As an avid DIYer and crafter, I like to watch the DIY shows for home decorating and gardening ideas. Several years ago, one of the hosts on a DIY show made the comment that every home needs a red room. Now my husband is a huge Detroit Redwings fan so the sports room has a lot of red in it but the walls aren't red. Red made it's way into the kitchen via dinnerware and lids to the glass food storage containers I use. When we first viewed this house, I planned on doing the kitchen black and white with splashes of red if we were the successful purchasers. Well, we were successful but after moving in it was fairly obvious my colour scheme would not work yet at the same time the taupe walls weren't working in the kitchen. I devised a plan to paint every room in the house as my winter project.
I was on the Behr website using their decorating tool starting with the green I wanted for our bedroom. All the colours in the house would in effect co-ordinate back to that green. At the same time the colour scheme of taupe, green and burgundy was the same as our vacation home making it so that any items taken from here would automatically match there and visa versa. I had a nice co-ordinating burgundy picked out for our home office and a taupe for the kitchen. My husband said the burgundy would look great in the kitchen so I thought what the heck, headed over to Home Hardware. They have the codes to make most of the Behr colours except they didn't have the code for that burgundy. I came back home to get the next closest burgundy colour number then when back to Home Hardware but on the way there did a quick turn-around. I was onto plan B. I grabbed one of the dinner plates then went back to Home Hardware where they custom matched the paint to the plates.
The kitchen is now a deep, rich splash of almost a ruby red. It is absolutely gorgeous! The red makes the marble tile floor pop and serves as a wonderful backdrop for the black appliances while bringing out the warm tones in the oak cabinets. I can't help but smile every time I go into the kitchen. Red is a very difficult paint to work with and this one has been about a difficult as they come taking more coats than expected but the end result has been well worth it. I'm so glad I listened to my husband and used the red in the kitchen! What a wonderful splash of colour, one that will continue to bring a smile not only to me but to everyone who sees it...
Garden Gnome
©2006-2012
We are very fortunate to always have a number of helping hands for moving, painting and home renovations. I have set a goal of painting every room in our new home this winter. It is a big undertaking but honestly is not as much work as it could be even though it is a big house. The is no wallpaper to have to strip other than a border in the lower level bathroom. The walls are in good condition so there is only the normal wall repair to do.
I started the upper level bathroom last week. Our youngest kid's partner offered to help with the prep and painting. We finished the painting yesterday then my husband helped with putting the prisms back on the lights and replacing the exhaust fan hood. The room still needs a final clean-up and we are waiting on a friend to bring the custom made trim he's making for the tub wall. My husband and I spent the rest of yesterday and this morning emptying more boxes from our move and organizing. Another pair of hands always makes the work go faster. This coming week we are painting the kitchen and hopefully the guest room. It would not be possible to get this amount of work done without helping hands!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2012
My gosh, 2012 has started off quite chaotic so I haven't been blogging as much. I hope to get back to my normal daily schedule within the next day or two. I have so much to blog about starting with our winter vacation (Dec 4 - 22), a minor mishap at the airport coming home, our wonderful Christmas, volunteering for the local school's breakfast program and starting my major indoor winter project of painting every room in the house. So there is a lot going on right now but in a good way. Tomorrow I will post the first in a series of posts about our winter vacation to bring you up to date. In meantime I hope you have a very enjoyable, blessing filled day :)
Garden Gnome
©2006-2012
Have you ever wondered why the word grand is used to describe Grandparents or Grandchildren? Well the bottom line is these relatives are grand in every sense of the word! The relationships themselves is almost magical, one feeding off of the other. After all you can't become and Grandparent without a Grandchild and yet you can be a Grandchild without ever knowing your Grandparents. The beauty of being a Grandparent with an intimate relationship with your Grandchild/Grandchildren is absolutely priceless!
Parents to oldest and youngest Grandchildren along with the little angels visited us today for brunch. They were down to visit the newest member of the family born on Saturday weighing in at 8 lb 6 oz. Our Grandchildren were beyond excited at the prospect of meeting their new little cousin! Papa made everyone grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for brunch while Grandma pulled out a can of home canned peaches to top the vanilla icecream. Oldest Grandchild spotted popcorn kernels in the pantry so Grandma got out the popcorn popper while the treasured magic popcorn bowl was carefully carried to the kitchen. Both Grandchildren pulled a chair to the counter to watch the popcorn pop. It's quite neat to watch. It is an electric version of the WhirlyPopper, ultra quiet, no spout and just gorgeous popped corn filling the bowl. With the popcorn filling the magic popcorn bowl, they contented snuggled up with Grandma and Papa on the couch. We chit chatted with the parents (aka our amazing kids) while the little ones munched on their treat and all was well. What a wonderful way to spend a bit of time on a Sunday!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2012
A week ago today we greeted a brand new year, full of hopes and promises. Goodness time does fly! It has been a rather busy but uneventful week. The weather has been unseasonably mild so my husband worked on organizing the garage, freeing up a bit of room for getting the car in and out. A few things were taken to Goodwill reducing a bit more of our clutter. I did a massive organizing session in my new pantry. While we were on our winter vacation a mouse managed to find it's way into the house. Nothing was touched in the pantry which is surprising as some foods were not protected due to the move. Now they are all protected! We set traps, put out bait under the decks and plugged in the electronic rodent devices. So far there have been no further signs of our critter visitor. My husband changed out the hall light fixture and we talked about a few plans for the house to be done in 2012. My husband finally came into the 21st century by opening a Facebook account for the business. Now I just have to get him into Twitter. We held our first larger event of the year last night. It was a huge success with all having a good time. And so went the first week of 2012...
Garden Gnome
©2006-2012
Today most of our kids and grandkids were home for Christmas. It was a house full to say the least but oh my gosh a house full in the very best of ways. Our kids are amazing and I really do mean that in every sense of the word but our grandkids take it to a new level. I love feeling the baby hugs around my neck and taking a chip dive for Grandma when Papa teases them. It was a wonderful day all around spent with amazing kids and the most adorable grandkids ever!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
My husband and I just returned home from a wonderful two and a half week vacation stay at our vacation home in the sunny south. Well actually the first two days were spent visiting family in Wisconsin then we flew from there to Florida. During our stay my frequent comment was Happy Holidays while my husband's was Merry Christmas. I gritted my teeth but said nothing. Surely the diabolical looks to give a hint that he was not being politically correct should have been enough AND those looks were not coming from me! He'd say a cheery Merry Christmas and some looked at him disdainfully as if he had just picked his nose while scratching his butt.
We were shopping yesterday after a rather eventful flight the night before. We stayed over night specifically to do a bit of shopping. Here we are two and a half weeks later and my husband asked me why I said Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas. Talk about a woosh! So I explained to him that saying Merry Christmas was no longer politically correct as it could damage someone's physic or something. Then I told him that not everyone believes in the Christmas spirit or spreading good cheer or simply extending good will to their fellow mankind and Christmas AND they don't want to be reminded of that by someone saying Merry Christmas. His response was BAH HUMBUG!
Bah humbug indeed! We as a society take offense to wishing someone a Merry Christmas. We take offense at using the word gay in a Christmas carol - true story as a teacher changed the word because the students laughed when the word was sung. We can no longer enjoy children's Christmas concerts in the schools or allow our kids to enjoy anything Christmas in the schools become some kids do not celebrate Christmas. I don't even decorate my blogs for Christmas any more lease someone takes offense. Bah humbug!
AND for those not offended
The old fashioned work ethic is putting in your everything, going the extra mile, giving anything you do 110%. Folks cared about the job they did because it was a reflection on them as a person and their personal values. Sadly this philosophy is going by the wayside in our modern society. Folks tend to work simply for the paycheque not caring whether they do a half-ass job or not. They simply don't care how it reflects on them and quite frankly in some respects it is almost a competition to see who can do the worse job. It's rush through the job putting in the bare minimum of effort then act insulted if asked to do a little extra.
It is so refreshing to encounter someone with an old fashioned work ethic. Our vacation home is in sunny Florida. We rent it out if possible when we aren't there. Since we don't live there on a permanent basis we are have no choice but to hire out yard care. The lawns are taken care of by the park but gardens surrounding the house are our responsibility. During our visit in September we hired a gentleman to do the gardens. He arrived at quarter to eight in the morning but assured us he didn't start charging until 8 AM. He worked very hard working through until 1 PM. He repeated this for several days. When he was finished he had a full accounting of his hours and even docked any breaks he had taken. It was amazing. After all this work his total came to $120 and he felt bad that it was that high. My husband gave him $200 because quite frankly the work he did was well worth the higher price. He was very excited with the tip as he could take his wife out for dinner for their anniversary. Sadly this wonderful gentleman who was in his 70's could not continue looking after our gardens on a monthly basis.
We made friends with the bartender at the club house. He lives two doors down from us and recently won the Yard of the Month. I put out a request for garden help in the community forums and he was highly recommended. We had a few others saying they would be interested but we decided to ask our neighbour first. My husband talked to him about looking after our gardens and he agreed. He too has the old fashioned work ethic. He is very meticulous, tending the gardens with as much care as we would if we were here doing it ourselves. He is also very careful about being accountable for every expenditure. Talk about finding a gem with a true, old fashioned work ethic!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
My husband and I have been enjoying some well deserved time off. It has been a very hectic year! Quite frankly we have been through a lot, not as much as some but definitely more than others. Lazy days help heal the spirit, rest the body and revitalize the mind. Everyone needs a few lazy days just to refresh themselves. We are very blessed to be able to take a bit of time off to rejuvenate ourselves during the hectic holiday season!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
