Well.
We have moved in. To our house. When we first moved 6 1/2 months ago, it was home. Then it became "the house." Later, we referred to it as "Dumoulin." Now, it is "our house" and in only 2 or 3 or maybe 4 or 5 weeks, we will once again call it "home".Our bedroom is mostly finished. We use 2 washrooms, one for the shower/bath and toilet and the powder room which has a working sink. The 100 year old floors have been refinished and are looking beautiful as is the newly installed cork that seems to fit in so well with the old/new look of this house.
The basement apartment is our current living/kitchen space which we share with Rob, Michele, Joey and Micah and the two dogs, of course. Almost every evening we sit together for a meal and talk about our day and any house related stuff that needs a decision.Before we began this restoration project, I insisted that I would not move in until EVERYTHING was finished.
Ha.
In retrospect, things have gone well. Most of the workers have been wonderful. I particularly like Greg, the floor finisher who prefers repairing and refinishing old wood floors to new ones. He gets it. There are many people who do not understand why we wouldn't just build something brand new, with level floors and straight walls. It's hard to explain the beauty and uniqueness of an old house. Fir floors that have a look about them that can no longer be duplicated. Tin ceilings that must have taken 100 hours to restore if you include removal, sanding and cleaning, reinstallation, caulking and finally painting. They are gorgeous. A stairway that we were able to save that is unlike any stairway anywhere.
Six or 8 months of renovations, considering I'll be here for at least 30 years doesn't sound too bad. We have certainly had our moments, times when we wondered what we were doing and if we'd ever be finished but now, the end is in sight so it's easy to be philosophical about it all.Will I ever do this again? Not on your life. I am going to live here until someone has to carry me out. This will be home, the place my grandkids will know as grandma's house.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
No Apologies
I have not been terribly prolific with my posts this past year or so but I will not apologize. The worries of selling our big old house and then jumping into a renovation that has consumed my life and the lives of a good number of people around me has kept me from doing much outside of our home. This blog was begun for me to have some fun and to document my life and posts will come only when I feel that I want to write something.
Today we are not only moved in, we are actually living in our house. The kitchen is finished and everything except the dishwasher is working. I've been handwashing dishes for the last 6 months so a few more days will be just fine. The dust is still settling but there is less and less every day. And tomorrow, I call the company who has been storing our piano and that will be delivered by the end of the week. Oh joy! I have missed my piano!
While in Quebec Wes and I bought our second piece of original art ever. The new piece, created by a Quebec artist will be placed over the sofa in our new living room. It should be coming sometime this week.
There are lots of little things to be done before this place is finished but I am happy and content now to finally have my own place once again.
Today we are not only moved in, we are actually living in our house. The kitchen is finished and everything except the dishwasher is working. I've been handwashing dishes for the last 6 months so a few more days will be just fine. The dust is still settling but there is less and less every day. And tomorrow, I call the company who has been storing our piano and that will be delivered by the end of the week. Oh joy! I have missed my piano!
While in Quebec Wes and I bought our second piece of original art ever. The new piece, created by a Quebec artist will be placed over the sofa in our new living room. It should be coming sometime this week.
There are lots of little things to be done before this place is finished but I am happy and content now to finally have my own place once again.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Quebec
I have fallen in love with this city. People who have been here before have told us that it is much like Europe and they are right. It reminds us so much of our trip to Italy. People seem to walk a lot more here than they do in Winnipeg (and believe me, it has been cold, so that is no excuse!) so there are usually plenty of people walking on the street, day and night. The shop keepers are friendly and do their best to speak English to us when they learn that we cannot speak French very well. Every restaurant we have visited has been outstanding. We cannot say yet which one we liked best. The service is excellent and the food, divine.
We are staying in a Bed and Breakfast in the old part of town where the streets are narrow and in the evenings we hear the clop clop of horses hooves. If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine what it was like around the turn of the century. The heat has not yet been turned on in the house so it feels pretty chilly but it is heated by hot water and we understand that kind of heat. If it were to be turned on now, the rooms would be uncomfortably hot. Hot water heat is the best in the winter but it is hard to regulate in the spring and fall.
Today, we spent the day driving around Ile d'Orleans, an absolutely charming island only 15 km from Old Quebec city. We stopped at a small village bakery and had a delicious croissant and a pastry simply called "pomme" which means apple in French. Chocolate from the chocolaterie, wine tastings at several vineyards and a number of apple cider tastings; a few pieces of cheese, a stop at a lovely old church and sightseeing, art galleries and apple orchards. I think the best surprise of the day was our visit to a maple sugar shack. There was nobody around when we first drove in and we were ready to leave when a woman came and asked us if we were here for maple syrup. She told us to wait a minute while she got her coat and then she proceeded to give us a tour of her maple sugar enterprise. That woman had maple sap running through her veins. She was passionate about maple syrup and we learned a lot about the work that she did. I think you have to be passionate about maple syrup to own a sugar bush and make maple sugar.
The view of the St. Lawrence river and the mainland beyond is beautiful even though most of the leaves have fallen off the trees. Apparently, we missed that by only 2 days.
The people are friendly and when I enter a shop I always say greet people by saying "Bonjour." Then they start speaking to me in what seems like rapid fire French and I have to hold up my hands and tell them I cannot speak French. I guess my "bonjour" sounds pretty authentic.
This evening we are having dinner at a restaurant called "Aux Anciens Canadiens" which is in the oldest building in Quebec City. I am consuming far more calories than I am accustomed. Good thing it's cold and we're walking a lot because I think the intake and output of calories is close to equal.
We are staying in a Bed and Breakfast in the old part of town where the streets are narrow and in the evenings we hear the clop clop of horses hooves. If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine what it was like around the turn of the century. The heat has not yet been turned on in the house so it feels pretty chilly but it is heated by hot water and we understand that kind of heat. If it were to be turned on now, the rooms would be uncomfortably hot. Hot water heat is the best in the winter but it is hard to regulate in the spring and fall.
Today, we spent the day driving around Ile d'Orleans, an absolutely charming island only 15 km from Old Quebec city. We stopped at a small village bakery and had a delicious croissant and a pastry simply called "pomme" which means apple in French. Chocolate from the chocolaterie, wine tastings at several vineyards and a number of apple cider tastings; a few pieces of cheese, a stop at a lovely old church and sightseeing, art galleries and apple orchards. I think the best surprise of the day was our visit to a maple sugar shack. There was nobody around when we first drove in and we were ready to leave when a woman came and asked us if we were here for maple syrup. She told us to wait a minute while she got her coat and then she proceeded to give us a tour of her maple sugar enterprise. That woman had maple sap running through her veins. She was passionate about maple syrup and we learned a lot about the work that she did. I think you have to be passionate about maple syrup to own a sugar bush and make maple sugar.
The view of the St. Lawrence river and the mainland beyond is beautiful even though most of the leaves have fallen off the trees. Apparently, we missed that by only 2 days.
The people are friendly and when I enter a shop I always say greet people by saying "Bonjour." Then they start speaking to me in what seems like rapid fire French and I have to hold up my hands and tell them I cannot speak French. I guess my "bonjour" sounds pretty authentic.
This evening we are having dinner at a restaurant called "Aux Anciens Canadiens" which is in the oldest building in Quebec City. I am consuming far more calories than I am accustomed. Good thing it's cold and we're walking a lot because I think the intake and output of calories is close to equal.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
I have at least 15 posts that are partially written but have not yet been posted. This one I intend to post because I'm sick of my last post, which was a rant. An acceptable rant in my opinion but it's time for something more positive.
Yesterday we moved most of our furniture out of the SeaCan and garage and into our house! As I was sitting on the couch, I marvelled that this day has actually come to pass. We are mere weeks away from being completely moved in. It is a wonderful feeling. And the house looks BEAUTIFUL. Just gorgeous. I am so thrilled that I love the paint colours more than I did at first and that the tin ceilings look beautiful and the floors are gorgeous.
Pictures will follow. And we are going to have one doozie of an open house. I'll let you know when because everyone is invited.
Yesterday we moved most of our furniture out of the SeaCan and garage and into our house! As I was sitting on the couch, I marvelled that this day has actually come to pass. We are mere weeks away from being completely moved in. It is a wonderful feeling. And the house looks BEAUTIFUL. Just gorgeous. I am so thrilled that I love the paint colours more than I did at first and that the tin ceilings look beautiful and the floors are gorgeous.
Pictures will follow. And we are going to have one doozie of an open house. I'll let you know when because everyone is invited.
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