I'm baaaack!

It's been awhile, hasn't it?  Everyone was under the weather - Lorenzo, our daughter, and myself all came down with stomach flu and even though we're over it, Lorenzo & I have both had constant headaches for the past four days. So, we're still on the mend. At least the boys didn't get it...

Well, the fireplace situation continues to be the Achilles heel of our cottage renovation. To refresh: the cottage had an old cast-iron wood stove, which sat upon a ghastly heap of bricks and mortar, jutted out from the wall nearly five feet, and was an overall eye-sore, not to mention toe-trap because every time you walked by, you ended up injuring yourself...

We decided on an actual wood burning fireplace, so it was all torn out and Lorenzo built a fantastic fire-place surround...

Then we discovered that the firebox we'd excitedly purchased from Craigslist was completely inadequate and wouldn't pass code. Blowing thousands more on another fireplace insert seemed woefully extravagant, so we decided to keep the original wood stove. All the framing gets torn down, and we're back to where we were before. BUT! We wanted to install the original wood stove closer to the wall. This entailed building what is called a "heat shield." This is a "wall" of cement board that floats in front of the exterior wall with a one-inch air space behind. First, Lorenzo removed the existing wall board and re-insulated the wall...

Then new plywood...

Lorenzo had to purchase copper couplings, cut the cement board, and fiddle around for a whole day. Just to be on the extra safe side, Lorenzo covered the area with metal foil...

On the floor you can see the cement board with the copper couplings. Here it is installed and ready for some sort of non-combustible material to be installed on top - ie - tile, stone, etc.


Here is the crucial one-inch gap that is required...

When he was done, he laid out the pebble tile we'll be using on the hearth just to see how it will look...

After all this, Lorenzo decided to drink a cup of coffee and take a look at the original wood stove. He came to the eventual conclusion that it's a piece of crap and has to go. I didn't argue, because the manufacturer no longer exists, which means you cannot obtain any specs on it - insurance companies don't like this. It also has some rust, but I figured I could remove it with a bit of sanding.

In any case, I started making phone calls to a variety of fireplace retailers, and learned that Pacific Energy makes a great wood stove that happens to be offering several hundred dollars in rebates. We decided to bite the bullet and get a new stove.  What is really fantastic about these units, besides the fact that they are made right here in BC, is that you have the option of enamel coating in a variety of colours, two door styles, leg styles, etc. Here is the one we're getting... My choice is ivory with nickel-plated door and legs...

Lorenzo also likes the ivory, but prefers a black door with black legs...

My oldest son chooses green...

My daughter prefers blue...

My younger son was playing his drums and wasn't available for comment. With all of these choices, I wonder which one we'll go with. I think the person who'll be cleaning it should make the final decision. Wait a minute - that's me! Yay...

So there we were, feeling very pleased that we're getting a well-priced, lovely looking wood stove. Lorenzo spoke to the guy at Salt Spring Home Design who'll be installing it, and get this: He says, "Gee. Too bad you built a heat shield, because with this wood stove, you don't need one." That's right. Because it's made of steel instead of cast iron, it can be installed 6-inches from a combustible wall - meaning that not only do you not require a heat shield, you don't even have to tile behind it.

Once again, poor Guido will be tearing everything out. He's like Prometheus - but instead of struggling with a boulder, he's forever fiddling around with a fire place. The good news is, the new wood stove will sit in front of our beautiful pine-panelled walls without any interruption. No tile, no pebble stone, no messing around with grout and mortar.

Let's hope this will end the Fawlty Towers chapter on the wood stove/fire place debacle.

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The other development is that, much to our relief, we hired painter on the island. So far, she has repainted two of the bedrooms and primed the stairwell...trim work around the windows and the doors still have to be done...

So to recap: Our new wood stove will be installed around November 14. By then, the painting will be done, and then Lorenzo wants to go ahead with the flooring. He was going to hire someone, but it will cost thousands of dollars. At this point, I think he really likes the idea of being able to say that he did everything.


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I walked my dog tonight and listened to Oscar Peterson on my i-pod. His "Hymn to Freedom" never ceases to blow me away. It just doesn't get any better...imagine a world without music. I can't - it would be unbearable. If you haven't listened to Oscar Peterson, you are missing out on one of the greatest musical wonders who ever lived.

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Tomorrow there will be a province-wide action to defend our coasts from oil-tankers and pipelines...

We just keep going in the wrong direction.

In the meantime, Germany is committed to harnessing 35-percent of their electricity from renewable energy by 2020, no matter what the cost.

Sweden has had to import garbage to use in energy conversion because their recycling and composting efforts have been so successful. But here we are, getting ready to put our beautiful coastline at risk.

Lorenzo and I attended a town hall meeting about Kinder Morgan and several hundred people attended, which was very heartening. Our MP, as well as our Mayor, are vehemently opposed.

If you want to know where the action will be in your area, follow the links:


http://defendourcoast.ca/actions/


I'll be there. Let's hope it doesn't rain.

     The Gulf Islands - Beautiful British Columbia