February 19, 2025 One day, a friend who had been curious about our progress asked me why I had only shown photos of beautiful end results, and only wrote about positive outcomes of our projects.  I was, on the contrary, convinced that I had shown a good balance of both; the beautiful and the ugly….

November 11, 2024 The race to the finish line was both intense and exhilarating! So much of our efforts and focus—in a VERY short time was spent poring over the construction of this room. There were fine details (specific to the taste of the tenant who has officially moved in on the eve of her…

November 1, 2024 We are running headstrong to the finish line for Lorelai’s bedroom to be completed. With an ambitious deadline of this Friday penned in our calendar—the drywall, pod lights, plugs and light switch boxes, and two pendant light fixture boxes have been installed. The mudding (or crack-filling as is more commonly termed here)…

April 10, 2025 We’ve been diligently tackling moving all our boxes and items next door to the newly built shed in our backyard. The first few bags of items moved were hurriedly prompted by our youngest, who had been patiently waiting to reunite with her favourite, long-lost stuffed animals of years past. Relocating Belongings Many…

October 14, 2024 Fall has to be my favourite season. The sun decides it is too comfortable to rise early and put on its shining coat for us to admire. Perhaps the trees drop its colourful leaves to protest the sun’s progressively delayed rise each morning. As the days shorten and the nights cool, we…

March 16, 2025 Even though we’ve wrestled our way through the majority of this winter, fighting malfunctioning appliances and frozen pipes, Michiel has made significant progress constructing a third dormer for both Florence’s bedroom and our master bedroom.  Much of the progress started before the snowstorms and freezing temperatures began, back at the end of…

April 5, 2025 Michiel and I spent a large portion of our winter days solving our storage issue. The yet-to-be renovated portion of our house is filled to the brim with the rest of our belongings and renovation materials. In order to start work on this section, we had to find a good location to…

March 28, 2025 The sun is hanging onto the day just a little longer each passing day. Mounds of snow have turned to puddles, soaking into the dirt beneath them.  Winter has waved good-bye to us—surely they have packed away their wintry elements and soared to a far away land.  Each gust of wind sends…

August 29, 2024 There is something alluring about watching yellow and orange flames dance in front of you on a cool summer evening. The cackling sound of twigs freshly lain on the pile of hot wood and coals invites a cozy feeling. The weather is changing. The air is crispier in the evenings. The sun’s…