TOO MUCH?

 I asked my friend to show me some landscape ideas for my new house and this is what she showed me.  A little much but I do kind of like it.

This is more my style and something I can do. Maybe not as lush but similar.  I will get right on it…

MY NEW FRIEND

 

This will be our new fire pit area.  I knew where it was going to be and basically what I wanted but couldn’t  visualize it.  Well, I consulted my new friend CHATGBT and this is what they gave me.  It is not the first time I have consulted with it.  I now know what my accent color will be in my front room and what color zebra blinds do will go best with my walls and floors and furniture.  I would never have guessed that these ideas would determine what my house will eventually look like but I can use the help.  I use the free version. I get about 5 questions and comments on pictures I submit.  They always ask if they can do more and give reasons for their choices.  I like that they like my ideas too.  I know it is AI but if it is available, why not use the technology?

I am going to like sitting out by that fire…

STOP!!!!

 

So this is what we are dealing with today. A freakin’ snow storm!  You can barely see the other side of the lake - and a little later you couldn’t see the other side of the lake.  It is April 6th for goodness sake.  We still have over 2 feet of snow in the bush!  It is like the middle of January!  The middle of winter!!!  Needless to say it is very depressing.

Stacey and Andrew and little Miss Shiloh were over for dinner and Stacey shovelled off the deck for me.  Just a few days ago we were enjoying a cocktail on the deck in those red chairs.  Now they are covered in snow.

On a happier note, we get some of our furniture deliver April 30!!

DONE!

 They started October 1st, 2025 and finished April 1st, 2026.  A talented team of local tradespeople turned a blueprint of a house in a BeaverHome catalogue into our home.  It was an adventure - one that I do not wish on anyone.  But we learned as we went along.  The house we chose has everything we wanted and needed.     I think the hardest part was picking out floors and cupboards and light fixtures and vanities etc. Surprisingly, I think we did pretty good.  A bit fancy but what the heck.  So so different from our other house.  It will be fun living in it.  It will take a while to clean it.  There is a lot of drywall dust and dirty windows and doors and little things we want to do.  Some of our furniture won’t be ready until the end of May so we have time before we finally move in.

So much to do…

ANOTHER SNOW PICTURE

 And here is the lovely Miss Spacey posing in front of a snow wall along her route in Elliot Lake.  This was taken on March 26!  It was -20 this morning here!  Getting a wee bit fed up with snow and -20 temperatures.

On a happier note, the two new born calves have names.  The grandchildren get to name them.  They are Peanut Butter and Jam!  There was another one born too but no word on a name yet.

Next post will have some pictures of the new house.  Still work to do but a lot done already.  It will be fun to live in it.

SPRING BABIES

Spring in the farm means babies!  One of the cows on Susan’s farm just had twin girls.  Momma is very proud of her little ones.  The cows were purchased years ago for all the grandkids to share.  They get to name the calves. The white calf is now called Snowball.  Not sure what the other one’s name is but I will let you know as soon as I hear.
 

SPRING? NOT HERE!

 

This picture was taken at the Post this afternoon on my way back from town.  It was snowing this morning as well.  When will it even end?  Rejean is still blowing snow and it is March 24!!  At this rate the snow won’t be gone for another month. There really is a lot of snow out there.  Help!!!

MADE IT!

 

I don’t think we quite had 36 inches of snow but in some of the drifts it certainly was. Cleaning off my car the snow was mid thigh high on me.  But for sure there was 24 inches plus.  Very windy but we never lost our power which is a miracle.  Every highway was closed up here. Our little 129 was closed as well as the major highways like 17 and 144. You couldn’t get anywhere until today.  In all our years of living up here - 20 years full time, we have never experienced anything like it.  It was hard work cleaning up. But also a little bit of fun!

SNOW!!!

 Smack dab in the middle of one of the most brutal snow storms we have ever seen in all the years up here.  Rejean blew snow just to get a head start for tomorrow.  From the radar it could snow heavily all night long and judging from what is out there right now, I bet we see the 3 feet predicted.  My oh my…

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES

 Looks like we are in for an interesting couple of days.  I was at the Post today picking up a package and I went in to see if I should stock up on anything in case we were snowed in for a while but saw nothing I needed so I had a little chat with Cathy.  I have enough food and supplies and wood etc  to last a while so it is not an issue.  The tractor is fully gassed up after yesterday’s 8 inches of snow.  The winds could possibly cause a power outage but we have a generator.  So I guess we will be ok.  We will be working in the new house all day.  The workers are waiting on some missing doors and pieces for the railing plus some other stuff.  Instead of waiting around doing nothing they left but will return when they deliver the missing items.  In the meantime time the plumber hooked up the water so we now have toilets that work and sinks and 1 shower that works.  Our electrician and his apprentice were hard at work today..  Rejean was working on the vanities and I was hard at work taking the paint off the floor.  Not a lot but very easy to deal with. There will be a lot of work to be done in the house in the next month or so.  It is coming together fast now.  It is beautiful. I stand there and look at it and I can’t imagine myself living in such a place.  But then I think of everything we have been thru the past 19 months and I think why not?  We deserve it!!

A LITTLE ICY

It’s that time of year again where one day you get a melt and then it freezes into a driveway of ice.  Very tricky to navigate by car and impossible to walk unless you have your icers attached to your boots.  We have found the best way to deal with this is to spread trap rock the length of the driveway. And the easiest way to do it is to work together.  I get the easiest part.  Driving the tractor slowly behind Rejean while he spreads the traprock.  I even got to get another load!  Makes life easier up north.  Always a good day when I get to drive the tractor!!

GOT SNOW?

 We do!!  Tons!  First picture is of the snow on the garage roof which is going to be a mess when it finally comes down.  It has been too cold for it to move and we keep getting more snow.  I walk a little faster going by the garage on my way to get the mail.

Next pic is by the highway.  The banks are very high and you have to be careful pulling out.  At the Trading Post the piles are quite high on either side of the driveways so you really have to watch for traffic.

Next one is Rejean standing by the garage.  A bit high and the snow still hasn’t fallen off the back of the garage yet either. Nothing to clean up as it won’t be in the way.

Last one is the path I have to keep clean to the outhouse for the workers.  The snow last night was fluffy so not a big deal. But it is deep.

Still more snow in the forecast.  And this was the year Rejean didn’t keep track of how many times he blew snow.  He has done it at least a couple of times a week all winter.  Thank goodness for the tractor.

BUCKET LISTS

 I guess when you get to a certain age, you start to realize that the time you have left in this life is limited.  And you realize that you haven’t done things or seen things that you have always wanted to do but just either never had the opportunity or never took the time.  I now have a Bucket List to correct this situation.

I have always wanted to see Jann Arden in concert.  I follow her on Instagram and enjoy her music.  This past week I noticed she was going to be playing at Casino Windsor in June.  I hopped on my iPad and got the date and realized I could afford the tickets for a decent seat.  Then I tried to buy the tickets.  Took me about a half an hour to finally get a Congratulations, You Are Going To See Jann Arden notice.

So Susan and I will make the journey to Windsor on June 19 to see Jann Arden live at the Casino.  I think Jann was on Susan’s bucket list too.  Any excuse to get together with my Sister Susan is an opportunity to have fun.  I have my $20 bill all ready to gamble with - but I might take more!

MY KITCHEN

 My cupboards have been installed but are wrapped because they are still sanding but this is what they look like.  It is the pictures from the kitchen designer at Home Hardware in Espanola.  Love the color and it goes very good with the floor.  Our lights over the island are actually close to wha5 we picked out.  Lots of drawers. We have purchased all our appliances but they won’t be delivered for at least a few months.  I don’t have a lot of kitchen stuff like dishes and pots and pans and cutlery yet. That will all have to be purchased in the future.  I will have an abundance of empty drawers and shelves I am sure.  There is no way that I will ever run out of room in this house!!

MORE PROGRESS

 The guys put some of the floor down up in the loft.  The bathroom half done but the 2 bedrooms plus the closets are done and the sitting area.  I love the floor.  I really didn’t remember what it looked like as my brain was mush and I had cancelled my first choice.  I was going to go grey but was talked out of it by just about everyone I knew.  Even my cupboards were grey ish and I cancelled them. So glad I did.  The new floor is like a sand color - no yellow in it at all.  Reminds me of the beach which is a very good thing.  The doors on on both bedrooms and Jodie’s room has the closet doors up. They have to be painted yet.  White!  Everything is going to be white.  The walls, the ceilings, the trim the stair risers, the closets, all the rooms.  It is a very nice white.  It is actually Beauti-Ton base white right off the shelf.  Easy peasy for the builders.  Same floor throughout the house and same paint color as well.  Still a lot of work to do but it is getting there.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

 I am 73 today. Going into my 74th year of life on this planet. I find it hard to believe I am 73. I don’t feel 73.  I feel maybe 30 on a good day.  73 on a bad day.  I am feeling better than I have in the past 5 years thanks to a good combination of drugs that finally allow me to have the energy I used to have and not cough for the better part of the day. So I am back to as normal as I am ever going to get.

It was a very good day.  I got my chores done.  Stacey and Andrew and Little Miss Shilo came over for cocktails and dinner.  I messaged with Susan and Joanne.  Got to face time with Susan. Jodie sent me a little video of Charlie and Monty and her singing Happy Birthday to me.  Got some bills paid and now just relaxing.

It was a very good day

WORDLE & CANUCKLE BOARDS

As promised.  Today, I got Wordle in 3.  Canuckle - not so good but I got it.
 

WOW!

 Every morning I play Wordle and Canuckle plus a few other games to get my brain going.  I have been playing Wordle since it came out and Canuckle for the same length of time.  I am not bad if I do say so myself but today I was on fire!!!  I got Wordle in 2!  Just about shit my pants I was so surprised.  I started laughing and quickly showed Rejean the board and then messaged Andrew to let him know the good news.  I start with the same word every day as I am sure others do the same.  I use ADIEU.  Lots of vowels.

I didn’t have time to do Canuckle as we were off to the Sault to do some shopping.  I got home and signed on to Canuckle and guess what.  I also got it in 2.  Either they were very easy or I just had a lucky day.  Sometimes I don’t get the word at all and sometimes it takes all the guesses to get it.

I would have posted the screen shots of today’s games to show you but just in case some of you haven’t done your games today, I didn’t.  But I will tomorrow.

HYDRO FINALLY

 We have been waiting a long time for hydro to come and connect the new house to our hydro.  It has been weeks if not months waiting for them to come.  We were close once but when they showed up, we didn’t have the wire that we were to provide which no one told us about.  Our electrician had to drive all the way to the Sault to purchase it.  Then they didn’t come back the next day as discussed. Then two members of the team called in sick so it was rescheduled for today.  We woke up to a closed highway and -25 weather.  OPP had the highway open but another site had it closed.  Finally a call to the OPP Thessalon office verified it was open but the signage just hadn’t been removed.  After an hour or so hydro was in our driveway.  We now have hydro to heat the house for our poor workers. We did have generators running heaters for the guys.

It is always something…

NORTHERN LIGHTS

 Living up here you would think I have seen the Northern Lights quite a bit.  I can probably count the number of times on one hand.  Tonite, with the help of a Facebook post from The Tunnel Lake Trading Post just about 15 minutes ago, I saw them again.  After verifying the posted picture was taken “right now” I quickly dressed for the -13 but feels like -20 degree weather and stood on my back porch and watched the lights.  They weren’t vivid or plentiful but the shafts of light thru the sky was unmistakably the Northern Lights.  There was a glow of a pale green color in the northern sky and I am sure if I had the proper camera equipment, it would have been brilliant.  I will check later to see if they are still there - once I warm up.

My iPad had some updates last nite and I am unable to access my photos now.  Give me a day or two to ask Andrew to help me fix this.

TEMU

 After saying I would never order from Temu, I finally placed an order.  I have seen more that a few people fall down the rabbit hole called TEMU.  Large packages being delivered chock full of neat little gadgets and clothes you know are not made to last years.  Altho Stacey bought the Scott Sisters beautiful beach coverups for our Mexican vacations that I think are amazing.  I am sure people at the pool watch as we walk by and wonder where we got our colorful paisley tasselled coverups.  They are perfect and if anyone asks, I would tell them TEMU.  Stacey has given me little tools to clean out crevices and clips for various bags.  Joan has also shared a few items that I admit I was glad I had.  It seems that if you now ask people “where did you get that?” They say with pride “TEMU!”

Well I was scrolling thru my Facebook feed and lo and behold there was a beautiful sun dress that had my name all over it!  It was on the TEMU site.  I checked it out on their website and after I got my Sisters’ approval, I downloaded the TEMU app and down the rabbit hole I went.  I snuck a few looks at other sundresses but stopped after about 10 pages and returned to my dress and ordered it!  Stacey was proud of me.  Rejean laughed at me.  

I am now waiting for my first TEMU package to arrive.  I am hoping for the best but not holding my breath.  But I really like the dress…

AS PROMISED - IN SIDE MY NEW HOUSE

 First picture is the fuse box!!!  I have never seen one so big!  I will spend my days searching for which switch is for which light or fan.  Hydro is coming tomorrow to connect us to the grid.

Next is the view into the dining room and the living room from the primary bedroom area.  The kitchen is on the right.  Nice big windows!

The next picture is looking up at the loft from the living room area.  The tall wooden column is our propane fireplace.  There will be stone covering the column all the way up to the ceiling  There are 2 bedrooms and a full bath plus a sitting area up there.

The last one is of the sun room that morphed into a she/he cave.  There will be a tv and a bank board shuffleboard if we can find one.  I think this will be my favourite room.

There is also a dedicated laundry room, a half bath, pantry and a utility room.  It really is one floor living for us as the loft will be for guests.  Charlie and Monty are happy it will be ready for them - I hope. 😱

ps  some of the rooms appear larger as I found a new setting on my phone to make the rooms appear larger to get more in the shot.

ANOTHER WEEK GONE BY

 We had a big thaw the last few days after a stretch of very cold temperatures and lots of snow.  This usually happens every January or February and it leaves such a mess.  The driveway is horrible.  Slushy and every vehicle leaves huge ruts that will refreeze when the temps finally return to normal.  And extremely slippery.  We have a pile of trap rock that we use for everything - paths, bare spots on the driveway and to provide traction in just this situation.  Rejean chips a load off the pile (it is frozen solid) and fills the loader.  I get to follow in the tractor as he throws the trap rock on the icy sections of the road with a shovel.  Works like a charm and I get to drive the tractor.  Always a good day when I get to do that!

And the snow starts to fall off the roof of the garage and the cottage.  1/2 came off the driveway side of the garage and the other side curled almost touching the ground.  The new house has shingles so we won’t have to face that problems any more.

I will post a few pictures tomorrow of the inside of the new house.  They have dry walled and muddied.  The pine for the ceilings in the sun room and main room arrived this week and there is a lot of it.  I like the color we choose.

DRY JANUARY

 I have done Dry January for a few years now.  I don’t drink a lot but I have do have genetics to worry about.  Some seem to think it could be hereditary and my father was an alcoholic.  I never wanted to come even close to having his demons and I think I have accomplished that goal. But I do enjoy a cold beer on a hot day, spiced rum mixed with pineapple juice with a splash of orange juice sitting on my deck enjoying the views.  A margarita with my Sisters in our new favourite spot in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  And a new favourite holiday drink, chocolate Bailey’s. Mmmm.  But since January 1st my drink of choice is water on the rocks with a splash of President’s Choice liquid water enhancer which isn’t that bad.

Only 26 more days to go…

SHILOH

 I got to babysit my grand fur baby Shiloh. Her parents spent the night in the Sault so Shiloh spent the night with me.  She has her routines that I tried to follow but our property is different than Parker’s so we made what we had work.  They brought her bed over for her but her favourite spot is on the couch.  Shiloh used to live here before the fire so she still remembers when this place was hers.  She gets confused sometimes.  When I let her out for her last pee last nite, she ran off towards the highway barking at something.  I had to get all dressed in my boots, hat, gloves and big winter coat to go out and get her.  I called and whistled for her and she did come back running up from the highway expecting the promised “treat” I said to bribe her.  She got it because she is cute.  I slept on the couch with her so she wouldn’t cry and I must say she is difficult to sleep with.  She had to be on top of my legs or squashing me.  Woke me up at 4:30am to pee but went right back to sleep.  

She is patiently waiting for Stacey and Andrew to come back and take her home.  Back to her own domain.  I will sleep well tonite.