Our 2016 summer was pretty much consumed with installing our new septic system, growing grass for days and doing all things IVF. Since our septic was finished back in May we haven't done any renovations to the house as that was a big expense. We have two projects coming up for this winter that we are super excited about and that need to be done before baby arrives as it is quite messy. We are finishing our upstairs hallway and our master bedroom!
For the hall, Mitch is going to be making an attic access in the ceiling, because right now our only access is from outside and it's super dangerous. We are then going to install electrical for ceiling lights into the remaining three bedrooms from the attic. The only lights they have in them now is in the closets! I am looking forward to having normalized lighting in those rooms and picking out some unique fixtures!
The hall ceiling is a drop ceiling now, so we are going to be taking that down and installing a dry wall ceiling, and adding dentured crown moulding to top it off. When we first moved into the house, the upstairs hall had an orange carpet. Mitch and his brother removed the carpet and subfloor to expose the original hardwood floorboards. Needless to say they have been the same ever since and will be getting sanded and stained! So that consists of finishing our hallway and it is going to look so much better and "complete"!
Our plans for the master bedroom are similar. We will be moving out do remove the drop ceiling and install a dry wall ceiling. The carpet and subfloor will be removed to expose the same original floorboards, which will be sanded and stained. We will probably add a nice area rug in once all is complete.
We are super excited to get back at it and finishing this home to the beauty it can be! Plus, these two renovations complete the last two rooms in the house, other than our living room floors and adding crown moulding in all the rooms.
Sunday 30 October 2016
Saturday 20 August 2016
through august // 2016
I can't believe how fast August came! We haven't had a whole lot of renovations this summer to post but I love sharing photos of our gardens and pups, so this one is a big album! We did decide to paint the wood exterior of our sunroom. There is a century home in Shanty Bay on Ridge Road that painted their mudroom yellow and we absolutely loved the colour against the red brick so we wanted to spice ours up and make it fresh as well! We chose a very pale yellow, Moonlight by Benjamin Moore, which is the same colour as our dining room. Mitch replaced two boards on the sun room that were a bit rotted out from rain from our lack of eves troughs. We then did two coats of fresh start primer and then two coats of the yellow. It gives the house such a different and welcoming look! I also painted the balcony door from red to Wythe Blue by Benjamin Moore. It is now the same colour as our front door.
There has been so much landscaping this summer and we are finally coming to a close with it. Our plants are all in and our grass is grown (except at the back of the house), so now we just get to enjoy our back yard!...and do lots of weeding. We will definitely add in black mulch next year to keep weeds down and moisture in. Plus I love the look of it. It always makes the plants pop out, and you don't have to replace or add to it every year.
Today we had our mason friend come over and fix up some brick work on the back of the house. I am so impressed! We had a lot of stain there from piling dirt from the basement (mistake), so he was able to wash lots of that out as well. We are now going to start growing grass there - story of our lives. Lastly, we purchased a new/used second vehicle! It is a Chevrolet Equinox that is much better suited for our family. It has very low kilometres, no rust at all, and is in excellent shape! No more cramped Pursuit drives for this family! This SUV came at the perfect time as Mitch heads off to school in a week for his last round of two month schooling and needs a way to get there every day! I am so excited for him to complete this round as it is his last. He will be an official journeyman refrigeration mechanic in November!
Tuesday 2 August 2016
through july // 2016
"Another year of aging is truly an absolute blessing."
July was our month to complete our gardens for the year. We created two new gardens and one was moved during our septic renovation so we had a lot of planting and transplanting to do. We were later in the season to plant so we got some great deals on perennials at Costco once their garden centre closed! Mitch planted our yellow gladiolus and babies breath from seed and they did so well! Our veggie garden has come a long way since last year too. When we bought the house, it was a patch of dirt where a boat was stored so we chose to seed and water it. It was a great idea until we chose to put our garden there after all...
This year we planted less tomatoes and have them spaced even farther apart. Our zucchini plants are massive I can't get over the beauty in those big leaves! We transplanted a red current bush from my parents house that did very well it's first year here, although the birds loved it. I will have to figure out a protection strategy for next year! We also harvested our thia basil and it's currently drying. Our other basil is still growing tall and will be used for making our home made pesto.
This month Mitch installed our air conditioning unit. The house feels incredible! We needed it and all of our wood needed it, so thankful. We also built our fire pit using boulders that we spent an afternoon lugging out of the old barn foundation in the back!
July 22st was Mitch's 25th birthday! The beautiful Jen Weston made the cake for me which was adorable! I am honestly so proud of Mitch. He has done SO much in 25 years. Since I have been with him I have been able to be with him through high school graduation, prom, college graduation, his first job in his career, his dream job and changing his apprenticeship from residential to refrigeration, completion of his G1 industrial gas license, the adoption of two puppies, purchasing our dream home, starting a garden ministry at our church and latest, blessing me with the creation of our 5 perfect embryos. This man has his stuff together and I couldn't be more proud of his accomplishments.
This year we planted less tomatoes and have them spaced even farther apart. Our zucchini plants are massive I can't get over the beauty in those big leaves! We transplanted a red current bush from my parents house that did very well it's first year here, although the birds loved it. I will have to figure out a protection strategy for next year! We also harvested our thia basil and it's currently drying. Our other basil is still growing tall and will be used for making our home made pesto.
This month Mitch installed our air conditioning unit. The house feels incredible! We needed it and all of our wood needed it, so thankful. We also built our fire pit using boulders that we spent an afternoon lugging out of the old barn foundation in the back!
July 22st was Mitch's 25th birthday! The beautiful Jen Weston made the cake for me which was adorable! I am honestly so proud of Mitch. He has done SO much in 25 years. Since I have been with him I have been able to be with him through high school graduation, prom, college graduation, his first job in his career, his dream job and changing his apprenticeship from residential to refrigeration, completion of his G1 industrial gas license, the adoption of two puppies, purchasing our dream home, starting a garden ministry at our church and latest, blessing me with the creation of our 5 perfect embryos. This man has his stuff together and I couldn't be more proud of his accomplishments.
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