Merry Christmas from the Michener Manse

The Michener spread as seen from Rumney Rd., Dec. 14

Until well into November,  home was a 12 ft x 60 ft trailer with space heater heat. Needless to say, this situation was a perfect setup for freezing to death when/if the temperature took a plunge, so the heat was put on, more figuratively, to get builders/suppliers motivated to finish up. The sticking point?  A kitchen sink. You can't legally occupy your own house without a kitchen sink and an operating toilet, and if they catch you, the result is $200 a day in fines. Jim, our kitchen guy, finally came through with the counter for the kitchen and plumber Dave installed the sink. Re the toilet, our Johnny on the Spot had been long retired as only the brave or desperate now would chance freezing onto the toilet seat. House facilities, if a hike, were already installed/working and a lot more comfortable.

Finally - finally! toward the end of November we undertook the final backbreaking move from trailer to house -- this time w/o any help whatsoever and slugging it out until 1 a.m. the night before they came to pick up the trailer. It was move #5 in 2 years for long suffering Bob and Pat, who did their pack mule act getting the usual astonishing accumulation of Michener stuff out of the trailer before Armstrong Trailers came along to drag it away across our front field.

Bob & our super builder/general contractor Peter Wanless
in the Michener kitchen.

When the first persian rug went down, the transformation from disorganized mess to home began. Just in itme --- huge storms descended on Georgian Bay, dumping more than 20" of snow and turning the barren November trees and fields into a landscape of amazing beauty. Last weekend, our family assembled at the farm with Greg, our middle child, here from Brazil (though without our lovely daughter-in-law Carolina, still hard at  work in construction management in Rio de Janeiro), Julia, our baby, and Carl and Julie and our wonderful grandchildren Willow and Jean Jacques.

It was a time of celebration, satisfaction and exhaustion, as we contemplated all we'd done and wondered... how did we ever do it?
To all the friends and relatives who visit this blog, a very Merry Christmas ! & super 2011. Come back again... our story is not quite over yet!

On a walk with Bruiser and visiting from Brazil, Greg enjoys his first Canadian winter in 4 years.