Up Mayo!!!!

The county is going wild!  The last time Mayo was in the Championship final was 2006.  The last time they won was 1951.  So people are VERY VERY excited for the upcoming match against Donegal this Sunday.  There's flags and red and green (or should I say green and red) bunting everywhere!  Here's our flag!  A perfect place to mount it -- a pile of rocks sitting in the middle of where our driveway is supposed to be.  When they cheer on a county team here, they say "Up -- (insert said county name here)".  Hence, Up Mayo!!!!  It's particularly funny if you're from County Down ("Up Down!).  So if you are abroad, this Sunday find an Irish pub that subscribes to international match coverage and cheer on Mayo to 'bring Sam home'.  I can't help the enthusiasm, it's infectious around here.

As for house stuff, things are puttering along.  The biggest push is that we finally have a utility room which rocks because I can finally do our own laundry (my in-laws have been doing ours since we moved in!

In the process of adding the utility room to the back of the house

It's nice & big, plenty of space for storage but we'll probably keep it unfinished for the moment until we see how the budget is getting on.

The other big work finished up was to get the septic tank and percolation area up to scratch.  Waiting for good enough weather to get on with it took some time this summer but atleast all is done now. 

   

Stevie's also been busy laying loads of pipes to get our drainage around the house sorted and this week I think he's moving onto footpaths.  I think footpaths are another one of those things that really make a difference to the house looking like it's made progress.  There's loads of stuff that needs to be done leading up to it but it's that one step that makes an obvious difference.

Welcome Wagon - Happy to be Here

Since moving to the 'country' -- (yes, yes, I know I've said it's only 5 mins to town), little things pop up regularly that make me happy to be here.

For example, it's pitch black at night.  Our last house in town had a streetlight right outside our bedroom window.  In Montreal, the house I lived in overlooked a freeway.  I can regularly see stars at night -- well, as regular as it doesn't rain.  There was a full moon last night and it was just picture perfect above the forest in front of the house.  Unfortunately my photography skills are not up to scratch (Add 'master night shot settings' to my 'To Do' list).

The other morning we saw two hares in our yard.  And they didn't just scamper off, they jumped around the backyard for a bit, chased each other, moved back to the side of the house and then finally took their leave.  Alannah was delighted.  I think she thought they were cats though.

And we have a lovely view.  The house is on a little hill and we're the first house on the road so our living room windows have an unobstructed view of the green hills and farms in the distance.  I am caught up in the daily habitual movement of sheep wandering up and down 2 farms I see in the distance.  And I've become fixated on comparing the amount of rain and angle of direction of the drops each time I look out the window when it has been raining (and it has rained a lot since we moved in!).

The last thing I want to mention are the neighbours.  We've had a real lovely welcome from a lot of people living on this road.  Perhaps it helps that we know some of them or know of many of them from around town but we probably know or have met as many people on this road in the last month than we knew in our estate/subdivision in town (and we lived there for seven years!).  Two ladies from down the road dropped by to with the most wonderful welcome basket (and what a basket!) and flowers, I just had to take pictures.

 Gorgeous hydrangeas cut from her garden.  Everyone loves hydrangeas, don't they?!  And she has a lovely varitey that have a pretty blue centre on the white petals that I've not seen before!  And of course in neighbourly fashion, she's offered to make a cutting, set a plant, and give it to me when it's ready for planting (well down the way of course but how kind!)

 Bottle of white wine, homemade coffee cake (DELICIOUS -- thankfully, the walnuts were just decorative and I could eat every bit of the rest of it!), homemade gooseberry jam, and fresh picked veg from her garden.

Selection of veg:  yellow courgettes (even Stephen ate them in the pasta dish I put them into), purple peas, french beans, and garlic.  Let me tell you -- fresh garlic is something else!  So easy to grow and SUCH a difference in taste and freshness!

I am itching to start our own garden now!

And a gorgeous orchid too!

For the Little Miss

Of all the rooms, Alannah's playroom is probably the most complete.  It is fantastic to have a room right off the main open plan area that is designated for her toys and play.  Now she's still too young to be off there all the time on her own but it's great to chuck everything in there and have far less stuff to trip over in the kitchen, living room, hall, etc...

It was originally a bedroom with a north facing window.

However, the renovation plans include the creation of our laundry room/utility that will be behind the wall where the window is.  So first step was to move the window.  A fantastic move because now the room gets absolutely amazing light when the sun is setting (on the days of course that it is not overcast or rainy).

The previous owners had already fit a skylight in the roof so we just needed to open up the ceiling to access it.

The trip to Ikea in June was definitely worthwhile as we picked up the Klippan sofa, Expedit unit, and Lusy Blom rug to finish up the room.  The Expedit unit I'll have to say is perfect for the size of the room and Alannah's age.  She can get in and out of the boxes easily and there aren't any drawers or sliding units to break or catch herself.

Here's our before/after:

 

And Rocky (our dino slide) loves his new home.  As do we.  In the old place we had to put him up on the couch to get him out of the way when not in use!  

Everything else we already had.  Alannah loves playing with the foam mats (as do all the kids who come over) and taking the mats apart are a lot more fun than putting them back together.  A lesson learned is that it takes a lot longer for us to tidy up a mat that looks like ours:

As opposed to these other mats that I've seen at the store:

And there's a lot more smaller pieces that kiddies love the chew (thankfully Alannah never did but most every other kid who has come over seems to enjoy doing so).  So if you're thinking of getting some of these, bear this well in mind when deciding what to buy!

As for the finishing touches we just need to get some pictures on the walls.  I'm thinking a small gallery of pictures of the kids or brightly coloured prints.  And I saw a cute set of decorative flowers in Horkan's last weekend that would be a great cheap and cheerful addition to the white walls too.

The natural light from the two new windows really makes the room a surprise gem we didn't expect and it makes sitting or playing in here great for both kid and adult.

First Look

I always think I'll have loads of time to do 'stuff' while on mat leave because babies just 'eat and sleep', right?  This is my 2nd child as well and for some reason I was still disillusioned.  Perhaps also as having a c-section this time around, I figured I'd have loads of time to be in front of a computer to post updates, Skype friends & family, etc.  Admittedly, I have had loads of opportunities (as I've spent atleast 2 weeks stuck on the couch feeding this babe) but I've lacked the focus (in retrospect, ok I should have anticipated that) which has just started to right itself recently.

So our official moving day was July 20th but we still had the other house so there was on-going bits & pieces getting moved over the next week.  I was seriously skeptical about settling in on that Friday as I still felt there was so much to be done but all fears were for nought.  We had all the necessities and things have just gotten put away or moved around in drips and drabs since.

We still need to do loads to settle in but it's early days really.  I have no idea how people can have everything in turn-key condition right from the get go.  So here we go, 'bienvenue chez nous'.

Well, it doesn't look so inviting yet but hey, the door's open, come on in!

The entry hall has a double height ceiling so it gets lots of light from the skylight.

Turn left and it takes you into the living areas of the house.

Remember, this is what it originally looked like:

And then after walls came down and loads of work under way ...

Walls plastered, painted, radiators in & floors poured ...

And NOW!!!

The funny square above the window is where the old electricity meter used to be.  It was only moved last week so a bit of fill and paint will touch that up fine.  There are shades to go on the chandeliers.  Decisions about blinds.  What sort of storage/shelving to get.  What to put over the stove.  The list is endless.  And I would love a new set of sofas that would suit the space better but everything's money now isn't it?!

The old main door was replaced with a single pane window.  It lets in loads of light and on a good day I can't help but stare out it and think what fabulous scenery surrounds us (minus the building site rubble of course!).

 You walk immediately into the kitchen from the entry hall and here's how it turned out:

I love it!!!!!!  Colin, at Abbey Kitchens did a fantastic job on the units.  The colour is a sort of khaki grey instead of a blue grey (which I initially thought I wanted).  And without even planning it, it goes perfectly with the feature stone.  So as you can see, I went with grey and decided on this pewter-kind-of bar type handle after the handle dilemma I 'faced' a few weeks back.  And while I still like cream kitchens (which we had in our other house),  after a few weeks of living here I can already see that the grey will hold up far better against the tornado that is our 19 month old toddler.  I'll try to do a separate post on the kitchen features I like best when I get the time to take a few more pics.

I'm still on a look out for light pendants above the sink & counter.  I'm undecided about what sort of backsplash should go behind the cooker (glass, tile, stone?).  Eventually, I'll decide about blinds too.  And of course there's the little bits that bring the kitchen together both for the pretty factor and functionality.

As for the living room, here's the best before & after extreme:

A shout out to the many people who gave us a hand, with moving, storage, cleaning, baby-sitting, etc ...  This just a small group of the gang taking a break with a fry up.  Thanks so much!

And Tommy, this one's for you!

So hopefully I'll start posting again more frequently, if not for you, then to keep the ball rolling on further projects and finishing touches!

Moving Day

Sorry again for the extended absence!
Our beautiful baby boy finally decided to make an appearance and with the delivery changing to a c-section, yours truly has needed to only mind self & baby for the last 2 weeks.

I have been rendered 'house-useless' as i cannot do any lifting, moving, or driving but thankfully with all the hard work Stephen & Stevie are putting in, today is MOVING day!  So you can just imagine how much has changed in the house!

I will still post house updates as there's still loads to finish and work on but I cannot believe it's actually in a state to live in!  See you soon!

Stoneworks and Stoves

I have been dying for the fireplace/stove area to be finished so I could post the progression of the sitting room.  It still is a work in progress but there's enough done to justify a dedicated before and after posting!

So remember again, our living space area developed from knocking through a hallway between an original bedroom and sitting room.

Original bedroom

Original sitting room

Bedroom and hallway walls knocked out

Working space for the living room

We closed up the access to the 'study/office' on the left side of the fireplace and ripped out that awful built-in unit storage unit to the right of it, as well as the fireplace surround.  The brickwork around the fireplace doesn't look so bad in pictures but TRUST ME, it was not a pretty sight.

Creating a blank space and opening up the right wall to access the kitchen/diner
(above and below) 

Now with all the walls that came down there was A LOT of rubble and stone that was taken out and just sitting outside, so we thought we could use some of it to create a bit of a feature!  At first we thought maybe we would stone the whole fireplace/mantle but then thought it would be a bit too imposing.  The room is open but it's not huge so we thought a touch of the stone on either side of the fireplace would be a better option.

And we really love that all the stone came from the original house!

A new pedestal was created for our little black stove (it looks really little here doesn't it!).  And as you can see the floors are poured and we're waiting on them drying out.  Walls are painted a base white but they'll soon be ready for their final coat of 'French White'.

An off-white on the walls will warm up the space a bit and flooring is to go down next Tuesday, so I think that will help remove the current 'clinical' look of the place.  The fireplace is a bit sparse at the moment but I think we're going finish it off with a simple wood beam or shelf just to dress it up a bit.

It sounds crazy to think that we're aiming to be moved in in 2-3 weeks time!  Now baby ... where are you???

Getting a Handle of the Situation

Sorry for the cheesy title.  I feel like I'm working at The Mirror or The Sun and it's my job to try to find terrible titles that work off puns and plays on words.  That drives me nuts about those papers (well, just one of several things) but it's actually a lot harder to make up the ridiculous titles than it looks.  I know a lot of very witty people: if you come up w/ a catchy title, I will change this title just for you.

So this post is about HANDLES. heh heh heh

Remember how all over the place I was about floors.  Well, I didn't fare any better with kitchen handles and knobs.  Such a small part of the kitchen but seriously, it really makes a big difference to the look of the whole kitchen, no?  Now, I'm very lucky in that Stephen doesn't really care what I choose.  He'll be honest and say, 'No, I really don't like those' or 'Those are kinda old-fashioned' but as long as the doors open and close, the rest is up to me.

So my idea of kitchen love is a painted wood look, country style but classic too.  Not too country bumpkin like.  You've seen some of my favourite kitchens when I've talked about floors.  But here's a re-visit to my favourite kitchen:

Actually, I have another absolute favourite but I can't actually find a copy on-line that allows me to reproduce it (and I will be super respectful of that copyright and NOT scan the picture) but if you somehow have access to The Best of Irish Kitchens magazine, Issue 24, Oct/Nov 2011 -- It's on the cover!  Solid wood tops.  Light grey painted wood.  Cup and knob handles.  Belfast sink.  Really simple clean lines.  DROOL!

So getting back to handles, I really like the brushed nickel type of finish and a cup-handle style fitting for drawers, simple knobs for cupboards.  Like this:

These are the kind of handles that Stephen doesn't like.  But hey, we've already gotten over that.  So thinking that this should be a fairly easy decision, I went to my kitchen guy only to find that he doesn't have any cup handles in stock.  To stay open minded, I bring 3 different handle options home just to mull them over and they still don't really take my fancy and I figure I'll look around.  Stephen's comment, 'How can you go to a kitchen place and not find a single handle that you like the look of'.  If you can hear his tone, this is not a judgement on the kitchen place but rather yours truly of course.

Let me tell you.  Ireland is not a big fan of cup handles.  Woodies has one option, that looks a little small as it doesn't have the pretend screws incorporated into the face.  Homebase had another option that looked ... alright.  So I was holding out for Ikea ... which fell flat and seriously disappointed as the Fagleboda cup handle only came in a flat black or shiny chrome and had a much more semi-circular shape than crescent moon.  (ok, yes I see I am starting to sound a little crazy).  They also had a Fintorp handle, that looked really lovely on a kitchen in last month's House and Home magazine ... but those were much larger than I expected and I came home last weekend with still no solution to my handle search.  And in frustration I went back to the handle options that are in the same catalogue as our kitchen doors and do you want to see the only cup handle they offer?

Ugh!  It's a little too medieval and reminds me of a knight's armour or something.

So feeling 'ok' about the DIY store options, I picked up a sample from Woodies and Homebase and went out to the kitchen place to have a look at how the handles would actually look like on the model kitchen.  And after about 20 minutes of humming and hawing, and Colin (kitchen guy) looking through 4 different catalogue for similar cup handles, we made a decision on a lovely satin nickel cup handle, with a slim edge that doesn't have pretend screw features.  Very similar to the Woodies one.

Job done .... you'd think.

Guess what presented an even bigger problem?  Finding a simple oval or round knob, with just the right nubbiness (or is that knubbiness) in the same finish!!!!!!  I'm serious.  NONE of the cup handle options in ANY of the catalogues had a corresponding simple round or oval knob in the same finish.  Finally, there was a compromise of a knob in silver nickel finish from the same catalogue.  It was a bit too flat for my tastes, as opposed to 'knubby', but atleast it was a match (though it didn't look exactly like the same finish in the catalogue, it was described as the same ... and apparently we're not meant to trust picture reproductions.  So job done .... you'd think.

Colin had a sample of the flat knob in stock so I put it up to a door painted in the same colour 'Stone' as our kitchen will be.  And after all of the decision making, would you believe that it looked absolutely terrible!  Seriously.  The colours were just  too similar so it did nothing to 'lift the door' or make the handle or knob stand out as a feature.  I was gutted.  And perplexed.  And confused.  It worked on my dream Best of Irish Kitchens kitchen.  It works on the cream and beige kitchens on the pictures in this post.  Does the search for the handle continue or ....

Should I change the kitchen colour?

It did cross my mind.  I put the handle up to some more sample colours.  I put it on the model kitchen 'Country White' doors.  I ignored the 'What are you doing?' look that Colin was giving me.  And I internally was VERY grateful that Stephen was not there.  But then I realized I had to choose ... do I want my grey kitchen or do I want my brushed nickel cup handles?

I could tell you.  But wouldn't it be more fun to wait until everything is in place?

A Taste of Progress II

Following on from yesterday's post, here's the kitchen again.

In the corner, the previous owners located the water heater/boiler.  We toyed with the idea of moving it, or atleast changing the access to it from the other direction (from the living room instead of the kitchen) but that would have involved moving a lot of plumbing.  A LOT OF PLUMBING.  Which was far more trouble than it was worth.  So leaving it as is, it initially created a bit of an obstacle in the kitchen design but in the end, it actually doesn't really impact on the kitchen too much.  We hope that once the door goes on it, it'll just look like another cupboard or pantry type door.

As you can see in the original picture, there's another chimney breast to be knocked out behind that wall.  And the sofa is just odd.  We couldn't move it out of the kitchen until the walls/door were knocked out to make enough room for it to fit through.  How they got it in there to begin with is beyond me!  Speculation is that it came in through the windows when they got replaced ... but why into the kitchen????

Central opening knocked through and steel joist and concrete in place for support

Wall knocked and chimney out.  See all the plumbing off the boiler.  That was going nowhere!

A bit of stonework going up on one side of the central opening.  All the stone
came from the thick walls that were knocked down!

And again ... TA DA!