what would you do?

about a month ago my husband woke me up at midnight and said i better get outside to see if i can help.
i had no idea what was going on. then he told me he smelt smoke and the neighbours were outside with flaslights paniking.
we thought it was about the neighbours on the right side of us. the parents had gone in to town for the allouette's football game and their son decided to have a pool party that could have easily led to a mishap.
it wasn't them.
it was our neighbours to the front - across the street. the gorgeous house that i gaze at everyday through my living room windows. the one that the husband works on tirelessly everyday.

i can't even remember if i had shoes on when i ran outside. {the reason tony sent me is that they are a 100% french family and tony doesn't speak the language so he felt he wouldn't be able to help.}

i ran across the street in what i thought was fog at first - i was still half asleep. it wasn't until my eyes adjusted did i noticed everyone in their light summer pajamas, bare feet, clutching their babies and hearing the panic did i realize it was this house. then the bottom corner of the roof started to spark and flames licked out, taunting us, for all eyes to see. almost like it was laughing at us.

this house had no chance. this house is gone.

we stayed up most the night in watching in awe. i have never been so close to something like this ever. {well once but i had a newborn and tony thought it best i stayed inside so i missed it.} we were also up all night because the command post for the emergency was on our front lawn, in front of our bedroom.

there were two accidents during the ordeal - one fireman fell through the roof, the lower half of his body in active fire, another fireman ran over and tried to pull him out and finally giving him one last push out and they BOTH the fell off the roof together in an embrace. in total three volunteer firemen were sent to the hospital and all came out fine.

as we watched the fire it started to make me think. now i know i am not supposed to make this about me but it does ignite some questions within oneself. what would you do in that situation? i have countless scenarios running through my head but at the end of the day WOULD i be that crazy lady i envision running through the house gathering photo albums and computers as i always thought? would i just panic and chuck my kids out the windows and run out as well?
in the split second you have to decide - what would you do?

they lost everything. i can't even begin to comprehend that. thankfully they are all safe.
that's the most important. i think i just found my answer.

it made me realize one thing though - life IS short. you have to live at all to the fullest and experience the wonderful it all has to bring and hopefully enjoy yourself immensely along the way. enjoy your family {however that looks} and, if you have to work, enjoy what you do to the fullest.

on that note.....



i quit my job.



and i think we just decided to sell our house.....

ordinary to extraordinary.

making the ordinary.....

extraordinary!!

lately i have been going room to room making list of things to change or update. when i see that major power tools or expertise are needed i make a list for Tony. when i see a job that i can very well perform i make a list for me.
in here it was all me.
i have been going for those little homemade touches lately and have loved them. {i'm toying with an idea for a handmade tree for christmas - a second house tree - but that's a topic for another time...}
so in here my little eye floated upwards and my heart screamed yes!

the plain old ikea canopy was screaming for some frosting.
a little whimsy.

immediately i had a plan.
a little girls room + amazing fabric = perfect whimsy.
i was on the right track.

this summer i became obsessed with bunting. multi- patterned fabric bunting. i hung some here. and some here. and i even made some for here.
so...why not put some in here?
for my birthday i got a new sewing machine and have definitely given in a workout. isn't that what presents are for? to get what you want and use it all the time? that's what i thought too.

to me this bunting gave it the right touch and makes me smile.
and aydan was pretty excited about it too.
someone once told me that bunting makes you happy.....i tend to agree.

and house......this is just the beginning!

canopy transformation know-how:
okay i have to confess something here....
i am crap at step by step.
i tried to take photo's as i went but the brilliance of some does not translate to me.
so...i am just going to talk to you about it. is that okay? will you not hate me in the morning?

okay, let's do this!

first thing you need is the canopy. head over to ikea, grab one, grab a new sofa as well because we are heading in to the tv room next ;), then come back and we will go on to the next step.
don't worry i will wait................................

back? okay. so IF you are no where near an ikea some mosquito netting and some kind of hoop will work. drape the netting over the hoop, attach it and attach an s hook in the center top and hang.

step 2: measure around the hoop for the length of ribbon you will need and give your self another half of that {divided in two} for extra on either side.
now make a template out of white card stock of different styles of triangles and tape to the underside of your ribbon, hold up and see which style you like best. choose your style and let's get moving.

now pick your fabric, iron them out and cut out your triangles using your template.
once all your triangles are cut, arrange them in some sort of pattern. i decided to sew my triangles on but i also ran a double sided tape dispenser along the back to adhere my fabric to the ribbon so i eliminated to use for pins in my ribbon. less hole marks.

sew your fabric to the ribbon. you have made the bunting! now attach the bunting to the netting. i have to confess something here - i wish i had some amazing method to tell you about how to attach this and you all could sit back in awe. but that is not going to happen. i ended up taking it with thread every three triangles but then by 2/3 way through i got so frustrated that i ran the tape along the back and pressed it on. i know i know - not what you want to here but that's how i ended up doing it.
the tie the backs together to give it a nice finish.

now on to the stars.....

to give it just one more touch i went ahead and made some stars so aydan could lay in bed at night and gaze at the stars.

these were super simple.
lay two pieces of yellow felt together, trace out a star on one side and cut out the stars - both pieces at once. if you use a black sharpie cut just inside your marker and you will see it...as i found out!
next cut som ribbon the length that you want them to hang. dot a little glob of hot glue at the op inside of your star, press your ribbon into it and press your two sides together.
now you can do one of two things. you can glue your edges together or you can sew them. i sewed and i stuffed. you do not have to stuff if you don't want to. just run your stitch around et voila! if you do decided to stuff - run your stitch from side of the outside bottom to the other. {you are reversing and securing your stitch everytime you go on and off right?} now stuff in your stuffing. once you have enough in there pin the bottom closed and stitch up the rest. using your fingers smoosh around the stuffing so it get's to all corners of your star. run some white glue around the outside edge and coat with glitter. let dry. attach safety pins to the top of your ribbons, pin to the underside of your canopy. lay down, admire your work and gaze at the stars.

**my next plan for this is to wrap a string of clear small twinkle lights on white string - when it's FINALLY unpacked at the stores...i have already been to three stores looking and my unpatientness is showing - around the hoop on the inside so at night it REALLY is like gazing at the stars. just remember: do not leave them on unsupervised....but i didn't need to tell YOU guys that, did i?

the artist formerly known as the privacy tree.

we have quite a unique yard/house set up.
10 years ago the house that sat on this property burnt down.
now i have no idea where the house sat before but when the previous owners rebuilt they built the house directly in the center on the lot.
so there is yard on all four sides of the house - and pretty equal yards {the house is also on an angle...something to do with feng shui...i really don't know...}
therefore to get the maximum use out of all our property we use all four sides.
but we also have neighbours on both side and back {we can really see the back people - problem hopefully to be solved next summer...will it ever end?? yep, then we will sell! ha!}.
now we can't see our side neighbours but they have both decided that the best for their layouts is to put there pools {another problem for us to be corrected next summer....} right up close to either of our sides - even though they have lots of other options on the other sides of their houses...don't get me started on that.
so the long story short - we can hear them but we can't see them. {and we can smell their afternoon maryjane.}

well that's not the case anymore.
on the one side where we have our firepit, where we have our rink, where we entertain....our beautiful big privacy tree that shelters us from the world at large fell down.

IT FELL DOWN!!!

and now we can see them, hear them better and also the busy road behind them.

bummer.
major bummer.

2 years.

here we are.
2 years in our house.
exactly.
i like milestones. i like to think about them, celebrate them, document them, smile at them.

as i was thinking about this anniversary i realized....this is the longest we have stayed put in a house since our kids were born!
i couldn't believe it but it's true.
let me walk you through it.

2 months shy of aydan's 2nd birthday we moved from downtown vancouver to a suburb an hour outside of the city {we didn't have a million dollars for a vancouver fixer upper - can you believe we didn't have that?? chump change. ha! - so it was country life or us!}.
then on the one year mark of being in the townhouse the husband declared that we were putting the place on the market - he really wanted out of there. okay. i think i had just hung the last picture and was proud of the place THAT DAY!
by some grace of god we got the offer on the townhouse two hours before our offer on the other house expired! that's called cutting it close - real close.
out we got and into our house, august 29th, 2008.
a definite up-grade. four walls, detached. yard all around.
heaven.
now we were the proud parents of a three year old and a 1 and a half year old.
fast forward to two months before aydan's 5th birthday and we made the move out east to our home now.
and here we are two years later.
celebrating a milestone. an anniversary.
we made cinnamon rolls. they were the perfect sweet treat for such an occasion. 

when i think back to the post i wrote last year commemorating the one year in the house, i reminded of how far we have come.
a few more rooms have been painted.
more landscaping has been done.
and this new town of ours is starting to feel like home {although i do have to habit of still calling vancouver "home" - as in "well back home...." i need to stop that. now.}

is this our forever home? no.
will it do for the next 5 years? yes.

so here's to the next five years!!
cheers!
:)

a funny thing happened when i tried to take the photo.....

my house gets zero natural light.
well a little but not as much as you would think.
there are pockets here and there but the light seems to travel up and over - not through.
there are no "real" trees around. {there are trees but none so close to the house that they block the light}
there are windows. beautiful ones.
there is really one spot that get's natural light and the dining table is up against it.
or i have to go outside. that's what i usually do.
it doesn't make sense.
it looks like it would get light. you would naturally think it would.

the problem....
the house was built with feng shui in mind.
not with sunlight in mind.
don't get me started on that.

so.....
i have to resort to this to get you the pictures you deserve.
move the table. retreat to the floor

yes i go to these lengths for you.
look at that picture above.
it's worth it.

fill you in tomorrow about what i have been up to.....
{and yes i am on the floor typing this right now.}
{and i just noticed my dusty buffet...please don't judge me.}

the transformation of a landscape.

i find sometimes when you are immersed in one thing, live with something, are the thing, you don't notice or grasp the transformation that is happening before your eyes. you almost have to step back, remove yourself from the situation and then look back.

that is how i have felt lately. sometimes i think of the show the biggest loser. we go on this journey with the contestants who are dropping enormous amounts of weight but because we are following and cheering them on, they seem different week to week but not so much. understand? it's not till that pivotal point in the show where they do the then and now do you really see the transformation - the one that you supposedly have been keeping an eye on but apparently has flown over your head. you are shocked. in awe. excited for them.

that's how i felt last week. as you know we moved out east a year and a half ago and this house was less than perfect. the major hurdle was the yard. the landscape. we attacked it that first year. we sweated. we grunted. we found new respect for gardeners and landscapers. finally at the end of the summer - with our war wounds of back aches, scrapes and bruises - we got it to a place where we could do something with it. in went some plants. down went some grass - until next year when the real work could be done.

again this summer we slaved away - this year was the grooming year rather than the demo year but still it's quite the task. more plants went in. a fence was built. more dirt was hauled out. more grass put down. because of our work, the rink will be able to be bigger this year {yeah!}. a rock wall in the front creating curb appeal was carried out. looking to next year it will be major grooming, major overhaul on the vegetable garden, and lots of finger's crossed that the plants we put in work and look attractive. and then we can slow down.

it wasn't until last week when i was forced to clear out the iphoto once the number hit 15,000 that i stumbled upon the photo's of summer one that i sat back in awe. when i look out at the garden i see what needs to be done - i don't dwell too long on what we have accomplished {maybe i do a little but not as much as i should}. i am now in awe at what we have accomplished. amazed. incredible. inspired.

i felt like a contestant looking back and actually feel quite proud of us. now i am excited to tackle the task next summer. the vegetable garden. the fire pit area. the cedars along the back for privacy. possibly a new deck {but that is safely on the wish list where i suspect it might stay for a couple summers}. hopefully an outside access to the hot tub room. we will just have to wait and see.

backyard left side

back yard right side

left side yard

 continue after the jump to view all the before pictures!

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i should be mowing the lawn.

i should be mowing the lawn.

i should be vacuuming.

some kids are at a birthday party.
some kids are napping.
my mom took the train into the city.

i should be prepping the yard for the start of the transformation.

i should be doing a lot of things. but i am not.....can you blame me?

my almost green thumb.

jenny jenny quite contrary how does your garden grow?

quite well actually.

since moving into the house last year i have had a buzz to dive head first into the garden. as i have made some progress i still have miles and miles to go. i have made some wise choices and some mistakes and i can almost see a green hue forming on the outer edge of my thumb - very faint and more of a khaki green, more yellow but desperate to be considered green. i am not a gardener by any means but i can see a garden forming and it tickles my heart. i have made a decision (probably too late in the season) that i would like to fill the back part of the garden with as many perennials as will fit there - my irises and day lilies have grown quite nice there -and possibly scrap annuals all together as i am not a very good weeder - i jump in in the beginning of the season then find other things to occupy my time in the middle and end of summer and forget about the weeding. i would just like it to be full and planty.

also there is a vegetable garden and that is quite special. last year i was amazed and impressed by the bounty i (me!!) was able to produce and this year it doesn't seem to be working so well. the house came with these broken down raised boxes i have just sort of kept them going by propping them up and tilling in new soil when they probably should have all been replaced - but what a job that is!!! my potted vegetable/herbs are thriving though and i think i might add some more pots to the collection for next year and possibly turf the large beds all together - except i have managed a weak collection of strawberries there that someone likes to take nibbles out of.

thyme.

my almost tomatoes

the last surviving strawberries - all others nibbled by, i suspect, the skunk which sprayed gordon.

cherry tomatoes planted from a small six pack.

along the back stone patio there are what seem to be beds that the previous owners filled with rocks and the weeds have made this their home as well. this would be beautiful all dug out and planted - what a job that would be! i think that might go on my next year or possibly autumn list if i can muster up the will and desire. you can see a faint inclination of it behind in the picture of the potted cherry tomatoes - see all those rocks? that's a flower bed.

the left side of the house has a plan all it's own as that is where the winter rink goes and in summer it is thick slabs of uneven concrete that the husband has come up with a clever idea of filling the space with gravel to even it out, decoratively placing flagstone, making our fire pit the middle and wait patiently for the grand gift of a yard lounge set and some muskoka chairs (wink, wink).

the front is a work in progress creating that "curb appeal" but at least the ghetto brick planters are gone and i see a beautiful raised bed in our future. as keeping in the theme of the house i hope to keep the colour scheme in white and red up there and upon hearing that there are red day lilies i am very excited to add them in there for that pop of red. i love the look of long grasses when that's the purpose - not when you are a lazy sack who will not mow! i will keep hanging baskets year after year because they add that something special to the front porch but i am hoping to create a garden that will come back every year and minimize my trips to the nursery. i gaze across the street at the beautiful landscape created there and sometimes get discouraged but then i remember that they have lived there in 29 years, that rome was not built in a day and quite possibly their garden looked like mine years ago. being neglected for years, tackled head on last year, seeing improvement by the next and hopefully will one day match theirs in style & beauty. fingers crossed.