2017 - Canada's 150th Birthday & More Renovations

Canada is turning 150 years old. What a young country Canada is!

When Bill & I were traveling with our business, back in the 1990's, it would be business & pleasure trips, to other countries, looking for products to import into Canada. And those days would open my eyes, to how young our country really is.

In England we would eat off of tables, older than our county of Canada & upon returning, I would take a breath & feel the youth of Canada, as we arrived. We were like a puppy country, in this dog world.
As time has gone on I feel Canada has more a sense of being Canadian proud, more & more red & white flags, are flying now. I have a flag pole on each property, one at the shore, at home & one on the lawn at the cottage.
With Canada's birthday coming in July, I'm going to try to decorate the house in red, white, & maple leafs!

 I made this 12" block as practice for the Canada Eh! quilt that I'm working on now. I wanted to see how large the large was. There will be 12 - 12" blocks, each with an applique of a scene from each province & territories. How is yours coming along Liz? More on the quilt next post. ;-)

      The fabric scraps of red & white, are from the Canadian flag wall hanging I did last year.

My rug hooking friend Marg, had a bag of wool pieces that were to be thrown out, if no one wanted them... how could I say no to this free offer?! The red wool, I used for the letters & leaves & the back of the jacket became the background for the pillow covering.
I love the thrill of a find & creating something with it. Thank you Marg!

More Renovations...

 Doesn't this look like a scene from a postcard? It is the view, looking out the great room window.

The two tuxedo cats are following me around the house today & are in nearly all my photos!
What are they going to do when the puppies arrive? The cats will have the run of the house, whilst the puppies are contained in the kitchen & foyer, the cats will be safe.

                               A gorgeous sunny winter day in north east New Brunswick.

The window  dressings have been removed & await for the painters to return.

 However, before the painters return the hardwood floor needs to be sanded down, stained, & sealed.

 The baseboards & baseboard heaters have been remove & new baseboards will go on after the floor is done. That will probably be the first week of February... puppies will arrive on the 13th, timing is everything!

 Bill discovered a rotten floor board under the old baseboard & replaced it with a board from under the stair closet. It has no stain on it but should blend in beautifully once the job of sanding & staining is done. Thank you, my handsome & yes, handy, husband of 30 years! XO

Speaking of the handsome & handy husband...he also made this support for the old mezzanine & once it is painted like the railings, everything will look as it should!

 The great room floor is going to lose its orange hue & have a warm, mid brown tone, rosewood stain applied. Much like the hue on the new staircase stain colour.

 The stairs are going to be hand sanded, stained, & sealed, the same as the great room floor.

Upstairs~~~~~~~~

The glass railings have been installed around the mezzanine & Rexton is taking in the afternoon sun. lol

Economy glass came on December 23rd & installed the railings. On the staircase area, the glass was short shipped & the railing glass to the main floor, had the wrong angle & was marked. They will be returning this month sometime.
The glass railing is just what was needed for that area, excellent job, Reid at Breakwater & to the installers!

 

The view going down the glass railings to the landing,  this area is warmed up with the, Vintage Tin, quilted wall hanging.

It was to go in Bill's office but there was no wall room. More about his office on a later post, he needs time to unpack.
For now I'm enjoying seeing the quilt hung up!

And here is another quilt I'm enjoying seen hung up! Over the River, was once hung at the landing of the old staircase but everything had to move with the floor work & painting, including Namama's chairs!

                          I just love how everything, in the brick wall area, just feel into place. The guest room will not be occupied till April, when middle son Mitchell & lovely Nicole, come for a Easter visit. I think I'm just going to leave the end of this room the way it is!

 The other end has such a summer feel to it with the April Cornell, mauve & blue bedding.

 This is my childhood dresser & mirror. I can't believe that all the clothes I owned, fit in those drawers! My dresses & blouse/jumpers would have hung on the back of my bedroom door. I never had a closet for the longest time. It now makes a perfect night table & guest storage area!

                    The steer head is being stored in the guest room till the painting is done!

Fond Memories~~~~~~~~

 This is my grandma, my mom's mom. She was a huge influence in my growing up. This is a picture I took of her after her stroke in 1999. She is holding her kitten Irish. I gave it her Irish after reading that petting animals helps to heal after a stroke. Her words started to come back & she loved having Irish as her own. My grandpa grew prize winning iris's & refused to allow a cat in the house! They did always have a dog though. With grandpa dead, she wanted a cat & I had a spare kitten!
This is Tommy's sister, Tommy is the last of the litter, remember Jerry, the one eyed, three legged cat with a heart murmur, he died in 2012? Well those were the three kittens, back in 1999!

Sweet dreams Tommy. He too only has one working eye, so he does look odd when he sleeps with one eye open! lol

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today.
I hope you have a great weekend, wherever you are! I'm in Canada & it is winter, winter white right now! And in less than 6 months from now it will be July...Canada's 150th birthday.

How are you going to celebrate it? By hanging something wonderful, to greet your guests from your door? Picnics, oh the thought of grass makes me giddy! lol

May health and happiness surround you in every season.
Take care,
Cynthia