Jul 28 - trimming

I got a few things done yesterday, including trimming out the basement windows.

Prior to starting the woodwork, I fiddled with those bat exclusion screens again. I was regretting leaving it so long because bats had found their way around the screens in a number of places so I had to make some changes. I plugged the holes that hadn't been disturbed -- should have done that a while ago -- and re-formulated the screens around holes that still seemed to be "active". That took much longer than expected, using up much of the morning. Ok, I admit it ... I'm getting more and more annoyed with this entire bat-thing -- the builder and caulker shouldn't have left these ready-made bat houses.

Next I tackled the trimming. There are large gaps so the process was a slow one. Needing the miter and table saws and planer, it had outside and inside work. With thunderstorms looming but never actually happening, I rushed to cut the pieces of wood and get the tools back inside ... that proved unnecessary, but what the heck. That's done ... just need to do the wall trim now. For that I need some 1x4 -- four pieces 8' long. Jason's going into town and will pick those up for me this morning, as long as he reads this blog ... or I ask him.

The day was still relatively young, so I hung a hook in the basement bathroom and put tub-and-tile caulk around the new ceramic shelf in the shower. I vacuumed in the basement, cleaning up after my woodwork. I did some other puttering around; went next door and found that they were headed to the dump with a truckload, so I had Jason swing by our garage and added a few things to the pile.

I contacted Peter White and they told me to send the light back. I'll hang onto it until we get down there in September since I need it in August. Hopefully we won't have the monsoon-like conditions that we hit during the TSWO 600 and it will survive for the time being. It's only water ... it shouldn't corrode in the meantime.

I also exchanged emails with True North Cycles and told them that I'd likely bring the frame into their shop in October. They need a couple of hours to do their thing, so I would plan around that. It's a lot easier than shipping the frame to Boulder CO, which was Litespeed's suggestion.

We heard from my Uncle Phil yesterday -- they'll be here on Sunday along with Christine and Maurice, without kids, and not for dinner. There's a combined birthday party happening at their place -- they group all the birthdays of the grandchildren for one month together into one weekend and have multiple cakes. That makes it easier on everyone. I also heard from Tracy, requesting directions. She is coming, along with Susan Tomenson, but I don't know about Tracy's son ... don't know about Rick ... probably should have asked.

Our first arrivals will be tomorrow sometime -- Arlene and gang. David, Kim and Meagan are also flying today but will be staying in Toronto until the weekend. Jeffrey called yesterday and passed the phone to Emma -- apparently she'd been saying "Poppa" over and over so Jeffrey thought that he'd let her speak to me. Of course she had nothing to say ... typical almost-two-year-old behaviour.

I didn't go fishing yesterday, nor did I set the minnow traps. I'm going to do both right after I finish this blog. We had bass for dinner last night and it was excellent. Less than 24 hours out of the water ... you can get fresher but you'd have to have it for breakfast or lunch. Beans from the garden, rice not from the garden ... that was dinner. Prior to dinner Jason, Lorraine, Mike and Gavin came over and joined us in the gazebo. After dinner we went over to their place to taste-test the pulled pork that Mike had done on the barbie -- it was quite good but not what we all expected. Perfectly cooked, partly pink -- slow cooked and smoked, but not pulled pork as I'm used to from the South.

Sandy and Kylie are going into Sudbury today to grocery shop. I'm going for a bike ride.

That's it ...