Tiles In Place, Resident Fox and Furniture Refurbishing (Jan 10 - 24, 2020)

There have been tracks around since we moved here so it was very exciting to finally seen our resident fox strolling around exploring. They are a lot easier to spot in the winter and I've seen several while driving around. Gorgeous, healthy, thick red coats, beautiful to see and watch.

Using the flooring we saved from the original upstairs bedrooms, Scott has finished the flooring in the master bedroom.  The boards are different widths and lengths. Putting them down in a pattern gave us the best use of what we have. Scott sanded the floor with a floor sander and put an initial 2 coats of Varathane down. Once everything upstairs is finished we'll do at least one more coat.

Work in progress.

One of Scott's favorite things is an excuse to buy a new tool. In Halifax a couple of months ago he bought a set of counter sinks and plug cutters. After top screwing the floor down he cut a whole pile of plugs and fit them into place. Turned out great.

All the plugs are in and sanded down. Floor is done.

Finished Floor in Master

I received a wonderful surprise from Fay, an Australian friend. For as long as I can remember Fay has sent a handmade embroidered Christmas card, always beautiful and kept regardless of any downsizing. I love them all. This year was no exception but is the first one to be used as an ornament. Absolutely gorgeous and looking forward to putting it on the tree next year. 

Thank you Fay, your thoughtfulness and exquisite work are a treasure.

Handmade Santa Ornament - to be removed from paper when hanging.

Work continued in the guest bathroom with me priming, then painting the ceiling and walls.

It's a little tough to see in the pictures however the walls are a light green/gray/blue colour. Once I'd painted Scott got to tiling the floor. First step was putting down a product similar to Ditra which we lucked out on getting for half price at Home Depot. Guessing someone ordered it online and didn't want it since it was a one off roll sitting in the tile department. It's the first time we've used it and Scott loved that it is a lot easier than cement board.

Tiles down - Grout still to come.

The view outside is the same but always changing. Stormy days.. no complaints as Newfoundland got WAY more than we did.  The forecast on that weekend was for a severe ice storm which we've seen a few of in Ontario. We figured chances were high the power was going to go out so we headed out to buy a generator and set it up in the dark and wet and mud. Imagine complaining about mud in January. Getting the generator pretty much guaranteed nothing was going to happen and although we did get high winds and a good amount of snow there was no loss of power. For us they were really just a couple of cozy days inside. At least we are ready for when the power does go out.

Then the temperatures dropped and the sun came out. It's been out all week. Ice is beginning to form on the Northumberland Strait and we love watching the changes.

Not everything goes smoothly though and we did have a sump pump backup with the basement beginning to fill up with water because the hose end outside was frozen and buried in the snow. After digging everywhere to find it, he attached a new pump which did the trick. 

Can't see the road

Ice forming on the strait

The house was full of stuff when we started and we kept a few things. One of them was an ice cream maker which Scott has used before. He got it out and made some raspberry ice cream using snow instead of ice in the machine. Didn't go exactly as he wanted so he'll use ice next time but still tasted great. What a treat.

Ice Cream Maker

Bowls of snow at the ready

Another item we kept is a wardrobe. Ugly thing to my mind but constructed of solid wood so I decided to do what I could to revive it and plan to use it in one of the guest rooms.  I started on the doors and the varnish came off very easily revealing a beautiful pine underneath. We've been recently hooked on a show called "Chateau DIY" (British show about Brits restoring Chateaus in France, streaming on CBC Gem) and were inspired by a project one chateau owner did. They left the drawer front natural wood and painted the rest of the cabinet. I'd planned to paint the whole thing but the doors and drawer fronts came up so nicely we left them natural (with a coat of sealer) and painted the rest with red chalk paint. First time using chalk paint and I'm very happy with the results.

Sanding this was surprisingly easy

Rough sand on sides to help paint adhere

Distressed look in red on the main cabinet.
A small and a large door still to be added. 

Loving the wood grain on the drawer fronts

With the master bathroom taped (no pics yet) and ready for me to paint next week, Scott has started dry-walling the master bedroom.  

We are moving right along and hope to be sleeping upstairs within 2 weeks.

The furniture refurbishing continues as well. Next up is this foot board which I'll use as a head board in the master. With the knee wall at 41", most traditional head boards are too tall so I'm hoping the secondhand foot board I found will do the trick. The finish doesn't look bad from far way but it is a bit worn and has an old school look.  Let's see what we can do we my new found love of chalk paint.

Another view over the strait from our driveway.. because I couldn't resist.