Socializing on Hornby

I was unsure of going to Hornby this last weekend. The roofing wasn't there yet and I was having a hard time justifying the almost $200 in ferry fees and gas that it took to come and go. Rachelle convinced me that it would be worthwhile and was it ever!

We got there late Friday evening, flaked out in the sleeping bags and crashed for the first time in our new house. Rachelle made the correct decision and brought her winter bag, while I opted for the summer version and froze my ass off. The next night we borrowed some heavy blankets and I was fine.

As far as advancing the state of the house, I installed the chimney support which completes the prep for the roofing next weekend. I also bucked up a bunch of the fallen fir so it could dry before winter hits. That was all well and good, but it was the connections that we made that made the weekend so worthwhile.

It was Ian's birthday on Saturday night so we went over to help celebrate with a bunch of Jules' and Ian's friends. Everyone that we met was incredibly supportive of us moving to Hornby. Any concerns I had of trying to bust into a closed island circle were smashed with proverbial hammers of welcoming.

We met Marc Atkinson and his wife Dierdre. Marc is an amazing guitar player and the front man for the Marc Atkinson Trio and Dierdre is the artistic director of the Hornby Festival. In a crazy coincidence, Marc was in the three piece band that played at our wedding 10 years ago.

We met Lawrence Nyberg who is a well known luthier and a crafter of amazing beer made from hops grown on his property. Check out his web site for some of the coolest guitars you've ever seen. Also at the party were Peter and Judith, who are fairly new to the island. They're mountain bikers and kept us in stitches for the entire time we were with them. We met Mia, who grew up on Hornby, an incredibly energetic, warm, and also hilarious woman.

We connected with Wayne, our building consultant, met with Tyrone, an electrician, who will do our hookup and house wiring, and talked about fir house siding and about a job running a saw mill with Jed Young, the arborist. We had a wonderful pancake breakfast at the ball park, where I reconnected with Jeremy the bike renter and trail builder.

Rachelle dropped a bunch of work off at the Hornby Gallery and had a photo session with Jennifer Armstrong. Jennifer is a great photographer and with her partner Mark, will soon be building a house on the property next to us.

Wow! What a weekend it was. We really need to get out more when we go to Hornby, instead of working 12 hours a day building!