Progress Begins

A few days ago, a team of four arrived to repair our basement walls that had been damaged by our July 1 flood.

The bottom 2 feet of all the walls had been removed to ensure that everything would dry after the flood - inside the walls and out.

The contractor estimated it would take about 2 WEEKS to complete this renovation... Does that translate into 10 WORKING days?!

They have to wait at times for things to dry - like plaster and paint... So they'll be back in a week.

I'm hoping all will be done by the end of October - but it may take longer than that!

The main thing is that we're moving in the right direction! Steps are being taken - however long it takes.

Lots to Do!

Unexpected warm weather - after several weeks of cold - has Terry rushing around doing things he'd like to complete before winter sets in.

I really don't like to see him walking in the carport roof, clearing leaves - but theres no dissuading him.

Won't  the wind just blow them off? I ask.

Of course not!

So I help by supporting the ladder.

Then there are the eave's troughs to clean out.

Then a new indoor problem - the bathroom fan started clanging. Do we need to replace it?!

First an experiment: he removed the whole  mechanism and cleaned all the blades... 

Eureka! Stronger suction again! It holds the paper up! When he turned it off, they fell to the floor.

I never expected it to happen: Forty years of home ownership has made him a handyman!

New Sofa

Terry welcomed a new FIRM sofa into our living room / TV room last week...

This will make it easier to get up, he commented as he tested its firmness...

(I hate to think that we're at that  stage  - but I guess we are!)

I was happy to see that it works as a nice room divider as well. Hope it gives us years of good service. We tend to keep our furniture for a very long time.

Towels

I've slowly been trying to organize our cupboards...

Recently I started on the linen closet - where we keep our towels and bedding.

I pulled everything out and reorganized it - trying to avoid piling things up, but instead, lining them side by side, where possible... It's easier to choose the one you want that way...

In the process, I came across this old towel of my mother's - with a crocheted basket and edge. The basket, I think, was for meant to hold a facecloth.

I don't know if this towel was ever used. Perhaps it was simply a bathroom decoration - but it's still in perfect shape... and I'd guess it's 70 or 80 years old!

LOL

Occasionally, when I glance out of the kitchen window, I notice "faces"...

The folds on the black barbecue cover occasionally resemble faces of people or animals!

What is that?! The face of a cat?! Or Darth Vader?!! I don't know... But seeing these surprise "faces" always makes me laugh!!

Living Without a Stove

A week or so ago, Terry and I got rid of our kitchen stove the day before a new one was scheduled to be delivered.

Make sure you check to see that it isn't damaged before they bring it into the house, I told him when he went out to greet the delivery men - not that I expected the stove to be damaged!

He was gone a long time. I looked out to see him talking at the back of the truck, so I went out to see what the hold up was.

The stove is damaged, I was told. It has a dent on the side - so the drawer on the bottom won't open. You don't have to accept the delivery...

So we didn't.

Only later did we discover that a new stove would take two to three weeks to arrive!

Moral of the story: Don't get rid of an old stove until a new one has arrived - and it works!!

(On the positive side, we do have a microwave - and it's perfect weather for barbecuing outside!)

Yellow Walls

When we moved into this house, the living room was painted golden yellow...

...almost the same color as the carpet.

It also matched the design in the kitchen linoleum.

I would never have chosen that color - but I liked it. It works!

We have repainted the room several times over the years we've lived here, but always the same color.

What I find interesting is how often I find yellow walls in decorating magazine photos, like this one.

There is a quiet warmth and energy in yellow.

Here is another magazine photo...

In fact, if I had to paint my whole house only one color, it would be sunny, energizing yellow!

Building a Garden Shed

When you need to put together a pre-fab garden shed...


... it helps to have a lot of friends...!

(There is very little that can be done alone!)














 

It's never as easy as it looks!

Shopping... For a Clothes Dryer

The snow is here...

Glad my Christmas shopping was done, I didn't expect to go out and be part of the shopping crowd again. Then suddenly our dryer "died" with a bang, halfway through a load.














Here it is on the right. We had bought it new when we purchased the house 32 years ago. (December31 will mark our 32nd anniversary of moving in.) It used to be in the basement, but we moved it upstairs into a new laundry corner when we built an addition 13 years ago. It survived the move and went on to serve us well - without a repair - for almost 32 years. We bought it - an Inglis Liberator - together with a washing machine and stove, both of which have been replaced.

Don't expect that kind of service from a new dryer, salespeople have been telling us. Thirty years ago, dryers were made of steel. Now they are made of aluminum and plastic.

So Terry and I are out in snowy weather, traipsing around stores, shopping for a new dryer. There are several we like...


















We prefer white - colored appliances are trendy, but then the color goes out of style.


















We have discovered that our biggest problem is finding one the same size as our old Inglis. Dryers are bigger these days.














Ours will have to fit behind the doors of our laundry area - with additional venting space near the wall. We have also been checking reviews online. Good Housekeeping has a useful checklist of things to consider when shopping for a dryer. Thanks to it, we took our tape measure along shopping with us.

Although we live in a metropolitan area of a million people, when we find one we like - and that fits our space - it will probably have to be delivered from Toronto. And Christmas (with its holidays) is fast arriving. To be prepared, I'm looking up addresses of laundromats in the area... in case I need to do laundry before a new dryer arrives!

White Appliances - Never Out of Style!

Years ago when we shopping for appliances for our new home, I was wondering what color to buy. Gold and green were the popular colors of the time.

White is always in style, a friend casually commented. There was a ring of truth in his words - so we bought four white appliances.


















A white dishwasher came later (after our third child was born).


















The only appliance we still have from that original purchase thirty-one and a half years ago is our dryer... which still works! When I think of the daily machine-loads of cloth diapers I washed and dried for three babies - and all the laundry it has dried since the ice storm knocked down our clothes line (and we never bothered to replace it), it's pretty amazing. When I mentioned this fact to an appliance repairman, he shook his head and said, Your next one won't last as long. So I'm in no rush to get a new one.



















We are currently looking at fridges - so we'll be prepared if our current fridge "dies." It's fourteen years old and we've heard that the average life of a fridge these days is twelve to fifteen years. (They definitely don't make appliances like they used to!)

Yard Work

Time for Terry to take out his fall "to do" list and get to work. Here he is clearing leaves out of the eaves trough...

I'm always very anxious when he climbs up the ladder to do whatever...  He sometimes asks me to hold it to steady it. I try... but I KNOW I would NOT be able to hold it up if it began to teeter!

Kitchen Quandary

Terry and I are (again!) wondering what to do with our kitchen...














I fell in love with pine cupboards the first time I saw the house - but after sixty-plus years the blue arborite kitchen counter top is showing wear, and Terry wants it replaced.

We found a company that installs granite and polymer finishes on top of existing counter tops - but it costs more than real granite!

Why not go with the real thing?!

Then - when getting an estimate for a granite counter top - we discovered that our cupboards aren't strong enough to hold up granite!

What to do?... Get the (more expensive) fake granite? Or tear out the bottom cupboards and have them replaced...? (Can they match the pine look that I love?! Pine doesn't seem to be in style these days....)

That's our current kitchen quandary.

The Best Desk... is...

We have quite a few desks in the house. Here are what two look like...

















The others are no different!

















When I need a large work area, I usually clear off the dining room table...

















But Terry prefers...

















... the FLOOR!

(Teacher Tip: By the way, in case you were wondering about the best desk for children, studies show that they do better in school if they do their homework at the kitchen table, where they are near adults, so that they can ask questions easily if they don't understand!)

Operation Wasps Nest!

Every few years we discover a wasps' nest where we really don't want it. One summer, a grey ball of a nest suddenly appeared next to our side door - a little too close for comfort.

This year's annoying nest is just under the shingles on our west-facing roof - the side often blown by the wind, so the shingles may be a bit loose.














Terry immediately sprang into action - borrowing a neighbor's ladder, then covering himself - to avoid getting stung.


















My job was to hold the ladder steady. Fortunately I had help from a few stakes Terry hammered into the ground. I'm not sure I would have been able to do much if the ladder had suddenly lurched sideways.

Should I try to catch Terry if that happens? (Or simply get out of the way?) I wondered... But I didn't ask! (No point making him nervous.)














So he sprayed - a thick foamy wasp-killer.

But the next day, we could still see wasps going in and out.

So we plan to try it again... and (if necessary) again...!

Update: After several unsuccessful attempts - we have finally called in an exterminator!

Dirty Little Secret...

One thing I didn't realize about Terry - until our honeymoon - is that he REALLY REALLY hates smoke and fire...

Our honeymoon cottage had a lovely rustic stone fireplace - but despite my numerous hints, he showed no interest in lighting it. So I finally decided to it. (I think he was outside at the time.) When he came back into the cottage, he was REALLY REALLY upset! It didn't help that I hadn't opened the damper of the fireplace, so that smoke could rise through the chimney! (I'm no expert at lighting fires. At home, my father had always lit them!)

So as smoke filled our little cottage - I discovered that my new husband did not enjoy romantic evenings gazing into a fire! (Into a TV perhaps, but not a fireplace!)

Later we bought a house that had a fireplace. Again I hoped we would use it. I suggested buying an energy-efficient insert... and lining the chimney with an insulated metal pipe for safety- but all these years later, we have never used our fireplace. After having it cleaned by a chimney sweep, we closed the damper...














...And a peace lily has sat in front of it for years!

Now for our DIRTY LITTLE SECRET...

Birds and squirrels often sit on the roof - and on the chimney...

And occasionally they drop things in. (We know because we hear a scratchy flutter...)

We've even tried covering the chimney with a metal cap, but winter winds blow it off... so there it is... a wildlife "garbage can."

Someday - probably when the house is sold and a new owner decides to use the fireplace, he or she will open the damper.... and be in for a DIRTY LITTLE SURPRISE. I hope they have an open garbage bag ready! I don't even want to imagine what the mess will be like when everything that has dropped down the chimney over the years falls in!

Why am I mentioning this?! Because sitting here blogging... I again heard something fall... This time it sounded like a pine cone...

But I'm not going to open the damper to find out!

Me? A Shopaholic?

I'm not a shopaholic when it comes to clothes, shoes, or makeup. But I do like to buy books. And I have a SERIOUS PROBLEM resisting cute kitchen items when I see them - mugs in particular!














I don't know why it's so important for me to drink out of a particular mug - but it is! I have my favorites. The color and design of the cup - as well as the coffee in it - contribute to my sense of contentment when I sip my morning coffee!














I do get tired of using the same dishes day in and day out! I envy my Jewish friends who have two sets of dishes - one for meat meals, another for milk - and then two more sets for the week of Passover! I guess there's no reason why I couldn't have several sets of dishes as well - but lack of cupboard space does limit my purchases!

I've stopped buying small electric gadgets, as I've run out of counter space... But whenever I go into a kitchen supply store, I could easily buy one of everything there! (Even though I have no place to store it when I get home...)














Nowadays, when I go shopping - I justify my purchases (like these cute little tomato and onion holders I bought yesterday) by telling myself that my kids would like them - if I don't use them - and the extras I bought will make cute hostess gifts!

(Like all "addicts," I find good excuses for what I do!)

New Morning Coffee

Quite a few years ago, I received a coffee maker for Christmas from one of my kids...














But it was a new system - so I put it away for "special days"... and of course rarely used it! (Morning coffee habits are hard to break.)

But, in my new resolve to use what I have... not waiting for special events...I have started to enjoy a cup or two of "cafe latte" every day...


















So (in the microwave) I first warm a quarter of a cup of milk in a mug... (That warms the mug as well as the milk.) Then I push the button for a cup of espresso.


















And enjoy my treat!

My Kitchen

Sue, in one of the blogs I read, is planning to renovate her cozy kitchen, so I thought I'd post a blog about my kitchen - what we have changed - and what we haven't - in the 28 years we've lived in this house.


















When we were house-hunting, and I first walked into this kitchen, I immediately felt at home. The house I had lived in as a teenager had pine cabinets. So I knew they were something I didn't want to change. I eventually spent several weeks refinishing them (removing the doors, sanding and re-varnishing them). I also cleaned and repainted the door handles - as I couldn't find any that fit the existing holes in the doors. I've always liked to have the microwave on the counter, even though it uses a lot of counter space. I find it the perfect height.


















When we wanted to expand cupboards, we went to Ikea and got some basic white ones, which we installed ourselves. They would be easy to remove and use as storage in the basement, if we ever did redo the whole kitchen. We've gotten used to the open shelves, but if we did add doors, I'd like them to be pine or glass.

We always buy a portable dishwasher, as it provides extra counter space and we don't need to hire a plumber or electrician to install it.


















I'm always on the lookout for racks to help organize our stuff. These are from Ikea.


















I do most of my food preparation to the left of the stove. Extra work space when I bake is provided by the glass-top stove, which is easy to clean.














We still have the original sink and counter-top - and the flooring which was in the house when we bought it. I thought of putting ceramic tiles on the floor, but heard about someone who slipped and fell on her wet tiles, injuring her back - so I decided to stay with what we have.

The worst parts of the kitchen are the two bottom corner cupboards, which have a lot of wasted space at the end. I can't even open the doors all the way in this corner.


















With all its shortcomings, I still love my little kitchen. It's not big enough to eat in - which would be nice - but all in all, it serves us well.