Quickie Update

I just stepped over to the house to snap a few shots for you, and was struck again by the amazing scent of morning-- a mix of woods and the river and grass, it triggers memories of crawling out from our big old canvas tent in the morning on summer holidays. Our family couldn't afford fancy vacations like Disneyland when I was growing up, but every summer we camped. One of my favourite memories is of coming home from a week-long camping trip (always slightly depressing for me-- the coming home part that is), and having Mom and Dad anounce we were just going to do laundry and some shopping and then head back out for another week! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. And now, I get to live in a place that smells like summer holidays-- how great is that.

We're getting close! About a month ago I asked Contractor Jim if he thought we'd be in the house by my birthday (May 19th) and he said he thought it was highly likely. So here we are, only ten days away, and Jim and the crew are speeding toward that (newest) deadline. While I don't think we'll be 'in' by then, there's a good chance the interior of the house will be mostly finished.

So where are things: baseboards and window and door trim are almost finished on the main floor, and what a beautiful difference it makes! Here's a shot of the foyer, looking at the front door. I'm so glad we went with wood trim, it just glows.

Adrian the Tile Guy is working hard on the wall tiles in all three bathrooms, and when he's done, the clawfoot tubs will be hauled up the stairs and set in place.

And none too soon, as the plumbers are also working on hooking up the kitchen sinks and will want to move on to toilets, tubs, and sinks in the next few days. Jim is hanging cupboard doors in the kitchen and installing all the door handles. And one of the last, big pieces is the staircase-- Carpenter John has been sweating over that. One of the challenges there is that the walls of the first and second floors don't exactly line up, so making them meet up neatly in the stairwell has been a challenge. We're also having a local craftsman install wrought iron railings on the stairs, so that is still to come.

Here's a shot of the kitchen island, which turned out to be... well, a little massive. The twelve-inch overhang you see at the front still needs two braces, but will allow lots of room for sitting at stools. Mm, can hardly wait to be serving wine and appies there!

Just a few more shots-- this one of the lasagna garden from a second floor window. And below are pics of the greenhouse and the strawberry garden in front. We made the raised strawberry beds from the old chimney blocks. And the greenhouse holds my 30 tomato plants, 29 pepper plants, and some leeks. Yay!

And one last photo, of the quilt I made this spring for the social justice fundraiser at the annual Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. This years' conference is being held in Calgary, and as per the Social Justice chapter's mandate, proceeds of the silent auction will go to a local agency, this time the Calgary Homelessness Society. Cheers!