No Garden Today....

The lawn was beginning to green up, the hillside showed a slight dusting of green poking through the tan matt of last years grasses and close inspection of little shrubs showed tiny buds starting to swell in preparation for their spring awakening. And the larges trees have the first of their crumpled, bundles of new leaves on the verge of opening out and welcoming their new year. I've been digging and edging shrub beds so that when the nurseries finally open, I will be ready!

And then this, May 1st and look at what we've got. At first sight of scattered flakes drifting lazily from the sky, I thought "this too would pass", but nooo, it didn't and the photos show what it looks like at the end of the day in Nova Scotia. Little different I think from BC where folks are marking out rows where the veggies will go in a week or two. I would think that gardening must start here in a serious way, at least three weeks later than the Lower Mainland. Oh well, I'm not going anywhere, I can wait.

What day is today?

We have been so busy this past week.....painting, ceiling, more painting, panelling, more painting and on and on. But yesterday, taadaa!!! they put our cabinets together and we absolutely love them. There is not a thing that I would change, mind you, I did sit there staring at my old kitchen for long enough that to have made a mistake on planning would have been almost impossible I think. But now we are feeling so burnt out that today it was hard to get started. All I did was cleanup and put away stuff that used to be in the old cupboards and now must be moved into the new. We still have some ceiling to put up, but first the electrician has to come and deal with some lighting issues. And on Tuesday, we're gonna pull out the mitre saw and begin putting up some crown moldings.

Oh and the vinyl floor that I insisted on, that Don had his doubts about no matter how hard I worked to reassure him, has finally met with his approval. I knew it would look fabulous, but he is a nervous nelly sometimes. I was going to put a few pictures on, but Don wants to wait until the crown moldings are done, so sorry. But we will soon be ready for the unveiling, can you be patient?

A week ago we had some lovely weather, 19 degrees. It was fabulous!!! That was the highest temp. so far. Then it cooled, rained a day or two, and today no rain, but a really chilly wind blew for most of the day. But by early evening the wind had died down and the sky was clear so maybe tomorrow will be warmer and sunny. Everyone here says this has been the longest and coldest winter they've had for several years. Lucky us that it happens our first winter eh? Oh well, we survived. After the mess we've had all winter, and the learning curve of dealing with the cold winter, next winter should be a piece of cake. I'm looking forward to more time to spend on my art, and reading and listening to my classical music (if only I could find my case full of CD's).

So now it is time to go upstairs as my pillow is screaming my name and I am more than happy to obey. Toodle-loo for now my dears.

By the way, do you love chubby babies like the one up above. This little charmer was so adorable I just had to share it with you. If I knew who the photographer was I would most certainly give him or her the credit, but can't. Anyway just enjoy.

Diesel is wandering around the house looking for the best sunny spot in which to bask and soak up the sun. The earth is slowly warming and the buds on some of the bigger trees are beginning to swell as the earths own warmth melts the ice from below. The grass is begining to green the hills here and there. It feels like it has been such a long time since the summer but it is time that has passed quickly because we have been so busy working on the inside of the house. Soon it will be time to move outdoors.

It won't be much longer before I can post some before and after pictures of our kitchen and dining room. Don has always had a fancy for yellow (not my favorite) so when we moved here, I thought I would just let him run with it. I think that lots of my philosophies have changed in the past couple years and the things that were important to me have changed and I've realized too, that the things that were so important, like NOT having my house yellow on the inside (among many other things), really don't matter in the grande scheme of things. But when we put the first coat of yellow on the dining room walls, I began to rethink that particular item. We'd had a coral colored kitchen once that began by being the most horrid pinky-orange but by the second day, the paint had cured to a very acceptable shade of coral so we forged ahead with this original decision to go with the yellow that we'd bought two cans of. And sure enough, by the second day the color was more pleasant to look at. So we're pleased with it and even on an overcast day, it is a joyful room to go into. Soon you'll see the grand unveiling.

Let the sun shine and shine and shine and....

....especially on the cold days! We now have a solar furnace which is really just a box of pop cans painted black. As you can see by the picture, the "box" is about the size of a door and yes, inside are pop cans. They've been painted black to attract and hold the energy/heat of the sun. In one bottom corner is a cold air intake and fan that goes through the wall into the kitchen. In the opposite corner at the top is another vent that allows the heat the builds up to move into the house. As the temperature in the box reaches a set level, the fan comes on and begins to move the warmed air out and suck in cool air from down by the floor.

At this time of year, because of the direction of the sun, it comes on at 8:00 in the morning and will run until about 2:00 at which time the angle of the sun has changed enough that the furnace no longer receives the sun rays adequately. But by that time, the house is warmed in general by the sun. Considering that we are in Nova Scotia which tends to be a bit cooler because of ocean air surrounding this little province and considering that we get quite a bit of cooling winds from the Bay of Fundy, this should prove to be a terrific idea for our house.

Unfortunately for our house, while we have lots of windows, the bulk of them have been located on the north side of the house which is a disaster as far as taking advantage of the effects of solar heat. This solar furnace is one answer to taking advantage of the sun on the other side, when it isn't doable to install new windows on the side due to that also being the location of the kitchen cabinets. Pretty neat eh?!

...on the point of collapse...

I'm sorry that I've been falling down on the job. The job of keeping up our blog so that all of you, our readers and fans, can keep up with the day to day changes going on in the life of the Maritime branch of the family. To tell you the truth, there don't seem to be any changes these days. Not that we aren't working everyday on one thing or another. It's just that, like any reno job, every job only leads to another, to another, to another.... I am so tired of living with ongoing mess and disorder! aagh! it's driving me crazy. Have you ever been doing something, and you get to a point where you just can't do anymore, and at that point you collapse in a heap and don't move again for a month? Well, maybe a month is a bit of an excageration but you get the drift. I feel that way quite regularly lately. But our cupboards are due soon and there's still lots to do. So no collapsing yet. Right now, the big project is putting up a tin ceiling and it looks great. I wasn't sure how it was going to look and when we opened the first box and pulled out a tile, I was worried but now that the kitchen ceiling is covered, I love it. Tomorrow we work on the dining room and then I think the following day will be for painting.

While the weather has been pretty consistently cold, Don and Diesel have decided to wait out the winter on the couch whenever there is no project work going on that is. Diesel keeps Don warm (you've heard of a three dog night, right? well we have one dog nights), and also gives him advice on his investments. As you can see, our little mutt is very involved there. Mind you, Diesel wasn't nearly so relaxed today while we were working on the ceiling. Everytime we looked down from our perch on a ladder or the chair, there he was, looking so sad and pleading, "please come down and pick me up." He is so needy. Good thing we think he's so cute. I think we are both wrapped around his little paw.

I think part of the reason that I haven't been writing anything here too, is that after a day of trying to figure out how to accomplish this or that, decisions, decisions, decisions, I think the creative part of my brain is just plain wrung out, nothing left to offer, done. Oh well, spring is just around the corner, I hope, and then there will be sunshine and flowers and trees to plant, all of which will reinvigorate my old noggin. In the meantime, I'll do the best I can and hope that you will bear with me.
So take care my dears and don't forget, you can post comments here too. This can be a two way street you know. Anyway, love to you all til next time.

So Daddy Fixed the Piano Holly...

Do you remember that piano, that worked until you put your mitts on it my dear? Well, this morning, your dad, who is so talented I might add, in the field of repairs, etc., decided it was time to unstick that key. Now if he can just remember where everything goes....

Actually, because none of us plays the piano, and you can't give old ones away, we were sort of thinking that we would do something a little more creative with this one and make it into a china cabinet or something. It has such nice ornamentation on it, so daddy managed to get all the pieces undone without resorting to the saw. Don't you think it will make an interesting cabinet? With the addition of a couple shelves and such. I think it will be very cool. (one more project to add to the list!)

The Beauty of Doing Nothing....

I've been reading another book called "Eat, Pray, Love". It is about a woman who, after a crushing divorce and a failed shall we say, rebound relationship, decides to travel the three I's, that is Italy, India and Indonesia. As a writer, her plan is to write a book chronicling her adventures and experiences. As you may have gathered, she is back from her trip and the book is finished. Else what would I be reading? So right now, I am only in the first part, Italy. The reason that I bring this up, is because, as her reason for being there is to learn the beautiful language of Italy, she peppers the pages with phrases that she loves the sound or meaning of. And when I am reading, I like to jot down phrases or statements that appeal to me and so here is one, "il belle far niente". Now you must, even if you are reading to yourself, imagine that you are repeating it with the most authentic Italian accent that you are able to muster. It doesn't mean that you will be able to decipher the meaning any better, only that you may, for just a moment, leave your life and taste of hers. Anyway, enough of that and I suppose that you are going to begin mumbling at some point, "what the heck does it mean?". Patience grasshopper, patience, for it means, "the fine art of doing nothing".

The fine art of doing nothing. I think the reason that I like it is because it is something that I am learning to do at this stage in my life. I have always been driven to a point. Using my crossed off to do list as proof that I am worth while, that there is a point that I am here, taking up space on this planet. I used to do that all the time, the to-do lists on the backs of envelopes, folded pieces of paper. As I was making the initial list, I often tried to write the projects down in the most practical order of doing, keeping in mind that I didn't want to waste time and as one was being checked off, a new job was added to the end of the list. Then at bedtime, instead of taking stock of the day and giving myself a mental pat on the back for "jobs" well done, I was usually planning what would be on the list for tomorrow. So the fine art of doing nothing was simply not a phrase that had any room in my vocabulary.

But now, I am slowing down and quite honestly, the energy doesn't seem to be there for big, long to-do lists, nor the enthusiasm. Now I am beginning to look around the house and pick one thing that I will tackle at some point during the day, and strangely, that seems to be enough. The year and a half of living in the apartment had a great deal to do with this I think, because, quite honestly, there wasn't enough room to get into projects, so it was sort of a forced learning process for which I think that I am glad. The fine art of doing nothing....

The result is that soon I will have time to make my bread and enjoy the process without feeling like there are other things that I should be attending to at the same time. What seems to happen in those instances is that I walk out of the kitchen after I've mixed up that loaf and it goes completely out of my mind and when that happens....well let me just say that when cooking or baking is left unattended halfway through the process, no one is happy with the outcome!

Speaking of my bread, I finally have worked out a recipes that gives me one loaf that fits perfectly into my little convection oven. Not too big (so that I get two striped burn marks on the top) and not too small (so that your sandwiches would fit into a "Borrowers" lunchbox), just right. Maybe I should call it the Goldilocks loaf.

Anyway, love to you all and I hope that your having lovely days, wherever you are.