Once upon a time ....not so very long ago....

We had a beautifully functioning sprinkler system.

This is what our yard looks like at the moment..... pretty sad .....

In 2009 we installed our own underground sprinkler system....and it works perfectly.  Let me rephrase that ...it used to work perfectly.  Now?...well, who knows....

Some of it is crushed...some dug up... most of the small spigots stepped on.  It will all have to be repaired.

I remember how excited we were the first time we turned it on and the heads all popped up and it worked perfectly.  We clapped and laughed and had a great time admiring our handiwork.

This was how pretty it looked then....


http://bumblebearies.blogspot.ca/2009/06/photo-week_15.html

Only a Decker will do...

My first little guy was a Black and Decker... and ticked on for a very long time.  So...when I saw this one on sale for only $49....I had to get him.

Easily twice the size of the original, so pretty tough to call him Decker Junior.  Maybe he will have to be Mister Decker.
There is a bump out at the back so that a large pizza can fit in there.... the rack is even curved to allow all of that.... wow....

...hahahha...and.... look....  the elements are also covered with protectors.  For $49! You would think they might all get onto that....but, even some pretty expensive ones don't have them.  I checked.  I'm sure it prevents bumping the elements when taking things in and out and also helps somewhat to protect against unfortunate spills and splatter, which in turn must extend the natural life and efficiency of the machine.   Oh, just a minute....maybe that's why nobody tries to protect things.... planned obsolescence..... our throw away society...and the almighty bottom line.   Just for that, I'm supporting Black and Decker.

I still want to be back in my kitchen though, .. with my real oven.  Hahahhaha.... right.......silly me... there is no oven....and the place still looks like this...so ...not for a few weeks yet ... I guess .... looks like it will be close to tree trimming time as I suspected.

Good thing Decker makes great muffins.  I may even have to mix up a batch of no knead bread.... that will keep a fairly low profile ... and try baking a small amount....I bet it will work..... ooooh, yeh....fresh bread.  That'll be great to smell...as long as nobody sprays any more lacquer on the same day...ick..... that'd be 'orrible.....

.... look at my ingenious idea to do only one baking at  time ....

Two of the foil disposable/reusable muffin pans wouldn't fit into it at the same time...   so I cut one of them in half and put three more dollops of muffin mix into the cups  Voila.  9 smaller muffins at one time...don't want to overfill the cups and cause havoc with the top elements when they rise.

As you can see....the centre row gets a wee bit browner than the rest...but, ..eh..... it's all good.  Greg likes them a bit browner anyway....and if I want the others brown....just pop out the middle row of muffins and put the rest back in for a few more minutes.

Strawberry Lemon Muffins..... mmmmm...... no painters showed up to work yesterday....their loss.....

I killed it.....

.... my poor little toaster oven.

It just couldn't handle being on at 400F for half an hour .... and then again a second time.
It was pretty tiny and old.... and, I had to do two separate bakings to use the muffin mix I had made up.

But, look at the first batch....they were great...

Quite a bit tinier than I'm used to baking...but, eh ..  ...I found some foil containers that fit the oven exactly ...so they had to do....

How I miss my kitchen and doing some proper baking....

Yesterday... instead of hanging out in the stinky, smelly garage ...cuz it was even worse in the house and basement than it was out in the garage ...I went shopping.  Bought a new toaster oven...on sale for $49.... down from $79....  the cheapest thing I have bought in the last 3 months.  There just aren't any bills that low in Reno Central, believe me.

We were forced to evacuate the premises (even had to stay in a hotel for a couple nights) by the eye watering fumes of the lacquer they were using for door and window casings..... how do they stand it, those poor painters?  And...they don't even wear masks!  NOT a good thing.  That stuff has to be totally toxic.  It doesn't seem to bother anybody else quite as drastically as it does me..... and I know my sister has the same problem with horrible odours ... she declared that the two of us are like the canaries of the world.... others should take heed if we begin to feel faint...or drop off our perches......

Here is the story for those who may not know about such things.

"""Life for an actual canary in a coal mine could be described in three words: "short but meaningful." Early coal mines did not feature ventilation systems, so legend has it that miners would bring a caged canary into new coal seams. Canaries are especially sensitive to methane and carbon monoxide, which made them ideal for detecting any dangerous gas build-ups. As long as the bird kept singing, the miners knew their air supply was safe. A dead canary signaled an immediate evacuation.

Even as gas detection technology improved, some mining companies still relied on the canary method well into the 20th century. Other animals were used occasionally, but only the canary had the ability to detect small concentrations of gas and react instinctively.

Today, the practice of using a bird to test the air supply has become part of coal mining lore, but the ideology behind it has become a popular expression. The phrase "living like a canary in a coal mine" often refers to serving as a warning to others. The actual canary had little control over its fate, but it continued to sing anyway. In one sense, living this way indicates a willingness to experience life's dangers without compromise."""

poor little birdies....  I bet it wasn't meaningful to them.... 

and... I don't know about the willingness to experience too many of life's dangers part either ..... especially without compromise......that just seems plain silly doesn't it? .... but, then what do I know?  I'm just a canary.

Portulaca still blooming....

and doing beautifully.....

There are dozens of tiny plants that just appeared as if by magic this year.  I wonder if it was a milder winter...or did I maybe not dig one or two of the pots much or ...what?  Anyway... they all sprouted and now..are blooming way late and looking so much healthier than the leggy and dead looking others.

I hope they all grow again next year..... this is great.

the boxes are open....

the banging, sawing and hammering began on Monday....and so far..... the cabinets are more or less getting to the finishing stage.

Not without some hiccups ....of course.  Why would they be any different than the rest of a renovation?  Or, for us... why would it be any different than every darn thing we ever order so carefully.... and finally buy.... and wait and wonder what will be wrong with it.....

The opening for the microwave.... which is in the butler pantry area..... is big enough to fit another wall oven into.  Some idiot, in his infinite wisdom... plucked some numbers out of the air I guess.... but, why?  They had the microwave and trim kit measurements and specs.  They had designs and pictures.  They didn't even choose the measurements of our oven that we will be getting in the actual oven opening...just some random measurement.  How weird.

Which will make the pantry cupboard beside it all wrong on the door faces... they will not line up to the other cupboard doors on the right hand side of the microwave...  sheeesh...now we have to decide ... with the kitchen police when they show up to do the final walk through... what will be our options to fix the problem.  My question right off the bat is ...why continue til we get the proper sized face for the microwave.  Why put all the rest of the things together at all? ...  Apparently not the way they do things.   Good grief!  why us?  Why does every single thing or service we buy have a problem?   Must be some sort of energy field or grid we live in or something.  Enough to make a person tear out her last three hairs..


The contractor, who did see our original cupboards and who commented at the time about how nice and how well constructed they were, asked us why Mr. BV just didn't build our own .....  which, if he had time or inclination any more.... would be easily as good or better...as we see now after we have torn out the ones we built 15 years ago.  Sh**!

House of Turquoise would definitely want to put up our photos if she sees this shot......  but, I do think I will be changing the colour to something a bit lighter.

And, now....back to the couch.... I am hacking, coughing and feeling pretty out of it.  My ribs are hurting already.  Got it from Mr. BV....who got it from his old boss.... who got it...well, who knows where ...but, I wish they had all kept it to themselves!

it's December ....

hhahahah...no it's not!  But, it seems like Christmas to me!  And, I want you to know that I risked life and limb clambering over plenty of "stuff" in the crammed storage space to find my tiny tree for this shot!  It just had to be done didn't it?

Mr. BV said no way will you ever find it and if you do see it...you definitely won't be able to get to it....hah!  Oh, yeh?!

Boxes were delivered.... but, they are tightly wrapped ....and then...nobody came to open them the next day or to install the cabinets inside ....sigh.

The contractor showed up later in the day and seemed surprised that I hadn't opened at least one to get a sneak peek at my new kitchen.  It is strange I suppose.  But.. with some things? ....I AM patient....  not many, but some......

As you can see, there is some colour on the walls.  They add colour to the primer coat .. so you get an idea of how it will look.  Too dark for me...too blue-ish for Mr. BV...   back to the drawing board.  Or paint chips as it were.....don'tcha hate how tiny they are ?  Who can tell what a whole wall or room will look like ....  I mean really?  Yes, you have sort of an idea...but no, not really.

Doors, casings and window mouldings were also delivered...

As you can see.....the "dust bunny" as they called her, was also around.  She vacuumed all areas to remove most of the drywall dust after the taper left.  Wow... it looks darn good in photos ... real life, ..... nyehhh.....  not so much.

Still plenty of mud, dust and stuff all around..

The hardwood has been patched in all the areas where we extended rooms and moved walls ...we pushed the walls back almost three feet in the master bedroom.........

oh, and yeh...where the kid with the skill saw got careless....

All patched areas just very lightly sanded for now....the whole floor will be sanded and refinished closer to the end of the reno.......it's tricky to keep up with the progression of steps really.... like painting a first coat before hardwood being done etc.  But.. apparently it is better to paint the primer onto the newly taped and sanded drywall...for protection during the rest of the things being done.  There will, of course, always be damaged areas that need touch up.

This area near the front door.... ..... you can really get the idea in photos perfectly.  It has always been a danger zone.

Can you notice that there is a step down from the living room onto the foyer area?  It is pretty much invisible with the grain of hardwood going in the same direction .... and several people have taken a misstep there.  So...this time we had a lighter strip of Maple wood inserted into the area,  I hope it is enough to give people the clue.  It had to be repaired anyway as we widened the doorway.  The doorway below is my hobby room.... which also now has a wider doorway and some French doors will be hung there instead of just the original pocket door.  Here is a shot of the bottom of the step.  You can see the step from the lower side no problem.......still needs a piece of hardwood inserted there as well...

.......... it continues.......................................

September.... already.....

..the summer has flown.....

And, yet, they say, (those 'they' guys yet again!!  Who the heck are 'they' anyway?) usually it takes about 2 more months til completion from when the drywall sanding is complete.... it is not yet complete...

The taper did his bit during the past week, along with some sanding..but apparently, now another dude comes to do final sanding.   Oh, man....that dust is everywhere.  And, I mean... EVERY.WHERE!  I do know how it goes, believe me; I'm not naive ..... we've done this before.  However, when Mr. BV and I did our own renos...it definitely was not this messy.  Of course, I guess I also have to admit, it was not as extensive as this either ... .well, it was in respect to the detail in each area, but, we also only did one room at a time..and kept it confined because we were trying to salvage every other area of our happy little home.  Nothing being confined or salvaged this time...even the finished bathroom is suffering big time..... I hope those cleaning ladies promised at the end can work miracles.

Doesn't it already look like there is colour?  Did you know there is a lovely soft grey colour that is exactly the colour of unfinished drywall?   It was one of the colours I had chosen for two rooms....hmmmm..... tossed that idea.  Now I've gone to Russian Olive..... quite green ...... with blueish grey undertones... let's see how that looks after the primer coat, to which they add colour.  "They" (the contractors and painters) say that "most" home owners change their minds after the primer coat.... wow.... that's a lot!!

Guess we'll see............................

Then...hardwood guys come to check damage, and fix, feather and otherwise repair things before the casings and baseboards go on..... .... then... cupboards installed ......then....... well, as I said.... another 2 months or thereabouts....

Mr. BV is already getting antsy and saying things like....I just want my life back.....hmmmmm....and I thought I had no patience.  He even was going to 'settle' for some less than professional rock cutting on the very front of the house..... not so me....I was outspoken right away...he was embarrassed by honesty and threatened to send me to Portugal.  Hey Maria.....I may be coming back to visit !!   ...sooner than planned.   Hahahahhahahhah........

Porto, here we come!

And...on that note, I'm now going to bake him some lemony blueberry muffins just to show him what he'll be missing while I'm gone for the duration of the renovation ...  hahahah....I really should pack a bag big enough for two months and head out.....

I stole this photo..

...from Completely Coastal.... don't know where she got it....but, how cute is this?  A porthole for your kitty to come and go..... check out the blog sometime.  I love to look at the sea treasures and snoop through the photos to see what people do with them.... ....

having warped fun....

You have to laugh at something when you are forced to live in the basement... which is getting more overstuffed by the day with contents from each cupboard that is removed down here as well... for changing over water tanks and furnaces too...and, which was already overstuffed with everything from the main floor of your house...  cooking in an electric frying pan, microwave and BBQ.  Making sure you are dressed in case some plumber or electrician bounces down the steps and charges straight into the laundry room where you do everything .... I did scare one guy by yelling that I was naked  ..hahhaha... ohhhh..... the look on his sweet, innocent face....I'll laugh at that for years and get some mileage in the telling too.  I was fully clothed.  Our laundry room is our 'main' room down here....for cooking, cleaning and it even has a toilet.... thank goodness.  But, some days...plumbing days .... even I have to use the porta potty...now that we have a new one after the other one sprung a leak.  I watched the guy unload it...no wonder they leak.  Two of them fell right off his truck when he was shoving things around.....

Oh, and...our gas/plumbing failed the inspection on Friday.... the poor plumber was shaken and embarrassed, until he found out it was not his work that had failed...but, gas fittings from our last big reno.... 15 years ago.  Great....... we've had a small leak for all those years... but, only under the extreme pressure they use to test the lines.   And..it is higher pressure than anybody used in previous renovations 25 pounds... which is much more than ever is needed or used regularly.  It is not a safety issue ... whew....!  just a "code" issue...as usual.

The damn codes are making me crazy.  Get this one.... there MUST be an electrical outlet within 3 feet of your front door?  HUH??> Why??  nobody can tell me.  But...it's CODE!.... so, we have to put a big ugly electrical outlet ...right in the middle of my beautiful new stone on the wall.  Okay fine then..... I made the stone guy stain the surround gray stoney block black so it blends into the dark stone around it ... , and I am going to buy a black cover or spray paint one black so I can't notice it too....the buggers.  Code.  Pagh!

Had some more fun at some neighbours expense again yesterday.  I'm not sure what part of "gutted" people have absolutely not been understanding...but, when they walk in......I guess they finally get it.  They must think I exaggerate.

Jaws drop.... there is audible gasping....  eyes widen in horror...  at the mess my lovely, once pristine hardwood is in....  yeh, they finally get it then.......

Oh, sure, there was some protection put down...almost grudgingly .....in only some places..... and they regularly assure us they never usually put down anything....

it didn't help anyway.... there is always an idiot handy to undo whatever was done to protect something isn't there? .....

I've also been assured the hardwood guy is a magician.  Well, even a magician couldn't just wave a wand and fix this....he will have to take out about 16 pieces of Chicasaw to feather in the mess made with a skill saw whose user obviously had no skills whatsoever ..... the guard supposedly 'failed'.... hmmmm...somebody is lucky his foot wasn't in the way of that runaway.....

...see??   told ya.....gutted..... yep...nothing but empty....with some new drywall now...and the first coat of tape and mud.....

..mud, slop... you name it .....

sure it has to be refinished...but really?..... couldn't we have made things a bit easier on the poor hardwood guy?  I wonder if he is ever shocked by the before and after.  When he came to estimate the refinishing it sure as he** didn't look like this.

Yes, we did widen doorways......

.. and enlarge closets......

.. and of course, change kitchen cabinets....

...... but, really?? ..........

somebody is always watching.....

hahhahahha.....this is my horoscope for today........ how do they always seem to know? ...whoever it is that writes this stuff that is ... ........

Work :

Delays, frustrations and annoyances... your patience is being sorely tested. Hang in there! Show what you are made of. You might surprise yourself.

The rock guys got a start on some stone on the front of the house yesterday ....  today...it's raining...so they aren't around.

still going......

I guess sometimes it looks a whole lot worse before things get better.......sigh.....

We opted for spray foam insulation in the walls..... I sure hope the electrician knew his stuff....because when we come to "light up" ....... nobody will be moving any wires without chiseling them out of this stuff.  It is like concrete.

and, speaking of cement .... those guys wouldn't listen when we told them it was too hot for this large a pour ...so...of course, it was too late to get in some expansion joints.... and now...yep....they will have to come back to do something 'bout it.....

as well as replace one chunk in the front where the expansion joint goes on a 20 degree slant instead of straight across ....right in front of the porch....arrgghhh!!!  it never ends with little things not working out just right .....and yesterday to add insult to injury.....the rental porta potty....sprung a leak and we had to call for assistance....it is hot, smelly and now...chemical all over the alleyway....we will get shut down at this rate.... and fined too if somebody is not vigilant.  Me.

...... renovation saga to be continued.......................................

Remembering a happy-go-lucky kinda guy....

My nephew Robert, only 42 .....


Rest in Peace, Robbie





And, may I add....for anybody who has family or friends taking prescription drugs for pain after surgery......  Oxycontin is just a fancy name for the first step on the highway to hell....please try something else first.  It should be the last resort.

I love Boris...

...he always has a smile.  Russians.  They know how to deal with adversity.  I wish I had some Russian blood.

The 'Reno' continues ....... and becomes ever more inclusive.... of course.  The age of the house plays against us....the wiring needs to be brought up to code and every time we peel off another sheet of drywall...more ancient wiring (along with tatty insulation).  Well, relatively speaking... because it is only 46 years old at the most .... .. and some years less than that for all other renovations since the house was built.  But...new codes, ya know.... with some big changes from as recent as 2 years ago.. I think the poor electrician has finally got it all done.... with the exception of a new sub panel which we need to add several areas.... that will be after the inspector gives his okay.

Baked some great chocolate chip cookies in my tiny toaster oven.  What an amazing job that little thing does!  Look at these!  Sure, I can only bake 6 at a time ...but, come on ...who needs to bake more than a dozen at a time anyway?  The electrician, the contractor, Mr. BV and me.... all laughed, but, definitely enjoyed a warm cookie straight out of the oven.  Who needs a stove anyway?

Tomorrow, the plumber will be back..... We also went to the door and handle shop..... made some choices ....have chosen lights and fixtures....  some sconces for the en suite bathroom showed up on the porch .... hate when that happens...no notice from the delivery guy...we just noticed it because we wandered around to the front to check out what things were looking like out there.  We are using the back doors seeing as all is under construction out front....