JUST A FEW NEW THINGS

as i type this a lot has happened in the past few weeks ... so many changes everywhere in the jplusn house

first off we worked our butts off for months and finally made progress in the finishing of major parts of the house ... still didn't get all of it finished but that's what our happy helpers are for (thanks again guys we really couldn't have done this if it wasn't for you)

as you can see all of our doors now have handles and it is so lovely to hear a click as the door smoothly closes

my attempt to grow a herb garden this year fell short and i ran out of time and patience trying to get those seeds to sprout ... so it will have to wait for next spring until i am back in the country ... they are tucked away safely in the garage and my photobooks that i made of j and my trip to new york now occupy the shelf

we finally found a light at the home depot to fill the entrance way ... we got to enjoy it for about a day and then we were gone ... something to enjoy when we get back

our master ensuite has all it bits and pieces in place ... i didn't get a chance to snap a pic of the drywall progress but oh well

you get the idea of what it's going to look like when it's done

of course one of the biggest changes was the exterior of the house ... j's uncle strapped the house and got it ready for it's extreme makeover

then we filled the spaces with blue styrofoam boards to help up the insulation factor on the house ... it already feels warm and cozy

next some amazing james hardie board siding to amp up the drama on the house ... we hadn't heard of it until about 3 weeks ago and i must say it is gorgeous ... the perfect color, the most amazing grain to it and the beauty of this is it looks like wood but it's cement board so no maintenance ... yeah!

the start of something beautiful ... the dormers are going to be the same siding as the bottom of the house and then the triangle parts are going to get a lighter tan color and some vertical pieces to give it a nice contrast ... i'm sure it will look great when it's finished ... this is where j and n exhaustedly left canada, boarded a plane ...

and as i type this ... this is what is now outside my hotel room window ... we are in london for some time while n gets to start her master's in education and international development at the institute of education

it's noisy, it's busy and it's going to be a welcome break to take an extended working vacation ... can't wait to start my classes, find a flat, tour london and of course travel around in europe

cheers ~n

MAJOR BLOG SECRET

so we had to decide what to do with out puzzling front entrance and come up with a solution that would work for our little house ... we wanted something covered to protect the entrance way from the elements and something to add a little space to ... on a friday night j and his trusted happy helpers came up with this grand plan to build a covered veranda and they worked exceedingly fast and this massive project was completed in 2 weekends

here's our little hut before all the dormer additions

house completed with the bedroom dormers

our new and lovely two tiered deck

it's wonderful to have all this space

what the house looks like now ...

i can't wait to get some chairs and a table out front ...

and some pots and flowers ...

and the house numbers ...

and the mailbox ...

cheers ~n

IN 2 DAYS

as you can see the rain has finally stopped and given us a little break and the outdoor fun can begin again

what does the ladder against the house mean?

it's time to build another dormer :)

now those building fellows were super speedy (the very first dormer took 5 days to build, the second one 3 and 1/2 days and this third one only took 2 days ... i think these boys should go into business) ... and n was preoccupied with organizing projects and she didn't get any action pics so here's the final product

when i walk up the stairs this is what my eyes now see

... oh what a cozy library study area this will be

here's the before

(shortly after we first moved in 4 years ago and began to open up the loft space)

and now ... love the transformation

... so much room to walk around

and the street view

cheers ~n

WHAT MAKES N HAPPY ...

... the basement is getting painted! ... the basement is getting painted! ... let me say it again ... the basement is getting painted!

cheers ~n

AS PROMISED ... ALL ABOUT THIS ...

on the weekend n did this ...

while j and his happy helpers did this

to the roof ...

on friday afternoon n came home to this ...

the view now looks like this ...

and this ...

from the inside the future bathroom

looks like this ...

love that this is part of the inside now ...

and this is the view from the master floor ...

when j and n walk outside it now

looks like this ...

cheers ~n

PICTURES OF PROGRESS

well the weather has dipped down to be a little chillier ... pretty normal for this time of year ... but what is unusual is the fact that j and n can go down to the basement (we have officially banished the name of the dungeon after we evicted the troll to make room for our sweet living space) ... anyways we can go down to the basement and it no longer feels like the arctic ... it feels toasty warm, sounds quieter and has a nice warm fuzzy pinkish feel ... that's right the basement is totally insulated and ready for drywall!

here are the pictures of progress ... please excuse the mess ... our basement has become the area for tool storage because n has taken over the teeny tiny garage with all her classroom stuff ... sorry j

the open stairs to the living room

where the couch will sit and the door to the laundry room

the laundry and freezer room

the bedroom with the angled doorway

the living room side ...

with the boxes built to hide the water meter on the one side

the gym side ...

now my favorite part ... dim the lights it's movie time

soon to be out with the old...

and in with the new ...

cheers ~ from a warm and toasty n

IN THE PINK

so thankful to have the happy helpers around again to help with the basement stuff ... the basement as n types is being insulated and it already feels warmer and sounds quieter :) ... pics to come after the weekend to show off all their hard work

cheers ~n

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES

well j and his dad spent a week and a bit putting on all kinds of different trades hats and got the basement almost finished to the point of being able to drywall ... they were plumbers, electricians, framers, and h-vac installers ... i must say the progress is beautiful ... we have about 600 square feet in the basement and we have achieved a miracle ... the space feels gigantic, open and airy just like the rest of the house and it doesn't even look like the old dungeon it used to be ... it just feels like a natural extension of the rest of the house ... we have squeezed every last inch of space out of the basement and we have a laundry/freezer room under and through the stairs, a 3 piece bathroom, a 9 x 9 bedroom with a big closet and a 23 foot long living room which will be our tv area and gym ... pictures will be coming soon to show off all the hard work ...

in the meantime merry christmas (or in our house merry chrimpsis) ... we have presents to finish buying and to wrap, a delicious christmas morning breakfast to plan and cook

cheers ~n

BUT THERE'S WORK TO BE DONE

well the city and i'm sure a lot of this wonderful country called canada is in a current state of a deep freeze. the roads are slick with black ice, the wind bitterly cold, cars reluctant to start because we have been so fortunate to dip down in temperature to -30 degrees celcius and even lower with the wind chill factor ... but that never stops things from happening in our house ... while most people would be inclined to curl up in bed with movies, books and hot chocolate and try not to leave the house for the entire weekend ... we are dealing with a totally different situation ... when it comes to renovating our house it is never done in a traditional manner ...

take last year for instance ... windows in our house don't get put in during the warm summer months instead huge gaping holes are cut when the temperature is -30 ... this seems to be the case with the projects this year ... j and his dad's business busyness is winding down and holidays are being taken which is the perfect time to cut a gigantic hole in the roof and put up the bathroom dormer ... right in the middle of the winter ... seems logical and totally sane to me :)

the ice fog surrounding the city

j bundled up with his new christmas presents

(and trying not to freeze)

right now the walls are sitting outside waiting to be lifted up and j and his happy helper are working on the basement stuff until the temperature gets just a little bit warmer which according to environment canada will be the end of the week... i just know that whenever the day comes that i can see and touch the sky from the bedroom because there is a hole in the roof i will be going to the mall and relaxing with a latte there ... until then some pictures of the basement which is starting to resemble less of a dungeon and more of a basement (even the troll under the stairs finally moved out)

do you dare to enter the dungeon?

very soon this door will be gone, the tunnel opened up so it doesn't feel so much like your trapped in a maze

this wall will be opened up between the posts

with a half wall going down the stairs

all the ducting is now finished in the basement ...

and the entire house has heat again ...

just in time for this terrible drop in temperature

well some bits of the basement still look like a dungeon ...

can't wait to put the new windows in :)

the future laundry room that is accessed under the stairs

(you may recall the dilemma about this)

the bathroom backing onto the laundry room

future bedroom now occupied by the washer and dryer

(who are waiting patiently for their new home)

future living room

other side of the living room

(probably going to be the gym)

cheers ~from a frozen n