4 years ago today.....

It was exactly 4 years ago today that we took possession of this rickety ol farm! It has been quite an adventure to say the least! Alot of sweat and hard work and some money has helped this place go from a house to a home. We are proud to call it ours and are very prouder of where it has come from. We are excited to see what will happen in the next 4 years and I am very excited to see the full potential that this farm has to offer! I tried to compare as many before pictures as I could so you can see the tranformation!
The following "before" pictures are from when we looked at it with real estate...so I take no responsibility for the conditions!!!

HOME SWEET HOME :: Aug 27, 2004

The exterior before:

After...we removed the big deck that was rotting and added a

stone walkway and bordered it with flower beds.

The stone walkway to the main entrance. I gathered those flat stones from the fields and labourously built the walkway stone by stone!

Before...another view of the front of the house

After...we added a front deck and window shutters and brought

a flower bed continually around the entire house and deck and

also removed the top part of the chimney that was threatening

to fall down.

Before..the back/front of the house...the fence you are seeing is a horse pasture, I wasn't too keen on livestock being that close to the house, so we removed the fence and posts.

After...what was the horse pasture is now part of our lawn and my run for

the dogs. Last summer we added a 24' round pool and have been

working at the decking. Our plan is to take the deck completely around

the house at the back and attach to the raised deck around the pool.

Window shutters are in the works for the back of the house, the wood

is milled just have to build and paint them!

Before...going upstairs to the kids bedrooms

After...a fresh coat of paint over the panelling (have I ever mentioned that I absolutely hate panelling)? Also added a new stair runner and new paint on the stairs. Just recently I have wallpapered over the panelling, I chose a green faux look which minimizes the grooves in the panelling.

Before...the view of the barn and shed.

After...beautiful pine boards to renew and update the barn that looked so terrible with all its boards falling off or with holes in them.

Before...the machinery shed

After...new doors and doors that actually close!

We plan to at some point get the roof of the shed and

barn painted.

Before...the livingroom inside. Hard to believe but it was this room that sold me on the house. It is a huge room about 25x20 and I loved the open space of it.

After...we definitely could not keep the peel and stick tile that was on the floor..hmm..ya think?? We added a beautiful maple hardwood floor. I still love the look today as much as I did when we installed it.

With our furniture, it is a very warm and cozy room with lots of space for all of us to gather.

Before...you can see over our property. There was no fencing and nothing had been done with the land for years.

After... we put a perimeter rail fence and in the distance if you can see we put up page wire to fence off the the hay fields that we planted. The fields at the back were totally over grown with weeds and thistles. There was also a whack of red gads or scrub trees growing through the middle of our pasture field, we dug them all out for a clear view across the pasture field. This was alot for safety for the sheep that we could see if there were predators lurking!

Another view, you can see in the distance the hay fields just freshly cut.

Before: the kitchen, I really think the only colour these people liked was cream..the entire house was cream...ugh..
After...oh ya! A fresh coat of paint, I chose "golden wheat" a very warm colour for the room we usually spend most of our time in. The only border I put up and I'm not really a border person but I absolutely love sunflowers so up it went! We also added a new dishwasher...apparently the previous people didn't think built in appliances should stay with the house...

Our plans for the kitchen are kind of up in the air, I don't mind the layout of the kitchen, I would like to add a center island, backsplash and new countertops but for the rest I don't mind the cupboards as they are.

Before...the main bathroom

After...this was our most recent "big" project. Dave gutted the entire bathroom to start over. We removed the shower/tub combo unit,overhead cupboards and the vanity. We moved the toilet and added a shower stall, and stacked the washer/dryer. Also added a smaller vessel sink with clear glass vanity and floor to ceiling closet space. We chose a upbeat color of paint. Doesn't even look like the same room huh??? We also added a 2nd bathroom upstairs with a corner tub so if anyone so chose to have a bath, we still have a tub.

Before..the front door, how awful is this???

At one point there was a single door and 2 sidelights but when they re-sided the outside of the house they covered in the sidelights. So outside you couldn't see them but inside you could...it looked terrible!!

After...we removed the door that you see to the left and also added a double garden door with over head transom. It was amazing how much light we weren't getting! The front door leads out to the deck. A fresh coat of paint and WOW!!

Before...going up to the livingroom

After...a brand new railing for safety reasons more than anything, apparently 20 years had passed with people living in this house with no railing. I wasn't going to take any chances! More paint and viola!Before...upstairs..told ya...cream..
After...more paint and laminant flooring in the hallway and bedrooms


Well that is about the end of my befores, but some other projects that we have worked on over the past 4 years...

The front deck, completely made from eastern white cedar ( of course..Dave the wood guy)

The front entrance done in ceramic

Another view..

New kitchen flooring..called fiberfloor, just went right over our existing floor, no new sub floor needed!!

Dredging the pond that was over grown with weeds.

So in the past 4 years it has been a work in progress. It has been challenging and rewarding at the same time. We have lots of plans for what we would still like to do but it is always a balance of time and money. Our next big project will likely be new windows at least in the old part of the house. In the winter when that cold wind blows our curtains move!!! Not exactly energy efficient! However, I am proud to call this place home and prouder that most of the work we have done ourselves!!!

Happy Anniversary N & T !!

Congratulations go out to my sis and her hubby in BC today on their 29th wedding anniversary!!! Love you both and wish you many many more years ahead!

Coincidentally too on this day 19 years ago Dave and I got engaged!!! So its kind of an anniversary for us too!

Eeeeeeks!!!!

Look out! James has passed his G1, learners, 365 or whatever you want to call it test! He waited a few months to try it as he was 16 in May. I have to gulp and grin at this new right of passage for 16 year olds has now entered our house....
Could definitely be interesting the next few months as he learns to drive!!!

Puppy Update!!

I don't want to bore all of you and go on and on about my puppies but we are just enjoying them so much! They are cute, cuddly and oh so fun to have!
I have directed a few of the people who are interested in these babies to my blog so I need to post the odd picture of them for those people. They change so much in such a short period of time!!!
Sadie's babies have opened their eyes and 2 of the puppies have hit and surpased the pound mark!!! They are so content to be held and loved...probably cause my girls never put them down long enough!
Here are Sadie's babies at 2 weeks....

Another of Sadie's babies...asleep on Dave's arm....

Here are Sienna's babies at 1 week old.....they are growing so fast too! Their eyes are still shut but should open within the next few days. The 2 girls are on the bottom and the boy laying on top. They are nicknamed Maya (with the blue collar on), Lainey, and the boy is Cruiser. Here is Sophie...not a care in the world!! I love it when they sleep like that!

Needless to say the puppies are very spoiled and very much loved up! We are all enjoying taking them out of their pen and snuggling with them and getting to know them. The next few weeks should be even better as they begin walking and playing! Can't wait!

Will try "Who has been here" again!!!

Ok...after my last post about "who has been here" I have had some feedback from people who DO read my blog but were mentioning that they couldn't post a comment. Soooooo I have just gone into my settings and sure enough it was set for blogger account users only. I have now reset that to be basically anyone. So we will try this again!
So.........if you have come and read a snippet into my chaos around here, I would LOVE to hear from you. Any comments, suggestions, thoughts or whatever....would love to know where you are from!!!!
Again...don't be shy!

Brittany's Puppy Love <3

I walked in on this endearing moment between Brittany and Sadie's puppies. At just 10 days old they have captured the hearts of all us. They are so fat and content to just cuddle up. I LOVE PUPPIES!!! Oh how I have missed having them...it has been almost a year since we enjoyed our last litter...(where Autumn came from).


I believe these are the girls.... just contented to snuggle and sleep. We have nicknamed them Ava and Sophie, and the boy is Dexter.

How could you not love it???

More Babies!!!

It is starting to look like a yorkie nursery around here! I love it!
Friday evening Sienna had her babies. Again they were born 3 days early and I think these guys were maybe somewhat more premature than Sadie's as they looked thinner and maybe not as much hair in places.
Her labour was awsome! She was definitely getting more and more uncomfortable as Friday wore on. Casi was in a panic as she was on a field trip and really wanted to be here for her girl but wasn't arriving home until 7 pm. The texts were frequent back and forth about "how she was doing" and "let me know" etc!!
Sienna started pushing with some really small pushes at about 8 pm...(ya she waited until Casi was home..go figure huh!) I guessed she would be still be a while and with Cass home to watch her I quickly went out and did up the chores in the barn figuring I would busy with her until late. I came in at about 830 or so and her pushes had gotten more intense..no puppy presenting yet. By 9 pm I could see a bubble with little feet in it..again breech puppy! Her pushes were strong and very intense and she moved that baby out with no problem. I have to say that she is one power house when it comes to pushes. First baby born at 905pm very strong and screaming. A GIRL!!! We cleaned baby off and Sienna went to work at bathing her and almost right away she started doing some small pushes again. The wee girlie was keen to nurse within minutes which is a great sign!
Baby #2 came quickly at about 930... also a GIRL!! She was breech as well but was screaming with seconds and also wanted to nurse right away.
Lastly baby #3 came about 1030...a BOY this time!! He was a little more stressed..probably being last in line to be born I don't know. He gasped for a while but settled into a nicer breathing pattern within about a half hour. All babies were born breech...not sure why I am getting all breech babies but as long as they can pass them it really doesn't matter! Sienna was such trooper and wow she can have those babies!!! She makes it look easy! Too bad all of my deliveries wouldn't go like this!!! Coincidentally Sienna was born in my van on the way to the vets...thus the name Sienna..she barely came naturally but her siblings did not and had to be c/sectioned.

These are pics at about 12 hrs old. They were not a happy bunch, I am guessing because they were a little premature but they would only settle for about 20 minutes or so. Made for a very short and interuppted sleep Friday night. I think Sienna was a bit overwhelmed too, she kept licking and licking them when they would settle. They would cry and I would get them on to nurse and they would still cry. I don't know if they were cold or hot but just kept trying different thing through the night and day yesterday to get them to settle. We would get 2 to sleep and the opposite one would squirm and wake the 2 sleeping babies...WHEW...glad I never had triplets!!!

Here is the gang this morning at about 36 hrs old. Finally last night by 11pm they seemed to be content. Not sure if it was because Sienna's milk is starting to come in but they were laying there sleeping peacefully! I took full advantage and got some well needed sleep last night!

Autumn looks on in the whelping pen, very concerned or perplexed at what these creatures are!!! Up until now she has been the baby in the family and doesn't quite know what to think of these squeeling babies!!!

1 week old today!!

Wow!! I can't believe how fast this week has gone! The babies are thriving! This litter has been totally text book and aside from making sure mom has been fed and changing the bedding all the credit goes to Sadie.

They are a very content group of babies and rightly so when you see their fat bellies!!! Tried to get a group picture...not the easiest thing to do as they like to bunch up and travel in circles. This was my best shot.
Their eyes and ears are still closed, possibly by the time they reach 2 weeks they should be open. I've had some open at 11-12 days and some at 16 days so we'll see. They look like tiny rotties at this stage with the tan markings but as they mature their heads will turn a tan or a grey then tan.
See the fat belly??? This is the smallest girl. Not so small anymore but still behind the other 2.

Their weights at 1 week::

::Boy - 11 oz::

::Girl - 11 oz::

::Smaller Girl - 8.5 oz::

Very good weights for 1 week old puppies. We will name they as they get a bit older...tentative of course as some of them are spoken for and their new families I'm sure will have their own names. I too am hoping to keep one of these girlies for show.

Incidentally I do believe my 2nd upcoming litter will be making their appearance soon. Sienna is showing signs of early labour and being uncomfortable. Perhaps this evening or tonight things will heat up as her labour gets more active. She is not due until Monday but only she decides these things.

Keep checking as I will post as soon as I can!