Pakenham visit cont

 

Sunday was a lovely sunny day so we walked around

Almonte

as well as a park on the Mississippi river

near Blakeney

Not a large park

but with some lovely views of both the rushing waters and

the calm wider parts.

From there

we walked across the bridge

for a quick visit with a friend of Emma's, a potter,

who lives on the river.

On the way back, I stopped at a roadside stand and picked up some local

Maple Syrup!

 

Finished off the day with Butternut Squash Chili and a visit with Judy and Gaetan, who had travelled to Thailand with us. The next day was another 61/2 hr driving day to get home.

Shou Sugi Ban

 Burning wood, particularly using the Japanese method of Shou Sugi Ban, preserves it by creating a durable, charred outer layer that resists pests, water, rot, and UV rays. The process involves charring the wood's surface, then cleaning off the loose ash to reveal the underlying texture. Applying oil afterward provides even greater longevity. From AI summary on Google.

The porch of the new house will be timber frame and we went to see the lumber being prepared in this manner.

We visited Steve, in his wood working barn, to see how it is done.

 

He uses a lot of wood reclaimed 

from old structures.

Not a lot of machinery involved,

mostly done by hand.

He bought out one of the pieces of wood he is using for Mark and Emma's place and started to burn it using a propane torch.

It was a fascinating process

and Emma, Mark and I all took a turn.

Once the whole thing is charred, it is

brushed with a steal brush to 

bring out the grain.

The final step is brushing it with a mixture of the ash (saved from the brushing) and linseed oil.

Recently Mark sent a picture of it installed. All point together with wooden dowels.

Pakenham visit and build view.

Nicola, Dave, Rick and I went to Pakenham for a weekend to visit Mark and Emma and view the progress of their new build. 

 

We arrived Friday evening, when it was already dark

so had to wait until the next day

to appreciate the beauty of

 

White Lake, where they are cottaging until they can move into the new house (hopefully by March)

The new build is enclosed, windows and doors in, well and septic completed, in floor radiant heating, electrical and plumbing in.

The porch will be screened with a view of the septic area and their bush.

 

Cathedral ceilinged front entrance with stairs to the second floor.

The second floor has the master bedroom with ensuite, coffee and sitting area

and a deck.

 

Epic rocks scattered around the property.

 

Mark, with the help of friends, will be building the workshop but for now it is storing various vehicles and 

windows.

Enough work, time for a nap

 

 

and then a walk

around the roaring metropolis of White Lake.

Not sure why but it has a John Deere sign on the door (pic taken for Heather)

 

Evening on White Lake.

 

A fabulous local artisan pizza and games of cards rounded off the day.

Port Dover Senior Centre - watercolour class

I joined the Senior Centre in Port Dover this spring, primarily for the fitness classes. In the spring I was doing 2 or 3 classes a week and then stopped as sailing, gardening etc was taking my time and keeping me active. I have started up again with the end of the summer activities. A bonus was that a watercolour class was offered this fall. $25 to cover the materials provided and 6 weeks of Friday morning classes. All the paint, paper, brushes and other incidentals (ie sponges, salt..) were provided.

It was wonderful, each week we explored a different brush or technique and did some practicing 

 

Then we had a picture to copy. For the first few weeks, our instructor, Lee would walk us through how to approach the assignment.

Blogspot is being rather strange right now and not letting me layout the photos the way I normally would. Hopefully this is a "one off" and it will revert to normal for my next post.