adventures with Tonquin

About 6 weeks ago we picked up a new kitten. Yes, I am just getting around to getting some pictures up now ... she is looking more like a young cat these days than a kitten.



She was very skiddish at first, having lived her first few months in a small room with a brother and sister ... it has taken her time to get used to all of the "moving walls" (windows) in our place, but she is behaving more like she owns the place every day.

le sigh ...

This photo was taken on July 25, 2004 from my condo, which we have decided to put on the market (fingers crossed!).

No regrets or remorse, the little place has served me and others well over the years. The sigh is not for letting it go ... how can you not sigh when looking at a sunset photo like that, and it is a photo I will always have.

I hope it's next owner sighs too when they see the view.

the critters in our neighbourhood

... so I am cleaning up my computer a bit and found this pic I took out of the home office window one morning soon after we moved in ...



Yes, that would be a black bear strolling by my car.

i'm dreaming of a white christmas ...

Here was our view on December 1 ...





... it was a glorious winter weekend, and we were able to tuck in and enjoy the view. It inspired us to get christmas lights up and get the tree started - I will post some pics on that soon. It rained Monday and washed all of the white stuff away.

So, I guess I should pick up from the September post on a tour of the house.

Looking to the right of the fire place is the "dining room area" - again, the table is set up for the shower, but you get the idea. We love the windows.





To the left of the fireplace is the "living room area". One thing about building/moving into a new house, is that you suddently want to buy new furniture (with the exception of the dining room table, side hutch and china cabinet which belonged to S grandmother)! High on our list is a new couch and entertainment unit.



The chairs are lined up along the wall like that because I took the photos when the place was set up to host a friends bridal shower in September.

To left is a bathroom, and the hallway leading upstairs


Yes, the stairs are still wrapped in cardboard for protection. They are made of beautiful cedar, which is a soft wood, and they still need to get painted.



The wall at the end of the hall is where the addition will be extended from. Going up stairs now ...







There is a hall access to the deck to the left, my office door is also to the left (no pictures), but there is another access door there. We have stairs up to to deck so I can have clients in and out of my office without going through the house. The deck is wonderful, it is the top of the garage and gets morning and evening sun. We are looking forward to "landscaping" the space in the spring.

There is also a spare room on the second floor that we use for now as a guest room/S music room. After we do the addition it will probably be like a family/media room.

Now to our oasis ...



Again, as I mentioned about new furniture - a new bedroom suite is at the top of our list.


... and the ensuite ...



We love it! The tile floor is heated ...




... there is also a double shower. Here is the view from the tub on one of our snow days at the beginning of December ...



So there is a bit of a tour. It is still a work in progress ... doors and stairs still need to be painted, decks to build, landscaping, etc., but we just love our home - and are looking forward to enjoying it for a while before we start the addition.

where did the summer go?

Hi all. I know, I know ... I am being really bad at keeping this up to date. I pledge to attempt to add something once a month ... starting now (I missed August!). Life has been full and busy, and we are looking forward to a quieter fall and winter. I think I was holding off updating this blog until we got a few more things done, but we won't be getting doors or stairs painted for a little while yet. We had an end of summer staff party on the weekend and I hosted a shower for a friend last night, so a few more things have gotten put away - great time for some pictures!

So earlier I posted some pics of the fireplace in progress ... here it is pretty much complete. The stained glass sconces on either side are made locally and were wedding gifts (yes, that is S's guitar).

PS ... ok, so this has been saved as a draft since September ... it is now December 13! I am officially the worst blogger ever! I am going to post this one at this state, and put together a more current post.

I have heard it said that the kitchen is the heart of a home ...

... so that is probably a good place to start the tour.

So I think I will be a once-a-month blogger ... sorry for the lack of action here.

Yes, we have been in a few weeks, and of course, I was waiting until everything is all done, and put away and pretty before posting more pics. Well we may be waiting until Thanksgiving for that, so I will bring you up-to-date room by room as we are as done as we can be.

So, our kitchen counter arrived the other day 3 weeks ahead of expected - YAY! I put my new cordless drill (gift from S who is impressed with my power tool abilities) to work and got the handles installed. So I bring you, THE KITCHEN ...

We went with IKEA cabinets (medium brown) and are very happy with them. Their on-line kitchen design software was very handy getting things figured out before making the major treck to the big city to pick up all of the bits and pieces - it is not a trip you want to have to repeat if you forget one thing-ma-gigy. For the counter, we went with Silestone (Green River). The trim and window ledge is courtesy of a very handy and generous father-in-law.

Here is the work in progress ...

and finished ... (well almost, we just have to paint the heater black and the pictures don't show the faucets)

and a close up of details ...

One of the winter DIY projects will be the backsplash.

It has a southern exposure, so the sun just pours in there on nice days (on the want/need list for S for the house).

It has been an enjoyable few weeks unpacking, especially knowing it is for the very long term - a new but wonderful concept for me.

I will try and finish the tour this weekend.

home sweet home

My apologies for the lack of updates here, the last few weeks have been nutty with VERY long days. In addition, my computer decided it needed some time at the spa, so I have been without digital photo capabilities for a while - hopefully my computer will be back by the end of this week.

So, we are home! We moved in yesterday, and spend last night here - cooked a lovely dinner (sort of camping style because everything was packed), enjoyed the new fire place, and tried to soak in the fact that this is OUR HOME!

The house is ALMOST done. That last 5% seems to be the hardest, but "the guys" are doing what they can to make this absolutely beautiful new house our home.

I will post some new pics as soon as I can.

Life is very sweet.