Wednesday, November 27, 2013

A little bit of shopping and an update

Good morning everyone :)

My computer decided to die on me this week - the keyboard is a mess - it takes me twenty minutes to type a line - so this post took approximately 24 hours to type LOL

On top of everything else I have to shop for - I now have to go computer shopping - NOT on my favorite list :(

BUT I BOUGHT THE KITCHEN WINDOW YESTERDAY !!!

I originally intended for the counter top to be THE luxury item in the kitchen - seems like the window will be too - it was quite expensive but hey that's what peanut butter was invented for, right?  I'm foreseeing a lot of
PB sandwiches in the not too distant future but I'll get to eat them looking out of this beauty.
It'll come primed because believe it or not they were going to charge me 450.00 dollars to paint it black - that on top of the already exorbitant price they charged ( I only need 36" by 48" - not a very large window at all...................) so yours truly will be painting it black - the window itself is wood, easily done !!!
BUT it's a custom order and will only be ready mid January because of the Christmas holidays - I don't get that at all - Christmas is still 3 weeks away ( brief panic attack just hit me for a second ) so I'm going to have to live with a plywood boarded up window for quite a while.

We also selected the kitchen tile - I wanted to go with a white - John chose ( I have to let him choose something - even if it makes me crazy to do so ) he chose a deep smoky grey porcelain tile.............very
nice ( I'm not doing cartwheels over it or anything - but neither am I tempted to throw up my dinner )

I'm going through hell trying to figure out a stove ..................I'm closer than close to getting an " induction " but believe it or not I'm afraid of it - is this what happens when you hit your 50's I wonder?  These new
" contraptions " scare you to death lol?  I thought I was cool and up to date having a gas range in the last house lmho...........

Suzan says - I'm thinking maybe we could get an induction stove this time
John says - What's an introduction stove?
Suzan says - INDUCTION
John says - What the hell is an induction stove?
Suzan says - It cooks food through a magnetic force - the stove top stays completely cool - only the surface where the pot meets the burner gets hot...............and it cooks even more precise than a gas stove
Suzan says - You can only use steel cookware - because of the magnetic field - so they recommend you bring a magnet with you when buying pots to see if the cookware's ok
John says - Sounds bloody ridiculous to me - absolutely ridiculous -
Suzan says - Apparently gas is a thing of the past with chefs - they're all using induction now
John says - Are you telling me you're on par with a professional chef???
Suzan says - It boils water in 1 minute
John says - Let's live with the 3 minutes it takes on a regular stove ...................

That particular conversation is to be continued.

I forgot to mention on my last post - about the demolition of the kitchen - that it was my son - son-in-law and a friend of their's that did that for us - credit where credit is due..............

On Monday, friends of ours came by to see the place - ( a contractor by trade ) and we explained that we were going to get the boys to do most of the work for us ( saving a LOT of money ) but that we were a little panicked because they could only come on the weekends.

On Tuesday - we got a call from this particular friend

Friend says - I just had a job delayed for a week and a half - can you use some help?
Suzan says - I really can't pay the going rate - that's why I'm having the boys help us this time
Friend says - Don't worry about the going rate - I'll do it for much less to help you guys out - you're friends - you're family
Suzan almost cries...................I can't say what he's charging because he says he will never charge this to anyone else as long as he lives LMHO - but it's basically a gift.
That and the toaster oven they brought over - here's my kitchen in my living room



Oh I believe there are angels among us.
Sent down to us from somewhere up above.
They come to you and me in our darkest hours.
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.
To guide us with the light of love.


It took a full gallon of paint to paint this cupboard/nook in the upstairs landing



I'm out of shape after living in a one storey the last 3 years - completely forgot what it's like going up and down stairs all day - I swear to God I woke up the second morning and panicked - I thought I had developed MS or something ( and I'm not joking - it was scary - had to walk down the stairs holding on to the wall ) couldn't for the life of me figure out what was wrong with my legs - Dr. John diagnosed it - and I guess he was right - they're perfectly fine today :)

Tomorrow I'm off to get supplies and possibly a new computer - I've almost thrown this one out the window 5 times writing this up.

NO MICE left in the house - for now.
I found John's boxers.
AND I think that about sums everything up - now you know everything whether you wanted to or not lol

One last song?

♪ doo doo doo looking out my back door ♪ ♪


Winter has arrived - another Angel must have been looking out for me on Friday - the snow waited until after moving day to wreck havoc on the city !!!

Have a great Thursday everyone -
Much love - hugs and kisses too - lots of them
To my American friends - if I don't have a computer by the weekend, you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
( wonder if I can get a small turkey in a toaster oven LMHO )

Sunday, November 24, 2013

The Ugly, the Bad and the Good

Good morning everyone :)

Welcome to the SUNSHINE blog - where you'll find nothing but happiness and sometimes just a little bit more than you bargained for :)

Well we're here - in the new place - in a state of shock ......................

Where do I begin?
Let's see now - oh maybe Soda falling into the pool would be a good place.
Into black water that was frozen over slightly...............
Or when she fell down the stairs?

Or.................ok - queasy stomach readers leave my blog immediately.
AND I DO MEAN IMMEDIATELY - I WON'T TAKE OFFENCE -
AND THIS IS TRULY A WARNING FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.

When we put the original offer on this house - we were told they had seen a field mouse now
and then in the Fall of each year - they would catch it and that would be it.
I can't remember if I told you guys that our inspector discovered it was more than an occasional problem from the looks of it - and so we added a clause to our promise to purchase that the building would have to be professionally fumigated - AND PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED - before we could go ahead with the purchase.
We received a copy of the fumigation invoice and a promise that the clean up was scheduled.

So we moved on Friday - and by Saturday night the kitchen underwent a major transformation


 It's completely demolished as you can see


What you can't see - ( ok - this is the last warning - if you keep reading - and you throw up - I absolutely cannot take responsibility. ) is the approximately 2 tons of mouse droppings that came out of the pantry - and the dish cupboards - I'm talking it rained down - the utensil drawers - dead carcasses in traps underneath the built in cabinets where they were just left to rot ( with no way to remove them other then demolishing the kitchen ) skeletons - the works.
I will NOT be showing you photos of that mess, don't worry, lol, I'll just let you start off your week feeling sick to your stomach instead LMHO.

By the time you read this we will have already contacted our lawyer to see what our next step should be -

John says - I hope you're not going to discuss this on your blog
Suzan says - Yes, I am John
John says - THIS HAS TO STOP - YOU CAN'T KEEP PUTTING ALL OF OUR EMBARRASSING
SITUATIONS OUT THERE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE
Suzan says - I'm not really embarrassed to tell you the truth - I think the seller should be mortified though

AND THIS IS HOW I DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL.
Our lawyer is a lawyer who does a lot of work in our field ( the wonderful world of fabric ) and so he knows a lot of people we know ...............

Suzan says - I hope XXXXXX doesn't go around telling people we know, about this problem
John says - WHAT THE HELL DOES IT MATTER - YOU'RE TELLING EVERYONE ON YOUR BLOODY BLOG !!!!!!!!!!

Touche I suppose.
Except I feel like I'm telling the people I feel comfortable enough about it -
Like I said - I don't make any sense sometimes.

Want to see some more photos?
Ok !!!
FIVE layers of floor have been removed - those boys worked their butts off let me tell you


John and James ( his son ) removed all the carpets from the bedrooms - and most of it from the stairs


 And John started removing the linoleum from the master bedroom floor


Here's the linoleum that was under the carpet in the office - I swear to you I remember this pattern from my childhood - I'm not sure if it was a common one - but it just looks so familiar - my girlfriend thinks she had it in her bedroom as a little girl
Ahhh - the good old 60's - in all it's glory


John says - Well I suppose we could live with it for a little while
Suzan says - If a little while is a week - then yes I suppose we could - but not a day longer than that
John says - We can't do everything in a week - are you insane?
Suzan says - NOT everything - but that linoleum is going - fast ...............
John says - We may have to end up getting new floors

But THAT is not going to happen - I know that with all certainty..........

We're kind of at a standstill now because we have to wait for the plumber to get here - and then the electrician...................
Next weekend the plywood should go down in the kitchen - and the drywall should go up -
I'm off tomorrow to order the window and the cabinets ( and possibly select the counter top which I'm pretty sure is going to be quartz )

And that folks, is the UGLY and the BAD - I'm afraid it's going to be awhile before you get to see the GOOD.....................:(

There's no place to go but up at this point - as far as houses go - because it absolutely cannot get any worse.

John screams - Where's the box with my boxers?
Suzan says - I have no idea -
John says - Well that's not good enough - I need them
Suzan says - Plenty of men don't wear anything under their pants - don't make it sound like an emergency.
John says - I'm not walking around without underwear on - and I don't give a damn who does -
Suzan says - So go buy some - just go buy yourself some boxers -
John says - I'M NOT BUYING NEW BOXERS - WHEN I HAVE A TON OF THEM BURIED SOMEWHERE IN THIS HOUSE................
Suzan says - You're willing to buy new floors for 4 bedrooms - rather than remove linoleum - but you can't buy yourself new boxers?????

There's female logic.......................and then there's..........................none whatsoever

You all have a wonderful ( hopefully sunshiny )  Monday ☼
Much love,

P.S.  This was not meant to be a depressing post LMHO - but I'm documenting this entire journey so you get to see every step of the way - warts and all ♥
It'll make the end result all that much sweeter .....................

UPDATE - KITCHEN TODAY


YOU CAN SEE MORE PHOTOS  HERE

AND THOSE STAIRS?  THEY LOOK LIKE THIS NOW


MORE PHOTOS HERE