Breaking eggs...

We are fully in the midst of renovations now, and fully in the midst of chaos, and fully in the midst of "breaking eggs" (our contractor says, "You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette", referring to the reno disaster before the finished work).

It began with our contractor taking apart the old washroom right down to the studs.  This will eventually be the new mudroom/laundry room, but right now it is just a mess.  One day we will tell you all about the history of this property and house, but for now we will say that it was an old 1830's house moved to this location and joined to an existing 1950's house.  This photo shows where the two join.  The lath is the old house and you can see on the floor by the wall the cinder blocks of the newer house.

You can see the evidence of a fire that took the kitchen of the 1830's place before the house was moved to this location.  All the beams were hand-hewn and was post and beam construction.

And we have also been working on refinishing the last of the floors, in the kitchen and upstairs in the "big room".  Hubby has had help this time though, from his buddy Marc.

Conferring on strategy?!!

Needless to say, the kitchen is in the living room, the fridge is outside on the deck, the kitty litter is in the bedroom...you get it???...the house is CHAOS!

But we are in the "breaking eggs" stage, and are confident that it will all end up an "omelette"!!

The second coat on the kitchen, with the beautiful new windows!
It's getting there.

In the midst of the work, there was time for visits from friends.
The alpacas will be making their official move to their new home next weekend, if the fencing of their new pasture is completed.  I am thinking that they will love it there...13 acres with real pasture land to graze on.  We are having an alpaca-moving party so will definitely be snapping photos.

Spring has sprung...

Spring is springing up everywhere.  Even though the gardens have been neglected for so many years, the flowers keep on pressing through and keep on blooming.  With the weather being so warm, and the workers in the house so noisy, we have been busy outside in the yard.

My man in his rubber boots being a farmer!!!  I love it!  We took down the old garden that was in the middle of the yard, with the thought that we will establish a larger one in the alpaca compound once they are moved to their new home.

The windows and doors are all in and the capping around the windows is just about completed.  We have our building permit to do the renovations to the washrooms and add the mudroom, so that will likely be next on the list.

The exterior is already changing with the new windows being capped.  We have a painter lined up for May to paint the clapboard and porch but have yet to decide on the colour.  We are thinking a barn type grey, but are not sure yet.  We will have to take a few photos in to the paint store and see if they have any suggestions.

We are going to be refinishing the last of the floors this weekend, which is such a noisy, dusty, smelly job, but we have a helper this time, so likely I will just be the sweeper/bag emptier/food supplier!!!

We still find ourselves overwhelmed at times with the scope of the project and the surprises that continue to pop up.  But we also find ourselves overwhelmed by the beauty of the spot, and the potential, and the gift that it has already been to us and to people we share it with.

Windows going in...

Our windows have been going in for a few days now.  These are the ones that are left because they are going into a new opening, not an existing one.  These will go into the kitchen wall facing our best view and will bring in so much more light.

The opening open!!!  Our great workers...took down old paster with hardly any dust coming into the house...amazing!!!  See the view and the light that we are getting in that space.  Eventually, when the kitchen is the project, our dining room harvest table will be in this area overlooking the gardens.

The kitchen now.  This is only half of the space.  It is a very large country kitchen, with space for a love seat and sitting area, as well as the dining space.  I like the shelves on the wall and we are going to refinish the butcher block and paint the peninsula there, but the rest needs work.  The floors will be refinished in another few weeks.

Tomorrow it is going to be 12 degrees C!!  SPRING!!!  These snowdrops are from the gardens.  And I see tulips, daffodils and crocus coming up amongst the mess too.  If it really is 12 tomorrow, I am going to throw open all our new windows and give this place an airing that it probably has not seen in a decade.