Now that the launch date (July 13!) and grand opening (July 27-29!) are set, I thought I'd put up some teaser photos of the inventory deliveries we've been receiving.  More is on the way and arriving daily!

Rainwater harvesting equipment.  These are
mainly designed to interface with a gutter
downspout.

The beekeeping stuff!  You've seen this before in the
background, but it warrants its own image.  We've got hive
bodies, frames, and various other equipment.  All wood hive
components are made in Canada.

The latest arrival from Weck Canada came on
a pallet just barely too wide for the door.

Green coffee and roasters!  These semi-
automated units take some of the uncertainty
out of home roasting, but we're also awaiting
some manual models that work well (with
practice!)

Various glass and metal packaging supplies
waiting to be filled with bulk oils, waxes,
and powders.  We'll be instituting a deposit
system to encourage re-use.  Of course, you're
always welcome to bring your own container
when purchasing bulk goods!

That's it for today.  Can't wait to see what comes tomorrow!

Reno complete, business license in hand!

It's official - the renovation is complete!  With the shelving finished, products flowing in, and only a few paint touchups remaining, we're shifting gears to registering inventory, merchandizing, and finishing touches.

The service counter and work desk 95% complete.  Since
taking this photo we've nailed up the rest of the siding.

Duncan cutting grooves for the shelves with
a plunge router.

The first shelf complete!

Getting closer: a few more shelves up, a few less boards in
the stack.

Nate and Duncan assemble one of the free-standing floor
pieces. 

Check out these sweet signs Duncan made.  I think he's
going to carve a snazzy little cheese graphic on the right
there; hence the empty space on the right of the Cheese &
Dairy sign.

The first of the beekeeping supplies are in, courtesy of Two
Bees Apiary!

A wider angle showing the finished shelves and service
counter.  A little corner of the coop even made it in.

Nate ceremonially removes the paper from the window,
with great pomp and circumstance.

Our booth at Car Free Day!  Lianne and Trevor were able to
make it down from Two Bees Apiary.  In a classic blunder,
I neglected to bring the sign.  This coral coloured apron
was pressed into service as a marginal stand-in.

New shop computer and POS equipment.  

Mushroom growing kits from Vancouver's very
own Scott Henderson (The Mushroom Man).
Foreground: oyster mushroom kits.
Background: shiitake mushroom kits.

That's it for today!  We've got more product coming in nearly every day now so I'll do my best to put up pictures whenever I get a chance!

I love T-Shirts almost as much as I love making them!

With Car Free Main Street approaching, we're scrambling to get everything ready for the booth.  Among other things, we've got a variety of Canadian-made bamboo / organic cotton t-shirts which, when duly silk screened, will allow you to turn your useless, slovenly torso into a functional, sharply-dressed mobile billboard for the store!

To paint the screen accurately, it's important to close one
eye to prevent your perspective from shifting as you peer
through the screen at the pattern below.

Crafts are so fun.

The finished design.  Coming soon from my living room to
your shirt!

My screen printing jungle guide Lisa has advised me that this is a multi-step, highly involved process, so I predict many more shirt-related photo-ops in the imminent future.

Shirts will be available in a variety of sizes, in Natural, Olive, Brown, and Charcoal grey.

UPDATE: shirts now in!

The screen pressing setup.  Completed shirts
can be seen drying in the background amid
tools and other paraphernalia.

Ta da!  Colors are brown, olive, natural, lavender, and
charcoal.  Available in men's S-XL and ladies' S-L.  Shirts
are Canadian made from 70% bamboo, 30% organic cotton.
Only $15 until launch, what a deal!

We're still here!

With all the excitement going on at the shop, I fear I've been remiss in keeping this blog up to date.  Take a look at what we've been doing!

First of all, we finished the floor.  Finally!
The few brain cells I have left after four days of
breathing polyurethane think it looks... not too bad

Mom and Dad came up for a weekend to help paint.  We
will miss the dingy pink, but this "moonight" colored
recycled paint seems pretty good.  And it sure is cheap!

Good work.  Thanks ma and pa!

We run a real family operation around here.

With the floor finished, we were free to start building in the
shelving. Asia (future staff) is pictured with a load of custom-
milled, sustainably harvested Douglas Fir from Saturna Island.

You can get an idea of how the wood looks from this shot.
16-20" wide boards with almost no knots and the natural
curvature of the tree exposed.  It's going to yield some
beautiful pieces.

Nate Reister sorts boards while Duncan Martin sweeps dust
around.

The future desk and service counter.  Of note are the triple
drawer units salvaged from the presents MECCA left us (see
http://homesteadersemporium.blogspot.ca/2012/04/hi-folks-as-inaugural-post-i-thought-id.html
if they don't look familiar) and the planks at bottom right
which are soon to become the outer surface of the desk.

This was meant to show the framed-in service counter, but I
think what it really illustrates is the general pandemonium
presently reigning at the unit.  However, I have the distinct
sense that we are nearing the point of peak chaos, and all
will rapidly fall into place once those stacks of boards turn
into beautiful, beautiful shelves.

That's it for today, stay tuned for the launch date announcement!  Also, be sure to look for us at Car Free Main Street this Sunday, June 17!

Two and a half weeks in

Two (and a half) weeks into the reno and the electrical is finally done!  We finished sanding the floor this morning and as I type this the boys are laying the first coat of polyurethane.

Duncan mans the trusty vacuum.  With lights this time!  I
promise this is not the only thing he does.

Sanding in preparation for the polyurethane
top coat.  Despite paying through the nose
for a fancy pad sander, we had to sand all the
board junctions by hand with a belt sander.
Not pictured: fancy pad sander (but it looked
like this)

With the floor about to be unwalkable, it was time to clear
out the last of the junk.  Scrap metal, fluorescent ballasts,
old electrical conduit, two a/c units... good riddance!

Took this rat's nest of wire up to M&B metal
recycling and figured I'd clean up - if
criminals do it, it must be good economics!
Disappointingly, the take was barely enough
for a case of beer for the lads.

That's it for now - back to work!

UPDATE

We got the first coat of poly down, and it's looking great!  Some action shots of Nate doing the honours:

Glug glug glug
 

he's on a roll!

Renovation update!

With 10 days elapsed since the last update, we're rolling right along with the renovation.  Take a look below to see how the place is progressing!

Duncan Martin mans the vacuum in the running battle we
wage against dust.

All the derelict furniture at the space moved us to build
roller carts to help shuffle them around.

The temptation to misuse them is astounding.

Look we took down the drop ceiling!  These snazzy beams
were hiding up there all along.  Note also the piles of flooring
 on stage left.

We had to use a grinder wheel to cut down the last vestiges
of drop ceiling (seen in the upper left of previous photo).
Luckily, this validated my recent grinder purchase (should
have gone to the Tool Library?).

Laying the new floor: the first step is squirting
this goopy glue all over the place.

The first piece is down!  Good job Nate.

"Oh hey guys!"
Rick (me) filling the gaps between boards with Elmer's wood filler.

Behold the new floor!  It consists of 4'x8' sheets of oriented
strand board.  Though typically used as an underlayment
rather than finished surface, we think this material will look
pretty decent once we sand and slather it with clear
polyurethane sealer.

The electrician's in there now wiring up those lights.  Next up: sealing the floor, painting the walls, and getting the sinks plumbed in!  Stay tuned!

Building permit approved!

Today we got the call from City Hall: our building permit has been approved!  With this mandate in hand, we're finally free to begin work sprucing up the storefront and preparing it for You!  Our valued customer.

First things first: that dusty, decaying carpet has to go.

The first bit is the hardest! 

Rolling it back a little further.  Note the
beautiful marble pattern made by 20 years of
fine, swirling dust.

Goodbye carpet!  The place is already feeling livelier.  New
flooring materials set to arrive later this week!

You may note that in addition to the rolls of old carpet, there are stacks of white and brown particle board shelving components.  A keen eye will notice the resemblance to the tall (9'?) freestanding shelves pictured in my first post.  We can't use 'em, so if you need some large, tall shelves, drop me a line using the contact page: http://homesteadersemporium.ca/contact.html. Same goes for the old carpet and ceiling tiles.

New arrival from Happy Valley Ranch!

Today brought four large boxes from Happy Valley Ranch of Paola, Kansas.

They were heavy, too!

Looks like an apple grinder...

...and some kind of pressing cylinder...

...why, it's a cider press!  I present the
Homesteader from Happy Valley Ranch.  As
you can see, some assembly is required.  Next
week I'll seal it and put it together; stay tuned
for photos!

If you've ever craved home-pressed cider, but felt hesitant to drop $800 on a fancy press, you're not alone.  We're working on a way to make this press available for customers to use.  Ask us for details when you come see us at the store!