It's All in the Details

The light rail has been installed! Lots of finicky angles and corners that slowed P down a bit but he forged onward and it looks fantastic!

Next: the lights under the upper cabinets that are hidden by the light rail. How wonderful it will be to flip the switch and have the lights come on!!

Splish Splash

The backsplash is finished and we have grout!

P grouted then wiped, wiped and wiped. He let it dry completely for 24 hours, then buffed and polished.

A wee bit of grout-coloured caulking will finish it off nicely.

Next on the list is doing the lighting under the upper cabinets, and finishing off all the trim above the upper cabs and the light rail around the lights.

Merry Merry 2010

Happy Christmas!!!

What a wonderful day at Hawthorn Creek Farm, with Santa delivering heaps of prezzies and the smell of turkey roasting and Christmas pudding steaming in the pot. Sam's fun gift is meant for outdoors use, but because of the snow we left him try it out in the kitchen. He does have a helmet, don't worry! We've read him the riot act about safe care of his grey matter.

Hope you had a wonderful day, too!

Two More Sleeps

The countdown has begun and I am dreadfully ill-prepared. The house is a mess because I've neglected to clean or tidy since September (or so), P is moving furniture to put baseboard trim, and he's also putting backsplash tile up in the kitchen.

Take a look at the mess. How on earth is everything going to come together in 24 short hours?!?! Tick ... tick .... tick ....

Look at the trim in the foyer and upstairs hallway. Amazingly gorgeous!

It's wonderful that P feels well enough to traipse up and down all the stairs to use the chop saw (or tile saw or mitre saw ... ) then climb back up again on his mending gam. It's also wonderful to see some more finishing touches in this house.

And then there was the last day of school, which was also my last day with my munchkins. We had pyjama day (with teddy bears of course) and we watched a movie and did some fun Christmas activities.

I'm going to miss them!

Tick ... tick ... tick ....

Yikes! I better get crackin'!

Trim, Trim, Trim for Me! Trim, Trim, Trim the Tree!

Trimming the house with door trim and baseboards is something P was working on back in the summer, and it came to a halt when P crashed in August. So this past week, when the saw came out and the trim went up all around the doorways in the upper hall and bedrooms, I was ecstatic!

Take a look at the baseboard behind the couch in the living room.

And then Grandma came over and with the help of two clowns, she decorated the tree! We're getting there. Only 6 days to go before the big guy comes down the chimney.

Chopping Down the Tree

Finally!


The kids took it upon themselves to chop down the tree this year, due to P's leg and my lingering cough.

First, they bundled up and went in search of the chainsaw.

Second, they selected the best tree in the forest, and chopped it down.

Third, they took off their shirts and set it up in the living room like real men.

Ok, I can't continue the charade any longer! The truth is that they dug out a tree from the basement that we've been storing for Grandma M for years, and they constructed it in 2 minutes flat. Lovely! Fake trees don't smell as nice as fresh ones, but in a pinch, they do the trick pretty well!

Sunday Snow

This morning dawned bright and snowy. I've been fighting a cold and have no energy for festive preparations, so the snow was a welcome excuse to stay inside and procrastinate effectively. Scooby was on board with the idea and took up residence on the back of the chair with perfect view of the white yard.

I couldn't ward off the guilt for the entire day, unfortunately. By late afternoon I convinced J to find the Christmas wreath in the basement and hammer it into the front door. One to-do checked off the list. Whew! The day has been somewhat productive!

His First Steps

Only 14 weeks later, P is mobile! The doctor gave him the OK to start putting weight on his foot last week, and he's been gradually increasing the percentage of weight he's bearing on his right foot and now he's worked up to 100% ... without a crutch! Yeehaw! Maybe we'll go dancing for New Year's Eve?!?! Maybe a 10K? The Boston Marathon? At least a walk in our woods?

Return To Work

P's on a return to work program, in accordance with his increasing abilities and energy level that are improving daily.

In August, just before his accident, he had started drywalling some small areas, but that had to be cleaned up and all the equipment tucked away until this week, which was not only a nuisance but a hideous eyesore.

A few days ago he sanded, patched and sanded some more, and yesterday he painted the primer on those areas. Today, he put two ceiling coats on the upper hall, the stairs and the foyer. WOW!! He mentioned the word P-A-I-N-T for tomorrow, and I am really, really excited to see some colour on those walls. It's going to look so awesome!!

Brrrrrrrr!!

The big Friday night storm turned out to be not-so-big, but we're still left with a few inches on the ground and drifts around the house. At times this morning it was blustery and visibility was near impossible. It's putting us in a Christmas spirit! Perhaps we should go out and chop down a fir tree!

Scooby was a bit indifferent with the snow but he soon gained confidence and left in great huge leaps all around the drifts. He was covered in snow, but by the time I grabbed the camera it had started to melt off him.

Friday Night Roast

It's Friday night after a week of report cards (excuse me ... progress reports), parent teacher meetings, homework, planning, marking and thinking about Christmas plans, and P put on a roast and the house smelled gloriously yummy when I got home and he had oiled the butcher block counter between drywalling the upstairs hall wall and the Grandma M peeled the potatoes and put them on to boil and we poured a glass of shiraz and ... yes, all is right with the world.

Funny fajitas

Don't play with your food! But sometimes it's absolutely irresistible. However ... this fajita won't hold too many goodies. My bet is that the messy plate award is coming our way.

For those about to walk

For those about to head out for a stroll into hot Florida heat, here's a quick pic of me about to walk Scooby in the snain (a nasty snow-rain mix) in the dark of the 6:15pm night. Dismal and dreary, November is definitely upon us.

A Farm By Any Other Name

We just discovered that our farm (well, the farmland portion) already has a farm name. We dubbed the entire property Hawthorn Creek Farm due to the curiously high number of hawthorn and buckthorn trees here and the meandering creek that flows through the north fields. So here's the original name. Let me know if you think it's more apt: Pinewynd Farm.

So, whaddya think?!?!?!

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could not believe my eyes, but on the weekend we were snowed upon!!

What a shocker!!!

S and I were flabbergasted and gobsmacked, both at the same time!

Oh Chute!

Wood, wood and more wood! We've loaded so much wood into the basement to prepare for winter, especially in light of P's limited assistance ... but we certainly couldn't have done it alone. HUGE thanks to GT and Bop and Andy who worked their pants off (and in Andy's case, he literally worked his pants right off) stacking wood.

As if that weren't enough, GT and Bop put in a few more winter-prep days ... putting the plow on the ATV, cutting grass, and putting planters and assorted junk away for the season. Amazing to have such awesome help!!! We'll miss them for the next 6 months while they're sunning themselves in southern climes.

Making Use of the Track

The day was cool, the sky cloudy, and the kids donned their gear (or most of it) and took their bikes for a spin.

I have no idea what came over me, but at the track while I was walking Scooby and watching the kids ride around on their motocross bikes, I was suddenly overcome with the urge. The urge to ride.

Perhaps I felt like the track hadn't seen much use since P's accident, or perhaps I felt adventurous and carefree, but whatever the impetus, I asked J for his helmet and gave the kickstart a good kick, and off I went!

Yeah, the bike's a bit too small, but look at my form! A star in the making. Gotta go ... I think Ricky Carmichael is calling for advice ...

Wood You Believe ... ?

On Thanksgiving Monday, some friends came out to the farm (indispensable friends, to be sure) and split wood. And stacked wood. ALL DAY LONG! The weather was cooperative (sunny and cool) and even Mr. Broken-Legg worked up a sweat. It's awesome to know that we've got enough wood for the winter piled in our basement now. And it's awesome to have freinds. I mean friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Year 2010

In light of the recent past, one might think there's not too much to be thankful for (I'm referring to Peter's broken leg, operation, recovery, discovery of broken foot, second operation, longer recovery and multiple incisions), but I'd like to take a mo and ponder what I am thankful for ...

Awesome weather!

Awesome neighbours who donated an air hockey game to us since their won kids have outgrown it.

Awesome grandma who kicked @ss at said air hockey game with dumbfounded grandsons.

Awesome husband who made dinner for exhausted wife last week in spite of aforementioned injuries, and who is upbeat and uncomplaining throughout.

Awesome kids who love music and teach each other the ins and outs of the tenor sax then practise screechily and enthusiastically.

Awesome turkey which is the first one I've ever cooked pretty much on my own (well, minimal verbal assistance from husband on initial set-up and from grandma on gravy-making). It turned out surprisingly well! I'm still surprised! And full.

A few months ago we planted cleome in the front garden, a small annual plant that would grown about 24 inches high. Well, take a look at these mutant green things: 5 feet tall at least. Even though they still have a few pink blooms, that bit of colour is not enough to deter me from tidying up.

It helps to have a warm sunny day when you're in a gardening mood, doesn't it? It reduces the chore factor and increases the enjoyment. And at the end of the day, there's a pretty little garden, free from gigantic roaming leaves that block the entire minivan from the front window view. Really! They were that big!

My Left Foot

P's left foot is his good one! These look like a "before" and "after" shot of the biggest loser except with scratches and bruises and staple holes. Believe it or not, P's right foot looks marvelous in comparison to 3 weeks ago, with the swelling substantially less and the bruising almost gone. Soon he'll actually be able to put weight on it as he limps down the road of recovery.