June 3oth: Getting settled into the island house on Lake Temagami

 

It seemed like nothing was easy! We wanted to get the propane system working for the main house. It runs the refrigerator/freezer, hot water heater, room heaters, propane lanterns for lighting and the stove. There were two big propane tanks behind the house. We turned on the propane and tried to light the pilot light for the hot water heater. Nothing. Hmmm, let's try the hot water heater. Nothing. We spent quite a bit of time trying to determine the problem. We checked on line and found directions for the pretty old propane stove. Finally left a message for the original owners and moved on to the next project.

There is a bedroom in the main house that had built in closets. The plan is to have the grandkids stay in that room on bunk beds. R&C said we should start with that project so I could have a bed in the main house until the grandkids came.

Closet removal

Randy made short work of tearing out the closets with a little help from Cindy and me. Then we had to take apart one of the bunkbeds and bring it down from the guest house. The mattress and bottom board were surprisingly heavy but we had a small wagon to help.

The trail is quite uneven with a lot of roots. It is downhill from the guest house to the main house which helped. 

Bunk bed room is ready

By that afternoon my temporary bedroom was completed.

We hadn't heard anything about the propane so we tried again. We looked for another valve somewhere around the cabin. Randy was able to trace a gas line and discovered the feed for the main house was coming from behind the shower building. The tanks behind the main house were for heaters. Problem solved. Got the pilot lights for the stove, refrigerator and hot water heater lit. Nice improvement.

Turned out there was a learning curve on the propane refrigerator. We set it half way for temperature and the next morning everything was frozen! Lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, etc don't do well when frozen.

We decided to get the refrigerator in the guest cabin going. It's a lot newer. We tried to light the pilot light. It started but the main burner would not ignite. Tried several times with no luck. We looked up the instruction manual and discovered the carbon monoxide sensor no longer worked. It is a safety mechanism that turns off the propane if carbon monoxide is sensed, or the sensor stops working. Carbon monoxide could build up if the venting was blocked in some way. Randy checked the venting and it was free and clear so we temporarily worked around the sensor. A new one is coming Friday.

Small mouth bass

Cindy told Randy he was working me too hard. Actually we were all working quite a lot. Fishing was suggested. We decided to try fishing off the dock by the lake house. Also, we wanted to dine on fresh fish! I caught a small bass. Too small but a good sign. A little while later I caught a very nice bass. Supper!  We kept fishing and Cindy caught and I caught a couple more small ones. Randy caught a tree and his line which became so messed up he decided he was going back to work. Randy likes to catch, not to fish.

Cindy's first catch

First fresh fish dinner 

I cleaned the fish and Cindy prepared it. We were all amazed at how good it was. We need to catch more!

Main cabin buck stove

The weather had been quite cool, mid 40's at night, which was fine for working and sleeping. In the evenings, we enjoyed sitting around the main cabin with the buck stove keeping us warm. 

But then it started warming up. And the mosquitoes seemed to be getting much worse. Somehow they were getting into the main house, especially at night. We tried to figure out how they were getting in, but couldn't find any openings. 

Switched to plan B. Sleeping without mosquitoes became the highest priority. R&C could move to the guest house and I could sleep in the Bunky. That meant hauling the king size bed up to the guest house. The bed was designed for transport. The frame was in two pieces and the mattress was compressed into a large but heavy box. Randy was still on the recovering list, no lifting!  But Cindy and I were able to get the bed up to the guest house. 

At this point we all acknowledged we needed a shower. Time to get the hot water up and running. The shower is in a separate building with its own on demand hot water heater. Randy was able to light the pilot but we couldn't get the burner to ignite. After some research we learned that the burner won't ignite until the hot water faucet runs to let the heater know its time to heat water. Turned the water feed valve on and water came running out the drain hole meant for winterizing. The other water heater drain plug was left right next to the heater. Should be one right here. We looked everywhere in the heater room. Nothing. 

 I checked on line and was able to find a picture of what we were looking for. Looked by the other water heater, searched the shower room, looked in the shop building, went through all the plumbing stuff. The drain plug is a special design but the threads appeared to be standard pipe thread. I finally found a brass bolt which we made work. We still couldn't get the burner to come on. Thank heavens for the internet. We checked and it suggested changing the two small batteries that controlled the electronics. Randy opened the little box for the batteries and there was the drain plug! A good place to keep it if you know you put it there! Better late than never. Batteries were installed. Still not working. 

We next learned that sometimes you need to turn the hot water faucet on and off several times to get the heater started. Tried that and it worked! I went through this lengthy description so you can more fully appreciate your next hot water shower. We certainly enjoyed ours! As you can see, it is a very nice shower with a new shower head.

Helpful to our projects is a very nice, well equipped maintenance building. There are many tools, power tools, all kinds of hardware, etc.

It was time to review the extensive list Randy keeps for projects. We knew Nick, Nicki, Liam and Mia were coming for the weekend. We wanted to have all the systems up and running upon their arrival. We wanted Nick and Nicki to be able to relax and enjoy the weekend without having to do a lot of work.

Generator left, water pump right

A large generator provides electrical power for the water pump that draw water from the lake. It can also provide power if the solar panels cannot keep up. The lake water is fine for washing dishes, bathing etc., but not drinking.

Randy had worked hard to prime the pump and he gotten water flowing nicely.

The propane systems were all up and running well, but the propane tanks for the main house seemed almost empty. There was a note on the refrigerator providing the propane delivering boat peoples' phone number. The next day was Friday, we hoped they could help us before the weekend. Randy talked with the man for a while and it turned out he knew Nick. He said he could help us out by delivering 4 propane tanks Friday afternoon. Nice to know people who know locals! The propane tanks weigh 200 lbs. Fortunately, the delivery men place the tanks where they belong. They also gave us a quick lesson on use, replacement, and trouble shooting propane appliances. There are a number of valves and hoses involved that are not necessarily intuitive. 

So the critical systems were all up and running. We moved another one of the bunk beds to the main house for the grand kids. Randy caulked a major gap in the floor that we hoped was where the mosquitoes were getting in. 

Natural spring water

The only thing left to do was to make a run in to town to get water. Drinking water is free at the town natural spring. The Lion's Club provided the little shelter and pipe which delivers spring water 24/7. We took 6, 6 gallons containers and filled them all. We decided we were as ready as we were going to get.

We picked up Chinese food, which surprisingly was available in the very small town of Temagami, and cruised back to our island home.

I am again behind on the blog. There has been a great deal of work and fun going on. Tomorrow is Canada Day, similar to the US 4th of July. It will take a while for me to catch up but I will!