Sunday, May 30, 2010

Add To The Mix...

Folks,
It has been so long since I have updated the blog, I do apologize! My schedule has been really busy lately; continuing to help Richard with the renovations, enjoying being here in Ottawa and grand parenting and most recently starting a contract to do a review of a government IT project.

Our renovations have progressed to the point where we have all of the flooring materials needed to complete the upstairs bedroom floor replacement and the Ceramic tiles are now on hand for the basement Reno. New exterior light fixtures and a new sink and faucets for both bathrooms have been acquired and await installation! We finished the tops of the fence posts in the back yard since we decided against changing the fence top line. We got the masonry work that needed to be done completed on the exterior of the house and are well in line to complete the projects towards "Go For Sale" day!

As for staging, I have purchased or re purposed loads of curtains, curtain rods, bedding and linens to stage the upstairs bedrooms as a family like to see them and my favourite subset is the small bedroom that I am staging for the pleasure of my granddaughters! At a garage sale yesterday I got an antique, small dresser that Richard will spray paint for their room, to match the bed headboard and foot board that I got at another garage sale. Fun! Once the final bedroom floor is complete this week, I will be able to unjumble the upstairs and finally set the stage for the sale. Then we turn our attention to the Banister installation on our stairs and the basement Reno.

I have found some amazing sales recently: 12" x 12" ceramic tiles for 50 cents a piece (we needed 770 of them!), nice lighting fixtures for the basement for $4 each (need 8), exterior lights for $10 each (need 2) and some great garage sale finds for staging.

Some side projects I have to complete: an upholstered bench and headboard for the master bedroom, two roman blinds from fabric I acquired in South Carolina, re-upholstery of one chair and restoration of another antique desk chair...just need time time time now!

As I go I will include some pictures...

Friday, May 14, 2010

The Home Front...

All is well here in Ottawa, as we move into the late spring and summer the city becomes more and more beautiful. This weekend and next (May 7 to 24th) is the 58th Annual Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa.

check it out at www.tulipfestival.ca

Work on Fernwood is progressing...slowly...this week we lost Biter our cat to old age (she was 20).

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Today Was Sad in one way but Happy in Another!

Brooklyn with a Kolbassa tongue as prompted by Bompa....
Madison wearing a big smile!


We lost our cat Biter today to old age. She was an amazing mouser and a beautiful little cat. We will miss her. As we were watching her closely today, Lisa, Brooklyn and Maddie came over for a visit.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Armen Living - Furniture for Contemporary Lifestyles


The chairs that I found at Home Sense were made in Italy for Armen Art Co. a furniture and Art store in North Hollywood, California. How they made it here to Ottawa is anyone's guess. I have painted them a soft ivory and re-upholstered the seats in an artful material...I only kept two of them after all but with the new look I love them!


Armen Living - Furniture for Contemporary Lifestyles

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Brooklyn Having Lunch! or Rudy Having Lunch! Take your pick...








Richard and I were both getting over our colds this week and we ended up shifting our priority to some out door work on the back door and painting furniture for staging the house. The masons came and did such a wonderful job on the chimney and the brick work that we asked them to re-parge the back of the house. They were great workers and very nice people too! Every day I admire the work they did and am grateful that skilled craftsmen are so readily available to us.



News of the horrible oil spill in the Gulf and of the eleven poor workers who remain missing, and are now presumed to have perished after the accident, have cast a pall over our week. We love that area so much and would really miss going there. The beaches may be affected and the sealife and wildlife are certainly already suffering. We are so sad for them.



On the weekend Brooklyn, Richard and I picked up a twin bed and mattress and box spring from a friend of Lisa's. They were making room for their baby and had this furniture to spare. As a proponent of re-cycle and re-store and re-purpose we were so happy to buy it for the staging of one of our smaller bedrooms...and while the house waits to sell, it can be a lovely little retreat for my granddaughter's Brooklyn and Payton. We will post pictures here once I have finished the work on it. While we were out garage sale-ing we dropped by the Airstream (our Airebella) in storage and Brooklyn played while Richard and I checked that all was well and sipped Tim's coffees!