R is for Renovate, Rebuild and Repair

The Space Cadet loves to mend things. He can't bear to see something that's broken, or almost broken. It's his mission in life to find innovative ways to Renovate, Rebuild and Repair everything that needs attention, while incurring the least possible cost.

In the past, he's turned the depressingly dark 1960's avocado green bathroom into a bright sunny place where you can actually enjoy your trip to the loo.

He's Ripped out the ancient red stair carpet and Refinished the bannisters and handrail.

He's double glazed the windows and insulated my office.

He's planned and installed a new gas furnace and hot air ductwork..... oh, and Rebuilt the laundry room, and the rec room... Repaired my car.... is there no end to this man's talents?

... and now he's at it again, repairing the double doors that separate the driveway from the back yard. The doors have been out there in all weather for more than 15 years, and some parts were completely Rotten. First step.... take them apart.

The doors were held together with wooden dowels which had almost disintegrated, so The Space Cadet Replaced the dowels with plastic gas service pipe .... and it worked! Told you he's innovative! And cheap! Never spend money on stuff when you can use whatever you have lying about in the workshop.


Once the glue had dried, it was time to put the door back in one piece.

Sanding, then a coat of paint, and the glass was Replaced. Sorry, I don't have a "Before" pic, but here's the "After".

Q is for Quilt

In September 2002 I started making a Quilt. I'd been hoarding a pack of fabric squares bought a few years previously in USA, so it was time to use them.
I saw a pattern I liked, and copied it, and this is the result. It's machine stitched, but hand quilted.
It was intended to be a Christmas prezzie for OlderSon's new house. Still not finished, and now it's 2007.
Oh well..... one day....

Here's a Quilt I actually completed!

The Space Cadet says it looks like castles, I said it's supposed to be cats. What do you think?

P is for Pink and P is for Purple

Continuing with the Alphabet theme ( which seems to be turning into a colour theme too, see previous post), P is for Pink and P is also for Purple.

Looks like it's time for a fresh coat of Paint!

O is for Orange

The Orange watch that I received as a gift for Mother's Day.

This is the most Orange thing I have ever owned.

Gold plated too.

With sparkles instead of numbers.

And an Orange denim strap.

Joan Rivers should be proud of me.

WOOHOO!

N is for Neighbourhood

I'm very lucky to live in a quiet older Neighbourhood. A place where faces are familiar. My house is on the left. Red brick, built around 1895.

People take care of their houses and gardens here. And say Good Morning to you and smile when you meet them on the street or in the grocery store.

The streets are transformed into avenues of green once the leaves are out.

The gazebo by the stream....

... and a view along Main Street.

Unfortunately, our small town is changing, and not everyone thinks it's a good thing. In the next 15 years, our population will double. Farmland is being bulldozed and new houses are springing up in the thousands. I wonder where all the people will come from to fill them.

And worst of all......

......we're becoming a WAL-MART town!

M is also for Mother's Day

My Mothers Day celebration was delayed for 24 hours, and I'm happy that it was!
We made our way downtown by the Toronto CN Tower on Monday after work. YoungerSon almost went for a swim in the salmon pool thanks to his Beloved.

The CN Tower is the world's tallest freestanding structure on land. The Tower opened to the public in June 1976. I've been to the Observation Deck many times since then, usually acting as tour guide to out-of-town visiting friends and rellies, but I was surprised to learn that neither OlderSon or YoungerSon have been up there since they were kids.

We ate at Copia Grille on Front Street. I had the special... tilapia with ginger and mango, with steamed rice, and assortment of stir-fried veggies... Divine! Prices were good too.

And then... on to the Rogers Centre (formerly known as The SkyDome until purchased by Ted Rogers in 2004) to the Jays game.

We went in at Gate 5. Scalpers everywhere, but we already had our tickets.

Need a Blue Jays hat? Team shirt with your favourite player's name on the back? Here's just the place.

Before the game, "The Star Spangled Banner" and "O Canada" on the Jumbotron.

We had seats in the second row just past third base. Just far enough past third base that we all had cricks in our necks from looking to the left for 2-1/2 hours!

Lets Play Ball.....

By the sixth inning, the peanuts and beer had all been consumed and we needed some dessert.

Seventh inning stretch....

........and the home team wins!

Toronto Blue Jays 5, Baltimore Orioles 3.

Thank you to my wonderful family for a great Mother's Day!

P.S. I've changed No1Son and No2Son's blog IDs to OlderSon and YoungerSon. There's far too much competition to be Mum's No1 favourite these days.... :-)

M is for Mouse

Continuing with the alphabet theme, (only 13 more to go, aren't you glad?) M is for Mouse. When I went to serve the usual birdies breakfast from the bird seed bag in the garage, my scoop of bird seed contained a dead mouse! Yuk... shudders!
The next day, there were two live mice in there. I have no idea how they got in, but they definitely couldn't get out.
The Space Cadet made sure they won't be back!

M is also for Moose. Good thing this chap isn't foraging for food in the garage.
He might be a little harder to get rid of!

L is for Lamplighter

The natural gas company I worked for comissioned a Limited Edition bronze of The Lamplighter to recognise employees with 25 years of service.

The sculptor is Siggy Puchta, who was born in Germany and emigrated to Canada in 1953 at the age of 19, and is well known for creating bronzes and carving in stone.

The first gas lamps in Toronto were lit in 1841 to commemorate the birth of King Edward VII.

By 1848 there were 164 gas street lamps in operation.

By 1857 there were 675 gas street lamps and it was a common sight to see the lamplighters bicycling around the city to light the lamps at dusk.

By 1883, electricty was starting to take over the job of lighting the streets. In 1890, the last remaining 34 lamplighters were discharged, and other jobs were found for them.

I've had my Lamplighter for a few years now. He lives on the mantle above the fireplace. I'm very fond of him.

K is for Knitting (part 2)

As an addition to yesterdays K post, have a look at this knitting project.... (not mine!)

K is for Knitting

My mother taught me to Knit when I was about 7.
She constantly had some Knitting project on the go. Her needles would click together at a rate of knots at every spare moment. She could follow a complicated pattern with hardly a glance at her yarn and needles, drink a cuppa tea, and carry on a conversation at the same time.

I'm not quite that accomplished.
I've knitted sweaters, baby blankets, hats, gloves, my latest project has been striped socks. The Space Cadet currently sports a beautiful purple pair, he is SUCH A COOL DUDE when he wears them.
It's hard to think ahead to winter weather when the daffodils are blooming, but I'm currently using up spare yarn to make fluffy scarves for prezzies.
It's never too early to plan for Christmas!!

Ten Facts about ME!

Rosemary tagged me to reveal TEN facts about ME, and it's only polite to respond, even though I was an afterthought taggee! Just kidding, Rosie.

1. I started making a quilt in 2002... still not finished. But one day it will be.... I just can't predict which decade.
2. I have red hair. When I was at boarding school, I was asked if my hair kept me awake at night, cos it was so bright. I hated being called "Red" or "Ginger". But I never had to colour my hair, and it's way better than going grey! Just think of the money I saved by not having to invest in Lady Clairol every couple of weeks.
3. I cry at everything.
4. I consider turning on a tap and hot water coming out whenever you need it to be one of mankind's finest achievements.
5. I was at Buffalo Zoo when Neil Armstrong stepped from the Lunar Module onto the Moon in 1969. When he said "One small step for a Man, One giant leap for Mankind", I was watching monkeys.
6. The count so far is 0 grand children, 2 grand-horses, 2 grand-kitties and a grand-dog. None of them have red hair.
7. I saw my first TV at a friend's house at age 7 or 8, my favourite programme was The Cisco Kid. (Ehhh Cisco! Ehhh Pancho!) My family had electricity installed when I was about 10. My father said we would NEVER get one of those new-fangled time waster TV sets. We got the TV when I was 11.
8. I learned to drive at 18 on a 1950's 3 ton Bedford RL Army truck with manual gears with no synchromesh, and had to have a special endorsement on my British drivers license as I was under 21 at the time (only those over 21 could drive heavy equipment).
9. I married far too young.
10. I spent most of my childhood driving my mother crazy cos I wouldn't eat meat. I still don't like it much, but at least I eat some now. But I prefer veggies. And Cheese! I LOVE cheese!

So there you have it! Ten fairly useless facts about ME.

If any blogger wants to take up the challenge, consider yourself tagged. But let me know, cos I want to find out all about you!

J is for Jolly Jaunty Jokes on Moving Day

Jolly Jaunty Jokes?
OK, so I'm cheating a bit, but I had to think of something crazy beginning with J just to carry on with the Alphabet theme, but really the focus of today was Moving Day for No2Son and his Beloved. They moved from a rented one bedroom apartment in Toronto to their very own three bedroom town house in a smaller town to the east of the city. Such Excitement!

The Beloved's Dad delivered all their furniture in his giant trailer, and believe me, it was absolutely FULL.

The guys giving their muscles a work out.

Careful of that mattress, someone has to sleep on that tonight!

The enormous new fridge arrives. This delivery man was quite upset when he thought I had taken his picture... perhaps he had a shady past that he wanted to hide. The fridge is so big that the front door had to be removed to get it into the house.

When I left, S's Dad was about to hook up the central vac, and go shopping for paint for the bedroom and bathroom.

I'm so happy they have bought this house. It's quite a long daily commute to and from their work, but it's a great starter home, and it's so hard to find anything affordable. I know they'll be happy here.

The next big event in their lives (and ours!) is The Wedding in October!