Go Confidently

This was a gift from a friend when I decided to give up my life in Calgary and move on.  She knew me well.  I have now placed this on my patio.  In fact, this inspired me to 'decorate' my patio this evening.  After an exhausting day at the Farmer's Market, I needed a little down time.  I love sitting out at night.

Candles and lights set the mood.  I had a collection of telephone insulators.  How do I explain what these are!  They were used on telephone line poles when lines were above ground.  They come in colours of whites, greens and blues.  I set out my collection and put blue lights among them.

Thank you to everyone who visited me at the Market today.  I loved visiting and soaking up all your ideas.  I can see a lot of nice friendships and cooking happening soon.

Now I just need to have a working oven!

My New Kitchen and a Giveaway!

I love my new kitchen!  It is so easy to work in and I feel like I have tons of space.  I even have some empty shelves and at least one empty drawer!

This is Miss Sugar's chair.  She loves to cook!  With this chair in the kitchen she is never tempted to walk on the countertops.

 My gel mats arrived yesterday.  They are wonderful to stand on while cooking and will also protect the floor.

Oops!  I just spotted Miss Sugar in the picture above!

Now for the giveaway!  Just leave a comment and your name will be entered in a random draw for a jar of my homemade haskap jam!  I know that these berries are not available to most of you and I would love to share them.  I will send it anywhere in the world!  (I know this jar says blackberry!  Just don't have a picture of the haskap!)

Peek Preview of my New Kitchen

It has been so long since I have posted.  And it has been even longer since I have had a refrigerator!  My renovation is coming to an end and I am slowly moving back into the main floor from my basement.

I am having the tile backsplash and tub surround done right now.  Then just a couple of details and it is ...ta da... DONE!

Is this not a gorgeous stove!  I can hardly wait to start using it.  It is a professional model Kitchenaid with steam assist.  Kitchenaid had a sale on last July that gave me 10% off on two or more appliances, so I bought everything from them.

I can hardly wait to have a dishwasher again!

My refrigerator is just a refrigerator but I really like the look of it.  Right beside the refrigerator is where my stand mixer will be located.

The cabinet installer thought I was making a mistake choosing a flat panel cabinet.  He had actually never installed them before but he did a masterful job.

The guys who come and do the work love everything from the colours to the pot lights to the flat panel cabinets.  They can now see the way it all works together.

 This is the main light in the kitchen and then I have pot lights and will have under cabinet lighting.  The matching lights are in my foyer, hallway and bathroom.

Thanks for visiting!  I will have a better showing when I am fully moved in and decorated.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Tongue Twister

Stripping stipple from the ceiling sees sore scapulas!  Stripping stipple from the ceiling sees sore scapulas!  Stripping stipple from the ceiling sees sore scapulas!

This was my weekend work.  I want a smooth ceiling.  But will settle for a more modern sprayed ceiling.

Foyer and one bedroom done!  Yes!  Only another thousand square feet to go!

Update on My House

Look at that gorgeous blue sky!  I have been waiting for the past month for the rain to stop so I could paint.  I changed the colour of my house. 

I just didn't like the one colour look.  I felt the house needed to be 'grounded'.  I only changed the bottom portion.

And this was how it was when I bought the house last spring.

I removed the ugly indoor outdoor carpet from the step and still have to deal with the adhesive that was left.  So much work!

My Biggest Summer Project Completed

I have nothing but projects with my 'new to me' house.  Truth be told, it is a true fixer upper.  I posted yesterday about my patio project.  Well that pales in comparison to this.  I painted the entire exterior of my house!

My cooking has truly taken a second seat to all the work I am doing with my house.

I have removed ugly trees.  Removed a couple of yards of ugly red shale.  Hauled in top soil.  Added a flower bed or two.  Ripped off the indoor/outdoor carpet on the front step.  And have had new windows installed.  I am not finished yet...but I'm gettin' there!  Next year the vegetation will be able to have a chance and start to hide my foundation!  I have to do something about the adhesive on the front step.  I am just not ready to remove it 'inch by inch' quite yet.  I might wait until the dead of winter so I can just chip it away while it is as frozen as dry ice.

And I think new asphalt shingles will be a huge improvement.  I am just waiting for a big hail storm and can make an insurance claim!  It isn't such a stretch in this part of the country.  And the house numbers will be replaced with something more modern and with solar lighting.

This is the 'before' picture.  You can't see through the screen door, but there are only 2 diamond shaped windows in the front door.  I thought 3 would have better balance.

Butterfly in My Garden and Another Summer Project Completed

This is my first pretty butterfly this season.  See all those ants in the blossom, too!  For some reason all the insects like the false spirea...

...even the ladybugs

My cilantro has gone to seed and now it is coriander.  I decided to cut it down and spread the coriander seeds to dry in the sun.  Finally my chamomile and rosemary are taking hold.  Without the shade of the huge cilantro it should do much better now!

But this is my big project yesterday.  I had removed the ugly, rotten indoor/outdoor carpet from my patio.  I was left with a lot of adhesive.  And it is not easy to remove.

Coincidence ... I don't know ... but a company right here in Swift Current manufactures snap-together patio tiles that can be used to cover this situation.

It took me 6 hours on Saturday to finish the job and what an improvement.

Redecorating my Guest Room

One room done!  I wish I had a 'before' picture but just imagine 1960's wallboard.  Yech!  I am not planning to spend a lot of money on my basement and just want to spruce it up a bit.

I chose two very intense colours.  They are Benjamin Moore colours Quinte (burgundy red) and Mukluk (the neutral colour).  This entire set of colours are historical shades and have been given very Canadian names.

I had considered choosing a red that would match my Hudson Bay blanket and make it a Canadiana room.  But then I looked at this wonderful painting that I have and decided to choose colours that would work with it.

I am very happy with the results!  I still want to hang a floor to ceiling drape as a headboard.  That will warm it up even more.

A Workout in My Garden

I am spending way more time outside, working on my garden, than I am in the kitchen these days.  After a few hours outside, I have no energy left for cooking.

Remember those three columnar cedars?  Well, they are gone!

I am removing all the red shale from my beds.  There was a kiddie pool once upon a time in the back yard with a beach!  Must have been fun but now I have to move all of that sand out! They are now in piles on my driveway - clean red shale, dirty red shale, sand.







And that little crabapple tree that they planted 40 years ago grew up.  The interlocking bricks were so close around the little tree that when the trunk expanded, they all moved around and became too tight.  So I removed some. That was two days work for that little pile of pavers.

I am watching the garden.  So far there are some tulips and crocuses and this little flower whose name I do not know coming up.  Leaves on the trees are beginning to bud out. 

 I decided to make a cold frame with my brick planter.  I found some glass panes in my basement and they will work great to create the mini greenhouse so I can plant now.  Bonus.

Dog Tired!

Adj.

1.

dog-tired - drained of energy or effectiveness; extremely tired; completely exhausted; "the day's shopping left her exhausted"; "he went to bed dog-tired"; "was fagged and sweaty"; "the trembling of his played out limbs"; "felt completely washed-out"; "only worn-out horses and cattle"; "you look worn out"            from TheFreeDictionary

Yesterday  I got possession of my new-to-me house!  As luck would have it, the movers were here a day early!  So it all happened yesterday.  I am all moved in...but definitely not organized.  The boxes are unpacked for the most part, collapsed and the acres of paper set aside for recycle pick-up.

If I might add, oooh myyy goshhh, I am tired!

It is exciting though.  I have become reacquainted with my food processor, stand mixer, flatware, baking pans, cookbooks, etc, etc, etc.  Yes, cookbooks!  My, how I have missed them.

There are a few things I have not found yet - must be in that box or two that still is unopened.

Other than no hot water, everything went well.  The plumber comes tomorrow - if he can stand to be in the same house as my unbathed body.

The food realm has been very unexciting unless you like Boston Pizza or Pizza Hut or the Co-op cafeteria.  I was lucky enough to be invited to my friends' house for homemade tomato soup last night.  That was very good.

I have already found a guy to remove my three cedars and make me some privacy screens for the back yard.  We are moving right along!

(Note - there is no more snow!  It is beautiful sunny warm spring weather but no hint of green yet.)