Our Bathroom Reno

This was a project that I made sure to have before and after pictures to show just how horribly disgusting the upstairs of our fixer-upper really was at the time of purchase. Our dream bathroom is much bigger and more rustic but our reality is working with what we have and on a limited budget.

A while back, I created an 11 page PDF that I can now share here thanks to the conversion of PDF to jpg files so be sure to click on each one if you care to read my blurbs about the progress and such. I'm including a newer image of the curtains I found at my favorite thrift place at the end of the make-over pages. The curtains were an issue for me.

Finding suitable curtains turned out to be somewhat of a challenge. At one point, I glued shells, ribbon and beach glass that matched the wall colour to the bottom hem on a pair of sheers. I hated them and on a warm, breezy day with the window open, the racket of shell and glass hitting the sill was extremely annoying. They just HAD to go! My current window covering is my third one and I'm quite happy with it even though it's only one panel. And the price of about $3 is something that pleases me more.

I love being thrifty. I don't love so much that I have to be but since I've always been thrifty even when I didn't have to be, it's not like I've had to adjust to anything. That last statement does make sense, doesn't it?

Re-do's & Reno's

I'm stoked that my 'PDF photo album turned uploadable JPGs' turned out rather well. I was digging around in my computer and pulled up my original photo album with thoughts of sharing some home projects and reno's here.

When we were city dwellers paying rent, hubs didn't get to explore all of his many hidden talents but we used to talk about how we would buy an older fixer upper and put our own thumbprint on it. Such grand ideas floating about in our heads! I was pretty naive to think it would all get done in the first year or two of landing here. Things don't always turn out that way and I've learned that what appears to be a simple reno involves so much more than just some spackle and paint. Silly me.

I leave you with a few of our completed renovations and one DIY chair re-do. I didn't take any before pictures of the two bedrooms done but I do have a series of pages from a digital photo album of the bathroom makeover which I'll share in my next post. When you see the before images of our bathroom, you'll get a good idea of just how bad the upstairs of our old farmhouse looked... I'm talking original 60's decor complete with green and orange shag carpet in the two bedrooms we converted to our master bedroom. Gag!

A collection of sorts

My brother and his wife are living some 3000 miles away from us and I decided to create a PDF photo album that I can share with my sister-in-law. She looks forward to receiving them and recent news of them moving this way has prompted me to try and piece together some photos that capture some of the surrounding beauty I am privy to call home. Hopefully this will give her some inspiration as she looks forward to this change in living environments. They are country people but events have led them to living on the fringe of city life after selling their home. Housing costs in British Columbia have gone through the roof and they desire a slower paced life where the housing market is attainable.

My digital photo album in PDF format also comes in handy if others ask me to send some photos of where we've landed and all I have to do is select a page that is complete with captions and an assortment of photos, either multi-page files or an individual page. It's very convenient.

I can also convert those PDF pages to jpg files that can be uploaded to say, ummm... here. What a grand idea! But the pages are built in a larger format, something like 12 x 9 inches so I'm thinking the only way they can be properly viewed is my clicking on them so the text can be read and those tiny dots in an image become something more tangible. So then, here are a few of pages from my digital photo album. I'm really just testing to see if this will even work.

The Fine Art of Taking Good Pictures

I have no patience for learning the technical side of proper camera settings and whatnots, nevermind proper lighting and background props. Perhaps it's because I've never had a good teacher but more likely it's because I have the attention span of a two year old at times.

Getting a good shot without a flash is near impossible unless you don't mind blur. I've had compliments on my 'great photography skills' to which I respond, "HA! I just got lucky." I want a camera that does it all without me having to comprehend F-stop settings and shutter speeds and ISO settings (whatever that is). I frequently hear hubs saying, "You don't know how to use a camera.", to which I answer, "that's why I want a better, more automated one." Will it make a difference? I doubt it.

I suppose I need to bite the bullet and learn some things about how much light to let in before the camera captures the image. Stuff like that. It might be hard for one to believe I used to shoot film for print (press) and had to know the proper settings, plus understand how to de-screen a printed image, followed by a trip to the darkroom to develop the film. It was a simple matter of "show me, I'll do it" more than a matter of understanding all the rigamore behind it. Too much fluff! although I must admit there were times in my techie prepress career that I had these light-bulb moments where I understood much more than just knowing what to do in order to get the job done. I had to know a LOT.

So, with all that said, I leave you with some sorry attempts to showcase some recent vintage finds I found for pittance along with older vintage finds that might not have been found for pittance (the difference between city and country living).

The $230 Quill

Hubs came home with this half inch quill in a container. Since it cost so much, we're having a hard time to toss it out, but the price of $230 is small compared to what it could have been and our boy is SO worth it.

We're one week past Colby Blind Guy's ordeal and I'm happy to report that all is well. One fortunate thing for him is the carcass he dug up was that of a baby porcupine so the quills were not too long (or thick). If he swallowed any of that thing I'm thinking we would know by now. The vet called to ask if we've checked his stools for blood, if he's lethargic or acting odd as if in pain. No, no and no! So far, so good.

One tidbit from the vet for any of you dog owners should you find yourself in a similar situation.... roll a piece of bread in a ball about the size of a twoonie (one inch or so) and feed to the dog. The vet explained that this could 'catch' any quills that have not lodged themselves into the dogs stomach. Perish the thought.

My Blind Guy's in Trouble.....

He was out on a 'nature walk' and that troublesome nose of his discovered some frozen piece of porcupine! He devoured it... attempted to anyway. I wasn't there but heard about when they came home. He ran off with it in his mouth and no amount of shouting did any good. He threw it up but my hope is he didn't swallow it... that is to say, he didn't get a chance to get it in his stomach. My hope is the quills didn't get past his throat before he chucked it up.

We didn't know it was porcupine at the time. He was gagging alot, not throwing up but trying to get something out. After several attempts on my part, I was able to get my fingers well into his mouth. I felt something and with the aid of a flashlight and hubs, we discovered a quill stuck in the roof of his mouth. Great, just great. Got it out but the gagging, choking thing continued after he ate his supper. The emergency fee before they even see the dog is over $110 and we struggle with waiting until tomorrow and hoping to find a vet appt. on a Saturday. After a bit, I tell hubs we can't wait... he's probably in pain and we can't risk worse consequences. Off we go!

Emergency call to the vet, a half hour drive to the vet , big bill from the vet. She was able to get her fingers down far enough to feel something. Sigh... We had to leave him there where he was sedated, then anesthetized so she can get down his throat and get that nasty out. I hope there's no more. If there are more further down, an x-ray won't show them, an MRI will or they take a scope with a camera lens and go into the stomach. I pray it won't come to this.

We love that dog.

Let it Storm, I don't need to be anywhere

Here's a link to a slideshow of a snowstorm we had exactly 2 years ago to the day and as I write we are having a nasty storm but this one is bringing milder temps so the snow turns to rain and then slushy snow again. The winds are strong but no power outages yet. Fingers crossed.

Update: Power went out at 9:30 pm till 11:00 am and we lost some shingles on our steep roof. And the snow is coming down so heavy right now.... wet heavy snow with no end in sight over the next 24 hrs or so. Yuk.

My link isn't linking so you have to cut and paste the url to a new window. I tested it and it does work.

http://img174.imageshack.us/slideshow/player.php?id=img174/4687/1199307273rco.smil

Another year gone...

It's been quite some time since I last paid any mind to my lonely blog. I guess that would explain why it's a lonely little blog.

Now that Christmas is over and it's a New Year, I guess I'll post a few festive photos. Better late than never, I say. All my decorations are down now save for the mantle in the master bedroom. I'm savouring the last little bit of the season. I found a couple of candle sticks and candle holders at a thift store and paired them up with some E-6000 glue. That glue is great stuff and I'm really happy with my results and for a total of only $3!

Now, about that glue, I was sucking up some pesky cluster flies that manage to find their way into the house all winter long. My first winter here in this old farm house had me wondering if something had died in the attic or walls, thus the flies (perish the thought!) but after asking around and doing some online research I found this to be a common problem. In the fall, you can see all these flies sunning themselves on the siding. I guess when the sun goes down or the weather gets too cold, they find their way under the siding and somehow into the house.

Yea, so anyway... I'm sucking up a couple of flies with the vacuum cleaner and the hose attaches itself to the Christmas stocking on the mantle and takes down my most favorite stocking hanger; a lovely (faux) bronze deer with a mighty rack. I was heartbroken to see the pair of antlers broken off and crazy glue wasn't going to put my poor deer back together again. Then I recalled reading about this E-6000 glue and got me some. Impressed. I got the antlers glued back on and my deer is almost just as good as new.

Happy New Year! I hope all your hopes and desires are met beyond your greatest expectations. And I hope the same thing for myself. I could handle that.