Six Months Already?

I can't believe we've been in this house six months. We closed on April 28th, and moved in on May 1st, 2009. It's been a fast six months, and a lot has happened. As me and dh live amongst all this mess all the time, we don't see much of a difference, so I decided to write down some of the things we have done throughout the house.

Mudroom:

Installed new door

Installed new light fixture

New light switches and motion sensor

Window trim

Kitchen/Dining Room:

New fridge, stove and above stove microwave.

Installed new switch for microwave

Living Room:

New light fixture

Family Room:

New windows and patio door

Installed two light fixtures

New wood burning insert

Downstairs Bathroom:

Nothing, other than cleaning the place up and connecting the bathroom fan to the outside, as it was previously ducted into the attic?

New Extension Basement:

New Patio Door

Removed the old toilet down there - the plumbing down there is going to be a challenge!!

Old Basement:

Added some new plugs

Blocked up the outside of three of the basement windows.

Spare Bedroom:

Nothing, other than destroying the only closet we have :0(

Our Bedroom:

Added ceiling fan

Moved cable for tv and added plug for when we actually get a flat screen tv to hang on the wall……not a priority, but the wiring is all there

Main Floor Bathroom:

Install light and fan above shower, and having it ducted to the outside.

Rewire plug, so we don’t have to have the lights on to make the plug work.

Installed a new toilet

Put a base in the under sink cabinet, so we can store things there

Attic:

Installed new stairs

Completely gutted the attic itself

Added skylight and replaced dormer window.

Rewired it, as there was only a light in there and no other electrics before hand

Shimmed all the joists so when we come to drywall, they will all be the same height etc.

Altered the heating duct work

Insulated it all

Outside:

Tidied up the whole five acres, so the grass wasn’t all knee high, like when we moved in!!!

Removed old fence on the front of the property

Installed new outside light

Repaired the roof, a couple of times!!

Made stairs to get off the back deck

Built a wood store

Installed a new mail box and emergency sign as the old ones were falling to bits and donkey’s years old!!

Garage:

Cleaned it all out and got rid of all the junk left in there.

Built shelves

Repaired door

I am sure there is much more that we have done, including giving the place a thorough clean, remember how those first few days of posting all I did was complain bitterly about the state of the place, if not read this and this When I was looking at old posts I stumbled upon this one
The house looked so clean then, it now looks as though a bomb has dropped upstairs, oh well one day it will be tidy again!!

Do we regret moving up here? I know dh has some regrets, only because every job we do around here, takes so long, as if the people who lived here before us, had anything at all to do with the area, there is a problem, as they will have butchered the job. So he is frustrated with how hard things are, as even the simple jobs take forever to do. Me, well I have had my days, when all I want to do is pack it all in and say lets sell the place. One of those days was here when the upstairs toilet leaked into the downstairs bathroom, I wasn't happy!! Or this one, I wasn't happy here either!

I think one issue has been that money has been pouring out of our hands like sand, it just seems to have been never ending these past six months, read here. Now its just trickling slowly through our hands, mind you that could be because there is no money left to spend!!!

I think in another six months, the first year of living here will feel like a bad dream. We are hoping to have got the attic finished by next summer, money permitting. Things will have slowed down a bit for poor dh. There is still an endless list of jobs to be done, but we're hoping to be able to put our feet up a bit more next year and just sit and admire our view.

So here's to another busy, but productive six months in the country!

Oh and for those that celebrate Halloween, a Happy Halloween to you all!

Reading........Country Living and Homesteading

I finished the book "Made from Scratch; Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life," by Jenna Woginrich.

I enjoyed the book, it was full of experiences that Jenna has had and the mistakes she made, and the trials and tribulations she had, for example, having to kill/shoot one of her rabbits, not something I would have wanted to do either. She writes in a way that makes it easy for you to read. Would I buy the book, no, only because I tend to only read books once, unless they are a reference book; however I would recommend you borrow it from the library and read it, as it is enjoyable.

One of the things she does do is have a section at the back of her book for links and books that she does recommend that would be useful in various aspects of your life.

Jenna has a blog called Cold Antler Farm it's worthwhile popping by to see what she's up too now.

Some books she recommends are: "The Contrary Farmer," by Gene Logsdon

"Better Off," by Eric Brende I have read this book and I really enjoyed it.....

"Encyclopedia of Country Living," by Carla Emery

"MaryJane's Idea Book," by MaryJane Butters (that link covers all MaryJane Butters publications)

"Hit by a Farm," by Catherine Friend

"Storey's Basic Country Skills," by John and Martha Storey

"The Good Life," by Scott Nearing this book got a lot of harsh reviews?

"Barnyard in Your Backyard," by Gail Damerow

"Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens," by Gail Damerow

"Chicken Coops," by Judy Pangman

"Sew What! Skirts," by Francesca DenHartog and Carole Ann Camp

"Sew What! Fleece," by Carol Jessop and Chaila Sekora


She also recommends a number of websites, including;

Urban Homesteading

How To Homestead

Homegrown Evolution

Lehman's I have looked at this online store a number of times and found neat things, just never ordered from them.

Green People no not people from another planet...

Home Power alternative energy ideas and resources

This is a great site for books on Appalachian cooking, music and lifestyle, don't be put off by the title, Native Ground Music

Local Harvest is a site that is mainly for the Sates, but does have some Canadian content on it, and is worth a look at.

There are many more links, recommendations and information at the end of the book, but these are ones that jumped out too me. If you have any favourites that you'd care to share please let me know...........

A window shaker and the nerve of some people......

What's a window shaker you ask............well if you were like me and had no clue, I'll tell you later!!

I was tidying up in the mud room on Sunday morning, when I looked out of the window, and saw a car parked across the end of the driveway and two other cars were parked on the front lawn right beside the driveway????

So I march down there and ask them what on earth they were doing, and for them to tell me that they were lost and were going. I shout at them to get their cars off my front lawn. I mean why would you park a car on a lawn for goodness sakes, when the driveway is right beside it? I was furious, I wonder what they would say if I pulled up at their house and parked on their lawn?

We have had people get out of their car and walk over the grass and start and take photos? Again I wonder what they would have to say if I went and did that at their house? People are forever pulling into the driveway and turning around. Just last week someone pulled into the driveway the guy got out of the car, and went and cut something off one of the trees?? Just because we live in the country doesn't mean its a free for all on our property. It just boggles my mind that people really don't care, or respect other people's property......

Right now that I have got that off my chest onto something else. Dh was running the wires in for the new lights and sockets in the attic on Sunday. He wanted to know where I wanted the sockets put in, and said, "oh by the way I am putting in a special socket for a window shaker."

At this point there was a blank expression on my face, as I had no idea what on earth he was talking about. It turns out a window air conditioning unit is called a "window shaker." Who knew that!!!! It needs to be on its own circuit as per dh.........I personally have no clue when it comes to electrics.

I swear I saw flakes of snow on Sunday when we went to Home Depot. Someone up there must have not got my memo, about me not wanting to see snow before December 24th!!! I brought all my geraniums and the canna lily bulbs in the house also on Sunday, as we had a hard frost on Saturday night/Sunday morning, so knew I had better get them in before they were killed. I also picked all the tomatoes off my tomato plant, however they are all green. We don't eat chutney or pickles, so will welcome any ideas with what to do with them.

Busy few days...........

Not sure where the weekend went too. One minute it was Saturday morning, before you know it, here I am writing this on Monday night.

We got the stairs put in on Saturday morning, dh's boss and ds both helped dh and the carpenter put them in. Below are some photos of them....however we are not allowed to use them until I have them stained and varnished, so at the moment they are a bit of an ornament...LOL We have put a couple of sheets of plywood over the opening to prevent anyone using them. It's my goal to make a start on the staining this week. They are also a accident waiting to happen, as we have no banister or railings up at the moment, luckily we have no small children living in the house, just to senile adults...LOL





Dd and boyfriend also visited on Saturday and then later in the afternoon we went out and picked some things up at Lowes we needed, including an outside light. When we got home we opened the box and it was the wrong light in the box.......so will have to take that back and exchange it.

Sunday was a strange day weather wise, as it kept raining on and off, however I did manage to make a start on cutting the grass as I only did one hours worth of cutting the grass this past week. The weather has been terrible with a lot of rain, so I was determined to get something done, as if I wait until the grass is dry I could be waiting forever at this rate. Dh did some electrical work in the attic, but it's a long slow job.

A lady and her daughter called in to see if she could pick some blackcurrants and I helped them pick half a pint before the heavens opened. She said she would pop by after work on Monday night. Well "S" did call in and we "clicked" and I do believe we will be firm friends for ever more. We have so much in common and she is a really nice person. We picked another 4 half pints of blackcurrants and 2 half pints of raspberries,she is going to be busy making jam.

I spent most of Monday cutting the rest of the grass, and I am pleased to report by 8pm Monday night the whole of the grass on the property has been cut!! I think I cut a good four acres, of the 4.8 acres we own. So it's not a five minute job.

We popped into the closest town to pick up a couple of apple trees that were on sale for half price. So I have to get them planted as soon as possible. However I also discovered we have a couple of apple trees at the edge of the property. Not sure if they are regular apple trees or crab apples. The apples though do a little big for crab apples. I will take some photos and post them to see what you guys think.

You know Monday was a good day, and it felt good to live where we live and own what we own; it was one of those days, if you know what I mean?

Busy, busy, and oh those city folks!!!

Had some friends pop up on Saturday morning to pick some raspberries and blackcurrants. Now "P" drove and when she got out of the car with the other "P" and her son, the first thing she does is lock her car................now who would steal her car while in our driveway I do not know. I thought it was funny, but it got me thinking, I still do that, I automatically lock the car doors. It's inbred into you in the city that everything has to be locked, and you do it without even thinking about it. It made me feel very countrified that I picked up on this, and may be a turning point on me turning from a city girl to a country girl?

Anyhow, they managed to pick a lot of berries, so hopefully they will be busy making things. Then another couple of our friends came by with his mother, who is from Saudi. So some of my berries and a pot of my raspberry jam is going to Saudi next month, which is sort of neat. I do know that we all ate plenty of berries throughout the morning!!

Meanwhile dh was busy with the carpenter putting a hole in the ceiling on the landing. However that job came to a full stop when they discovered a wire going across the hole. So the carpenter left, and me and dh had to remove the wire and pull in another wire. It's been a while since I have helped dh pull in wires. Thank goodness dh is an electrician, so that is saving us some money. It took us a couple of hours to sort that out and the carpenter is coming back on Sunday morning to finish the job. We are hoping that he will have the stairs ready for us to install next Saturday.

The carpenter's wife is going to come by and pick blackcurrants on Tuesday, as she loves blackcurrant jam. I did pick a couple of containers of raspberries for our freezer and a container of blackcurrants for my dad. I hope to make some more raspberry jam this coming week.

So as I am writing this on Saturday night, I have to say I am pooped as its been a busy but good day. I will post a before and after photo of the upstairs landing on Monday's post.

A very tired British Woman, reporting from her country home!!!!

Well, first I am having internet issues, and so it could be very hitty-missy with my blogging.

So, where do I start with this moving lark. We closed on the `new`house on Tuesday and we picked up the keys late Tuesday afternoon, so we had an early supper and we were up at the house by 5:30pm.

What greeted us however was a nightmare. The place was filthy, and I mean pig dirty filthy. When God was handing out cleaning skills, the people who owned this house were in a far away place. My goal for Tuesday night was to clean out the fridge. That took me two hours to do that, as it was black inside. The stove was so dirty that dh took pity on me and said we are buying a new one, as there is no way he was using that stove. So that was all I got done on Tuesday night. It was also a night of discoveries, as it turns out they `hid` a lot of things. An example is that one mud room door is siliconed shut, so we can`t use it at all. The other one is so hard to shut and lock it`s so hard on me. Dh went to close the downstairs patio door, only to find he had the door handle and part of the frame in his hands, and on and on it went.

Wednesday, we were up there bright and early and I set about cleaning the upstairs. They had a couple of dogs with short hair and there was dog hair everywhere. I don`t think she had ever cleaned the windows, and there were so many dead flies I could have made a couple of dead fly pies with them. The window panes were black, the walls are filthy. The toilets were icky, but by 4:30pm Wednesday, I had managed to clean one layer of dirt off the upstairs so we could move our stuff in there.

Meanwhile, dh spent to day cleaning the garage and the basement. Now in our contract we had specified that they had to get rid of two old fridges, an old oil tank and the rest of the garbage off the property. Well they did get rid of the fridges and the oil tank, but left the rest of the garbage. We are going to have to hire a skip, to haul all the garbage away at a cost of $200 for the week, and $80 a tonne thereafter. Lets just say Dh is not a happy camper at this point. Plus in years gone by, they must have collected the rain water and stored it in a concrete tank, which we call the pit. The ceiling height on the basement is probably only six feet (in the old basement), so this `pit`is probably 4 feet tall, and what they did was throw all there construction garbage in that, so dh is really ticked about that.

Anyhow, we go home, as dh and my dad have to go and pick up a truck at U-Haul for Thursday`s moving. Thursday, my dad and dh move all the stuff from the garage, basement and shed to the new house, as we had hoped to save time and money by doing that. While I cleaned out the kitchen cupboards, which of course were filthy. It took me all day to do that, plus wash floors.

Friday the movers were here by 7:30am and had moved us and unpacked the truck and left by 12:30pm. They did drop one box, and smashed a couple of dishes, but it wasn`t anything too important thank goodness. We spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and setting up the bedrooms, so at least we could have a place to sleep. Now I did pick up the mail that morning and it was all bills for the prior people, plus some flyer's for a couple of local stores. One of the deals was a trailer for the lawn tractor, which was on a two day special for $99.99. We had just picked one up earlier in the week on sale for $170, so we popped out that night to have something to eat and pick up the trailer.

Saturday, I did get the dresser in the kitchen washed and polished, but in between hands the Bell Internet guy turned up to install the internet, which of course wouldn`t work. Then the satellite guy turned up to install that, which actually worked. My dad and step-mother came and my dad set to work doing some bits and bobs of jobs for us which was a super help.

After lunch me and my stepmother went shopping, and to pick up a 3GB Internet stick with USB connection, in the hopes we could get internet this way. The kids arrived, and we bbq-ed, and everyone left around 7:30pm.

Sunday ds left just before lunch time, and me and dh went out in the afternoon to pick up a stove and a couple of other things that we needed.

We are so tired me and dh its not even funny. We ache in places we didn`t know even existed. There are so many jobs to do on this house that we weren`t aware of, its just plain overwhelming and goodness knows where we are going to get the money from to do it all.

HOWEVER, as I am sitting here on Sunday night, its peace and quiet, I am looking over the countryside and it`s just lovely. It feels as though we are taking one step forward and ten back at the moment, but it is coming together slowly but surely. I know in a couple of weeks time the place will look different again, and each day it looks more like home.

I will say the people in the local town (a ten minute drive away) are super nice and extra friendly and helpful. We had a neighbour pop by on Thursday to say hello, someone else called in on Friday and someone else on Saturday. It`s a big adjustment on our system, going from a city to the countryside, but I think, no I know we won`t regret it.

I will fill you in on everything else over the next few days, on all the other going`s on.

I just wanted to add, one of you questions is, why don`t we go after the people who owned the house for all the issues that they hid and for not taking all their garbage away. Well the lawyer told us they owned nearly $7,000 on their property taxes. The woman who lived here had a different name to the guy, and she was telling me she wasn`t paying Canada Post to forward their mail. On Friday there were three bills in her name, that I have had to put moved, return to sender, as she obviously hasn`t given them her new address!! We think they had money problems, so it would probably be more aggravation than enough trying to get money out of them!

So who said moving to the country was easy???

I seem to be taking one step forward and then two steps backwards with this move.

As per this post you have even seen the house, I have been in the house three times, but according to places I call to sort things out, the house doesn't exist???

The first time this happened I didn't think too much about it, as it was Bell Canada I was dealing with, and for anyone who deals with Bell Canada, you know what a bunch of dimwits they can be.

We had called our insurance company for a quote for the house insurance and they couldn't find this house???? We called another insurance company and they found the house no problem..okay....

So we go to the bank on Thursday and because it is a six digit number on the address, that proved to be a major problem, as the "field" on the computer only held 5 numbers?? Plus when she did get an address in the system, it didn't exist. I will say it had us both worried, as we wondered if they would give us a mortgage. We have been approved, so no problems there.

So what the problem is, we think, is that we must be on the border of two townships. So we are not sure which township we live in. Also as per the house survey we live on a concession, as per the house assessment we live on a rural route, and we have to have a 6 digit number as that is the way the fire trucks find your house. There is a true road name, it's just trying to figure out what our actual mailing address is as it can't be:

111111 Upnorth Road
Concession 7
RR# 7
Anytown, Ontario
P0P 0P0


We are going to pop into the post office closest to the house today to see if they can enlighten us. Just trying to remember the 6 digits is hard enough, never mind trying to remember the Concession number and the Rural Route #, plus a new postal code. No doubt it will sort itself out, and if worse comes to worse we will contact the people who live there and ask them what mailing address they use.

A Happy Valentine's Day and more on the house moving/sale and living in the country.

So a Happy Valentine's Day to you all. We don't really do anything special for Valentine's Day. Me and dh just exchange cards. Although I did make dh a cross stitch card this year which made a nice change. Personally I think Valentine's Day is over rated, and in my opinion I don't think it should be all about the one day, it should be about every day you spend together, as I said just my opinion.........

So the house. Well on Friday we had two showings booked, will say I have no idea if either turned up, one I know cancelled, but not sure about the other one, as they didn't leave a card. As I am typing this Friday night, we have a showing booked for between 11am and 12 noon on Saturday. So have to admit we have had more action and interest in the house, over these past couple of days, than we had for the whole time we had it up for sale last time.

Monday is a holiday for us in Ontario, so we have decided not to accept any offers until Monday night...........I know we're being overly optimistic that anyone will put an offer in, but we have to be positive.

I called our insurance company to get a quote on insuring the new house and almost fainted when they gave me the quote, $1, 445.00, which is nearly $1,000 more than what we pay now. There are numerous reasons why it is more expensive, but even so. And the funny thing is when I commented it was $1,000 more than what we are paying now, the guy says, no, it's only $900 and odd more..........oh please!!!!

I also called to see how much the phone, Internet and satellite was going to cost and guess what that is also more expensive. So I am wondering what on earth people are talking about when they say it is cheaper to live in the country, as so far everything is going to cost us more? So please correct me on this, and tell me how living in the country is going to be cheaper, I'm all ears!!!