Monday, August 5th and... it's not much of a holiday Monday for the crew! But a super exciting step in the construction process for us to witness as the flatbed of roof trusses arrived!!
We looked up at the studio space and the scaffolding was in place, ready to start the construction of the roof. These guys are so neat and organized!
All day we watched as the crane lifted the trusses into place... one at time... with the guys up top getting them perfectly lined up and Chris on the ground helping to guide each one in place.
It was just incredible... such a big step in the process and as the full height of what we had designed and dreamed about finally came into view, we started think 'is it too big?' ummmm..... it's higher than the house! Well, a little too late for thoughts like that! Of course it's not too big! It's perfect! And what a great studio space it's going to be!
That night we went up into the space and I had a few tears for sure – it felt so GRAND. I was so proud of Alan for his vision and especially our decision to make the side walls 6' high, so we really don't lose any floor area because of the pitched roof. It just feels like the perfect space with so much potential.
A lot of other stuff has been happening... we really like the friendliness and personal service of the staff at the Royal Bank in town – they are helping us get a financial team in place. At our financial advisor, Lowell Baker's recommendation, we met with Mark Feindel and after a nice conversation we said 'would you like to be our new accountant?' Really nice guy, super friendly as everyone here is... and he has an excellent bookkeeper for us too. Unfortunately, in Calgary, we had some really bad experiences with 2 accountants, so we are really hopeful that we can get this part of our business running smoothly.
The final piece of the puzzle is to get the continuance of the corporation transferred to Nova Scotia, which is underway with our lawyer, Piotr Luczak. Our year-end is September 30, so we're hoping to have everything finalized by then. At that point, we are going to transfer all our banking to Royal Bank. I've been with TD forever and I've had a few really disappointing encounters with them of late, so its time for a change. This is such an important part of our business and our lives - disorganized banking, accounting can be so stressful... . at least we find it to be so.
The days continue to be warm and sunny. It is the best summer we have experienced since we were kids. Honestly. Every night we spend some time sitting out on our deck, looking out over the water, watching the bird life. I guess my only complaint so far is... there are far too many spiders here. I knew there would be and I tried to steel myself for it, but I am just so freaked out by spiders. Alan is trying to help me appreciate what wonderful creatures they are... it's not working. I'm not even going to post a photo of one of them because then I will have to look at it.
For the next few days, the crew work on closing the space in –adding the peaks on the roof trusses, cladding the roof and upper walls, and then adding the roofing paper, and grid for the shingles. Each day, more progress, more structural support...
And then the roof for the mudroom/laundry was added.
The guys from Rhynos show up to talk about the heat pump, and after some discussion, it was agreed that we will get 2 heat pumps. One for the house and one for the new addition. Otherwise the ducting would be too large and industrial. Fine with us! We chatted with John & Blair for a while to discover that Blair is a musician (no surprise there, as so many people are musical here) and John moved here 5 years ago from Ontario – we are meeting so many people who 'come from away' and love their decision. Us too.
We choose a charcoal grey for the metal roof and we're hoping they will able to do the house roof at the same time. Well, I'm REALLY hoping... Barrett is being very non-committal. LOL Not only is a metal roof long-lasting, but it can be put right over the old shingles on the house, so nothing going in landfill! Sweet!
This past week was a real mixed bag... we had some challenging moments with a couple clients and I had to dig deep and stand up for myself and our company – not an easy thing for me to do, as we work hard to have fun, engaging relationships with our clients. Alan and I talked for hours about it, and realized that all we can do is continue to provide the best quality of work and stand by our service.
We were also feeling a bit lonely and missing our friends. We found ourselves longing for a good visit over dinner... so we called a few of them and had some face time chats. That was nice.
All in all, the week wrapped up really well! We met with Jennifer Naugler and Lynn Pettypiece from SimpleLocal Social at The Barn – a really lovely coffee house in Mahone Bay with a second story loft that is perfect for business meetings.
Based on our extensive conversations last week, they put together a social media strategy to help us promote the studio space. So we now have a good solid plan and with their help, we will build some anticipation for 'what's to come' and a following (hopefully) over the next 90 days leading up to our Grand Opening.
Tomorrow we are heading out to Hirtle Beach to do the Gaff Point hike. We have been meaning to do it for a while, but it has been quite hot until now and Alan has been super busy on a big project (which has gone so well, I'm pleased to say, the client is really happy). We're timing our hike to finish up at low tide –perfect for a swim!
And guess what? The pine shingles arrived for the outer walls! I remember the moment when Melissa and Barrett suggested them for the exterior and I was thrilled – a look I have LOVED since first visiting Maine many years ago!
It's going to be another exciting week I think. Barrett mentioned that the windows and doors are on their way too! Will we also get our metal roof? Stay tuned!!