies for the tile guy, and a closet organizer that I had made up for the walk-in closet in the master bedroom.

This is the master bathroom with the painting done, in the bathroom part, and the glass block installed in the wall between the shower and the bathroom itself. The colour is a very pale blue.

The steps the the front porch and to the deck by the kitchen were added within the past few days. They look good!

Here's a shot of the living room. The blue paint colour is admittedly a bit brighter than I had originally intended. But I'll stick it out for now and wait till the white trim goes on (Dave is in the middle of doing that now too). Although it's brighter than I meant it to be, I think I'll leave it this colour at least for now.

Gerald was working upstairs, while Steve, Jeremy and Dave were working on the main floor.

Here's Steve, painting the "taupe" in the front hallway. Do you have any idea how many colours lay claim to the name "taupe"? I think there are 47 shades of taupe. This one is the right one!

This is out on the screen porch. Because this part of the ceiling is not weather-tight (the floor of the open upstairs deck is immediately overhead), Dave had to install the perforated aluminum soffit material here. The rest of the ceiling will be pine.

That is it for today, folks! More to some soon! The worksite was a veritable hive of activity when I was there today, and the crew were a big help getting the kitchen cabinets unloaded off the truck. Thanks, guys! I have no idea ho that many cabinets are going to fit in the kitchen, but the plans says they fit!

Drywall = the Downhill Slope !

2007-09-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

And we have drywall! The week of September 10-14 2007 saw much interior progress, with drywall going up throughout most of the house. Almost the whole first floor was completed (except the master shower area, which will need cement board or some such product). And on the second floor, about half of it was done. So, the week of the 17th should see the drywalling completed. Also, Aaron Langille has been hired to do the "crack-filling" on the job. Here are a few photos taken this weekend........this first one is looking into the master bedroom toward the door leading to the deck...

This shot is looking into the kitchen from the front entryway. You can see the flat wall overhead at the top of the photo...it leads up to the top of the sloping ceiling. Also of note - the floors are all cement now, poured on Tuesday last week over the radiant floor heat system of PEX tubing.

This is the manifold that is in the ceiling of the master shower, to feed the 4-headed "shower tile" that I bought for in there.

This video was taken while standing in the master bedroom, panning from looking out the window to the deck, past the doorway to the living room, past the walk-in closet, and ending looking in toward the master bathroom and shower.

Ready for a Floor

2007-09-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

We are now well into September, and the outside of the house almost looks like a finished house. The siding is virtually complete, and the railing has been started around the decks. Also, Eric the plumber has been in and prepped the floors for the cement to be poured, which is supposed to happen on September 11th. Here's a few recent shots.

This shot is of the radiant PEX tubing installed in the master bathroom. The farthest away area is the shower.

The basement walls that are above ground level had to be insulated to meet local building code requirements.

Here's a shot of the deck with some of the new railing, taken from the future doorway to the screen porch.

This shot is taken from the area where the septic field was installed. The river is beyond the house and the tall line of trees.

Jeremy and Steve are finishing up some of the trim work outside the master bedroom.

Another shot of the new railing along the deck, from up close.......

And from back a bit - this is how it looks when you come in the driveway.

Much Progress - Screen Porch, Electrical, Plumbing

2007-09-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

The last week of August was a productive one for D. Gullens Carpentry! The screen porch has been framed up and most of the siding has been installed. Also, the architectural framing that goes over the deck on the kitchen side of the house has been nailed in place. One more major step toward completion!

I also have a few interior shots showing some of the recent wiring work in place, and also some of the rough plumbing. This picture is in the basement, in the corner where most of the mechanical equipment will be located. The electrician has terminated his wiring here, where the breaker panel will be, as have the structured wiring people (stereo, home theatre, satellite, etc.). The white box hanging down with the silver tubing is an air exchanger unit, which is required in Nova Scotia.

This picture is in the main wall in the living room, with the home theatre wiring and satellite wiring all in place. And the close-up shows this is a busy wall space!

This is one of the 4 pot lights going into the living room ceiling.............

And this is looking toward the new screen porch, looking toward the river from the deck in front of the living room windows.

This red stuff is called PEX tubing. It is what will carry the liquid for the the radiant floor heat, when it gets embedded in the cement floor that will be poured on the main floor of the house, in a week or so.

On the second floor of the house, the tub is in place, and the red and blue tubing is what they use nowadays instead of copper pipe. This red and blue tubing is all going to connect in the basement to a big manifold to distribute the water everywhere. The single red PEX tube coming out of the floor beside the tub is one of 2 tubes for the baseboard heater, run off the same system as the radiant floor heat on the main floor of the house. Instead of having radiant floor heat on the second floor, I opted to go this route (less $$$).

And finally, this is a shot looking at the ceiling of the new screen porch. I've asked Dave to see if he can make the ceiling not totally flat, - like maybe do a vaulted veiling of some type. We'll see what he comes up with.

Windows! And Doors! And a Septic System!

2007-08-28T16:50:00.000-07:00

OK, I have never admitted to being even moderately excited by the existence of a septic field. Or by the existence of doors and windows..........but here we go, some recent shots, mostly from the weekend just past, August 25-26, 2007.

First, a shot of the side of the house where the new kitchen windows have just been installed.......also note the house wrap that has been tidily installed and sealed around the doors and windows.

And then a view of what the building looks like looking up from the edge of the driveway...don't forget, the screen porch still has to be built on this nearest corner to the camera.

And a photo showing the new clearing where the septic field was located, downhill from the garage and on the far side of the house from where you enter the driveway...this picture was taken from the deck in front of the master bedroom. This area has all been grass seeded, so it will look quite manicured when the grass starts to grow.

This shot is looking into the master bedroom, through the doorway from the living room. Right under those windows is where the bed will be located. The ceiling that you can see in there is sloping up from the far wall toward the camera, and then it levels out for the 4 or 5 feet closest to the camera toward the doorway.

And of course here we see the early location of "command central". Of course, this shot was taken before the guys from Glube's Sound Studio were up to install the speaker wiring, satellite feed, stereo cabling, internet cables, etc. (see next set of photos a week from now for the new Command Central).

And the last photo today is of more cladding, taken from just in front of the garage, showing the new porch, windows, some trim, and the skylights over the main hallway and the master walk-in closet. Visual progress is good!

Roof On (mostly), Shingles Coming Soon

2007-08-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

Dave figures we are 2 weeks behind the original schedule, but the weather has been cooperating lately.

A week of absence had me returning to see the roof almost closed in, fascia boards mostly on, and a skid of shingles sitting in the driveway. It almost looks like a house now!

These first pics show this stage,

....and also one of Jeremy up on the peak of the new front porch (also new since last week), putting the finishing touches on that before covering it in..(this pictures was taken this morning, August 6, 2007).

And this is one of the main reasons I am going to be living on the Wallace River - the Wallace River, as seen after a coolish night (+10C), and warm day coming, with just a hint of mist at 7 am rising from the river.

Coming Next - Windows!

Complicated Roof? What Complicated Roof?

2007-07-30T17:02:00.000-07:00

The roof structure, according to the crew working on it, is just a tad more complicated than your average roof. One of them said "If this was any "normal house", we'd have the roof on and the windows in by now." OK, I'll give 'em that much. In fact, I'll let the pictures tell the story. Dave (my builder) says he hopes to have the rest of the roof structure completed this week, and possibly the roofs all closed in. He says he's planng to hire in a team of roofers to do the shingling so he can get moved inside to the interior partitions, floors etc.

Enough words. Here's some pics and videos -

After Two Weeks of Carpentry

2007-07-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

So, after 2 weeks of carpentry, here are the results. I had not been up for a week or so, so there was a fair bit of progress. The main floor walls are in place (well, almost all of them), there is a temporary stairway to the second floor, and some of the decks are partially framed. That was necessary as some of the roof structure carries out over the decks/porches.

This picture shows the side of the house where there will be a deck leading along the side of the house to the screen porch. It's framed and sitting on temporary supports.

This is looking from the doorway toward the front left corner of the house, where the screen porch will be. That opening will be a pair of french doors.

And this shot is standing at the french door opening to the screen porch, overlooking the river. When things are further along, I'll cut down a few trees to give me a better view of the river.

Here's a short video of the main floor of the house. So far, so good! Lots of windows and the screen porch looks great!

And finally for now, here's what the floor tile selections look like. The 2"x2" mosaic greys and whites and blacks (below) are for the master shower, the mustard floor tile will match up with some 8x8 beige wall tiles for the second floor bathroom, and the beige with trim (left) is for the entryway and powder room off the entry. There will also be a 3-foot circular mosaic for the centre of the entryway (not picked up yet.

And Then there was a floor - and a wall - and a phone!

2007-07-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

With variable weather (read as "cloudy, cool, and threatening rain on a continuous basis), Dave and his crew (Gerald, Steve, and Jeremy) made some good progress, getting the main floor covered and one wall erected by mid-day on Monday July 9th. And on the same day, the Aliant telephone people came and ran the wire from the street to the pole, and through the conduit underground to the inside of the garage. There will be another run of wire from that point, through another conduit, to the basement of the house. Pics and video as follows :

It was a windy evening on July 8th

The first wall was in place July 9th

Framing Begins

2007-07-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

Framing has begun! The first video is the cement truck unloading cement for one of the sonotube bigfoots (bigfeet?) to support the porch and decks. There are about 15 of these holes, so it took a while to fill them, even using the mini-excavator to carry the cement to the holes down below the house.

This picture is Dave Gullens and two of his crew, figuring out their next steps.

The first of the floor joists are in place, and the rim joist.

This Is Dave, of David Gullens Carpentry. He's my builder.

There's lots of measuring going on. The main floor is about half framed out.

And the last pic for now, taken from the pathway down to the river.

Foundation ALmost Complete

2007-07-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

So by the end of the second week of foundation work, this is what it looks like. It is supposed to be complete as far as foundation goes so carpentry work can start on July 3, after the long weekend. It seems *almost* done, with some insulation and backfilling yet to be done. I suspect another inspection is necessary before work can continue too.

The next pic is of a Ridgeline full of engineered hardwood, which I picked up on Friday and hauled up to store in the garage. This was taken in my driveway in Fall River. There's about 1000 square feet there of hickory flooring. It looks nice so far, will post pics after installation.

Canada Day weekend was coolish but not cold, and mostly clear, except for the Monday holiday when showers set in by mid-morning. That was my cue to leave for home. And just as an aside, here's a couple of pictures I took of some local residents. So there's not just bears around! One is a giant juvenile bald eagle, taken while I was sitting on my dock. . They're like all kids these days, bigger than their parents. And the other is a pair of evening grosbeaks, not too shy of me standing there with a camera.

Basement Walls

2007-06-26T16:25:00.001-07:00

June 25, 2007 was the best day of the summer so far, weather-wise. And it turned out to be a good day for construction too. Ernest Heighton (Terry's Dad) and his 2 crew members showed up ready to work, and by 3 pm the forms for the walls of the basement were all in place, and we were ready for cement. Brian Wood, the Cumberland County Building Inspector dropped by and authorized to proceed with the next stage. And around 4 pm the gigantic concrete pumper showed up, followed soon after by 2 large cement trucks. The pour went well, until they ran out of cement in the second of the two trucks with only one and a half yards more required. So, they settled in to wait for the first truck to get back to Truro to pick up a bit more cement and bring it back to complete the pouring of the walls. THis was when I left for the day, which was around 5:30 pm. All seemed to be under control. The forms are supposed to stay on for another day and then be stripped off on Wednesday or Thursday. Not sure about backfilling around the foundation, I'll see what happened next time I'm up!

Day One of Many

2007-06-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

So day 1 of construction was SUPPOSED to be Monday June 18. However, it rained all day, natch. The excavator did show up and get parked at the lot, however, and the operator and foundation contractor did make an appearance the morning of Tuesday the 19th. Progress was rapid, and poof! there was a big hole in the ground for the basement.

The next day was Wednesday, and I was not able to be there to see the work in progress. However, I did hear from my builder that the foundation contractor, Terry Heighton, was working away and he looked up to see my new neighbour staring him in the eye!! This is a picture I shot of the new neighbour a couple of evenings earlier, across the road from my place. But it seems he may have moved onto my lot!! More on this dilemma later, after I get more information.

The Start Of It All

2007-06-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we are at the starting point of my first home construction project! All preliminary details seems to be lined up, builder is committed, and the schedule has been set. The foundation people are scheduled to start their first part of the project on Monday June 19, 2007.

This project has been a long time in the planning phase, and is now becoming reality! The picture here is a photoshopped image of what the house should like like on completion, from a photo where I bought the plans from. This house has been built before in Maine, and I found the plans on an Internet website, and loved them immediately.

Here is the weather forecast for the next week (first week of construction), so I'm hoping they are right!

Sunday June 17	Monday June 18	Tuesday June 19	Wednesday June 20	Thursday June 21	Friday June 22

High	20°C	15°C	15°C	20°C	20°C	21°C
Low	14°C	12°C	11°C	10°C	13°C	13°C
Condition	Variable cloudiness	Variable cloudiness	Cloudy periods	Cloudy periods	Sunny	Mainly sunny
P.O.P.	20%	20%	10%	30%	0%	10%

So before we get into actual construction, here is where the new house is being built. It's on a 10-acre property on the Wallace River, a salt-water river in Northern Nova Scotia. I have already built the garage on the lot, and had the well drilled, in preparation for the house.

I bought this land a few years ago, and have slowly been working toward the time to build the house. North is to the right. That is a creek on the south edge of my lot, and the creek runs into the Wallace River. There is already a pathway down to the river, running down beside where the house will be located, and I'm able to put my boat in the water right there. I had a dock built last year and it's working out perfectly.

This photo shows the boat parked at my dock in the summer of 2006.