First task in 2019 was the installation of the kitchen counters. ​Great job by Urban Stone of Kanata.

The plumbing was completed the next day. It looks fantastic. Again, kudos to Shawn McLachlin, the owner of SBC Kitchens (Sandy Beach Cabinetry) for a great job on the kitchen.

We welcomed visitors Wayne and Ruth Brownlee on January 13 and they volunteered to help us wash up some dishes to start filling these lovely cupboards. We didn't get very far before the water stopped!

The problem was fixed 2 days later after determining that the well head had frozen because the well is too close to bedrock. The fix involved adding some bags of sand in the well hole and sand around the top. Hugh also left a tap dripping a very small amount to force the pump to come on about every 17 minutes. So far it's still working.

Usually I'm standing around watching others work so I have lots of time to take photos. On Jan 13 I was too busy with the dishes and forget to take pictures. So here are Wayne and Ruth enjoying a walk in the forest the next day at the farm, and enjoying the beauty of a Canadian winter.

Ken, Michelle and the kids also dropped in on the 13th for lunch before putting on their ski gear and heading over to Calabogie Peaks to ski. Again, no pics!

On January 18, Hugh lugged baseboard and window and door trim materials inside in preparation for the finishing work. He intends to paint it first.

And on this beautiful day Holly, Chase and I enjoyed our first walk on the frozen lake and we got a really good look at the lake house. Too bad I can't hold the phone level!

Much has happened at our Calabogie Lake home over the last several weeks. I've fallen behind in my blogging due to Christmas preparations, and my recovery from my hernia surgery.

Hugh made many more trips to complete the painting after the excellent start on December 1-2. We selected the same grey/blue/green and yellow shades as in our house and we're very pleased with how that's turned out.

Electrical, plumbing, gas fireplace, and heating systems are now functional with the exception of the plumbing in the kitchen.

And Ken and Mark were enlisted one Saturday to move furniture. We are fortunate to be able to use some of the lovely hand crafted wood furniture, loveseat and chair that my cousin Carl Wolff had in his retirement home suite in Arnprior. Sadly Carl died on August 29 at the age of 81. The furniture has been in our garage since September and Hugh is keen to get his truck back inside.

Ken is spearheading the effort to construct a dining table from local ash. He and Hugh have been planing the boards in our garage. They're pictured here on the sawhorses awaiting gluing.

December 19th was an exciting day for me as the kitchen cabinet installation began.
Scaffolding was back that day for installation of the ceiling fan. 

Here are cabinet makers/installers Adam at left, and Shawn McLachlin at right. Shawn is the owner of SBC Kitchens (Sandy Beach Cabinetry) and we are thrilled with the entire design process, the results and the excellent service.

The appliances also arrived that day. Once again we dealt with Scheel Furniture and Applicances in Pakenham for another enjoyable shopping experience. There's something about a store that sells appliances, furniture, meat and cheese! And they deliver to Calabogie. We went with Frigidaire in the kitchen.
I enjoyed several relaxing hours of waiting in the living area that day enjoying the lovely view and knitting.
The cabinet installation was completed the next day and due to Christmas prep I had to patiently wait until Boxing Day to see the final result. Here's Tim configuring the fridge. I love the wine rack that Shawn suggested to fill the small space to the left of the window.

Mark, Meg, little Joanna, and I worked on assembling the bunk beds. Joanna did a great job of sorting the various sized screws.

Molly, Mark and Meg's Bernese Mountain dog, came along and enjoyed the action.

We returned on December 29th, this time with Amy and baby Sarah along. Joanna tried out the bottom bunk!

Hugh also arranged for 2 new king sized memory foam beds so we're well along the way to being ready for overnight stays.

Kitchen counters and sink are scheduled for next week.

The obvious missing piece is trim and interior doors. We selected those on December 21 at Bytown Lumber in Carleton Place. There will be a 4 week wait for the solid doors we selected since they're made to order at the factory. In the interim, Hugh secured a temporary door with frame from their clearance section for the bathroom. A bargain at $40! And we lucked into a great deal on the door hardware from the clearance shelf. It didn't take long for Hugh and Tim to install the door. 

I fear that the outdoor temporary shelter for the building supplies will remain until spring because the frame is now very solidly frozen into the ground! The lovely cedar shake accents were locally sourced by Hugh.

After celebrating a very merry Christmas we wish you a Happy New Year 2019!!