The Porch...

Last year our front porch was showing its age.  It was drab and tired and the front steps were evolving from rickety and loose to downright dangerous.  The afternoon my son leaned on the railing and narrowly avoided tumbling with it onto the lawn four and a half feet below was my call to action.  I made a temporary fix that lasted through the winter but springtime illustrated that something a little more permanent needed to be done.

Last year, we had a garage/office built by an excellent contractor.  We knew who we'd ask to fix our porch.

This is how the porch looked shortly after we pulled down those deadly stairs and the aged and weathered siding.

Here's how it looks now, from pretty much the same angle:

We added a bit more deck area on the exterior landing of the porch.  Enough room for a chair:

And I've always resented the amount of wasted storage space under our enclosed porch.  I asked our contractor if there wasn't some way we could access that space.  We sussed it out and here's the solution:

If you look to the right of the steps you...well, you really can't see anything, can you?  Let's have a closer look:

This shot is a little blurred but the hardware is the only thing that suggests there might be a set of doors here.  Let's open them and take a look:

Access to all of the space under the interior and exterior parts of the porch.  He even came up with a hinged, fold-out ramp so I can roll the lawn mover and wheel barrel over the lip at the base of the porch.

Very pleased with the way the porch matches and compliments the garage.  There's still some landscaping to be done to bind everything together but we've got a good start on that.

Once the landscaping is finished I'll add some more pictures.

Travelling Gnomes

I love gnomes.  I have for years.

The fault belongs to Rien Poortoliet and Wil Huygen.

Who are Rien Poortoliet and Wil Huygen? you may ask and I wouldn't blame you a bit.  They were a pair of Dutchmen who created these:

Since reading these books as a teenager, I've had a special place in my heart for well-made gnomes.  There are a couple of beat-up gnomes hidden in our garden and I have my two office gnomes that keep me company while I'm writing.  Imagine my delight when we were visiting Rockwood Conservation Area on the weekend and saw this:

Right under the front gate was a person of Gnomish persuasion.  He had a tag:

And on the other side was his name:

So an adventure, huh?

We had originally gone to Rockwood for a swim but a sign warned us of high bacteria.  I grew up eating rotten raw chicken from stagnant mud puddles but when it's your kids sometimes it's best to err on the side of caution.  So off we went to Guelph Lake Conservation area to swim with Gnomeo along for the ride.

Gnomeo seemed to enjoy the water of Guelph Lake, but insisted on staying on the floatie.  Then he joined me for a snack.

When we got back to our house, I introduced him to Rocky, the little fella who guards my office garden:

And showed him the Smartcar.  He seemed to like it (especially the colour).

Last night we went to a performance of The Three Musketeers at the Festival Theatre in Stratford.  Gnomeo told me he'd never been to live theatre, so we took him along.

We'll be returning Gnomeo to his home in Rockwood soon so that another family can show him a good time.

I'm gonna miss that silly little gnome...

Clarion West Write-a-thon

Earlier this year (or late last year - can't remember), I applied for one of 18 coveted spots in the Clarion West Writers' Workshop.  I wrote an excellent introductory letter and supplied a spectacular sample of my writing.  Unfortunately, I failed to be accepted.

A while ago, in what I can only describe as the height of gall, they asked if I would care to participate in their annual fundraising write-a-thon which runs concurrent to the workshop they felt disinclined to invite me to attend.

Well, I've always been a big fan of gall.  I said sure.

I've been working away on a new novel called, Doc Merl's Rolling Apothecary and I set myself a personal goal of muscling through  a first draft of it before the end of summer.  It just so happens that the Clarion West Workshop (and their write-a-thon) runs six weeks through that very same summer.

If you'd like to sponsor me and donate a little cash toward the workshop you can follow this link.

Who knows?  Maybe I'll apply again next year.