2018 recap

2018 was one of the craziest year of my life!

Ups and downs, mostly ups and a lot of things happening at the same time!

January started innocently enough but on the 3rd Dan had a heart attack! Fortunately the superstars at the CHUM (University of Montreal Hospital Center) fixed my SO better than new with stents.

We were scared and an event like surely puts things in perspective!

In March we travelled to Toronto (spending my Dad's frequent flyer miles).

I really liked Toronto, people were so very friendly and the city is super easy to navigate. We like to walk and that is what we did! I recommend visiting the Botanical Gardens, entrance is free and it is fabulous. I saw lemons bigger than my head!

I April we had the kitchen and one bathroom repainted...The both needed a refresh so bad!

In May I spend the last of Dad's frequent flyer miles and we spent a week in Rome. A total dream vacation! I am glad we took a roaming package from the phone company because I used my phone a lot to find places! If you are in the historical center, you can walk pretty much anywhere and see living history!

 This old fountain has always been one of favorites ever since I first saw it 

47 years ago (yikes)

Somethings are just burned in your memory!

                         Another favorite is the Trevi fountain. To think it is the garden of this palace!
                          and if you visit don't forget to throw a Euro in and make a wish!

Just after coming back I had the back stairs grinder and repainted! It makes such a difference and gives another 10 years of life to them .

Just after that I had the basement fixed with membranes and a sump pump and a dehumidifier.

That is a huge difference as well! the humidity has gone down, no more water...woohoo!

That work was long overdue but for some reason Dad did not take care of it....Oh well, now it is done  and I feel I did right by the house. I took care of it....

So this concludes part one of recap 2018! Next part will be purge, purge, purge, falling in love,Vegas
baby and getting ready to move!

Be well my friends!

lemons and lemonade

Since I last posted a lot of things happened.....

I got my back stairs and railing grinder and repainted. I looks so clean!

I invited a company specializing in crawl spaces to fix mine! no more humidity, mold and saggy floors....

and we had the kitchen and main bathroom repainted and agin it looks so clean. In retrospect Dad had neglected interior paint and was a fan of the color dingy!

The kitchen is not finished yet and I can't wait to share with you all. There will be a lot of Pyrex and vintage goodies!

We got a graffiti on the stone in front of the house about a year ago...and I
thought the city was supposed to remove it....

this week someone glued eyes on it WHAT??? we laughed so hard! To think someone saw the graffiti and said oh it needs goggly eyes!

so we are pretty much done for the rents for the time being...Dan is always tired because of the meds and I can't do everything and work full time so things are taking a lot of time to get done....

Last Thursday my employer announced  a 700 job cut in Canada (except Nova Scotia)...Since then it has been pandemonium in the office! every body is speculating and freaking out generally from 7 am to about 11 am.

it makes it very difficult to concentrate and work. I am not worried because I have been through this before twice with the big telecom company and I think it is a waste of energy to be flopping like a fish out of the aquarium. The first stage is voluntary departure with incentives....

I am not even considering this....I am too young and like I told my boss I am here for the long haul and if they fire me they will have to pry the laptop from my dead cold hands....and that I am willing to learn anything.

by the way...my boss is a new boss , she is charming and lives in Nova Scotia. Lucky girl!
having a leader in another province is quite weird....but like everything I will get used to it!

well that was a lot of information all squeezed in that post!

One last thing...one of my neighbors installed a help yourself

herb garden! How sweet is that?

Cement Basement Stairs

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the stairs leading to the basement were in rough shape....I 'discovered' a hole filled with insulation and wood. That's an opened invitation for assorted critters!


So Saturday we went to Home Depot ( I can't believe they sell the bags 5 cents! I know,I know it's for the enviroment, but all that bag managing is driving me nuts! Really! Ok nuttier than before!) and I picked up a bucket of instant cement, gloves and some tools.



Don't get me wrong, I had never smeared cement on anything....But I didn't want my basement wet and full of unwanted critters. It seemed the only thing to do!



So yesterday afternoon, after racking some leaves and putting them in HUGE paper bags (don't get me started on the whole eco leave disposal! My town won't remove the leaves unless they are in brown paper bags- and only 3 times each fall- and I must keep the bags dry in a garage I don't have, so the bags are outside and it rained last night! ?%$/"!?&*()?%$/"!



I should clarify the basement stairs thing. I can't go in the basement from inside the house, it's an horror movie stairway...outside,dark, with a cover that you have to lift to access the stairs....You know the kind!



So I prepped the area, vaccumed the stairs (shop vac) and proceeded to mix the cement with water. I wanted to make a small batch so I could experiment. I felt so much like procrastinating! I actually heard a small voice in my head that said: Now,now girl! Do the cement now before it snows and the temperature drops too much.



So I started spreading and smearing....It was going ok. And then out of the blue I remembered hearing in a renovation show that doing cement was like frosting a cake! Well that changes everything! It well really well after that! LOL! I did half the job and will continue tomorrow!





I am sooooo proud of myself! WOOOHOOO! The darker area is where the big hole was, not a professional job, but a good do it yourself one