The Light

Last Saturday we finished the caulking.  We had finished the siding the week before and plugged away at the caulking through the week.  On Saturday we had time to finish, put away the tools and clean up before the 36 hours of soaking sheets of rain started.  Great timing I would say.  
Over the last two days Pat took down the chains for the old windows and we tidied and cleaned.  There is still trim to put around the new windows. We need it to cover up the expanding foam we used to keep creepy crawlies out. It is an inside job and will get done a little later. We have the veranda back and it is great. Just in time for visiting family this weekend.

Next on the list is making the area off the verandas back door a little larger and putting on a railing.  A one point we were going to put a large set of steps across the whole back but have changed our minds and without the steps it is a little crowded.  So make the top area larger and then put on a railing.  

The platform will be another 30" wider with railing on three sides.  It will make sense when I show you a done picture.

Now that I am finished with the renos I thought I would spend the rest of the post on a couple nature pictures.

The last week or two we have woken up to mist in the ravine, I will fall back on my usual line, " it is hard to describe". There is not one sliver of poet in me so I will rely on a photo that my photographer took one morning.

I have three more that I hope illustrate the incredible light we encountered on our walk Monday evening around 7pm.  This is what enthralled us as we walked down the road.

I swear no enhancing or altering other than I cropped the first two a little.  The light was golden and it was so calm the reflections are almost as sharp as the original. 

As we walked we noted that 24 hours earlier the rain had been falling in sheets and we couldn't see across the ravine.

I am loving "weather" in the country.

A Long Time

As I organize my self to do a post I always go back and read the last one I have done.  It orients my thoughts and keeps me from repeating myself.  It has been a month since my last post.  When I started I tried to post weekly and the time between posts has gradually lengthened.  I think monthly will be my new norm.  The renovating has slowed down and/or it is taking longer.

We were in Saskatoon for Brooke's fourth birthday.  It was a great time.  She wanted a 
"dance party" complete with disco ball and that was what she had.  After an hour of many children under the age of five all dance partying I was looking for a calmer place.  With foresight we had arranged coffee and a visit elsewhere.

Two hours later Zarchary and Heather hosted the family birthday dinner as Brooke, Ian, Carmen, Heather and I all celebrate our birthdays in March.  Another great time and a chance to visit with Heather's family.

Last weekend I was to a quilt retreat with a couple of friends from my new neighbourhood.  It has been a number of years since I have done this and it was great.  No thought to meals, dishes or anything else that might interfere with me and my sewing machine.  We were at Wolfe Creek Circle Square Ranch.  Fairly basic accommodation but served some of the best food I have had at a retreat. Too much as usual but I won't go into that.
For quilters only:  Shirley of Shirley's Sewing Room demo'd a ruler for pineapple blocks that is the slickest I've seen. I am in awe of the person with the math brain who designed it.  I won't go into detail here but if anyone is interested get in touch and I will give you more details.  For the Smarter Than you Think crowd it has the little grey square that you can click on with your "smart something" and watch a video about the ruler.  I think Clive might be onto something he just didn't choose the right examples for me!

Back to the more general topics.
We have new flooring in the living room and dining room.  The old hardwood wasn't too bad but by putting in new floor we were able to do move a furnace duct, fill some holes and do some levelling.  I really like the new floor, particularly the texture you get in oak.

Also it might just be my imagination but to my eye the wider boards make the room look wider which is a good thing.
Pat has started on the kitchen counter tops so far so good, they should be done by the time I post again.

We have had some warmer days. There have been moments where I am convinced that spring is on its way.  The squirrels have been spotted in one of their favourite spots and there is brown grass visible.

It snowed last night and this is the view from the front step.

Wayne Miskolczi of CBC radio weather fame assures me that the temperatures will warm up and the snow will melt. It just takes a lot longer if you still has a lot of snow cover. Do you think we fit into that category?
I long for the sound of running water, pussy willows and crocuses on the south-facing side of the ravine.

The Difference is Huge

I mentioned in the last post that Pat had been working on trim.  Well he has been a busy man.  We increased the support to the second floor of the old part of the house.  The way we decided to do it left us with exposed 2x6's all around the top of the walls. None of them straight or the same thickness.  Our plan was to cover them with MDF and paint them the same colour as the walls so they would blend in.  We needed to use sheets of MDF because of the cost and the width could be customized.  The sheets are only 8 ft. long and we needed to span 15ft in one room.  The joint in the middle is disguised with a keystone-shaped medallion.  A few obstacles to overcome but we are happy with the finished look.

Shadows are misleading.  The walls, ceiling and trim are all the same colour.
We also wanted the doorways in something other than drywall.  So again we turned to MDF.  I have a before picture but there is some painting to do before there is a true after shot.

This ugliness is all covered now.  Mostly finished but still needs the last coat of paint.  We plan to do the baseboards the same colour as the walls so will paint the doorways with the baseboards.
Pat was so happy to see these jobs finished but the task that took me from camping in a construction zone to almost finished was trim on the windows and doors.  About three quarters of the main floor is done and the difference is huge.  

A window without trim and with trim picture for you.  You get the added bonus of a ravine view through the blinds.  Looking at trimmed windows makes me so happy. The windows and doors are finished looking and you don't get drywall dust on your cloths when you brush past and touch the door frame.  I think I have gone on and on enough about trim for now.    
If you recall just getting the trim was a huge effort so to see it around the windows makes me want to go on and on.

It is windy and nasty here today.  We were to town and there was a fair bit of ground drifting. Thankfully we got out for a snowshoe yesterday.  It was about -25 but still a glorious day when you were out of the wind.  We are quite interested in all the tracks we see.  We know there is wildlife but winter has made it much more apparent.  There is a lot of traffic around the quarter.

I may get another post in before Christmas but just in case I don't have a wonderful time with family and friends.  Merry Christmas 

Sunrise, I remain in awe of these prairie skies.

Winter Has Arrived

When you are in a new rural location there is a lot to do. (what an understatement).       I posted a picture of our new and improved driveway last time and we now have 200 feet of snow fence on the hill west of us. Yes it is quite ugly and does change the view of the sunsets.  But it is important. The idea is the snow will collect just the other side of the fence instead of in our driveway.  I have every confidence in my engineer and the website he checked before we installed it.

It is snowing today and I think this is it.  Winter that is .  We didn't quite finish the to do list.  The heat tape for the roof is still in the front entrance.  With the addition to the existing house and the chimney the roof has a funny little protected angle where the snow collected last winter.  We are not sure if this is because there was so much snow last winter or is always going to be a spot to watch.  We decided to ere on the side of caution and Pat is going to install heat tape. It was dark before he was able to get it on the roof yesterday.  I am not sure what will happen now.  We have a metal roof which is quite slippery with snow on it.  The high for today is +2 so maybe the snow will melt enough to get the job done.

 

At this point I think you might be asking, why didn't he do it sooner?

Last Saturday we drove to Regina, Pat was off to Banff via Calgary for a tailings and mine waste conference. He was gone until Wednesday.  We arrived home just before midnight.  Yesterday was the first day that he was home and had heat tape.

 

Some of you may remember that I promised myself that if I missed the city at any point I would drive in and get my city fix.  It has not been a problem.  We have been in Saskatoon regularly and Regina too much.  While Pat was away I was happily home.          I returned Saturday evening put the car in the garage and there it stayed until I went to get him Wednesday.  A two hour drive to the closet airport is going to be on the con side of the list.

The photos are from just before I started this post.  I should have waited a bit it is  snowing quite hard now and is very pretty from my vantage point.  I have a chair upstairs. Picture a large chair with quilts and cushions beside windows that allows me a view to the north and west.  The one window ledge is right beside my chair and is just a little higher than my chair. The perfect height to set a mug. It is wonderful and I could spend the whole day here watching it snow. 

Ian will be happy with this snow.  He will be here later today with the hope of attaching a tag to a moose.  He is hoping with the leaves gone and snow to show hoof prints he will be successful.

A sunset picture for you.  The sky was incredible.  The clouds were moving quite quickly so I sat on the front step watching those periwinkle and pink clouds move across the sky.

 

Away

  I seem to lose momentum when we have been away.   We were in Saskatoon from the 4th till the 9th of September. Our kids with Heather as the driving force organized an anniversary celebration for us.  We spent a wonderful evening at Zachary and Heather's with family and friends enjoying their company, a beautiful evening and fantastic food.  Carmen and Heather even had peach roses for us, both a bouquet and on the cake.  To be politically correct I use us, but I am sure if Pat ever knew the significance he wouldn't have remembered. They were my choice for my bridal bouquet, but due to an airline strike they didn't arrive, I was lucky to even have flowers. 

 Their gift to us was a family photo shoot. A party and family photos what a fantastic memory of our 35th anniversary, what fantastic adults our kids have become.

  We spent Saturday morning with the girls at the Broadway Street Fair, what fun.  By 10:00 we were eating ice-cream and the girls were having their faces painted by a very talented young women.
  Sunday Pat helped Ian with a couple of house owner projects and Carmen and I did one of our favourite activities - Lunch and browsing at McNally's.  We also took the girls to a park on Sunday.  There is a play space by Lathey Pool.  Wow have they changed from our kids day.  Climbing, running and swinging seems to be the focus. Plus, this whole play structure is on a spongy rubbery kind of base.  Much softer and safer than sand and  perhaps more important unsuitable for animals.

  I must bring you up to date on the baseboards/trim.  They are in our garage.  Delivered two weeks plus a day from the day they were ordered.  The problem now is that we have moved into the rooms, we are not in a rush to get the trim on and have decided that there is outside work that needs doing and will do the trim work when the ground is frozen. So now, after waiting so long for them to come, we have to store them.  Each time we clear floor space in the garage with the idea that we will park both the car and the skid steer in there; something interferes. 

I am including a couple of photos of my studio.  It still needs some more storage and I need a more sturdy table for my machine, which a trip to Ikea should take care of.  We received an Ikea gift certificate because we ordered our cabinets during their kitchen event.  It is burning a hole in my pocket.

Today is the full moon and the autumn solstice is Saturday. When the equinox and the full moon are close together you get a harvest moon.  That means there will be a huge golden orange orb rising over our ravine tonight. That is if the clouds clear off.  The forecast is for clearing and of course low temperature's.  We can deal with the cold I just hope it clears.  We have half of our Slow Book Club arriving this afternoon to spend the weekend and watch the moon rise with us.  We also have a little work lined up for them, because as you know, why just visit, when you can work and visit.  They did offer, although perhaps we should make work bees a part of the Twin Oaks experience.
  
  

Watershed Weekend

  I couldn't decide whether to call this post A Long Weekend 4 or Watershed.  I decided on watershed because we have had a number of trickle down events.

First the bathroom counter top that has been in the works since mid July.  It came, with a backsplash.  My order specified no backsplash.  The vanity is an old organ that Tom and Val refurbished and is narrower than a standard counter.  A back splash makes it tight for the sink. Another 4-6 weeks, I'll let you know when the next and hopefully final new one comes.

  Our contractor measured the house for baseboards sometime in June and placed the order.  Once the mudder started his work we started to think about them again. We wanted to install the baseboards upstairs before we moved everything in. Pat called the local lumber yard to see where we were at with them.  The baseboards/trim would be delivered the next day.  He phoned on a Monday, they would be delivered the next day.  They didn't come. They were supposed to come everyday that week.   When he phoned on the Friday of that week he found out that they hadn't actually placed the order, which they would do and they would come on the truck the next Friday. ( It only comes once a week).  He called the next Friday, the truck hadn't come.  (Yes, I do have bald patches on my head). Monday still no truck, we asked would they please try and find out when the truck was coming, they assured us it would come.  We have now been waiting three weeks. To sum up this dismal tale,  Pat went into Esterhazy on Thursday the 28th of August.  THE BASEBOARDS HAD NEVER EVER BEEN ORDERED!  We told them not to bother.   By now I am sure you are asking yourself why they let this go on so long.  We wanted 14 foot lengths, it makes installation quicker and looks better.  Fourteen foot lengths are hard to haul in a little utility trailer.  So going to a larger centre and bringing them home ourselves didn't seem like a reasonable option.  Esterhazy only has the one lumber yard and we are told the other close one (Whitewood) is just as slow or worse.  Maybe they would have at least placed the order.  There is a light in this window.  I was in Big Lou's to see if they could order sheets of laminate to make the kitchen counters.  While I was there I found out they could order baseboards.  They are not really a lumber yard but will order most items.  They gave us the websites of the two places they order from.  We chose a profile and have sent a email about placing the order.  We will followup with a phone call Tuesday!  We plan to use the same material to trim the doors and windows so we are talking about an order of about 2000 board feet.  I am hoping Big Lou's will be interested in making some money.  We have successfully ordered material from them in the past so I am hopeful. This is a first world struggle but I am used to being able to look at my options in person and if the service is not reasonable at one location you can just go down the street to the next.  I am starting to understand why people just go to Regina.  A conundrum for people who try to support local business.  I will end with the paragraph with the thought that if you are here visiting sometime in the future and there is no trim you will know we have been beaten.

  There is always an upside.  Knowing that your baseboards are in fact not coming tomorrow can be liberating.  You might as well start the moving process. I had started filling my studio a good week ago deciding that I didn't really care when the trim went in.  By  Wednesday the 27th I was humming in tune with my sewing machine.  I was so happy!  It was a bit of a revelation for me. I know creating with fibre is important to me but I hadn't realized how much I was missing it and how important it is.  I have a beautiful spot and it makes me so happy.
  
This is going to be a pictureless post (almost).  The whole house is turned upside down while we move and reorganize so I will include pictures later.

  We moved ourselves into the bedroom upstairs Friday. We now have a closet, such luxury.  We spent yesterday setting up the guest room. We also pulled many boxes out of their resting place and unpacked them.  That gave us a place to store an extra bed.  By the end of today there will not be any beds in the veranda.

  Both the electrician and the plumber came last week so there is electricity and water upstairs.  Water upstairs means we have a bathtub.  I had a bath last evening for the first time in 4 months too tired to really appreciate it but come winter it will be wonderful.  I must say I have been enjoying the shower on the main floor but options are nice.

Pat started his day with the brush cutter on one of our trails below the house and encountered wasps.  Ten stings later he was unhappy for awhile.  Hot cloths, antihistamines, Advil and topical corticosteroids have done their bit.  He is feeling pretty good now, thank goodness,  Long Weekend 4 is not over yet, more shifting of goods and a range hood to install.

Thirty-five years ago today Pat and I were married, those years that have gone by in the blink of an eye.  

You might need a latte/tea/coffee/beer

It has been a while, so I thought you might want a coffee and a little cookie.  We were in Saskatoon for nearly a week and there has been kitchen reno frenzy since we got back.
So maybe I'll start where I left off.  The extra laminate samples proved to be a disappointment, more of the same.  The bathroom vanity top is ordered and the kitchen counters are in a holding pattern.  That is my catch phrase for now.

One lovely summer day prior to our Saskatoon trip and we were sick of being inside. We (Pat) decided to work on water management and our road.  We shaved off the turf, dug the ditch and put the turf back down.   I was part of the "we" but someone has to take photos. 

We need to extend the trench a little farther and then plan to build a rock lined culvert affair that will carry the water to the other side of the road then down into the ravine.   There is another place we plan to do this but who knows when.  We do try not to have too many projects going at the same time but a person does need some variety.

We had a great hectic visit in Saskatoon. We took the girls to supper one evening while Zachary and Heather had a free evening.  I had forgotten what a meal in a restaurant with a 3 and a 1 year old is like.  I knew I had eaten as my plate was empty but it is a little harrying.  A one year old with a very tight grip on a "dilly bar" bears watching.  I know if it falls off the stick there will be a lot of tears. We also had a barbecue with longtime friends and dinner with friends in a nice restaurant courtesy of our real estate agent. Pat spent three days in the office, I did some reno shopping and another day Edna, Brooke and I had did a little shopping and lunching, we had such fun.  We rounded the week out by helping Carmen move.  We arrived Sunday and left Friday of the long weekend. 

No time to rest, the land of renovating awaits.  Carmen and her pooch Teddy arrived Friday evening for a bit of a rest and to help.  As all of you know Pat can't imagine why you would want to sit and visit when you can work and visit.  As it turns out Carmen takes after her Dad and was a godsend when it came to assembling Ikea cupboards.  She figured out the drawing and directed me, we were a great team and it left Pat free to work on other tasks.  

  

The photos in order of appearance. Teddy making sure no mice or squirrels came near the garage.  2x4"s added to the existing beams for extra support. Dry walling done, Pat did the plastering (and did a very nice job), walls painted.  I must digress here for a moment.  As I was painting I recalled a chat with a friend who through the course of the conversation stated "we don't paint".   I am so envious of her, I really don't like painting.  I have had quite a few opportunities ( while painting) to contemplate why.  I think it comes down to no matter how careful I am I am a messy painter, it gets everywhere and I hate that.  Back to the photos, floor installed, Carmen assembling and Pat installing rails.  Last photo, our kitchen as of last evening about 8:30 when we discovered how much our floor slopes and we would probably have to take all the cupboards out and start again.  We decided tomorrow is another day and we would start fresh in the morning. The morning has come and gone as I write and I will tell you that the cupboards are back in,  are level and there were neither tears nor angry words.  Not bad.  I may wash dishes in a kitchen sink tonight.  I will have more photos of the kitchen next time.  To tantalize you for next time I will tell you  " the mudder hath cometh"  and we have purchased   "equipment".  

The mist in the ravine in the morning is beautiful and the wild flowers are glorious.

    

Incredible Light

A slow day for me yesterday.  Motivation was low and the internet was slow.  Pat and I wondered about kids on summer holidays hogging band width and it was cloudy, we know cloudy days slow down the internet.  We have another signal booster ordered so we are hoping this one will work better than the last version although that will not give us more band width.

The flax is blooming and it is beautiful.

When we sit at the dining table in the veranda we look out over the ravine.  The flax is in bloom on the other side. 

I was out yesterday morning to take flax pictures I thought you would enjoy this one.  The flax and the water are almost the same colour, textural differences separate them, the band in the middle is  the water.
Eureka!  With the help of my tech support I now know how to make pictures a decent size.  No more squinting and large enough to do them justice.  

The final stucco coat is done on the basement.  As I said we will now be able to seriously think about what we are going to do outside.  The first order of business will be to work  on grading and water flow.

You will notice the absence of siding on the dormer, the contractors will do that.  On the other hand the siding for the veranda is our responsibility.  We have been having trouble with water coming in the windows so are considering replacing them.  A " while we are at it" situation.  If we are going to do the windows we need to do them before we put on the new siding.

Next reno update is the kitchen.  We took the ceiling down on the weekend and added in the extra support.  We both agreed that it was a job that went smoothly and was done fairly quickly.  Could it be that this was the third room we have done?  And I add the last room.   Pat is working on the wiring as I write.  We ordered the cabinets from Ikea yesterday.  They gave us a delivery date of August 6th.

We have been having thunderstorms in the early evening, they pass over fairly quickly and then the sun shines.  The light is hard to describe and there is usually a rainbow.  I have some photos to share but I must tell you the pictures are good but they cannot really do justice to the light. 

Okay, I did preview this and I realize the pictures are now bigger than the body of the blog.  I don't know how to fix this yet and I don't want to make the pictures smaller.  I will try to either figure it out myself or enlist tech support.