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!!