2015 reunion

With our last guests departing today, this year reunion is now completed and life around here is slowly returning to normal.

As with past reunions it was great to catch up with old friends, some we haven't seen in about 30 years.  Since 2003, when we first discovered that many of us lived in and around Ottawa and Montreal working in the Aerospace industries or working for the government, we have been actively seeking each others and organizing 4 reunions.

It is always a pleasure to catch up with each others and reminisce about our time and "adventures" together at Canadian Forces Base Greenwood in the mid 70s
It still seems like yesterday... :-)
Unfortunately, some of us have passed away since we found each others, so we decided to not wait another 5 years for the next one, possibly near Quebec city in 2 years.

 People started arriving Friday afternoon and we all joined each others at the Top Hat tavern, the only tavern in those days were we spent many youthful times.

Jacques with his Top Hat survivor shirt :-) 

After supper we all gathered at my place for a camp fire to share good company, tall stories and drinks :-)

Some of my left over pieces from last projects going up in smoke.

Saturday, we started the day early at the Wing museum. 

Some of the gang in front of the Mighty Argus, the aircraft we worked on in our days.  Hummm dating myself here...:-)

Ginette was a Photo Technician in the military.

Rheal posing for his wife near the ANTAC 

(Air Navigation & Tactical Control system) he worked on in those days.

The museum staff opened the back room were I worked 

restoring some of the aircraft exhibits.

Next it was off to Wolfville to take the Magic Winery bus and tour some of the region wineries. Traditionally the Annapolis Valley fertile lands was agricultural in nature, mostly known for its apple industries, but since the past 10 years or so, there has been quite a vibrant wine industry taking hold.

Awaiting our double decker bus.

All aboard the magic bus...

Marcel and his wife Katherine sampling the wine, at l'Acadie vineyard.

Touring the vineyard at Pete Luckett vineyard.

The famous Red telephone booth at Pete Luckett vineyard,

 where you can call anywhere in North America toll free.

 After a long day touring the region, we gathered at the Restaurant Pasta Jack in Middleton for a well deserved supper. Great food, great atmosphere, we were treated royally by our hosts, Rob and Bee. Could not say enough nice things about them, they went above and beyond to accommodate us. Thank you!

Sorry for the poor quality of some of the pictures, 

there was some wine involved :-)

I haven't seen Lisa and Raymond in over 30 years

After a long nite we closed the place and went to bed.

The next day, Sunday, we held a departure Brunch at our place, where we said our good byes and decided to not wait another 5 years for the next reunion.

Some had to go back to work in Quebec or New Brunswick the next day, so had to depart early, two couples stayed with us until supper.

Rheal and Carole were staying in our yard with their camper.

All too soon it was all over and everyone left filled with new memories and renewed friendship bonds. We are ALL eagerly awaiting our next reunion.

It was a lot of fun and cannot wait for the next one.

Bob, tired but happy to have catch-up with many old friends.

Built in display storage for the Man cave

Having had the bright idea to display some of my more collectible tools inside these open spaces on the wall by the built-in bench, time to figured out how I am going to do that.

First off, the existing built-in are pretty crude and their spacing's uneven.

My starting dimensions are the space between the existing studs, I am not moving them...
I tried the tools I had in mind, and I can see how they would fit inside the space.

No, I am not telling you yet, which tools I have in mind. You will simply have to bite your nails until the final reveal... maybe :-)

I also want to add some low voltage LED lights, probably of the tape kind, so must make provision for the wiring involved. Why the LEDs? Because when I told her, she thought it was a great idea!
Well something like that, I don't remember her exact words :-)
When you read this post dear, just nod and say yes :-)

Well that and the fact that LEDs are energy efficient and produces little to no heat... Perfect thing to protect your artifacts :-)

In my cleaning, I came across this unused, leftover 

set of LED Puck lights. So may as well used them!

Package is empty, already put the lights up...

I just thought it would look cool, so why not indulged, it is a part of my Man cave after all.  And since it is both for display and to be able to use them,
I want some sort of removable or opening glass door on theses spaces.

Since then, I also came across an article about displaying older cameras. Years ago, when I was single, I was collecting cameras, I have a sizable collection.  I gave and sold a few thru the years, but still have a "few" left :-)
So maybe I will put some in there too.
These poor guys have been stored in boxes for a long time, I would be nice to see them again. Much like my tools and why I currently stored my tools in custom tills, I want to be able to see them. That and it would be a good occasion to culled my collection, we are still downsizing you know...
Says the guy with the wife who started to collect sewing machines :-)

So lets figured out our size dimensions, available to play with...
Approx 27 in high X 14-1/2 in wide and 2-1/2 in deep (depth of studs)

Measured and drilled clearance holes for the wiring and connectors of the puck lights, then tried them.

Yes, that should work just fine.

Once I cleaned up these areas (3 of them), I prep them for paint with putty, then gave the areas a coat of white primer.

And then secured the puck lights in place.

I am happy with that result so far.

I still need to make some sort of trim to clean up the appearance and make new bottom shelves with some melamine stock I have. That is why I left the temporary shelves in place and did not paint them. The bottoms of these three spaces is uneven right now, that would be fixed also. I thought I should paint the background glossy white, but I kinda like the muted texture effects of the chipboard background, it gives it some texture.

I am still undecided if I want to make an enclosed display space (glass doors) but I know I could used a few shelves in there to maximize my storage potential.
These shelves would have to be glass (to transmit as much light as possible) and be adjustable since I plan on doing rotating exhibits in there :-)

NO, I'm not too worry about dust, this is a hand tool shop.

Now I got some ideas about some pictures and stuff I want to use as background decoration. This is going to be fun!

I currently have no glass shelves, so I am experimenting

 with wooden boxes.

 

These shots are with no other lights on in the shop.

Recognized the tools? 

And with the shop lites on...Also LEDs of course :-)

I am really excited about these preliminaries results.  Who says you cannot decorate your shop? Since I spend lots of time down there, may as well make it a fun and inviting place to be.  Earlier this year I remodel my small bathroom downstairs, adjacent to the shop and there is also a built in bar downstairs with a wall mounted small fridge, where I keep my beers cold :-)
That bar area is scheduled for an overhaul, once I finish moving the laundry room upstairs...

My newly redone bathroom besides my shop.

And in case you wondered, yes she had "inputs" in the design :-)

There is also a storage area. 

I was going to keep the accent wood wall natural, but she wants me to paint it.

I'll get "round TUIT" sometimes...

I will have to show you the final results later, I am a tad busy with reunions and stuff... And in case you wondered, yes, the clothes bar is up ... in the right spot!

Bob, the Man cave remodeler feeling giddy :-)

Quick sneak into the shop

In between cleaning chores, I'm supposed to put up a clothes bar downstairs in order to effect more clearance spaces and mwa mwa mwa.... (sounds from Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang) or something like that ... :-)

While clearing the space, I came a across a set of LED puck lights, a left over from a renovation project in a previous house.
Hummm, I know where I could use that...

So I thought it would be a good idea to finish clearing that spot, check for obstruction, and hopefully be done with that project before she came back from a small errand :-)

Spaces is cleared, shims on top of studs cut clean, measured and roughed out light installation.

Required a 9/16 holes for the connectors clearances.

Hummm that made a bigger mess than I thought, 

better clean that up before she comes back!

Of course, I had to tried in the dark to see. Ohhhh ahhhh.

Yah, that will do just fine, like I thought.

Still haven't figured out quite yet how I am going to dress up the space, but I know the layout I want and how many glass shelves to put etc.
So in the mean time, since I'm not suppose to start anything, I'll just prime the area and called it done for now.

Oh, and since I came across these curious loopy coping saw blades, I thought I gave that a try
Strange system, instead of a small hole with a small cross pin inside (weakening the body of the blade)
These have a simple sharp loop on each ends (Sharp bend weaken blade body)
Questions are:
Would they be easy to fit on my Coping saw frame? YES
And how would it perform? Pretty good, in both hardwood and softwood. This is a Blade No 3, Medium
Would that bent loop hold under tension? So far , so good, too early to tell.
Normally for when in storage, I always remove the tension of my saw frames.
They only remain under tension when out to play on my bench. So that concern may be a mute point.

Regular pin blade installed

Loop blade installed 

Pretty clean cut in hardwood. Some blade polishing evident.

Not a bad cut in softwood (pine), but still cleaner in hardwood.

Anyway, that's it for now, I have a clothes bar to put up somewhere.
Where was that again? :-)

Bob, half kidding

Bonne fete de la Bastille a mes lecteurs Francais

July 14th is known as La journee de la Bastille  en France, celebrated since July 14th 1790.
As you can see, July is a popular month for many countries around the world to celebrate, Canada on the 1st, USA on the 4th and France on the 14th.
There are probably more that I'm not aware of, so happy days to all.

Any reasons to celebrate, eat good food and drink wine is a good thing in my book :-)

Although my family came from France in 1643 to Canada, we have long lost our ties to the motherland and are resolutely Canadiens.

Along with their father Jean, there was 3 brothers who came here, called Jean (Jehan), Andre and Etienne Dumais (Dumoy, Dumets) (some sources claim that Etienne was a cousin and not a brother, but more correctly, he was a half-brother) who changed their last name to Demers shortly after their arrival here.
Today's vast majority of Demers in North America can traces their origins to these three brothers. I am from the Jean's (Jr) branch of the family.

Jean Demers was born in 1630 (1633) at St-Jacques, Dieppe, Seine-Maritimes in France. He was the son of Jean Dumais and Barbe Mauger.
He married Jeanne Vidie (Voidie, Vedie) daughter of Michel and Catherine Borbelle in Montreal (Qc Canada) on the 9th November of 1654.
He was first established in Montreal (Ville-Marie) then moved to the Seigneurie de Lauzon in 1662 (across Quebec city on the Levis shore) He was established in St-Romuald d'Etchemin what is now Comte d'Etchemin, region Chaudiere-Appalaches.  My ancestor's Jean Demers history in Etchemin is related in a book written by l'Abbe Benjamin Demers in 1906, it start at page 34. Then finally he build a stone house in lower Quebec city in 1689, which still exist to this day, having survived the English bombardments of 1759, which lasted 3 months. The cannonade started in earnest in July, by September more than 530 houses were ravaged or burned. More than 13,000 cannon balls were reportedly used.

My ancestor Jean Demers house in Quebec city.

Recognize the famous Chateau Frontenac hotel in the background?

See it now...?

There is a plaque on the back of the house recording its history

The plaque read: (my translation)
Jean Demers or Dumets, from Dieppe started the construction of this house in 1689. The stone builders (Masons) Le Rouge, Regnault et Charpentier worked on it. This house was occupied by the Demers family until 1764. The house structure resisted the English bombardments of 1759 (during the siege of Quebec city) The roof structure dated from 1764, the house still contains 4 original fireplaces and ceiling structures.
From Jean Demers and his spouse Jeanne Vedie are born numerous Demers from the Quebec city region.

The house (last on left) as it would have looked back in the days, circa 1700s.

The one in the fore front with the red shutters is called the Chevalier's house.

Entrance to the Chevalier house is on the bottom RHS of this pic

Today the shore line is further out and it is where the Levis-Quebec ferry land.

That's at least 3 generations of repairs??

Some of the beams inside have obviously been replaced, but if you look deep enough (unchecked :-) you will find some pretty old timbers

The secret to these houses surviving the English bombardments 

is revealed inside the Chevalier's house cellars.

The "voutes" construction makes them very sturdy and bomb proof.

Of course the house's roof structures being of wood were destroyed.

Details on some of the furniture inside the Chevalier house.

Yes, I can never resist opening drawers and look at their construction :-)

The aftermath of the English bombardments of 1759.

Place royal, a mere distance from my ancestor house.

I would imagined, his house looked like these after it was over...

He also lived in Saint-Nicholas for a while with his children, where many Demers established themselves. There is a public park by the St-Lawrence river that bear his name, with the Dumets spelling. Further west there is l'Anse a Demers.

The two other brothers also left their marks on this land.

Andre was established in Montreal, and on the land he once occupied, today still stand the Delvechio house in old Montreal.

Again my translation: On this site was part of a vast land bequested to Andre Demers dit Chedeville by Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve in 1655, 13 years after the foundation of Ville Marie (today Montreal)

Etienne has a marker overlooking his land, in Plage Jacques Cartier, Cap Rouge, near Quebec city.

Etienne Demers, Terre a Dumay

When you start plotting my early ancestor's moves on the map, it is obvious that they were always established near water, either the St-Lawrence, the Etchemin, or the Chaudiere rivers, etc. Water lines of communications and transport were very important in these days. As they start pushing further inland, they became involved for many generations (until my granddad) into saw mills.
One of them still exist in the Saguenay region.

Le moulin a Telesphore Demers, is today a tourist attraction and... 

a working saw mill.

Telesphore being my great-grandfather's brother.
Roughly at this juncture in history, technology split our branches:
- My 2 times granddad branch decided to go with the newest steam saw mills technology. Great, you could set up a mill anywhere in the Beauce Sugar maple's forest. My dad grew up on one of these last saw mill, before it burned down one last time...

- My great great uncle Telesphore branch of the family went with the safer water saw mills in the Saguenay region.

Funny enough, my branch's steam saw mills keep burning themselves out every so often and we never made it big, while Telesphore branch made good money, there's never burned out...Still operate today! :-)


Steeped in history, today old Quebec city, is the closest to the old world one can come across in North America. If you are ever on this side of "the pond" (Atlantic ocean :-) is is very much worth a visit.

Me and Heather at the Commandant's ball 

celebrating Quebec city 400 years.

Bob, the family historian.
Visit the Demers family association website