Finally - New Doors

Hello family:

It has been a long time since I updated the blog. Sorry about that. Since that last blog, I have a new granddaughter, painted the house, trimmed branches off more trees (will have to rent a chipper next spring - right now there is some kind of little animal living under it - I can see their pawprints in the snow), supervised the cutting down of some of our trees, got serious about applying for jobs, was offered 2 jobs in the same week, and now praying that I accepted the right one (although at the time, I felt that it was a God-given answer in that I would keep my 4 weeks vacation plus time off between Christmas and New Years). I hope that this confusion in my head is just the "thrill" of a steep learning curve with switching from health care to education system, learning MSOffice 2007 and another new computer program at work and taking over a job where 2 offices amalgamated and stuff is still in boxes. Anyway most of you have heard all about that...

Below is our newly painted house with the nice light trim. But notice the very dark door and entrance even with the cream railing.

How do you like the blue porch/veranda? Very blue eh? This was a trial test. It was changed to the cream as above. The blue dried very bright. We were looking for more of a gray blue. And then I was running out of time to paint where day and night temps were above 10'.

This is the house with the new doors. And some closeups of the doors. These were our Christmas presents to each other. Exciting! Yes, we have no life.

Today is boxing day. We put up some blinds in the family room and I went outside to take this picture from afar. Much brighter entry way than the old one above.

Looks like we may be in for another storm tomorrow. We are supposed to have Mark and Elizabeth (and Mark's Dad) over for dinner. A storm watch is in place - usually not a good sign.

John B. was speaking in South Range in the Annapolis Valley area. These are some of the beautiful scenes we saw while driving there and back.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR. LOVE TO YOU ALL.

DAD AND MOM/GRANDPA AND GRANDMA.

Kansas City Convention

The PACE banner is about 7 feet tall. The scene at the bottom is the skyline of Halifax. Dad even got new running shoes before we left. We took about 2500 brochures and gave away under 100. Hmmmm, we now have a list of what to take and what not to take. Dad was able to make lots of contacts for when he really gets into the fund raising. So he spent a lot of time roaming around. I stayed with the booth and read 3 books in between talking with other exhibitors nearby and the public who did take time to stop.


Provincial Tartans: Can you identify from left to right? The colors are not the best. The tartan on the right is mostly green. Answers below.

Missouri was interesting. Our hotel room was only across the street and down 1 block. We were advised not to walk anywhere alone and not at night. Fortunately, we were too busy anyway. So we really did not see anything. The North American Christian Convention (NACC) was down in attendance this year. We could have just set up the booth and left it alone. However, we did talk with a number of people who had been in Canada and were curious about the tartans.

I was hoping for some heat. The weather was great - in the low 90's. However, the exhibit hall was freezing - I wore my fleece jacket and did not take any socks or shoes (I wore sandals) and my feet froze. Other than that, it was fun.

We checked out of hotel by 1:30 p.m. Took shuttle to airport. Left Kansas City at 6:00 p.m. Got to Toronto by 8:00 pm. Had to pick up luggage and recheck it for Halifax and go through security etc. Got on plane at 10:45 pm then sat on the tarmack for 1 hour while they checked the brakes. No one complained though. So instead of getting into Halifax at 2:00 am, it was 4:00 am.

We drove home and slept until about 10:00 am, then repacked to go to the Maritime Christian Fellowship which was going on that weekend. We decided not to stay at the campsite and stayed in hotel nearby. We were so glad - cause that was the most "rustic" camp I have ever seen. Then home on Sunday pm.

We are resting up now for our family coming to visit at end of July. Can't wait to see you all.
Love Mom

(Answers: NB, NS, PEI, NFLD)

To Paint or Not to Paint?

The past 3 months we have debated what to do with the fireplace in the living room which is darkish and dirty looking even after scrubbing and the bricks look like they have hieroglyphics embedded on them. So what to do. We got an estimate on covering it up and putting on a mantle - about 4,000.00. I don't think so. After researching on the internet (there were as many "go for it" as there were "don't do it") we are still undecided. We checked with our real estate agent and she said the "selling" factor would only be impacted if we painted it a wild and wonderful colour. We would paint it the same colour as the walls - we want it to disappear for now rather than jump out at you when you enter the room. We are waffling on it - which to me says that maybe we should not paint and just try to disguise. Most people living down here are used to fireplaces anyway, so the state of ours probably won't even fizz on them. Here are some pictures of "it". "It" looks better with the white painted board which was masquerading as a mantle now removed. We are waiting for a beach picture to be framed which we plan to hang in the middle of the fireplace to hide the brickwork. So far this is what we have. We still plan for an accent table (for guests to set their beverage down or whatever) and a couple of floor lamps as there is no ceiling light. Although I suspect there might have been one in the past - as there is a light switch on the wall just inside the living room which does nothing. Maybe it was just a "practice" switch :)

I have been trying to use the sunny days to work outside and rainy days to work inside. And to date there have been more rainy days than sunny and our temperatures are still below average. Everyone is saying that it has been late for planting. Tomato plants just went in the ground on June 20. That's what I love about garden centres - everyone talks to everyone else about how the gardening is going this year. Here are some outdoor pictures, now that we have the deck set up and some flowers in, trees cut down and grass cut.

Any company coming this summer are invited to use the BBQ all they want - morning, noon and night. It even has a side burner. I must get a few more deck chairs. It is really nice in the mornings - it is quiet and you can hear all the birds chirping - a nice way to start the day with breakfast and coffee out there (if it is not raining).

We have been on the road almost every weekend visiting the Maritime churches. Dad talks about PACE and then presents the message. It is scary though, when my parents' friends all come up and welcome us back and of course ask about my parents. I was mentioning this to another couple who commented on how there seems to be a generation missing. And now there is a younger generation up and coming and "doing church" differently. And we are so glad to see it happening.

Dad spoke at Hammonds Plains (outside of Halifax) on June 9, then we had Father's Day off (except that we made spaghetti pie and served homeless people in Halifax at a place called the Ark and can you believe this - while John was out front serving - he met the principal of Quinte Christian High School (whom he knew) who was there with about 16 kids on a school trip and serving at the Ark was their first assignment). Small world eh! Then on June 24, we were in Fredericton, NB and on July 1 we will be at Halifax Christian Church, then leave on July 2 to fly to Kansas City, Missouri for the North American Christian Convention (PACE has a display booth) where we will spell each other off for 12 hours/day. I'll post pictures of that when we get back.
That's all for now - love you all. Mom & Grandma

P.S. Hallelujah - as of June 23 our temperatures have made it into the 20's - finally some heat.

Now you see it; Now you don't!

Swirly! Ugh! The black arch at the top of the picture is the doorway to the living room. I didn't want you to think the ceiling was black. The whole ceiling swirled starting in the centre and working outwards and finished off with a smooth band all around the edge which the former owners painted to match their walls. You can see on the lower left edge where my plastering stopped from the edge of the dining room. And you can see where the pattern seems to meet the top of the fireplace. It felt very claustrophobic to me.

This is the nice clean smooth ceiling ready for priming. Just like icing a cake - only upside down and a little harder on the body. So 40 kg of drywall compound later (2 thin coats), we'll see what it looks like with paint. I tested it with lights to see if there were waves, dibs or drastic shadows but it looks very good (if I may say so myself - a wannabe renovator). But even Dad was impressed. He admitted that he was scared that it would not turn out. Now would I start a project that I didn't think I could do well. (No answer required for that).

This is the dining room ceiling ready for priming. Amazing how different the natural light is in each room. Of course, the dining room faces south onto the deck and the living room face north towards the lake.

We were both amazed (Dad, more than me) at how much "higher" the ceiling seems to be and how much "larger" the room appears. Plus it seems to minimize the floor to ceiling fireplace.


We got an estimate for covering up the fireplace. That will be a project that will happen "much later" - it will be very expensive. So for now, we will do our best to disguise the thing. We thought we would get a better "board" for the mantel and hang our beach scene above it which will cover a large portion of the upper part. Then we plan to get a fireplace screen and cover the firebox opening - add a plant or 2 or some kind of pot or accent on the hearth and voila - not as noticeable. The brick is quite discoloured around the firebox even after scrubbing with TSP, bleach, etc. I bought a brick cleaner product which I will try - but it may be a clean as it will ever be.

Till next saga. Love Mom/Grandma

Outdoor pictures in Fall River

These 2 pictures are part of our backyard. The actual cleared space is about the same amount as I had available in my Belleville backyard. Only here I will have to bring in soil to make the flower beds as apparently, you can hardly get a shovel in the ground.
I love a good gardening challenge!!
There is a public trail that goes up the hill past the west side of our house behind the evergreen trees. I noticed that there were some small evergreen seedlings started all around the woods- so I plan to move a few to along the west side to make a living fence between the trail and our yard - to give us some privacy. Not too many people have been using it this winter although there were a couple of ATVs using it a couple of times.


Our back property line goes across behind the shed - and when the good weather comes I think I will try to determine how far behind the shed the property goes. John doesn't think it goes much farther than just beyond the shed which going by the deed would be a very good guess. There is a wood pile started on the other side near the trail and I think that I shall move this woodpile over to it. (There is a lot of wood there) Maybe I should wait till summer and use some grandchild labour - hmmmm. Just kidding. Our deed outlines the degrees and minutes and feet where we should find metal posts - I think we would need a metal detector to find them.

These pictures are taken on the north side of the house looking towards Lake Thomas. We have a "seasonal" view of the lake (meaning only in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees.)
If you can see the zig zag white area to the left of the picture (but not the white snow near the road, the zig zag just above that)- that is the lake. And actually, at night, just beyond the zig zag - you can see the green Sobey's sign. It only takes 20 minutes and 2 or 3 hills to walk to the grocery store and Tim's.
















This is the leaning tree. Maybe we should nickname our property. How about calling it "the house of the leaning tree". It probably will need to be removed - which will cost an arm and a leg. Fortunately, most of the stump and roots are out so that part won't be too hard, but it is a very tall tree. There are several "leaning" trees in the back as well - all remnants of hurricane Juan.
A lot of the trees have shallow roots since there is such a lot of rocky ground and they are skinny trees. I watch them blowing around and wonder if one will fall down on the house.



We will have to find out where all the lake or beach activities are happening so we are prepared for the summer visitors.

Looking forward to seeing you.

Love Mom/Grandma

New House Pictures Before We Paint

It was a beautiful mild winter day, so here are some pictures of our new house. The fireplace chimney is in the living room. We are having it "closed" up and an electric insert with a mantel put in and drywall installed over the brick. That will help with our house insurance and besides open fireplaces are really inefficient. The chimney inside the house is exposed brick from the floor to the ceiling (and the ugliest brick I have ever seen - it looks like someone threw whitewash over it). Anyway, the insert is just for the "ambience". We have the wood burning stove in the family room if the power goes out and we need heat.

This is the house taken from the west side. Our
house faces north. We are thinking that we will paint the cedar with a solid hide colour - sort of a chestnut colour. We are also thinking of painting the shutters a grey blue or blue grey, along with the veranda and the deck. Just to get a little colour. And I still have the dilemma of what kind of plants to put in when the beds face north (same as our house in Belleville). I will wait and see what comes up. I think there are hostas but it is hard to tell with the dead sticks - they could also be daylilies. I love those kind of surprises - what is going to grow out of the ground this week.



This is the back of the house with the deck. We want to put shutters on the windows to match the front. The shutters are just 3 boards nailed to a cross board for support and screwed to the wall. The back is very plain and very brown. So give me your opinions on the idea of having the front porch, back deck and shutters in a blue grey?

Dad is in Nashville from today until Saturday, Mar. 3. He gets to use his passport for the first time. Those photos are soooooo unflattering. So while he is away, I am painting the bedroom ceilings, woodwork, walls and baseboard heater. The baseboard heater in the living room appears to be acting up. It came on yesterday and did not shut off, just kept getting hotter and hotter. So we cut the power to it. All our baseboard heaters are each on separate power switches ( you know - those black switches on the electrical panel in the basement or whatever they are called) and have their own thermostats. So we will probably have to have someone in to look at that. We have to get the plumber in next week to fix the taps and piping so I can hook up my washer and put in a small laundry tub. Always something to fix when you own a house.

I applied for my passport on Tuesday and it will be ready in 3 weeks by March 20 for pick up. My photo is really awful - even worse than the driver's licence. The government offices that we have been in have been really helpful, efficient and very friendly.

I emptied most of the boxes in the basement and now we can assemble our Ikea chairs. We are moving the big couch to the basement and getting another leather chair for the living room - so there will be the loveseat and 2 chairs in the living room. With a window on one wall, fireplace on the other wall and baseboard heater under the window - it makes it difficult to position the large sofa and we needed something more than the 2 Ikea chairs in the basement anyway.

Until next saga of the "House in the Fall River" - take care of each other.
Love from Mom/Grandma

We arrived safely in New Scotland (Nova Scotia)

First, here are a few pictures from our "old house" in Belleville after we had finished the floors, painted and made the house ready to sell.


John A. installed this nice new sink, vanity and mirror for us. I'm sure you all remember how awful the old one looked. Thank you dear son. (That was a tough week-end - two grandkids and John A. were sick.) The photo in the centre is the shelf we put in over the toilet to hold the towels. I discovered I do not like stuff behind my back while on the toilet.





No more bookshelves in the loft area.

It was really strange to see the For Sale sign and then the Sold sign. I cried. Thank goodness for memories.

Bet you thought you would never see this desk cleared off. However, before you rejoice, I must let you know that "all the paper" is just stored in boxes. It had to be sorted through yet which was what Dad did all the last night before the moving van arrived. But this looked nice for when the house was being viewed.

The dishwasher is gone. Isn't the bowl of fruit on the table a nice touch.

No Christmas Tree this year, just the huge poinsettias which were just gorgeous.

The west room was so green! Oh well, good thing we were moving.

This is our old bedroom. Nice blue eh! It went well with the chocolate brown bedskirt and tan quilt and drapes. The caribean scene went well with the room too.

I have to take pictures of our new house. Here is one of the family room with a pile of boxes to be emptied (mostly books). You can see the Ikea chair pads - which I hope to put together as soon as I can get some space. Also, our wood stove - on which we just had lessons on how to light. And which we probably won't light unless we have too. So the boxes are in the middle of the family room - the fireplace to the south end and the computer desk to the north end and the rebounder between the boxes and the computer desk. It is quite a large room and will look even bigger when set up properly.

Anyway, the living room ceiling is being replastered. We went out and looked at counter tops and electric fireplace inserts as the old fireplace in the living room will be sealed up.

We will take lots of before and after pictures. And I will try to get them on this blog as I go.

We are adjusting to living here in Fall River, now that I know where to buy traction sand (very pebbly sand which works really great) and I can get down the steep driveway. There are so many hills and gullies (sp?) not to mention the trees and rocks - big rocks. I'll get some pictures of those too.

Till next blog, and hopefully I'll get better at arranging the pictures and wording.

It was all over the place. Love from Mom/Grandma