no dress rehearsal

an overdue farewell to 227 hamilton, part 4, the grand finale: the basement

Right from the beginning, Dean and I both agreed that we had to make the basement of 227 Hamilton into truly livable space. The back of the house is not underground thanks to the sloped lot, so the back and side of the house get plenty of light, decreasing the cave like feel that plague some basement spaces.

Because we only had two bedrooms on the top floor, we decided a comfortable third bedroom was a must for the house. Laundry facilities, a desk area for Dean, a craft area for me and storage were on the top of the list also. Finally, we decided a second bathroom in the house was a must.

When we moved in, there was linoleum on the basement floor, the walls were made of a thick, cardboard like material covered with layers of wallpaper, and the place most certainly had a musty, earthy smell and damp feel. If you descended the basement stairs, there was a door right in front of you. Walk through, and you were in a bright green room with a laundry tub. Go through the green room, and you got to a long, narrow area with cement walls that was used as a little workshop. This was located in the front of the house. If you hung a left off the stairs, there was a hallway and a door to your right, which lead to a cream colored room. Follow the hall and it led you to a door, through a 10 X 10 porch/storage area and out into the back yard.

More "before" photos, compliments of the MLS real estate system once again. These really make me shake my head at our ambition. First, down the basement stairs. Ahh, the lack of storage in the kitchen is confirmed - note the pots and pans stored on that shelf.

 

Next, what we called the green room, for obvious reasons.

Now, the little workshop, tucked away in the front of the house.

 

And the cream colored room, which had a lovely large window and lots of light for a basement.

Finally, the basement hallway. From this view, you are standing at the back door looking towards the front of the house.

 

Of course, we got right down to the demolition and boy, did we have a lot of garbage to haul out of the basement area when we were through. Here's me standing at the top of the stairs, looking down to below. Abby is at the bottom, waiting to go outside. I'd have to bring her through the basement to let her out into the back yard for her last pee of the night, and when the basement was all demolished and dark, it was a creepy place.

 

Looking down the hallway towards the back door, sometime during the demolition process.

A peek into the green room. Well, the whole basement was pretty green, but this room was an additional testament to how much the color must have been loved in this home.

And here's what the cream room looked like, once we started tearing everything out of it. Yeap, there's that same chimney, which runs straight up the middle of all three floors of the house. At one point it looked like they painted a portion of the chimney green also, perhaps as some sort of accent. See the cute little door, used to clean out chimney ashes.

 

I will say that the basement ended up being the biggest challenge for us in many ways. First off, a concrete floor was visible in the small workshop in the front of the house, and this led us to believe the whole basement floor was concrete. But to investigate the damp, earthy smell, we took up a floorboard and, you guessed it, discovered the whole basement floor was wood placed on dirt. So we hauled every last piece of, well, everything in the basement out, until there were literally four walls, a pile of dirt and a chimney running up the middle.

I took lots of pictures of us digging and removing dirt (to lower the floor and therefore gain more head room); spreading the tonnes of crushed stone a truck dumped through our window in a huge pile in preparation for concrete; the all nighter Dean, my step-father Keith and I spent getting all prepared before the concrete truck arrived the next day; and my dad, Keith and Dean spreading the concrete dumped through the window on this home made chute that was rigged up at the last minute. I think I even took photos of Dean on our busy street directing traffic so the concrete truck could pull into the awkward space (wearing a hard hat he used in the shop at work so he'd look "official"). However, all those are gone now. I thought I smartly saved them on an external hard drive for safe keeping, and the hard drive broke. Alas, I'm not spending the gazillion dollars necessary to retrieve them, but I'll always have the memories.

I think that the hardest thing about the basement was designing it, deciding where walls and doors and bathroom fixtures would go, carefully measuring it all out on graph paper and then crossing fingers that everything would fit when the walls went up. It's hard to take a wide open space and envision how everything will look, how the space will feel when it jumps from the paper and you're actually walking through it, if the queen sized bed will look too big or too small, if that 6 inches will make you feel squished behind the door when brushing your teeth. Ultimately, I was pleased with how it all turned out. I think it really did feel like livable space, well incorporated into the rest of the house, not an isolated basement.

The hands down most frightening moment of the whole renovation also happened in the basement. When we were digging out the dirt floor, I unearthed a skull. It ended up being that of a small animal, likely a cat, but when I initially brushed the dirt off it and saw two eye sockets, my first though was that I had found the skull of a baby. Too much CSI, I guess.

Here's the finished space. First, looking down those same basement stairs, which were restored and carpeted. We actually pushed back where the door to the green room once was, and made that portion of the hall longer.

 

Standing in the hall, looking towards the back door. The door to the right leads to the guest room and a small office space, and the door at the end of the hall is to the porch.

 

Here's the view from the opposite side of the hall. To the left is the same guest bedroom door, then the bathroom door, and the closet style door at the end of the hall is now the laundry room

 

This is the guest bedroom, formerly the cream colored room. It was large enough for a bed, some storage and a craft desk for me.

 

 

Off the guest bedroom is a little nook that Dean and I used for open storage shelving, mostly for craft supplies, and a small office area for him. This nook was once part of the green room. We designed the space this way so that the room could be more multipurpose: it could be a guest room with an office nook as we had it, a small downstairs rec room with an office nook, or even a bedroom with large walk-in closet (with the bathroom also in the basement, it would make a perfect teenager or roommate suite). I loved the soothing blue tones. Alas, I don't think we had an official guest stay before we moved. Darn it.

And here's our wee little bathroom. No tub, but a rather functional stand-up shower, pedestal sink and toilet. This space was also part of the green room at one time.

Here's the window in the hallway directly outside the bathroom. We actually replaced all the windows in the basement. Cute little display ledge on this one, because we had to build out from the concrete walls to insulate before we put up drywall.

Finally, the laundry room. Truly, not much was done in here. I painted the concrete walls and the backside of the framed wood and drywall from the other rooms a bright white, hung a curtain to hide the hot water heater and installed shelving, but those few things really made a difference.

Well, that concludes the review of the two + year long renovation of 227 Hamilton Avenue, or what I've been talking about (dare I say sometimes whining about) all this time. We started out with a couple of goals - use every square inch of this small house for a purpose and retain some original character, and I think we achieved both.

I have no idea what made us leap into such a major project. By nature, I'm a little more cautious, but Dean has no fear when it comes to such matters. He's always been handy and knew his way around power tools, and I've always been arts and crafts/design oriented. Mostly, I think that we weren't afraid to try to figure things out - ask others, read books, watch HGTV. Would we do it again? Though both of us would have answered with a resounding "no" the day we left the house behind, I'm no longer sure that I wouldn't. I haven't discussed such matters with Dean, as we are in no position to do something like this right now. I do know that, if we ever did it again, we'd be much smarter about the process. We learned so much through this all.

We'd never have been able to get this done without the help of others, mostly family and a couple of friends. But many times, especially towards the end when the novelty of The Moaklers construction project wore off, it was just he and I, plugging along. I'm really proud of us and what we accomplished. I ended up loving the house and would have stayed if the move to New Jersey hadn't been necessary. But then, if we hadn't moved, would we have put the push on to finish, or would the bibs and bobs of leftover detail work continued on? I'd like to think not, but that may be assuming too much of my procrastinating nature.

The house was put on the market on Christmas Eve, which is no doubt a terrible time to be listing a house. Nevertheless, I used the same staging advice as I did when we sold our home in New Orleans a few years prior, and put out the fresh flowers and candles, simmered orange slices and cinnamon on the stove 30 minutes before any arrivals and put on soft, soothing music of the season in the background. Our efforts paid off, and within the week we had 4 separate offers on the house, all above asking price.

I can't tell you how very gratifying that was, especially since there were so many friends and family members who questioned our decision and our ability to complete a project of this magnitude throughout the process. Lots of negativity wondering why we'd do such a thing right from the beginning. The successful sale that had us walking away with our financial goals for the project exceeded and the positive feedback we got on the home itself was so satisfying.

As I said before, I don't miss the work or the chaos, but I do miss the house and am sad that we didn't get much time to enjoy it to it's fullest before we moved on. But one never knows what is on the horizon for us. Meanwhile, I wish the young couple who bought 227 Hamilton Avenue (their very first home purchase) lots of happiness behind it's doors.

an overdue farewell to 227 hamilton, part 3: main floor

Oh, 227 Hamilton's main floor, just a wee spot with only a small living area and an eat-in kitchen. Not exactly a haven large enough for entertaining, but we made it more so by literally taking out every wall on the floor, making it totally open concept. Which ended up requiring a few way overpriced visits from a structural engineer as per our city inspector's instructions, and a couple of large steel beams and jack-posts to ensure the house would remain standing without the aid of interior walls. Ahem. Well, anyway, we knew that, right?

The view from the front door, which was one of the original photos posted when the house was first listed for sale. The door to the living room is to the right and the door seen down the hall is to the kitchen. The kitchen and living room were completely closed off from one another. I didn't see the house like this, by the time I made it to Newfoundland from New Orleans, Dean had gotten out the sledgehammer and things looked quite....different.

 

And this is the hall now, standing in just about the same spot, with your back to the front door after first entering the house. Excuse the slant of the photo that makes it look like the house must be rocking like a ship at sea. It's not. However, my poor "holding a camera straight" skills are showing. The window at the end of the hall was turned into a door.

Here's the living room when we bought the place, although the furniture had been removed when we took possession. More real estate photos from the original house listing on the MLS system.

Keep in mind that these are the pictures that resulted in us saying to ourselves "What great potential this house has. We must buy it". Although it ended up working out, I suspect I must have been watching too much HGTV to even get the idea we could tackle such a thing.

The living room fireplace. The original red brick was covered by press board, and the new brick surround was an odd yellowy-brown. An elderly couple had lived in the home most of their lives, and had both passed away within the last couple of years. We bought the house from their adult children, who had grown up there. In fact, in the home's 110 year old history, we had only been the third family to own it.

Standing in the living room, looking towards the front door after Dean and his buddy Mr. Sledgehammer were together a couple of weeks. Oh, and don't forget Mr. Reciprocating Saw, he was also quite helpful in taking the walls down.

 

In the living room, looking towards the kitchen. The beginning of the our open concept vision taking shape. Good-bye yellowy-brown brick, hello original red brick. Feeling brighter and more spacious already. Also, very dusty.

Progress, as we get the rest of the walls removed and the drywall goes up. Dean put up most of the big sheets, and I actually cut and put up the smaller pieces.

 

Standing in the living room looking towards the kitchen, some paint on the drywall, but the fireplace brick hadn't been cleaned up and restored at that point. This was during the prime and paint the crown and baseboard marathon, which lasted the better part of a week, as I recall.

Same stage, but looking to the left of the chimney, towards the stairs. I think this is when it finally felt like we were actually moving towards something, rather than demolishing something.

Cooking with gas now, we actually have finished walls and floors. It was Dean's idea to hang the television on the chimney, which gave us room to have twice the seating we could have originally had in the living room. Good call buddy. Because the fireplace could not be used, we ran the television wires down inside it and put the cable box and other components where a fire would be. When I covered the opening with a fireplace screen later on, you could barely see them. Notice my slipper clad feet in this photo, looks like I was relaxing.

And finally, all finished. Here's the view you'd see when you first walked through the front door and looked to your right.

Here's the view looking from the hall, with your back to the kitchen. A small room, but we manged to pack lots of seating in there. Cozy.

Standing in the bay window, looking towards the kitchen. Even managed to squeeze a Christmas tree in there. Wanted to decorate the railing with boughs and lights, but once again, ran out of steam by this point.

 

And here's the kitchen when we purchased the house, photos compliments once again of the MLS real estate listings. 

 

These were the only cupboards in the entire kitchen, and the wee little sink. I fear that this wouldn't have held all my gadgets. I'm not sure if that's an indication that the kitchen lacked storage, or if I have too many kitchen tools. 

 

Demolition on it's way, always the most fun at first. There was a bunch of really neat sewing patterns from the 50's stuck on the walls when we took off the wallpaper, but it was covered with drywall before I had the chance to take any pictures.

 

Lots of holes in the chimney, some filled in with beach rocks, likely to vent the various old wood stoves that would have been the only source of heat when the house was built.

 

Dean, Keith and Liam working on the installation of the cupboards, which we bought at a salvage yard and finished on our own.

Layout of the kitchen almost complete, with most of the cupboards laid out, sub-floor put down and appliances in place.

Cupboards finally finished, plus granite tile counters and tumbled marble back splash installed (Dean and I became quite a tile laying team throughout this process). And limelight hydrangeas from my mom's garden.

Remember I had mentioned that Dean had taken out that window at the end of the hall to install a door? Well, here's when it ceased being a window but before it was a door. It was just a giant hole in the house at this point.

And the view of the finished kitchen when standing at the new back door. Much more cupboard space than the original kitchen.

View when standing in the middle of the kitchen, looking towards the back door. Love all the light that this room gets first thing in the morning. So bright!

 

Standing at the sink, which overlooks the front door. Because of the location of the chimney, it was difficult to make the main floor truly open concept, but at least it didn't feel so isolated from the living room when cooking or doing dishes in the kitchen when we were done.

 

My Nanny Mullett gave me a bunch of vintage glass ornaments last year that she decorated with in the 60's and 70's, which I displayed in a hurricane glass this Christmas. Love them.

 

My favorite feature of the kitchen is the exposed brick of the chimney, which we put shelving on to display some wine and martini glasses. Love the old red brick contrasted against the shiny black granite and the maple cupboards.

 

It's details like this that make the house unique and true to it's 110 year old age and history. Love the blend of the old and new.

This floor was quite a challenge, we literally designed the kitchen layout ourselves. Designing kitchens is harder than it looks, no doubt.

That concludes the tour of the main floor. Next time, I'll bring you through the changes to the basement, which went from wood covering a dirt floor and thick cardboard walls to actual living space.

an overdue farewell to 227 hamilton, part 2: upstairs

We lived upstairs at 227 Hamilton for a while. As in, just upstairs, while the main floor and basement were being worked on. The master bedroom was the bedroom/living room combination, and the second bedroom was the closet and kitchen, containing the crock-pot, microwave and bar fridge. Then there was the bathroom, which was technically both the bathroom and kitchen sink...lets just say I appreciated the crock-pot during this period, but haven't broken it out since.

Upstairs started out with two bedrooms and a bathroom, and finished much the same, just looking much different. Other than the standard new electrical, flooring, drywall and plumbing, the stairs were refinished, the bathroom completely replaced and a shower added (previously, there was only a tub faucet, no shower), the hall closet was knocked out to visually open up the hall, a window seat was built in the bay window of the master bedroom for added storage and the wall between the two bedrooms was removed and reconfigured so the master had two small walk in closets and the second bedroom also had a usable closet. We were able to save the bead board ceilings up here, working hard to refinish them, in all but the bathroom.

Here's the main hallway and staircase. I don't have any photos of what it looked like before some demolition occured, but picture stained dusty rose carpet and wallpaper over press board walls.

Above is the view if you are standing in the bathroom door, with your back to the front of the house looking towards the backyard. The master bedroom is on your immediate right and the door to the right down the hall is the second bedroom.

Here's the view of the small linen closet if you are standing in the master bedroom doorway, looking out.

And here's the view standing at the top of the stairs, facing the front of the house with the door to the bathroom at the end of the hall and the master bedroom door to the left of the bathroom.

The hall when the wallpaper was removed, and we discovered that the walls were not salvageable and needed to be covered with drywall. Notice the electrical boxes and wiring outside the walls, done way back when because the press board walls were not framed out and therefore there was noting to bury the wires in. We framed out the walls with wood of enough depth to bury the wires and boxes, but managed to save the original door trim by adding additional pieces and caulking so that it looks like one large, decorative piece. If all the caulking of the world melted tomorrow, I'm not sure 227 Hamilton would remain standing. At one time, I think every surface in the house was a variation on that shade of pink.

And now, the same first view down the hallway as shown above but when we were all finished with the renovation.

And after, the same view when standing in the door of the master bedroom. With the closet gone, it really made the hall feel more spacious. Any linen storage issues were solved by using the new window seat in the master bedroom (with a lift up seat and storage underneath) and a big basket in the bathroom for towels. 

Here's my favorite feature of the hall. It's shadowboxes I did up of all the treasures we found during the process; under floors, in the walls, and throughout the nooks and crannies of the house. Old spoons, horseshoes, dolls dishes, a marble, a bottle of nail polish, newspapers with dates as early as 1900.

And the same view down the stairs, with refinished railings and a new carpet runner, looking at the front door.

Here's the second bedroom, demolition in progress. The air mattress is set up because I'm pretty sure this was the day my step-father caught a couple of hours of sleep at the house, following an all-nighter of spreading crushed stone in the basement in preparation for the concrete truck's arrival. But that's a story for the basement photos.

Note the closet, which was not even deep enough to fit a standard hanger. At this point, all clothes was still in the boxes, other than a few stained tees and yoga pants.

And here's the finished bedroom, complete with closet. I know that all the professionals who advise how to stage a house to sell recommend not to leave a bedroom empty except for one massive furniture piece. But we were just so done by this point, I hoped potential buyers could just picture a bed in there.

The original bathroom, including smallish steel tub, no shower, an unusual idea of how to cover the water pipe and more wallpaper.

And here's the sink. What decade was cutting wallpaper and attaching it to cupboard doors interior decorating style? Was it the 80's?

Here's the partially finished bathroom, with new jacuzzi tub. How lovely it was to hop in this tub after so long with no availability of either at 227, and rotating visits to family members for nightly showers or baths. The only issue was that the water came from those two white pipes seen on the right, unattached to anything. You had to sit there and hold them when the tube was filling, or they'd start flailing about and spray water wildly around the room. Don't ask how I know this, just trust me.

Here's the finished bathroom, complete with a shower and a tub that fills nicely without supervision.

We did a shiny, natural marble tile for the shower surround, and hung a second shower curtain in the large window. It was the best way we could figure to protect the wooden window surround during showering.

And the new sink, a pedestal, which really made the bathroom feel much more spacious. We used the little storage piece right outside the bathroom in the hall to store all those things that you normally poke under the sink.

Finally, the master bedroom. Note the one, wee little closet, to the right of the mantle. A mess, I know, but consider this was the only living area we had in the entire house at this point.

Here's a view looking towards the bay window. That's one thing I just loved about this house from the beginning, the bay windows - one in the master and one in the living room.

When the carpet came up, this is what we were dealing with. There were actually worse cracks in the floor, and both myself and Abby the dog almost ended up falling to the main floor on separate occasions. Oh, dear. Was this the point Dean and I debated setting the house aflame, collecting the insurance money and heading south? Really, we'd listen to Talking Heads: Burning Down the House and actually debate the pros and cons of such an action.

Here's Dean, building us closets. There was a large brick chimney running straight up the middle of the house that we had to consider, but we made it work by incorporating it into the design.

The window seat in progress. Loved the seat and how much storage it provided for extra blankets, linens and winter coats. Plus, it was a nice perch to watch the world of our fairly busy street go by.

Here's a similar view to the first one above, with refinished mantle and two closets. You can't see it, but on the wall to the left of the main door, we hung a television with wires installed under the drywall so it had a neat, clean look.

The fireplace. Unfortunately, we decided not to install a chimney liner, which was out of our budget, so it was only a decorative feature.

And that same second view as above, including the finished window seat complete with comfy pillows for reading/people watching.

We installed closet systems in all upstairs closets so, although they were small, they were well organized and managed to fit all our clothing, as I really dislike dressers in a bedroom. Odd, I know.

My initial instinct was to paint the bedroom a darker shade, or perhaps something brighter. I tend to gravitate towards color. Dean actually picked out this remarkably neutral paint, and I ended up loving the look. With the darker floors and furniture, the pale walls and just a couple of accessories, it felt really restful and calm.

And that concludes the tour of the top floor. Next up, what we did with the main floor of the house.

an overdue farewell to 227 hamilton, part 1: the outside

Well, the great, all consuming, two year long Moakler's 227 Hamilton Avenue renovation project was completed almost 3 months ago, just in time for me to decorate for Christmas, the first and only time I'll have the opportunity to do so in that house. It sold in late December, after being put up for sale on Christmas Eve and following a very short holiday week on the market. Looking back at the pictures, it reminds me of how very much work we really did on the place. And I don't miss the work, or living in the chaos of constant renovation, but I do miss the house.

The finished home turned out better than I ever expected it to in one way, and yet just how I pictured it in another. I'll miss lots of things about the home that we'll be able to replicate if we ever build or renovate again. But there were so many details of the 110 year old house - the beautiful old banister and staircase; the original, aged red brick chimney we exposed in the kitchen and living room; the gorgeous, huge golden chain tree in the backyard - that we'll never be able to replicate anywhere else, and that makes me a little sad.

In the ultimate demonstration of a combination of procrastination and renovation burn out, it's only when the house was going to be put for sale that we actually put the push on to finish all those little details. After going so long with no kitchen or laundry facilities, once we got enough done to be comfortable, having unfinished baseboards and paint seemed unimportant. Hey, we could cook supper and wash our own clothes!

But once it was all done and decorated, it was lovely and homey, and made me want to invite guests for drinks and sit with Dean in the living room watching movies by the light of the Christmas tree and have patio parties on our big deck with the view and invite overnight guests to stay in the guest room.

Dean and I had no idea what we were getting into when we purchased this house (sight unseen, other than photos on the internet and an in-person visit with report to follow by my dad). We knew that work needed to be done, but the amount! We ended up taking down pretty well every interior wall in the house and reconfiguring them all, redoing all the electrical and plumbing, blowing insulation into the walls, putting on a new roof, replacing all  floors and installing drywall, installing a whole new kitchen, redoing one bathroom and adding a second, digging out and pouring a concrete floor in the basement, building a shed and deck. Amazingly, we only ended up hiring professionals for some of the plumbing and electrical - all the rest was completed by us, with help from family and friends, namely my step-father Keith and (thankfully skilled) friends Liam and Danny. 

Here's the first installment blog post of four - a review of the exterior renovations. Through this may seem at first glance like the least impressive change of all the areas because the siding on the house stayed the same, we did convert the outside porch area into the interior of the house, change the front door, build new front steps, put on a new roof, replace a window in the rear of the house with a door, build a 14 X 14 back patio, install a new back fence, blow insulation into the exterior walls and build a 10 X 20 shed.

Here it is a little while after we bought it. Notice the attractive green fake grass covering the steps, which was glued with some sort of industrial strength adhesive to the crumbling concrete below. This ranks right up there with people who put fake flowers in their flower boxes, so they can have bright, spring-like blooms all year around. If you do that, umm, sorry. I think it's admirable that you want to bring a little brightness to all who pass your home even in the dead of winter, but may I suggest a friendly flag or nice door wreath?

Aww, it's Abby, watching us from the front window. I miss her still, crazy girl!

Here's a photo of the back yard, taken from our kitchen window. You can see the new shed that we put up, and the lovely view we have of the Southside hills from the back of our house. Our yard was very narrow but long, and was filled with raspberry bushes in the way back.

Of course Murphy's Law prevailed, and a year or more after we moved in, the roof began to leak upstairs. Luckily, it was in a spot that wasn't yet finished so it didn't ruin anything, but that meant a new roof. Dean, along with my step-father Keith and our friend Danny, who actually does construction jobs professionally and could get the proper roofing torch needed, got up and put on a new roof. Dean actually hates heights, so this was quite an accomplishment for him. The house is two floors from the front but three in the back because of the sloped lot. Quite high up there.

This was the view out back in spring - a gorgeous golden chain tree. It is huge and absolutely lovely. It was my favorite part of the backyard.

The blooms were stunning. I loved standing under the tree and glancing upward, it looked like it was raining soft yellow blossoms.

Our last major outdoor project to be tackled was the deck build. Here's Dean and Hunter, pouring concrete supports for the deck structure. Besides just building the deck, we also had to take out a window on the main floor of the house and turn it into a door so we'd have access to the deck. Before that, you actually had to walk through the basement to get out into the backyard from the house.

Once the structure was in place, it was time to install the deck floorboards. Dean did all the cutting and tacking down, and I went back and screwed most of the boards in. This is when I became rather proficient with the power driver and learned the proper countersinking technique for wood. Who knew I'd ever learn such skills?

Here's Dean and our friend Schroeder enjoying a beer on the then-without-rails deck. We actually had a couple of "deck parties" when it was only partially railed and, although I'm (mostly) sure our friends and family are a relatively intelligent lot and wouldn't walk off the edge of a deck, it always made me a bit nervous out there without all the rails. The Southside hills are actually quite pretty at night.

And the final deck, void of decoration (because this photo was taken in December, after all) and larger than it looks. It easily fit the table that sat 6 plus the two lounge chairs with footstools, with room to spare. Alas, we didn't get to do much on the finished deck. Too chilly.

The front of the house. Notice the fake grass covering the crumbling concrete has been covered with a sturdy wooden step, and there is a new mailbox, house numbers and porch light and a trim paint job. In spring, I think window boxes (with real flowers) and a few pots would be really pretty. Alas, we were done by the time we got to this point. Plus, being December, not much survives in pots in Newfoundland around that time of year. My favorite though?

The red door. I love a red door, to me it's so friendly and welcoming. It says "people with some personality live in this house". My next favorite?

The window over the door. It's the original window and I wanted to replace it with stained glass. However, after investigating the price of stained glass, I decided to get some of that sticky lead stuff, glass glue and broken glass mosaic pieces and make my own. Recognize it? Why it's the symbol of the New Orleans Saints. Anyone who knows me knows how much and for how long I've loved the Saints. I wonder do the new owners even recognize what it is?

Well, that concludes part 1 or our 4 part renovation blog post special. Coming soon are the top floor, main floor and basement.

the best laid plans of mice and men

We were cooking with gas, Dean and I. A few weeks back, with the holidays fast approaching and the new year right on it's heels, we decided to do our very best to get the house renovation completed before 2009 was celebrated. The free time we'll have once making this shell into a home is finished is mind boggling, let me tell you. What will we do with ourselves? Visions of evenings of crafting, curling up to watch movies and actually decorating for holidays are dancing in my head.

So, things moved along upstairs. The drywall is up, plastered and mostly painted, some flooring is down, heaters are installed. Dean and I ordered a new mattress that will be ready for pick-up on December 20th. It looks like we'll actually be ready for furniture set-up on the top floor by then, and move ourselves out of the basement for good. I was managing to accomplish a few things in the house everyday.

Then, I started feeling really tired. While out shopping, I was trying out different mattresses. Laying on one at Sears with my feet dangling over the edge, looking up at the florescent lights on the ceiling and listening to an awful version of "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" piped in through the tinny speaker system, I almost felt like I wasn't there at all. Like I was reading a novel, but wasn't one of the characters. When I noticed I was getting increasingly short of breath, I headed to the doctor, and was diagnosed with pneumonia, with fever. Forget renovations, yesterday I was so tired from getting a shower I took a nap afterwards. No longer am I cooking with gas. Actually, I don't think I'm cooking at all, and PB&J sandwiches or take out is currently the order of the day.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not the one doing all the major work on the house. It will continue to move forward thanks to Dean, and a few family and friends who have been more than helpful. Right now, I'm more the detail and touch-up girl. Still, now that I've been demoted to "nap and antibiotic girl", it's bound to affect the schedule.

Luckily, I have most of the Christmas presents not only bought, but wrapped. All but gifts for my mother-in-law, her husband Tony and Dean's great aunt, who are last on the list simply because I have no idea what to get them.

This year, I went for silver and light turquoise papers with red grosgrain and wired silver ribbons. Because we are not putting up a tree this year and we don't have much room to keep wrapped presents safely stored and dust free, I've already delivered my mom's family and my dad's family gifts to their respective houses.

I missed my own work Christmas party this weekend but did go to Dean's, which was last Friday. I was starting to feel pretty crappy even a few days before that, but was glad to get out and spend a little time with our friend Schroeder, who now works in western Canada but is a very good friend of ours since he and Dean worked together in New Orleans. He happened to be in town for the St. John's party this year. I'll have to post a few pictures of that evening in the next few days, when I have the energy to get the photos off the camera.

I'm also hoping that I have the energy to complete a few little holiday gifts I was going to craft (or bake) for co-workers. Does anyone have any suggestions for quick and easy food (preferably sweet) gifts? I was going to try to make some decorated cupcakes, but I don't think I can handle the decorating a cupcake will require.

I have continued doing cakes, though lately I have been putting that on hold also in favor house renovations. Two fall wedding ones have been among my favorites. One I don't have a photo for right now, but here's another, given as a gift from myself and my mom for mom's neighbor's daughter's wedding.

Here's a close-up of the leave and pumpkin detail, which I thought was quite cute. I have to do a cake for a December 20th party a co-worker of Dean's is hosting that we are invited to, as well as help my niece decorate cupcakes for her class on Monday night, so I'll be busy with the baking and decorating side of things.

I hope everyone's holiday preparations are going well! Now, if I can only figure out what to get my mother-in-law...

10 on tuesday - friday photo edition

1. Hurricane Gustav, thanks for ruining our travel plans for a fun long weekend in New Orleans. This is as close as Dean and I got to the Saints game on Sunday - sitting in front of the television watching it, thanks to our purchase of the "NFL Sunday Ticket" package earlier in the day. We did wear our jerseys, snack on Superdome-like food, and cheer, which was fun. And the Saints won. Undefeated in the season!

2. I've begun to unpack some of my scrapbook and sewing supplies, so when Dean requested I pick up some gummie bears for a co-worker of his who has been helping him out lately, I did up this jar. Just a simple, 2 minute little craft, but it was nice to get my hands on some of my old stuff that's been in storage for a year.

3. I used a coupon at Michael's to get a frame for my "keep calm and carry on" poster. Perhaps I should have sprung for professional framing, which would have surely corrected the wrinkles and creases caused by the big old dent in the poster tube that occurred somewhere between the UK and here. Or, as sweet Katy pointed out, I could look at the creases and be reminded to be calm. I know it's not a perfect fit, but I'm trying to be frugal here, with the jar budget system still in effect.

4. Last night, Dean was heading upstairs to continue to install drywall and asked if I would come up. I was busy resigning myself to a long evening of being a drywall assistant, when Dean said, "No, I don't need your help. I just want someone to keep me company so I'm not bored". So I filled the tub with nice hot water, added bubbles, took a lovely bath, and chatted with my buddy. He was working in our bedroom, the next room over. Here he is, busy putting up sheets in the newly built closets.

5. I also did a bit of reading in the tub. Though I don't watch Oprah on television, her magazine seems to be one that inexplicably jumps into my buggy in the checkout line at the grocery store. "Too busy to live?" she asks. Why yes, Oprah, I am - how did you know? And is there advice inside for how to turn it around?

(Magazine sitting on the newly tiled bathroom floor, dirty as it is right now)

6. Here's a little peek at one corner of our kitchen. We've just finished tiling and grouting the counter with black granite tile and the back splash with tumbled marble mosaic tile. I'm in the process of facing the salvage yard purchased cabinets with veneer and finishing the doors. All in all, we've done this kitchen quite inexpensively. The beautiful limelight hydrangeas are compliments of my mom and her garden. They begin a lovely bright green and fade to ivory as the blooms mature.

7. I did my biggest wedding cake yet last week. It's my policy to not decorate any cake I haven't baked myself, but after a request from a sweet bride that I couldn't refuse, I broke my own rule and decorated her grandma's fruitcakes. Let's say it was a nightmare and I now remember why I don't do it, but the cake did turn out nicely, I think. I don't know what Bran puts in her fruitcakes, but boy, was the finished product heavy. I could barely lift it.

(I should point out this was not my design, but one the bride picked a picture of).

8. Fall is in the air - it's getting chilly and we've been talking about (eekkk) turning on the heat. When I brought Abby out to play yesterday evening, I was cold. Where did the summer go? And, more importantly, why didn't we attend to the stuff needed outside the house before now?

9. One thing I do look forward to as fall approaches is the changing of the leaves. I love the rich, gorgeous golds, reds and browns  that the cooler weather brings. Here's one of my nan's maple trees in October of last year.

10. Another thing I look forward to as fall comes - the food. I do like that fruits, veggies, salads and lighter fare of the summer, but there's just something about the heartier offerings of autumn. Last night, we had homemade roasted asparagus and carrot bisque and grilled apple, spinach and brie sandwiches. I love when the house is filled with the spicy cinnamon, apple, pumpkin and maples scents, which hit you as you walk in a warm home from the cool weather outside. So cozy!

a letter to my plumber

Dear Mr. Plumber,

Though I respect your professional opinion, I'm just not comfortable taking bathroom design advice from a man who can barely keep his own pants up.

I understand that the sink I picked for the upstairs bathroom will take you two or three extra hours to install. It's alright. I'll happily pay you for that time. Perhaps you can take some of those proceeds to purchase yourself a new belt or a set of suspenders.

Sincerely,
tanya

omen?

At the very last minute, we decided we were not heading to New Orleans for the Saints game this weekend. Though initial reports and predictions had the city back up and running normally by Friday or Saturday, many people remain without power and others are still evacuated. As a result, it seems that many of the hotels and restaurants are not up and running yet, mostly from lack of staff. A football weekend would have been great, a football weekend sleeping on the street and lining up for" mre's" to eat - not so much. I'm disappointed, but I'll get over it.

Seems like it'll be a renovation vacation, with work continuing on the house. Perhaps I'll pick more fun renovation type things, like organizing the craft nook shelves.

My "keep calm and carry on" poster arrived in the mail a few days ago. The tube was quite dented, and the poster inside has a couple of pretty significant creases and wrinkles as a result. I hope that's not some sort of omen.

for me, this is the most exciting thing that's happened in ages

Just guess what I did last night. I'll give you a hint...

When the plumbers came by, Dean got them to put stop valves on the hot and cold water pipes in the upstairs bathroom, claiming that we needed to access water somewhere in the house other than the basement. He did not mention his  crazy wife was really wanting a nice, relaxing soak. What a dear he is.

Who cares if it's basically a tub not attached to anything with no jacuzzi hooked up yet, that the window is covered by an old sheet nailed to the wall, and you have to sit and hold water pipes to prevent them from wilding spraying everywhere during the tub filling process? Certainly not I as I emerged from my bath last night, pink from the hot water and smelling of "Zzztherapy Sleep Well" bath bubbles, then cozied into bed and drifted off to sleep.

in the not too distant future, I'll be cooking up a storm

No, it doesn't look like a real kitchen yet. But after a day of Dean, Liam and Keith working away, it can at least be considered a real kitchen's rebel distant cousin.