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.....

Brushaloffalus

Buried in the ice for eons.... a smallish, colourful subspecies of dinosaur.  Perhaps a precursor of a type of bluebird.  Wild display of spiky crest at the head...strange turquoise colour presented excellent camouflage for botanicals of the day.

oh, alright...it's just my old toothbrush.  Got caught off guard with an unusual cold snap and forgot to empty my bucket.  It froze solid and is still lying in a solid lump on the ground in the backyard.  I was trying to wash off the drywall dust around my vacuum cleaner exhaust on the outside of the house...it makes my new stucco look messy.  White against a lovely milk chocolate brown... look like fuzzy whiskers or something... must think of a way to hide that if it continues.  I can't run out to wish *(make that 'wash') the wall every time I vacuum.  Maybe I'll draw a cat face on the opening...

Snapped.

Not me.  Although, I must be close right?

Yup.  Finally just snapped the little tab right off.

 So... that one is now always going to be in the open position.  Still haven't found out if I can buy any of the plastic bottoms to replace the ones that are gummed up....which is all of them... except two .... must go to the hardware and/or building supply shops soon.  No vehicle now...sold my old van.

Anyway... I am not going to dwell on the annoying... let's just move straight to the totally ridiculous shall we?

On Saturday, the tile setter came to grout the en suite bathroom tile.  Great. And... I  must say he did a great job.  But, in the main bathroom... he was also supposed to remove a few tiles that we had spent a lot of time carefully cutting and placing around an area that was to become a laundry chute at some future time.  However, over the past two years, we changed our minds and just wanted to tile over that area and leave a clean smooth look...and not put anything at all beside the sink. But, like idiots, thought we should let a professional cut out the tiles and repair it...especially if one was already here doing other work in the house.

During the morning, we had to leave to look at some tiles for our kitchen and left him to do his own thing.
Before we left, Mr. BV also gave him a tiny left over bag of the original grout to show him the type and colour we used when we did our own thing.... but, ... disaster, ...  we inadvertently gave him the wrong bag.

We came home to find this.... it looked like a purplish rubber next to brownish/grey grout.... it was even smooth instead of sandy and rough.















....  and he was giving us a bad time about the grout...saying we really need to use grout with sand in it...not sand free grout.  That it didn't look too bad and it was in a dark corner so it might not be too noticeable.   We just looked at each other in shock.  Yes.... we had given him the non sanded grout by mistake.... the type to be used with glass tiles.  And, remember ....this is a professional tile setter.  Why on earth would he use it?  Why?  Arrrgghhhhhh!!@#$%^

The hardware store is 3 minutes from our house.... why wouldn't the guy just hop in his van and go get the right stuff?  He could go right ahead and think we were nuts to hand him some of the wrong stuff or wonder if there was another bag of the right stuff somewhere or, sheeeeesh.... . think whatever he wanted...but, why would he use it?  How many stupid things have to continue to happen... how manytimes do I have to ask the same damn questions over and over and over and ov........ ad infinitum......

He asked if we had found tiles for our kitchen and when we told him we were going to use some reclaimed tiles...he started explaining about different sizes, thickness, etc...and how it would cost more ...etc.... we thanked him for his work and ushered him out the door.

Then.. had to make a decision.... try to dig out the grout immediately before it set ....or leave it til Sunday when it would definitely be set but at least so would the thin set that was holding the tiles in position, as he had just also done that previous to placing the grout.

We decided on tomorrow..... went down into our below ground lodgings ... poured some wine ... resisted the urge to scream into pillows or laugh uncontrollably at why or how we are cursed  .... and instead, ate a lovely meal of tenderloin ... done to perfection in my electric frying pan...on our coffee table ... and watched some Formula One racing ...

Sunday.... we took turns digging out grout.....

And, now.... it looks like this.

My hand and arm were killing me when we hit the bed last night...but, today...it doesn't feel much different than it usually does.

Tomorrow the electrician is coming to hang lights and fix things that are hanging at half mast .... (of course before the final painting is complete) .... I'm not asking.....

......and the guy is coming to measure for silhouette window coverings... which must be pretty straightforward....

I think I heard something about appliances arriving and being set up by perhaps early next week....ooooooohhh ....none too soon for me!

I hope they all heard me say I'm rooting around in my storage area looking for my Christmas tree.......

What unsticks polyurethane?

Anybody?

I tried hot soapy water...and even though they say it is water based... which I say is silly anyway..how can that protect hardwood if it is water based? .... hmmm  ... makes no sense to me but, then, I do seem to be the only logical person involved in certain conversations ..

Then I tried prying it with a knife....and hitting it with a bottle with a hard plastic lid..on the only bit that sticks up above the sliding part... and it only sticks up about 1/8 of an inch at that .... too hard to move with my fingers... it just hurts.  My thumb is good and sore now.  And, if I break it off...they are toast.  Apparently they don't even make this size anymore.  One finally moved and is now operational.  I haven't even counted how many more to go... and all but one are stuck in one position or the other.  All.But.One!

This is the problem.  Somebody in their infinite wisdom decided to stain and seal the hardwood grates without bothering to take off the plastic bottoms...which houses the opening/closing mechanism.  Soooo ... they are now stuck open ...or closed.. depending on how they were when said person took them out of the openings in the floor.

Why on earth didn't they just remove the two tiny screws that hold on the lower plastic piece.... and stain the wood separately from the plastic and then... gee..... screw back on the plastic part when things were dry?  How hard would that have been?

Is it so much to ask for a tiny bit of common sense?  And everybody seems shocked or insulted if you say anything about any of it to them.  Good grief.  Has it come to this with every darn thing?  Yes... let me just answer my own stupid question.  Yes it has Veronica.  Did you even have to ask?

Now ...I've rigged up my own little tray of tinfoil and am soaking the plastic piece in Paint Thinnner ... aka Varsol...  that outta do it.   Hate the smell...hate the fact it totally wrecks hands... which are already dry and not happy with the current cold spell... so it's all out in the garage.

Later:::::>.... well, it happened...I broke off one of the slider tabs........ and it is still not sliding .... it is still stuck in the closed position.  What next ......

it's officially winter...

....... at least it is at my house.

This morning it is -8C .....and it snowed about 6 or 7 inches yesterday .....

If it wasn't for the temperature and the snow... I would be singing that old boll weevil song....again......... "looking for home."  Anybody old enough to remember that one? .... .....  we still have no address .... no street numbers on the house.... the plate with them on it sits in the basement....along with all our other stuff....and, of course, us.  Waiting now for a much warmer day so that the rock guy can come and take off the tacky ruined chunk of hearthstone he thought we should use to put the numbers on.  Then... drilled holes into it by some unacceptable method that caused chipping and flaking around every hole for the stainless screws.  And, then.... glued, mortared and screwed it into position and then... placed rock around it.

Yep... it has to be chipped and chiseled off now...and quite a bit of rock with it.... replaced with my new idea of a metal plate which a young guy made exactly to our specs.... powder coated with a lovely matte black and our stainless numbers on it.  Then... it has to be placed, screwed into position and the rock reworked to look good around it.  And it won't be happening in this cold.

The weatherman is saying +9 C  by Monday...I sure hope he is right...... we need a couple warmer days when the rock guy can come to do the necessary stuff ..... oh, please let there be a warmer day .....soooooon........we need numbers.  It is the law....they must be displayed....

a week zipped by..

it's Monday....again......

The weather has taken a drastic turn.  A few days ago it was fall......

now......it's winter...

-5C .....

snowing lightly......

Won't be using the Barbie''''.... I'll be 'toaster-ovening' some chicken.... that little guy works great.

Guess we can put away the patio furniture ...
Looked out the basement window and saw the spruce decorated with snow and pretty red leaves that had blown into it from the Mayday tree....which is now naked after some cold and blustery winds...

Not long now til we decorate our indoor trees ....

hmmm....lots of swearing going on upstairs...hope it looks better than it sounds when it is all done.  The finishing carpenter is up there ..... sawing, hammering and of course, swearing and grumping.... not many people sing, whistle or hum while they work do they?  Maybe they all need an attitude adjustment...or ...a new job.....

In floor heating..

...   in the ensuite bathroom.  The tiles were laid yesterday and Saturday.... but, now the room is piled high with doors, a bathtub and the surround for it ...some shelving and oh, yes... sandpaper.  Sandpaper for the big sanders....

The hardwood (which is everywhere except the bathrooms) was given a first sanding today.... then, coated with filler and the second sanding is underway.

WOW.   I was a total skeptic when the contractor told me the hardwood sanding would be "dustless".  Yeh...right ...and I'm the Queen of the Nile.  I can't remember my exact words...but, they probably were more or less that...or maybe shorter four letter ones....can't say for sure.

Well....it is.  Dustless that is.  Totally.  I'm still in shock.  And, I love it.
                                                           

The sanders have big bags on them...... plus they are attached to long vacuum cleaner hoses that lead to this.... two vortex vacuums.  Almost 90% goes into the small one...and the really fine stuff ends up being siphoned off into the larger one....somehow.....

Sanded entryway.. .. the old hardwood...with patched areas...

Now that I can see that beautiful wood under there all sanded and pristine, I just want to leave it like that!  No stain, no colour not even any lacquer ... it looks amazing...

But, ...colour we must.... and choose we must......drat......