Post-August Wrap-Up!

Holy cow!  How long has it been?!  I’m so sorry!!  Summer literally slipped away for us, although I’d hazard to guess it was the same for all of you too?  I guess that means that everyone has been out having fun, which is important before the big Canadian weather starts to move in … not too quickly though, I hope!

I thought I’d do a recap post of our summer as a whole, including whatever building, crafting, and travelling projects we’d done.  I’m going to try and keep it mostly photos, and again leave it to you if you want to hear more about a specific project.

The great outdoors

Happy Canada Day!!

I hope everyone has taken some time to enjoy the moderately lovely weather we've had.  I actually prefer it a bit cooler, as there's opportunity to actually get things done outside without sweating through various layers of clothing.

As I said the other day, we had been outdoors doing some work on the front garden again.  One day we'll succeed at getting it to a low maintenance world that will allow us to do other more important things… like drink tea and read the newspaper (GW).

Rain rain, go away

Thought I'd give you a quick garden update, despite the ongoing rain in this area.  Yesterday I braved going out there with a poncho on to get some things done… but one can only make so much progress under what GW has called "British tanning weather", lol.

In addition to general upkeep, we're also in the middle of redoing/finishing our front step.  Nothing drastic, and I forgot to take a before picture (grrr) but I've included a quick snap of the "in between" phase.  Hopefully it'll be 80% done (as far as anything seems to get around here) by next weekend.

Another first

So…. I needed a new screen door for our sunroom.  Two winters ago it was one of those glorious -30degC Canadian days (or nights) and Pokaroo quickly scooted outside to go pee and… SNAP.  Her dog door broke clean off.  At any rate, we didn't bother getting a new one at that time as the screen door itself needed to be replaced anyways.  15 months later is a logical time to build a new door, right?

It was the right schedule for me, as for the second time this month, I was the lucky attendee of a Daughter Do Day - this time, it was a Dad'n'Daughter Day!  I busted my buttocks to get the door built this week, so while my Dad was here, he could help me hang it.  I won't go into all the painful details, but I'll say that building it seems easier than hanging it on a pre-existing 1939 door jam…

"Vintage" Shoe Rack

Despite me slowly piecing together the sunroom to make it an actual room to enjoy, there was still one hurdle that we couldn't get by; our shoes.  There isn't room in our back entryway to have our shoes go inside, so they stay in the sunroom. This also helps with keeping some dirt out of the house, but it did result in a big pile of shoes all the time.

The "before" photo was our latest great idea to make enough room for all of our shoes, but it didn't seem to last long as a solution.  My shoes were tucked in the back, and it wasn't really conducive to us both coming home at the same time which we do a lot.  Anyways…

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is many things to many people.  For me, it's about spending time with my Mum… and when us Ladies spend time together, we tend to get things done.  Hence the success of our Lady-Do Days!

Well, this year, I was lucky enough to get her as my sidekick from Saturday afternoon until early this afternoon.  Yay Us!  We got to catch up, have some good eats, jaunt around town, etc… and as it happens, get things done.  Not to say that GW and I aren't successful as well, but there's always an unspoken agreement with my Mum and I when we're doing a project.  We seem to think about the same next step at the same time and so one person ends up doing it while the other is taking the next step - does that make sense?

Anywho, thanks to my Mum, and a couple of hands from my Dad when he arrived today, I had a very productive weekend while GW was away.

2 of 37… ooooh boy

I'm not sure if I've talked before about having wood windows at our house.  I love them, and adore that they are original to when it was built in 1939.

There are only two problems with this.

#1 - I have 37 of them (although I get a different number each time I try to count) . . . with most involving more than one pane of glass per 'window'. . . and three are actually HUGE multi-pane ones (in the sunroom).  This is only a problem because...

#2 - eventually the paint on them wears down, and the glazing cracks or the glass cracks, or something has to be done to restore them.

Don't get me wrong, I love doing it and the idea of doing it… but 37 times!?  With (often) more than one pane of glass per window?  One day I'll count how many actual pieces of glass I'll deal with, but not now.  I don't want to be discouraged when I'm just getting started.

#ProductiveWeekend

Yup, it's only Saturday night and I'm already glowing inside from the productivity around here.  I think it's down to GW being up to a meeting by 9:30am, so I would have felt like a slug if I didn't get up and go too.  He also left me the car to go get wood, which meant that if I didn't get up and go, then he would have arranged alternate travel for nothing.

SO, as of 9:30, I was up, in the car and on my way to Starbucks then Lowe's so I could get some motivation ('Bucks) and some wood to build . . . .

Life givin' you apples?

In our lovely yard, we have two HUGE apple trees.  One isn't as alive as the other, and neither produced any apples last year with the silly weather we had... but this year, the bigger of the two trees has been dropping them like crazy!  It was fine when they were still small, and Poka could pick them up for us.  However, as the summer continues, they're starting to get too big for her and become dangerous missiles as well!

Today we went out to rescue some of the bigger ones before they hit the ground, and to make them into applesauce.  Let's see, shall we?

Happy 5 Years, Jumanji!

It was 5 years ago today that I moved into this house - taking a bit of a risk doing it on my own, but knowing that it was the right move for me.  I gladly accepted my friend, and her boyfriend, as roommates.  It was their first time living together, but worked out amazingly and now they're married and have gotten their first house, etc.  Once they were preparing to move out, I actually got a job I had been after for 3 years, AND found a new man who became my Hubby.  In an interesting coincidence, the permanent career he secured before we met is just down the road from our house.  Yay!  I guess it was the right house for me... and now us.

Here are a few quick before and after photos about how I've/we've made it our own since I/we settled in.

DIY decorative planter boxes

Probably two years ago, I took some old planters and went out to buy a whole bunch of plants for them instead of just buying a new pre-made pot to set on top.  When I got to work on the Monday, I told my girlfriends that I had "made" new planters.  Well they assumed, with my inclination to handiwork, that I had actually built new planter boxes and then put flowers in them.

This past weekend, I got inspired to ACTUALLY build them myself!

The 'un-useable' bench

When I moved in, 5 years ago, the previous owners had created a seating area behind the sunroom.  They had made it using a huge bench, almost like a daybed.  The bench was too deep for me to sit on comfortably, and it started to house creatures, so GW helped me take it out and put in two iron rocking chairs for us (which are soooo comfy).  That's where we sit every day after work, enjoying our yard.

I couldn't throw this bench away after we took it out, so for the past 3 years, it's leaned against various structures in the yard, as there wasn't really any logical home for it.  Finally, this past month, we found a semi-permanent, hopefully functional spot for it to live.

Summer relaxin'

So, there hasn't been much happening around here.  Well, not by our hands anyways.  We do have a friend, Michael, helping us out with the front garden as we have finally acknowledged that we can't manage both the back and the front.  We're not naturally gardening folk, so Jumanji has been too much for us.  Actually - I did give myself 5 years after moving in here before I'd admit defeat.... August 25th will be the 5th year anniversary!

Check out the latest Jumanji pics!  AND the chandelier that my Dad helped me put up :)

Our backyard

Let the games begin!

Eek, the gardening begins!

So here we are again - the time of year when I'm forced to get outside and maintain Jumanji... when I'd rather be inside working on various projects instead.

While I'm still taking time each day to work on the panelled wall and music room, yesterday I found the inspiration in +10deg weather, and went outdoors!

Get yer rubbers on!

In light of this awesome weather (in Canada, +5 degrees in early April is awesome)... I took the inspiration to get hopping on a few garden projects.

There's alway a lot to do around here, but hopefully this year, the changes we make will help Jumanji feel more manageable.  Again.  One plant at a time.  Jumanji was taking over when I moved in 5 years ago, and although I'm not as far ahead as I planned on being, we're getting there!