Oh Happy Day

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We couldn't resist...we had our first meal on the island....cooked downstairs of course but  eaten  on hurricane.

Today the granite arrived and has been installed. The holes have been drilled for the taps etc. and in the kitchen the sink hole was beautifully created. Right now everyone is angsting about miinutia as they prepare to install the cooktop. I am so glad that we have meticulous craftsmen putting our house together. And each person that comes in the front door says the same thing. OMG. or wow!!!
Each time I come into the room I say it too. WOW! It almost looks like we know what we were doing with colours and materials. The cabinet lacquer matches the colours in the granite and floor stain is a distinctive colour in the granite, and the lighting, the kitchen metals and even the glass pendants all reflect some of the characteristics of the stone.
The smell of chemicals is giving me a headache and I think I am as high as a kite. I am going to go sleep it off now. Hope I don't start jonesin for more or I will be down at the strip mall scoring glue from the dollar store later tonight.

My baby turned 40

Gee it is hard to believe that my first born turned 40 years old. Oh, I know it isn't all about me, blah blah blah, but in a sense, it is. If I hadn't been there, nor would she. Those forty years went by in a blink. I can still remember the sweet smell of the back of her neck and her clear blue eyes when she looked at me. I was amazed that I could have had anything to do with her creation. I was her whole world and she was mine. I just couldn't believe I could love anything as much as I could love her....until I had my second baby of course. Then I was astonished that not only could I love another little being as much as the first but the new love did not diminish my feelings for the first one. I felt like the first person to ever figure this out.
We decided to have a party at the Ship and Anchor pub in Calgary, where her sister works. Since our house is temporarily out of commission we thought that would be the ideal venue. Facebook invites and birthday cake and beer.
Ashley is always so serious and hates getting her picture taken, she wouldn't pose for me so this is what she gets.

"You can't make me smile, I will not smile"

"I got my new glasses on the internet"....(from the used glasses bin in  India?)

the food is either too hot or too cold or I capture the worse expressions.

Everything comes crashing down

I woke up in a sweat this morning because I had dreamed that I had lost my purse. Nothing like looking for a purse at 4:30 a.m. and stepping into a dog pee puddle. The poor old girlie has been having some troubles lately...I think I will have to cut her off the booze earlier in the evening. She had her last walkies at 9 but apparently that wasn't late enough. So blurry eyed I was cleaning a carpet in the dark....thank god for my mum's old carpet cleaner, that thing has saved us hours of back breaking work. 

Then just as was stepping our of the shower, the phone rang. Bad news. The huge 5x10 piece of exotic granite that had just been cut and polished was being loaded for delivery and it BROKE!!

I had to rush over to the stone place and choose another piece. 

This is Hurricane. she is our new baby. Our second choice baby. She will be placed on our massive  subcontinent and  will match the lighting and the paint colours that I have already chosen.

I walked into the granite store/shop and everyone greeted me with apologetic faces including the "baby killer" :o)). We had visited our lovely piece of granite so often that she had become our baby. Poor Troy just felt sick about the accident. But fortunately no one was hurt and that in the end all that matters. I like the new piece and I think she is from the same chunk of granite in Brazil anyway, just a little further into the quarry. This new piece of granite is thicker than the last and is absolutely flawless, I know we will be happy. In the end it is a small thing to worry about. 

A small thing indeed compared to others. 

I am thinking about our friends in Comox where Bryan is visiting. Mike has lung cancer and every moment is precious and that is what is important. I know a small thing like a reno going screwy is such an inconspicuous inconsequential thing when compared to what they are going through. 

Mike and Louise just got back from a cancer treatment in Victoria and a Cops for Cancer ride for Mike and a respectful formation salute to him. His son in law Alvin is a Victoria cop. 

I know that visiting his old friend is important to Bryan, I do hope they have some good times this week. 

Time and Tempers

We learned a hard lesson. We should have remembered that old saw...pick two;

1. excellent Quality, 
2. job done in short Time, 
3. affordable Price

...but you can't have all three.

We planned, designed and plumbed our new master ensuite bathroom. We bought some beautiful porcelain travertine tile. Then, we left our handyman/tiler to his own devices while we went away and  were otherwise occupied with a heavy workload. It is entirely our fault. The result was a horrible mishmash of crooked grout lines and dangerously sharp corners and uneven floors both inside the shower and out.
Rather than tell us that he was over his head, he soldiered on and the result is absolutely horrific. We have had expert tilers in to see if there can be any way of salvaging this mess and each one has shaken his head and one actually laughed.
But we take the blame, we should have hired a professional right from the start.
So, Monday or Tuesday the bathroom gets hacked up and thrown out.
Sigh.

However on the bright side, progress inches slowly on through the rest of the house, I will be getting the granite counter soon, and the cupboard doors go on in a week. At this point I will feel that I am home again. Albeit without an ensuite bath.

It is fortunate that I have been reading Bill Bryson's 'At Home'. It provides a rational perspective for me. This book is a walk through time and an anthropological dig into our home. Why we do the things we do and live the way we live. I loved this book, it is right up my alley. I love delving into the domestic scenes of 500 years ago. He goes on a great length how folks, not so very long ago, had to choose the colours of their walls. If you wanted white trim, you would probably die young because the only way to get white was with lead.
It hasn't been very long that we have had constructed shelter and not living in caves, not in the grand scheme of things. And it hasn't been very long since we have had clean, safe, prepared (read someone else killed it ) food, soft cloth, warm beds, rational medicine and education. Just over 150 years ago I would have been writing this with a quill pen while trussed up in a corset. Probably being 'bled' to cure my headache.  Oh and I wouldn't have needed a bath, that would have been out of the question. The toilets would have been a pit because the u-joint hadn't been invented yet.
So I haven't lost my sense of humour or my mind but I may take up wine. That might get me through. That has been around a long time.

Some Pictures that NEED to be posted

This dark blue iris appeared among the stunning white ones. 

Just seconds before she discovered that this is a strawberry and the look of delight was priceless. 

Very purposefully dodging the tulips and on the hunt for more strawberries..

Not sure what she is doing here...but taking a break. 

She took it upon herself to climb my garden wall and run. 

Gwennyth Lamer on a mission.

Bryan's Lament

Getting closer

As many of you have been clamoring for details of the reno, I am taking an hour to tap out all the news. We have reached the stage of the critical putting together time. The plumbing trim needs to be put on and the fridge hooked up and the toilets installed. The electrical trim needs to be completed as well, lights installed and plugs placed strategically.
However, our timng couldn't be worse, it is stampede week. We are hoping that our trades don't feel the need to stampede.
The granite counters will be templated this week as well. And the blind lady is coming to install our new window coverings. I hope she can find her way here. Groan.
HRH and I  are becoming very snappish with each other. Actually nearly everything that either of us do irritates the hell out of the other. I wanted to rip his arms off the other day for using all the butter, you might think that was a little harsh, but I didn't.
Divorce is out of the question though, both of us want to see it out to the end and then hack each other into pieces.
The problem we have however is that we are both too tired to stay mad for long. I forget and he doesn't care.
I know last week I was stomping mad about something and swore that I would never speak to him again and then I forgot. I wanted him to walk the dog and to get him to do that I had to speak to him. Hand signals would only irritate both of us.
We have our laughs though. We installed our fridge and ovens and I took a few minutes to read the manual. That is something I rarely do, waiting instead until something goes wrong until I haul out the manual.
This time I noticed a Sabbath day setting on both appliances. That just cracked me up. Now we have orthodox appliances. Jeeze, I hope they don't force us to convert.
Maybe tomorrow I will take a movie and post it. Don't pop your popcorn yet I have to finish clearing out our bedroom. I have to wear a dust mask to clean the furniture that was exposed to the subfloor removal dust and the heat of that strapped to my face nearly brings me to my knees.
Who thought a renovation was a good idea? Take that person out and shoot him.