Thursday, August 23, 2007

We did it!


We did it! A functional bathroom! It's almost midnight now, and I am exhausted, but I am going to go and have a shower...just because I can!

None of the finishing touches are done yet, so I'll post more when it's actually finished. Still, we're pretty happy.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

No more pink walls!


Hello again! Well, I was priming until 10 o'clock tonight, but the bathroom is getting there.
This is how it looked yesterday morning:

And this is how it looks tonight:

Goodbye pepto-bismol-pink walls! See you. . . never!
Tomorrow, we paint everything, then put the tub, sink, and toilet in place and hook e'm up. It kind of sucks to have to finish everything so quickly, but at the same time, without a deadline of some sort, I'm sure we could drag this renovation out for many more weeks! And it will be so nice to be able to shower in my own house again!

And while Jai was doing the wiring and plumbing in the bathroom (stuff I can't help with) I have been working away on our library bookcases. They're almost done being built, then I will finish installing them (baseboard and trim so it looks built-in) and then they will be painted.

We haven't been all work without some play, though. On Sunday night we went to the Annapolis Royal Paint-in with our friends Brandon and Jo. It was so much fun. They had 80 different artists all around the town, painting up a storm. When an artist finished a painting, a volunteer walked it over to the Legion in a pizza box, and it was hung in the gallery, where there was a giant silent auction going on. Until 5 p.m. there was a buy-it now price, and after that, bidding was open till 6. At about one minute to six, you could see all sorts of little skirmishes around the most popular paintings!


We bought two pieces, for our miniature painting collection:

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

And more renovations...


Hellooooo! We're still here. I'm sitting in my house, all alone, for the first time in what seems like months! All of our company is gone again, and I was very sad to see them go. Our friends Amy and Dennis are coming out from Victoria next week, so we have one week to get our bathroom into a functioning space. This is what it looks like now:

The walls that needed to come down are down, the first layer of subfloor is screwed in, and the plumbing is all roughed in. I go back to work at the cabinet shop tomorrow, but Jai is hoping to get the wiring done, and hopefully screw down the next layer of subfloor.

At the same time as we are renovating the bathroom, we had to take down the ceiling in the pantry because of the leak, and I started building the bookshelves for the library, with some help from Mom. The whole house looks like one giant project right now.

We took most of today off, as Errol and Justin came down to pick Mom up and take her back to Halifax. They went swimming in the river behind our house, something we have not been brave enough to do yet. They gave it good reviews, though, and Jai and I are considering a way to orchestrate some serious inner tube floating.

We still have Jane the cat, her and Emma have worked out a somewhat uneasy truce. We'll see how it goes now that Mom is not here to keep the peace any more. She has been the resident cat herder for the last week, a practically full-time job that I have neither the time nor the willingness to take over. Jane is a sweety, though, so hopefully we'll be able to get everyone sorted.

Last night, Mom and I volunteered at the King's Theatre, where Jai works. It was pretty fun - she ripped tickets, and I was the usher. We got to see the play for free, but we were only able to stay for the first half, because we wanted to sneak off and do the graveyard tour. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died AGAIN, and I didn't get any pics to share with you, but I would HIGHLY recommend the graveyard tour to anyone who might be interested, and around. It was so neat - everyone gets a candle lantern (95 people last night) and then a fellow in period mourning takes you around and tells stories about the oldest English graveyard in Canada. It was the perfect night last night, totally clear, and you could see millions of stars. The cemetary is in Fort Anne, right on the water, and it was absolutely picture perfect. If only I'd had my camera!

We had a big wind and rainstorm here a couple of days ago, and it was very hard on the garden, so Mom and I spent a couple of hours re-staking all the tomatoes. There are literally hundreds of tomatoes coming, so hopefully I can figure out what to do with them. Already I am giving away cucumbers left, right, and centre. All the fresh food is so good right now, though! We've been eating handfulls of blackberries every day, and perfectly ripe peaches (ok, I didn't grow those!) cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. We are overflowing with basil and jalapeno peppers, and the carrots are actually growing quite big. Having a garden is so rewarding. I'm already thinking about next year, when it will be even bigger!

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Renovations and Visitations


Hello! It's been a very busy time since last I wrote. The bathroom renovation has begun in earnest, thanks to some amazing help from family in the financial area of the renovation. Right now there is still a tub and shower, but no sink, no toilet, and only half a floor. This is a shot from the first day of work, the camera batteries died before I could get one of how it looks now.

We have ordered an amazing clawfoot tub, and some really nice flooring, so all the pieces are coming together. By the end of the week, it should look like it will one day become a bathroom again. When we pulled up the floor, Jai discovered that the toilet had been leaking. For decades. All the wood underneath it was black and rotten, and the smell was none too pleasant. This bathroom renovation will make a big difference in the quality of our lives.

We had a great visit with Brad (Jai's brother), Karissa (his wife), and Rowyn (their daughter.) Rowyn turned one in our house! We had a fun couple of days touring around, although the visit was way too short!



And Emma the cat was very patient with little Rowyn, so as a reward, we got her a little friend today. She's not very happy with us at the moment. Oops, I'm sure they'll get along great soon. Here is Jane, in a completely unflattering picture, hiding under the sideboard.

We had the first potatoes out of the garden in our dinner last week. Yummy! And just yesterday, we found six ripe blackberries on the bush. They didn't all make it into the shot.

Mom and Errol come back tomorrow. Yay!