Changing colors

Not only the leaves are changing colors this time of the year... we are changing the color of our home; the exterior. It's been grey with wine shutters for 15 years (it pays to paint with Ben Moore paint). The new color is Putty, of course by Benjamin Moore. The new shutters will be a brick color. I say new because Dave will be making new ones during the winter months in his spare time. The ones we have now have a cut-out heart in the middle and I'm not exactly arts and craft country. I'm more farmhouse country - the ''real'' country stuff.


We also replaced the three smaller windows and the one in the attic (on the other side of the house) will be replaced also.

Starbuck Cookies

My niece can make me do just about anything. Last week she mentioned that she found the recipe for the Starbuck Big Ginger Cookies. And tonight I just had to bake them. (Sorry for the poor lighting in these pictures). BIG they are... actually they're giants.

My taste testers have already reported that they are delicious and chewy.

And look at the gorgeous yarn I got yesterday in Halifax. It will ''eventually'' become something special for a new arrival late Summer. But first, I have to find the courage to start my very first sock.

Is everyone making the most of February ? it's almost behind us.

Just because pictures and turning 50

Here are a few random pictures I took tonight... just because I wanted to share them with you. Ya, that's right, I'm pointing to you my all time favorite person that takes the time to read this blog. If it wasn't for you I would'nt be doing this and if I wasn't doing this - well, who knows what I would be up to. But nothing as wonderful as having blog conversations with a whole bunch of wonderful like-minded human beings.

As some of you know from reading this blog, my daughter is getting married in August and she recently inquired if we still had our wedding glass wine goblets from 30 years ago. You know the kind - Bride and Groom. I knew exactly where they were. Here they are all polished and sparkly for the soon to be Bride and Groom.

We are once again knee-deep in renovations here at the LeBlanc household. This time, the stairs. We are removing the aweful, ugly looking (did I mention dirty) rug than we will have to do a LOT of sanding to bring everything down to the natural wood. And when I say ''we'' I mean my husband and son :-) We are still shopping around antique stores to find an antique railing and banister.

We had a snow storm yesterday so this morning we had to dig-out at 7 a.m. so we could go to work. Yes, it's still dark at 7 in the morning.

Later this year I will be turning 50 (and I'm happy and excited about it). From now on you will, once in a while, read on this blog about some of the ''gifts'' I am going to be offering myself from now to November. You'll probably be surprised by what I mean by ''gifts''. They are not your typical ''material things''. My first gift to myself is eating healthier. Some of you are saying ''hasn't she been doing that for the past few years''. And yes, I have but I've always known that there was more I could do. I want to educate myself on the right foods for my body type. One thing I've learned so far is that my body prefers cool foods. I will update this post at a later date.

But for now, I am making an effort to eat more fruits and raw vegetables. I have to be honest with you - I've never been a big fan of fruit but I need a generous amount - daily. I'm liking it.

During my short visit to Moncton last weekend I bought myself (and one for Ginette also) a frother.

I don't have a lot of artifical flowers in our home but I've had these silk sunflowers for a few years and I hold on to them because they are so pretty and they're a constant reminder of the warmer days to come.


How many days til Spring ?

Halloween and Christmas

Sorry for the lack of blogging on my part lately. Nothing much going on around here worth blogging about except renovations on the exterior of our home (yes, renovations AGAIN), bringing in 9 cords of firewood to keep us toasty warm this winter and a whole lot of not so interesting stuff at work. Sometimes boring stuff get in the way of living but it needs to be done...

Those of you that celebrate halloween - are you ready for Friday ? I think I am. I wish I had more kids coming for trick or treat at the door. We only get a few.

A bunch of us girls (6 to be exact) are dressing up as the Spice Girls. I will post pictures after Friday evening - you will be surprised at the costumes. We are going out at a halloween dance.

Is it possible - in two months, Christmas will be over and done with for another year. Did ya'll know how much I'm in love with everything traditional about Christmas.


My daughter came home for a visit on the weekend. I always have her tell me what she would love to eat... something she hasn't eaten in a while. She always tells me she doesn't want me to fuss over her but doing things for her is a pure joy for me. I made a seafood chowder with homemade rolls and a pumpkin pie.

We had the pleasure of having Meeko come over with her. He went back to New Brunswick with Ginette on Sunday but...

... Puss stayed with us. He'll be staying for at least a month.

Wishing everyone a good, happy week.

Stuff

This is what our living room looks like for now. All our stuff that was in the den is now in the living room so the new hardwood floor can be put in. (You can have a peek at our new floor in the living room). That old floral loveseat has been in our den for ''many years''. Dave can't part with it, but...

Renovations

Random pictures of our daughter's newly renovated bedroom. I can't wait for her to come home for a visit so she can see the transformation. Dave did the paint job and our son and his friend Simon did the flooring. Everyone did an amazing job. Thank you very much for the beautiful work.

Construction zone

We've been ''on the contractor's list'' for three months and today when we got home from work we noticed that work had begun (dah, it's obvious). Our roof very much needed to be re-shingled. Can't complain, the present shingles have been there for over 30 years.


Notice how dark it is outside and the pictures were taken at 4 p.m. today.

Ginette helped

When I posted this picture a few weeks back I forgot to mention that our daughter Ginette helped with the bathroom renovations. This was a family project. She helped her pape install the mirror while she was visiting on Easter weekend.

Uneventful Thursday

Two more pictures of our renovated bathroom. Below, our nice WHITE toilet. This picture is mostly to show the nice work Dave did with the flooring.

This is our second sink. The first one we had...Dave made the hole bigger then the sink. So back we went to the supply store to buy a bigger sink to fit said hole.


I don't usually cut the flowers in my gardens. I like leaving them in nature where they belong. But I just had to bring in a bunch of lilacs tonight - the smell is amazing !


Yellow day lily.


This year we've decided to try our hand at planting a few raspberry canes and blueberry bushes. We have a nice warm, sunny spot out back on our property for them.


More garden jewels.


And I leave you with the sunset we had tonight. One might say that we could have sun tomorrow...

Sneak peek

I can finally show you part of the newly renovated bathroom. All except the window treatment and the sink/countertop. Too bad the picture doesn't do the shower curtain justice. It's made of a nice linen, with dragon flies embroidered all over it. I love it.

One of the best feature of our new bathroom is the floor. Dave did a really nice job with the floor. The paint color on the wall is Rocky Road by Benjamin Moore. It still surprises me to not see a lilac toilet seat, tub and sink. Do I miss the lilac color, is that a tear in my eye...

... ya right !

Light fixture we got at Home Depot in Moncton. Nicely installed by our handy man electrician Luc.
Will have pictures of the toilet in a later post.

Renovations update

Today was almost a full day of bathroom renovation work. Dave installed the backsplash then he beaded with putty around the tub and backsplash. And might I say that he did an excellent job with the putty. I am happy to report that showers can again be taken. I had to put the old liner back in while I decide on a new one.

The new mirror was also installed today as you can see in the picture below. We still have lots to do in this corner - remove 1970's light fixture (we have a new one that goes over the mirror), scrap off the glue from where the old backsplash was and install a new counter top and sink. Speaking of which, now that we have measurements we have to order them. But before we order the counter top we have to go to Yarmouth to buy the floor tiles. I don't want tiles and counter top to clash color wise.

Bathroom renovations

It just would'nt be Spring without some sort of renovation project in our home. This year it's the bathroom. We've been in our house for almost 30 years and when we bought the house the lovely lilac bathroom fixtures came with it. It's not that I don't like the color lilac, it's a lovely color.... for Easter eggs. Here is Dave sitting in the newly installed 'soft-white' bathtub trying to figure out how everything goes back together.


The old tub will spend the night outside awaiting a trip to the landfill shortly. Her partner, the toilet, is not far behind.


On a totally different note, papaya is very good for you. It has a natural enzyme which helps and promotes a healthy digestive track. Dave and I try to eat papaya once a day, before every supper. And it taste great!!!!!

We did'nt get to take out our bikes on the weekend, as planned. It was way too cold and windy.