Friday, July 15, 2011

Tomorrow Will Suck

As the title suggests, I am not looking forward to tomorrow.  Why?  Well lets start with the fact that I have ordered a large refuse bin to be parked beside my house.  This bin, if I know us at all, will be filled to bursting with the interior of what was once the favourite room of the previous owner by the end of the day.  (Fingers crossed.)  So if all goes well we should be well into replacing windows and doors by the middle of next week.  By the end of next week we should be well into drywalling and all the fun that goes along with that.  So really I should just stop whining right now seeing as my new master bedroom is potentially within spitting distance (well time wise anyway).

I'm not too sure how Karson the cat will react to the destruction of this room, ever since we cleaned it out she has been having wayyyyyy too much fun racing around in it like it was the Indianapolis 500.  Cats are crazy at this age, it makes them a hoot to watch.

So today started out to be cool and cloudy but ended up to be warmer and sunny.  The back forty was spectacularly awesome, dappled shading, cool and inviting, and best of all, no bugs!  I took the hell hound for a walk and then decided to trim some apple trees and pack some wood to the new staging area.  It would have been perfect had the dog not rolled in something disgusting.  I had to throw the stick into the water at least fifty times to try and get some of the stink off.  Ah, German Shepherds, they certainly broke the mold when they were created.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Just Another Day In The Sticks, Oh And In The Lake Too!

So another day, another dollar spent in the land of renovations.  Today, when not out playing in the water and working on my beach, I was doing a little bit of odds and sods in the living room, painting trim, putting another coat on the window sill, and of course staining the mantel for the fireplace.  Mr Renovator was also into the odds and sods business, as well as the fishing business.  Apparently much fun was had out on the lake, he claims to have caught around fifteen but threw them all back in because they were too small.  It sounds like a "fish story" to me.

So now the next step is to rip out the old sun-room and morph it into a new bedroom, bathroom and walk in closet.  Here are the before pictures hopefully they will soon be followed by the "in-progress" pics.  We will actually be renting a big assed garbage bin as everything is coming out, even the ceiling.

This is the sun-room sans junk, avec wayyyyyyyy the hell too much knotty pine and pine flooring.  To me it looks like Paul Bunyan came in and threw up wood all over the place.  Although if some of it is salvageable (I'm hoping a lot of the flooring) it will end up in the Wookie Cave.  And just in case you are thinking that this is an anomaly, it isn't, the Bluenosers are big into knotty pine.

Looking lake ward. This window will soon go the way of the dodo and will morph into a sliding glass door out onto a deck which isn't actually there right now, perhaps next year.  But only if I can sell the cargo trailer which we moved here with. 

Looking out toward the side of the shack.  This area here will be the start of the new master bedroom and a slightly larger window will replace the existing one.  

Looking toward the back yard.  This used to be the main entryway into the shack.  Where the door is now is destined to be the new ensuite, and where the window is now will be a small walk in closet.  Door and window will be replaced by two small windows.  That weird sort of inside window thingy will soon be gone. 

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Rainy Day Projects

Today was a rather nice rainy day, in fact it was a great rainy day.  Some rainy days are just like that I guess.  Today Mr Renovator got up early and tootled off to town so I took some serious advantage of that by brewing a pot of tea, opening up my Kindle and reading the rest of my book.  Once I finished then I got up and went to work on a few projects.  The tiles in front of the fireplace were all finished so I grouted them puppies, then I baked a batch of raisin oatmeal cookies (oh I also threw in some chocolate chips and peanuts, so I guess they were more than just oatmeal and raisins.)  Then Mr Renovator returned and finished sanding the walls, which allowed me the opportunity to prime the ceiling and walls.  I only did a little bit of sweating when the sun peeked out for a half hour or so.  All in all it was a nice day.

Always start with a good breakfast.  


And make sure your pussy is warm and fuzz free. 

If you end up one tile short make sure that you send your Renovator all the way back into the city to pick one up after a entire day of renovating.  Its way more fun that way. 


Once all the tiles are in place you have to grout them puppies. 


I love the juxtaposition of the new look with the ubiquitous 1980's furniture.  I will have to post a picture of the completed process with our furniture in all its "Golden Girls" era glory.  Meanwhile this is as far as we have come with the fireplace.  Presently the mantle is a piece of 2x6 which I may just end up sanding and staining as I kinda like the look.


Oh and here are a couple of shots of the almost completed bedroom.  Next step is hardwood flooring.




Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Another Nice Day In The Land Of Renovations

Wow what a beautiful day today, the sun was all shiny and bright, the wind was all warm and blowy, and the lake was kinda like a bathtub in its temperature.  The only real downer was spending most of it inside painting, tiling and renovating.  I did manage to go out on shore and work on my beach for about a half hour, just long enough for the dog to get me soaked, three times, and for me to pick up and toss about fifty rocks.  So I now have a tiny little start on a beach.  The only downer was the big ugly leach I found, eeeyew.

So less babbling on and a few pictures before I calls it a night.  Here is a picture of my growing pears.

Here is a picture of the house on the outside. 


And last, but not least, the latest in fireplace renovations.  

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Summer Day

Today was what you would call a fine summer day.  A tad bit on the hot side but nonetheless it was a fine day.  I had to run into the city yesterday and do some fortifying of the fridge and picking up some needed items for on going renovations, which really should have been enough.  But I ended up having to finish the grocery shopping today so I ran into town and picked up the stuff I couldn't (or didn't want to) buy at Costco.  Sometimes bigger is not better.  For example; what would I do with fifty pounds of potatoes?  So there I was standing in line with my cart not really paying much attention to anything when the lady in front of me stopped the cashier and asked her to take the cherries off her list.  It turned out that a small bag of cherries was tallying up to a whopping twelve bucks.  I totally could see her point.  But then I took a closer look at the items she was buying and was a little shocked by her choices.  Frozen pizzas, pizza pops, hot dogs, frozen macaroni and cheese, canned spaghetti, pop, chips, chocolate chip cookies, etc.  Sadly the only healthy things in her entire cart was a lemon, two limes, and a bag of cherries.  Then I looked in the cart of the woman standing behind me in line, hers was even worse, in fact between the three carts it made mine look like I was a veritable health food nut.  And let me tell you folks, my health nut days have been over for a long time.

No wonder obesity is a major problem in our society, both these women had two kids with them, all four kids were obviously over weight already and I think the oldest one was around nine.  It did make me do some serious thinking though, I should always look at my cart in a critical manner and decide what it is telling the world.

Oh and as of yesterday our family is once again whole, the sickly kitten has recovered and is now home and busy taunting the dog.  Here's a couple of pictures I took of her today.

Karson having a nap in the summer heat.   


Karson wondering what the heck I'm doing.  


And for those who are missing renovation pictures here are a couple of the outside activities.


Saturday, July 2, 2011

Happy Day After Canada Day

Happy Birthday to Us...etc.

Yesterday was a relatively productive day here at Kitpu Estates, the day was a beaut, most especially after the shite weather we have been having, so the agenda called for some wood splitting and wood stacking.  We managed to fill up the trailer a few times and drag the wood all split to a big empty, gravelled area which hopefully has much sunshine and wind so that we can get some good drying time in before we have to haul the stuff into the basement.  The deer flies were out in full force every time I was out in the blazing sunshine but luckily for me and a well placed Blue Nose Burqa I did not turn into a big chewed upon bag of meat.  So after a few hours of work we now have a pretty stack of about two cords merrily drying away.  Then after some much needed caloric intake I took my handy dandy ratchet cutter and headed back out to do some trail clearing.  I managed to get around 200 - 300 meters cut so I am one happy Kitpu Manor resident.

Unfortunately that meant I was away from the radio all day and missed out on the thrilling epic adventures of the honeymooning couple.  Ah what I would have given to have had the privilege of standing at the side of the road in the roasting heat, craning my neck with anticipation of catching a glimpse as they rode? skated? walked? were carried by big brawny security guards? by in the parade in our nation's capital.  Although according to the CBC they are headed for PEI for a tour.  PEI is only a hop, skip, and a jump away from here so it's not like it would be impossible not to go and check out the festivities.  But if I did that who would cut more trail for me?  And that wood isn't going to stack itself now is it.  Oh and there is the fact that I'd rather run around naked in the middle of Pleasant Street with "Kick Me" written in ketchup on my skin than actually go to PEI to see the royals.