Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Welcome to the Beach House!

After sweeping up a tub of sand tracked in from the yard, and looking down our "street" to the beach, we decided to call our new home The Beach House.

We are moved, set up, almost unpacked, skirted and worn to a nub. But we are very happy with BH. We have much more room, plus that fantastic washer/dryer and bathtub.

Other things we particularly like are;

1) The bed is high, much easier to get in and out of, and much easier to make. Also comfortable.

2) The wonderful vinyl hickory plank floor which Ian bought and spent four days laying. Not only is it beautiful, it is so easy to care for.

3) Bigger fridge, large freezer!

4) Double sinks, prep room on the counter

5) four burner stove and apt. size (24") oven

6) closets to hang our clothes

7) Comfortable sofa and rocking chair in the living room

8) Comfy banquette in the kitchen. We can actually sit at the table and have our meals!

9) The view out the front window

Getting to this point hasn't been without its ups and downs but in addition to Ian's help we had help from the most wonderful friends Flo, Jim, Pat and Claude, as well as almost 40 hours of paid help from Gary the RV man.

Flo took down the dirty drapery from the BH, mended, washed and ironed it. I was thinking I'd have to replace the drapery right away, now I can do it at my leisure, thanks to Flo. She also carried most of our goods and chattels from the Tinpalace to the BH, and when I went to clean the Tinpalace in preparation for its new owner Flo pitched in with pail and soap and did the work of three people.

Her husband Jim did so much work in the Beach House we were talking about adopting him! He pulled out a cabinet which was very difficult to move, helped put up the wall back up between bath and bedroom and hung the new door.

Pat and Claude also helped a huge amount. Pat broke her wrist and arm very badly shortly after Tony broke his leg, and her recovery has been slow and very painful. She is limited in what she can do with that hand, but it didn't keep her from making and feeding us wonderful treats like cream puffs, brownies, peanut butter squares and other fantastic edibles.

Claude took out a cabinet in the bedroom and assembled and installed a file cabinet. He repaired the sofa, and he and Jim leveled the Beach House, set up the water and sewer systems and spent two days skirting it after friend Mike moved it here.

While the guys were working on the skirting, Flo, Pat and I set up the garden shed, unloaded the truck, sorted all the stuff, put what we needed access to on a frequent basis in the shed and loaded the rest back into the truck. Ian says we can't buy a small car because we use the truck for storage and he's right.

Here Flo holds up their 16-year-old Pom, Dexter. Come to think of it Flo fed us some incredible food while we were working. Her "Sex in a Pan" is memorable. Remind me to get that recipe.

We went into Summerland for lunch both days they were here. We ate at a Chinese and Western buffet place called "Johnnie's". The food is yummy and the prices are excellent.

So, we are off to a fine start. The weatherman says it will soon warm up, and we will be out of this cold cold spell we've been in for the past six weeks. Then it will be time to garden, but more about that later. All this talk about food has made me hungry.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so glad. I look forward to seeing the BH very soon.

Deb said...

And Miss newwaytowrite,

We are really looking forward to seeing you and your Sweetie! It has been too long since we had tea and a chin wag in person!

BTW, loved the pics of Tater on yer blog. She be's ever so cute.

Anonymous said...

Hi Deb, so glad that you are moved, set up and back on line. I have missed reading your blogs.

Your new place sounds lovely,Ilahe is a nice campground and handy for both Penticton and Summerland. S/land is a nce little town and if I had to leave Oliver, I would like to be there, nice main st. and a few nice restaurants. Have you tried Zias yet??? Looks expensive, but it isn't and lots of yummy meals.

There is also a good thrift store in S/land, I am a bit of a thrift-a-holic, and a butcher that sells parts of animals that you would rather not hear about, but if it is something different you want, go there. Actually, I don't as I am vegetarian and Dave doesn't eat anything that his mother didn't feed him (in other words, a bloody Englishman), but I always like to check out the odities that the butcher is offering.

Take a few days R&R now that you are moved in and get to know the neighbourhood. You will have lots of time to arrange and re-arrange stuff later. It usually takes at least three moves of stuff to see which is the beat place.

Is Sal a happy cat, now that the move is over? Don't forget to wash his paws after walks, sand can be a big irritant in between kitty toes.

Take care and keep on blogging. Pat

Outhouse Capital of Canada said...

Glad to see you are settled in at the "Beach House" and that you had lots of help from those wonderful people. we will have to come and visit you but it will have to wait till after our trip to Scotland, we leave in 2 weeks for a month.

Susan said...

Wow deb ir looks like a gorgous location! I hope you will be very happy there.