Chilling a bit till spring.

Herman relaxing on a Sunday afternoon.

Things have slowed down a bit with the build a Pelican Pointe.  We now have the outside walls wired in the basement and our contractor is coming out to start the interior walls on Thursday.  We spend most weekends out at the lake and are looking forward to spring and summer.  Will have lots to do and still need to get the beast out there and unloaded.

The table top is back from the refinisher and looks stunning.  He did a great job and the person that made the two leaves for the dining room table matched them up perfectly.  There really are some amazing craftsmen out there.

The dining room, looking from by the veranda doors.

The dining room table.

The buffet.  It sits really nicely between two windows.

While we were out last weekend I took some pictures of some of the fixtures.  Don't know if people are interested, but here they are.  

The guest washroom.  There is also a large shower with a seat in this room.  The laundry room and guest washroom can be entered from the mud room entrance door.

The laundry room.

Kitchen.  The big honking microwave is sitting on a piece of cardboard in the shelf until we get a piece of maple cut and stained to put in there.  That's what I get for not measuring before purchasing.

The en suite counter.  The spa tub and shower with the seat are on the other side.  A built in linen closet is to the left of the counter.  Very handy.

We had some of the family out on Sunday.  Had lots of fun trying to put together a train set the grandkids got for Christmas.  Since we are waiting for a sectional to be made for the loft, the grandkids have lots of fun running up there and playing with toys.  Mostly they are chasing each other in circles while giggling and screaming though!

Poppa Herman and Brody working on the train set in the loft.  

The stairs going to the loft and the same design of stairs go into the basement.

We are starting to see some signs of spring.  It is still very cold for March, but the snow is starting to melt off the roof and the ice fishing shacks should be off the lake soon.  Below is a picture of some people on the lake last weekend.  

Hard to believe that trucks are driving on the lake now and in a couple of months the boats will be on the water and soon we will be swimming in what is now a lake with four or five feet of ice on it.  Gotta love this province.  

Cheers till next time.

Ready for the new year.

We were able to get out to the beach on Christmas day and I stayed out there until today (Jan. 3rd).  We had a nice Christmas Eve in Regina with kids and grandkids, a quiet Christmas day with just my Mom, Herman and I.  Boxing day saw more of our kids out at the lake.  It turned out to be a lovely time at Pelican Pointe with lots of time to read,  arrange cupboards and rest up.

Our cats Low-Key and Emmett resting up at the lake too!

On New Year's Eve we set off some fireworks outside in the minus 25 Celsius temperature.  I built a fire in the firepit and that kept us nice and warm for the evening until we set off the fireworks at midnight.  The sky was really clear and the stars were amazing.  No light pollution blocking the stars at the lake.

A couple of night shots from the lake.

We had the bedroom furniture delivered this week.  I am including some pictures of the bedroom suite and the much enjoyed spa tub.  The tub can be adjusted for the type of massage you feel like.  Sweet!!

 

The door opens into the en suite and walk in closet areas.

We still need to get some artwork on the walls and some knick knacks set out in the place.  But we are making progress every week.  And every week I find out there is more that I need to get to outfit this new cottage.

The spa tub and the tile surround.  Below is a closer view of the tiles.

Nice to have a window this large above the tub.

Next weekend we hope to have the new piano out at Pelican Pointe.  Herman bought me lovely Clavinova digital piano for Christmas.  It will be great to be able to have a piano to play at the lake and one in town too.  I already have music in the new place, waiting for the piano to arrive.  

Being of a more mature age we did not know that the television I bought also needed a "sound system".  The t.v just had little wee speakers on the bottom that made hearing the thing impossible.  And gone are the days when you can just plug in some speakers to the t.v.  Oh NO, you need a fibre optic cable, a whack of little tiny speakers and the right connecting thing  for the whole system (one that will also work with the t.v).   Seems like a lot of work for two and sometimes three channels.  Well.....guess we'll have to watch a couple of movies on a cold winter night to justify the t.v and sound system.  Or maybe I can plug the digital piano into the "sound system" for the t.v and drive Herman batty while he is forced to listen to me practice Moussorgsky.  Cheers.

Getting ready for Christmas Holidays

We are working towards trying to spend some time out at the lake over the Christmas break.  We will not be having the big Christmas dinner out there this year.  Maybe next year.  Time just sort of ran out on us and the thought of hauling all the presents and food out at the last minute is too overwhelming.  We will go out for a bit and I get two weeks off, so that will work out fine.
We now have a new area rug in the living room.  I was not sure about it, but the salesman at the carpet store talked me into this one and we both really liked it once it was put in place.

Taken from the loft.

Zooming in a bit.  We have throws down on the couches for our poor cold Dexter Dog to lie on.  That dog is one really pampered,  spoiled pooch.

The outside basement walls are framed and insulated halfway down.  The temperature difference in the basement is four degrees with insulation only part way down the walls.  We will be getting the wiring done for the rooms soon and then the carpenter will come out to finish the walls and put up the interior walls to finish the basement rooms.  

We do not like having a tv in the living room so will move it downstairs once the basement is complete.  The piano will sit in the spot that the tv is now in.  Or maybe the piano can go in the loft or basement and the cabinet radio I have that my Mom bought for my Granny in 1946 can sit in that spot.  Hmmmm........decisions, decisions.

Herman installed the pendant lights this weekend.  The painter finished up on Saturday with some touch ups and we decided that it was not worth it to have someone come out all the way from Manitoba just to hang three lights.  So that is done and we had fun doing it,  as you can see.  I did learn about how the wiring for the lighting ran while holding some of the thingys for the lights!

 I do not think that an occupational health and safety committee on a job site would approve of this set up while installing the lights.  

Herman was really close to the edge of the island when he installed the middle light.  I was a lot nervous about that situation.  Stood very close to the island and the chair he was sitting on while being his assistant.  Thankfully he has great balance and was very careful.

We still need to get a few items and the furnace needs some tweaking this week.  But all in all we are very happy with this cottage and look forward to spending more and more time out at Pelican Pointe.  Just hope the coyote that we saw on the lake the other day stays away from our place.  The ice fisher people are now out so the coyotes will be on the lake eating the stuff that is left from the fish and the fisher people.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Winter is here.

Well...it looks like we will be settling into winter mode for the next few months.  The lake is pretty well frozen over.  The ice fishing shacks are starting to spring up and we heard the first snowmobiles on the lake today.  Guess the total silence is gone till about mid March.  It is still a lot quieter than the home we have in Regina though.

We have everything hooked up.  The furnace is running, the septic and cistern system is performing well.  We have a glitch with the new dishwasher, but it is under warranty and should be fixed soon.  The painter from Conquest is scheduled to come out this week and touch up the mudding and painting he did previously.  The carpenter is also coming out this week to frame and insulate the basement.  We hope to peck away at the basement and have everything completed by next summer.  The basement will house two bedrooms, a bathroom, a workshop for Herman, a utility room, a rumpus/living room and a wine room/second kitchen.  We will use the appliances and gas fireplace from the pink palace to outfit the basement rooms/guest suite.

Dexter on the lake waiting to have his ball thrown.

This is pretty much the same angle from the frozen lake as one of the first pictures in the blog of the pink palace.  Just to think that the old place was still standing in this spot five months ago.  The cottage looks grey in this light.  But it really is a pretty blue.

 The almost completed kitchen.  Once the ceiling is finished being painted we will have the pendant lights installed.  We are also still waiting for the table top to come back from the furniture refinisher.  He is getting two leaves made to match the table top.  We are hoping to have it by Christmas, since we will have a lot of kids and grandkids out at the beach for the holidays.

 Another view of the kitchen.  We need to extend out the microwave shelf, since I purchased a honking big microwave that does not quite fit in the space.  More new home glitches I guess.

We will be pumping water from the lake into the cistern.  Herman bought an auger this week and is doing a test hole in this picture.  We also bought a cute little pump that will sit on the ice and fill the 1500 gallon cistern in about an hour.  This place will definitely keep us busy this winter.   But we love the sun glistening on the snow and the clear, clean fresh cold air.  There is a path to the lake behind the cottage that is the perfect toboggan run for the kids and grandkids.  And another path to the lake fills with snow and packs in so that you can take great big blocks of snow out of there and build forts for snow ball wars.  Some people cannot stand the cold and snow of winter.  We love it.  

Winter has arrived and we are hooked up!!!

All systems are go at Pelican Pointe.  The plumber came in last week and hooked up the water.  We were able to take the port -a- potty back to the place we rented it from for the summer.  We were quite glad to see the blue and yellow vestibule leave the lot.  But it did serve a purpose for the workers and us on occasion this summer.  But good riddance.  The new toilets in the house are really cool low water consumption and it is amazing how something as mundane as indoor running water can lift your spirits.

Herman taking the thing out of Pelican Pointe.

 Sask. Energy trenched in the line on November 10 and set the meter on November 15th.  Non too soon either as the wind chill is hovering near - 25C or lower this past week.  When we went out on Saturday 

we walked into a nice warm house.  Yippee.   Too bad I had to get all whiny and nasty and go the political route to get the gas line in.  But at least it is done.

Tried out the spa tub.  Put too much smelly bubbly stuff in there and almost had a bubble disaster.  Will know better for next. time.  It is lovely to have a warm home with hot and cold running water.  The simple pleasures of life.  I look around at this amazing place and am so thankful.

 

This is only the last part of November and we have a ton of snow already.  The Subaru can plough through almost anything.  

This is Dexter our Dog on the the snowed in road leading away from our place.  The snow was pretty deep already but the Subaru still made it through.  We are going to buy a snowblower this week.  We are the last place on the road before the lake and we don't think the snow plow will make it out very much, if at all.  So we will have to make our own road.

This shot was taken from the pointe.  Looks a little different in winter than summer.  But the place is still beautiful.  We woke up to see coyotes running on the lake and the last of the geese and ducks flying off for the winter.  

This is a great time of year at Pelican Pointe.  There is total silence at our place except for the birds that are migrating.  The lake has just started to freeze and the ice is too thin to be on.  So no motor boats, no jet skis.  The ice is too thin for snowmobiles and ice fisher people.  We have no tv, no internet and don't play the radio or music very often.  So silence.  Nice.............

Waiting and Waiting and Waiting and Waiting........

This picture was taken from the veranda on November 6, 2010.  

We still do not have the gas line installed from Sask. Energy.  I applied in August....the house was set on Sept. 4th....Sask. Energy said they would be out the week of September 27th.....nobody showed up....Sask. Energy said they would be out the week of Oct. 28th.....nobody showed up......Sask. Energy said they would be out on Tuesday Nov. 9th.....don't know if anyone showed up.  No one from Sask. Energy will give me an answer or return my calls.  This is more than ridiculous.

The plumber would like to get in and get the heat going for us.  The kitchen stove, water heater, clothes dryer and furnace all rely on natural gas.  So there is no heat, no water, no stove at the beautiful new house.  Just some furniture and appliances sitting waiting to be used.  The plumber who is doing the installation for us is going to the beach today (in a snowstorm) to put in some industrial strength heaters to try and keep the house from getting too cold.  Did I mention that this is more than ridiculous.  Too bad Sask. Energy has a monopoly on gas supply and installations.  I would be looking for another company with some understanding of customer service if there was a choice in Saskatchewan.
Another person got a home delivered after ours and he has energy already.  Just do no understand this.

Since nothing much is happening at the house until Sask. Energy gets the gas line in I'll post some pictures of the cute grandkids and a picture I took last weekend from the veranda.  Once we have the appliances connected (when we get gas) I'll get out there and do some updated pictures of the laundry room, en suite, kitchen, etc.  We will also move "the beast" out and start unloading the loft furniture once we have central heat and can stay out there for longer periods.  Right now it is too cold without the gas supply to the furnace.

Oh yeah - the spa tub - not useable because the water heater runs on natural gas.  The water in the cistern is really, really too cold for showering or bathing.  We are not that hardy that we want to do daily polar bear dips in our own home.

Spiderman Brody on Halloween.

Regan the butterfly on Halloween.

Spiderman Brody and Thomas the Train Logan.

 Logan and Regan.  

 We have replaced the homemade ramp with some temporary stairs.  We will have a deck built on this side connecting the two back doors next spring.

Moving in slowly

We have started moving in.  The new furniture and appliances were delivered on Friday and Saturday.  The fridge we ordered was damaged somehow so we had to go to the store and pick out a different model. Good news is that we got an upgraded fridge for the same price as the original one we had picked out.  Also our two living room chairs were left out of the delivery on Friday.  The furniture store paid to have our mover bring them out on Saturday.  Most of the antiques, minus a dining room table top, are at Pelican Pointe too.  The table top is at the re-fiinishers because they need it to get a couple of leaves made for the table.

There is still some touch up painting that needs to be done.  But we are waiting until we have central heat for that.  Sask. Energy told me that they would be out the week of Sept. 27th.  They messed up and now we have to wait.  The house warmed up nicely this weekend with four electric heaters and the fireplace.

Robinson Residential designed a special nook for this chair.  The design of the house was based partly on the sizes of the furniture that I knew we wanted to move to the lake.

The living room with furniture in place.  Still need to get an area rug.

The dining room, with the table upside down and waiting for a table top.  The kitchen was too messy to take a picture of.  Will do that at a later date..

Looking from the loft across the great room.  Still need to get a long ladder to remove the Conquest sign.

Looking towards the road side entrance.

The great room with the doors closed that lead to the den and, to the right, the master suite.

Looking out the bedroom window.  This is the view we have, even lying in bed.  With the blinds open we can wake up every morning and see this view.  Of course, when the lake has boats on it in the summer or ice fishers in the winter, the blinds will be closed.

One of the great things about this design is that you can see the lake from every window in the house.  A lot of people who have come to see the house have commented on this fact.

Looking out the loft window towards the road.  You can still see the lake and we have lots of landscaping to do next year.  The yard is still a bit of a construction site.

Looking down at the great room from the loft.

We are hoping that Sask. Energy get out there soon.  The plumber is coming out on Wednesday to finish installing the dishwasher, laundry room and gas range.  He is also hooking up the water, so we will at least have cold running water this coming weekend.  Maybe hot water too, if we ever get natural gas hooked up at Pelican Pointe.