Siding...again!

It's been a year or so since we started putting the siding on the house. After lots of other projects hit the top of our "to do" list, installing the siding finally came up again. We had installed everything we could safely reach from ladders and our little mini scaffold last summer but had stopped when we realized that we needed to rent proper scaffolding to finish it up.
We bit the bullet and called Rogers Rental, one of our clients, and picked up several sections of the good stuff. Starting last weekend we worked on the back of the house. It is the tallest and largest area that had yet to be done so seemed like a good place to start. Now, when I say, "siding", I'm really talking about all the operations needed to install not only the Certainteed fibre cement board, but also all the trim around the windows and other penetrations. This includes metal drip mouldings that need to be there to meet the requirements of the Building Code. Yes, that darn building code thingy again! I have to thank Jon Eakes and his excellent website and video showing exactly how to fold the tin properly to create the required drip mouldings. I find that it takes longer to perform the trimming operations than to actually install the fibre cement siding. All the little fiddly operations force me to climb up and down the scaffold cutting this piece or that to fit the particular area I'm working on. When you add to that all the wasps that we have out here this year, the gusting wind that seems to pop up every time I'm doing anything remotely scary almost 3 floors above the ground, or just the sheer weight of all the boards, I seem to be sweating from the moment I start in the morning until after supper when we finally pack it in for the day! It's definitely not what I would call "comfortable" work!
I do most of the "high" work but Carol has been awesome when I need the extra hands or eyes. She was right there when we were installing the highest part at the back of the house. I know she was way out of her comfort zone, but she did and went wherever we needed her to be. Well done, Carol! When she wasn't up on the scaffolds, she was pulling weeds, cleaning up the giant trash pile behind the house, organizing all the materials or preparing lunches or snacks and drinks. She is an excellent "helper" and I couldn't do it without her.

Kamloopa Pow Wow

The beautiful Kamloopa Pow Wow facility

In Kamloops, we're lucky to have a rich First Nations heritage. This past weekend, Carol and I went into town to attend the 35th Annual Kamloopa Pow Wow. Just across the bridge from our office, the First Nations peoples have a wonderful facility available that was designed to host a large Pow Wow, or meeting of the tribes. Attendees travel from as far east as Manitoba, south from the USA and all parts of BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The 3 day event is hosted annually here and is a spectacular display of colour and traditional native dress. The Pow Wow centre is a beautiful wooden structure, circular in shape, with an open centre and covered seating all around the perimeter. On the outside of the center, artisans set up temporary shops where visitors can purchase everything from t-shirts, to jewellery,
After a drum roll call, where groups of drummers from each attending band beat a rhythmic tempo accompanied by singing and chanting, the Grand Entry sees all the flags and standards enter the circle. These are followed by the chiefs and dignitaries and then by representatives from every band, all dressed in traditional outfits with everyone dancing to the rhythmic drumming. The scene is awash with swirling colours and textures while the centre ring fills with more and more dancers. I don't remember seeing anything like it before. Spectacular is a word that comes to mind! It made such and impression that I had to post some pictures and tell you about. If you are in or near Kamloops on the BC Day long weekend, make sure you plan on attending. You won't be disappointed!

Google Earth imagery update

I don't know if anyone uses Google Earth but in case you do, a few months ago they updated the imagery available of our property with data from last summer (2012). Since I had tagged our house location, Google actually alerted me about the updated data. Now, instead of just empty fields and the trace of Sinclair Road, you can actually see our house! Granted, the horse fencing and the loafing shed are not there but at least you can see the house. I have included a frame grab from Google Earth for those who don't use the software so you can see our quarter section (outlined in yellow) and the location of our house relative to the rest of the property. You can see the house near the upper left corner of the yellow outline.

The "new" driveway we made is the distinctive line running from the gate (in the upper right hand corner) across the property and past the pond (small dark circle almost half way up the drive). Sinclair Road can barely be made out as the much fainter track that meanders along below our driveway. The excavation that carries the 2" water pipe from our well to the house is evident going through the trees directly below the house. The fields we keep the horses in cover about 3/4 of the large open area to the right and above the house. If you zoom in, the evidence of the excavation for the septic field is obvious to the right of the house.
If you have the Google Earth application and want to see the property in there, simply copy and paste these coordinates into the program...

50°33'59.13" N 120°01'34.55" W