You're the inspiration

This post is a few days late because last week, we headed to the West Coast to visit some family.  We spent most of our 5 days on the coast with my sister Wendy. She has this cute character place in Strathcona, a neighbourhood east of downtown Vancouver.

I could write chapters on how Wendy inspires me in so many ways. Every time I am around her, I want to live simply, create beauty and dream of possibilities. But for this blog post, I want to share her decor style. She brings second hand treasures together in simply beautiful ways. I felt like I was staying in a museum or art gallery or photo set. Everywhere I looked, I was inspired.

You should really see her apartment in the late afternoon/evening light. It just glows. Unfortunately, I snapped a few pictures before we left early Tuesday morning so the light is terrible.

Speaking of homes, during a walk along the seawall, we saw floating homes moored in the marina. Now that would be cool. Although I wonder if I have the sea legs for it. Check them out. It was Jake's first trip to Vancouver and the Island. He now wants to move there; if I could live on a floating house I just may do that one day....but that is another post for another blog.

Father knows best...around the magic house

My dad was here last week and worked on some projects! Thank goodness for dads! There is no way I could re-pay him. He showed me how he did the fixes as well so if I have to do them in the future at least I have some idea on how to tackle them.

So thanks to my dad, here is a rundown of all the small and big things on his fix-it list for the magic house:
1) Ducts: He fixed the detached duct which was wedged way into the support beams. He lifted a couple ducts off of pipes and wires for safety purposes as well. And he spraypainted over some possible asbestos on the ceiling....he is my hero!

Oooh, look! The duct is no longer resting on the wires or the plumbing

Asbestos - now covered and no longer DANGER

2) Doors: He fixed my porch door by screwing the door post in so it wouldn't bow so much and then he planed the side of the door as shown below. He also fixed the door knob so it could turn and latch.

Now, just a little paint and all will be good.

He worked on the bathroom door so it would hang straight and latch. This is always good for a bathroom door as before just a light push would open the door. The screws on the hinges were just hanging there so with some fix-it ingenuity, he re-filled the wood and re-screwed the hinges.

Friends, you can now use my bathroom without fear

And he planed a bit off my front door so it would shut better as well. Things in a 99 year old house shift a bit over the years.

3) Drywall: He put up drywall on the basement wall at the bottom of the stairs. It really just finishes it off.  He was able to put a couple coats of mud up but I need to finish it. He even took out a couple of inches of insulation as the past owners had crammed too much between the 2x4s on the wall.

He also taped and mudded the nook under the back room that I use for tools.

4) Garden: He trimmed my apple tree. I need to do a bit more but I learned how to do it. And on top of everything, he took me to Home Depot and pointed out some gardening tools that would be helpful.

On April 30, I will tackle the garden. I have planted a few more herbs. i should get some tomatoes and other vegetables to get them started too. Oh spring, please come soon. The snow this weekend has once again deflated all hope.

The Secret (or not-so-secret) Garden

Take thy plastic spade,
It is thy pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants,
They are thy colours.
~William Mason, The English Garden, 1782

Here in Calgary, we just finished the first true week of spring. There is hope in the air and a spring in our step. This morning I spent some time looking at the garden and seeing what I should do with it. First, I looked at my koi pond. This feature is a big unknown to me but I figured out how to get the pump/filter going again. I skimmed the surface for excessive algae and pulled the winterized plants up from the bottom of the pond. It appears all eight of the koi survived winter. I trimmed the plants around the pond so the dead plants won't rot in the water. But the truth is I don't know what I am doing. I hope the pump clears up the water because it is very murky.

the murky water of the koi pond

A mosaic tile under the dead leaves

 I see signs of life around the garden. I started poking in the garage/shed at the back of the yard. There is no electricity in the garage so I haven't really had a chance to explore. Maybe next weekend...there are old doors and beautiful windows. It looks like there are rolls of canvas and all sorts of treasures. I can't wait. 

Are these strawberry leaves???

I think my compost will go here

A different view of my backyard from the garage

My front yard still needs some melting action

My dear friend Claire and I plan to cut back the garden on the last weekend of April so I may have a better idea about my plant inventory after all that fun. I also signed up for a membership in the Calgary Horticultural Society.  I am just waiting for my member card to get some discounts at local greenhouses. 


My dad is coming to visit this week. I did give him a list of inside tasks/fixes but it is supposed to be beautiful this week so perhaps a trim of the apple and cherry trees are in order!?!

My next task is to draw my garden plan, buy some patio furniture and create the path through the garden so it is not so muddy. Thank goodness for my star boots in this spring muck.

 One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides.  

~W.E. Johns

  

You're in pictures

So I finally have put the rest of my picture frames up on the walls (for now). I may add some, move them around etc but for now,  I feel even more settled into the house. Here are a few snapshots of the process...

Plus some other spaces I filled with other frames...

In the sunroom, I needed a big print to cover the electrical box...tada!

You may see the very snowy conditions out the window...we receive a mere 15 cm of the white stuff yesterday. But that made it a great day for doing things around the house. 

In other news, I am thinking about entering the Apartment Therapy Small Cool 2011 Contest. I just need a good photographer and stage my rooms a bit for the photos.

And my dad is coming to visit next week and has offered to do some handy things around the house. Can't wait! Which reminds me, I need to go order gyprock this week for delivery.

Until another update.

Thrifty-ness

A mid-week post...
Because I am going away on a mini-vac this weekend, I am posting early. Today I enjoyed a day off full of "Sara-time." It was just what I needed. In preparation for the day, I researched some second-hand stores that I wanted to check out or hadn't visited for awhile...you know, just to see what the prices were and what treasures were to be found.

First I went to Vespuccis...tried on a couple things but no luck. It has tons of designer labels at great prices. It is one of those stores you have to frequently shop to find the treasures.
Then I went to Heirloom Antiques...beautiful things at a good price but nothing caught my fancy.
Then I went to Value Village...the old stand by and I raked in the goodness.

Books, cloth napkins, trays, a bowl and a Liz Claiborne purse (not shown - oops! forgot to add it to the picture set-up)

Finally, I went to Cat's Eye Vintage. This store is so chaotic but I also happen to catch its closing (or moving - not sure) sale - "Stuff a bag for $20" deal.  I scored.

And to make the loot even more thrilling, I did not try anything on until I got home. There were no sizes in the clothes except the black blazer so I knew I was taking a chance. The velvet blazers fit perfectly. The vintage dresses just need a bit of alteration...the green one needs a little taken in on the sides and darts in the chest and the blue one needs to be hemmed. All for $20. The black velvet blazer was normally selling for $48. Here is a virtual high-five for that deal.

Oh, and I solved the blackboard paint issue with some ingenuity and conditioned the door so I could write on it. One more thing off my 101 things list!

And to help in my gardening pursuits this year, I found this lovely book at Chapters. I look forward to curling up and reading about the garden while I still wait for the snow to melt.

Learnings

Quick update on a few projects

1. Programmable thermostat - just "in time" for spring. I probably should have put this in as soon as I moved in but as they say hindsight is 20/20. Here's to saving money next winter.

Now, I can't take all the credit for the installation...Jake and I did this together and I must say we make a good team. I gathered the tools, killed the power and called the help line when necessary (thank you Honeywell customer service) while Jake did the unscrewing, rewiring and attaching.

2) Spring is coming (slowly). It is a bit of a quandary because I need to start planning for my garden except I don't know what is under the snow. But I know that I want to plant herbs so I have started basil and oregano inside.

 
And while I was in the planting mode, I picked up an aloe vera (always wanted one) and a pretty pink tropical plant. Just a little spring in my house while we wait for the snow to melt.

3) Chalkboard adventures - I always wanted a space for chalkboard doodling in my house. For the past few weeks, I have pondered painting my back door as the chosen space so today I tackled the project.
Problem 1: The paint was the consistency of porridge. No matter how much I stirred, I couldn't get all the chunks out of it. I added water to thin it out (which they suggest if you are painting in hot temperatures - which I was not). That worked somewhat.
Problem 2: I should have sanded first. Silly Sara!

So I am letting it dry. I will sand it down and then re-shake/mix the paint and try again.

Last week I didn't post as I was away for a good portion of the week at the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards in Edmonton - truly inspiring. As for next week, I will try to post on the updated picture hanging saga. My pictures are almost all up so stay tuned. But I am being swept away by Jake to an unknown destination next weekend so my post may be a little late.

Be my guest

So in light of my new bed, I needed to find a space for my old bed. Now I technically have a guest room in my basement although it still needs paint and a 'wee-bit" of finishing.  Here are the pics:

The bed

The room

The ad-lib furniture: the work-out bench/chaise & the drawer shelf & door hook

The entrance to the guest room...very colorful - for now

Also, to save money, Jake and I decided to empty his storage unit and store it in my basement and garage. It was a little un-nerving as I think I realized that I really am in a grown-up relationship now...but no blogging about that :-). So on Saturday, we went through our storage stuff and re-organized it too. We have quite the pile for a spring garage sale...I love organizing garage sales so stay tuned on that project.

To accomplish everything on my to-do list, I think I will need about 6 months off from work but with the paycheque still coming into my bank account. Each weekend there are great intentions to paint, fix, etc but the snowshoes are calling or groceries are needed or friends drop by to visit. At this rate, my 101 things will be done in 10001 days.