Final Inspection

I booked last Friday off work so that I could head out to Nordegg and meet the Building Inspector.  My building permit expires on June 26th and I did not want to pay the fee required to extend it.  I headed out first thing in the morning and arrived before noon.  The inspector arrived about an hour later.  He went over all the safety requirements and confirmed that everything was acceptable, or at least in progress and acceptable to date.  I just need to continue with completing a couple of the items that were underway, and then all is good.  No further permits and no further inspections required.  It is sure nice to have that part of the project completed.  Now all the deadlines are done and I can just continue to chip away at the few remaining odds and ends at my leisure.  From now on I'm going to make a point of doing a lot more relaxing and a lot less work.

I stayed out for the rest of the weekend and puttered around on these last few items.  By the time I left on Sunday afternoon the two landings and steps at both exterior entrances were finished.  The only thing left to do is to install some sort of framing or panel to enclose the open sections of the railings.  I also need to install one more interior handrail... though I do have the brackets installed and ready.  I have a peeled pine log that I am in the process of drying and finishing which will be used for this purpose.  I also took the small wheels and casters off my gas barbecue and put some big spoked wheels on in their place.  This makes it a lot easier to move around in the gravel. 
I had a fire on Saturday evening, and wandered around a bit, over to the small nearby creek.  Also met some new neighbors that just bought a lot across and around the corner from us.  They are also from Edmonton and have just started clearing and excavation on their property.

I headed home a little earlier than usual on Sunday and actually hit the road by about 2:45 in the afternoon.  I arrived back in the city before 6:00.  June 23rd is our anniversary and this year Margarit and I celebrated 18 years by going out for dinner together.  Seems like it was just a few years ago that we were saying our vows and celebrating with a big BBQ and a whole bunch of friends.  Three kids and a bunch of years later and all is still going really well....!!

I sure hope that the girls can all start getting out to the cottage with me on a more regular basis.  Now that the bulk of the work is behind me, there is more time to relax and explore.