And so it begins...

With our vacation over, and Holly and Ben back home safely, we are back to our normal (and I use that term loosely! lol) routine.

Only our routine is about to disrupted in a pretty big way: we are renovating our kitchen.

We have hired a kitchen designer to oversee things and we have been busy this past week or so deciding where everything should go to suit me best, meeting with cabinet guys, and heating guys, and tile guys... lol  It's been a flurry of excitement for the past few days!

I have already lost track of all of the names and who will do what!

Yesterday they put giant holes in my kitchen! Looks pretty ugly, I have to say. But as the kitchen had a drop-down/soffitt/bulkhead thing over the upper cabinets, they had to look inside them to see what they were dealing with. So, you know. Pound away!

The good news is there is nothing up there to contend with.

Late last week I met with Amy to look at granite and tiles. I chose a few granites I liked and got samples to bring home. I also made a tentative decision on how the backsplash behind the stove should look and what tiles to put around the kitchen.

Then we went again with Rich on the weekend to finalize our decision, as Rich wasn't fussy on the samples I brought home (they are too small to get the idea). Thankfully, we found a couple of slabs that we are both in love with! YAY!

And double YAY! Rich likes the tiles I chose, so we don't have to think about that any more either.

We also looked at appliances, because if I am to get a red stove, that is custom- and custom takes longer.

I really like the Bertazzoni red stove, it's really lovely. But after looking and thinking, we decided- or should I say I decided because I had final say since I cook the most- on a red Blue Star. It's 36", six gas burners, huge oven- and tons of easy clean things about it. The reviews say it isn't the nicest looking stove out there, but that it outperforms many high end stoves. I know Wolf is supposed to be the best, but honestly, they aren't that nice looking (and they only come in stainless steel), and they are so much more expensive, probably largely due to the name. In any case, I am happy with the reviews and information I have read about Blue Star and I am sure I will love it!

Last night the cabinet guy came to show us preliminary drawings and talk with us about how we really want to use the kitchen. I thought it was pretty cut and dried till we started- then we had all these options that were a little overwhelming. We did make some decisions, but we still need to think about a couple of things.

I have kind of a tight deadline in mind, which is the reason we have been so busy in such a short time. I want everything completed by the end of September. Amy assures me it can be done, and personally, I think the more time Rich and I have to think about and decide on things, the more times we will change our minds. I like making a decision and sticking with it- I don't want to keep adding things to the mix.

Besides choosing things to go IN the kitchen, I now need to be thinking about planning meals that I can manage without a stove for a time. No problem! I thrive on challenge!

Summer fun!

It has been a busy summer for all of us so far.

Heidi and Chloe got out of school on Wednesday, June 2, and used the rest of the week and weekend to pack for their trip to Ottawa, to spend time with their siblings, Holly and Ben.

They flew out first thing on the Monday morning for their three week visit.

Rich and I flew out the next evening, for our trip to Italy, which I will be starting a new blog for soon...

Rich and I were gone for two weeks, came home on a Wednesday night, and the following Monday morning, all four of my kids flew here from Ottawa.

Usually the only time I get to see Holly and Ben is at Christmas time, when they fly in for a week or so.
At that time of year though, there are nine of us in the house, which means lots of cooking and cleaning for me, and lots going on at any given moment- translating into very little time to spend visiting and talking with my kids.

So this year, we planned for Holly and Ben to come and stay for a week when it WASN'T a family holiday...

We had SUCH a good time! We shopped off and on, we talked, we worked in my studio... all of my kids are artistic, and they enjoyed spending time creating things.

The kids had a day at Elitch Gardens, the amusement park in Denver, and Rich and I took them to the Colorado Renaissance Festival over the weekend. Despite the rain we got in the afternoon, it was a fun day.

We celebrated Canada Day with a nice steak dinner and poppers that we bought at the store. We were at the Renaissance Festival on the fourth- we came home and grilled burgers (with homemade fries too, of course!), and then the kids had fun setting off the fireworks that Rich had bought for them. What a guy, that Rich. He's a keeper!

They all walked up to get ice cream a number of times from Baskin-Robbins, where Heidi works. They bought copious amounts of Ben & Jerry's ice cream for home, as we have flavours here that they can't get in Canada.

There was lots of Beatles Rock Band, lots of ice cream eating, lots of laughing and teasing, lots of joy in us all being together as a family again.

Last night we had to take them to the airport to return home to real life- and NOT, as Holly hilariously pointed out to me, the G-rated version of their lives that they were living while Heidi and Chloe were there... lol

There are just some things that a mother doesn't need to know.

Garden, garden, garden!

Now that the snow SEEMS to be over for the time being, and it has warmed up significantly, I have been working like crazy to get the main garden planted and going.

A few weeks back, I planted our early garden in a small bed behind the garage. There were a number of Columbine plants there starting to poke through the ground, and I moved all that I saw to the front of the bed, in a row. I say all that I saw- because I obviously missed a number of them- they are spread out all over! I will move them in the fall.

Anyway, in that bed along with the columbines, I planted snow peas, shelling peas, lettuce, and spinach. Everything is up and starting to grow!

When Chloe and I were digging weeds and starting to prep the main veggie garden, we transplanted the chives and thyme that had sprung up into a bed beside the patio. I want all the herbs together and for the perennial ones to have a safe place (from the tiller and pitchfork) to pop up next year. I still have a number of herbs to plant this week.

I have some fruit plants and bushes along the back fence, but that "garden" is very underdeveloped. I will work on that this summer when we are back from holidays.

And the veggie garden. Ahh, what a space. Approximately 400 square feet of mostly clay soil. I have soil envy! My next door neighbor has this soft, beautiful soil, the kind you could lay in and just inhale... But they have lived here for many years and so have quite a head start on me! lol

Yesterday I added my composted manure and fertilizer and, using the pitchfork only, turned the soil six inches deep. I got a ton of blisters on my hands (even though I was wearing work gloves!), I have sore muscles everywhere today, and I was absolutely exhausted as it was a huge job. But I got a huge satisfaction from a job well done. Next year though, I am either going to talk my husband into buying me a little rototiller, or I will hire someone to do it.

Today we laid out the soaker hoses and are watering the space and I am putting the final touches on where I think everything should be planted. I try to write it all down so I know what is where... and I am still learning to recognize plants from weeds- good rule of thumb is to wait a bit if you are not sure... lol

So that is where we are at right now. I will post updated photos as soon as there is something cool to see!

Happy Mothers Day!

First of all, I wish all of my family and friends who are mothers, stepmothers, caregivers, and who spend time "mothering" anyone they care about, a Happy Mother's Day! Hope you are spoiled and appreciated for all you do!

As usual, I am in the running for Worst Mother of the Year- not sure if I have done enough to win or not- but hey, I have won it many times before and so maybe it's good to let someone else have the title for a while! The problem is, I haven't figured out how to stay OUT of the running! lol
Ahhh, parenthood.

Holly sent me an e-card and will be calling when she gets home from work.

Ben called yesterday as he will be at work all day today and we had such a nice, long chat!

Heidi got me that lovely bunch of red tulips and a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake.

Chloe isn't speaking to me, and I don't expect that to change just because it's Mother's Day. She will be celebrating her Pyrrhic victory while I get spoiled by everyone else.

Well, three out of four ain't bad, right? lol

Meanwhile, my poor hubby is still recuperating from his surgery. He is having quite a lot of discomfort and I will use my outstanding caregiver skills to make sure he has a full (and I wish speedier) recovery.

Have a great day all! xo

Spring has sprung! (and I have the tulips to prove it!

Finally we have gotten a few nice days in a row (without snow) and the tulips are starting to bloom.

It looks so lovely and colourful out front again, with the fiery colours of the tulips, the freshly washed flags, and everything greening up!

My little snake "friends" have even decided that they don't need to spend every daylight hour right in my garden... YAY! lol

It has been pretty windy out though, and I haven't been out to work in my garden since the weekend, only out to water.

BUT I do have peas, snow peas, lettuce, and spinach planted in the bed behind the house, I have my fences up and repaired. I have all of my seeds and tools ready to go.

I have seedlings starting in my garden room, complete with grow lights and everything- though it is a pretty makeshift set up at this point. The original plan was to install hooks in the ceiling, but... long story. I figured it out- that is one of the things I do best. Improvise. lol