This is February?

 We've had an amazing winter so far. Very

few snowy days, tons of sunshine & lots

of melting for the bit of snow we do have.

On Wednesday, we ventured into the city

to look at apron sinks. Our trek took us to

Ikea & on the way out, after falling in love

with the look of a farmhouse sink for the

kitchen, we treated ourselves to ice cream.

Who could resist a summer treat when

the sky is this blue, not a cloud to be

seen & the sun was so hot, we had our

jackets undone. We opened the sunroof

& drove down the highway with our

tunes blaring & our ice cream melting.

A beautiful spring day, in February!

Please, grampa?

Look what our dear grandson found on a

recent trip to Costco. He figured out how

to make it recline & spent a good deal of

time trying to convince grampa it was a

good buy! In the end, we didn't buy it but

it would be sweet in the new theatre room.

Not on our wish list but it's definitely cute!

One last item to share.

In our new kitchen, there will be a lovely

& big centre island. We've never had one

before, so we're pretty excited. The plan

calls for plain, wooden corbels under the

countertop. We were fine with that, until

we found these really great brackets at the

Antique Mall. We're off tomorrow to buy

them & get them off to our kitchen guy.

Love this french country look for the kitchen.

More treasures.

We've been trying to find some vintage

glass door knobs for the new house. Not

an easy task. But we found more than

we need at the same store that had the

old vintage light. Now we're just waiting

to hear back from our builder to see if

they'll fit in the new doors. The store

owner described a way to make them

work but it's up to our builder guy as he

is the guy who has to put the energy into

the process. Fingers crossed he can!

 Aren't they pretty? It may not work & I would be

disappointed. So for now, we hope & keep the little

fingers crossed for good luck & extra measure.

Hoping, hoping, hoping ....

An amazing find.

It's hard to tell in this photo but this light is huge.

We stumbled across it last week at a little store

just around the corner from the place that is

making our railings for the new house. An

amazing find on a warm, winter afternoon. The

best part, besides the vintage feel to the item

was the price. A very sweet $40. Now we just

need to figure out which room to hang it in.

A small dilemma for an amazing find ....

All in my head.

I'm still hurting. And now I have a nasty

head cold. Trying to explain to my dear

husband what it feels like, I made the

mistake of saying "it hurts so much & it's

all in my head!" To which he replied,

"then I really can't feel bad for you if

you've made it all up!" Took me a bit

to figure out the joke. And honestly, as

funny as he can be, that one didn't make

me giggle. Just added to my pain ....

I Hurt.

It's crunch time! We have just a short time before

our new house will be ready. Won't you be happy

when we finally move & I can stop talking about

the build process? Of course, I may then launch

into the next phase of the new house: landscaping.

Until then, we have lots to do. I'm thankful that

we've been working on our move since before

we started the build. But now we're speeding

everything up to get the old house sold & packed

up. For the last two weeks, we've been painting,

packing & purging. I'm so tired of the whole

process. Tonight, this is how I feel inside:

And below is how my body feels: I hurt from

head to toe. Everything aches. Pain in spots I

didn't know could hurt. Everywhere. Ouch!

The only thing that helps is knowing that

all this work is getting us one step closer

to the country. Every box, every donation

bag, every paint stroke .... worth the effort.

Just wish it didn't hurt so much!!

Sometimes, you just have too ....

 We've lived a very frugal life. At the beginning, 

it was a way to have a parent at home with our

children. Then it became our continued lifestyle, 

even after I went back to my career, 20 years 

in. Now it's a trendy subject & we still subscribe

to this way of life. But every once in a long while, 

something comes along that we have to make 

big decisions about letting go of some of our

savings & treat ourselves to an event, or a trip,

or something for our home. Yesterday, here's

what crossed our path & is now sitting all

wrapped up, ready & waiting for the new house.

A vintage heart shaped chair with light sage

green velvet fabric. In perfect condition, this

beautiful piece was created in Montgomery,

Alabama, far from snowy Alberta! The colors

are perfect for our new abode, the style just

right. And how did we find it, you may be

pondering? I was on Facebook the other night

& suddenly the antique mall posted a few

pictures of new items & there was the chair.

Without any thought & chatting with my

lovey first, I put my name down on it & they

graciously agreed to hold it for me. It wasn't

cheap but the investment is so worth the

opportunity to own this very unique piece. 

Given the long list of others who were

asking for it, even when we were picking it

up just reaffirmed that as quick as it was, 

it was the right decision for us.

And we love it!! I truly believe that each &

every one of our purchases, big & small are

so precious to us because we sacrificed so much

so our kids were given an extra measure of

security when they were growing up. Now we

could be less frugal, but we're still having

fun finding the best deals. Even though it

felt like we were spending a lot on this chair,

when we did a search, we actually found two

others, both in the U.S., for much higher

fees, so we know we did well. And both were

not in as good of shape as this one, from

what we could tell by the pictures. All in all,

another great find & one we'll cherish always.

Doors.

 We're getting ready to show our house this weekend.

Scary thought, that someone is going to walk thru

our home & decide if it's right for them. What if they

hate it? What if they love it? Such mixed feelings

right now. Bittersweet yet exciting too. It's time to move!

As we open close one door ....

.... we're getting ready to open a new one.

If all goes well, in just a short time, we'll

be "home" once again. It will take time to

truly feel like our place but we're ready

for the big challenge. Old memories to

keep us going & new ones to create!

Today ....

.... boxes are gone! The ones we need are tucked

away in our storage room for moving day, the ones

we didn't need were recycled & the ones someone

else could use were donated. Feeling free & light.

Feet up for a few more hours, 

then back at it again tomorrow. 

How was your long weekend?

Did you relax or use it to get caught up?

Yesterday ....

 .... surrounded & crowded out by boxes. 

Packing is well underway.

A Surprise Today.

We drove out to see the progress on the outside of

our new house today & look what we found!

Garage doors .... I wasn't sure if I liked the design at

first but now I'm loving it. Not the traditional boxy

look that we're used to seeing. Love the arches!

Now if the lovely siding guys would move a bit

quicker, maybe we'll be able to move in this year ....

More Choices.

This is a long weekend here in sunny Alberta. We

have spent most of our weekend painting & packing,

plumbing the new sink for the kids bathroom &

purging more items that we no longer need. Lots of

work but all good stuff! Our little guy is away on a

visit with his dad, daughters are off to a movie & dh

is now at his hockey game. What am I doing? Well,

I'm surrounded by boxes that are packed, ready to go

down to our storage room until we move, boxes that

are packed, ready to go to the charity shop & empty

boxes, waiting for their contents. Cozy on the couch,

I'm trying to decide which railings to choose before

our builder asks for our decision later this week.

We have a couple of spots where railings need to be

installed, including the staircase going upstairs. I

love this as we gave it a nice twist at the bottom,

& the railings will add a lot of character here.

Just a short run at the top of the stairs.

You'll see both sets at different angles.

The "Juliet" balcony will also have

a run that will match the curve design.

Love this space. Can't wait to see it

all finished with the railings in place.

Now back to the choices.

So many to choose from.

The Day of Love.

I agree that we should & in our home, do

show love on a daily basis. But it's still

fun to have one special day that is all

about the love we express to everyone!

A day to be "mushy" or creative.

A day to say "thank you" for being part of

my little life here, in the big woods!!

How was your special day of love?

Another Friday the 13th.

I'm slightly superstitious, so Friday

the 13th has never been a favorite

day of mine. However, I've never

had anything bad happen on this

day, so I'm going to stop thinking

that something bad might happen!

Today was great, other than waking

up with a very sore & achy body. I

attended our little guy's field trip &

had a great time watching him have

fun & conversing with the parents.

Got a few keys things crossed off

my "to do" list & now I'm tucked

into a warm bed to watch a bit of

telly ~ Coronation Street is on tap.

Dh is off to a hockey game & when

he's back, we're meeting our builder

at our local coffee shop to finalize

our kitchen budget. We have to

also decide the pattern of railings

& the last few lights need to be

chosen. Then all our decisions will

be finished up. Busy weekend to

get our house ready to sell. I am

so thankful it's a long one with

extra days off. We'll make good

use of this time with our last reno's.

How was your Friday the 13th?

Do you have big plans for this weekend?

Puppy Approved.

We found this amazing sink at a local home improvement

store. It was marked down from $280 to $20. Sold!!

For our daughter's bathroom upstairs in the new house,

we like it so much, we're now trying to find the

matching or similar sinks for our master bathroom.

Even our pup, BoSox, approves of this choice for C.

Do you like this design for a bathroom?

Feeling Guilty ....

Our community has an amazing recycling program.

We have a black bin for true garbage & a green

bin for organics. And each week, we can put out as

many blue bags with paper, tins, glass, plastic,

anything that can be recycled, inside. Most of us

tend to put out a bag or two each week. But now

that we are purging, our blue bag collection has

become a bit more than the usual haul for the week.

Last week's stash.

And this week!

Feeling slightly guilty for our great

garbage collectors. But they turned up,

on time & without any hesitation,

loaded up the bags. So very thankful

for this intentional collection to keep

our landfills from getting too full.

Do you have a recycling program in your community?

Doors. Doors. Doors.

Went to visit the house on the weekend & discovered

the interior doors had been delivered. It was so great

to see how pretty they are. Install started on Monday.

The doors leaning against the nook window are for

the main floor & upstairs. The doors leaning on the

wall & window in the Great Room on the right side

& against the nook wall on the left are for the 

basement apartment. All will be painted white.

The door for our Linen Room.

Mr. B. exploring his auntie's closet.

Bathroom door leaning against the wall.

The hallway doesn't seem as dark now.

And that's the door story for today!

Would you?

Through this entire house building

process, we've had many decisions

to make. One has been to decide if

we will sell our current house, which

is owned by us, free & clear, or to

consider renting it out. If we did go

this route, we'd have to of course,

put a mortgage on it as we would

have used this house's equity to pay

for the new house. Our new home

would then have a bit of a mortgage

on it but one that we'd pay off pretty

quickly. This house's value is under

the new one & the equity we have

is great but even with our savings,

there is still a bit of a shortfall. We

are both comfortable with this &

all along we knew we'd likely sell

this house so we'd remain living the

comfortable life that we'd are loving.

Things have changed a bit. Our rich

economy in this province is shifting

as the price of oil has dropped too

a very low dollar & this is a worry

for many. Jobs have been cut & soon

we'll start to feel the effects in the

real estate market. Both my dh & I

work in industries that never seem

to get hit with the recession & we

know this is just part of the "boom,

bust, recover" that happens in oil

rich communities. However, this

time, our timing with selling our

current home may be effected by

the industry & we need to make

some concrete plans around what

we will do if the real estate market

takes a big hit in the next couple of

months. One of our options is to

hang on to this house & rent it out

until the market corrects itself again.

So here's my big question of the day?

Do we rent out our house & wait for?

Or sell now & take the best price we

can get, even if it's a bit lower than

we had hoped for? I'm only talking a

difference of anywhere from $1,000

to $20,000 as a guess. We know in our

community, it's hard to find a great

place to rent & we know we have a

wonderful house in a truly perfect

location. Rents are high here, more

than enough to cover the mortgage

payment, taxes & expenses. I've

never been a landlord & my fear is

that we'd rent to someone who might

trash it in the end. We'd have to do

a lot of background checking & take

a risk but it could work. There are

tax benefits to this scenario too.

Either way, worry is involved. 

What would you do if you were in this position?

Do we go the safe route & get less money in hand?

Or take the riskier route & fingers crossed in the

end come out on top with a bigger profit?

Look who's Two!!

Our little L turned two today. 

We so love getting pictures of her every day as we

don't get to see her due to distance. But pictures &

Skype are the next best thing! L is starting to talk,

she's a bundle of energy & the sweetest baby girl.

Love you L, our tiny princess!!

A Decision.

Isn't this a great art studio? It's not my space

but a picture I found that shows a well used

environment, with a window on the outside

world. There are four windows in our studio

& once construction is complete, I truly hope

we will achieve this light & airy feeling inside.

I'm now half way through my "sabbatical" leave

from work, using my time to pack, purge & paint

in preparation for our big move out to the country.

Many decisions have been made over the last 8

months & this week, I made one more. As an

eclectic artist, my process of creativity is unique

& my space will reflect this. One day, I want to

be a true full time artist. As much as I love my job

because I can use my energetic creativity, it is a 

time consuming process that doesn't always leave

blocks of time for my personal art each day. I

get frustrated that I can spend days working on

something that needs my brain power & energy

to complete the project. My decision is just this:

my studio will be my sanctuary, a place to create,

a place to reflect, a place to energize, a place to

unwind. Beginning with small increments of

time, with an eventual goal of full time work. We 

aren't sure until we've lived out in the country for 

a while if our projected expenses will be bang on 

or out of bounds. For now, we need my income 

but once we can determine our actual & final 

budget, then we can make plans to bring me home 

to be the artist I am, the artist I need to be.

Part of this decision was choosing a name for the art

studio, which I did finalize today. I have to register

it, so until that legal process is done, I don't want to

write it here, just in case I can't use it. But I love it &

an internet search didn't show any users. Fingers

crossed that I can use it formally, soon!!

And not to be outdone .... here's Louis ....

Louis the VIII that is!

For the Great Room on the main floor.

Can you envision stockings at Christmas? It's

going to look very festive.

My boys!!

Meet Michael ....

 .... Michaelangelo, that is!

Our mantels for the master bedroom. Believe it or

not, we got such an awesome deal on this baby, sent

all the way from New York, that we would have paid

way more for simple wood mantels! Love the stone.

Sorry for the boxes underneath. These are heavy &

we wanted to protect the wood floors. We took each

out to make sure there were no cracks or flaws. All

are now packed up, ready for our builder to install.

Loving Michael!!

Exciting ....

The trim that will be installed around the exterior

windows has arrived! All the windows are white,

with a casing around each. We are adding the black

trim for a bit more of a classic look. Very traditional!

That was our big excitement for the day!

Was your day exciting today?

Pretty Ceilings.

Our ceilings were primed, painted & then scraped

this week for a "California Knock Down" look. 

Not sure what the name means but we like the flat

& sleek look, as opposed to the old stipple we have.

Picture on the left shows the ceiling now that it's dry.

On the right, the front door & two storey foyer.

View from the Great Room looking towards the front.

And the second shot is our alcove for the desk.

Our builder, D, our daughter, C, & my dh, B.

Conversing about color & the beautiful ceilings!

Almost a full shot of the media wall in the Great Room.

Soon, the mantel & the bookcases will be installed.

Paint first, then flooring, trim, lights, doors & cabinets.

So close! The left pic shows the small wall that is part

of the Turret. And then the bank of big windows.

That's the update for today.

More pictures & stories to follow.

Wrapping the House in Green.

We had a hard time choosing the siding color

but neither of us has regrets about our final pick. 

Dark sage green .... just right for a house in the forest.

The siding is about half done now. Can't wait to see it

all finished, with the grey on the gable ends & around

the peaks, black trim around the doors & windows, &

the black shutters framing several of the key windows.

Almost wrapped in full!!