All Landsacped!

We've finally got all our landscaping in! (Well, except for a bit of bark mulch and a few stepping stones we need to get, but we won't talk about those.)

We put in the plants on top of the rock wall last weekend and I think it turned out rather well.

We've got a border of heather that goes down our driveway and up the neighbours' - alternating three pink and three white - and don't ask me what else we've got because I have no clue! But I think it'll do! It'll be a bit of a surprise over the next year as we find out what each plant looks like in the different seasons.

Half Landscaped...

We have half the plants planted. Well, probably more than half, but we do still need to get a few more for on top of the rock wall and around the side of the neighbour's driveway. But it's starting to look good!

Landscaping!

Thanks to Auntie Shirley's help we finally got some plants so we can finish up the lanscaping in the front yard! No, this is not where they are all going, as one side looks way too crowded and the other side very skimpy. We'll arrange them today and see how it looks. Stay tuned for the final result. And yes, we are STILL waiting for final inspection!

Finally Ready For Final Inspection!

With the last of the rock on and grouted we are ready for final inspection!

John came by yesterday and grouted the rock around the fireplace and it looks great!

Come by and see it for yourselves one day!

Rock On!

John came by this afternoon and put the rock around the fireplace! He's planning on coming back tomorrow to put grout around it and then we're done! I think it turned out rather nice.

A nice anniversary present for us too, to get that rock put on! Yup, 11 years today for us!

Landscaping!

Look, we've landscaped! Well, if you can call planting one tree landscaping!

We finally got around to planting the lilac tree we got in June! It's poor little roots were definitely needing some more room to grow. We're hoping to get the rest of our landscaping done in the next two weeks or so.

Get Ready To Rock!

John came by today and put a coat of concrete on the fireplace which needs to happen before the rock can be added.

I couldn't remember what kind of rock I'd picked out so I looked in the box today and was relieved to see some rock that should look nice. It's so hard to tell from a little one-inch picture in a catalogue! It's the same style as the rock on the front of our house, but one color, a kind of beige-ish not too much unlike the carpet or couches. Hopefully anyway!

Grass

The grass has sprouted! But, I think the weeds are starting to take over. It's still a little patchy in places, but apparently this is how grass comes in.

The back yard looks big and almost ready to play in. There's even a swing set back there just waiting to be assembled and tried out.

We Have Grass! - Seeds, Anyway

Uncle Lorne and his crew came back yesterday to finish unloading the top soil. Then Darcy went back to his place, picked up a final load of dirt, some grass seed and fertalizer.

At 8pm last night Darcy and I planted grass seed. I didn't realize how big our back yard was, but now that there's nice dirt everywhere instead of weeds, it looks huge!

We planted some grass on the side of the driveway, but some of it will be landscaping.

I don't know if I've ever said this, but it was nice to see the rain today! Good for grass seeds, and saves me watering it!

Almost Landscaped!

Well, we're getting started on landscaping, anyway. Uncle Lorne brought some guys to work at our house today. The junk has been removed from the front yard, the sand's been smoothed out,

top soil has been added to the front side,

beside the garage,

and in the back yard. We're getting there!

Installing the Bookshelves Part III

The bookshelves are complete! Except for a few shelves yet to be installed, but that won't take long.

They look mighty impressive!

Lots of room for my scrapbooks, with room to add to the collection.

This mantle is HUGE, but will look spectacular with my nativity scene all lit up at Christmas.

All we need now is some rock around the fireplace. Maybe this weekend?

Installing the Bookshelves Part II

While Nathan worked all day on Thursday and Friday to install the bookshelves, he's still not done. He'll be back on Monday to finish up.

But he did get the upper shelves up. Well, the frame of them, not the actual shelves yet, but soon.

It'll be very nice to finally have these done so I can actually finish unpacking!

Installing the Bookshelves

Nathan was here all day today installing the bookshelves, - and they're not quite done! It's a big process, but he does good work.

The bottom part of the cabinets are installed, as well as the posts.

He'll be back tomorrow to work on the shelving part.

Bookshelves!

Who did I find ringing my doorbell this afternoon, but Nathan and Kevin, bringing my long-awaited bookshelves and mantle! (No, the mantle's not going to sit that high - it'll rest on the posts.) They're kind of all over the house right now. But Nathan's coming first thing tomorrow morning to install them. Yay!

Black Bean Soup

No, this is not what we had for supper last night, it's the name of the color of our front door! We had always intended our front door to be this color, but I think there was some confusion as to whether the interior paint people were going to paint it, or whether Amy - who painted all the trim outside our house - was going to paint it. And therefore it just didn't get painted! Until yesteday! I think it looks like a much nicer color than before. I'd better like it because it's staying that way now!

It was very nice and summery-hot yesterday so I got out the paint and there you have it!

Rock & Roll

John came by on Monday to put up the rock. We picked it out so long ago that we forgot what it looked like! We knew the basic style, but not the color. Darcy's not thrilled with it, but it still needs grout, so it'll look a little different once that goes on. It'll grow on him - it'll have to cuz we're not changing it now! I think it looks ok - the orange-ish rock kind of matches the orange-ish of the wood.

Now all we need to do is paint the front door (I picked up the paint today) and get some grass and landscaping in.

Open House

OK, all you blog-watchers, it's time for the real thing!

We're having an open house on Saturday from 2-4 so you can come and see the house in person.

If you need directions, give us a call - we're in the phone book.

Hope to see you then!

P.S. - Still no bookshelves - probably not until next week now! Urggg.

Get Ready To Rock!

John came by today and got the front of the garage ready to be rocked.

He'll be back on Monday to put the rock on.

Monday is also the day our bookshelves are scheduled to arrive. Cross your fingers!

Look Quick!!!

Look quick, because the playroom will never be this clean again!

Kaitlyn and I spent all day organizing the playroom downstairs. What a big job! You don't realize quite how many toys they have until you have to pack and unpack them! Rachael vacuumed it when she got home from school.

Cabinet

You know that big white cubby hole in the cabinets under the phone desk? Well, it's no longer white. It looked kind of funny having nice dark cupboards everywhere, and then this big white opening glaring at you. It always was supposed to be wood colored, but they forgot to do it ahead of time, so they had to send somebody out for over two hours to do it today. But it looks much better! There's one piece of trim on the right edge that still needs to be put on - it split when it was being cut, so they have to come back and attach that sometime.

Still no word on when the bookshelves and rock are supposed to arrive. Sometime this week, except that's what they said last week! I'll keep you posted.

Moved In

Sorry to keep you all in suspence for a whole week, but moving is a busy time! Now that we're all moved in, it's time to unpack. Fortunately there's no longer a time-pressure, so I can take however long I want! But, I hate living out of boxes, so it's mostly all done already. Now, let's take you on a tour of the house. Here is the dining room. The table looks a bit small and quite out of place being all beat-up after almost 11 years of use! But it works. Here we have the kitchen. We're still planning on getting counter-stools for around the island one day soon. The trim kit around the microwave is still not in place - we need the smaller size.
As you can see, the fireplace mantle and bookshelves are not in. The finish carpenter is apparently building them in his garage, and then when they're ready he'll come and install them and be out of here in a day. Rock around the fireplace has to wait until the finish carpenter is finished. And we're still waiting for rock on the front of the house, but it's been nasty-rainy this last week. Not very summer-like! Here is the office. Or at least part of it. It's hard to take a picture of the whole thing at once!
The master bedroom is just as gynormous as we imagined it would be! But I love the vaulted ceiling and the dark blue walls.
Rachael and Kaitlyn like their pink room, though they say they're tired of the animal border already. TOO BAD! is what I say! I like it - it really livens the place up. And I think they really like it, too, they just won't admit it.Here we have the guest room, if any of you ever want to stay the night!And, last but not least, is the all-important craft room! Still in a state of dissaray, but I think that's what I'm going to work on today.

If you'd like to see the house in person, we're having an Open House on Saturday June 21 from 2-4. Come check it out! (Hopefully by then everything will be finished!)