No Halloween At The Hardwicke House

There is work still being done & too much still, to have it completed, by October 31st, for Halloween.

 

 The kitchen walls have been painted. You can see the tan area, between the lower cupboards.

The dining area has wall colour & has the look of my go to colour of Benjain Moore - Manchester Tan. The granite counter & back splash should be ready for install next week.

Then the plumber can come & install the sink & dishwasher in the kitchen & the vanities in the bathrooms. Oh the stained glass area needs to get its counter on & the sink needs to be cut into it & the plumbing added. The two laundry tubs need some plumbing too. Oh Mark, your going to be a very busy plumber, when you arrive in Hardwicke! lol

 The foyer & hall, slate tiles, have been completed & still need a wash & then the sealer will be applied.

 Alvin, is finishing the washing of the grout. I really like the way the floor looks when it is wet, the colour is black & rich. True slate has such a grey tone to it, some of the tones darker than others & no sheen to the texture.

              The closet areas & the basement stairs area have the slate tiles too.

 The upstairs mezzanine, has been capped with the wood & the slate has begun to be installed. I love the diagonal look to the slate tiles. :-)

 The grout lines are done at a 1/8" distance, between the tiles. The grout width has such a different look than the 1/4" grout lines of London, an installation of years ago. Slate is such a durable tile!

I ordered the glass railings yesterday & that will take a few weeks to get done as well. The railings will probably be the last of the trades.

                               A look at the wet foyer floor from the top of the mezzanine.

 The guest bathroom has now been painted & awaits the install of the toilet & vanity.

 The sunny blue days have left us for awhile & the heavy dark clouds, let us feel that days are changing & winter is coming.

                           The sun would peak through & then the clouds would hide the sun.

 It was a very heavy cloud today. Tomorrow is going to be rain, so I plan on doing some sewing. :-)

I've been feeding the birds & so many blue jays come for a feed. Pigeons, chickadees, crows, & many other types of birds, entertain the cats, as they peer through the patio door.

Thanks for stopping in for a visit. I hope you have a great weekend!

Cynthia

Halloween Finds & Tremclad Paint

It is now the last of October this week, wow that sure was a fast month!
I can still remember Bill arriving on October 2nd, then the following week the kids for Thanksgiving.
Now everyone is getting ready for Halloween.

Nicole & I were shopping in the Winners, when I spied these beauties!

 Two black & white skeleton plates & they were the perfect size for a breakfast plate!

 I found them to be elegantly creepy & perfect to have on display for Halloween decorating!

 And they were of good quality too, I love my England dishes. I always feel that there was a high standard when they were made. Every thing is now made off shore, at a cheaper price, leaving a larger bottom line for the owners.

Tremclad Paint~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stopped by the Hardwicke House to pick up this latern that once hung at the front of the house, before the renovation.

 It was only hung for two years & the corrosion was extensive at the bottom & back.
Living next to salt water has its down fall, when it come to longevity on metal items.
I took a butter knife to all the loose rust & gave it a scrub with the brites green pad.

  Then a good wipe with a rag to get the dust off it. Two years & look at the damage!

 I really liked this lantern & wanted it for the side laundry porch. The porch has an over hang so it will remain protected from the icy water sprays.

 Paper was placed on top of the glass & two coats of Tremclad paint were painted on the latern, with 24 hours drying time, between coats.
It looks so much better now!

The Cat Came Back!

 The cat is still coming around, everyday, twice a day. It is looking so much better than it did nearly 2 weeks ago. I'm looking into making it a feral cat house, for the porch here at the cottage, then to moved, to Hardwicke to be placed on the porch there.
The down side of having a feral cat is watching nearly catch to eat the blue jays, whilst they feed at the feeder.
I told Bill, that my job now is to make the cat too big & full to want to eat the birds at the bird feeder.

Rug Hooking~~~~~~~~~~~

This week I started hooking a wee Christmas rabbit. I didn't know if I wanted him white or brown & was told by Marg, my fellow rug hooker that taught me back in 2011, "That it's a Christmas rabbit & winter rabbits are white." Well after hearing that.. it only made sense to have a Christmas rabbit white!
I'm using primitive wool strips, about 1/4" thick & it's filling in fast! The NOEL is going to be red.
The background is still in the works but I'm visualizing snow swirls in shades of light blues.

Thank you for stopping by & have a wonderful week!

Thought for this week-

'We are what we pretend to be."  ~ Kurt Vonnegut  
Or...
'Fake it 'til you make it.'

I laughed so hard when I heard it for the first time, by my girlfriend, Mary Beth say the latter. lol

I'm hoping for a productive week, see you at the end of it!
Cynthia

Tiling Is Slow & Steadily... Slow & A New Twist!

The tiling is steadily slow....
The painters can't paint till the baseboards are installed & that happens after the tiles are gouted.
The plumbers can't install till the walls are done & the vanities can be installed, for the plumbing...

See were this is going...
Well a new twist this week.

Remember that beautiful, kitchen granite counter top, install?

 The one that was so large that it needed an extension added ?

The one that just made my heart sing, every time I looked at it? Well, now you see it!....

And now you don't!  It had to be removed on Friday & taken back to Moncton. There was an deflection & in would not sit right in the joining seam. Back it went to be remade & will return in about a week 1/2 or 2. The plumber had to be notified as the sink & dishwasher could not be hooked up when he came for the bathroom vanities but the grouting still needs to be finished for the laundry room wash tub & washer hook up to the water lines.

On the up note, the furnace is running & I don't live there yet!
I've been using both the infra heaters from Costco so far. The weather has been so wet on the NE coast & the dampness is felt in the cold winds.

 The beginning of the week was so colourful & the reds were so announced, among the greens.

 The back yard at the cottage was in full song & on it's last verse of the song. The rains & cold weather have taken all the red & orange from the woods around here.
I was told earlier this Fall, that when I saw pictures that delighted me, to take them, as the colour would not last long this year. It has been proven to be true.

 Although the window boxes, even with the geraniums removed, still have a show of flowering!

 Here are the new cottage steps & porch, from the garage side of the lane way.

 And here's the look from head on, walking up to the cottage. The lilac bush from Ontario was spared & new flowering bush of some kind,  will go on the other side.

                                  The last hurrah of this beautiful season will soon be gone.

 The seasons are fascinating to watch & I could never live somewhere hot & warm & be without them.

 I see plaid fabrics, when the fall is upon us, ever changing plaids! lol
Bill & I once, years ago in Wawa ON, hit a moose in the night. My first response was 'Brown, velvety, texture?' And then impact, we were all fine, moose included as it ran away. My new, 13 day old Ford Mustang, would have to under go a lot of bondo!  Never kept that Mustang!. Yes I see texture is nature. lol

 Back to the Hardwicke House~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 The laundry room floor just needs the wall behind the door done. I'm having it done 3/4 way up to place a coat hanger above it, so wet & snowy coats can hang there to dry. The grout will then be added to t=fill the cracks. I love my floor designs to be on the diagonal, adding interest as you walk in. :-)

  Bill's bathroom floor is on a diagonal as you walk into it too! Baseboards, toilet & vanity to be added in soon.

 I was noticing today, just how striped Old Tom's tail is & how grey & wonderful he's going to look in the house, when we finally get in, sometime next month. I've found his cat mat to snuggle up on to keep him cozy.

Back to the house renovation!

 Bill's office is painted & awaits for his return, sometime next month. Maybe I'll be in the house to greet him! Maybe it's all just a dream...

 This is the view he'll see when he sits at his desk. The top soil & grass will be in place next spring, just use your imagination, hear the water gently hitting the shore line?

 The exercise room is now finished & a infra red sauna will be placed where the 'things' are sitting right now. I'm going to finally get into a routine of exercise in this room!

 The suspended ceiling in the pantry has been installed. It will be easy to get at all plumbing with just removing a few tiles. I hope not to see the day when that is going to have to happen but it will be easier than cutting through drywall!
And I have lived those those days! Hindsight is a wonder tool. lol
And a very smart contractor is a great thing too!

 Through a pocket door in the kitchen, you enter the pantry. The old breakfast nook from 20 years ago is going to be used here, with other shelves too. I just love having natural light shining through.

 The last of the laminate has been installed on the old mezzanine, yes there are two mezzanine's & stair cases, to the second floor. Not forgetting the elevator for those not able to use the stairs.

                               The guest bathroom awaits its baseboards, toilet, & vanity.

A Wonderful Surprise!!

 The used kitchen cupboards that Bill purchased off of one of our friends has been installed!
It will be in the stained glass room for light lunches & breaks.

 I now have to pick out a counter top for it & the sink & wash tub will be ready for the plumber. The walls still need to be painted, the trim in that room was being painted on Friday so this room should be next.
I've got so much cleaning to do on this & so many other rooms. I'm so glad my girl friends are all saying they will help. I'll get by with a little help from my friends!!

 The foyer & hall way down stairs has been started. Behind the ladder iha the freshly laid slate tiles, on a diagonal of course! lol

 The stairs will be capped with a medium rich dark wood, then a runner will come down the center.

 Ever wonder where the painters keep their paint? This is one of the foyer closets, next to & goes under the stairs. I giggled when I looked at all their supplies & thought, this is where the paint fairies keep their supplies! Remember the Autumn Fairies embroidered wall hanging I did? It made me think of it... for whatever reason. Yes, I still laugh in wonderment at 'Brown velvety texture.' lol

Once the painters move out of this area & the slate floor is installed three deep & the leftover laminate is installed the rest of the way... this is going to be for my fabric storage, it is located steps away from my sewing room.

Well I have more & will post it later today.
Sorry for the tardiness, I've been nursing a cold that our Alberta family generously shared with us. Bill is back in ON with the same cold virus. So I guess you can say it's making its way across Canada! lol Good luck to China next week as Bill travels there, hopefully virus free! Oh Canada!!
Not so virus free. lol

Thank you for stopping by & do so have a look later.

Cynthia