To Do List

Here are the things our real estate agent suggested to present our house at its best

Master Bedroom -
Buy fresh white linens for bed - check
Take down headboard and foot board so bed will slide into alcove and make room look spacious - check (really made a positive difference)
Hang picture over bed - check
Clean out closet and clear off counters - check
Change ceiling light fixture - check

Office/Craft room
Clear off desk - check
Edit book shelves - check
Clear off floor and counter - check
Hang small white curtain in window - to do

Pat's room
Buy fresh white linens for bed - check (these are going into safekeeping until the open house - 7 yr old boys and white not a good mix)
Hang simple curtains at window - check
Remove desk and rearrange furniture - check
Touch up paint - to do
Make duvet covers for twin beds - to do
Change ceiling Light fixture - bought but needs to be installed

Caitlin's room -
Take out most furniture - To do when Cait is home on spring break
Hang white curtains - To do
Clean out closet - To do when Cait is home on spring break

Bathroom
Is getting a complete redo - all white - everything is bought and Jim will do in early March

Upstairs hall -
Hang new lights - Half done
Hang pictures - To do

Staircase
Touch up paint - To do
Lights for stainglass window - To do
Hang big piece of art (need to figure this out) - To do

Entrance hall
Take down practical hooks - To do
Add small chair and table - to do
Paint closet door - to do

Matthew's and Devon's room -
Turn into Living room - move sofa, chair, ottomon, and coffee tables and rug in - check
Set up wall unit- To do
Paint "manchester tan" -started
Hang new curtains - To do
Select art for walls - to do
(Devon is sleeping in Caits room while she is at college and Matt is using couch in living room on weekends when he is here)

Dining room
Hang new light fixture - check
Hang big mirror horizontally - to do
Paint manchester tan - to do
Move out extra buffet - to do
Recover dining room chair seats - to do

Family Room
Hang curtains - done
Slipcover for love seat - done
Paint room manchester tan - to do
Paint fireplace bricks white trim colour - Underway
Put up shelves beside fireplace - to do
Hang track lights over fireplace - to do

Kitchen
This deserves a separate post but Devon has done a great job

Front Porch
Set up when weather is nicer

Back Yard
Fix steps- to do in better weather

Basement
This is the big job - Its 95% full of stuff and needs to be 85% cleared out

House
Put up new siding - light yellow - to do

WOW its tiring just writing out the list!!!

The changes suggested that we have done have been good improvements and many are what we needed to do and wanted to do. it just seems funny that the "new people" will get to enjoy them. I have moved frequently in the past and I've been just fine with it. This time I want it to be the last time - I really want to be settled for the foreseeable future.

Happy New Year 2008

I wish everyone a belated but heartfelt Happy New Year - its going to be a year full of changes for our family!! ... Let me explain what a whirlwind has been going on around here.

Christmas was fun but it seems a bit of a hazy fuzzy blur as a result of our decision to move from Toronto to Vancouver which dominoed a lot of other decisions. Very shortly I will be starting a new job and Ian and Pat will join me after Ian finishes his teaching contracts and Pat finishes school in June. Hopefully Devon will also come out with us but he is a little hesitant - inertia is a very powerful force. Cait has found a house to rent with her school buddies and will be using hopefully alot of our furniture so we dont have to pay high costs to move it 3,000 miles Wow it does seem far away.

We had lots of plans for our home here which we have jettisoned and our now focusing on changes that will help resale value of our home. Vancouver is the most expensive housing market in Canada so we will probably be downsizing further. Devon and his Dad are helping us out by redoing the kitchen and bathroom. Right now all the old kitchen stuff is down and out and some of the new cabinets have been constructed for the kitchen.

I ve had dental surgery, new glasses and changes in my thyroid medication so my body feels all out of kilter and so does my mind with all the changes to contemplate - but it is also at peace.

Peace i wish for everyone.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Its been a bit of blur around here lately and I'm off to do my Christmas shopping so you have an idea of how far behind I am. Everything always gets done though. I going to take a month off work to reenergize and get rebalanced. That decision alone has lightened the burden and I feel liberated. Despite not having done the quilting for Caits quilt, not finishing the advent calendar, or the small hanging, no christmas baking and haviing the tree fall down yesterday, I am approaching the upcoming Christmas with joy and inner peace that I wish for all of you

These are our kids!! Our greatest gift.

Lights Camera Action

We exchanged our old Christmas lights for new LED lights - big time energy savers. However we threw out a ton of old lights when we moved - now I wished Id saved them for the exchange - if I'd only known there would be an exchange -ohh well -aren't they pretty!

I've made gingerbread houses with the kids over the years. Its something I've always enjoyed. This year I made this little house from pre made gingerbread and Pat decorated some cookies. I was inspired by the pretty little vintage houses made of pulp board and frosted with glitter. I was pleased with my results and wanted to share them with you. Unbeknownst to me Pat got into the action and has already helped himself to a few candies. He took them off the back-where no one could see them gone!!!

December 1 - Anticipation Begins

I promised my husband that I would wait until Dec 1 before starting to decorate - Its here so I am starting. Yeahh!!

Birth Signs and Quilters

The banner by Kim Hambric is entitled Pisces I. Her gallery is at http://www.kimhambricart.com/Gallery_IV.html I don't know the artist but love the dreamy quality of her work.

Check out the November 9th entry at http://quiltingwithragdolls.blogspot.com to view your quilting profile by zodiac sign. My birthday is March 12th and so is my husband's. I read my horoscope and he thinks its all nuts. Who knows? This profile captures me though - except I have many many projects on the go and am not managing them - or is that me lacking self confidence and they are going to get done??? LOL I am a Pisces.

Pisces - February 19 and March 20 Pisces are dreamers. When they quilt they usually are creating poetry. Although they are kind and make projects to bestow on friends and family they are most likely envisioning themselves snuggled beneath the very quilt they are working on. Although they can lack self-confidence, their imagination and intuition makes them artistic quilters. Their sensitivity can lead them to shy away from displaying their creations. Generally you will find that a Pisces has more than one project on the go and can easily manage both. Whatever they choose to work on they need a project that requires plenty of variety. Patchwork that includes embroidery or other needlework is well liked by them.

Does your zodiac profile capture your quilting interest and style?

Let the ADVENTure begin!!

We bought a 1915 arts and crafts style home and it got me into blogland. Here is what happened. I did a google search on arts and craft houses and up came Dear Daisy Cottage, which is so uplifting. On Kim's blog was a link to Allsorts and through Jenny's also fabulous blog on design and fabric crafts I found Club Little House and Inspire Co by Amy with doll house and pretty things. It was a revelation that there were so many women out there interested in things I loved and living their dreams amidst all the craziness of living in these times.

Jenny re posted her advent calendar and a pattern and I thought I could do that. I want to do that. I will do that.

I hunted through my stuff for the felt I must have had for decades and started. It was "sew" much fun cutting out the envelopes and stitching them together. But I relearned a lesson about myself. I just cant follow directions without thinking ohh why not try this and change things and I cant do the same thing too many times over and over. Having started other advent calendars that languished into nothingness I really wanted to finish this one. Instead of making the packets all the same I did groups of colours. Somehow doing five pinks, six whites and 3 sets of different greens is way easier than doing 25 of one colour - Why is that? So I hit a bit of a snag facing sewing on 25 buttons until I did 1 pink and 12 little and 12 slightly larger buttons. The ties were hard for me - all 25 of them - even though they were easy peasy to do. I found green and white checked ribbon but the envelopes did not stay on flat and I could not get the ties between them to look nice like Jenny's do. Inspiration - I cut 2 little slashes to thread the ribbon through and the envelopes lay really flat and don't need the ties between them for spacing so a little of the checked ribbon shows thorough the spaces.

It feels great to be nearly done - there are just two green envelopes to finish off. Oh and the dangles - and they all different so I am safe there and then getting the little numbers and the treats and then mailing to Cait. A little more work so wish me luck. The boys will want them too - wish me lots of luck.

Thanks Jenny for this great advent calendar and the adventure its taking me on. I also want to make your elf clogs too - but I want to make a seven year old boy size (and some for me too)