Where I've Been

Sorry I haven't posted much this month! I have a publisher's deadline looming and have been doing a deep dive into the manuscript. Probably another two weeks and then I can come up for air. Please bear with me until then! The main slog is done and now we're to the fun finessing part. Then I'll be human again.

Reconfiguring the wiring and heat ducts

We are busily drawing diagrams for our contractor so he can give us a quote on the work we want done, to begin this fall. Part of the decision-making is figuring out where we want electrical outlets in the basement. We plan to "divide" the room into four quadrants: a sitting/living space with couch, tv, and wood stove; a dining and entertaining space; a bedroom; and a spare room that can be filled with cots (spilling into the living room area) for guests. These quadrants are not separated by walls, though--it's all open-concept like a studio apartment. But it helps to think of it in zones so we can figure out where electrical outlets might need to go. For example, we have the idea of putting outlets on the pillars that run down the centre of the room, so that we can have a buffet/serving table with food warming trays, floor lamps, whatever in the centre of the room, instead of lining all furniture up on the outside walls. 

One key thing is to have a two-way switch for the lights in the stairwells, so that we can turn them on from both the top and the bottom of the stairs. Right now there's only the possibility of turning them on from one location, so you end up stumbling around in the dark until you can get to a light switch. That's also true for the rec room--the only light switch is at one end, and you have to pat your way along in the dark to find it if you entered from the opposite end. Right now we have free-standing motion-sensor lights propped in strategic locations to help us, but those involve having to wave your arms around as you walk forward into the dark, hoping to trigger the light. So that will be reconfigured.

We've also come up with some clever things to do to the existing ductwork in the basement to bring the heat down to the floor, instead of leaving it all up against the high ceiling. We'd rather not have to run ceiling fans to circulate it, so bringing the vents from the ceiling down to the floor will help with that. We'll also pipe some of them up to the sanctuary to increase heat circulation there.

Meanwhile, I just got a sky-high electric bill for the two weeks we were up there, so we're going to have to rethink some more things... But all in good time. One problem at a time. If I try to look too far ahead, I hyperventilate.

A Small Delay

Turns out the windows and doors won't go in until March. The weather is just too cold and snowy. My husband is going out of town for a couple of weeks in February, as well, and there isn't time to remove the stained glass before he goes. By March I'm hoping the weather will have calmed down (famous last words -- March is often the worst) and time will have freed up as well.

While hubby is away, I am thinking of going on another writing retreat at the church. I'm in the homestretch of this manuscript, with deadlines looming, and need to put in some serious concentration. Though there is also admittedly the pull in the opposite direction -- hubby is away, so it's time for chick flicks, chocolate, and reading the pile of books by my bed. We'll see which impulse wins out. I suspect that when it comes to books, I'm more eager to read them than write them!

Progress at last! New windows going in

Last fall we ordered two new side doors, to help keep the cold out, and six windows. The windows will fit in the gothic arches in the sanctuary, will be able to open so we can ventilate, and will greatly assist with heat retention. We will need to remove the stained glass and woodwork to get them in, but the plan is to repair the stained glass and fit it back in over the windows, vented properly so that they won't be damaged by heat build-up again. I hope the neighbours won't worry too much when they see the stained glass disappear. It's temporary!

We anticipate that the windows and doors will be installed by the end of this month, if all goes well. It can't come too soon! I'm huddled in the vestry with the electric baseboards going, but the rest of the church is very cold, as I'm trying to conserve propane. It would be lovely to be able to spend time in the sanctuary. I suspect I'm going to enjoy being able to see out, too, and to absorb some sunshine once the clear windows are in. When we put the stained glass back in, we'll make sure it can open so that we don't lose the air and light.

We have also commissioned Trillium Glass to put vented storm glass over the other five stained glass windows, to help preserve them. Those are the windows in the vestibule and high on the south wall. That likely won't happen until spring, as it's too cold to paint the woodwork right now. If I were rich, I'd ask Trillium to go ahead and restore the stained glass for me. I might get them to do the worst ones. One of them has a severe crack right through the name plate, which I can't replace, but Trillium would know what to do with it.

Once Omicron settles down, I hope to take advantage of the instructional workshops at our local stained glass store, so that I'm confident I'm doing this correctly. You can only glean so much from Youtube! It would help to see it all in person.

It seems a good omen, to begin 2022 by increasing the light and air in the building. 

I'm back

Sorry I disappeared for a while there. The car died, the home furnace died, and the basement renovations back in the city were completed, so my attention got drawn away for a bit. I'm back now, and looking forward to a couple of weeks at the church, writing and isolating from Omicron, which may be a futile exercise but a good excuse for some time away from the city.

I anticipate 2022 will be much the same as 2020 and 2021, but I will look for ways to bring light into my world and the lives of the people around me, and there's not much better a place to start planning that than in a church filled with stained glass!

St. Clair Regional Conservation Authority

It turns out our church falls under the jurisdiction of the local conservation authority. We have applied to the township to rezone it from institutional to residential, but the conservation authority has to make comments on the application and grant a permit for change of use. I am assured that this is not likely to be opposed. They will also respond to a property inquiry and let us know any guidelines around erosion, flooding mitigation, placement of septic systems, etc. so that when the time comes to do any actual changes to the property, the permit application should go more smoothly. They seem quite easy to work with. Our next step is to draw up a "map" of the property to submit. I'm not much of an artist, but it will need to show not just structures and measurements but elevation and trees, etc. We aren't planning to make any significant changes to the appearance of the side yard beyond the parking spot that the township requires. At one point I had hoped to install a greenhouse, but it doesn't look like that will be possible now.

On a side note, I have been reading about the sacredness to indigenous cultures of cedar trees. I have been graced with eight of them beside the church, rather scabby and spindly-looking, but tall. I will need to nurture them and keep them going rather than remove them. This project is going to need all the blessings and support it can get, and I want Mother Earth on my side.

Idea for in-the-wall storage

The wall between the laundry room and the water heater room is a supporting wall, and the water heater room itself is low-ceilinged while the laundry room has a high ceiling. I like the idea of using the water heater room (I really must think of a shorter name for it -- water closet? WC?) for storage, but it's like a crawl space -- difficult to get in and out of, especially with bad knees. But storage space is at a premium and I want to use every inch I can.

Hubby has come up with an idea I think is brilliant. Above the door to the WC, high on the laundry room wall, we can put a row of cupboards which won't impact anyone walking past because the ceiling is so high. We can insert cubbies between the studs of the supporting wall, extending into the WC space, with cupboard doors to cover them, and pullout shelves within the cubbies. They would be accessible from the laundry room (no crawling required) but still utilize the WC space. They could be quite deep, too, for storage of canned goods or laundry supplies or tools. I see potential for doing this under the stairs as well, in both stairwells.

Since we seem to be stuck in the tradesperson bottleneck and can't get any contractors to respond within a reasonable timeframe, we are having to park our renovation plans for now. But we could at least be working on this cubby project ourselves so that we can see some sort of progress. It might help allay the impatience I'm grappling with elsewhere. A nice carpentry project would be fun to work on together over the winter.