February 29, 2012

A gift dull...

One of the blogs that I follow challenges me to cultivate a heart of gratitude, giving suggestions as to gifts to be thankful for.  One of today's suggestions is "a gift dull".


It is a dull day outside the window of our new home (see...I am beginning to say "home", instead of house...a sure sign that I am feathering the nest).  It is overcast and "flat", drizzly, and the land is still in its winter's sleep.  Everything all shades of grey.  But I am very thankful and can see the beauty in it all, and can see the promise in it all.


Future chicken coup!!!  We are going to have a white-washing party some summer weekend (right, Lizzie???) The promise of a vegie garden!  Clothes drying on the line!  Leafed-out trees!  Green grass!  Flowers in barrels.


The promise of warm fires.
We also own the property going up the escarpment to a beautiful clearing overlooking the lake and over to the Toronto skyline, and if our application to the Niagara Escarpment Commission is successful, that will be the future site of our rental cottage.
The garden here by the side covered porch really needs some TLC and to be coaxed back to beauty, but I already see it in bloom and visualize family and friends sharing a meal out here and enjoying it.


 Morning coffee spot!!


 Homes for returning birds!!

It is a grey dull day...but the promise of newness and life waking up and projects and sharing it all with people we love are definitely all gifts worth thanks.

For lent we have given up negative words (hubby's idea).  I was apprehensive about the whole exercise because I do not think that I have ever gone a day without uttering some kind of negative word.  But the flip side is making sure to speak life and affirmation, and that just ties in so wonderfully with the practice of thankfulness.  My cup overflows!!


February 23, 2012

Settling in...

It is beginning to feel like home.  Having internet is a huge blessing-I did not realize what a window to the world and to friends and family it was!  The young guy who hooked us up was great.  In fact, all the people who have come through the house for one thing or another have been so courteous and knowledgable, which is something I had been praying for.  We had all the duct work cleaned yesterday, so it just feels much better somehow to know that you are not breathing in someone else's dirt.  The furnace guy comes tomorrow to show Neil how this fancy system works and to service it.  Doors and windows are ordered.  The attic insulation guy has been and given us a quote.  It is warmer, cleaner and smells better...so things are looking up.

And we had our first company over the weekend..Kordan and Lizzie.  They camped out on the living room floor for two nights and wrote in our guest book, "We enjoyed falling asleep by the fire each night".  They helped us gather and stack wood and it was just so nice to see them.




I have begun doing the master bedroom.  The room with boxes will eventually be our en-suite, and the other with the mirror will be our walk-in closet...you can actually see me in my paint clothes in that mirror!  There was all this woodwork in the room and we debated whether to paint it out or not, and have decided to paint.  I felt myself apologizing to the house and to the artist who did all the faux painting years ago, but I just think it will really brighten things up.  (We will leave the same wood in the living area to commemorate the artist).  I also left one small panel that had an inscription painted on it from 1835 with the house builder's name.




We have decided against the brown in the corner.  The room is huge...used to be the parlour.  It will be spectacular when complete!

We are learning to be patient as we wait for the renovations and hook-ups etc. and are being very thankful for our many blessings along the way.  I was a little overwhelmed last week, and when I attended my women's group I was teary and tired.  After letting me vent for a short time, they asked me to start telling them of all the things that I was thankful for, encouraging me to keep on listing them with a gentle, "What else...??"  My mood changed as the blessings were counted.  It is amazing what a heart of gratitude can accomplish within.


February 17, 2012

A busy week....

Neil lighting the new firebox for the first time.
 The original fireplace and hearth are in the original 1830's section of the house.

We are slowly making the house our home, although it has been a long and very tiring week, and at times we have both struggled in a love/hate relationship with the house.  I have had a few "breakdowns".  We just have to remember that it is a project and to take one step at a time.

The new firebox went in and it really does warm up the whole old side of the house.
And it looks beautiful in the old hearth.  You can see the black from 180 years of fires in there.




Neil and I re-did the Douglas Fir wide plank flooring in 4 of the rooms so far. We do work pretty well as a team. Here he is changing the sandpaper for the "millionth" time.

The masked man!!!




The floors finished...a stunning redwood!!!
I am pretty sure that I never want to be a part of re-doing floors again...
Neil and his buddy will hopefully finish the rest.
And I will leave the premises!!!




And believe it or not, we bought 12 alpacas when we purchased the property!! Crazy!!! We do have buyers for them, but until spring thaw, they live with us.

So, as I said, we are slowly settling in.  We are still without internet, so the blog updates are few.
Hopefully in the next week we will be connected.


February 08, 2012

Tired and sore....

We lost 2.5 days on our week of house prep before we had to be out of the St. Catharines house, and we lost a very important worker to help hubby redo the floors.
So I have been his helper.
Three days of doing floors...and then just had to leave them tonight and come home, as the body just wouldn't move anymore.  Early tomorrow we hope to finish the sanding and get the first coat of finish on.  And then back here to load up a few more van loads of "stuff".
We were originally planning to be fully moved over by tomorrow.  But that will have to be Friday now, as we have just run out of time.
Pictures next time maybe.
We are moving rural, and internet is difficult to get, so I may be off for a few weeks.

February 04, 2012

Disappointment...

It is February 4th.
We are NOT moved.
It is a long story (details later), but between negotiations most of the day between lawyers, the deadline to file the land transfer was missed (apparently everyone wants to go home by 5 pm on a Friday).
I believe that we went through all the stages of grief in 45 minutes.
Bargaining with the lawyer.
Denial that this could possibly be happening (we had rental equipment loaded in the car ready to tackle the refinishing of the floors, and help lined up for the next day).
Anger.  Especially at the seller of the house (also details later).
Tears.  Sadness.  We had been waiting for months.  We were so excited for the 3rd.
Acceptance.  "It is what it is" and couldn't be changed.
The formulation of a new plan.

We moved back into disbelief and anger a few more times,
and awoke this morning to a day different than the one we have had planned for months.
I admit that there is this little part of me that wonders if it ever will really happen.

So we are going to try to enjoy this beautiful sunny day.
Try to have faith that there is a plan bigger than our understanding.
Wait for Monday.