So I am guessing you're all ready to strangle me with my lack of posts?

I would love to say I have been super, super busy but I haven't.  Well I have been busy but can always be busier if you know what I mean. So lets catch you up with what has been going on.

House:

No grass.........which = lots of dust and stupid me went off my allergy pills.  Suffice to say I am suffering royally with allergies and am now back on allergy pills for the foreseeable!  I am hoping we will see grass by the end of September........it if comes before hand it will be a bonus.  If I look out of our back windows today this is what I see:

I think I have shares in the Swiffer company, with the amount of their product I use at the moment!

Got the basement organized and tidied up a bit, so we don't have to step over boxes to go from A to B.  I now know where everything is, sort of, and that in itself is a huge help.

Dh has got the central vac working and the garage door opener installed and running.  Still don't have my car parked in the garage as it needs a tidy up, but that is dh's domain, so I leave it well alone.  Talking of my car, Betsy is looking worse for the wear, due to the dust.  Now me making this comment must mean it's bloody bad, as I NEVER clean/wash my car, but even I am fed up with how she is looking!

The Central Vac we purchases is a Beam Electrolux Alliance Special Spring Edition (it's white not black). It cost us just over $1,100 (including all taxes) and was well worth the money, very pleased with how it works.  Plus I got a "vac pan" installed under the sink cupboard, so I can sweep the kitchen floor, kick the lever and all the dust/crumbs etc, is sucked up through the vac pan.

The garage door opener was a Craftsman from Sears.  We have one double garage door and I got a 1/2 hp opener and it works fine.  I picked it up on sale for well under $200, and it came with two car openers, a key pad and an opener to put by the door to the house.  We have purchased this type of opener before and have always had good luck with them.

I have to say the way the builder finished off the garage makes it look immaculate.  Never had such a good looking garage interior....LOL

Dh's next job will be installing a custom closet organizer we got from Solutions.  We are big fans of their systems and had done a few closets using their product.  I will post about that when we put it up.

We, actually dh is helping renovate our daughter and son-in-laws basement, so that is also taking up a little bit of time.  My job is to take care of our little munchkin.  Here is her 8 month old photo which was taken last week:

She is of course sitting up, she is crawling and she can pull herself up to standing and walk around furniture.  She has got her four top teeth in all at once, so the poor thing hasn't been awfully happy, but she is over the worst as three of the four are through.  So that will be six teeth in all.  She is a grand eater and dd has been teaching her how to pick up pieces of cracker herself.  She will also "kiss" you when asked.  Do I sound like a proud Nana?  I know shut up!!

I have been busy reading.  As not only have I been reviewing books, I also attended my first book club meeting.  Thoroughly enjoyed it and a great set of ladies.  The book club with max out at 12 members and we have 11 members at the moment.  To read my book reviews you can click on this link.  If you have read any of the books I have reviewed I would love to hear your opinion.

I have much more to talk about, as it's been quite an eye opening experience moving from the country to a community where the average age is probably at least 60 to 70.  I know you will not only laugh at but also commiserate with me about some of the daft things that happen around here.

On that note I will sign off and try and get another post written for tomorrow.

Oh, and please feel free to yell at me for not writing more posts...LOL!

A few more photos from the new house.

I finally got the dining room put together today.  The room is only 10 feet by 15 feet, so it is a little bit of a squish, but overall it will work out just fine.  Our neighbours den/second bedroom looks into this room.

 We had the bottom of the Welsh Dresser refinished to update the look.  To see the before look at the fourth and fifth photo on this post.  I love the distressed look that they did and we will eventually replace the pine side chairs with black distressed ones to match the end chairs we bought when we bought the table.

This is the breakfast area.  Don't you love our view of the big front loader!!! 

 I found a place for my hall table.  I have had to throw out some of the flowers from the arrangement, but should get a few more days out of the rest.

 We found the perfect bench for the front hall as we are all getting too old and need to sit down to put our shoes on!!  Paid less than $150 for this leather look one out of Leon's.  Got the Union Jack cushion from Bed, Bath and Beyond.  They had other flag ones as well.  Thinking about getting a Canadian one to go on the bench as well.

 This is looking from the door to the garage to the breakfast area.  It's beginning to look like home with all the ornaments and pictures.

I did some baking today as well.  Had to read the instruction book first to figure out how to turn the oven on!!  I had mixed results with my baking, some of the cookies were over done and some under cooked.  I haven't cooked with a convection oven before.  So I guess it will take time to get used to it.

Photos of our new house and our little Munchkin and her new best friend Mango

Popped by the house to see if they had started on the grass or the deck; neither thing had happened and with the wet weather we are supposed to have over the next couple of days, there won't be any progress there I wouldn't think.

 The driveway and steps are all interlock.

Dd and her friend went to Build a Bear on Tuesday with the babies and made a teddy for each of them.  Our little Munchkins is called Mango.  Apparently she was fascinated by the machine that has the stuffing in it?  She watched that for ages.  The other baby is only three months old and he slept right through the whole process!!

 She is dribbling like crazy, her two bottom teeth came in, so expecting the two top ones to come in at some point.

Now back to more packing/sorting out.  Must remember to tell you the story of the towels and blankets I donated on Tuesday, I nearly caused a fight to break out!!!

M.I.A. - not really

Life is flipping busy at the moment, so sorry for not popping in and keeping you updated with what has been happening.  Since May 5th we have had visitors from Britain, namely my mam and step-father.  They came to see their great-granddaughter.  The trip was planned back in November and at that time we weren't sure when we would be moving.

Anyhow, their visit has been busy for both them and me, with things to do everyday.  Today (Monday) we had tea with Queen Victoria:

What both my mam and step-father found amusing was that they do not celebrate her birthday in her country of birth, but here in Canada we go all out.  There was an event at the local museum and we went and had an enjoyable time.

They leave on Saturday evening, so only a few days left now.  

A while ago I mentioned a friend/co-worker/surrogate Canadian brother had cancer.  He lost his fight last Tuesday and tomorrow (Tuesday) is his funeral.  Please say a prayer for his wife and two young children (ages 2 & 5) and his parents and family.  They are all devastated and understandably so.  

The house is coming along nicely and we had a visit on the weekend with all the family and got to look through it.  Very excited and pleased with how it is all looking.  Here are a couple of photos.  The first one is of the ceiling in the family/living room looking towards the kitchen.

That light fixture is going and shouldn't actually be there.  We are all very pleased with the look of the ceiling.

This one is of the kitchen looking towards the family room:

The counter tops are not in yet, they are a light granite I think/hope!!!  Don't remember what I ordered.  All the tiles, hardwood and carpet are in.  They are down to the nitty gritty and fingers crossed should be ready in time for us to move into.  Can't wait to show you all what's what.

I finally sold the last of the big things on Kijiji over the weekend.  Plus I got rid of all the firewood we had left over from this year.  Packing will resume in earnest after the weekend, although dh has made a start on clearing out the garage as that is a big job.  

We managed to get a lot of old wood burned on the fire pit yesterday so again a good jobbed, jobbed as I say.

Our little munchkin just turned 6 months old:

And has just got her first tooth and should be crawling pretty soon, as she doesn't like laying still!!

She is a little character that's for sure with those big blue eyes.

Another bit of news, our Little Princess is going to be a big sister in September.  It's going to be a surprise as to what sex it will be, but my bet is on a little boy.

I may not get back to posting until after next weekend, but want to thank each and every one of you who pops by and reads my blog.  I do so appreciate it.

Gill xoxo

Busy, busy, busy

Life is busy around here at the moment, so I thought I'd pop in and fill you in on what has been and is going on.

The folk that bought the house had their walk through on Sunday afternoon, so the house got a good clean through before they arrived so that was good.  At least it got me ahead of the game for the week.  Haven't heard anything back about their visit, so assuming they were all happy, happy with everything?

Not sure if you remember when we were being attacked by a very amorous Red Cardinal last year?  Well this year we have a woodpecker who sounds like a jack hammer on our roof.  I have to keep chasing it; it's driving me potty!!!

Got our new bed delivered on Monday:

It's a beige linen material with antique bronze nail heads.  I have to tuck in the coverlet now though to make it look right.

Had a mammogram on Monday and I'll say what I always say,

"A man must have invented that machine!!"

Haven't been around by the new house since Saturday.  They have been doing the tiling.  The neighbours above us are moving in tomorrow; wish it were us.  Picked up some more bits and bobs for the house, will have to take some photos.

Narrowed down the choice of drapes from the bedroom; going to go with the Ashton ones from Bed, Bath and Beyond:

At work on Wednesday, so will be back on Thursday.

.

Sold!

The lawn tractor was picked up today.  Bit sad to see her go but she has gone to a good home down in Chatham.  The people were saying they have already cut their grass twice.  Luckily for us ours is no where near ready for us to cut and I hope it stays that way!!!  We do have a regular gas lawn mower, so we will keep the grass immediately around the house trimmed.

It's a big relief that it sold, as now we only have little stuff to sell and if it goes it goes if not, not the end of the world.  We are holding onto the trimmer for a couple of weeks, just to trim around the flower beds.  That's our most expensive thing we have left at an asking price of $300, it's worth well over $600 if bought new.

I have been researching drapes/curtains/blinds and other window coverings recently.  Where we live now we have blinds in the bedrooms just to keep the light out and two blinds in the family room, again to keep the sun out.  Otherwise we don't have any window coverings.  With us moving back into a subdivision, we will need window coverings.

I have more or less decided to go with drapes/curtains and sheers/nets for the bedroom.  I have fallen in love with these drapes from Pottery Barn:

I like the way they hang and with the lining they will keep out the light.  We are going to head down to Yorkdale on the weekend and check out the store.

I also love this range of bathroom fittings especially this mirror:

I am still searching for the perfect light fixtures for the living room.  I have narrowed it down and this is number one at the moment.  The photo doesn't do it justice.

So that's me for the moment.  Kijiji is keeping me busy.  Got my first load of laundry hung out and dried today, FINALLY!!!  Then of course there is packing and sorting stuff out.

Hope everyone is doing okay, sorry for not visiting any one's blogs.

We have a 5 month old Easter Bunny...........

She has now mastered the art of rolling over.....so even taking a photo is something that needs to be done fast before she loses interest and rolls over!!

Her favourite food is now pureed, carrots, rutabaga and sweet potato, and of course any fruit.

She starts swimming lessons tomorrow, and I am going so there will be photos!!

New house coming along nicely.  Garage door on now and the stair railings, going down the basement.

Put the lawn tractor on Kijiji, had one reply at $5,500, holding out for the $6,000 though.

Heading out today, will report back telling what I was up too tomorrow!!

More on the house.........

Went around to the house to see how the bricking was going.  They are getting on like a house on fire and should be completed today.  That is me peeking into the breakfast room to see what is going on.  Where it is white around the windows I think that will be stucco.

 The brick is called Madison County and have to say it is perfect; well considering I had no idea what I had picked!!

I like how the stonework turned out by the bedroom window also.

We are scheduled to close on June 16th and will be moving in that day.

Now as we are moving house of course everything is breaking down in this house (SIGH)  So far we have had a problem with a light fixture.  Need to change a switch on the stove as that is playing up.  Our hoover (vacuum) went kaput, so had to buy a very cheap one.  Hopefully that is it (touching wood.)

The new house......

Haven't mentioned that in a while have I?  Things are coming along quite nicely.  They are on bricking it at the moment.  Dh had to pop into town on Tuesday night and went round by the house and took a couple of photos.  This is the back of the house, you can also see next doors house as well in the photo.  Ours ends where the stone work ends.  Where it is all stoned and there are three windows and a half round window, that is our bedroom.

 This is the front of the house and again next door's house is partly in the picture.  That is their garage you can partly see.

Inside of the house all the drywall has been done including the waffle ceiling in the living room and it is a huge wow factor.  All the crown moulding has been installed; I didn't have my camera when we saw all of this.  I have no idea what else they have done.  The garage floor was poured with concrete, so that is done.  The garage is still to drywall.  The gas fire is in, but not the surround.  I am assuming they will be doing the tiling next.......but honestly don't know for sure.  The people opposite us have moved in.  Have seen them but not talked to them.  Everything is on schedule though which is good.

Got a couple things bought for it including the garage door opener.  The fan/light for our bedroom.  Have put a deposit down on this table and chairs for the breakfast room; I can't copy and paste a photo over, sorry.  It's nothing fancy and we wanted chairs that were not only comfy to sit on but could be easily wiped down in case of spills etc. 

Got rid of all my canning jars last week and the picnic table outside.  Going to post a few more items on Kijiji over the next few days to try and get rid of more things.  Managed to pack up the toys and games yesterday, so all in all things are coming together okay.

Sucked in hook, line and sinker..........

Did your mother tell you always to watch for the quiet ones as they could be dangerous?  Well I forgot that the other day, and I was sucked in.

Don't worry it wasn't anything dangerous infact it's funny how it all happened.

On Tuesday evening we met up with the big boss of the company who is building the new house as we wanted to take photos of the stud walls before they drywalled them.  The reason for this is so if we make any changes down the road dh can refer back to the photos as to where the wires are etc.

We signed a waiver saying we are not to go into the house on our own while it is being built.  Which is fine by us and in the past either the sales guy or the security guy has gone with us.  But this time it was the big boss.  He is such a quiet guy and very friendly and very much involved in the day to day operation of the homes.  He takes great pride in the workmanship and the trades he employs do a super job.

The living room of the new home ceiling is nearly twelve feet high and is very impressive.  We talked about it and in the model home there was a coffered ceiling like this:

Big boss said I'll take you the other Cortina home we have a couple of doors down.  We had looked at this one when we were deciding which house we were going to buy and didn't want this one as it was the middle of a row of houses so didn't get as much light as our corner lot.  So we walk down to the other house and walk in and it's all drywalled and tiles in etc so a lot further on.  However the show stopping feature of this home is the ceiling in the living room.  It is a WOW factor and more; it is gorgeous.

It's not just the square boxes like the photo above it is custom designed by him to fit the way the room will be set out and for how the family would live in it.  

So I said to him, "You're not as daft as you look."

Big Boss had no idea what I meant.

I said, "You knew what you were doing by bringing us to look at this, knowing fine well I would want one."

Big Boss says," I am a terrible salesman, so wouldn't do that."

This guy is a perfect salesman, quiet and not pushy.  So we are waiting to see how much all this will cost in our house, as again ours is slightly different and the way we will use the room would be different that this other house.  Bang goes my budget out of the window, as this is not only a show stopper it is an investment if/when we sell the house.

As I said at the beginning, always be careful of the quiet ones!!

Kijiji, declutering and other delightful "stuff"

Had a little it of success on selling a couple more things on Kijiji.  Sold the dresser and the bed along with the mattress from the spare bedroom.  Still have the futon from the attic, and the table and chairs from the dining room to get rid of.  I also put up my Pflatzgraff Empire dinnerware on sale now that I have the Gordon Ramsey set.

There are 10 each of the dishes and plates and 7 mugs; not bad for $30.

Also had another clean through the drawers and closets and came up with this little lot:

I will drop them off tomorrow at the charity shop.  That will also mean I have get rid of my 25 things for the week.  I am of the mind that if I don't need these things why take them to the new house?  As the more we have to move the more it will cost us.

Has anyone watched the TV series Vikings?  What are your thoughts on it?  I would like to get it on DVD and watch it minus the adverts, but read some where it was very violent and blood thirsty?

There doesn't seem to be any let up of this bitter cold weather does there?  Then I heard on the TV we are in for a very cold March (SIGH)

We firmed up on our new home on the weekend and went to have a look around it to see the progress.  It has been weather proofed for a while with the frame up and the roof on and the windows and doors in.  They have now completed the framing inside.  Done the rough in for the plumbing and put all the duct work in for the heating.  The shower base is in, in our ensuite and the shower unit is in, in the downstairs bathroom.  We now have stairs to the basement.  They should be starting the electrical/wiring of the house soon.  All in all we are really pleased with the workmanship so far.

Customer service means a lot!

On Saturday dh and I spent a lot of the day out and about.  It was really nice not having to work on the house for a change.  Yes I did have to get it "viewing ready," and yes dh had to blow out the driveway, thanks to the oil truck coming and chewing up the snow with it's weight, but after that we were free to do what we wanted.

We went into town to a place called Brisco Appliances to check out their appliances.  We ended up buying all the new appliances for the new house from there, Frigidaire Professional in smudge proof stainless steel for the kitchen and Maytag washer and dryer in white for the laundry room.  Why?  Well first of all their prices may not be the cheapest out there, but they are VERY competitive and we got top of the line for a fairly decent price.  The customer service is excellent and if we run into a problem I know they will be more than happy to help out. 

They are the only store the builder will let into your house before your closing date to deliver and install your appliances for you.  Yes I know isn't that neat?  He was also going to pop over to the sales office with all our specs on the appliances for the girl who will be sorting out all the details of the house on Thursday.  You wouldn't get that kind of service in a big box store?  Also we were allowed to pay our deposit over two months; as between me and you, if anyone else asks us for money I am going to scream!!

We then spent a full two hours in Lowes checking out bits and pieces that we may or may not need in the new house.  It's been such a long time since we have had to buy window coverings as we don't need them in this house, that I had forgotten what was out there.  We met a great woman who went through all sorts of ideas in the window coverings section,  I will definitely go back there to buy some window coverings from them.  She was so knowledgeable and really took the time to show us what would or wouldn't work.  Again it's the customer service that won us over. 

 I was looking through the light fixtures and saw this light and fell in love with it.  It will be perfect over the dining room table.

 You can read more about it here.  The reviews are mixed but it looks stunning, and as I am married to an electrician, he will be able to figure the whole thing out.  Once again we talked to one of the guys in the department and he was super friendly.  We were in the Barrie, Ontario store and have to say we have found everyone very, very helpful in that store.

We also looked at some tiles for the back splash in the kitchen, as we are not getting the builder to do that, we will do that ourselves.  We found a couple that may be possibilities.

This one is really nice in "real life."

This one, it's the top one that interested us:

We bought the back splash tiles in our present kitchen from Lowes as well.  Pleased to say we walked out of Lowes not having spent a penny..........we didn't use the bathroom/toilets either....LOL  Spending a penny is a British term for having to go pee!

Photos of the outside of the house, and more on the attic...

As promised here are some photos of the outside of the house.

Here is the front of the house, which faces East, and is built of field stone in 1907. The mud room addition happened in the last 25 years.

This is the North side of the house, including the extension, which was built in 1974.

West side of the house and extension.

South side of the house, that shows both the mud room and the family room extension.

View from the back deck.

View from the front deck of the house.

So on Friday we were up in the attic again. Got the last of the plaster and lathe off. Got rid of some of the insulation. However there is a lot of blown in insulation as well, and we need to buy a cheap shop vac that doesn't need bags to pick it all up. I just happen to know ds has got dh a gift certificate for Home Depot for Father's Day, so he can use it for that.

We went to the dump again and on Thursday and Friday we disposed of 2,600 pounds of plaster. We still have half a dozen bags to get rid off, which we will do when we go back with the insulation. So, so far it has cost us around $115 in disposal fees. I have to say its been hard work, but so worth while.

So on Friday afternoon we played hooky. We went out for a late lunch at The Mono Cliffs Inn and had a super meal. We had lamb burgers, with mint sauce, goat cheese and Cesar salad. It was so good and so filling. We will definitely go again.

We then went by the animal shelter to look at the dogs and cats. Dh fell in love with one dog, I fell in love with another one, so we decided to leave it a couple of days to think about it. Its awful though to see all those doggies barking in their cages. It was a lot quieter in the cat rooms, and we saw a lovely little cat called Tina. Again decided to think it over.

We then went and did some grocery shopping, which was fun as dh was with me. In between hands I did three loads of laundry, all which was to iron when we got home at 5pm. Lunch was so filling though, that we didn't have supper, just a few snacks later on.

So we got a lot achieved today and I had a good time being with dh.

Time does fly by when you're having fun!!!

Can you believe we have lived in this house now for just over a month? We moved in on May 1st, though actually took possession of the house on April 28th. Now as we live here day in day out, we don't notice things like others do. We had our dear neighbours from our old house up for supper yesterday and "R" had popped up on Mother's Day to give me a bunch of flowers, so she had been before albeit for 15 minutes at the most.

Anyhow, she was saying what a huge difference the way the place was looking to what it looked like back on May 10th. So that was actually quite encouraging, as it makes it worth while all the hard work we have put into the house so far.

It was great to have them over, as one it was lovely to see them and catch up with them. Two, "M" did get on the lawn tractor and cut some of the grass for an hour or so!! Three, they went to Paris for the long weekend two weeks ago, so I saw all their photos from there. "M" proposed again to "R" and gave her a gorgeous ring under the Eiffel Tower, romantic or what? By the way they are already married, just thought he would do it again. Dh got the evil eye when they were telling me that....LOL So dh said he had already got me a present, the LAWN TRACTOR.......gosh I am married to the most romantic person in the world, aren't I?

The hotel room they stayed in had a lovely canopied bed, and he had a dozen blood red roses delivered for "R". They are such a great couple, no kids yet, but not for the lack of me whining on to them to have kids, so that we can spoil them!! (If dd is reading this, be grateful that I am not whining on at you to have kids!!) In dd case, I am always harping on at her and "B" about when they are going to get married, I think they have just celebrated their 9th or 10th anniversary of being together!!

I am writing this Sunday morning, so my plan of action is to spend the day in the garden. I made a start yesterday on digging out some more of the veggie plot, but didn't get much done, so will have another go today. Plus more of the grass needs to be cut, no shock there, plus a hundred and one of jobs. Dh made a start on trimming the edges of the property with the brush cutter, as it is so long and thick. He is hurting badly at the moment. He went and hurt his shoulder when moving and he is still in agony with it, making it difficult to do most things. So I don't want him doing anything that involves lifting things above his head at the moment, so cutting the edges is actually a good job, as the machine has a shoulder strap on it, so its not heavy.

Well that's enough rambling on for one day!!!

****UPDATE ON THE LAUNDRY SINK, THE BAKING SODA, VINEGAR AND BOILING WATER WORKED, IT IS NOW UNBLOCKED.....FINALLY SOMETHING HAS WORKED****

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!

This post is as much for my benefit, as yours, jobs to do inside of the new house.......

I have decided to write a list of what needs done room by room in the new house. I will warn you this will be a long post....LOL

The first thing we need to do get an Energy Audit on the house so that we can claim the Provincial Government rebates.

I'll start at the top and work down.

Attic:

All the plaster and lathe to be removed, all to insulate, skylight to put in on west side of roof. Roof vents to put all over roof. New window in the dormer window. Drywall throughout. Electrics to do right throughout the attic, electric base board heater to install. Stairs to move, if possible, if not possible, new stairs to purchase and install. Floorboards to lift, and save to reuse in other parts of house. Plywood floor to put down, carpet, storage cupboards to make and install, and decorate.

Master bedroom:

That was two bedrooms that they knocked into one. Put a dividing wall back and have one large bedroom and one smaller bedroom. Install closets, so electric work to be done, new sockets etc, and decorate.

Second bedroom:

This room is fine other than the closet which just needs to be sorted out, and probably decorate.

Bathroom:

Door to attic, space to be converted to a linen closet. Shower to be pulled out and a new walk-in shower installed. Extraction fan to be installed above shower. New vanity unit and sink. Decorate.

Stairs and landing:

Door on landing to be taken out and a smaller window put in there. Stonework outside to block up hole left. This may not sound like a big job, but it is a major job. Decorate stairs and landing.

Living Room:

There are two partially finished closets in here, as they are classing it as a third bedroom, so they are to take out. There is a pocket door to the bathroom behind the living room. That is to take out and drywall the hole. Decorate.

Kitchen/Dining Room:

New kitchen cabinets, worktops, appliances and decorate...which translates to MAJOR MONEY!!!

Mud room:

This is an add on to the house, and has no heating in it, and they have removed the door from the mud room to the kitchen.

Put baseboard heater in the room. Put doors on the closets, decorate. Put door back on between the kitchen and the mud room.

Main Floor Bathroom:

Remove the shower, put in claw foot tub. Decorate and re-jig the whole room.

Family Room:

All the wood paneling is to remove, not a wood panelling type of person. Dh is going to build a stud wall in front of the original wall and add more insulation. Drywall the whole room and decorate. New patio door to install. Wood burning stove insert to install into the existing fireplace. Move the stair case to give a better flow in the room. Electrics to sort out. New hardwood floor to lay.

Basement under family room:

Re-jig the two piece washroom down there. Make a "laundry room closet" to hold the washer and dryer. Drywall and insulate the whole room. New drop ceiling, electrics and put new flooring down, not sure what yet. Build new storage closets.

Basement in main house:

New windows to install.

Now this is the basic list, I am sure I have left out some work and when we move in, we will no doubt "discover" a lot more things to do. All I do know for certain, we will be on with this for many years to come, as money will factor a lot into this.

I will post a list of what is to do on the outside of the house on Thursday....

A couple of updates:

Our mailing address and our physical address are different, finally got that figured out. Its all to do with the actual township we live in, doesn't have a post office, so we are being pawned off to the nearest town with a post office.

Also don't faint, but I have actually packed a box...YEAH!!!