Giving Thanks

I was out of town on Saltspring Island last weekend taking a course for my massage therapy continuing education, so didn't get a chance to work on things around the house but this weekend was very productive.Slowly but surely I am making some headway. I'm still working on the kitchen but can see light at the end of the tunnel now. The walls are all painted, the cabinets painted, knobs for the cabinets... you guessed it, .. painted as well.

The original white knob on the left, how they look painted green to match the kitchen colours on the right. Quite proud of myself for thinking of stringing them up on fishing line to paint all sides of them at once.

I got the two leaded glass sliding doors resized and proper handles put on them and they are now installed.( Go here to find out exactly how I made small doors bigger so they would fit the frame) The upper kitchen cabinets have been installed and the plumbing for the sink and dishwasher has been run through the walls.

The next step is to sand and varnish the floors which should take up most of my next group of days off. Once thats done, I can install the base cupboards and hook up the sink and dishwasher. I'm supposed to have an electrician here tomorrow to finish the job of hooking me up. I really hope he comes and does the job. I've been camping in here since July. I didn't mind at all in the summer, but it is getting colder and darker in here every day. If the temperatures drop much more I won't be able to stay here without heat.

If I get power hooked up, there are baseboard heaters in some of the rooms and I have portable heaters I could use in other rooms. I have a woodstove but am waiting to finish running the plumbing through the walls and floors before finishing the floor and setting up the stove. Also I have to cut a new hole in my house for the chimney and am nervous about doing that right. Don't want any leaks, don't want 15 feet of chimney swaying in the breeze either, not sure yet how I am going to do it. The other issue with woodstoves is keeping them going. I have no wood and nowhere to store wood,... meh!

God must have heard my pleas to send me someone to help as I got an interesting offer today. Friends of mine dropped by with two young men who have their carpenter tickets and want to find work in Vancouver. They are willing to trade work for accomadation while they get settled here. They seem to know what they are talking about, so I hope this works out. When I have a helping hand, alot gets done in short time. Trying to do this all by myself is extremely hard. Sometimes all I need is an extra pair of hands to hold something while I nail it in place, but without those hands, a small job becomes a huge hurdle. I figure if I could have an electrician, a plumber and a few carpenters for even one day, I could get a big chunk of the basics done and have the neccesities taken care of. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed and hoping I can come up with enough material to keep them busy if they do stay here.

I have so much to be grateful for in my life right now. I want to thank the universe for providing me with this opportunity, Daryl and my Dad for backing me financially, David for giving me a place to work on things, my friends who helped me move, gave me a hand with my projects and dragged me out of here on occasion to come up for air. A huge THANK YOU to each and everyone of you, from the bottom of my heart. Happy Thanksgiving and a Happy Birthday to my Dad who has the auspicious birthday of 10/10/10 and is spending it at the pyramids in Egypt. Hope your having the birthday of a lifetime Dad, you deserve it!