Awesome YouTube Video!

I love this video and I really encourage you to take a look.  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exBEFCiWyW0&sns=fb


I'm going to plant a huge garden and grow heaps of yummy fresh healthy organic food and invite everyone to come and feast here at the farm!

Powder Room At Last

With the sink vanity and tower cabinets purchased and assembled, the end is near! There's light at the end of this tunnel!  P installed all the plumbing, tested it and found it to be leak-free, and then installed (or re-installed) the toilet.  A second toilet is so very useful in a house of teenagers!

The cabinets are from IKEA and are floating, so P built in extra bracing in the wall, which is still open on the other side in the family room.  It'll be nice and easy to vacuum under them, to gather up those dust bunnies before they get out of hand.

 Here's P, cutting twice and measuring once. Or is it measure twice ...?

The final touches, aside from trim around the window, are the light fixture (I have my eye on one from Home Depot) and a mirror over the sink.  Any suggestions?

Oh, it was so nice to unpack more bathroom goodies from boxes in the basement and put them where they belong in a brand new drawer.  Heavenly!

SNOW!!!

Emptying out the furnace ashes is usually no problem, when the ground is frozen and dry. Even a bit of rain like the weatherman predicted would have been pretty easy.  But, it started to snow this morning. And snowed. And snowed.  And then, with about 10 centimetres on the ground, the sun finally peeked out a little, encouraging some youngsters to come out and play.

 First, they shoveled off the porch and the front steps, but then they were lured by the perfect packing snow, and soon a snowball fight broke out, with teams being formed and reformed by the minute.  

 Look out!  While two are cheesing for the camera, the third is loading his guns.

Busted!  They stopped him in the nick of time! 

It's All in the Details

The past few days have been busy around the farm, with us picking out a paint colour for the powder room, and by us I mean P.  It's called "On the Rocks"; I love the name, but it makes me thirsty.

 So, while P is cutting in the paint in the corners, I am busy rearranging the newly-covered pillows for the livingroom.  I googled an "easy-to-sew" pattern for pillow covers, and whipped up one in red and one in an interesting mix of gold and red and sage green that I found on sale last week.  Now, if you know me, you know that I am hopeless, really, truly hopeless, with a sewing machine, and even the "easy-to-sew" patterns turn into complicated messes with heaps of hanging threads all gooped together in dripping knots.  So, undertaking this project was quite adventurous for me.  And I did it!  The pattern in a fold-over style not unlike Ikea pillow cases.  Easy. 

 And while P is rolling on the first coat, I'm sitting back enjoying my finished masterpieces.  Hmmm.  Perhaps I'll try quilting next.

The Better Way

 Say hi to Andy; he's putting in the main floor bathroom tile baseboard, to match the floor.  Why? Because we're putting up tile on the wall!  Just one wall, as an accent.

 Glossy white subway tiles.  Reminds me of Ossington Station.  In a good way.

 Reach for it!  Soon they'll need a stepladder.

 All done! Scooby inspects their work and gives it two paws up.  Excellent work!  Time for a bevvie.  Or four.

Makeover Day

BEFORE: 

AFTER:

An improvement?  Well, I adore the curly teddy bear look, but his fur gets matted and clumpy and it is uncomfortable for him, then he scratches and leaves little black fuzzy presents all over the floor.  He seems pretty happy with this 'do. I caught him admiring himself if the mirror.

Have An Ice Day

It began with warnings on the radio.  A light drizzly spray came next.  Then, as the sun set, the drizzle transformed to a solid rain.  Finally, the temperature dropped.  Fast. When we woke this morning, it was to a glossy sheen on everything in sight: the porch was like glass, the front sidewalk impassible.  Scooby took an unintentional flying leap off the second step and cautiously crept around until he shot me a terrified look and tried to climb back up to the front door.  No luck! I had to rescue the shivering pup.  No surprise, buses are cancelled and it officially a SNOW DAY!

The Hanging

 Progress in the powder room!  The door that we ordered before Christmas finally came in, so we picked it up and P and J put on their tool belts and hung (hanged?) it.  

 Scooby is perturbed that he can't wander in on whoever is using the facilities at will, like he did with the curtain.  Usually me.  Usually in a compromising position.  Usually when we had company.

Next, we have to prepare the vanity (yes! there will be a vanity!) and the tall towel closet (yes! there's one of those too!).  And by prepare I mean get out the Swedish-English dictionary.  Stay tuned!

The Snow Arriveth!

Long anticipated and long overdue, the snow has finally arrived! Snowshoes work so much better when there's a good layer of the white stuff on the ground.  The only downside is that it gets all clumpy and matted in Scooby's fur, and is so hard to pick out! When he comes inside he looks like the abominable snowman then he chews the wee bits off his legs and paws and leaves small puddles everywhere.

 I love how snow covers the ugly.  It's beautiful.

Here We Grow Again

 The good old back-to-back comparison is a quick way to see how tall the kids are getting. P is counting the months until he's looking up at his eldest son.  It won't be long now.  And J is not far behind!  I fear that I'll be the shortest of the bunch, and ... I am grateful that there will always be Scooby to look down to.