Movin in and setting up..

Sure I picked a rainy day to go fetch my rolling cabinets from storage.

But we got the job done in two trips with the utility trailer.

Would ya look at that… lot’s of room.  So happy to have most of my tools and supplies back to where they are handy.  Now to set up my wall space..

Late October 2025:

Things kinda got left like this for a while now.. But now as I get ready for winter… and have made a mess on those cabinet tops finishing up the Craftsman mower, I got to thinking about my stuff possibly freezing.  So I’m going to install a diesel heater in the far corner. The mornings are very cool now, and the inside feels even colder.  The heater will allow me to be in the shed more.

It’s a simple set up..  I’ll shorted up the outlet pipe later.  It’s working though… warming up nicely.  The exhaust pipe is outside as it should be.

May need to make that hole bigger and protect the wall. Now that it’s warmer in the shed I’m motivated to do some organizing.

Plus the shed got another gift..  I got a nice sized bench-top drill press.

Soon everything will have a handy place, and I’ll find whatever I’m looking for !

New Door and wall panels..

On this day.. I decided it was time to finish the cuts and get that new door installed.

Yup that’s where it goes..  In order to install the new door …I had to remove the hinges for the old door.  So that got fixed in place with screws.  I’ll paint it white and trim it out so It won’t be so noticeable.

And remove the handle that’s doing nothing now.  Sure going to be nice using a proper door with the light switch handy.

Here’s an inside view showing the old door and the new door.  I have some plans for that old door.  For now I want to get all the OSB wall finish done. It’s only needed where I’m hanging tools. On half the wall space I only went down the wall enough to go just below the tops of the roller cabinets.  But on the wall beside the door and around the corner I went to the floor.  Because there was extra OSB.

It’s getting two coats of white paint before I call it done.  This helps brighten things up in a shed with the only widow on the door.  And here’s the painted walls..

That’s of coarse a bit of wide angle.. but you get it..  Today we moved the old landing around to the new door side, and levelled it.  It sits on four pier blocks with concrete slabs on the low side.

Here you can see the top step frame, and it worked out perfectly.  The boards will fit nicely under the door sill.  I’m using the old boards from the wood sidewalk for that top..

See how this works… Nice wide / sturdy steps..  Need paint ! And a bull nose too.  Today I did some painting , but not the steps.  Just the door frame and the trim.

And here is the final result…  Looks like that door was always there.  New lock set and I have keys..  Now to get the interior done.. How about a new page for setting up the inside.

Page 4 Movin In..

Gotta Have POWER. Obviously…

And that starts with a handy thing in our bonus room / hobby room.

This plug on the west wall under the window is a 20 amp plug on it’s own breaker. I’m thinking for an air conditioner..  We won’t use this. There is lots of outlets in that room.  SOOOO  With a little surgery I will ad an outside plug to this circuit.  And from there an overhead cable to the shed.

That 20 amp circuit now goes outside..  Need a piece of drywall to fix my hole. My supplies came so now I’m finishing up all the wiring.  Starting with that new 20 amp outdoor plug.

Right where I wanted it. And off of that comes the heavy duty 12 gauge out door wire that goes up and runs across a line to the shed.

Just like that I have power to the shed.  And what do I do with that…. first another outside plug.

This is on the east end of the shed next to where the door will be. These are the newer boxes with the cover that allows you to leave a cord plugged in and still out of the weather.    That will be handy because this is my outdoor work area.  The rest of the wiring is inside.

This is next to where the door will be too.  The switch turns on the lights… Duh.  And there is four outlets around the room.  Also handy.. A lot of what I have is cordless..  So mostly charging stations. Once I put a bit more OSB board up to cover the wires I’ll be ready to move my cabinets over from storage. Just one more photo of the finished walls with their outlets.

And now let’s do a PAGE 3 for the new door and the finishing touches…

Yes I love a garage.. but instead I have a shed !

So let’s make it work..  Mini Shop

Here’s my first look at the shed in the real state listing photos.   10 x 14..  That’s the biggest we are allowed in the park rules.  But this one has a trick up it’s sleeve..  It’s extra tall and there is a storage loft. That’s Handy always need storage…  Plus this is not an old shed and it’s built very sturdy. In fact I think it’s OVER built.  Could be moved but it’s in the best place on our lot, so it’s staying put. I like where it is..  2×6 walls that could be insulated but I not caring about heating it, so that’s not in the plan. However I am going to power it up ! When I first looked in it …this was an empty space no lights no shelves. Just this ugly door, and a stained bare floor from gas mowers and things.

But that will change soon, because stashed under the shed was a very nice steel exterior 36″ steel door and the frame.

Almost too good for a shed… But this is my shed and the door was FREE and I have no other use for it. And so I’m relocating the door around the corner to the end wall.  That will work better for my needs. Plus it opens inward to the corner, not taking up valuable space.

Right here next to the ladder.  I already have some of the cuts made. This is the side of the shed where the ground levels out and makes a good outside work area.  You can see it’s already closer to the ground here.

And yes I will move this deck to that side.  This area is under a row of fir trees, just dirt and nothing grows.  It’s on the north side of the home that has only two windows, and is shady most of the summer.  So if I’m working on something ( like the ATV) this is the place.

This area is important to me because it is the only space I have.. Here’s another view.

And as you can see I’ve set up a shelter and a small shed for the outside tools. The only thing that you could fit in the shed to work on has to fit through a 36″ door. The floor space will be limited ( once all my tools are in there)..  Right now is a mess of me bringing stuff over from the storage to work on other stuff.

Time to get organized..  I did put some OSB board up to hang things, and I have LED lights so I can see .  That’s a start..  And just before I took this photo I ran the wires and mounted plugs where they would be needed. More OSB will be needed to finish things.  But first let’s get some power in the “Mini Shop”.

New Post for that here Page 2

Aug 23 2025:

Yes..Let’s call it that !

Now that I’ve got my strength back…( Long story ) It’s time to get a few things done before winter.  It’s only two projects.  This ended up being the first. The second one is get my shed in order with a new door and some power.  This first one came from the desire to get rid of the wood sidewalk…

Yes that one you see looking so nice in the real estate photo.  NO!  It’s not nice the paint was coming off and some of the boards were loose. So for the sake of low maintenance WE prefer a concrete sidewalk.  And that grew into a plan to increase the size of our parking area.  So I removed the wood walkway. Stacked the pieces up for future considerations.  The park management had already removed the pear tree that would have been in the way.

I hired a small tractor to remove the sod and the excess dirt..  And away I went, starting with a border of landscape ties.  As you can see I aimed for the bottom of the porch stairs. That gave us twelve feet of parking up beside the home.

And wider by the road.  There was a depression in the yard there too..  And I have the dirt to fill that.  I got tired of walking on the dirt left from the wood walkway… So I started on laying the sidewalk pads. Here’s the before photo..

And this is after starting the walkway.

A bit narrower than the wood walkway but it’s all we need.  Also easier to trim the grass.  Twelve more slabs to go..

Most of the eleven yards of what’s called road mix. This stuff will pack down like cement.  You can see I’m also filling the low part with screened dirt. I’m surprising myself with how quickly I’m moving the pile.

I’ve got the space between the home and the paved parking pad all done. So I’m starting to fill the corner of the home and the first porch. Lot’s of shovel and wheel barrow work later..  And I’ve used what I needed from the pile.

I bought a whole truck load.. ( was cheaper)  And look at the big pile left over..  No worries the park has a Skid steer and we will move in to the storage compound.  Look at this nice parking area close to the house.

AND.. I got the new sidewalk in place too !

Much better to walk on this.. Planted grass along the edge too..  Only thing left to do is rent a tamper and get the road mix like concrete..   Done.. Only took a few hours with the tamper and we are done..  Here’s the final two photos of this project.

Could pull in further ..  But this was an early morning photo op..  Quite the change for this part of the yard.

Now we have lot’s of parking.  Now I can move my truck out from under the tree where the birds eat the berries and crap on it.   Now I will turn my attention to the next project and start a post for that..

Making my shed useful..

And we are here ! New Home Sweet Home

This has worked out very well for us..  Buying a place without seeing it ( other that photos) is a bit scary.  But we were not disappointed. The house was clean, and all in very good condition. Having to wait a day for our stuff to arrive was ok. Gave me a chance to remove the TV shelve and mount in the livingroom.  AND  also really look to see where things will go..

Boxes everywhere !  This photo shows a day later when most of those were gone, and most things found their home. Here we are in a Modular Home..  And the rooms are bigger than in our other houses. We love it !  Yes some decor is not what we like but some of it grows on you..

Our furniture fits just fine in this room.. But that wall behind the TV … we all can agree that needs to go.  No it’s not wallpaper.. it’s floor tiles ! It would be best just to continue the lighter Gray paint there. There’s more to like about our new home than a bit of questionable decor. Every room has ceiling fans and very nice lighting. Two full size bathrooms, the en-suite has a wonderful large shower. And let’s not forget the view out the dinning room windows.

Yup.. That’s the Kettle River out there. And nothing but a hillside on the other side.

It’s been just over three weeks since we arrived here and we are loving it..  Feel very fortunate to have such a lovely place to live.  I made three videos that say it all..

And this next one is a tour of the yard..

And finally an interior tour.  All shot with my DJI action 4 camera.

So as you can see it didn’t take long to settle in.  Still a few things to do ..but no hurry now.  Even the cat is settled in just fine.  I’ll close this chapter for now..  Thanks for following.

March 2025

Welcome to the second page of my moving post.  The packing up phase !

Our agent took this photo when she came to take the sign away.

Lots has been discussed and pondered and decisions made about this whole process.  And even then plans can change quickly.  It’s all normal for something like this big move.  We’ve set up the utilities, House insurance, the park permission ( ya that’s something) , The movers are booked, The Uhaul trailer is booked for the first trip of shop stuff at the end of March. We’ve been selling and giving away truck loads of stuff.  We’ve got a new doctor waiting for us in Grand Forks… Feeling lucky on that one ! Lawyers are set up for the selling and buying.  The weather is getting better too !  My next step is to load up the two small utility trailers so they are ready to park on the big car hauling trailer for the free ride to Grand Forks ..again at the end of March. But I’m waiting for a warmer day..

That day has come! The snow is all gone and it was a day of washing dirty things and building the puzzle of stuff in the utility trailer. Here’s my bundle of joy…

So that’s 3 bikes. Mower , Snowblower, small tiller. Some yard tools , loading rams…  It will be topped off with the wheelbarrow.  And more straps !  The stretchy net really works great to keep the tarps from flapping .  And I topped off the enclosed trailer with more stuff too…

Don’t need to worry about this stuff …Just close the door.  And then open it carefully later..

It’s great to have this done a week before we load them up for the free ride to Grand Forks…….. I have emptied the shed and gathered up the hoses. Cleaning up under the deck and getting things through the gate and out of the yard.

Next :  It’s Friday and we picked up the Uhaul trailer for the shop stuff. It only took us just 2 hours to load the trailer…

Looks like we could have fit more in there..  But we ran out of stuff !  I allowed two days to load the trailer.  There is a few things for the Avalanche to carry like the ladders, pressure washer, Shop vac and the trailer mover…  No big deal..  Got all day Saturday to do that.

Look how empty the garage is…

March 29 2025:

Tomorrow is driving day !  Trip # 1 to Grand Forks.  I was planning to take more photos and maybe a video..  But we were busy and the drive was through the snowy , slushy foothills of southern Alberta.  But sunny when we got to BC. Here’s the car trailer with the two utility trailers loaded on and ready for the trip. Notice the caked on ice and snow from the trip here.

Both loads were heavy…  But we got them there and unloaded and the rental trailer returned the next day.  Did some running around on the Tuesday and back to Drum on Wednesday.  We visited the trailer park twice because I had things to go there for our room mate. That was the first time I got to see our new home. It looks exactly like this photo…

Without the snow..  Even the two vehicles are there.  So now we continue packing sorting and tossing stuff with help from Maureen’s Brother & Sister. Even though the movers are going to do the packing …we have to sort through and decide what to let them pack..  The result is a big pile in the family room.

And this is just some of the stuff.  However the crawl space storage is empty !  In a few days the movers are coming to do the packing and load the truck ( or trucks) the next day. That leaves us here for two days with an empty house to finish the cleaning .. And that won’t take two days because we have done most of that already.  And a big truck showed up to pack the house and the truck..

That should work..  and when it left it was 90% full.  And on the 15 th we were ready to roll early in the morning..

Award trailer all hooked up and we just left.. not looking back..  Ten plus hour drive back to Grand forks..  Time to start a new chapter and a new page in this post..

Page 3

Jan 2025

Yup.. The decision has been made !

We are selling my Lovely garage…Oh and the house too.  In the dead of winter no less !

It’s not like you wake up one morning and list the house that afternoon..  No we waited a whole day.. Then listed.  The idea has been brewing since my Son move WAYYY up north and the other family member moved back to BC in early January. So why are we here ?  No friends, no family and no support. Now the question is can we even move back to BC.. Grand Forks specifically.   Why yes we can..  Not to a full size house, those are defiantly beyond our reach. However (Good News for us) Two manufactured homes came up for sale in different rural (Adult 55+) MH  parks.  These are priced much lower because you are only buying the unit and rent the parking spot / pad. One of the homes even had a garage!  So we had a choice..  However we found out that the one with the garage had issues..  So we settled on the second one that was in the Almond Gardens Mobile Home Park… Rural Grand Forks, where I always wanted to be.

February 2025:

Our house is now sold !  done deal…  So we put in our bid on the (F3) home in the Almond Gardens Mobile Home Park. And that is a done deal too.  It’s a big unit.. 16 wide x 76 long with an edition room , making it 1400 sq ft.  AND .. it’s a riverfront lot !  This is very different for us.  Just a garden shed.. No Garage ! No basement !

Don’t much care for those two porches… Or the wood sidewalk.  But this next photo makes up for all of that……

Our back yard…  And yes that’s a good fire pit..  And yes that’s a post card view from our dinning room of the river we all love… the Kettle River

See what I mean !  We think it’s worth every penny.  We have friends in this park.. And will likely make more.  That’s the sense of community that we miss. So can’t wait to settle in..  But there is work to do before we go..

One more big PURGE..

Here’s a video I made just the other day talking about the whole deal…

Yup sitting in my wonderful heated garage on a very cold day.  Thinking about the stuff I need to get rid of. Like I said some things are staying with the house/ garage.  But the rest is just stuff.  This will be purge number five for us. There is a lot of things that have to be done , like pieces of a puzzle they are need to fit into the process.  Realtor’s may take care of the buying and selling of the homes. And the movers will pack up and deliver our stuff to the new home, but there is so many more details that we are busy with.. I’m not going to get into all those things but just believe there is lots to do.  I’m also not going to get into the new home too much, because I’ve only seen photos.  But I will show you one more that is a good example of the decor we are (in mid April) walking into..

Yes that is an old GE stove that has been restored..  We’ll use it . I don’t expect those stools to be there.  I hope not !  White cabinets are nice, and the wood ceiling is just fine… however that wallpaper in the living room behind the TV has got to go.  It’s a big kitchen !  There’s another whole half to the right not in the photo, it has the sink & dishwasher.  Don’t forget this unit is 16 ft wide.  Ok I’m going to show one more photo..

This really shows the Dinning room and the view of the river.  Looking forward to that view.  But enough of the new place…

March 14 th 2025

Let’s return to the current place and see how much we have done.

Here’s the family room in the basement.  Sold the sectional couch and the big TV.. Gave away a truck load of unused stuff from the storage crawl space.  This pile is packed and ready for the movers. Oh there’s lots not packed yet… But that is the movers job.  This pile is what we sorted through and repacked after purging the unneeded things. As for the garage (that’s my job) it’s doing better.. But it just got filled with other stuff from a different storage.

My three tool cabinets used to be on this wall.  On the far left is our new smaller freezer waiting for the movers to take what’s left in our big freezer (closer to the move) that big freezer stays with the house.  We are now one month from the big move..  And two weeks from the first trip to GF.  I will interject here with a new video…

Now we work our way to the end of March and that first trip..  And packing the utility trailer that’s parked in the garage..  And let’s start a new page for that process…

Page 2

Sept 24 2022

This post is about setting up the shop..

OK… The time has come to do some work . It’s a mess. I can’t find most of my tools.  In my other post the  garage was dry walled and painted.  Now the heater is installed so we are good to go.

The heater is nicely tucked up in the corner.  So now I know where I can install shelves and hang stuff.  It’s time to organize and unpack. One of the things to do was install a shelve between the two upper cupboards.

Yes very good storage for stuff I don’t need every day.  But it can’t be heavy because I need to lift it up there.  Oh yes I’ve been busy..

I’ve built a new work bench.  and look it’s messy already.  The drill press and the vice (under blue towel) are mounted.  And it’s painted too !

And more shelves and… I bought a 42 inch wide steel cabinet for my paints and whatever else I decide to put in there.  All of this should take the pressure off the big shelves.

Important News:

I have sold the Kubota BX tractor.  It will be gone from the garage later today and that will give me tons more room.

Bye Bye to a good friend.  But there is no more work for you..  I have a paved driveway and a new electric snow blower.  It’s all part of the plan to lighten the load.  And now … Say good bye to the two ATV’s and the Honda scooter..  wow got my space back !  However took the funds and bought and good ATV ..Newer… almost no work needed.  2013 Polaris.

I’m using the lift table again..

Sept 1 2022

Time to do some yard cleanup and make some changes.

During the move I had taken down the fence between the garage and the house.  This made it easier to get stuff into the back of the house and put the outdoor stuff close to where it will stay.  With intentions of turning the space between the garage and house into a parking area.  Parking on the street for three vehicles is all we have right now so this will give us more parking. Always better to have the vehicles off the road.

This area !  It’s 16 ft wide .. and I’m moving the fence back 8 ft into the yard.  This is what I’m currently working on..   One of the first jobs that we got done is the garden shed.

Tucked it nicely into the corner.  This strip will be gravel and a place to park the utility trailer. The problem here was the ground level.  It was up to and covering the vinyl siding.  That’s just inviting problems for the garage .  Notice the gas line on the far right. With the test gauge still there… it’s for the garage heater soon to be done.  But wait ! Before the gas line could be done under the deck needed to be cleaned up. The gas meter is there.

Cleaning up under the deck… What a mess !  Make way for the gas line to the garage . You can see the trench in the above photo.  It’s all done now and a load of gravel spread.  All done by hand.. no room for the tractor.

Great place to NEATLY store stuff like the kayaks.  This fence between the house and the neighbors needed to be replaced .  One post and most of the wood pickets were rotten. Now that’s done back to the the BIG job…  And this is how far I’ve got… to the end of August.  I have the new fence posts in the ground and the forms around them for a 16 inch wall. By digging down I was able to level the parking pad 16 ft out towards the street.  That’s a big level parking pad.

Here’s the concrete work all done.  A nice large step at the gate.  Plus a concrete apron for the double gate opening to the parking pad beside the garage.

Here’s a different view of the parking pad..  And shows better how I came 8 ft into the yard.  I have the metal for the fence now and I replaced the fence section on the north side of the deck.

Just over 5 ft high and never needs painting.  Just need a bit more gravel inside the fence and we are done. Back to the parking pad…

I’m working on getting the slope to the sidewalk just right.  The whole thing is 20 ft wide .. so it’s a double wide parking area.  With a path from the stairs.  I believe that pile is the last of the dirt and sod getting hauled away.  And after some tweaking I got the slope good.

Time for a truck load of the road mix.. And to spread it evenly..

Poof done !  Now we are looking at this and thinking the sand and gravel is kinda ..  dirty.  So we called the pavers.  And that means My part is done.  So I started on the fence.

And here we have most of it done …just the double gate needs to be built,  But I’ll wait till the pavement is done.   They came the next day.. and in 5 hrs we had a very nice new driveway.

The crew had only a little prep work to do cause I had done most of it.  The transition and slope is prefect.  We’ll give it a few days to set up before parking on it.  Meanwhile I have two more gates to build.

And there we have it.  The best gates I’ve made yet.  Six feet high and very little gaps.  They open out so I can better access the back yard.  And with that we are done .. The cats can use the yard and be safe.  Next is cleaning up and organizing the garage. Which has it’s own post…   Work on the garage

The Garage