John van Gurp

The cottage is taking shape… we’re more or less done for the year with the exception of a chimney. The old Franklin fireplace we dragged down there is going to live outside now and I’ll connect a small CSA approved stove I bought a few years ago. It’s safer.

I need to finish boxing-in the remaining wiring that is exposed below five feet from the floor before NS Power will approve final connections. In the meantime we have three live outlets and rely on extension cords, which is fine for the time being. It will be much better to have it finished though. The deck is done now and we’ve beed enjoying it very much. During these warm days it’s the place to read, eat, nap and warm up after our many swims.

My brother Gerald and daughters Emily and Marisa, and sister Susan have been visiting for a few days. We all made it down to my sister Hetty and brother-in-law Ward’s place on the weekend with sister Carolyn and also my whole family for a welcome get together with good eats and lots of laughter. We visited the studio of Geoff Butler as well… what an amazing artist! It’s all very high quality time.

See my latest Halifax Herald blog entry about an episode at the cottage…

Cheers,
John

This is from June 23. Note the first company. I better put a railing on the stairs!

The cottage is all tight now. The carpenter’s work is done and I’m on my own now but have offers of help from a few friends, so that’s nice. I found an almost new Franklin fireplace in New Albany. It’s being offered for sale by a guy I knew through PWGSC Headquarters and the Treasury Board many years ago. Back in around 1995 or so I published a web site with surplus federal properties and also made a slide show presentation explaining how useful this could be. Almost no one in the department seemed to clue into it, except for this guy who recognized the potential and made a case. I’m not sure if it had any influence on the approach to online marketing of government real estate, and given the ponderously unimaginative way the organization thinks it probably made no difference at all but I digress….

The inside stairs are done and the patrtition walls are framed. The electrician is doing his thing this week. Heather and I are going down on Friday to scope things out and buy a few bundles of shingles and make up the lumber order for the deck, etc etc…

First thing is to get a small counter space and a sink and enclose a bedroom or two. Oh, and I need to move the outhouse to the new location. It’s just far enough away from the cottage as to be discreet, yet not so far one would panic on the way there. The woodshed will be between the outhouse and the cottage so folks can carry a stick or two on their way back. It leaves open the possibility of saying “I’m going to get some wood” instead of “I’m going to the outhouse”.

We attended a fundraiser for Sierra Leone this week. Very nice, with some moving talk by my friend Thomas Turay. See http://cdpeace.com

Biking continues to be much fun. Half the fun is pushing the skills and getting better on cornering, even after all these years.

Must leave for work now!

(photo credit to jadz)

See the project page for details and photos.

The project is advancing. Read the rest of this entry »

All of my materials estimates are in and it looks like we are under budget. John is pleased! Read the rest of this entry »

Hello friends,

I’ve been busy with web projects for various groups and sites and between that with a steady flow of email some things will just slip. One is updating this blog and another is compiling all of my personal web pages into some kind of easily navigated single site.

At the same time we’re doing some design and planning for a cottage at Russell Lake, Queens County situated around 20 minutes before Kedjimikudjik National Park when coming from Bridgewater. in the district known as North Queens.

Read the rest of this entry »