enjoying the sparklies ...

In the early morning before it gets light.  I plug it in.  For at least an hour.  And, as soon as it gets dim in the afternoon.  I plug it in again. ..   til bedtime.

That's the part of Christmas I really like.  The sparkly tree.  The decorations. Magpie is my middle name?

As you can see I moved over one of the little owls from my little counter top trees... he looks so cute sitting in the branches.. Of course, I should have bought a whole family of them now that I see how sweet they are in a tree.... maybe I can make some  ... somehow...

And, look.....no stove in the dining room or under the tree .... we hauled up our table and chairs as soon as the oven was moved into the kitchen on Dec 21st !  Just in the nick of time.

We forgot to take a photo of the little stuffed chicken too.... it was halfway through dinner before either of us realized it.  Let me just say ... first roasted chicken since July because of the renovation and there being no oven...  .... mmmmmmmmm..it was wonderful if I do say so myself ....and I DO !!

Cheers to us all !

Merry Christmas ..

I hope you all have a wonderful festive few days .....  I've been busy baking up a storm in my new oven.. the house now smells amazing..
































Just a few pics from today and a few of the bears from years gone by.....

Mouse Central was in full swing.....

I just ran over and hung these guys on the mailbox rack...hope they use their front door soon.... hahahha..

Thanks for all the good wishes on my luck with the stove and oven..... a lot of you know how much I love to bake and how I've missed having a real oven....the little toaster oven was great of course, but doesn't quite make the grade for Christmas baking.  Not that I got any done soon enough to send...but, hey..... we get the benefit now of a few days of playing with my new toy.

Chicken tomorrow!!!  Merry Christmas Everyblogbuddy.....

XXX

Wooooohoooooooo!!!

I've got my oven working !!!  There will be a little roasted chicken for Christmas dinner after all !

Baked some loaves of bread for the first time since July...... aaahhhhhh ..... nothing like the smell and taste of fresh bread.....mmmmm...

The manager of Legacy cabinets actually came with one of the finishers...and together they managed to re-build the opening for the oven... and the appliance installers came the following day to hook things up.  My stove is working!  And..I love it.

See how the opening originally didn't even match the drawers on either side?  It is hanging lower by far than it needed to ... for looks as well as for the size of our oven.  It doesn't need to be down there...and then... on the third attempt to arrange an opening that fits the oven...they still made the opening too short to cover the bottom portion.  So..even if it was the correct size ...which it still wasn't ... the width measurement was the height...and the height was the width....it looks ridiculous.

Finally...it looks like this.  Perfect.  But, it took a lot of time and effort and headaches and arguing on our part to get it the way it should be...not just the way we want it to look.

However, the dishwasher panel still doesn't fit...now it is too short... after being too long the first time.  The panels for the fridge are almost ruined.  The screws are too long for the area where they had to put them for the brackets that hold them on to the fridge door. ....and they almost punctured the front in many areas.  They are saying they will repair them.  I don't want that.  I want new panels.  Done properly.  We are "discussing" it.

For now... and until well after the New Year....I am happy to have my stove top and oven working.  I am happy to have a proper dining room area.... crowded by my pretty tree...... with plants all in the wrong area.... like we have every year when we have to make room for our tree  ...hahahha... I love it!
I like to put it there so I can admire it from the kitchen...cuz... that's where I spend most of my day.

Must go....  today I'm baking some double chocolate chunk cookies with cherries ...... and because I feel happy and have more energy...I'm going to be playing with some little walnut mice decorations too... have several on the go... assembly line fashion.  There are 3 little girls who moved into a house across the street.... I want to hang some on their doorknob.   I always like to imagine how surprised kids would be to find somebody has left them a little giftie....I know I would have been as a kid.... maybe times have totally changed and I'm just out of the loop, old and funny... ...but, ...maybe not.

 Especially at Christmas.

it's handy for piling stuff on...

and gives things an even more festive look don'tcha think? ..

Refurbished wreath..

I decided the other one was just not ... uhm.... 'substantial' enough, would be a good description, I think..... for the new door.

This one adds a bit more oomph ... has more weight, and doesn't just sort of disappear into the door.  It's one I had a few years ago...I subtracted some things...and added others and am happier with it for this year.

It's not turning out to be the Christmas we thought it would be.... when we began the reno in mid July.

We should have been totally finished and moved back in by end of October... plenty of time to enjoy the new surroundings... "learn" my new stove and have fun doing lots of Christmas baking.

It's not happening.

The cabinet company is messing with our house, our hearts and our heads.  They are still trying to figure out how to build the opening for my oven.  It is just a regular built in oven.  They are supposed to be cabinet makers.  I don't get it.

I finally got mad and wrote a letter to the manager...at the same time our contractor managed to contact the same guy... and told him in no uncertain terms to get his butt over to our house and get the mess sorted out.  He had no idea of course, of what has transpired...everybody is covering their own derrieres.... and how many times things have been done and re-done since the first day of installing, when several things were already not right.  He finally found our files...  did arrange to meet us on Monday last..to try to set things in motion and get us finished.  He showed up and was a bit surprised at our distress and our situation.  He promised I would have an oven by Christmas.  But, he also promised to call me the next day to set up an appointment to get it done...and didn't bother calling.

Finally, on Thursday, I called him and he apologized...again.... and said he should have called, but didn't, and that he had given our info to somebody else and thought she was calling.... but, took blame for not calling and asked if I had the date for fixing things.  All well and good, but, still I had no clue as to what was happening and had to call him to find out.  I still didn't have a date ..nobody had called.  He then told me he will be here this Thursday, with a cabinet finisher, and the two of them will build the oven opening... re-build the microwave opening... put on the panels for the fridge and the dishwasher and finish up the other 'deficiencies' as they refer to them.  My fingers are crossed...but, I don't hold out much hope for anything at this point.  We have been through so many fixings and screw ups already...and this may end up being not much better.  Very upsetting for the horrible expense and the fact that these guys are supposed to be one of the best in the city.  At this point, there is not one redeeming feature to recommend this company to anyone I know.

My oven still sits in the middle of my dining room.  Even if they do get the opening right on the fourth attempt.... will the appliance installers be able to come on Friday?  who knows.  Nobody is saying.  And, mostly... nobody cares from what I gather.

I was so upset last week that I didn't even want to put up the tree.   Mr. BV said "oh, no you don't"..... "you love Christmas... you know how you love the sparkly, pretty tree" .... "we are definitely putting it up".  "Now".
He dug around in the still overstuffed storage space and found it... dragged it up and put it together.  Plugged it in and was already putting on the first balls while I sniffled a bit in the kitchen, and heated some leftovers for us to eat.  We poured our little snifter of Bailey's and turned on some Christmas carols and decorated the tree.  Our usual tradition.  It is beautiful.  And I do love it.  He says if the damn oven is still there on Christmas Eve...we are just gonna put a big bow on it and shove it closer to the tree.

We won't be able to cook a chicken in the little toaster oven...but, hey...I can make my special Artichoke Chicken casserole.

It won't be the Christmas we hoped for .... but it will be great compared to a lot I lived through before I met Mr. BV.    I will be warm, cozy, and loved ... and there will be food.  Nothing more I could ask for.

looking Christmas-y.....

I'm not sure if my usual wreath looks a bit dainty on the new coloured door.... it looked fine on the old door.  Maybe I'll dig out my previous one...or.... make a new one....or just add a bit to this one.  Up close it is much better looking.... ....

Look, I've put up the tree

...er .....trees.... ...

Can't do much else so just trying to have some silly fun.

back spasms

I've been laid low, so to speak.... although, it is almost more painful to lie down than it is to sit or stand and walk around.  Wandering around hanging onto the counters and walls.  Feeling useless.  Doing a lot of swearing.  So unladylike..... as usual.  As a matter of fact, Mr. BV is threatening to send me to etiquette and deportment classes when this reno is finished because I've become so bad......

Since Thursday, when the movers moved stuff and I didn't do much at all except direct traffic...  I have been unable to do much in the bending forward department... which is probably the position that did me in.  Washing floors, cupboards and such.... even washing the plant leaves...arms out in front and big back muscles doing a lot of the work....guess it all finally caught up with me.  Usually my low back gets me...but, this time it is right at waist height.  Totally unusual.  And totally painful.

Today I'm actually feeling quite a bit better ...but, it sure is taking it's sweet time.

Winter is here to stay I think.  Look at these fluffiest of snowflakes we were having today.  They remind me of something we used to buy as kids...in packets.... to sprinkle on the Christmas tree.  It was just like this stuff.... which of course, makes the real thing seem so unreal to me.  I had to go out and take some pics.... even in -11C.... brrr...it feels every bit of that today.  So glad to have a nice warm house.... even is everything is not yet finished and not looking like it will be soon either.   Christmas baking may be done in the toaster oven.....













Yup.... I still have my little toaster oven...it's now sitting on the kitchen counter, so I can bake.  I do have a working fridge even if the panels are not on the front.  I still have my old microwave even if the new one sits idle ..waiting for it's opening to be built... and the dishwasher is working ... also without a front panel.

Actually that's a pretty funny story...I sent this blurb to my sister... who by the way is laid up with a broken leg now.  She fell off her hay trailer into the wheel well area while trying to  lay a tarp over the hay to cover it from being snowed on.... and that was it. Broken just below the knee..... oh, man... poor Vikki......

Anyway without further ado.... the story.....

 The dishwasher is hooked up even though the panel on the front is just the stainless steel underpart of things...  so I was excited to try it seeing as I’ve had no dishwasher to use since mid July.  We got all the settings adjusted...and started it...  felt pretty smug with ourselves ... let it run a cycle with dishes in and clapped when the “Plus Dry” or whatever cycle it is called began to work.  It pops open the door and lets the steam out as the fan is going ..etc...   and then..it continues to run 'til the cycle is finished and turns itself off and opens the door... ... huh?  No door opened.  There was this little stick kind of thing there .. about 3 inches long attached to the dishwasher and to the door at the top... ...holding the door closed ... and we couldn’t figure out what to do with it at all.  We read the booklet cover to cover and back again... looked online to see if we could figure anything out... actually saw another guy with exactly the same problem...and no luck at all.  Everybody finally said ...call Miele repair.  I did first thing yesterday.  The lady on the other end said ...just pull open the door Veronica.... I said I had tried that.  She said... pull it.  I said..how hard?  I am afraid to break this thing... whatever it is.  She said again...just pull the door open.  So I yanked ...and open it came.  Then... seeing as it had long since turned itself off... she said to turn on the power so the computer began to work again.  I hit the power button.... ..and voila...the little stick thingy retracted!  What the heck!??  I told her they need to add something to their manual.  They definitely have to show a picture of it...quit saying there is a latch or whatever under the door opening slot and just say ...give a good tug to open it.  She said they definitely should do that...because everybody who has this model calls with the same problem.  I guess it is another kid safe type of thing... just needs more firmness to open it.  Boy... they try to keep kids too save these days.  They don’t learn anything.  No consequences anywhere it seems now.  Anyway... there they were ...my dishes.  All sparkly and clean and definitely cool now...three days later...hahahha... we all had a good laugh.  

See the white plastic latch type thingy?   That was the culprit.  Other than that..... it works brilliantly.

Window coverings..... wheeeeeee

No longer do I live in a gold fish bowl with plastic and green tape crosses on the windows to try to save the birdies....I did take off one side a few weeks ago and a tiny thrush tried to come in right away.  He must have seen my plants on the inside and just flew straight out of the big spruce and right into the window...trying to get to the plant I think.  Poor little guy.  I put green tape crosses on it right away and left the other plastic on.... but,  now...it can come off on the first day above zero ...and the outsides can be washed.....

Please excuse the oven in the dining room.  New opening on it's way.....

Ever closer to being back to normal..... although the kitchen won't be in total action for several weeks yet from the sounds of it.... but, tomorrow...  maybe the fridge will be hooked up.  That'll be nice...the other one is out in the garage...and it is getting pretty cold to dart in and out for things.... I just want to stay in where it is toasty and warm.

Furniture movers are supposed to be coming today.... but are already over an hour and a half late..... so I hope they still do show up.....

The roads are slippery and they could be just running late.....

Fingers crossed.....

Oh, and ...forgot to say the little thrush was fine.... if slightly dazed for a bit.  I saw him staggering around on the ground under the spruce...then hopping..then he flew up into the tree and gave me what for.... as I was quickly tearing off tape and getting in the windows.....

There's a snow warning...

...and it's happening ...... big fluffy flakies..... falling steadily.... accumulating rapidly....
Can't believe winter came this soon and is definitely hanging around. Yesterday it was -8C, but with the wind ...darn, it felt more like -15C.... brrrrr...

my ribbon grass again... drooping now ...

And, look what's blooming in the house?  Not very many blooms this year, but, I'm surprised it survived at all.  It has been moved from here to there and back again and totally covered in dust and grime and not even watered most weeks since July.  I cleaned it up and voila... flowers....
My American Thanksgiving Cactus....it refuses to wait for Christmas.... hahahha...

I'm washing down all the plants .... real and artificial .... they are all filthy and covered in dust...of varying types.... drywall, sawdust and just plain ol' dirty dust from living in the garage for months and then moving into the basement when it got too cold for them outside... somehow they too, survived.  They must be tougher than I gave them credit for.
This one is tall enough I have to sit on the ladder to get the top branches...

"Serenity NOW!!'

Remember that ?   George's Dad on Seinfeld ... while undergoing anger management or something.  Only he didn't say it serenely... of course.  He yelled it out loud in line-ups or wherever he was getting frustrated.  I loved it and laughed my head off.

Not laughing now... just saying it.  Every day.

But, today... for you....... I'm just going to show you something cute and interesting.

At first I was taken aback when they put on the new cold air vents... painted the trim colour... because it seemed to me they made huge holes for the screws.  So, then ...of course, the holes must be filled.  With little mushroom shaped dowel thingies.... which need painting the same colour and with the same enamel paint as the vents.

I learned a painter's trick.

He stuck them all on a piece of masking tape and dipped them, like chocolates, into the big bucket of paint.  Then just let them dry.

See how nice and shiny they look?  No brush strokes or taking ages to paint them individually..... like our contractor admitted he had just done at the previous house he was finishing.  Hahahah.....  we all learn something every day around here.  Sadly .... not all of it good.

Not much  happening this week yet...except a lot of cleaning ...and a lot of waiting....

My new bedroom ... all cleaned .... washed myself into a corner ...

But, I also dry after washing...so was able to walk on it straight away.

.....and... yesterday we forced the big mattress up the steps...with some help from the plumber... whew...thank goodness he was there...I was definitely failing on my end of the queen size.

New digs.... all clean, shiny, and freshly painted..... now where is the rest of that bed?   Doesn't even look that big from the angle does it? ... ..and with the extra length of the bedroom now that we moved walls back about 3 feet.

More cleaning today....it all seems to look worse before it looks better....

And...no stove top hooked up...no fan hooked up and trim on yet..... no oven opening fixed yet....no dishwasher panel on....no fridge panels ready yet...oh,....and ...no microwave opening fixed yet.... and nobody will be doing anything til end of week (maybe) and then hopefully..... the rest ...Dec 4.   It's well past the time we were supposed to be moving back in.  And.. not the contractor's fault.  The cabinet guys are dragging their feet and making life miserable for everybody else.  Several things got put on hold.

 Wonder if I will be using anything in my kitchen by December 25th?

Oh, well....I still have lots to keep me busy.  The plumber finished up yesterday and I have lots of nice hot water for cleaning.

Onward with buckets of soapy water and several cleaning cloths....  my poor hands are like Velcro...and I am useless with rubber gloves.  They seem to be off more than on. ...  unless I get some surgical gloves...just too darn bulky....

Second cuppa coffee...here I come.....

something fun ....

These are the tiles I found for the new en suite bathroom..... just one course of mainly field tiles the same background colour with a few of these interspersed here and there.  There are other little characters...but, these two are the nicest of the grouping.  Maybe a row of little "liner" tiles above them... I've never heard that term before ..I've always thought of them as trim ... but, there are some with tiny bumps on them that remind me of bubbles.... they could work great.

I especially love the lily pad one ...  aren't they cute?

A slap in the face...

I guess the guy doing the hardwood didn't like it when I noticed a repair job he did.  There seemed to be a big sliver of wood missing on one piece of the floor right near the doorway to the master bedroom.   I have no idea how it got damaged in the first place, because our floor was in pristine condition before any of this renovation began.  However, there it was...and he had repaired it by using some gummy dark brown putty.  Not only did it look ridiculous, but, it had sharp edges and was dangerous.  I told him it was not going to do and he would have to replace the piece instead of the tacky repair job.

This is what he did.

To me it is like a slap in the face.  He cut out a five inch piece and replaced it with this.  As far as I am concerned, he did it on purpose.  I didn't notice til after he left the house.... and then he was gone on holiday for 3 weeks.  So...it will remain like it is for another week or so.  The contractor said..well, now it looks worse than it did before.  Gee, ya think?   And, I know for a fact it won't be staying like that.

Why would a professional hardwood person do something like this?  A rookie wouldn't even try a trick like this.  How dare they call themselves professional at all?  This is not professional.  This is just downright ridiculous.  And infuriating.

I could slap him all the way around the block.

The stupidity continues.

No word from the cabinet people when the panels will be ready for the dishwasher or the fridge .. ..or when the other drawer will be done..or when we can expect any work to be completed on the too large opening for the oven or the too large opening for the microwave.
So...we wait.  In the basement.  Except for when I am cleaning upstairs...in anticipation of moving some furniture up sometime soon.  One room is now ready for occupancy.  The small bedroom.  The painters finished some touch-ups today.  I got the floor washed in that room yesterday and also the windows... there was an area on the ceiling they forgot after drywall repairs and sanding..but, that got done today.  Better do it now than have them jumping on the bed doing the painting.  They would.

The floors must be washed on hands and knees...in order to get all the stubborn, sticky, fine drywall dust from beneath the baseboards.  It is not as easy as sliding a mop around..... and my knees will only take one room at a time.  So... today I just did a few cupboards and drawers instead... baked a batch of muffins in my little toaster oven and thought about digging out some small furniture to move in......

A winter wonderland...

It continued to snow .... and now.... too early, we have this much.  It's a crazy winter already.

We had snow by Hallowe'en....which hardly ever happens ...... and then this big marshmallowing ..... about 8 inches of beauty.

I hope it is not a sign of things to come though ... ...or we could be snowed in til May ... sheesh...  oh, well, I'll stay inside (after shovelling.... hahahh)  and be cozy and make little fuzzy bears.

And... look....I have a new door and new door colour.  It is called Sun Dried Tomato ...but, in real life, is a bit more burgundy undertone than this ....
It will still have one more coat of paint...when the painters return to do "touch-ups" ....
Which better be soon...I want to get moved back upstairs ...I want to be all organized to put up my sparkly Christmas tree.....

The cabinetry shop is not on my Christmas card list..... we are awaiting some fixes and no word yet on when..... can't put in appliances til they are complete.

Pearls in the snow...

So, if you were out there shovelling snow in -10C with a 20 kph wind whipping the big fluffy flakes around .....and you looked in your mailbox and saw such a pretty envelope.... wouldn't you stop immediately?










 Run in the house....tear it open and say..... oh, ..... how beautiful!!....

Of course, I knew they were en route....but, a person never knows exactly when ....and it is always such fun to get a goody in the mail, isn't it?

 On her blog, Gwen was recently showing several pairs of earrings that she had made .... I loved this pair, but, the ones on the blog were already sold.  No problem.... she can make more .....

She and her husband John are artists ..... and they do all sorts of things.  They make some lovely jewellery ...  check out her blog and her beautiful photos of her area.  She lives many miles away from me..on the total other end of Canada....

I can't remember exactly how I came across her blog ...but, I think it was something to do with renovating or building ..... she and her husband even built their own house!  And not just any house either... it's pretty amazing. Check that out too...

She sent me one of her cards....

Thanks so much Gwen for my lovely pearls..... beautiful!

That made my snow day.... If the white stuff keeps up.... tomorrow will be a 'snow day' for a lot of folks....it won't be worth trying to get to the office or the mall or anywhere .... there must be about 8 inches already. We don't usually get snow this early... I wonder if it is a sign of a long winter? ..or just a glitch in the weather....

It is pretty ...but....... look at it all .....already.....