Garage-like structure

And yes not so much a garage, as something that may once have been a garage, what I call a garage-like structure (GLS). But something if we pull it down, we can’t replace it with a garage due to new bylaws, so at some point we have to decide if it’s worth “fixing” at least so we can use it as a shed. We have been told that we could “replace” it surreptitiously one wall at a time, meaning we would be slowly refurbishing it so that eventually it was a new structure, but the added complication comes from the house being designated Heritage, so I’m not sure how much we could refurbish the GLS without anyone noticing…well, I guess we could clean it out and straighten it and then use it as a shed. Don’t really need a garage here in the land of virtually no snow or ice.

Anyway, last year, this is what it looked like.

We were afraid that all that vine was actually all that was holding the garage-like structure up. But, it’s still standing, as you can see!

And, although I neglected to get a picture of the roof, well what was left of it, I did get a picture of the enormous black tarp that hubby (with a little help from me) managed to get up on the roof of the garage to stop it from leaking. Shortly after we did this, the tarp began to tear. Not a complete surprise as I don’t think being the roof of a GLS was in the tarp’s job description. Anyway, the place we purchased the tarp gave us a second one for free, and we put the second one on top of the first, and so far everything is still in place.

Someday I may have pictures of a newly refurbished GLS, but for now, it’s the home to bags of junk we have to get rid of, our lawn mower, and the occasional raccoon family.

Fireplace

But first…My run today was originally supposed to be 40 minutes, but because I had to go to the symphony with mom and dad tonight, I opted for a shorter run today and will run 30 minutes tomorrow. It’s all about being flexible and still getting the runs in! And it was once again a lovely sunny run! Time to ditch the jacket I think!

Now, back to the Theme. So, the “F” word for today is Fireplaces…of which we have 5!

Living Room

Before

After

Foyer

Before

After

Dining Room

Before

After (not much different…)

Den

Before

After

Master Bedroom

Before

After

If we ever move, I don’t know how we can ever live in a house with less than 5 fireplaces!

A beautiful morning awaited me when I got out of bed this morning, fueled up a little (after feeding the little monsters, of course) got into my running gear, and headed out for a 10K run. And now that I’m done, I feel great! I did it! I decided to run Sunday morning this weekend, which is always a little dangerous, as it can be easy to have something happen on Sunday that makes excuses easy, so II prefer to get out on Saturday, but I think this weekend worked out well. This morning was nicer than yesterday morning, and I felt better too. And for some reason, this weekend’s morning run was MUCH easier than last weekends. I always find the Saturday/Sunday morning runs hard because I do the rest of my weekly runs after work (it’s still too dark for me in the morning to run before work, and I am also doing other things in the morning, like yoga and meditation, that I don’t want to give up). But I need to run at least one day a week in the morning because all the races I will be doing this year will be in the morning. Hopefully in a couple of weeks, these Saturday morning will start to feel better.

What did I see on my run today?

Well, I’m not sure what was up with all the sailboats, but it was a cool sight.

And then I looked the other way and saw this

On my way through a neighbourhood, there were some interesting tree sculptures:

And then I reached the halfway mark

I always wanted to take a picture of the alligator on the duck pond! Sorry the quality is not great…

And then on my cooldown…

And thus ended my 10K run.

Entrance

The entrance to our house (built in 1907), which we sometimes call a foyer, and I sometimes (with a chortle in my mind) call the lobby – I’ll tell you why in a second – is what first made me want this house. The wood work I original and floor to ceiling, with a wood burning fireplace next to the little closet under the stairs. And original wood floors (that continue through most of the house). So, today, I thought I would present a photo album of our entrance.

The entrance the day we took possession. Oh, did I mention that we bought this house 2 years ago this month, and that it had been a functioning bed and breakfast? Well, it had been a B&B 10 years previous to our purchasing it. It had been “empty” for 10 years, but not empty in that every room was full of furniture, knick knacks, etc. FULL! You don’t really see the enormity of that in the lobby photos, but take my word for it….FULL (should have done Dining Room yesterday – I’ll find another letter for that later…)

Oh, and a closeup of the creepy Snow White mirror. We still have this mirror, but now it’s hanging on the inside of the door in the closet under the stairs.

The fireplace (after removing weird dried/fake flower arrangement. There were weird dried/fake flower decorative items all over the house when we bought it. I hate weird dried/fake flower arrangements…) and the fireplace with the hideous candelabra (which is now in the den because hubby loves it)

Some shots before we refinished the floors. We had to refinish them because the tape that had held the rug in place, was so stuck to the floor it could not be removed in placed. I spent hours and hours trying to get it off, and finally convinced Kevin that we had to refinish the floors (the living room was even worse, and the hallway worse still, so we just redid them all)

And after the floors were done – only a few days before we moved in. We took possession of the house April 30, and move in towards the end of August. The house had to be cleaned out, and all the electrical redone, and perimeter drains installed, before we could live in it.

And here is a shot of the foyer the day we moved in.

And here it is today. Apologies for the quality. It’s hard to take photos of this room because it’s so dark. I need to work on my technique!

And finally, a couple of shots from the foyer into the living room (sneak peek) showing our columns (and yes, the after was Christmas). It’s a little weird living in a house with columns inside…

I have long wanted to present a series of images of our house, room by room, befores and afters. A few weeks ago I presented some before and after shots of our office that I just painted. So now I am thinking that some of the letters for this challenge might work well for this, so stay tuned!

I confess though, I was actually planning another E word for today – something related to my planned long run. But I was not feeling up to a long run today and will be completing it tomorrow (Sunday) morning instead, so this weekend will be a double blogging extravaganza (another E word.) Until tomorrow…

 Drink!

Well, it is Friday! And, yes, I know I am not the only one who has “D is for Drink”, but I started writing this post before Friday, so I’m sticking to it. And it’s going to be short, but I’ll find room for a couple of pic!

I was thinking the other day about how it seems that we (meaning people in the part of North American society I belong to – I don’t like to generalize) often outline our days and daily activities around the food we eat and the things we drink. You know…the raspy call for coffee first thing in the morning, breakfast time, coffee break, lunch time, “I need to make sure I get my 8 glasses of water in a day”, dinner time, ah…time for a glass of wine/beer/scotch. I guess it’s better than outlining our week around work, which we also have a tendency to do (“Monday…sigh…”, “Is it Friday yet?” “Yay! It’s the weekend!”).

What I do think is that most people (myself included) should try to learn how to enjoy their food and drink a little more. We always seem to be in such a hurry – no time for breakfast, have to get to work, have to get to…wherever. Eat in front of the television (yes…guilty as charged). No taking the time to taste the food or sip that glass of wine.

So, today, here’s to enjoying that meal and glass of whatever your preference is. Just for today, set aside time for eating and drinking and enjoy! Maybe you’ll like it enough to do it again…and again…

Here’s what I’m drinking (and savouring) this morning (and yes, this is not a current picture, but it pretty much looks the same!)

And here’s what I will be savouring later tonight, oh yeah!

Clematis…and a clear (cool?) running day.

A run update and a picture post today.

This is our clematis vine that we planted last year, and which is blooming great guns a year later. And what a wonderful light, sweet scent! We planted it here because this cherry tree is no more. It is an ex-cherry tree, and therefore perfect for some vine growing – and my hubby, Kevin, is really into vines.

Now, the run. First, I realize now I didn’t report on my Tuesday run, except for the beautiful sunny view. It was a 40 minute (with 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool down) 6K run. Run/walk. Done.

Tonight was a 30 minute run. Now, bear in mind, as you may have gathered, I’m a slow runner. I can walk faster than I run most of the time. And on my runs, I take walking breaks. Yes, even with a 30 minute run. And sometimes I stop and take pictures. So, today I ran for 5K. From my house, down to a place called Clover Point and back.

And what did I see today, you may ask? Tulips in bloom!

So, there you have it…What will tomorrow bring? We will see tomorrow!

Book Club memories

This year I joined a book club. Well, actually, I am a founding member of a new book club with me, my ex-manager (retired from the place I used to work – retired before I left), my ex-office sharer and friend (also retired from the place I used to work – retired even before my ex-manager) and a friend of my ex-office-sharer. I have wanted to get back into a book club since I left my old one in Regina when we moved out here in 2007. I really miss my book club. I still am connected though, as I am the administrator for our email group so I always know what they are reading and when they are meeting (someday I’ll be back and drop in for visit!)

I’ve been thinking about what made that book club so fabulous from my perspective. A bunch of professional women (we talked – no men were invited to join) getting together to drink wine and talk about the book we read – or didn’t read. It wasn’t mandatory. We were still allowed to come and participate. We did talk a bit about our lives and our hair – especially about our hair. But we spent most of the time talking about the book. But it was a fun, interesting, never confrontational discussion. Not too much “intellectuality” – everyone there had advanced degrees, but we were there to talk from how the book made us feel, think, change our minds, or perhaps to talk about why we couldn’t get past the first chapter. It was only once a month, and not everyone came every month. That was the way it was – if you could be there, great, if not, see you next month.

At least this is what I remember about book club. And I miss it. I miss talking to people who lived different lives and had different jobs than me (when you work at a university, that tends to be your life), and I miss the camaraderie. It was only once a month, but I miss it.

I like the conversations around a book that I loved that others hated, or vice versa. Or the book that someone didn’t get at all that others found the most thought-provoking book they had read in a long time. It expanded my mind, and helped me see things from another person’s point of view. It’s sometimes hard to get that same kind of interaction in everyday life.

Now, I am not thinking that this new book club will be the same experience. The people are different, of course. But I am excited to be reading books I wouldn’t perhaps normally read, and talking to these women about their impressions of some interesting, thought-provoking and fun books. We have already read two books (Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, and The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson), and have enjoyed the conversations. Maybe someday I’ll get brave enough to “review” one of the books we read!

So, that’s my “B” post. But it wouldn’t be complete without a picture, but I don’t have any pictures I think would relate well to my Book Club, so here are some pictures of our babies (B is also for “babies”). You can also see them on my About page, but here are some different shots…

Elliot and Jasper as kittens:

Dexter and Nicholas as kittens:

…April!

Well, it is. And what an April it will be. I hope. We’ll see. Embarking on the Blogging from A to Z challenge, with not much of a plan at the moment. But, the thought is to blog about my running as I ramp up my training for my first marathon in October, and the days in between. One thing you will learn about me is that I cannot blog without adding a picture. I think a picture is a crutch for me in a strange sort of way. Words are harder, in that I feel safer posting a picture. People seem to like them. But words – words are harder. There are so many amazing bloggers out there who use words so well, I feel like I have a lot to live up to. But, that’s what makes a challenge like this good for me. It’s going to push me out of my comfort zone, but let me post my own thoughts and ideas. No prompts for me this time! Just the letters of our alphabet.

So, yes, A is for April. And this beautiful sunny April day was a training day, I ran 6 kilometres, running down along the water. What a gorgeous day! Sunny, a bit breezy but not too windy, and just the perfect temperature. I was not the only one who thought so: there were many people out walking, running, reading, sitting….enjoying what April has given us on its first day.

And here is the April view I saw today on my run:

It reminded me of views of April past

April 2013

April 2012

I didn’t take a lot of outdoor pictures when I lived in Regina (Saskatchewan). I never ran outdoors before June either. I love it here!

So, that is my first day “A”. April. It may take me a few letters to get the hang of this, but I’ll figure it out!