Another Project

Before I tell you about another house project....

.... Taffy wanted me to introduce her newest friend.  This little girl is Maggie.  She was gifted to us from Auntie Cecile and Taffy immediately fell in love with her!  She is staying in the china cabinet now, so she won't get dirty!  Now on a more serious issue.....

... this is a picture illustrating the counter top that was in the condo when we bought it.  It is granite.  It's best feature (for me) was that I could take a hot pot off the stove and put it directly on the countertop.  It's worst feature (for me) was the shiny finish which reflected the lights back at me, creating a glare that diminished my vision dramatically.  Another flaw was that the finish seemed to require regular re-sealing to avoid rough patches.  Last, but not least, was the busy-ness of the whole thing.  Poppa and I were constantly losing things (like elastic bands, twist ties and even small screws, etc.) on it - they seemed to just disappear and we would have to feel all around the counter to find them!  So....

... we consulted with the kitchen experts at Home Depot.... and next thing you know.....

.... the busy (and extremely heavy) countertops were removed - leaving my island looking rather odd!  Just so you know, Poppa did not endeavor to do this project on his own - we actually had a Home Depot team come in to remove the old countertop....

... and install a new one.  All the equipment in this photo was used to create a seamless top for the island.  It was some kind of compressor which created a vacuum and sucked the two pieces together.

When it was finished setting, we had this nice new countertop on the island.  No relections creating glare from the nice matte finish!

And when the countertop was all installed and the installation crew had left, Poppa started working on the plumbing for the new sink.

This required some work under the sink...

... and some more work in the sink....

.... and when it was done, it looked lovely!  One last picture of this project....

..... with the new Corian countertop and the new beige sink (and the boys' artwork on the fridge!).  It looks lovely, it is easy to clean, I  haven't lost even one thing on it, it doesn't stain at all and is very durable - not to mention the kitchen is brighter and cheerier too!

And... Taffy has one more outfit she would like to share with you!

Just to finish off your day............a cat cartoon!

Projects and Pals

As usual I am quite far behind with my posts..............but during the school break in March, Munchie came for a visit.  But...before I get to that.....what........

....... is Poppa doing now????

Well you see.... there used to be a door into the 2nd floor bathroom from the master bedroom....and as you can see the main door was less than two feet away!  This didn't really make much sense to us.... so Poppa took it out, added new drywall (see first picture) and filled in the opening.....

...... here it is all ready for paint! Now about Munchie's visit!

Oh!  What are these two up to??  Remember the previous picture of our stairs?  

If you look closely at this picture you will notice that all the carpet has been taken off!  Poppa took all the carpet off and then all the underlay had to come off - which required the removal of about 24 staples from each step!  This was a large job which required a lot of bending and kneeling.  So, Poppa enlisted our little Munchie to help - he was more than eager to do that, so.....

..... after a quick demonstration and some practice under supervision.........

......... he was left with his screwdriver and a pair of pliers and ...............

...while he started at the bottom, Poppa started at the top!  it didn't seem very long....

...and they met in the middle - what next for the stairs??

I don't know yet - because my boys stopped to have some fun!  I'm not even sure what they are doing - but it looks a lot like wrestling or boxing or some other "guy thing".  

Me?  Well - you'll never guess - I knitted another pair of socks.  These are called Lacy Legs because the purl stitches of the rib are worked in an eyelet pattern - which is almost impossible to see in this picture!

Bits and Bites

Let's start with the bites.....

Now that Poppa is on the Board of Directors of our Condo Corp. he often has reason to visit one or another of the owners.  Recently there were water problems in one of the garden apartments.  He went to check it out and met the owner, who is an elderly lady who was born and raised in Sweden.  She came to Canada in her early twenties and worked as a pediatric nursing specialist at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto.  When she and her husband retired they moved into a unit in our complex.  She is a delightful lady with a plethora of stories to tell.  She was so pleased with Poppa for his assistance regarding the leak and damage to her balcony - she wanted to express her appreciation and sent over this loaf of homemade braided (in the Swedish tradition) bread.  As you can imagine - it was absolutely wonderful!  She tells us that her grandson makes it better than she does - but I can't imagine how!

Now for the bits!  Uncle Ernie was visiting one day while Aunt Lynda was at her quilting club and asked if he could please have another pair of socks.  I said of course and he mentioned that blue would be nice since he has green, beige and brown.  So I created these and made them with cables as his Dad always loved the socks with cables.  Poppa's Dad was the whole reason I started knitting socks.  He wore hand-knitted socks while he was in the Canadian Army during WW2, and wished he could have some like that.  Gramma Eileen had made him some, but they just weren't quite right and he asked me if I could make some.  I told him I would try.  Apparently I was successful because he couldn't get enough of them.  While working on a pair (probably about the 30th pair!) I decided to crank it up a notch (I was getting bored with plain socks), I decided to put cables on them.  That pair was his favourite - he would show them to everyone and only wore them to church!  When he passed away he still had several pairs.  By then, I had caught sock fever and since socks are small and easy to take-along, I started keeping an ongoing pair in the car for Poppa's visits to Canadian Tire and Home Depot - or when he just happened to find someone to talk to... I would get them out and usually had time to work several rounds before he returned to the car!  This was especially nice in Florida on a warm, breezy day.

|I made this pair and called them Sugar Plum, and as soon as they appeared on the Sock File, Auntie Colleen asked for them.  She must have one whole dresser full of socks!  She is my best advertisement and my best customer!  My favourite baby sister!

So, then with some hand-knitted tools for a twiddle muff in mind, and the theme for that muff being "in the tool shed", I made a spider and.....

.. then a little mouse....

........ then I attached all the tools on the sides which will be facing out, and some textured items on the sides which will be facing inwards.

One side........

... and the other.  I passed it along to Aunt Pauline when she was up on the weekend.  These are fun to create.  I want to make more when I have time.  All the local nursing homes love to get them - if you are looking for a fun project to use up yarn odds and ends in your stash - try these and take them to any nursing home in your area.  If you google Twiddle Muff, you can get lots of ideas!

More.....

... as promised!

It is still cold here and Squeegie is still waiting for Poppa to get ready so they can go and get their lottery tickets - they do that every Wednesday and Squeegie calls it "boys night out".

We've had more snow - Poppa got his shovel out and moved some of it off our front yard.  It was a milder day so he spread some on the road to melt.  Me........I stayed inside and.........

..... worked on some of my knitting projects.  I lengthened Munchie's orange sweater and added a pocket for his mittens (or anything else a little boy would like to put in there).

I made some little knitted tools for a male version of a twiddle muff to be given to one of the male residents where Auntie Pauline works.

Poppa took long enough away from his shovelling to customize his closet to make it more efficient and allow for more items to fit in there - do you see someone special who sneaked into the closet before I took this picture?

I made some socks that I dubbed "Caesar Salad", and I also.....

... made this pair and called them "Minty Fresh".  Auntie Colleen claimed both of these almost immediately!

These are our stairs leading to the 2nd floor.  I'm showing you this for a reason to be disclosed at a later date.

A Bit of an Update

Here I am playing "catch-up" again!  A few pictures to share....

... while Curtis was spending some time with us, Munchie was off on a school trip to try winter camping.  There were lots of activities for the children to try.  Here is Munchie on skis!  He managed to turn his ankle at some point and decided he didn't really like skiing, but he looks adorable!

Here he is up close.  He looks so much more grown up than he did just a year ago - I think it is the new teeth!  What a handsome little boy!  He had just gotten a new haircut - so he sent me a photo!  The new do looks exactly like Poppa's when he was that age - except Poppa's was very dark!  Same blue eyes though!

Curtis is also working on a new set of teeth, but isn't quite so far along in the process!  But, he looks fetching nevertheless - who could resist that face!  Curtie also had a haircut prior to sending this photo - with the short hair and the missing teeth he looks like a seasoned hockey player!

This is the large tree across the road on December 26, 2017.  We had lots of snow!  I'm not usually in Canada on December 26th so I thought I should snap a picture!

Taffy wanted her picture taken in her purple skirt - she rather liked the outfit.

We stopped over for a visit with Auntie Denise and her friend Peter one evening.....

... so while we were there I took a photo of the kitchen cupboards that Poppa installed for her (they are from Ikea and they look really nice).

And - I delivered a pair of socks for Peter - he was feeling a little jealous of Auntie Denise's collection of hand-knit socks.

I also finished another bear/blanket set for a cousin to the last recipient.  They seem to be quite popular!

This is a teaser!  Munchie came to stay with us in March - and I couldn't resist posting this picture of two best friends in similar outfits!

Squeegie still spends time waiting for Poppa to take him someplace - in this case they were heading to the grocery store for some milk to put in their tea.

When they were finally ready, Taffy decided she would get bundled up in her new snowsuit and go with them.  Yep!  They are still cute!

Then it turned even colder and Squeegie put on his snowsuit for the same trip about a week later.  More to come......