Monday, July 29, 2013

Happy Days, I Got A Raise

And I didn't even have to go on strike for it! My Canadian Old Age Pension just went from $546 a month to $550, a $4 raise. No such luck with my Canada Pension Plan which is the other half of our Government pension. It stayed at $676.33. This one could have been a little higher but I started taking it at age 60 instead of 65 so it got a little bit reduced. My Union pension is on top of this of course and Norma gets three pensions as well so we do OK. It is just a matter of keeping expenses under control, a little easier said than done with Norma around ;)

We have an old smoke house on the property that Norma has taken over to store her tall garden tools. Some previous owner put an inside door from the house on it and the bottom rotted off. This weekend I dug an unused sheet of 5/8 plywood out of my shop and made a new door. A few pieces of 1X4 trim and it looks pretty good. The whole building needs replacing but it is built on a 4 foot by 5 foot foundation and short concrete walls so it is really too small for what we need. I am thinking of cantilevering three walls out a foot or so and adding a foot to the height to give us some substantial "shelves" around the inside. I have been thinking of doing this for several years so it is not going to get done overnight. It will probably stay in the "job jar" until Norma wants something that I really don't want to do. "Gee, I can't do that right now, I have to rebuild the smoke house".

Life is Good!

Here is the "shed" in question and a random flower from Norma's garden. The garden is coming back after the deer seem to have given up on it.



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10 comments:

  1. RaeJuly 29, 2013 at 3:36 PM

    I'm trying to visualize the smokehouse. Is it your little garden grey garden shed?

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    Replies
    1. CroftJuly 29, 2013 at 4:26 PM

      It is in at back north west corner of the house, near where that tree fell when you were here. Outside the "back" bedroom window.

      Delete
    2. CroftJuly 29, 2013 at 4:49 PM

      I added a photo.

      Delete
    3. RaeAugust 2, 2013 at 1:05 PM

      Oh, I remember it now! It's where I got all the netting for attempting to protect Norma's flowers.

      Delete
  2. our awesome travelsJuly 29, 2013 at 6:04 PM

    Think your shed looks like an outhouse we used to have, but if it works, why not?

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  3. UnknownJuly 29, 2013 at 6:53 PM

    That's a cute little shed. Quirky cute. I can see all sorts of design possibilities for it.

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  4. calypsoJuly 30, 2013 at 8:19 AM

    Nice retirement plan ;-)

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  5. RickJuly 30, 2013 at 9:36 AM

    I guess I must have got a raise too, I'll have to check. I'm thinking that smokehouse looks a bit like an outhouse as well but I'm guessing the stuff coming out of the smokehouse smells better!

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    Replies
    1. CroftJuly 30, 2013 at 10:48 AM

      $4 is $4. enough for an extra gallon of gas. USA or Mexican, not Canadian!

      Delete
  6. CroftJuly 30, 2013 at 10:46 AM

    It has not been used as a smokehouse for many decades. The inside walls are black from smoke and the walls were covered in racks for holding salmon. It would have held a few hundred pounds of salmon for smoking. I removed the racks and now Norma stores her shovels, rakes, etc. in there.

    ReplyDelete