Some of the contents of the Attic -

I have looked through most of my things and found these so far.

When we took that long four month trip in the motorhome through the U.S. in the late 70s when the children were three and five, 

I spent those hours while we were on the road knitting an afghan for Vern. This is the miniature. I still have the full size one; 

 Vern used a scooter outside our condo but he did use a wheelchair sometimes  at home.

The table is as close as I could come to the table Jonah took home last year. It belonged to Grandma and Grandpa Heuchert.

Grandpa enjoyed camping. The camp stove and lamp

 and, of course the sleeping bag. BUT our sleeping bags in the early years were DND Arctic sleeping bags -40 degrees. 

Our second year at 3 Greenview Crescent, Vern gave me a jigsaw and a drill. Exactly what I wanted! And I made Sean this toybox using those tools.  Don't think my neighbour, Millie Collins, agreed so much that it was a great present. 

Vern was SO involved in Sean and Leanne's sports.
He was awarded the plaque by St. Albert Softball for his involvement with Leanne's softball team .
He also coached Sean when he started soccer.

Oh, my! In 1971, Vern and I bought a set of pots and pans through Imperial Oil 's credit card. They were wonderful . I sort of retired them last year when Leanne bought me a lovely new set of pots and pans. (LOL They were only 49 years old!)
When Vern went to Dallas to visit Leanne, he brought back the set of Corelle dishes.

The cook book was a gift from Vern the first year we were married. Actually, I was a reasonably  good cook at the time but he got home earlier than I did so I just let him take over. It looks so good in the picture but my copy now has a big burn mark on it where Sean left it on the stove burner when he was still in his teens.

Vern brought home four of these wonderful Inuit prints. They are in Sean and Leanne's homes

The map of Disneyland from our 1979/80 long tour through the western states of the U.S. Sean's kindergarten teacher was really upset that we were taking him out of school at the time. But when we came home he gave a slide presentation about the trip and gave his class cactus candy. Then she admitted that it was probably a great experience for him.

Vern's Master electrician's license...A couple years after Heuchert Electric went bankrupt, John Huber found Vern's Master Electrician's license in a second hand store somewhere and returned it to me.

Vern had a pair of Inuit boots like these.

Oh, my! Vern loved his coffee! I guess it would be best put as a "double double". But he kept his coffee cup on the bottom of his scooter. After he had spilled it on the carpet several times, he quit adding the cream to his coffee. The coffee and sugar were easier to clean than the cream.
Vern's best friend in our building was Tom Turner. In the early days living in the condo, Vern and Tom did a lot of the smaller upkeep.
When Vern couldn't drive anymore, 
'Tom and Avis  would take us on wonderful trips around the area and we would often end the trip with a stop at Tim Hortons.

Just a briefcase; 29 crib board and mud boots.
Oh, my, we played endless games of crib with my mom and dad and just about everyone else in the family. Vern used to play, in particular, with his fellow MOT employee, Grant Gibson, on their flights in and out of the Northwest Territories.
Grant was a big man with the most incredible appetite. When he and Vern were up in the camps in the NWT, Grant would  get into the kitchen late at night and just about clear out the food. 

I have one more crib board to put in the attic...more to come.

This is Uncle Edwin's  washboard The legs are shorter than normal on it because Uncle Edwin used it in the kitchen sink. The milk can represents the real thing from the family farm that is in my storage unit. 

Vern gave his parents a golden teapot for their 50th anniversary so I wanted that represented.

No matter where Vern went, he would forget his sunglasses

In the early days of Heuchert Electric, Vern would meet with his employees at the end of the week over  case of beer and discuss the past work week. 
BUT when he was a child (remember that he was 15 years younger than his next brother), his brothers would be working in the fields. They would store a couple of long neck beers in the pond to keep them cool until they finished work. And one time, Vern emptied those bottles!.

Vern had a most incredible "green thumb" Leanne has kept one of his plants going for all these years.
(another addition needed)

We were blessed to have wonderful dogs over the years. But after we moved into the condo, we could no longer have one. But as Vern went out on his rides on his scooter, he always took Milk Bones with him for all the dogs he met.

Love these tools

The tool box doesn't work for me. I'll work something better. 
BUT the one thing Vern taught me after I had given him a red tool box (all I had ever known

 in my life)...mechanics have red tool boxes...electricians have grey tool boxes.

The attic - the AHA moment.....

 Well, I started this attic in the fall of 2011. Last time I posted about it is here. (Actually pretty important to read that one as it explains why I'm doing this.) I just stalled on it because I had a drop light with a button battery and switch that I planned on dropping from the ceiling. I got so hung up on using that light that I couldn't install the drywall until I knew how I was going to do it. Every few months I'd take it out, puzzle over it awhile then put it away again.

Then last Tuesday, we had a club garage sale and I spotted a battery operated light that I knew was exactly what I needed! No need to figure out how to string the wiring through the studs, where to install the switch and hide the battery.

I had already cut nine sheets of drywall (matboard) and installed the first of them on the left hand wall and across the back under the window. Note: I did cheat on the left side and back by not installing the insulation and vapour barrier so I was able to just glue the drywall to the studs.

However, as part of the story for the grandchildren involves installing insulation, vapour barrier and drywall, the right hand wall had to have those three layers so that wall had to be nailed rather than glued.

My "drywall"

The first sheet on the right wall.

I didn't have proper nails the right length so I used  sequin pins. They were a bit too long so I cut about 1/8" off them. I then drilled a small hole with my pin vise and tapped the nail in the holes with a hammer.

SAFETY HINT: Anytime you need to cut something metal, hold what you are cutting and your wire cutters inside a paper bag so the cut bit will stay in the bag and not going flying into your eyes or skin.

I used a piece of typing paper to get the angle right on the second sheet of drywall. Transferred the angle to the matboard and cut it.

Here it's in place. I used the same technique on the third small piece on that wall. I did leave a little triangle uncovered on that wall so the insulation and vapour barrier could be seen.

I cut one piece of the drywall for the left side of the ceiling then did the same for the right side.

I dry-fitted a piece of typing paper above the window so make sure I got the angles right.

Here the drywall has been cut and glued in place.

Drywall is complete!

The shelving unit represents a shelving unit that Vern built in the garage of our second house.

The light is in place! It's first generation so not very bright but  it's in.

Now for the fun part - filling it. Have a lot of stuff but I'm sure I'll find that I don't have enough.

Then I have to write little stories about each item so Jonah and Holly will have some sense of their Grandpa Vern.

ASIDE: DD Leanne called yesterday morning (as she does every morning) and asked what I had been doing. Replied that I drywalled the attic, installed the light and hoped to start moving things into it. She very drily commented that she was glad she knew I was talking about miniatures because she knew it would sound a bit unusual for her 74 year old mother to be doing those things otherwise.

Although my own mother and maternal grandmother very well might have been doing that.