Our First Real Nor'easter and other things Christmassy

A few days late, the snow finally came.  It was something to wake up and see the world coated in gentle mounds of crystal white.  The flakes fell in picture postcard vignette, large and soft like drifting on the breeze like eider down.  (Sadly the snow didn't last and it began to rain, so Ron put away the keys to the John Deere and surfed the weather reports which were calling for another 30 cm of snow over the next 24 hours.)

Such a pastoral description (as outlined above) doesn't actually describe a nor'easter, oh no.  We're in the middle of one right now.  The windows of the house are mostly pancaked with snow blown aggressively against the pains by a wind that's as capricious as the most impish of elves.  One side of the trees are completely clear and the other sides are plastered with icy snow.  It's truly not fit for the proverbial man nor beast.

We did get to witness an amusing little squirrel ritual.  We watched Heathcliffe tunnelling in the snow.  This entailed a small ridge of disturbed snow rising mysteriously from the ground, to be followed by his little red head popping up through the crust intermittently.  (Whether to get his bearings or fresh air, I can't be certain.)  To give you more of a visual description, it was a bit like watching a swimmer do the breast stroke.  Once he did this a couple of times he would turn around and make sure the part of the tunnel he'd already created was holding, by running all the way back to the tree line, turning around and starting the whole process all over again.  It took him a good five minutes to tunnel to the house, run along the side and get to the pine tree out the side kitchen window.  Once he had achieved this goal he want back to the fir trees via his new construction project and disappeared.  I guess it's better to have an escape route than not, but we haven't seen him use it again, at least up to this point.  We also have a wood pecker (yet to be named) who seems to be more of a ground pecker, at least the times I've seen him.  Ron says he does actually peck the trees, but I've never seen or heard it.  I wish I had a better camera, so I could get a picture of the birds we have...the blue jays are beautiful and the wood pecker has a lovely rusty red crest, not to mention all the sweet little birds (some of which I think are chickadees) that come to the bird feeder.  They're all very shy and nervous, unlike Heathcliffe, who tends to bully them if they get too close to his stash of food.

In other news, I roasted my first whole turkey (hard to believe, I know, but it's true!) for Christmas dinner and made cranberry sauce and stuffing and all the other fixin's.  Here's a picture of the bird and some other stuff:

This one just because it's pretty.

The goose, er...turkey, is cooked!



Fixin's: Roast 'tatoes, veg, stuffing & gravy

I'm a gravy fiend, so I made enough for 6 people, but it's mostly gone now.  One dinner and a hot turkey sandwich pretty well took care of it.  Ron and I opted not to trade gifts this year.  (Heck, we got a brand new snow blower...that's gift enough, I dare say.)  We had a lovely day and visited with some new acquaintances later in the evening (having had an early supper).  We're adjusting to the concept of dinner and supper as opposed to lunch and dinner but I still slip up frequently and say dinner instead of supper which can cause some confusion if you're trying to make plans.

Ron's coming in from clearing off the car; presumably so there's less to clear off tomorrow, when I head back to work.  We're looking forward to a quiet New Years and wondering if we will indeed even make it until midnight...we'll let you know. (PS the weather forecast has been updated to only 15 cm of snow...no need for the snow blower...poor Ron.)

Our First PEI Christmas

Well, I think the first, and most obvious, thing to say is:  (Click on the photo to make it bigger.  Yes, that's Heathcliffe wearing a Santa hat, Ron refused to pose for the picture!)

As some of you may already know, this photo was taken on a road quite near our house, it was a few weeks ago...we are suffering from a green Christmas.    :0(

Here are some photos of the house with Christmas decorations up:

 

 Oh, I know...boring boring boring, but at least we DID decorate.  Here's a little shot of our Christmas Eve tapas...yes, of course we had lobster, but other stuff, too (chicken wings not shown).

Don't know why one wine glass is glowing...perhaps the Christmas Spirit!

Our day has been quiet, I know most of you are enjoying being with family etc, but Ron and I are just enjoying having a stretch of time off together.  We wish all of you the very best this holiday and hope you have a festive and safe New Year. 

The Green Monster (We're not talking jealousy, either!)

(Welcome new followers, Ryan & Jen!  That's their balloon business link amongst the followers.  If you want balloons to decorate a special event, get in touch with them.   No they didn't pay me for the plug!)

We've been waiting patiently for snow...it comes, it goes...there's even talk of a green Christmas; but that's not the monster of which I speak.  I'm talking about this fellow:

He's a lean 44 inches of snow blowing fury and Ron's more than ready to wreak his revenge against any errant flakes.  (Note the chains on the back.  What you can't see is the 2 forty pound weights on the back to offset the weight of that most gnarly (yes, that's surfer speak - just embrace it) snow blower.)  Here's the problem:

From our walk today (December 18th)

You'll notice the marked lack of snow...not that we're asking for LOTS of snow...but the forecast seems to be for rain over the next few days with a hope for flurries before Christmas.  One of the perks of moving here is to have a white Christmas, or so I told myself.  This is what it looked like last weekend (but just for a couple of days):

From our Dec. 12th Walk

Now, don't think I'm complaining (at least not much) because I'm pretty sure that come February, I'll be so sick of snow and cold that I'll be ready to move to a beach shack anywhere tropical, but is is too much to ask to have a nice little bit of snow for Christmas???  These are the things I ponder in my spare time.  I did go to the Kensington Christmas Parade (no Winter Carnival for these folks!) in my official role as Credit Union Employee.  It seems to be quite the festivity and there were throngs of people along a good chunk of the route.  Unfortunately, my camera was on the fritz (one of the managers was wearing a coat with reflective stripes on it  - that plus flash equals a bad combination) so there are no photos.  It was all very festive and I almost stole a pair of miniature horses dressed up as reindeer.  (Seriously...so cute, about the size of Great Danes - maybe smaller.)  Unfortunately the owners kept a close eye on them...oh well, where would I keep them, in with the John Deere?  Do deer and horses even get along?  Mentioning wild life reminded me about the little "Mutual of Omaha" moment that Ron witnessed yesterday.  An eagle came in and perched on Heathcliffe's favourite tree trunk.  (Heathcliffe saw him coming and made a mad dash for the tree line.)  All the birds pretty well scattered after that and didn't show up again until today.  We were also visited by two coyotes.  (Why do they pronounce it Keye-oat-ees?)  Anyhow they spent a couple of hours cleaning up the farmers field of any tasty little critters.  (Thanks boys, perhaps you could come around weekly, just to keep the mouse population down.) 

By way of an update, we've had no further mouse activity after vanquishing Mr. Scritchy and what we presume was his rather homely wife Mrs. Sneaky.  (She opted not to take his name.)  Hopefully no small Scritchy's were left behind.  I find it particularly awkward as many advertisers have chosen to use cute little mice in their holiday commercials...the mice made their choice, I'm trying to be okay with it.

I hope this finds all of you ready for the holidays.  We've opted to "do" Christmas this year and have decorated.  It's strange how few decorations we seems to have in a house this big, but I think 2 Christmas trees is over the top for us, at least at this point.   

To Paul, where ever you are, you are missed , the world was a more familiar place with you in it, but my Christmas wish for you is peace, whatever that is for you.  I wish it for your family, too.  And to a friend who just recently lost his father to a battle with cancer, my heart is with you and your family.  Every life is precious and we are grateful for whatever time we get to spend in the light of their being.

An Apology, a Suggestion and a Sigh of Contentment.

First, the apology...it would seem that someone thought that the "Tale of Mr. Scritchy, the House Mouse" was actually a children's story and read it out loud accordingly.  My apologies to both the person reading said story and the young traumatized child.  I'll see what I can do to get something more child friendly on the blog at a later date.

Hopefully the cute factor will get me out of the dog house.

The suggestion is for those not as comfortable with technology as others, but would like to say a little something on something we've written or something someone else has added.  (Besides, we like to hear from you and wonder what you're thinking!)

It's quite easy to add a comment to this little blog.  In the comments area just type what you want to say...I have not coded this site as adult only, so mind your "p"s and "q"s please.  (If you don't see a comments field, just click the little green word "comments" and it should make a field magically appear.  (Yes...I can hear all of you asking "Sure, but then what?")  I usually select to post under "Name/URL".  You don't need a URL and you can call yourself pretty well whatever you like (for example someone I know uses "Hop-Along-Tom"), so you would just type in whatever you would like to use to represent yourself and click "post comment".  Okay, this is where it gets a little bit scary.  The computer will ask you to type in word that you see in a box on the screen (which is occasionally hard to read) and click either "okay", "continue" or "post comment" (or something similar).  This isn't a trick to infiltrate your compute it's just to make sure a computer isn't searching the web looking for innocent blogs to post adds or naughty things on.

The sigh of contentment comes for a week's work done, the snow blowing lightly around the house making it seems a bit Christmas-sy, hot chocolate in my tummy and a veal roast for dinner.  (Ron found it for only $5...that's right, eat your hearts out - those of you who like veal.  To those of you tsking at me...don't think I don't know where the meat comes from...I live in a farming community, I've gotten the grizzly details, but refuse to feel any guilt.  If not me, it would be someone else, but I will treat it gently and lovingly and truly appreciate it.)  It's also nice to have a nice cozy home to cuddle down in and spend time with someone I love.

We are learning to enjoy the people of our new surroundings.  They think we're a bit crazy, wanting things like Christmas trees with the roots still attached (so we can replant it), gold and candy stripe beets or Thai curry paste and doing things like ACTUALLY recycling the way the recycling program is set up and going for long walks voluntarily.  We're finding people open and friendly for the most part, though it does take them a while to really warm up and get to know you.

I have a theory that if they can't place your somewhere amongst people they know or have heard of they aren't quite sure what to do with you.  One of the favourite pastimes around here is playing "Do you know so and so?"  It's rather like the five degrees of Kevin Bacon, but you play it with random local people until you can link them to someone you know or are related to.  We aren't very good at it, but have tripped over a couple of connections accidentally.  (Our Geo-thermal heating guy is related by marriage to our investment adviser at the credit union.)  Yes, PEI is actually that small...it's going to be interesting.  Ron's quite excited, if the snow keeps coming (though it's not forecasted to) he might get to use the snow blower.  I'm still working on getting pictures, but it seemed silly up until now, as we didn't have any snow to speak of.

Anyhow, I'm off to sear my roast of veal, perhaps a glass of wine is in order, that's the perk of being the chef!

Are We Mice or Men and Other Stories from the Island



Mr. Scritchy wasn't this cute.

It's been a banner week this week.  I will start with the tale of Mr. Scritchy, the house mouse.  He first made his presence known one night as we watched TV.  Ron popped up of the sofa once and went in to the bathroom, but came back and sat down.  I thought he'd gotten up to turn on the night light in the hallway or something.  Not much after he popped up again, like a released helium balloon and proclaimed "It was a mouse...the little @#$%^$"  The word started with a "b" and rhymes with mustard.  He chased the little thing in to the guest room, but the little bugger managed to get around the blanket that Ron used to try and block the doorway.  We found his access point in the bathroom closet and put something nice and heavy over it until we could get some stuff to seal it off the next day.  He came by his name the following morning.  As I was putting on my make-up I could hear him in the floor under the closet trying to get out.  "Scritch, scritch, scritch".  Creepy.  Anyhow, we used expanding insulation and tin foil to block off the hole and any others we could find in the closet and Ron did an outdoor perimeter check to find any access points and efficiently sealed those off as well.  (We called the closet incident a tie.)  We think we might have closed off his exterior exit, but read along and see what happens.

We found no further signs of Mr. Scritchy until a week or so later, as we were getting ready to go to bed the little so & so popped out of the office from an open knot hole in the flooring.  Ron scared the little guy so badly that he ran down the ledge of the wall leading to the staircase and slipped off the end and fell a good three feet to the stairs and scurried down and in to the living room.  We deployed a familiar tactic, but used better materials.  We blocked of the entry to the living room with books and pedestals and proceeded to chase Mr. Scritchy around for half an hour.  (You have to understand that he was just a teeny little grey mouse with a little pink nose and desperate desire to live.)  Most of you know me well enough to know that I hate killing things, so we were trying to catch him alive to take a release somewhere far away.  Well he figured out our plan pretty quickly and after rushing me a few time (he sensed I was the weakest link from the get go) he finally managed to squeeze himself down in to one of our forced air vents.  We now refer to this as the Living Room Skirmish.  Score one for the mouse.

Disgusted with ourselves for letting him get the better of us, we left up the barrier baited the "never again" traps (aka guillotines) and spent a restless night of shame (cue Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Niceguy").  The next morning the traps were empty and there was no sign of Mr. Scritchy.  We tried to logic it out...the vent pipes led down to a place where he could have slipped out and we hoped that had made his way in to the basement where he couldn't do any harm and it was unlikely that he'd get back in to the main part of the house.  We just couldn't be sure.  We were relieved, we don't abide free loaders and he certainly wasn't helping with the rent, but we could wonder and hope that he was really gone.

This morning Mr. Scritchy was a found...a victim of his own cleverness, he'd come back to the living room and been caught in one of the snap traps.  (Thank heavens I didn't see him...I would have felt horribly guilty.)  Rest in peace little fella' or in your next life bring your wallet with you.

We've finished painting the dining room...another battle, but that's what we get for choosing red.  Now all of you know how much I love RED!    Not being able to paint the living room red made me a bit melancholy, so Ron came up with the brilliant idea to paint the dining room instead.  It looks quite phenomenal, if I do say so myself and with the dark place mats (thanks 'Chelle) and white plates dinners will be visually smashing and hopefully equally as tasty.

The final excitement from our week was the delivery of our snow blower.  We bought an attachment for the John Deere, as the driveway is so ridiculously long. (567 feet according to our deed of ownership.)  It seems a bit futile to have put out the money at this point as its 7 degrees and sunny, but I guess being prepared is better than being snowed in for a week.  Pictures to come.

Ron the Framer

Another week has passed and we survived the bits of snow - it really didn't amount to a whole lot and even though we had wet snow last night, there's hardly anything on the ground.  The moisture did make soup of our driveway, so we've come to the inevitable conclusion that we have to address the issue.  Ironically we had our snow tires put on this week - better safe than sorry.  But here's a shot out the kitchen window, from today, the 27th of November.

We had our first power outage and it's quite hard to describe (at least to city dwellers) how dark it is here when you don't have light.  In the dead of night you can't see your hand in front of your face because there's no external sources of light anywhere nearby.  You can see the glow of distant towns on the horizons but nothing like the permanent glow coming from a major city.  (That's why we have a night light in the upstairs hall to get to the bathroom at night - but that just doesn't help when there's no power.)  It was a short outage affecting only a small area and power was back on in just under two hours.

Ron has successfully complete the hallway framing job and I think he did very well for his first time.  It looks quite professional and is a vast improvement.  (Our motto is "It's better than what was there before!" for anything we do to the house.  It makes us feel better, even if we don't do the most perfect job - not that this was one of those cases.)



The new corner wall.






Hallway overview



Previous light fixture for reference.

We admit that the new light fixture may not be perfect but...(refer to our motto above.)  You have to admit that the stair rail is quite beautiful.  We're going to try to get a stained glass window for above the door, just to lay over what's there already.  Our house is coming together...today we start on the dining room.  To all of you following this, we thank you.  There are times when we feel so far away from everyone that we wonder if we're "out of sight - out of mind".  Know that you are all in our thoughts regularly.  Miss you all!

Our First Snowfall

As mentioned in my last blog installment, we were expecting snow.  It started  mid-day with very small light little flakes drifting down and not coating anything at all.  As the day progressed the flakes got larger and turned in to that wonderful Christmas-sy snow that you see on greeting cards.  That type of snow always brings to mind family and friends, the upcoming holidays and how far away we really are, but we're glad to have the first snow fall over and done with and makes us glad that we're having the snow tires put on the car this week.

The ensuing blanket didn't get very deep, but snow it was and snow we have.  Here are a few photos.  (I'm pretty sure all you West Coasters will be mildly disappointed as it's much like looking out your own windows today.  My bad...did that seems like a bit of a jab?)  I'm just going to let the pictures load however they want, as no matter how I fight with them to try and get some order, they just refuse to co-operate and depending on your computer screen you see them laid out differently anyway.

From the back porch.



Farmer's field




Fledgling icicles

 Work on the house continues, today we are framing in the ventilation pipe that was added to the office.  (Can you imagine, it didn't have any heat before!)  It's our first framing job and we've taken some liberties with the tried and true method, but hey, it's not like it's a supporting wall or anything and trust me it's toe-nailed like no body's business.  You might wonder about the green painter's tape at the top; we had to use ""No More Nails" to help secure the top of the supports (I'm sure there's a name for them, but I can't bring it to mind) as the ceiling doesn't seem to have anywhere that will secure nails and we were too lazy to use gyprock plugs etc.

Ron nailing in a support bar.

 Now we just have to finish insulating, put up the wall board, continue the base board around and paint to match the existing wall - no problem!  ;0)

Our handy work.

We've managed to keep all of our limbs and digits and no small children were hurt during the process, so all is well.

Winter wonderland...in Vancouver???

I've planned to put in pictures of our kitchen, as I realised that most people haven't seen much of it so far, but I couldn't resist a gentle ribbing to all my West Coast friends...I hear that snow is falling and there's more to come through the week?  "What about the snow?" we were asked after disclosing our future plans to move to PEI to which I now must respond "Ha!".  (I think even the locals here don't think we'll make it...there's always a long telling pause that follows the questions "Have you been here in the winter?" to which we always answer "no", of course...insert pregnant pause here.)

I can't poke too much fun, however, as we also have snow in the forecast, with some gentle little flakes drifting down as we speak...at least we're not getting dumped on.  (Sorry couldn't resist one last poke!)  Just last Saturday it was 16 degrees here and we went out for a lovely bike ride, the following day it was clear and sunny, but the temperature dropped down in to the 4 range.  We took a nice long final autumn walk.




Road to Bedeque



1st Church for my Calender - maybe.





 

I'm fairing well at my new job.  There's only been a couple of cultural confusions.  If someone says "she's a way about her" here, they don't mean in a good way...I think it's similar to saying "she's a cow".  (Now that I think on it, considering this is a pretty serious farming province, that might construe some sort of bovine insult and why they say "a way about her/him" as opposed to maligning cows.)  The other cultural clash was more interesting by way of self discovery.  Around here, you can pretty well call up anyone, whether you know them or not and ask a question, request assistance or try and get information about someone.  There's no intermediary. 

Example: You want to rent a (fill in an item or service), so you mention it to someone at work.  The someone at work says "Oh, I think so and so did that for his grandson's birthday, you should call him."  (They assume that you know what part of PEI so and so lives in and to look up his number in the phone book.)  They wouldn't think to let so and so know that you might call or perhaps get him to call you, should he want to...nope...you just look him up and give him a call.  To me that just stomps all over some unspoken social moray that I wasn't even aware of until placed in the situation.  Anyhow, just a bit fascinating...

Here's some photos of our kitchen, just so you can imagine us in the heart of our home.  Ron has cooked dinner twice (by the way), the roast lamb was first and he did a bang up job and then he made a stew in our new slow cooker - also very tasty.



Looking in from the back door.



Looking toward the back door.



As mentioned previously, I have more cupboard space than ever before.  My pots and pans are laid out neatly, not stacked (at least for the most part) and almost everything has a place that makes sense and you don't have to move something else to get to it.  That is the definition of kitchen happiness in my books.  My biggest challenge in the kitchen is that the oven and cook top run off propane.  Now it doesn't seem to affect baking too much - except for the rather disconcerting flames that blast up the sides of the oven; it never fails to freak me out.  The stove top runs hot, so I'm burning things way more often than usual.  (I had very little trouble with natural gas cook tops.)  We've been searching for some sort of heat withstanding riser for the burners, maybe wok style, but with the lack of Asian supplies, we aren't holding our breath.

Ron has been touching up paint in the halls, doing household chores and (as mentioned) cooking when he can.  (He even cleaned the chandelier in the living room - bless him.)  I'm not sure how long he'll last in the role of house husband, he seems to think there isn't enough work to be done and I think he's getting bored already, but that's something to worry over in another blog...

Until next time, when I'm certain we'll have pictures of snow to show you; be well.

Lest We Forget...

While I strive for levity on my posts, today is a day introspection.  I find myself thinking about our lives as Canadians, whether east, west or somewhere in between; the simple freedom of being able to get up and go out when we wish, the plentifulness of food, shelter and water...the security of living in a democratic society, albeit with a monarch.

This state of grace, and no matter your struggle, be certain that it is indeed just that, has been built on the bodies of those who have served in our militaries and peace forces.  Those that have died in conflicts, that that came back unwhole, either in body, mind or both have used their flesh to build this thing that we complain about, ignore and drown with our apathy day to day.  Thanks to them, that is our right and it's easy to do, when we don't have to worry about armed gunmen coming in the night and decimating our neighbourhoods, supported by the government, that we can be certain of water to clean and cook with and that the next rain fall (or lack there of) will not lead our families to starvation.

It strikes me that peace, true peace, is an impossibility...we are incapable of achieving it, but like any unattainable goal the victory lies in its pursuit.  So take today to be at peace, find gratitude, even in the things that are irritants in your day to day life.  

My heart is with all the families, including my own, that have people who serve or have served, our country, who fear picking up the telephone or answering the doorbell; with those that have done so and survived the dreaded news and to all of those that have served and are serving, be they alive or moved on to what ever is beyond this life.  I thank all of you and am humbled.  You are not forgotten.

Battle Wallpaper - Victory Declared & Guest Room Photos

Now, I don't mean to make light of war, considering that Remembrance Day is coming up, but it took us 3 weeks to get the living room walls in order.  Not the carpet, which is still disgusting, or the lighting switched around as we would have liked, but just the walls...5 layers of actual wallpaper, plus 3 more of wallpaper backing that no one ever took the time to remove, crumbling plaster walls, uneven and incomplete trim, cracks filled with what I can only assume was rubber cement, textured wall board and unfinished ceiling seams...it was a process.

I'm sure you remember those hideous photos I posted, but for your viewing ease, I am re posting them.  Please stop to admire the "after" pictures (please ignore the carpet, it will be dealt with in due course) and send us heaps of praise as this was a big job and we're glad to see the improvements. (Don't forget, you can click on the photos for a larger view - recommended on the "afters", not so much on the "befores".)

 

This is where the difference really came in...the painting that we got in Montreal really looks sensational, I must say.  (Thanks Ed Grimly! - If you don't know who he is, that's what search engines are for.)

 

Now, really, isn't that just the slightest bit better?  The walls are actually the colour of Adam's Peanut butter (though its called "Tea Time"), minus the dark flecks (smooth, not chunky, not that I think there's a difference). I know because I compared.

 

Tell me if you think this is strange or not...when I was about 10 or so, I found a chandelier bauble in Mom's jewelry box, which I've kept ever since, wearing it as an earring in the 80's, an embellishment on a rhinestone necklace in the 90's and as a keepsake ever since.  Here's the weird part: the chandelier in the living room has those exact same baubles and was missing ONE.  It's pretty well a perfect match, except it doesn't need a good cleaning and the others do.  If we move again, I'm taking it with me (the bauble, not the chandelier.)  Still, it struck me as rather strange that I'd carried this little sparkly thing around (okay...those of you who know me well enough know I'm like a magpie and secretly like all things glittery) for 30 years.  One last set of "before and afters" and then the guest room...

 



Peanut butter yumminess!



Frosted floral felony...



 











For any of you considering a stay as Windy Pines (just trying that one on for size...no commitment is made) behold your accommodations:

Bay teddy is waiting to greet you and we even have fancy things like a set of guest towels...I know, we go classy all the way.  Check out the warm wool HBC blanket (6 points...that means bigger) just ready for those cold wintery nights.  (Don't worry, we both know that if any of you come visit, it will likely be in the more clement weather, but, like the boy scouts (that thing that Ron did for 15 minutes and decided was stupid) it's best to be prepared.)

S#@*!!!

No, sillies!  Not THAT word, but another four letter word that starts with "s"...yes, that's right  -snow!  We had some, a lot of some...on November 2nd!   There was little snow, there was bigger snow; thankfully it didn't stick.  Well, we know it will eventually, I'm contemplating buying snow shoes to hike the some 14 - 15 kms to work.  Funny that just the other day we got our bicycles so we can tour around in the good weather - I'm sure the locals thought we were completely certifiable.  (Hello, May -  I`m quite looking forward to you!)  Even though it snowed intermittently throughout the day (perhaps I should have been a weather girl?), it never built up enough to take a picture, but not to fear...I'm fairly certain I'll have plenty of pictures to get the West Coaster's laughing their you-know-what's off soon enough.

Ron is fully rigged out with puffy winter jacket, boots (good up to minus 40) and gloves fit to explore the arctic in the dead of winter.  As for me, I`m counting on layering -  I mean really, how cold can it get?  The million dollar question is how will we get the car down that long driveway after a huge dump of snow?  (Which may or may not happen - the type of winter is being hotly debated in several Summerside circles and no one can agree.  I`m siding with the wasp theory...they`re building their nests close to the ground, so that apparently means that there won`t be much snow.  I keep picturing little yellow and black news casters in suit and tie giving the "buzz" about the news - sorry couldn't help the terrible pun.)

We've almost completed the epic battle of the living room.  We've been painting for two days now and still have the trim to go...what a waste of two relatively agile brains!  That being said (as per our mantra for everything we do to the house) "It's better than what was there!".  My time off is quickly coming to a close and I'm not too sure how much time I'll be able to spend adding more minutiae to these pages.

We miss you all and think about our old lives on the other side of the country., but so far, so good, as they say.  We aren't ready to turn tail and run yet and I think we both feel strangely at home...I know, I know...we'll wait for the first big dump of snow.  Any takers on the pool going on in town as to whether we'll make it through the first winter or not???

Pumpkins, Painting and Other Scarey Things (Danica's Big News)

Yes all, we are still alive and well!  It's been a busy week on the Robertson homestead...still waiting on name suggestions.  (Right now, "Windy Pines" comes to mind as the breeze howls through the tree line.)

We took the time to carve a pumpkin and buy treats for any kids crazy enough to walk up our long drive way in the pitch dark.  (As I've mentioned before, PEI folk are immensely practical, so we had no takers.)  Here's a picture of the pumpkin (I've titled the piece "Excedrin Headache Case #107").

I might have been channeling how I felt when we discovered yet another layer of wall paper in the living room.  We spent 5 days peeling, patching and sanding and then another 2 and half wall papering (keep in mind that it still needs a coat of paint).  The rest of the half day was spent painting the ceiling and we've finally gotten round to painting the walls.  You've seen the before pictures and the "we have some of it stripped off" pictures.  Here's the "we have some wall paper up" photos:



 

Here's the texture, so you don't think we're nuts for putting up white wall paper.



Pretty and clean white walls, at least temporarily.



You can see a peek of the dining room down the hall and that's the new sofa in the foreground, but you don't really get a true appreciation of it.

Finally, my big news.  (No, I'm not pregnant!  Ewwww!)  I am officially employed.  I've taken on a contract role at Malpeque Bay Credit Union where I'll be working (wait for it.....) FULL TIME for the next 16 months.  It's a long story, but the best decision for us at this point in time.  (In a previous post, I believe I mentioned that bathroom renos are expensive!)  Anyhow, that's the big shocker!  I think it will be fine as it's an administrative position supporting the lenders and investment folk.  (Read that to say "no members to deal with"; not that I didn't love a good portion of them.)  I'll finish off with a photo of our furry friend Heathcliffe, who has developed a certain unholy love of torturing Ron by hanging around the car and running up over the tires.  (He's going to find his way in to a stew if he chews any of the wires!)


Sittin' on the back porch surveying his kingdom.




Note our pretty maple tree in the back ground. (I think Heathcliffe is ignoring me.)