Wordless Wednesday

Photo a week...

I'll spare you the minute details ..... suffice to say.....we are still at it.











Okay, I won't. I love it when others are going through the reno wars... I actually laugh sometimes .... because I have gone through so much of it and most of it is not fun. So, I may as well let a few others have a good laugh. Oh, sure, the end results are great and I do appreciate how it turns out...but, ohhhh, the agony in between the planning and the completion. In between snarking at each other.... we are painting ..putting on moldings, filling Brad nail holes, sanding, painting, running new wiring .. everybody wonders why we are not finished yet of course.... (probably you too) ... but, it all takes plenty more time than it should. And... with an undercoat of Zinser on all new surfaces..or a light sanding and then Zinser on those previously painted with oil base ..then two coats of colour... ...the days go by in a blur and we still have plenty more to do.




























The past few days we have been at it too many hours each day.... the carpet layers will be here Thursday, Friday and maybe even part of Saturday so we have no choice. They need a couple days... it is more than laying carpet. The first day they will rip out old carpet and underlay... as well as some of the nailing strips along the edges... "float" the old cement in all three rooms ... put down new strips, etc. There are some holes in the cement as well as some ridges that have become apparent in wear patterns in the old carpeting....so this time... it will all be made nice and level ...before the underlay goes down. Woohooo.... carpeting in the exercise room! Yeh...

Yesterday in between running up and down to paint or help carry down extra long baseboards.. I actually managed to bake a Tuscan Peasant Loaf. It's peasant bread. What could be more perfect? A very forgiving recipe and a good thing ... becuz I was up and down when I could make it. Anyway, I bet those poor peasants didn't always have a watch. Matter of fact, I know they didn't. Or... didn't always make it in from the fields or tending sheep or whatever in time to punch it down after only a certain amount of time. It turned out great. Said it the other day and have to say again...that bread makes the absolute best toast... and...the best garlic toast. A lovely crunchy crust... mmmmm. had it with spaghetti last night for a late easy supper. Oh, YUM!

Photo a week...

Overshot the day ..once again....oh, well.... here I am guys.... however, even if I am ready to roll out a pic or two...blogger is not. It flatly refuses and has been doing so for the past hour...so, I'll just show you some words then...and put up a photo later.... kay?

aha...there's one now..... my tomatoes that I grew.... the tastiest I've ever eaten I'm sure. On home made Tuscan bread too Susan... that bread is so good toasted.











Must eat a good brekky... still reno'ing ...... and still enjoying the most gorgeous days 'round these parts ... it's gone up to +24 C already today and it was only supposed to be 21. Mr. BV has gone to the golf course with some guys from the office...a little tourney. He hasn't played all summer... sure hope things go okay...he has a reputation on the golf course... to do with a nasty disposition when his game is not co-operating, and how can it when he hasn't even hit any balls this season? ... Just as well the wives were not invited this year.... or, maybe seeing as it is his first game... perhaps it will be the best. Anyway...he deserves a day off...he has had his nose to the proverbial grindstone since we got back from the Okanagan in August...and now he knows he has to go back to work Oct 5... so we are in go mode. Carpeting is being laid September 30 ... .... so we must be at that stage by then. The office is completely painted and ready...the main tv room is now ready too...we are moving on the exercise room toady..hahaha...yeh...right toady....that would be "today". I am taking off all the light switch plates and plug in covers and taping them off while he is away. Think I'll go later and hit a bucket of balls though...to be really ready for tomorrow. I hope I can get the perfect swing and a great first ball off the first tee...... what a sweet feeling that is.... it doesn't happen often. But, maybe after my lesson and some practice....just maybe.....

Tomorrow...the old guys will be overheated...it's supposed to be a whopping +31 !! Who can believe it is getting to the end of September with this beautiful weather? .. I even went to use up a golf lesson I had hanging around since last year. I'm pretty excited with what I learned too.... I got more out the first 5 minutes with wonderful, patient Ron than I got out of the 3 lessons I had last year with stupid, cocky, young Dave. I have actually been out to hit a few buckets of balls too... with my new toy. Ohhhh....I love that thing! At this point, I wanted to show her photo...but, as I mentioned.... blogger not co-operating..etc...oh, look there she is..... Bertha..... hahahah...












Mr. BV got her for me early in the season..and so far I've only used her a few times... but, look out next year!! I plan on a tune up lesson right out of the chute and then...I'm gonna golf all season !! Won't be any renovating happening next summer .... I can't believe it.... no renovating left to do by then...after all the years of doing bits and pieces here and there and still not being finished. But, by Christmas...it should all be finished. After that; just be touch ups every so often like normal folks do. Oh, boy...what a great gift that will be for the holidays....

well, for now..it is not photo a week...but maybe later....

Madame brought home the bacon...

well, ...some bacon anyway .... ..... of course, not the actual bacon, you understand .... but, at least a sampling of the loot that was distributed to winners and in Madame's case...for honourable mention... .... .. 5 fat quarters and 8 full square meters of Hoffman fabrics ... there are several that I quite like and the others may become giveaways ... more to a quilter's liking perhaps...











it is quite a bit of fabric ....
























she's pondering it ....
















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....... and......I tried this wonderful recipe day before yesterday..... definitely wanted to make sure you checked out my other blog to get it.... you have to make them! I'm serious. That good. I can almost taste them with a bit of maraschino juice added and a couple of bits of cherries in the mix as well as on top for the festive season. It's not too far away to begin the testing........you have to know which will make the cut in the baking department long before you begin ... and it will soon be time to begin the "can-be-frozen-for-up-to-a-month" type. I know it isn't even Hallowe'en yet...but, you know how the downhill slide picks up pace by beginning of November... I'm not waiting... even if we are still painting and fixing...

I'm baking to save my sanity..and sipping wine out on the patio just to celebrate the small jobs we are constantly ticking off the long list.... enjoying some absolutely stunning days of a great late summer. It was +31 C yesterday...whew... hotter than some middle of the summer days.....the house was still up at +24.5 this morning.....

Wordless Wednesday

Photo a week...

Wednesday was golf with my beloved "old guys". Howard, seated...informed me when calling to tell me our tee time..... that I should bring cake. He said it was a certain "old" guy's birthday on Saturday..but, that he didn't want to miss out on cake and maybe if it was after the fact..well, I would think it wasn't worth baking one then. He wanted it to be big enough so a few folks hanging around the course could have a piece too.... pretty cheeky ... but, when you get to be 90 you can be cheeky if you want to. I think you should be able to do any damn thing you please by then! as long as you don't hurt yourself.... ...lol.... or even if you do... what does it matter.. or so Howard says....










his feet were really bothering him this day, but he gamely managed the full nine. At the end he said...well, they don't hurt any more now than they did when I started..but, we all knew he was suffering....











it was a great day. Just the right temperature for whacking the ball around.... a few strange clouds so it didn't get too hot.....











..........still clowning around even if his feet were sore....

oh, and the cake? .... carrot cake with real cream cheese icing... ..his favourite and seeing as it just happens to be mine too, I have a great recipe ...was declared delicious by all who stopped by the table to wish Howard a happy day....... Mr. BV. was lucky there were two slices left from the 9 X 13 cake....

danger !!...

this blog is seriously in danger of becoming a renovation page... so, the "bearister" decided she better post a few pics of days gone by ...to let you know that once upon a time there were things created here that had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with household demolition and refurbishing...























































































....

Photo a week...

We've got a few screws loose... In actuality, some people think we're just totally bonkers.... probably most of our family members and friends. They know the story (or should I say stories..because there are plenty of them..including the horror variety) of our 20+ years of renovating. Every time they see us they ask what we are doing now. Every letter I ever wrote to my Mom had something about house fixing in it...even before I had this particular house. It was apartments..etc..

When we bought this house in the late 80's... (it was all we could afford and was a disaster...but solidly built) we had a loosely woven plan to do some "fixing"... mostly simple things, and it would only have take a few years....but, no.... it has gone on and on...... and.....on..... !! now it has taken on a life of its own. Has become the proverbial MoneyPit. The initial "doing" was hired out...but, that soon became a real problem... so we began to do it ourselves. That has also become a problem.. ..a long running problem, because in between work and living... there just isn't enough time to work many hours on huge projects...like gutting and redoing a bathroom from stud walls and no ceiling to completion (that one took over a year) .... .. then a laundry room.. (took all of this last year) then...well, you see my point.... And... we are driving ourselves crazy. Not far to go now....











4 rooms on the go at the moment....oh, and ... also the kitchen too because I am working on sealing the tiles we just put behind the stove....and now...have discovered an interesting method of doing backsplashes. Not sure yet on the cost..or if it will be "do-able" in our situation...but, it could be. We will get a rough estimate on the materials .. perhaps this coming week and if it happens..... well, it could be an interesting look. Our kitchen at the moment is a bit of a blank palette.... could use a splash of colour... .. this would definitely be all of that.....















......meantime..... I've forgone smoothies ..........
..

a bit breezy...

Actually it was a bit more than breezy. It began as quite a benign day...lovely and sunny... pretty warm really.... but then the wind picked up and pretty soon it was gusting big time. The doors of the garage were banging and shuddering .... sounded like a buffalo was pounding on it ..... we kept gluing, screwing and sanding pieces of struts for the ceiling repair..











Until this.... the neighbour's tree blew over. It was dried out and pretty dead looking to me anyway ... but, still.... .... Luckily, it managed to miss one of their cars by a couple yards. I'm happy it was a SW wind...or it could have taken out a wall of my craft room.

The wind was wild for the rest of the day.... til after dark...when it finally quieted. It was up to 25 C in the house, but I didn't want to open the windows because it was whacking them around even if they were barely ajar. Don't need to replace windows too...on top of all the other stuff we are doing....

Yep, it was a smoothie on yesterday's post. They have become our afternoon snack. Remember smoothies from the olden days? Why did we stop making them anyway? I bet we all still have our original old blenders..unless you used yours to mix up some crafty items. It seems to me there was a paper making rage at one time that wrecked a few old blenders. What a great pick-me-up; an easy way to add extra calcium to my diet (I even buy orange juice with calcium in it now and also use some frozen fat free yogurt which is very tasty). It uses up slightly over ripe bananas...before they become only good for muffins or loaves.. and it ups the fruit quota for the day... and even adds a bit of fiber... because I leave skins on... or add some berries with seeds , etc. They seem the perfect nutritious snack. Not as messy as munching a nectarine or a peach either..... nice and clean in a lovely glass while we take a break and admire the flowers and listen to the burbling little fountain. Then....back to it....














Yesterday's began with pineapple and banana... but, wasn't that flavourful...so I tossed in some frozen mixed berries. It looked like this before I mixed them in... Mom would have called it blood and matter pie...and only the Brits and some Aussies will know what that is.... but, when mixed...it looked beautiful.... and tasted great.

Wordless Wednesday

Photo a week...

Hi everybody!! .... haven't had time to visit many blogs .... hope you still stop by from time to time ...and...I will be back to visit yours when I find a few more hours to rub together in a day....

We are "stuck in" ... re-doing bits and pieces to run more cables.... getting some paint matched to the one room that was finished and painted a few years ago..they no longer make the colour..but, finally got a perfect custom match. Thank you Mr. Benjamin Moore man....
..... pulling up carpeting around the edges to re-float some areas of the underlying cement in hopes of getting no ridges in the new carpeting..some old tiles under the existing carpet were removed and probably should have been left. Then... decisions... whether or not to carpet the exercise room..or...great idea just tossed out there for us to ruminate upon... paint the floor!! I don't want cork..don't want laminate... the carpet will be too cushy to be safe... I am researching rubberized colours....

None of the four rooms on the lower floor are useable now.... all in various states of disrepair...but... new paint now on the office walls... and the trim is being painted as I type....
























We have had the light carpet for years...and now...are looking at the dark colour samples.... going for the gusto..... we enjoy the medium dark colours we painted the upstairs...so..... colour it is!

Uh, oh..I smell the little chicken..must away to check and baste.... lemony/garlic-y/onion-y chicken... all three of those ingredients stuffed into the cavity.... some butter smeared on his body... spices liberally sprinkled...and voila...a tasty morsel.... .

I missed Wordless Wednesday...

it blew by in a blur of trying to match paint colours.... taking some ceiling things apart...moving furniture upstairs... paying piano movers to take the washer and dryer out into the garage...etc....

how'bout thoughtless Thursday? ...cuz my poor head is boggled and I can't even think straight today...???














....trying to keep happy thoughts....... in the midst of total chaos.....

Photo a week...

It's time for Italian Prune Plums again....I saw enough at the grocery store to make three loaves...and am still looking. I can't understand why they have so few. They are the backyard variety. And..not cheap. I need to find a neighbour with a tree full. I forget how many I managed to bake last year..but, it was not enough! This is a great tasting loaf. You need a cup of cut up plums for each loaf. ...MMMMM.. pictures and recipe from last year on my Tea and Scones blog.











and hey! I grew a tomato.... I have no idea what kind it is as the baby tomato plants were a gift from a gardener friend ..

They must be a grape or cherry type.... this little guy is a good inch long....and I am going to taste it the minute I get off here. It's exciting to grow your own goodies.... the only edible things we tried this year were a few tomatoes in pots ...and some chili peppers in pots too.... and...have already had some lovely hot ones to use from those...and now have several more larger and very red peppers to pick. The tomatoes were so slow to get started that we got caught out and didn't get wire cones on them in time. Then...I was procrastinating on tying them up or tied a few with twine when thicker strips were needed... because two branches.. (yes, by that time they were almost branch size) keeled over from the weight of the tomatoes! so..of course, we lost that branch full... I was pretty devastated. But...there are several more..one plant is a yellow variety...I'm looking forward to tasting those...











Hahahah.... some of you think I am a patient person because I have been at the renos for so long. NOT!! It's just the only way we can do them. I am a grumpy person... and getting grumpier by the minute. This better be over with this year...or ...well, I'm just saying.....it better be over. We never would have bothered if the area wasn't so perfect... older, well developed and has lovely trees and large lots. It was the only house in this area that we could afford all those years ago even with both of us working two full time jobs each. We did plan to do a bit of fixing...but not quite what transpired. But, some of you know how it goes...start with something and all of sudden another thing gets involved. Besides...both of us are pretty particular about how things get done and after hiring out for several years...we got fed up with the results and headaches of babysitting the tradespeople. And...got some shoddy workmanship to boot. So...then we began to do things ourselves... which takes a long time when you can only get to things after work or on weekends and also have to study up on how to do any of it. So.... that's what's been happening. And...then...after years of it... Mr. BV got so tired of it all that we hid our heads in the sand for a while and lived in limbo. Things finished to the point of utilization...but, not pretty if you know what I mean. Then, we did the whole bathroom ourselves..it took over a year...and now...the laundry room is nearing completion...another year. All was ripped right out to plumbing bits sticking out...no electrical... cement and studs...that was it. We have done it all now.... just the tile in the laundry room needs sealant...and the sink then needs to be attached... wheeee!! The upstairs bathroom just needs a cabinet... and so on. But... my handman ran out of work at his paying job at the end of June...and the company seems to have nothing in the forseeable future..so the timing is perfect. He can just stay home and paint, build and finish things off.... we keep pushing each other daily now to do at least some small things each 24 hours.... and already we are seeing a difference. However, in the downstairs... the difference means that 4 rooms are now totally in disrepair...empty of furniture and we are repairing some cement stuff... laying missing floor tiles in the landing area...and awating our final decision on the choosing of the perfect carpeting (it's taking us forever to decide, but it is an expensive thing and will have to be there many years..so it better be right) ....and the office is going to painted in about 5 minutes... we did the undercoat yesterday... because we are going from oil based to Latex.... the last of the oil base in the house is now history. Today... first coat of a new green..... the original was called Carriage House Green...and we have been trying to have it custom matched because we painted the tv room a few years ago and wouldn't you know it...they don't carry the colour anymore...I hope the colour match is perfect today. We have been back and forth more than a few times already... the first baseboards I painted it on... ick...it was a funny taupy camo colour. After much calling around.... the piano movers... who charge less than regular movers.... will be here Wednesday to cart out my old washer and dryer...and... the...list goes on....must go make a few more calls.... bye for now....

...suppers are pretty simple....

this past week........but, at least they're still more or less nutritious...











... and...colourful... ya gotta say that about 'em. The dishwasher was full and I forgot to turn it on, so we resorted to patio plates. I love those brightly coloured little birdies...

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs... with garlic, honey and spices. My latest fav salad... chickpeas, cucumber and tomatoes with lots of fresh parsley. Lemon zest grated on... oil, some lemon juice, a bit of balsamic drizzled over...sprinkle on some sweet basil and cumin.... mmmmmm. A few lettuce leaves tossed onto the plate under it...good enough. Some homemade bread toasted to clean up the salad juice.... and there was a glass of white too.... earlier.... hahahahha...














luckily, some of the garden is still flourishing.... all by itself... because I haven't been out there much the past week or so...














look...I grew a coneflower! or maybe it grew in spite of me.












and this..... eventually this will be my finished exercise room. The treadmill gets plenty of use in the cold weather. But, lately this room has become the drop zone...for everything. It even looks tidy in this pic as we already moved out much of it. I couldn't have leaped over all of to make it to the treadmill the past month or so.....thankfully that is gone now.... and it is empty today, awaiting some new paint. Then... along with the two other rooms....carpeting..... sigh.... four rooms on the go at the same time is rugged..... nothing feels permanent in my whole life right now..... but, soon......I keep telling myself that.... soooooonnnnn!! oh, please let it be soon. Over 20 years of renovations is more than enough for anyone.... there is only one wall in this house that we have not touched now. The main bearing wall.

almos5t..whoops...almost wordless Friday...

It's weird typing on my knees, sitting on the floor...craning my neck to watch the screen and stretching my arm to move the mouse..lots of wrong letters pop up.... and I keep forgetting where the delete key is for some reason... just weird....

so...this is my office desk now....










too big and heavy to get back out of the basement area now that our steps are finished hardwood. It took 5 men to get it down there..sort of sliding it on the old linoleum...many years ago.... BR.... "Before Renovations" ..











Even the top (which looks so much smaller in this pic that in real life..) ..was too darn heavy to lift...so we cut it in half. It took hours to dismantle the thing into manageable size pieces. They don't build 'em like they used to anymore.... I could take any desk these days and give it two good whacks and it would fall apart... this took a lot of unscrewing and plenty of pounding....































I leave us both with a "pretty"..... which I bought yesterday at the consignment shop...while I was supposed to be trying to get rid of a crystal coffee table.... that has been sitting in the exercise room or any other room for too many years to count. Nowhere to use it seeing as we have two other coffee tables...and the style never did suit our decor anyway...it was a table that we ended up with in exchange for a big deposit lost by Mr. BumbleVee's dad in a furniture store bankruptcy....long story made much shorter....

So, our morning was spent going to the smelly old dump...paying $36 to get rid of the desk and other rubbish...and now..we are setting up to paint...before calling the movers and the carpet layers...and the phone guys..cuz all of a sudden it isn't working either.....

Wordless Wednesday

Photo a week...

Here I am again...a day late and a dollar short... and short my last 3 marbles too. I don't even know what day it is anymore. And...I don't get enough play time on here anymore either..... whine.........

My other half has been off work since end of June and my loosely woven schedule has gone to aitch ee double hockey sticks in a handbasket.

Tuesday, almost Wednesday ...but, hey...I'm still around!!

We were supposed to get busy as soon as he was off work (before somebody finds him more work to do) and begin some of the little (and even the not so little) finishing jobs of our past 23 years of renovations..... I have not had a backsplash in my kitchen for many years now. Somehow, almost two months have flown and we have finally just begun doing some tile in the past week. Then, today he hit me between the eyes with some other projects that we have not even discussed....but, now...will also be part of the ongoing saga of this Money Pit. If my laundry room doesn't get finished by the end of next week, somebody else is going to get something between the eyes too...

I had my rant and now am scrubbing these little guys in preparation for the sealer...











Friends and relatives all think that because we tackle all sorts of household repairs we know what we are doing. We know jack squat.... well, I can't say that anymore now...because over the years we have learned plenty! But, in the beginning... we knew nothing.... ..nada...zippo.... But, finally, we tired of paying so called tradespeople to do things and getting crappy jobs in return for big bucks. We baulked... ..we quit hiring and just gave things a go on our own. We find info on line...go to the hardware stores and tile and paint shops..and pump and quiz them up one side and down the other. We even buy books on some of the projects... and then...we just get busy and do them. We have made some mistakes...and sometimes things turn out a bit differently than they should...but, mostly we make it right by the end of things. Even if it takes a second and a third go round..or ripping off tiles... or re-doing shower bases... or ... lifting bathtubs one too many times and not lifting anything for over 6 months while recuperating.











This is our first time for tiles this tiny...half inch mosaics. There are three types of glass tiles and some travertine in the pieces. One type of glass has a nubbly texture. At the tile shops... they don't always have display tile grouted....and you have no idea how it should look when finished. This was the case with this particular tile. However, while grouting... we knew that if we washed off too much the sharp corners of the travertine bits would be sticking out of the grout...and be difficult to wash regularly...or be really sharp...so we kind of had an idea that the grout should be left almost as high as the surface of the little tiles. We were a bit surprised to see the grout remain in the nubbly surfaces of the glass...and even more surprised to have grout stick firmly to the flat glass tiles as well. So..it took a lot of cleaning the day after to make sure the smooth glass was clean ....even though we didn't want to clean out the grout on the nubbly surfaced tiles. It makes them look almost like a greenish veined marble piece now.... we did check immediately with the tile shop while the grout was still soft...and they said people do it either way. On the short run in the laundry room... we actually applied a bit more grout...because we had already washed out a bit more than we wanted to ..... but, all is well. The wall will fall down before the tiles fall off and the grout is not going anywhere...my finger nails will attest to that fact. They are wrecked from trying to scrape off tiny bits on the flat smooth glass bits..... and my neck is killing me...but....all is ready for sealer tomorrow. The sealer is apparently "bullet proof" ..... and a good thing, because me and tomato sauce have a thing.... if you know what I mean. Every single time I use tomatoes.... I get little spatters on every surface ...so, it better be bullet proof...I don't want any orange on my creamy whites over the stove. Now...for the backsplash behind the sink ....... woohoooooooo ... well, maybe next week...I won't get too excited this week.














....but...I sure do love this little run of tile behind my stove .... .......