Paradise Regained

Apologies for the slightly late publication this fortnight but, the internet went down on Sunday for some reason. The fact that I had too much to drink on Saturday night had nothing to do with it at all, honestly, trust me I'm a doctor.

With hands all but healed, this fortnight I set about resuming work on the second bathroom, which has been patiently waiting my return. Before I did this I pulled one or two small bits and pieces out to the basement to make the Great Room feel more like home and added a couple of rugs for atmosphere.

Not the best photo to show off the Great Room but, at least it gives you some idea of how it now feels.

First up in the bathroom I tiled the bath and installed the faucet and taps. It all works well but, I have yet to christen it by having a bath.

With that done it seemed logical to get the floor tiling done, for which I needed to run the under floor heating wires. The floor temperature sensor is in the middle and it all tested positive before I put the tiles down.

The tiling went smoothly although over half of them had to be cut. The under-floor heating works well and will be appreciated in the winter

I then installed the toilet and built and mounted two wall cabinets, one over the loo and the other …..

…. above the sink counter - .… 

….. better seen here.

The lavatory didn't take up as much room as I imagined it would and there is more room in here than I expected.

Finally, I finished the shower tiling. Pebbles on the floor and …..

…. the same tiles as the bath and floor for the shower walls. So, black and white bathroom now done, bar the shower door (that will have to be bespoke as the entrance is too large for off the shelf doors) and fixtures and fittings that I will add later this week.

No sooner than I published the last blog, the humming birds arrived and have been buzzing the feeder constantly ever since. For those interested, the liquid is just sugar and water - fifteen teaspoons of sugar to one (large) yoghurt pot. The robins have also built their nest under the North Wing deck but, are not yet sitting on any eggs.

I have been promising myself that I would plant some grape vines this year and last week I bought and planted three on the South side of the cabin. Two are doing really well but, the third is being a little slow getting going.

There are two different types of grape and suitable, so I am told, the one for eating and the other for wine or preserves.

I am going to encourage them to grow up the deck posts so the fruit will be out of the reach, of the deer at least.

The melt is rather slow this year. There was lots of snow in the winter on the mountains and the temperature in the valleys this Spring has been warm for two months now but the temperatures, particularly at night, at altitude, have been cold. At least it has meant that there have been no floods in our region, which many will be thankful for.

This weekend has been very sociable and Saturday evening I had guests for starters at my place and then we moved on to Rod and Candy's place for the main course. I ate and drank far too much and paid for it on Sunday morning. No regrets though. Sunday evening was more sedate and we started at Dan and Debbie's and then moved to Rod and Candy's fire pit where we sat warming our feet at the fire with a glass of Merlot, eating ribs and chicken and listening to wolves howling in the forest and geese chatting away on the water - "Paradise Regained".