Looking on the bright side

There is a definite advantage to having a dryer catch fire. It has moved the installation of the solar powered dryer to the top of the priority list.

Perfect Day

So far, today has been a perfect day. We biked to church, were invited to some dear friends for lunch and took a walk to our favourite Gelati place which just happens to be a block away from our friends' home.

A bike ride home and now, a glass of wine on the deck, looking at the new patio doors that were so expertly installed on Friday.

These moments of peace are a treasure during this time in our lives.

Renovations

Welcome to our home!Renovations.

That's all I can think about. I've posted 10 Renovation photo albums on Facebook so if you're interested in all the dusty details, check that out. If you are not yet my friend, please ask and I will probably be happy to be your friend.

Most of the time I think I'm crazy for doing this (renovations that is, not facebook although I think facebook can be crazy too). I have moved from a gorgeous 3500 square foot mansion to a less than 800 square foot basement apartment. This is only temporary but sometimes, it's hard to stay positive and think about what is to come.

However, what is to come is a beautifully laid out space, with gorgeous cabinets, some lovely architectural details and we hope, the outstanding tin ceilings that are part of the charm of this old house. Because our home will be shared with my sister and her family, the building permit gods have decided that we need sound and fire barriers. While I understand the theory behind all of that, it adds more work and the possibility of having to remove the beautiful tin ceilings. Removal of the ceilings can be a challenge-some say it's impossible so we are looking for alternatives. Can't we just ask our housemates to promise to be a little quiet? And can't we all promise not to play with fire?

I am happy that the worst of the dust is finished. Now, it is mostly new construction that will be happening and I'd rather breath in that kind of dust than 100 year old plaster dust.

And, just between you and me, I do enjoy having the workers around. They are fun and add some spice to my life.

Renovations

I've been so preoccupied with the renovations, that I haven't had much to post about. My dad and mom are here now, so that dad can help out with some of the work. He is an electrician by trade and having him here brings back memories of the constant renovations that I grew up with. I enjoyed it much more when I was 12.

There are blood, sweat and tears going into this reno.

If you look closely, you will see a blood spot in the middle of the door.

In the Netherlands, the land of my ancestors, there is a wonderful tradition where you eat a gebakje (decadent small cake) on behalf of a person who is having a birthday. Usually, you eat the gebakje with the birthday person but if the person is not around, then you must eat one in his or her honour.

Happy birthday Micah!

Thanks for having a birthday.

Renovations

I've posted lots of renovation pictures on my facebook page but this one I had to post on my blog. Wes believes that demolishing the walls in what was once the coal room in this house is the dirtiest job he's ever done.

Asbestos removal was also part of our day's activities.Whew. Sometimes, I wonder if we're just plain crazy to be renovating a 100+ year old house.

Paska

Happy Easter!

I hope this tastes as good as it looks!

New Freezer

We sold our freezer with the house so we needed a new one before our frozen stuff begins to thaw. It was delivered today. As the 2 movers were setting it down, one of them said that it seemed quite heavy and did we get it full of food?

"No," I said, "but maybe there's a body in there. Hee hee."

I opened the lid and screamed at the top of my lungs as the 3rd mover guy looked up from the inside of the freezer and grinned at me.

I think I made their day.

Poor Jed.

While we were away, Jed stayed at "Susan's Dog Paradise." He must have thought that he had died and gone to heaven what with all the extra kibbles he managed to steal while Sadie the dog wasn't looking. And the blue cheese appetizers that he ate while the humans were distracted. Apparently blue cheese dog farts bring dog farts to a whole new level. Lucky for us the blue cheese is all out of his system.

Jed has a wee little phobia about basements and this is a problem because we are currently living in a basement and we are responsible for Jed. There are 2 ways to get into this basement and we are grateful for the fact that Jed has found the courage to navigate one set of stairs. Problem is, as soon as he gets down the stairs, he races for the other stairway, goes to the top and is unable to get down again. So I need to let him out the back door where he finds his way to the safe-for-Jed stairway and it all happens again.

Even the best of food will not coax Jed down the stairs.

At least Dixie is a good dog cousin. She has no problem going up or down any stairway and usually keeps Jed company while he is stuck upstairs.

Thursday was moving day. Thursday was also a day in the middle of a snowstorm so when the huge moving truck came to our street, the driver just knew he could not back into the driveway. There was that much snow and Wes had cleared the driveway twice already.

Lyle, the guy in the office who had come to do the estimate, told us that they could come again on Saturday to move us but not earlier because they didn't have any smaller trucks available until then. I raised a wee bit of a stink and I don't think that Lyle like my little stink. It was successful because the moving company decided to rent a truck and still move us on Thursday. So, with the late start, our stuff was moved in by 10:00 PM. What a day! I spent 2 hours just clearing the huge drift of snow that was in front of the back door. I don't think too many people need to spend several hours shovelling snow on the day that they move.

This is a picture of Mike, the head mover guy. I have not met many more people who love their jobs as much as Mike does. He has been doing this for 28 years! He was a pleasure to work with.
Friday and Saturday were spent cleaning the old house and then organizing the new. Today, we spent a quiet day in our cosy little apartment. We will have times of chaos and I am grateful for this time of peace and quiet. Renovations will start soon.

Watch for pictures of our new place soon!

We're Home!

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

We got home on Monday night/Tuesday morning, depending on which time zone we're thinking about. Today, all day, was spent packing. Wes knows how to pack, that's for sure. I do too but I'm much slower and I think about it...

All

Night

Long.

One day, I'll be sitting in my beautiful new living room thinking that this will have been all worth it but today, I'm just hoping to get through the day and manage to pack up the rest of the house.

We're actually doing very well in the packing department. Physically, that is. Mentally, I've got lots more to do and I tend to do that work around 3 AM, CST. Sucks.

El Salvador was an incredible experience and I think often about the people there as I pack up all of my material possessions. It would take a local Salvadoran about 2 hours to pack up I think, not counting the chickens, pigs, roosters, kittens, puppies and various other animals. It's taking me at least 2 days to do the same. What a strange world we live in.

On a very bright note, I saw my most amazing granddaughter today for the first time in 2 weeks. I must say, in my humble opinion, that she is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen.

LA

Los Angeles is HUGE. We drove for 2 hours today on the Pacific Coast highway. We went through several towns but were not able to tell where one ended and the next began.

Every now and then, I remember El Salvador and what we saw and experienced there. The cultural differences are many. In El Salvador, the rooster living in the compound of our hotel started its cockadoodledooing at 4:00 AM. It is very quiet in our hotel here in LA. Perhaps I will sleep beyond 4:00 AM today. That would be nice.

Dinner in Newport Beach and then back to our hotel. We are travel weary and looking forward to coming home to the prairies tomorrow.

Images of El Slavador

Yesterday, we found a most interesting bar. Grass roof held up with branches, sand floor and ancient coke cooler. The local beer was 85 cents, which is cheaper than bottled water. I have been drinking beer!

From this: to this:

We are leaving tomorrow already. This has been quite an experience. We have developed relationships with people living in extreme poverty and now, we are in a gorgeous resort where the few wealthy Salvadorans come to play. This is my first time in a third world country and there is much to process. While all the people we have met in this country have shown great friendliness to us, I haven't seen a lot of joy or heard much laughter. They seem to be a pretty serious lot.

Working hard

Just in case you all thought we were lying on the beach drinking pina coladas, we're not.
The homes we're building are made of concrete block and yesterday, I had the task of priming the walls with a runny mixture of concrete and water. The bricklayer called it "soupa." One person would throw a cup of the mixture on the wall and then I would brush it with a broom. It is, I beleive, the messiest job I have ever done in my life. The shower felt mighty good.

El Salvador 2

It was only 6 days ago that we left Manitoba for Central America. Right now, I'm sitting beside the pool, enjoying the 30 C (that's PLUS 30 for all you Northerners), weather in Usulutan province, El Salvador. We are staying close to the hotel because today is election day in El Salvador and the people here take their elections very seriously. Nobody is expecting anything to happen but there may be some unhappy people driving about and we are told that we best stay away from town.

It's very common for men to walk around with machetes and almost every store has a security guard with a rifle so we don't want to take any chances. We also have a guard here at the hotel with a rifle that he carries lovingly around with him at all times. We are especially friendly towards him! I feel very safe here and the local Habitat office is doing a good job of taking care of us.

We were in town this morning though to watch some of the festivities. All the kiosks you see in the picture are voting booths. Over 80 percent of Slavadorans vote. Once they are finished voting, they must ink their thumb so as to keep anyone from voting more than once.

There is not much tourism here so we 12 Canadians turn heads wherever we go. People are very friendly, always smiling when we pass them on the street. I find the fact that I do not know Spanish to be a definite disadvantage and I vow to learn basic Spanish at the very least for the next time I come here. And I do plan to come back to Central America.

We started working on our Habitat house on Wednesday. Carlos and Miguel, the bricklayers on our house, are letting us do just about every job that needs to be done. On some sites, the volunteers don't get to do as much as we do. All the homes must be able to withstand an earthquake. There are minor earthquakes every day in this country although we haven't noticed any.

I missed Thursday at the work site as I developed some gastro intestinal thing, a common occurence when travelling. There have been 6 of the 12 of us who were down for the count, as it were which apparently is a pretty high percentage for Habitat. I guess it's part of the whole experience.

I am holding a Coke bottle, full of gasoline. Nowhere in Canada would anyone let you do this! Carlos, our bricklayer was mixing gas with paint for priming steel beams while smoking a cigarette. I made sure I stayed far away!
A fairly typical home in El Salvador

The market. Oh the beautiful fruits, vegetables and food that was being prepared! I loved the market and would have loved to buy food from there but my stomach is still not back to normal and I wouldn't want another bout of what I had last week!

El Salvador

After a loooong day of travel, we are finally in El Salvador. It is amazing to me that only 2 days ago I could hardly stand the cold and today, the heat is really getting to me. It doesn't take long to change from one extreme to the other.

Yesterday we had an 8 hour layover in Los Angeles and one of the airline employees suggested we go to Santa Monica Third Street Promenade. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon and evening. We dipped our toes in the Pacific Ocean, window shopped on the promenade and ate sushi on a patio while we watched the sun set.

At midnight we boarded a plane for the red eye flight to El Salvador where we landed at 5:15 AM. We got to the hotel and met most of our Habitat home building team. There are 12 of us, ranging in age from 20 something to a couple in their 60's. After a power nap, we spent the day travelling around to some ruins, and a lake that was formed from the crater of a volcano. Tomorrow, we travel to Usulutan, a small rural community, where we plan to build 2 houses.

I had planned to upload some pictures but blogger doesn't seem to be cooperating. We will not have internet access at Usulutan so this may be the last you hear of me for a while.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Gave a kiss to our most beautiful granddaughter who will be soooo different when we get back.

Tomorrow we leave for El Salvador for 2 weeks. With all the busyness of packing, moving and talking about renovations, I haven't given much thought to our trip to Central America. I am getting excited now that the suitcases are packed up. It will be a great trip I'm sure. We'll be building houses for Habitat for Humanity and also spending several days of R&R at what looks like a lovely resort.

Hopefully we will have computer access in El Salvador so I will try to post from there.

The Newest Member of our Family

I usually hate those middle of the night phone calls because most often, they bring bad news. Not this one though. We learned of baby's imminent arrival around 2:30 AM and by 3:35, she was here. In my very unbiased opinion, she's gorgeous.

The first family portrait Aryana Faith
The proud papa

Kristen's Bedroom

Plans are coming along nicely for our new/old home.

Last week I painted the bedroom in the basement which will be Kristen's. I made a quilt for her and we needed to find something that would match the bright colours that we chose.Thank goodness for the internet. I was able to send her pictures of the wall colour for her approval before I proceeded.