This was a quiet week for us. No medical appointments. No inclement weather, it’s actually been unseasonably sunny and warm. No ‘cat’astrophes, though Momiji is still acting overly timid. Work was routine, if finishing, testing, and shipping a half ton tether reel for a robot can be considered routine. Marsha has been working a lot. She had a nasty cold a couple of weeks ago and now she’s playing catch up. She skipped her water aerobics class Thursday night just to get back on top of everything. All and all though, it was a fairly quiet week.

This however left time for other activities. I was able to complete recording on the first video in my literature project, start rehearsals for the second and I’ve selected the third piece for the series. I’ll post them as soon as I finish filming and editing. I’ve also written a comedy sketch which I’ve been editing during lunch. 

On Monday, while I was talking to the guys in the service department at work, I noticed a bright red KitchenAid mixer on the shelf. As we don’t sell or repair KitchenAid or for that matter any kind of mixers I commented on it. The head of the service department surprised me by replying “Want it?” He went on to explain that several years before someone who worked at the company brought it in. There was an electrical problem and it wouldn’t run. I think he said the cord was damaged. Anyway, it was a simple repair and after a few weeks they had a free moment and got it fixed. In the mean time though, the person who brought the mixer in had left the company. That was several years ago and he’s never come back for his mixer. They just wanted the shelf space back. I was the first person to ask about it, so that’s how we inherited a KitchenAid Professional 5 mixer (retail price ~$600). The bowl and whisk are missing which would be about $75-$100, so for now we’re not sure what we’re going to do with it. The thing is big and red and it’s built like, (and is nearly as heavy as), a tank. For the moment it’s setting on our counter looking bloody impressive. 



Anybody need a KitchenAid Mixer?

Speaking of our kitchen, a few weeks ago our mediocre quality kitchen faucet partially fell apart. It was still usable but it looked bad and couldn’t be repaired. Now when we replace things we try not to skimp. We went down to Splashes, the place where contractors and remodellers go to get really good quality plumbing supplies. It’s where we got the faucets and the glass bowl sinks for the bathroom a few years ago. There we found something we’ve always wanted, a high rise commercial kitchen faucet. It’s rugged and flexible and flows better than the old one. We also decided to replace the dented and tarnished old sink with a new deeper sink. The result of this is the kitchen is really looking sharp. Except of course for the laminate countertop. We don’t like the countertops but we just can’t bring ourselves to replace them yet as they’re only a few years old and in good condition. 



Isn’t this a great set up? We know one person who’d love this.

Last weekend I was out in the yard. I’d finished mowing, yes out here it’s already gardening and yard work season, when I heard a call. It was our neighbour from down the hill. He’d come up to ask me if I minded if he ripped out and replaced the fence between our properties. We had talked about this a couple of years ago but nothing had happened. The fence was never great quality and age had not helped any. I told him that we ‘d be very happy if he wanted to replace the fence. I even offered to cover half the cost. Well, as it turns out, my neighbour does construction. It’s his job and his hobby. He’s built arbors, and play houses, and gazeboes, and fences, all over his property. This means that rather than hiring a crew, he is doing the work himself. On top of that he gets the material at special contractor prices. While we were talking he mentioned that he’d gotten a great deal on the posts. Treated cedar 6x6 posts are normally around $5 a foot. His buddy however got him a deal on 28 posts for $600, somewhere around half of the regular contractor price. He’s only using about half of the posts for our back fence so my share of that cost should be about $150 bucks. He’s getting similar discounts on the rest of the material as well. I took a look at his progress on Friday. The old fence was gone, the new fence was mostly in. It’s built with 6x6 treated cedar posts, 4x4 and 4x8 cedar cross members, and 1x4 cedar fencing pieces. We’re going to get a fantastic hand built all cedar fence for a very reasonable price. 

So this weekend we continued with spring cleaning, spring yard work, pruning, mowing and trimming, plus we completed a project on the side of the house. When we moved in that space was just dirt covered by a terrible shed and no siding on the house. As part of the big remodelling project we had the shed ripped out, the wall covered with proper siding, and this weekend we finished off the landscaping. The dirt is now covered with a layer of geotextile fabric, a few inches of gravel, another layer of geotextile fabric, and finally red mulch and stepping stones. We made three of the stones. They are concrete moulded on top of large rhubarb leaves so all the veins and texture show. They look great. The mulch is a red recycled rubber product so nothing will want to grow in it. We’re very happy to get that project done. 



The left side will be filled with planters. At the far end we need two more bags of mulch.

So that’s about it for us. Here on Vancouver Island we’ve been hearing birds in the trees. Cherry trees and a few rhododendrons are in bloom and the apples are not far behind. In the mornings we’ve been hearing the seals down on Lantzville Beach. Marsha’s been eyeing a grill for the deck. We’ve been travelling around in the car with the windows down. A couple of times we’ve even had the AC on.

Seasons greetings to our friends in the Midwest and the East.  

PIX: My happy blackberry pie. Compare this to Marsha’s evil apple pie of last week. Yes this is all our fruit. Nothing canned.