Good thing it's a bit warmer out.

Otherwise I wouldn't be able to open the bathroom window.

I guess I must have missed the memo concerning the smell of the waterproofing agent I'm using for the shower.  It's something akin to the overwhelming smell you get just as you trowel out one of those monster nuggets from the bottom of the kitty litter pan.  You know, reeking of ammonia?

Travelling Companion is out for the day,  but I'm not so sure the smell will be gone by the time she gets back.

Erp.

And we don't have a cat.

Of course,  I do vividly recall going into the other bathroom,  where the kitty litter was kept (back in the cat days)  and thinking,  "Oh my gawd,  somebody needs to clean that out!".

Of course,  nine times out of ten  "Somebody"  was me.

Not one of my favourite things.

The stuff is called "Redguard",  and there's a very good chance that I don't really need it,  but there will not be any "do-overs" when it comes to this bathroom.  Plus,  I could see where there had been water issues in the past,  and that was with a mortar bed and tiles.  The chances of anything moving at this point are slim to none,  but just the same.

Now,  speaking of "things that move",  this house has settled over the last fifty years or so,  and one of the very last doors that needed sorting out has been the door to the very bathroom I'm working on.

In hindsight (it's a wonderful thing,  isn't it?)  I really should have sorted out this door a long,  long time ago,  but that would have meant doing exactly what I did,  and that was taking off the trim,  cutting the nails holding the hinge side jamb in place,  and squaring up the frame.


Thus:

What would renovation be like without a reciprocating saw?  Boggles the mind.

It doesn't *look* like a lot of work,  but getting the frame and the top there to form some sort of right angle did seem to take me an awfully long time.    You'll notice at the top there how there's considerably less on the left side as opposed to the right?
That's how much the house has moved.

Hopefully it's done.  

I think so anyway.

That's not the door that will be there when I'm all finished.  We have that door.  It's sequestered in another room at the moment.  You'll see it in due time.

I think the first coat of my smelly goop has dried,  so I'll go back in,  try not to gag,  and put on the final coat.



Keep your stick on the ice.

Thanks for stopping by.

Dead squirrel on the lawn.

And no,  that's not click bait.  There actually was a dead squirrel on the lawn the other morning.
I didn't race out and take a picture because,  well,  why would I?

I did want to see what might have caused its demise,  but it was just out of range of the one camera on that side of the house.

Turns out,  I did get a screen capture a bit later on.

The poor little bugger was missing his head and the meat off his (her?) forearms.

Dead stock isn't really my cup of tea,  so you'll notice that really didn't sling the corpse over my shoulder or anything.

This has happened once before,  a few months back.   Some time last fall I think it was.  That time there was only a skeleton.  Freshly stripped,  mind you.  I'm guessing Coyote.  We do have them around here.  Not unhappy about that either,  as they keep the rabbits in check.  And apparently,  the squirrels,  although we still have an abundance of squirrels.

I don't have quite the hate on for them these days,  as they can no longer get up on the house and chew on the cedar beams.   Those are now covered with copper caps,  so even if they could get up there, nothing to chew on.

I'm still plugging away in the bathroom.  Bedroom is done. New set of picture hung up and such.

I had to tear away a wee bit more old plaster before continuing to button things up,  as I could definitely feel "cold" on one section of the old wall.

Turns out,  I could see daylight out past the beam.

 Best way I can show it is if you go back and forth between these two images.  You can see daylight.
 
This is a beam that runs out from this outside wall to the end of the "Veranda" as we call it.
Actually,  in the "screen capture",  it's the one that runs over and sits on the pillar outside the front door.

Not well insulated.

No worries.

With the addition of foil backed Styrofoam and some goop around the end of the beam,  it's all good.

And then it's back to the taping and such.  Which is ongoing.

Stay tuned.

Or not.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy! What is it again? Family Day?

Right.  

It's a relatively new thing,  this "Family Day",  and good on ya if you don't have to go to work today.
Gotta love long weekends.

"Every day is Saturday" around here,  so...

But let's not rub it in.

It's a beautiful day out,  although a bit cooler this morning than the last two days.  We've gone from snow on the ground to virtually shirt sleeve weather.

Well,  "shirt sleeve weather" for Canadians.

I recall being in Vegas over New Years one year with one of our friends who is a "Florida Girl",  and she refused to go outside,  as it was "too cold" for her.   It was maybe in the fifties,  but we had jackets.  Friends don't mock friends for having different comfort levels,  so we stayed in.


Coincidentally,  we have had a bit of a "family weekend",  as both Daughter Number One and Daughter Number Two came by yesterday to get a lesson from T.C. on making Perogies.
  (Hm.  Spell Check doesn't know about Perogies.  Idiots)

Some were immediately consumed,  while others were taken away to be frozen individually on trays. The "three stages of Perogy making"  according to Daughter Number Two.

I only stick around for "Stage Three"  to be honest.   Although I do tend to end up pitching in for the clean up at the end.
You know,  just to "take one for the team",  so to speak.


Meanwhile,  I've finished painting the bedroom.
I do realise that,  up until now,  it's all been talk about the bathroom,  but since apparently that's not quite enough to keep me busy,  the bedroom needed freshening up as well.

Along with just painting,  I wanted to smooth out some parts of one outside wall where the wood strapping had shrunk and pulled in the plaster just enough to be noticeable.

Hey,   *I* could see it.  And it was bugging me.


This involves adding thin layers of compound such that the wall has some semblance of flatness.  I'm slightly OCD that way.

Along with that little time consuming endeavour,  I had always wanted to add a receptacle over closer to the side of the bed,  where there always should have been one.

You can see it down there in the far corner on the left.

I've never understood why electrical contractors think it prudent to stick one plug in the middle of the room and call it a day.  There's going to be a bed in the bedroom.  What are ya thinking?

Anyway,  these are the final colours:

I took apart some of the built ins to make it easier.

I got that all put back together yesterday.

There are a couple more fiddly things to sort out,  but I'm basically done in there.

Er,  I guess that's about it.

Hope you're enjoying your "Family Day",  and for those of you south of the 49th,  Happy President's Day!
  
I think I prefer the family angle over the other one to be honest.

Keep your stick on the ice.

Thanks for stopping by.