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!