Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Crappy Weather & Random Rant!


So the weather has been crappy, the satellite has been out and I've been on my own. Can't even watch The Duggar's tonight and there was gonna be a whole brand new episode on. What's a girl to do. Well I BBQ'D me a burger and it was darn good! Can't tell you the last time I used the barbecue but it's been awhile, but I figured it all out!


Yeah I had planned on going to the gym yesterday with my bike but first it started raining and then it started snowing. Could have taken a bus but I'm not a fan of buses except in times of dire need. Didn't grow up with buses except school buses that is, and I despised the hour I spent on them coming home from school. So needless to say, I hibernated yesterday. Only time I went out was to get the mail; took Penny Lane with me and even she didn't really want to go out.
But really needed to get out today, so I walked to the gym, cause once again they talked of snow. But had to walk backwards in a sense, so that was something new. New things freak me out! Hubby has always driven me to my new gym and I have walked home but today I had to do the route in reverse. Freaky!
Speaking of freaky, darling son stopped by after work and I enjoyed the visit. He suggested I get my driver's license. That is one thing I just cannot do as I have a focus impairment if that makes any sense.Guessing it would roughly cost a million dollars for someone to eventually teach me how to drive. But hey if I had that kind of money, I would pay someone to chauffeur me around!

While I was freaking out & dealing with myself, hubby was packing up youngest darling son's belongings and bringing them to his new temporary east coast home. He stopped at an Ikea to pick up a few things we wanted for our new home and while he was shopping someone stole his shopping cart that contained the stuff he was planning to buy. And it wouldn't have been an Ikea staff member, cause the stuff he was planning to purchase, had been removed from the cart and was placed randomly nearby. A staff member surely would have put the stuff back where it belonged. Seriously some folks need to learn some manners!

My snow covered back deck once again! Another freaking winter wonderland!


Love, love getting free stuff & prizes in the mail. Was rewarded with all this stuff when I went to pick up the mail. Gotta Love it! 
Well enough said gotta go watch another downloaded episode of Grey's Anatomy! 


Saturday, April 25, 2015

This is what having 2 dogs looks like & lots of fun for me!


So after a week of having 2 doggies, hanging out with two looks something like this. Got out for at least 3 walks with both but then the weather deteriorated and then took turns walking them separately only to get the mail.


So basement half bath has been completely gutted and is patiently waiting for the chance to become a full bath one day. So here's where I come in. Whilst Darling Hubby is on a journey back to Ontario to deal with some unexpected family business, I am left to deal with scraping all of the leftover tile backing and glue off of the cement floor. It's gonna be a blast; I can feel it already! Can hardly wait but I'm sure in a few days I'll be wishing I still had my hot tub from my old house to soothe my sore muscles! 




Wednesday, April 22, 2015

And The Good Lord said Let There Be Satellite & Bath Reno Begun!

And The Good Lord said Let There Be Satellite! 

Well The Good Lord didn't actually say that, but I'm thankful for all he provides! 
After roughly 2.5 months of being without live television, except for getting to watch selected channels at the gym, I'm happy to report we have LIVE TV once again. YAY! Back to watching home shows, diy shows and yada yada.... while I enter my daily contests. 

Have been going for lots of walks with the two dogs! Was a lovely day on Sunday; so we went to Sullivan's Pond in Dartmouth and then hooked up with another trail that had this cool outdoor fitness equipment. Gotta love it! 


Although a little sooner than planned, downstairs bathroom reno has begun. Well I guess it actually started the day we removed the laundry appliances shortly after we moved in. When we bought the house the bathrooms were first on our list to reno but the kitchen became a priority cause we spend more time in there. And in our planning process, we realized we have to do the downstairs bath first cause if we do the upstairs first, we will be without a place to shower or bathe. Not good, so need to get the downstairs done first & include a bath/shower unit.

Original Basement Half Bath with laundry appliances. We're planning on keeping the original vanity & medicine cabinet but updating them with a little paint & new hardware. Although you can't see it very well, the sink is a seashell type of sink & has got to go as does the water wasting toilet.  



Half Bath with everything removed except toilet, sink and vanity. But with a temporary addition of our little grow-op of annual seedlings of marigolds and such. These little guys can't wait for the time they can head outdoors, whenever that may be!


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Hanging Laundry on the line and then there were two dogs

Even though there is still snow on the ground especially in my backyard I'm thrilled to be able to hang out the laundry on the clothes line. To make this happen, had to spend a bit of time searching for my clothes pins. Since we moved seems like everyday we are searching for something!
Love the fresh outdoor scent of bed linens after they have been hung out on the line to dry versus tumbling around in the dryer. Finally starting to feel like spring is in the air! 


Purchased some new outdoor globe lights to replace the black and also rusty builder grade original ones from ages past. Got them for a good price in the clearance section at The Home Depot.




Whilst darling son & daughter-in-law are basking in the Cuban sunshine, we are experiencing a double dose of the canine kind.Yes we are dog sitting! While Penny L and Mr.Cash have met on short visits, they are still getting used to one another. Hoping Mr.Cash will teach Penny a few good dog pointers! 

Cash & Penny hanging out on the couch & getting a little more comfortable with one another! 


Penny & Cash hanging out together with Daddy/Opa! Progress! 


Senor Cash basking in the Nova Scotian sunshine on our back deck!  He is loving that spring is upon us! 



Thursday, April 16, 2015

How Much is that Doggy in the Window & Snow Melting!

Darling hubby made a step stool that Penny could use to get a view of our front window. She figured it out with a little encouragement! Way to go Penny Lane! 

Although there are still snow piles taller than I am, I've been able to abandon my boot grippy things on my walks home from the gym. Kind of liberating in a sense and makes my walk home seem so much easier & faster too! They have this snow melt predictor thing going on & they predict we will have snow on the ground into early May and that doesn't even include the snow mountains in parking lots. Front yard is melting really well but back yard  has more shade so snow is not melting not as fast and haven't been about in the back yard yet. Have set up our patio table & bought some new chairs and had our first glass of wine on the patio the other day! Can't see it cause we drank it all! 


Sunday, April 12, 2015

Kitchen Lighting & YAY kitchen is almost done!

So one thing we brought with us from our old house was our Ikea candelabra which we had hanging in the dining room. It didn't cost us a whole lot of money when we bought it eons ago but I always loved it. We often dined by candlelight on special occasions like Christmas or New Year's & even Easter. It was a piece I loved & wanted to incorporate into our new house.Only thing with it was that it was powered by candle light only and we needed an electric element to make it work in our new space. Using an existing fixture from the new house (pictured below) & retrofitting it into our candelabra plus a little black spray paint, we got exactly the look we were going for. And yeah it has LED bulbs instead of old fashioned energy inefficient ones! 

Light Fixture After
Not the best pic but this is the existing fixture that came with the house. We took the inner part of this fixture and fitted it into our candelabra after spraying it with a black matte paint.





Another item we brought was our pot rack. Stained it to match the open wood shelves & added some lighting to it. The metal containers on the light fixtures are actually plant pots also from Ikea, We also had these lying around waiting for a purpose so all in all lighting was not a big expense in our kitchen renovation.


Subway tiles have all been grouted now with a light gray grout. New kitchen window is trimmed, painted & now has a ledge. Just a few more minor things to do (sealing the grout, touch up painting, electrical outlet covers) and YAY the kitchen is done! Can't wait for spring so we can take it outside! 


Monday, April 6, 2015

Chilly Easter Monday morning & New Stuff

Woke up to a chilly -12 degrees on this lovely sunny Easter Monday morning. Happy & excited to once again own a barbecue. Notice it's covered with a light dusting of snow already & we haven't even used it yet. 
One of the joys of moving to a new place is getting to go shopping around for some new things. Since we did move long distance we did leave a bunch of stuff behind, well we didn't exactly leave it behind but we either sold it, gave it away, donated it or eventually tossed it out. Would have been too costly to bring it all with us. So yeah it's kind of been fun getting some brand new stuff. Just gotta be careful not to get carried away; need to stick to our renovating budget so we can make all our other plans work. 


Kitchen Reno is moving right along. Tiling done; just need to grout. And here's some new shelving above my coffee station! Hey it works for me! And by the way gonna get some snow tomorrow!

Friday, April 3, 2015

Kitchen Reno Update, Boychoir, Penny L outing & Dreaming of a White Easter

Sometimes, just sometimes, it's nice to wake up and have nowheres to go! Stores are closed as is most everything else & although I could have gone to the gym, decided on a day off since I already went 3 days this week. So today was a day to go nowheres except for a short neighbourhood first ever walk with Penny Lane.
Although we didn't really go anywhere doesn't mean we weren't busy. Plenty of projects on the go & kitchen reno continues. A new kitchen window was installed today, remaining upper shelves were hung & we added some under shelf lighting. We're really loving the look although it may not be a look for everyone!



Received some free passes to an advance movie screening of Boychoir. Loved, loved, loved  the movie and not just saying that cause I got to go for free. It was a feel good kind of movie; a much needed uplifting kind of movie! Especially after this long hard winter!

I'm dreaming of a white Easter
not like the ones I used to know
where the treetops glisten
and children listen
to hear the bunny in the snow
I'm dreaming of a white Easter
with every Easter card I don't write
May your days be spring like & bright
And may all your Easter's be not white...

Happy Easter Everyone!