A Successful Holiday Homes Tour

The Holiday Homes Tour has come and gone, and was an amazing success. Susan and Andrea worked diligently to create a warm and inviting holiday setting, complete with decorations in every room. The 10 foot Christmas tree was the highlight, but so were the Santa collection in the bedroom, angels in the sanctuary, garland wrapped railings, windows adorned with boughs, and much more.

The event began Friday evening with tour hosts gathering at Ulgedook, before setting off to visit every house on the tour (sort of like a preview night). Participants were impressed with the church, until an area wide power failure left us only in candle light, creating a new ambiance for our place and several other houses along the tour.

The public tour began at 1:00 the next day, and people were gathered at our front door to get a look. This turn-out was surprising to Joel, and the entourage continued through the afternoon till closing at 5:00. An hour and a half later, decorations were down and packed away, the tree out the door, and we were on our way home. In all, we estimate over nearly 200 visitors, with 160 signatures in our guest book.

Hats off to Andrea and Susan for a wonderful job!

Holiday Homes Tour

Susan and I have been privileged with an invitation to participate in the annual Holiday Homes Tour, presented by the Liverpool Privateer Days. We're responsible to decorate the church, and the event organizers provide us with a glorious wreath for the door, and two persons dressed in period costumes, including a Privateer to stand on guard. And then, on December 12th, we open our doors to the public to come and visit.

Susan has recruited a decorating team, and I have vowed to KEEP OUT OF THEIR WAY, and to curtail all input. I look forward to see their creations, which has started with a ten foot Christmas tree. Should be fun.

You can learn more from:
-a news article of last year's tour:
http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-281812-Holiday-home-tour-for-Privateer-Days-in-Liverpool.html

-announcement of this year's tour:
http://privateerdays.ca/holiday_homes_tour/

Some last photos...

and I promise you that I won't bore you with (m)any more.

Open House a Success

Our open house was well attended, with 70 guests in all. We were very pleased to learn that people were genuinely impressed with the transformations from retired church to cottage. We believe that people enjoyed themselves at the open house, and many took advantage of the roast beef supper put on by the East Port Medway Community Centre (a hearty feast, accompanied with a wide selection of desserts, for only $10).

Below are some pictures of the finished product.

Ulgedook Open House... November 1st

Please join us for refreshments on November 1st between 1:00-5:00 pm, and see how we have used your renovating and decorating ideas (see post for November 13, 2008) to transform the former Wesley United Church to Ulgedook Cottage.

New Sign

With the transformation from the Wesley United Church to Ulgedook Cottage, we thought it appropriate to replace the old, slightly worn sign, with a new one. The new sign largely retains the original design, excepting the United Way Crest which has been replaced with a diamond generally in the shape and coloring of the peak of the stained glass windows. The sign continues to commerorate the former church.


The United Church Crest is the official signature of The United Church of Canada. Its oval shape is derived from the outline of a fish, a symbol of identity by early Christians.

The "X" at the centre, the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, is a traditional symbol for Christ. In the four corners of the crest are symbols:

• The open Bible represents the Congregational Churches with their emphasis upon God's truth that makes people free.
• The dove is emblematic of the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:10) whose transforming power has been a distinctive mark of Methodism.
• The burning bush is the symbol of Presbyterianism, and refers to the bush that burned and was not consumed (Exodus 3:2), and symbolizes the indestructibility of the church.
• The symbols alpha and omega in the lower quarter are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and symbolize the eternal living God, in the fullness of creation (Revelation 1:8).

It's official; Ulgedook Cottage is complete

According to the law, Ulgedook Cottage is complete in that we now have a:

• certificate of potable drinking water,
• approved certificate of installation of a septic system (holding tank),
• and our occupancy permit.

Of course, as renovations go, we're really not complete in that we have lots more to do, but we can soon move in furniture and kick our feet up for a while.

We have many to thank for the work done so far including, but not limited to:

• our contractor, Tim McKinnon and his crew,
• Winchester Disposal Service,
• Lester Berrigan, Berrigan Surveys,
• L.E. Veinotte & Sons Well Drilling,
• Lawrence Veinotte Enterprises for our septic system,
• plumbers Trevor Whynot and Glenn Bristol,
• Harold Hatt Backhoe Service,
• David Stobbe, The Chimney Specialist,
• Jeff Langille, Mortgage Intelligence,
• George Mitchell Insurance,
• Bill Leighton, Municipality of Queens Building Inspector,
• the generous painting efforts from Carolyn and Robert, and
• the patience of my father, Joe Baltzer, to install the "worst G$!^ D@&* laminate floor that was ever made."

A new look

Thanks to the generous help from Robert and Carolyn this past weekend, we were able to bring the painting up to about 90% complete. Particular thanks to Robert, for his tireless efforts of raising the roller above his head to paint the ceiling (no easy task when you work from stage).

Nearly there

Renovations are coming together nicely. Watch the videos: 1) loft view, and 2) guided tour.

Another update

Even more work to report on now, as our contractor (Tim McKinnon) has been busy with a final push to wrap things up. Here are some quick notes since our last update:

• bathroom and kitchen cabinets installed, just waiting for kitchen counter;


• pressure tank and hot water heater installed;


• electrical fixtures and plumbing fixtures soon to be installed;
  
• doors and trim are on;
  
• loft and stair railing installed (look great with the black metal balusters);
  
• bathtub installed and tiled; and
  
• so much more (thanks Tim!)

Once Tim concludes his work, we will be busy with painting and other finish work, and hope to have everything wrapped up by October.


Drop by anytime.

Update

There has been so much work done, we've not had a chance to bring you up to date. More details in future posts, but for now, here's a few quick tidbits.

• All the inside walls are up, gyproc installed and primed...just waiting to be bathed in CIL's Indian Corn. DIY tip, the ergonomic handles for paint rollers are much heavier than their cheaper, old fashioned cousins. Somehow my wrist ached anyway!


• The well has been drilled, to a depth of 190 feet. Thankfully, our eventual water strike was much like striking oil, at 30 gallons per minute.


• The septic holding tank is installed, but not as deep as intended, leaving a three foot high burm when covered over.


• Electrial and plumbing are roughed in. The neighbour's dog will help himself to the delicious leftover roast pork on the picnic table. Thanks Nancy and Clay!

Time for more painting.

Progress, it's a good thing!

As the expression goes, pictures are worth a thousand words.

Great Finds

One of the challenges with this renovation is storage. Where do you put all the stuff you need, while trying to work in the space? We try to keep things out of the contractor's way, and he's a good sport to work around the growing collection.

Another challenge is obtaining all the stuff you need without breaking the bank! We've been fortunate to discover some great finds at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Pictured here is an old counter from a golf shop that will be transformed into a kitchen island. If you have any clever ideas for painting techniques and the like, please share. We're happy to support a good cause and give new life to some retired furniture.

Squirrel Update

As you may recall from a previous post, we had squirrels in the attic and they weren't in a hurry to leave. We made numerous trips to check the live trap and participate in the squirrel relocation program. Each time, the squirrels enjoyed their snacks and went on their merry way. They were obviously clever and industrious squirrels! Friends who live in rural communities gave us suggestions on what to do. Since then, the squirrels have either gone outside to enjoy the summer weather, or have gone to the "other side." However, we suspect the squirrels may be back in the spring as they have an entrance we can't find.

Unusual Wildlife

There's so much to tell you about, but we'll start with the sighting of some unusual wildlife (at least unusual to us!).

We camped at Ulgedook on the weekend and were enjoying some pleasant evening weather (also rather unusual lately), and decided to have a small campfire. The stars were coming out, the mosquitoes were staying away and just before turning in for the night, we saw this exotic creature clinging to our camping torch. It's a luna moth.

A quick Google search will tell you these are unusual moths indeed. They have one purpose, to reproduce. They don't even have a mouth for feeding! Luna moths fall prey to bats which was unfortunate to learn as I've been thinking about hanging some bat houses to deal with the hoards of mosquitoes. And I thought dealing with squirrels was problematic. More about the squirrels in another post. Back to the luna moth. Apparently another obstacle to their raison d'etre is outside lights. The moths get so distracted by being attracted to light, they forget to look for a mate. And you thought the human dating scene is difficult!

Work started

Work is underway inside, while others laze outside.