Babysitting Miss Nora............

Here is the little cherub:

Doesn't that face say "I am so sweet!!"

It was our son's 30th birthday on April 4th and dd decided to throw him a surprise party, which by all accounts was a success.  We were invited, but as it didn't start until 9pm and that is our bedtime we decided to pass and babysit our little cherub!!

Nora's parent left just after 6 pm and I had a list of instructions on what to do and what not to do and when.  So as per the instructions we could feed her, her squash and pears (in that order) around 6:30 pm.  So I put her in the high chair and she DID NOT like that one bit and was very vocal about it.  So fine we took her out and decided to calm her down, but that didn't really work.  So figured as per the list she had to have a bath around 7 pm.  Well she has this fold up thing like this which was perfectly fine when Miss Nora was tiny but at 16 lbs, she is squished in there.  Again suffice to say she wasn't happy about having a bath either and the way she arched her back I was surprised she didn't escape.  Miss Nora's parents are buying another bigger bath for her, but hadn't got it before the weekend.

So got her all dried and dressed and she still isn't happy.  Walked her up and down and she stops wailing and even manages to smile at us.  By this point we are heading towards to 8 pm mark, and we still haven't fed her.  Oh and by this point the bloody list has been thrown out.  Managed to get her fed, by giving her the pear first and then slipping in the squash.  She wouldn't take the bottle for love or money though and starts wailing again.  

To cut a long story short I finally got her in the crib at 11 pm.  Poor dh had to be up at 3:30 am to go to work.  There is a footpath in the living room carpet now where we/I walked her back and forward.  Dh and I were exhausted.  We couldn't get over how someone so small can cause so much chaos!!!  Dd and son-in-law came home around 1:30 pm and went to bed.  Miss Nora got up for a feed around 5:30 am and then slept to 8:30 am.  She was back to sleep by 10 am until after 12 noon as she was that tired..........I wonder why!!!

It's when she turns at you and smiles and talks to you your heart just melts, then she has a hissy fit a minute later.  Despite her mother telling me she has strawberry blonde hair I reckon it's more red and she has the temper to go with it.  I told dd and son-in-law to please feel free to ask his mother to babysit next time!!!  I don't think it's fair that I should have all the fun, do you?

Miss Nora had been out of sorts and the change of house, plus everything else must have effected her.  We will of course babysit anytime they ask, as we wouldn't want to miss out.  However dh must make sure he's not working the next day as we need a day or two to recover.

It's been a few days since my last blog post, hasn't it?

Last week was a busy week and in all honesty this coming week isn't looking much better.  Will say though I am very pleased to announce that I have all my Christmas cards written, the dreaded Christmas letter written and everything is ready to mail out for tomorrow.  Here's hoping I get change out of $40 for mailing just the British Christmas cards.  I'll let you know.

On Wednesday I went down to dd and son-in-law's to do some batch cooking for them.  Also to have some Nora time!!!

She seems to be doing fine, not that I had much conversation with her as she was asleep most of the time.  However she did let off the biggest fart for such a small baby.  All her newborn clothes are still too big, but she is feeding well and has plenty of dirty diapers, so that's a good sign, right?  She also had her first "photo shoot," as her parents wanted baby photos taken of her.  She slept right through the session.

I will be seeing her on Wednesday when I go down again.

We didn't go this weekend, as we had things to do to get ready for winter, which included putting up the snow fences.  As it was it was a heck of a shock to get up to all the snow we got overnight on Saturday.  It took dh an hour and a half to blow out the driveway.

One thing we have going on this week is I have arranged for two real estate agents to visit the house on Thursday and Friday to see what they say about the house and any suggestions they have.  Also I want to see what they can offer us and what their plan of action would be for our house if we signed with them.  I am favouring one agent as I have met her and talked to her.  The other lady (both are women) is a lot younger and maybe not as experienced in this area.  Regardless I'll give both of them a fair shot and see who we like better.

So it will be a major cleaning and tidying up week for me.  I also have a few little jobs that need to be accomplished in amongst hands.  Dh got a number of little jobs crossed his list this weekend so that is good.

Look out for a before and after post tomorrow!

Powder room renovation at daughter and son-in-laws house.

Last month dd and son-in-law decided to renovate the powder room.  I don't have a before photo which is such a shame, as it's night and day to what it was.  The floor was a beige and brown linoleum.  The walls were beige and there was a cheap wooden and sink.

First thing they did was pull up the floor and get rid of the vanity.  They painted the room a dark grey including the ceiling. and put in the white wainscotting at the bottom.  The put in a pedestal sink and little mosaic tiles on the floor.  Changed the light fixture and added new accessories.  They figured all in all this cost them around $700.

This is the floor tile, sorry the photo turned on me.  The floor vent is also a silver colour.

Dd is a huge fan of Young House Love and gets lots of ideas from them.

Looking back and looking forward........

Must say I am glad to see the back of 2012, it wasn't all bad but we did have our fair share of lows.

My car died in April and where we live I need a car, so along came Betsy.  She is a great small car for me, but it now means we have a car loan.  Now granted it a 0% loan but it's still a debt.  We also had to fork out for snow tires for her at a cost of $1,100, but did manage to sell my old ones for $400 (I think?).

My step-father had his heart operation but during or just after the operation he had a stroke.  It was a very worrying time for us all.  Pleased to say he is a lot better, but he will never be "the same," and does have a few lasting side effects from the stroke.  It was the luck of the draw I guess as another older more fragile lady who had the same operation to same day, walked out of hospital as fit as a fiddle.

Dh has had a number of health issues over this year and some are still not resolved, mainly his knees.  So a second opinion I think is in order in the next few months, as his left knee is starting to spasm now, which is what happened with his right knee. 

We lost our dear Molly in October which was just plain bloody awful.  I still miss her and I am so NOT ready to get another dog.  Not sure if we will ever get as good a dog as what Molly was, temperament wise.

My hands are still not right, I see the surgeon again on Thursday for my bone scan results.

On a more positive note dd and son-in-law bought their first house in August and it's a joy to see their happiness in their house.  They are working hard to get it how they want it.

Ds is back with his girlfriend and moving into an apartment tomorrow; and seems a lot happier.

We love living where we live and are very lucky in that respect.

2013 is going to bring its own challenges I am sure, but we'll embrace them head on and take the good with the bad, as we always do,

It's a big year for us personally, as we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in June.  Not 100% sure what we are doing regarding that.......stay tuned though.

We pay off our mortgage this year, we are now down to 35 weeks, so that's exciting.

On a negative note dh's job may be experiencing some changes by the end of February.  We don't know for sure what will be happening, but as dh does not like change he is worrying himself silly about it all.  He should/will have a job, it just won't be exactly what he is doing at the moment, and he could be working less hours, which as he is hourly paid means a lot less money.

We will be welcoming a new baby in the family in the next couple of weeks, as "R's" baby is due by the middle of the month, so we're all excited about that.  Dd good friend is also expecting so I will be going to a baby shower in the next couple of months.  Dd and I are holding the cookie swap party at our house in December, already making plans for that.

We are going to make more of the garden this year, if dh will help me.  My back can't handle all the gardening on my own.

Overall I am looking forward to 2013 and what it will bring.  I hope you will follow along with me as I blog about it?

I want to wish you all the best of luck and love for 2013.  I appreciate you all for taking the time out of your busy days to pop by and see what I'm up too.

Gill

Ever wonder why your fresh/real Christmas Tree never lasts long?

Well I know; I just wish I had, had a camera with me.  We passed a big field of Christmas trees on Saturday and a lot were cut, wrapped and stacked ready for the Christmas market.  It's only the middle of October for goodness sake.  I'll stick with my artificial one thank you.

On Saturday ds and son-in-law ran up the CN Tower to raise money for charity.  As per this article there are: 1776 steps to main deck level (1135 ft), 2579 to Sky pod (1465 ft). 

I don't know if they went to the main deck level or beyond.  Anyhow son-in-law did it in under 25 minutes and I think ds was 28 minutes, not 100% sure though.  As I said to dh if it were me I would still be climbing up those stairs.  Mind you I wouldn't go up the CN Tower even if you paid me.  The last time I was up there I discovered I was afraid of heights!!!  And those glass floors don't excite me either!!  

We spent Saturday at dd and son-in-law's house as dh went to give them a hand to install their new kitchen. Must say it's very nice and very bright and clean.  It's pretty plain and is off white.  They got it at Lowes and is made by a Canadian Company, but I can't remember the name; but constructed very well.  

While they were doing that I was putting together the favours for the baby shower.  I can't wait to show you what we are giving them, it is really nice, but bloody fiddly to do.  Luckily for me dd Martha was busy installing the kitchen so I wasn't "supervised!!"  Now for all my whining, I had to admit, dd has done an excellent job with all the details for this baby shower; she should be a party planner.  I can't wait to share photos of everything, only two more weeks.

Sunday, a day of high's and low's.......

First of all this weekend has been to flipping busy for me.  We never stopped all weekend, and by the time we got home on Sunday night, it was a case of doing what had to be done, sit down for an hour then off to bed.  I don't like weekends where you don't have five minutes to yourself.


Anyhow the "high" of Sunday was visiting dd and son-in-law at their new house.  They have been busy doing all sorts and I have to say they looked pretty tired, as they have worked their tails off; but they are so enthusiastic and excited about their first house, that you can't help being excited with them. 


The "low" and it was/is a low was when we went to visit dh's very good friend in hospital.  He's dying of cancer.  I hadn't seen him since April and the change in him was very apparent.  Last November he was one of the "three amigo's" who propped up the bar all night with dh and another guy, as they were worried it was going to fall down at dd wedding!!!!!  The doctor's have given him around six months; it's pancreatic cancer.


You feel so helpless not being able to take the pain away from him, or help him.  I guess just have him knowing we are there for him and his wife is all we can do?


Gave dh an extra hug after visiting his friend, and told him we are very lucky and hope we never have to go through what they are going through. Make sure you give your special someone a big hug and tell them you love them, as you never know what is around the corner.............

Dd house warming gift and a recipe....

Dd and son-in-law close on their house this week.  They are living on the 21st floor of a condo and are moving to a detached house with a garden.


We are lending them our push lawn mower, as there isn't that much grass to cut and I got them the following gardening equipment:

Now truth be told they would have preferred a barbecue, but overall this is more practical as they have no gardening tools.  We are lending them our old pine dining room table and I picked up four chairs for $10, a real steal, that will do until they can afford a new set, plus we have picked up bits and bobs for them. 


I will be posting photos in the coming weeks of all the work we will be helping them with at their new house.


We had the family up for lunch on Sunday and as ham was on sale at Foodland for $1.47per pound, I bought one.

I didn't want to put the oven on so I decided to cook it in the crockpot/slow cooker.


Super simple to do; put 1 cup of brown sugar in the crockpot.

Place ham on top and using hands pat in another 1/2 to 1 cup of brown sugar.

As my ham was to tall for my bowl, I covered the top with tin foil to keep the heat in and cooked it on low for around 5 hours.

It was really, good and super moist.  We had it with Greek Salad and roasted potatoes I had cooked on the barbecue.

We will be eating ham for a few days this week, as there is plenty left.


I guess you could also smother some mustard on the top of the ham when cooking, as that would be tasty.  If your ham is not precooked like mine was you will have to adjust your cooking times.

Where did the weekend go too?

It was over in a flash and I have to admit with barely a minute to relax.

It started on Saturday morning at 5:30am when I got up to get myself ready to go to a garage sale.  Our township, was having a garage sale and I had booked a table inside back in February for $10.  Turned out to be a lovely day weather wise but cool, so I am glad I paid the extra $5.  There were 50 vendors and it was a great morning.  I came back with very little and made $69, but more important got rid of crap treasures that had been laying around!!  What I have left is being donated to a church garage sale next week, so it's a win, win situation.

I got home around 1pm, had a bite to eat then popped into town to spend my $69 on gas/petrol for the car and my gas containers for the lawn tractor.  Cost $80 but with Canadian Tire having a 10 x the CDN Tire $ I got $2.50 back in CDN Tire money.

Came back home and then dh took me into town to get some grocery shopping and run a couple other errands.  As we were heading home dd was on the phone as they had seen a house and were wanting to put an offer in, but could we (mainly her dad though) come down and give it the once over to  make sure they weren't making a mistake.  So after unpacking the groceries we set off at 4:15pm to go to Pickering.  Luckily the traffic was light and we got there by 5:30 pm. 

It was 7pm by the time we left the house.  I sat and talked to the real estate agent after looking around the place, while dh, dd and son-in-law, looked at the house in great detail.  We had something to eat on the way home in Schomberg, at a great little place called Cross Roads Fish and Chips (serves a lot more than fish and chips) which is on Hwy 9 at the main lights.  So it was 9pm when we finally got home.

I sat down had a glass of wine, which I know is very strange for me as I normally don't drink, but I saw a bottle of Jacob's Creek Moscato on sale in the LCBO and it is fizzy and is sweet, my kind of drink!!!  My head just hit the bed and I was out for a count, but it had been a full and productive day.

Sunday I had a lay-in and didn't get up until 7:30 am which is late for me.  Then I basically spent the whole day out in the garden, most of it cutting the grass.  I am now pleased to say all the grass has been cut at least the once.  That first cut especially in the field and on Kamikaze Hill is hard going as it had gotten so long.  I want to concentrate on weeding and prepping the veggie patch this week, if the weather holds out.

So there you go a crazy busy weekend, oh and dd and son-in-law bought the house and got it for under asking price..................only because it needs a bit of work doing on it.................but to hear their excitement in their voices is such a blessing and a joy.

Buying a house.........

Don't panic its not me, no one in their right mind would buy this place in the state it is in............mind you we bought it, so I guess there are fools out there!!!  Actually I love our house and when we do get it all renovated it will be even more gorgeous.

Dd and son-in-law are house hunting at the moment, as they are getting kicked out of their condo in August.  They hadn't planned on buying a house until next Spring but as they say "things happen!!"

Now the only reason I am even mentioning this is they are running into one bidding war after another and it's proving to be a very eye opening experience. 

What the houses look like on MLS and what they are actually like in person is night and day it seems.  We went with them to look at a couple of houses last Saturday.  The first one was a lovely older home (1979) detached and was on sale for $379,900.  It was perfect for them, although it did need new windows upstairs and a couple of other things.  It went on the market on Friday night, by Saturday night it had four offers in, including one from dd and son-in-law and sold for $390,000 with no conditions.  YOU DO NOT BUY A 1979 WITHOUT A HOME INSPECTION!!!!!    Dd offer was not the one that won that one.

The second house we visited was a semi on for $349,900 and around 15 years old.  It was a house that the real estate agent was selling.  It too had just gone on the market and had been staged/cleaned up.  It was still filthy to my mind.  It needed new carpets right the way through, the layout was all wrong and basically it was horrible, and son-in-law agreed with me.  However it was in THE location the kids wanted to be in.  The real estate agent wasn't taking offers until the Tuesday, and she got SIX offers and it sold for $380,000!!!

They have made appointments to see various other houses only for them to sell before they get to see them.  As I said before a lot of houses look good on paper but are a nightmare in person.  They saw two houses the other night that looked really good on paper.  The first one stunk of smoke (no offence to any smokers out there, but don't smoke in your house if you want to sell it.) As dd pointed out, all the carpets would have had to be replaced and the whole thing decorated and aired out as it smelled that bad.  The place was cluttered and the back yard was all deck, plus there were other things wrong with it.  However on paper it looked good?

The other one's owners had done bits of renovations here and there and had not finished things which made for more work, all what you couldn't see on paper, so again not for them.

They are looking at another three today, so fingers crossed they see something that will work for them.

I have never had the "pleasure" of participating in a bidding war on a house, but it's becoming quite common and someone was telling dd that in certain parts of Toronto that the listing house on a is nothing to go by.  They currently live in the Yonge and 401 area of Toronto and a bungalow came up for sale for $400,000 it was sold for over 1 million dollars and the buyers are tearing it down and building a mansion on the lot!!!!  It boggles the mind how people can afford to do that.

Buying and selling houses have changed so much over the years and people expect to see more and more staging, multi media presentations.  My boss just sold his house and the "bound book," that was used to sell his house was stunning.  It wasn't a colour leaflet it was an actual book with stunning photos and information about the area the house was located. 

Gone are the days when you take a few photos, and hoover and dust the house and hope it will sell.  The houses that sell look like model homes, all the clutter removed, decorated neutrally and ready just to move into.  Because at the end of the day when a potential buyer walks into a house, it's those first few seconds that count the most, as unless they fall in love with it right away you've lost them.

I'm glad it's not me selling a house that's for sure!! I only pray and hope dd and son-in-law find something soon.  As long as they find something by the middle of June they will be fine, so plenty of time yet.