Eating in the DR

With the help of two muscular young men, the dining table and chairs were moved into the dining room just in time for lunch.

On the carpet

Why does this carpet look so small?  It seemed huge in the last house!  And how on earth are we going to lift that couch over to the carpet?  It weighs a tonne.  But isn't it starting to look great?!?!  So much better than plywood floors and camping chairs.

Unpacking

It's almost as good as Christmas!  Not having used them in over a month, I'd forgotten all about our non-plastic dishes.  They're kinda nice and I think I'll enjoy using them again.

At the Lake

A rainy afternoon of errands took a brief sunny turn so we stopped to smell the roses by the lake.

'Ardwood floors

The new floors have been hidden under that pinky construction paper for so long I'd forgotten what they looked like. S & J and I pulled up the paper and were happy to see that they are still GORGEOUS! Now to clean up all that drywall dust ... sigh.

Home home on the

RANGE!  The user guide for this is huge! It'll take weeks just to figure out how to turn it on. Can't wait to bake up some apple crisp. 

... and the kitchen sink!

Yay! A sink with hot and cold running water. I swear that P is meting out these luxuries one at a time ( and very very slowly) so that I really appreciate them (and him!)

S is sad to not have to wash dishes in the bathroom anymore.

Base cabinets

The base cabinets make a huge difference ... it looks like a kitchen now.  S's inspecting the dishwasher, likely hoping he won't have to wash any more dishes himself.

More kitchen!

Now that some cabinets are up, P needs to do some electrical fiddling before putting in the base cabinets which of course comes before putting in the sink.  But I love them!!!

Cabinet Shuffle

The kitchen is in the early stages of completion, with wall cabinets up on the south wall! Yay!

Rainy day boredom

Need I say more?

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man isn't snoring (he's painting the living room)

In the rain, our back deck is finally clean! But all this rain will make the grass grow, then S will have to climb on the ATV and take care of business.

In Our Prime

Kitchen, living room and dining room almost all primed and ready for paint.  Like a blank canvas. 

Bike trouble

Poor S got a puncture in his back tire yesterday. The ground here is baked to an indestructibly hard finish, and with the hawthorns everywhere, it's surprising that this is the first flat we've had. We scouted out a bike shop, got the new tube (plus some extras) and S enlisted J's help to put it back together. 

New Heights

The stairs are installed. Check out the gleaming beauty! Bit by bit this place is coming together.

Moving boxes again and again and again

As we work on different parts of the house the piles of tool bins have to moved over and over.  I'm thankful for child labour.

Dirty laundry

Is there anything better than clean underwear? I think not.

I demolished the wall and found a dead mouse (my shrieking encouraged P to leave his mudding of the drywall in the living room to alleviate my distress and toss the offending rotting rodent into the pine trees) to make room for the washer and dryer. Our friend H came to help lift the heavy appliances up out of the basement and I thanked him with some "woman-cooked grub" for dinner.  P hooked up electrical stuff and plumbed in some sort of fancy water hoses, and I am in heaven right now, listening to the pleasant swooshing of our new LG washer.  

Teenage birthday breakfast

I can't believe our firstborn is 13!! Following tradition, he was greeted with a cantaloupe bowl of fruit and whipped cream in bed.  

Staining the stairs

The new hardwood flooring on the stairs needed to be stained to match the floors ... so I put on my superhero cape and got busy.

Splendour in the grass

After the hay was cut, the kids went for a ride in the back track.

Demo Kids

S & J demolished the rec room east wall in preparation for a washer and dryer. Yay clean underwear!

Friends don't let friends drive red tractors

Yee Haw! The neighbour farmer couldn't take the hay from our back field because the motocross ruts were too deep, but he gave P a quick how-to and let P use his Bush Hog to mow it down.  I rode for a bit in the tractor!

Birthday party

S celebrated his 13th birthday with 5 friends this weekend. A hailstorm knocked the power lines down and we were without electricity for 8 hours last night! The PS2 and DVD's were left by the wayside. Instead we had a bonfire and the kids caught fireflies! I think the city kids had a great time (in spite of the mosquito bites.)

Ants!!

When S and I were getting ready for his birthday party tidying up the firepit, we uncovered a HUGE ant hill.  He ran for the camera and I had to share them with you!