The Big Move

Building a House

November 18, 2017 — Leave a comment

Journalizing the Build

Oct 28 to Nov 17, 2017

It’s been awhile since I posted pictures of the build as we have been quite busy with other activities. Jim is playing hockey now here twice a week and golfing and I have joined two artist groups and have been participating is some workshops. We are also taking in some of the events and activities on the island along with choosing and purchasing materials for the house. I have compiled some pictures of the progression of the build into a slide show.

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I have also put together some random pictures from around the site. It’s all coming together fairly quick even though we have had a bit of rain.

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Furniture Arrived!/Building a Basement

November 4, 2017 — Leave a comment

Oct 20, 2017 – Furniture and stuff has arrived!

Two sea-cans made it to the Island safe and sound. Thanks again to everyone who helped us pack back in Regina. We couldn’t have done this without you.

We thought we has everything organized, packing the things we needed to use at the suite by the doors of the sea-can, however it wasn’t so easy getting things out (especially when we were trying to sort things in the rain). It’s all okay as we where able to pull out enough stuff to get by.

 

Oct 22, 2017 – Rainy days!

The rain for the first few days would come and go but we were still out and about. Jax hated his doggie rain jacket so it may be the last time he wears it. When we first put it on he wouldn’t move from the couch and was very confused. I think he prefers to be wet.

On what must have been the rainiest day of the week Jim decides we should go register for our BC medical cards and I agreed. What I didn’t know is that we were also going to apply for our licence too which of course needed photos (didn’t tell me we were getting our drivers too). Anyway the result is that on both our medical and driver licence cards pictures (which have a 5 year expiry) we look like a drowned rats, thanks Jim!

There is a park in town called Askew park. It’s almost like a little rainforest in the city limits. The fall colours here are so beautiful and have lasted at least 2 and 1/2 weeks. As soon as the rain let up we took Jax for a walk through the park and he loved it. All the new sights and smells for him he was a pretty happy boy.

 

Oct 24, 2017

 

The rain cleared up and our builder Dan got an amazing amount of work done.  The  basement forms were removed, weeping tile and services rough in installed and then the site was backfilled. It’s really moving along!  Walked over from the suite to check out the build and witnessed this beautiful sunset. Pictures really can’t do it justice.

On our way to Vancouver Island

October 16, 2017 — Leave a comment

October 12, 2017

After a short visit in Airdrie AB with John we once again packed up our pets and headed out on the last leg of our journey to Vancouver Island. I wasn’t too keen on driving thru the mountains (and the city of Vancouver at night) so John graciously helped us out by driving my car. The trip was long and it was good I was not driving as it freed me up to navigate. We caught the 8:15 ferry at Tsawwassen arriving at Duke Point just 15 minutes north of Chemainus at 10:15.  We were all pretty happy to reach our destination.

 

October 13, 2017

We started the day visiting the building site and giving John the opportunity to meet our builder Dan and check out the new neighbourhood.  We then took John on a whirlwind tour of the area. We ended the evening with supper, some laughs and a few brews at the Saltair Pub which is an old English style pub nearby.

On October 14 we said goodbye to John at the Nanaimo Airport.  I am so glad John was with us to witness the arrival to our new home, this made it even more special! Thanks John for being there with us and we can’t wait until you can come back to spend a bit more time on the Island.

Building a Basement/Trip to the Coast

October 10, 2017 — 1 Comment

Journalizing the Build

Week of October 1 to 9, 2017

This week basement work continued on the site, the forms should be finished next week with the concrete poured Friday or the following Monday.

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Saturday October 7, 2017

Said goodbye to Regina, packed up both cars with luggage and pets and headed for Airdrie AB. The drive was long as we made a few more stops for the pets. Both the cat and dog travelled very well, in fact I think Kitty actually enjoyed it! When we got to John’s she settled right in like it was home.

 

Sunday October 9, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving!
What a great Thanksgiving this year! Thanks for an amazing evening and delicious roast beef supper with Kyla, Andre and his Mom Joanne on Friday, and lunch along with multiple visits with Matthew. Then off to Airdrie for supper (and a stay over) with John and Caleb. Thanks to John for making the best turkey I have ever tasted. Thanks also to Sheila Melnyk for the tasty cabbage roll dish and Kim for the beautiful pie. Jim and I are so thankful (and lucky) to have such a wonderful family!

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Hotel Living

October 6, 2017 — Leave a comment

The last two days we spent in a hotel in Regina (which is really kind of weird to stay in a hotel in our own hometown). The pets thoroughly enjoyed hotel living. Jax got a little weirded out by the activity in the hallways but quickly got used to it.  Nikki loved looking out the window at the activity in the swimming area below.

 

Living the life of Riley.
Lunch with Matt, visiting the pets before we leave.
Nikki loves watching the activity in the pool area.
Jax and Nikki hanging out in the hotel room.
A cuddle with Nikki turns into a snooze

Jax has gone on trips with us before and is a pretty good traveller but Nikki not so much. Surprisingly she has been doing pretty good so far but the long trip to Airdrie will really  be the test.

 

Leaving the Old House

October 5, 2017 — Leave a comment

Sept 28, 2017

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Twenty five years is a long time living in one house. So many good memories, family gatherings, picnics with the kids on the deck, Christmas, crazy halloween parties! It was a good house filled with family, friends and lots of love.

Sad to see it go but it will be a great home for the new young family to enjoy and build  memories in too.

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Fall on the Prairies

September 15, 2017 — Leave a comment

The move is not far away now, we are renting a sea can from Big Steel Box, it’s arriving Friday Sept 22nd (next weekend) and will be picked up again Monday Sept 25th. We have to be ready with everything packed and all the loose ends tied off! Jim and I are working frantically to accomplish this.

One of the things which we needed to do is take the Harley out to storage. It’s too late for Jim to ride it out to the island (we don’t have enough time and there is already snow in the mountains in BC) so we need to store it in Saskatchewan until next summer.

On Wednesday we took the bike out to our storage unit in Lumsden.  On the way decided to take in the fall views and stop by Lincoln Gardens Farmers Market.  Checking out the market is something we have done in the fall for years and we won’t get much opportunity to do it again before we leave for the coast. As usual it was a lovely day!

Sept 13, 2017

We picked up a few veggies and then on to the storage unit. I will miss this for sure. A nice day and now Jim’s bike is tucked in for the winter.

 

 

“One step closer”

July 29, 2016 — 3 Comments

Posted by Wanda and Jim

We finalized the Offer to Purchase on the lot in Chemainus today. It’s a done deal, now we just need to finish the paperwork which is a little more challenging as we are completing this transaction out-of-province. While we are looking at a year or more time line we are still one step closer to making Vancouver Island our home. Exciting and scary at the same time!

Now to get to work on getting our house ready for sale in Regina. Besides a general clean up we have a few more big jobs: windows, painting and flooring upstairs. We are also continuing the purge, it’s amazing how much stuff one accumulates over the years!