a lop-sided world

Well, the house adventure continues... We started to put in the cupboards we were given this week end. The challenge that arose was not fully realized until they were all connected. We knew that the floors were uneven, but decided to leave them, as they don't feel too bad. This meant shims to keep them level. The first cupboard starts on the floor, but the get gradually higher as you move along. The cupboards are kinda low, and I am not exactly short, so this is not a big dael. The larger challenge arose when we placed the original counter rop on just to get a real height idea. this brought us to the realization as to just how UNsquare my walls are. There is no way we could even use a little bit of the old counter. STRESS!! We then thought of all the different possible ways of making our own, as it would have to be custom built. For about the same cost of a standard pre-made counter, I will have solid 1 1/4" thick maple counters. Our friend knows a guy who installs hard wood floors in semi trailers. He was able to get us a deal, and get it delivered. We measured and cut it ourselves, and now just need to assemble the pieces. Then the holes for the sink and range can be cut. That just leaves routering the edges for a softer look, and screwing it all down (or up, as it is done frome the bottom). The end of next weekend should see me with an installed kitchen, and running water in both the kitchen and bathroom. We also will be totally ready to paint most of the rooms. I know I said I wanted to be ready for that by the end of this week-end, but the counter top trouble had to sorted out first. That is alright though, because paint goes on sale this Thursday. It just gives me an few more days to finalize colours. Oh yeah, the mud worked on the walls, so I will be ready to paint all the bed rooms, I have a couple of days of sanding though.

OH MY!

Well, it is quite the interesting adventure we are having. I was scraping some of the paint in the bedroom, so I could mud the cracks before painting. It is just peeling off in huge chunks. In some places the paint is 1/16" thick, and in other places it is only a couple layers thick. There are some areas that won't peel at all, then when I turn around it loosens and will peel off some more. I think I have gottenall the loose chunks now, but it is all I did ALL day. Tomorrow I am going to try to mud the walls and blend in the parts that don't peel. Maybe I won't be ready by the end of the week to paint that bedroom.

Cool discovery

When we pulled up the old linoleum in one of the bedrooms, we found 12 local news papers, and one Toronto Star from 1947. They were spread out under the floorin, so I took some time to sort them to see what I had (I guess that is the scrapbooker in me). They were all complete issues, and we are giving them to the local historical society. We spent a few hours reading them, and were fascinated by the old adds. There is also burlap under the linoleum in the bathroom. it is kind of neat to see what they did in the past, when decorating. The most common thing seems to be to just add another layer of linoleum. If the piece you have isn't big enough to cover the entire floor, paint the border to match the background.

Here it is!

Well, it looks better outside than in at the moment. The second picture is of the den. It had the plaster ripped off before we looked at it, but it allowed us to see that the main house is of cut stone. The bottom picture is of the living room. We have pulled off all the linoleum tiles, and are in the process of pulling up the ply wood that was under it. Beneath that is another layer of linoleum, a felt backing and finally wide pine plank tongue and groove floors. We are taking it all back to the wood floor, except maybe the bathroom. I am still undecided on that. I finally figured out the layout for my kitchen, so we had to have the electrical moved, and put up dry wall. By the weekend I should have some of the rooms ready to paint. The three bedrooms, the living room, the dining room and the upper and lower hallways. I just have to pick a paint colour for my room. By the end of next weekend, the kitchen will be ready too. That leaves the bathroom, den and family room. All need a fair bit of work, So the bathroom is first. The other two can be completed after we move in if necessary. The yellow colour on the wall is going to be the main colour in the living and dining rooms, with different accent colours for each that will be tied together in the den which will open into both rooms.

ours at last

Well, we got our house on Friday. Everything seemed to happen at the last minute with this house. We got financing an hour before the deadline, the mortgage insurance wasn't sent to the lawyer until after we were there to sign the papers, and the other law office made a mistake so it took until just before closing time for the lawyer to get everything registered. Well, we are in, and on our way to fixing things up so we can move in. I do believe that it pays to be a full tithe payer. There is another couple in our branch who bought a house and got possession the same day. They are gutting their kitchen, and we get all the cupboards and sink. We also get their dishwasher. They have a gas stove, which some friends of ours want (so we get their stove), andthe church is getting a new fridge, so we get the old one if there is not a greater need. It all just seems to be falling into place.

The North Pole

I had a little boy, who had a winter birthday. He wanted to play in the snow, but we had none. I thought and I thought, and got an idea. I covered the furniture with white sheets, and decorated with shiny snowflakes. After making scarves of scrap pieces of fleece (you have to bundle up to play in the snow), we flew to the North Pole to have a snow ball fight. We used white balloons that I had blown up previously. This was the favourite game of the day, and the kids kept coming back to it throughout the party. He had a white cake, upon which Ihad built an igloo and a snowman outof marshmallows. It was a great way to turn six, and was enjoyed greatly by all.

YEAH!!!!!!

I know I am WAY over due to write, but it has been crazy around here. Most of you know we were looking into a house earlier this month. Our offer was accepted, and then the stress of finding financing began. Our Dealine was 11:59 pm yesterday, but really 4:00 pm yesterday as the bank is the seller (apparently they go home then, too). We got the call yesterday at 3:00pm that the broker had found us the money. On January 19, 2007, we will be taking possesion of a 150 year old stone house. The work just begins then, as we have to put a kitchen in before we can live there (it was completely gutted). That is alright though, because Ontario Law requires us to give Two months notice to our Landlord. I will post pictures when I get some.