Been Super Busy.......

I have been getting the family room all painted as I have booked the carpet installers for Monday morning.

I have posted a number of things on Kijiji and two of the main things will be gone by the end of the week, a sink we bought in a sale and wouldn't fit and some leftover insulation from doing the attic and the basement.

Funny story the guy asked me if I could deliver the insulation.  I said I have a Ford Fiesta and yes I could get all four bundles in my car, but wasn't sure which one of the bundles would be driving it, as there would be no room for me!!

I also put a load of books on Kijiji, but as yet no bites there.

I have also been sewing up a little treat as a take home gift for our Christmas Cookie Exchange party on November 21st.  Dd is doing the creative stuff for this get together, other than the sewn item; and I am doing the food and drinks.  Need to get the family room put back together by then and the kitchen cupboards back and installed by then also.

Finally heard from Our Little Princess' mom and they will be home next week.  Can't wait to see them both.  Here is the latest photo of her:

Can't believe it's the end of October already?  November is a busy month and then hopefully at the beginning of December we will meet our little Sweetpea.

A Shock and a Joke......

Checking my emails this morning and opened my e-bill up from Bell Canada and it was over $300.  Luckily I had nothing in my mouth as I would have choked.  Turned out they had charged me $50 twice to able to use my phone in the States while on vacation.  Neither charge should have been on there, so luckily I actually got an efficient employee who handled everything and credited it all.  However I still have to pay the $300+ bill as the credit won't appear right away {{SIGH}}  I hope this isn't the start of more endless phone calls to Bell?

So to cheer myself up I read another email and there was a joke in it:

A frog goes into a bank and approaches the clerk, seeing from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack.

"Miss Whack, I'd like to get a £25,000 loan to take a holiday."

Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name.

The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he knows the bank manager.

Patty explains that she will need to secure the loan with some collateral.

The frog says, "Sure. I have this," and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.

Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office.

She finds the manager and says, "There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow £25,000, and he wants to use this as collateral."She holds up the tiny pink elephant. "I mean, what in the world is this?"

The bank manager looks back at her and says...

"It's a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man's a Rolling Stone."

Oldie but a goodie right?

Bad time to be on a "Fabric Diet!"

The Fall Creativ Festival was on this weekend and we had bought tickets a while ago for it.  So despite poor dd swollen feet and me not feeling 100% we went and had a good time as always.  The Fall show is held at the Metro Convention Centre and due to the miserable weather both of us parked in the underground parking lot at the Convention Centre....$22 later!!!

I have decided to be on a self imposed fabric diet as I have a lot of fabric to use up.  Dd bought some for a project you will start looking forward to each month once the baby is born and our friend also bought some.  I only bought essentials, like basting spray and some thread, nothing very exciting.  There was of course lots of eye candy and we talked to a lot of nice people.

I personally am not into "bedazzling" but had to take a photo of this cash register; very over the top don't you think:

One of the other things that caught our eye was this "fishy" display of crocheted items............NOT KNITTED as I thought and when I said knitted to dd I got told in no uncertain terms by a woman passing by that they were all crocheted not knitted!!

The more you look at this photo of the "sea bottom," the more you see.

I loved the jelly fish.  The display is being donated to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.  I am quite sure the kids will really enjoy looking at them all.

This was another display in the same booth, again very neat.  

Discovered that the booth was "The Crochet Crowd."  All in all a great few hours and looking forward to the Spring show in April.

Relapse........

I feel terrible again and have no idea why?  I did go off my allergy pills a few days ago, so went back on them again yesterday to see if that helps.  My poor head feels so heavy and full.  I am so tired I could just go back to bed and I only got up half an hour ago.  My nose is starting to run and I can feel something in my throat.

On a more positive front my ears are okay for now which makes a change.  Has anyone had this cold bug that's going around for it to come back again?  I hope it has something to do with going off the allergy pills.  By the way I have no idea what I am allergic to.  I was tested a few years ago and nothing came up positive?

Just a little peek.........

At the carpet samples:

Have chosen the middle one for the family room, all 504 square feet of it.  Deposit paid and hope to have it installed the first week of November.

Four years after we purchased these, dh finally got around to putting up the three wall lights in the family room.  We have the matching table lamp and ceiling light.  What a difference they have made to the room.  We paid Just over $40 each for them instead of close to $90.

As the floor is hardwood from 1974 in the family room, it only had quarter round wood edging it.  So we are going to add baseboard/skirting board.  Here it is laying in the family room ready for dh to put down.  We luckily had this left over from another project.

Starting another project with this lovely material.  I will post more about it next month.

I finally got the crib skirt (polka dot material) and the tab top valance sewn for the baby's room.  Nothing like leaving it until last minute. 

One job we did over the weekend was to pull out the upper kitchen cabinets, as the guys are coming to pick them up today to finish them.  While we were out on the weekend we picked up these tiles for the back splash from Lowes.

Lots going on around here, but we are slowly making progress.

Never normally lost for words, but

I have no idea what to say about this over the top "home."  So please feel free to add your thoughts.

This week's "Home of the Week," is missing "warmth," it feels so sterile in there not at all like a home to be lived in?  Also at $1.3 million, pricey even though it has a walk score of 98, which means nearly everything is in walking distance.  Not for me this one.

This week's "Condo of the Week," at $500,000 doesn't seem like a bargain to me, but then that's just me I guess?  It does at least have drywall/plaster board on the walls but not on the ceilings.  Take a close look at the "art work" on the last photo!!!  I wonder how much they paid for the silver sprayed branches on the wall?  I am not an expert in Toronto, but I thought Moss Park was a very iffy area?

This cold is hanging around like a bad smell!

All that is really wrong with me now is a small cold, ears which are full and feeling awful tired and fuzzy headed.  Anyhow, rather than going to bed and napping; as all that does is make me not sleep at night, I am keeping busy.

Called the kitchen cabinet guys and they are going to pick up the uppers and the pantry this coming Monday, so I decided the take everything out of the cabinets in preparation for dh to remove them.

This is the kitchen table before I started:

This is the kitchen table after I emptied all the cabinets.

The one good thing with all of this is I got to see what was in my cupboards and have a bit of a clear out.  However one of these days I would love to have a clear kitchen table!  Do you have somewhere in your house that is your dumping ground?

The weather turned out to be nice with a warm wind blowing on Wednesday, so I ended up cutting some grass/running over leaves.  Made sure I had my flaps down hat on to cover up my ears, but it was a gorgeous day to be outside.

I am having a running around day today (Thursday) so looking forward to having a day out of the house.

Halfway through the month of October......

and still no heating or fire on.  We have had a marvellous run of good weather.  Tuesday was another super busy day for me.

Lots of laundry:

Some varnishing:

Sorting out books to take to the store to see if I could get some money for them.

 Brought these ones back and ended up with $32 in store credit.  Plan on using it to buy more children's books.

Posted some ads on Kijiji on the weekend.  Finally got rid of the old washer and dryer.   Mind you it helped when I said they were for free!!!  Lots of people wanted it and a man who was on disability took them with his son.  Funny thing was I stated on the ad you had to provide your own manpower and transportation as they were to take out of the basement as well.  He managed it no problem, so I wonder what his disability was?

Have to say I DO NOT like dealing with folk on Kijiji as its such a lot of back and forward through emails and people are so not reliable.

I have posted four book reviews this month in my book review blog, you can visit it by clicking on this link.

A little bit of news.............

In case you are wondering why there is a flurry of activity at The Acreage its because we are thinking of putting the house on the market in the Spring of 2014 and so we get as much money as possible for this house, we have a few jobs to do to make the house more presentable/worth more money.

What with that and the wonderful weather we have been having it's an ideal time to do some decorating.  So now the family room walls has had FIVE coats of paint, but it's now at a point I like it.  I want to hold off showing you the after photos as we haven't finished yet and won't be for a couple of weeks as we have decided to invest in a carpet for the family room, as the hardwood floor is from 1974 and it shows!

So why are we thinking of moving.............

There are a few reasons.  Health is the main one, both dh and I are suffering with various ailments that makes doing some jobs around here difficult.  Going on vacation we realized how much we missed going away.  Anyone who owns a house whether it be old or new, knows there is always something needed done on it.  However with these old century houses, there is constant maintenance which in turn means constant money being spent.  And between me and you, I am getting a tad fed up of having no money due to spending it on the house.

We have not made our mind up 100% yet, but have decided to get some jobs that needed doing done just in case.  If we do move we are planning on going back into town.  We are staying in the area as we love it up here, I just want dh to have some free time, as at the moment it's all work and no play.  Which is no good for anyone.

One thing for sure, if we do move we will dearly miss the view we have:

Happy Thanksgiving to our fellow Canadians..........

No turkey for us just a roast of beef in the crockpot, as I am re-painting the family room walls; I don't like the original colour!!

Both still sick with this cold, but better than we were.

Have a good one!

Our Little Princess is nine months old.......

Can you believe it?

She has changed so much over the last month.  Her hair has really grown and she now has four teeth and has started to crawl.  Can't wait to see her next month.

Meanwhile at the acreage, we are both as sick as dogs with this rotten cough/cold/sore throat.

A year ago today we said goodbye to our dear Molly....

Can't believe the year has gone by so fast and although we have tried to get another dog (Millie) and have looked at other dogs, no one has caught and held onto our hearts like Molly did.

Here is a link to last years post, I was reading the Rainbow Bridge poem again it says it all. (although Molly was put to sleep on the 13th of October, it was a Saturday, that's why I am posting it today)

More on the painting situation......

I finished painting the door inside of the mud room.

Before:

After:

 I am going to do more in the mudroom just wanted to get the door painted.  It's already brightened the place by just painting the door white.  By the way it's sealed shut so we don't use it.

The ladder I use for painting is probably nearly as old as me, I got it from my mam and dad as it was theirs.  The bottom step is not safe but whatever.

 It is a wooden one but it's hard to see the wood for the paint!

While I am painting I love listening to music and listen to Galaxie on channel 905 (Bell tv) Jukebox Oldies.  Today (Friday) I have to paint the walls again in the family room.  It's a cream colour and although I love the colour not 100% sure it suits this room.  I will post photos tomorrow.  Put it this way we are going to have to live with the colour as I am not repainting everything again.

Then just to add to everything, guess who has now got the "man flu."  Yep, I am now down with it despite avoiding dh like the plague!!! {{{SIGH}}}  A good thing though the good weather is holding so we can have all the windows and doors open while I am painting.

Busy decorating the family room......

(image credit)

Monday and Tuesday was spent painting the ceiling; and I am VERY glad it's done.  Wednesday I painted the mud room door on the outside and the door inside of the mud room twice.  I then washed all the walls down in the family room ready to paint.  Filled in various holes and will sand them down today before I prime all the walls.  I am hoping to also get the first top coat on the walls today as well; plus paint the inside door on the mud room.  That door is going from dark brown to white, so it's taking a few coats.  Mind you I probably only have enough paint left for one more coat on the door, so lets hope three coats will be enough!

The one thing I am very grateful for is all this lovely weather we are having.  It's enabling me to have all the windows open while I am painting,  We haven't had the fire or the heating on yet either, which is also a blessing.

Dh is feeling a lot better thank goodness.  Fingers crossed I don't get it!

Scary photo...

I am painting the ceiling in the family room, using a paint brand called Zinsser.  It's quite watery and is oil based.  I am doing the second coat today......

I am hoping this will wash off eventually!!

After a very wet day on Monday we did finally see a little bit of blue sky by late afternoon.

I climbed a mountain...honest, I did..........

Well I climbed the last 1/2 mile and I have photos to prove it!!  On the last day of our trip in Tennessee we decided to drive up to Clingman's Dome.  The weather wasn't that great but it was okay.

Now thankfully there are six benches on the climb to the top.  How do I know this; well I had to stop and sit on five of them to catch my breath.  My excuse is that the air is very thin up there and I couldn't breathe.  That sounds good doesn't it?

This is looking at the observation tower at the top.

You couldn't see a thing for the mist and it was quite cold.  Here dh is looking at one of the information boards.

Even made dh take a photo of me to prove I was there.  Even I had a jacket on as it was bloody cold.

This is looking from the top of the walkway down the path, very, very misty.

Another view from the top.  It was such a shame as the view no doubt on a clear day would have been spectacular.

 There was a lot of moss and lichen on the plants/trees.

 One of the information boards: 

 Another information board:

 Another information board:

 Another information board:

  I would have loved to walk on the Appalachian Trail, but as I nearly "died" climbing up the bloody mountain, we decided it wasn't a good thing me doing any further mountain climbing in my crocs!! 

 We did get the odd glimpse of blue sky, but when we talked to the park ranger, she said that the mist could move off in ten minutes or it could last all day.

 Another info board at the start of the walkway. 

I am so glad we did this, but it did prove a couple of things, I am very unfit and hiking is not my thing!!!

Oh no it's a case of the "Man Flu"

He only went back to work on Monday and he is as sick as a dog with the "Man Flu."

(image credit)

Despite him telling me he's going to die, I am guessing he will live!!!  Do feel sorry him though when it comes to him sleeping.  He has a bad case of sleep apnea, so needs a CPAP machine when sleeping.  He uses the nose pillows and he can't breathe properly as his nose is full of gunk.  His sore throat is feeling a bit better though.

Was told to gurgle with salted water; he hasn't done that.  Was told to drink warm water with honey and lemon; he hasn't done that.  Was told to use a nose spray; he hasn't done that.  Need I say anymore?

Knitted Baby Clothes

My mam sent dd some baby clothes over and a number of them were hand knitted.  My mother used to knit a lot, but due to the arthritis in her hands, she can't do it anymore.  She purchased these items and they are gorgeous.  I wish I could knit.  Please excuse the lack of light in the photos the weather is very over cast and miserable today.

This is my favourite piece a gorgeous white Matinee jacket for a newborn.

 A lovely little pink knitted hat.

A cream cardigan, to fit probably 3 months on wards in cream. 

 A gorgeous lilac cardigan again from 3 months on.

Another knitted hat.

 A close up of the detail.  I have no idea how on earth they "knitted" that ribbon in amongst the wool?

 Even the top of the hat is lovely.

Then just to remind everyone this baby has British roots a t-shirt.

Just over 8 weeks to go now until we meet our little Sweet Pea.  Which reminds me, haven't heard from our little Princess and her family in a few days, must email them.  They too will be back in another four weeks or so.