Pictures

This post is somewhat in reverse chronological order so to get things straight, go to the bottom and scroll up....sorry I'm too lazy to move ALL the pictures!



If we had a crane and a few hundred lights, this could be one enormous and beautiful christmas tree - but we'll just leave it to its natural snow covered beauty.

The front yard, a little more currently - taken Dec. 20th, Temp about -27C with windchill -37C or so...snow falling and north-west wind blowing....ahh, Christmas in Manitoba!

Another view...from the doorway.

The North wall of the bedroom - the accent wall I guess you'd call it, it all actually turned out quite well, its the nicest master bedroom we've ever had, what with the ensuite and lighted walk in closet its almost like a luxury house!! :D

I even have a mirror and lots of light!! Yay - its finished. We still have to build/find a cupboard to put beside the sink and cover up the pipes, but I am just happy that it all works!

Some shelving installed, and holders for towels, TP, etc installed.

The bedroom, complete, painted and moved in!! Hurray! Don't mind the spots on the camera lense...I don't know what happened really...

Cootie - the cute and mysterious and often crazy house cat.

Er, one pipe short of being fully installed that is!

The bathroom - primed, painted, flooring down, trim down, fixtures installed, yay!

Yes, I do have a baby belly, though it is somewhat easily disguised...thanks (or no thanks) to the ample bosom...I have choose to make it show for pictures :P

"Oh No, I've lost sight of my fellow herdmates, I must rush around like an idiot and make a lot of noise until I locate them...." The hardship of being more then 100yards from another horse...

Good to see them out stretching their legs...there goes Guthrie, with Riata close behind...as the sun is setting...

I really do hate this horse...Apache...but he's almost graceful when he gets into a lope....almost...as close as a gangly, long necked thoroughbred can be...its a good thing he's pretty quiet, or his other qualities...like being a major jerk to the other horses would have made him a goner long ago.

Then they decided to kick up their heels a bit.

Munch, Munch, mmmm frozen grass...

Sneef and Trevor looking out over the ravine.

After hunting season we let the horses out into the pasture rather then keeping them in the corral - of course the first thing they did was clean up any grass that was still sticking out of the snow...This is Riata.

Notice who's working and guess who is snapping pictures, can you guess who wanted this bathroom more badly!

Self taught plastering....nobody look to close when you come to visit!

Work in progress, drywall on in the bathroom, but no plaster yet...

The bedroom during construction in the bathroom....disaster area!

Not the prettiest site on a dull fall day, this is the barnyard with the few years of manure build up that was left behind, now nicely piled thanks to Pinky... notice the row of horse feed along the fence, within forking distance, but hopefully beyond reaching for the long necked thoroughbred...

Looking from the north side of the house to the east towards the garage. Off the the left you can see the edge of the flower garden that is between the house and the vegetable garden (which is further north)

The north/west side of the house...not the prettiest angle...

Looking southwest from the north side of the house, the little white building is kind of a chicken coop and then there is the barn beyond.

Looking south towards the loose housing shed/barnyard from the sidewalk up to the front door.

The front of the house, before the snow fell.

This is the living room with our new-to-us livingroom set and a view of the yard through the window.

This is just a random picture of the house - I figured I'd put up some pictures of what it looks like with our stuff in it... This is the bathroom, looking through the laundry room from the kitchen door.

Trevor with his favorite big toy - changing the drainage paths on the yard before the ground froze. We're still trying to sell this piece of iron...if anyone wants to push some trees/dirt/snow, etc, I'll cut you a deal! She's completely rebuilt and ready to go!

OK, so to begin with, this is sort of a before picture of the area that we turned into an ensuite half bath in our new house - except when this picture was taken we'd already stripped up the flooring and dad had done his part of the magic. This is what the bathroom looked like when dad left...plumbing roughed in...Mid October

A Long Time Gone.....But, Not Forgotten...

You know its been a long time since you wrote on your blog when you have to go back and see when and what you last wrote about....man, almost 3 months since my last post!! I can't believe it, but its been a really busy three months! We moved into our new place on the 27th of September (I had to look that up on the calendar too - time really flies - I can't believe we've been here two months now!!) We spent the first few weeks in a flurry of activity - with winter being just around the corner there was much to do inside and out. The last owners had left us a corral and barn full of a few years worth of manure, so that was high on Trevor's list of things to get taken care of before freeze up, along with some dirt work in the yard (changing the slope and filling in a low spot), a bigger garage door on his shop (so Pinky would fit in) and generally getting all of our stuff settled in and ready for winter - moving the horses, getting the dog house set up, moving hay, etc etc. Inside, I was busy too - unpacking, trying to find a place for things, scheming about renovations, etc - not to mention work for both of us and our normal commitments.
Dad and Diane came to visit for a few days in October and helped immensely with the one major renovation project that we wanted to do - a bathroom upstairs. Dad ran the plumbing from the basement up to the bathroom including finding the proper route and cutting holes in the floor/ceiling all the way to the top of the house and the vent stack on the roof. He did the major part of the work and we've been very slow getting the rest done. We finished the plumbing except for connecting to the drain downstairs - which we will do once all the fixtures are in place. We did a little wiring, put up the drywall and plastered, currently the plaster is waiting for a final sanding. The primer is sitting patiently on the stairs and the paint is resting in the bedroom. The sink and toilet are counting their blessed days of rest and the linoleum is hiding in a roll beside the bedroom door....now we just need the time to put it all together!
Besides renovations, we spent a good part of two saturdays in Prenatal classes - which were good for both of us - a chance to learn and discuss things is always good. Baby and I are doing well. The little one kicks and I smile...most of the time, now and then it gets a little uncomfortable and for the last few days something has been pushing on my sciatic nerve which is very uncomfortable, hopefully my chiropractor appointment will help tomorrow!
We had a nice weekend relaxing together, Trevor and I that is, as my work christmas party was in Brandon last night. The company pays for hotel rooms for all of the out of towners, so we took full advantage of the mini vacation - who knows when that my happen again. We slept in on Saturday, and got to Brandon just after lunch and did some shopping. I was hoping to get lots of Christmas shopping done, but not too much got done yesterday afternoon - I actually spent way more money on myself...unfortunately...being pregnant has been very frusterating for me in the clothes department - it was ok to begin with, some friends loaned me lots of stuff, but they're both shorter then me and not nearly as busty as I was even before I got pregnant - now that I've added almost 3 cup sizes to that, nothing goes around me - and even most maternity shirts look crazy because the empire waistline cuts across in the middle of the bust instead of below. I bit the bullet and went to Stages - a very nice little independent maternity/nursing/kids clothing shop in downtown Brandon. I've never spent money on clothes like this before....ack, almost $200.... I got a dress ( I desperately needed something to wear to the christmas party and any other occasion I go to between now and valentines day), and one nice top - which actually I am not that terribly crazy about, but everyone else says it looks good and it actualy fits, so I'm happy! I also got one bra and ordered a bra/nursing tank top - after much frusteration with bras I'm so glad to have one that actually fits - even if I have to face the depressing truth that its the largest size that company even makes!! The tank top is the most amazing piece of clothing I've ever put on - it actualy had support and looked pretty good, not to mention being my size and made for nursing - its going to get used a ton underneath lots of other things I think!! Too bad I had to pay $60 for it....I almost choked when I saw the price....but I think it will be totally worth it, and plus, since its white I can claim it for work I think! Anyways...a quick web search shows my bust size is bigger then many famous celeberties - including dolly parton....that is somewhat alarming....or depressing depending on what mood I'm in... Anyways I think its getting to be too late for me to write any more without risking some crazy rant so I shall head for bed...I'll be back sooner then three months this time I hope, and with pictures!

Pictures!!!

Since Andrew and Jamie are being very nice and letting me borrow their high speed internet I decided I should upload some pictures of our new place - I don't have all that many - I just took pictures of the places that needed help mostly - like this first picture of the beautiful front stairs - this is the view when you come in the front door - the 27" wide stairwell in all its 70's rug glory! I hope we can change this rug in the near future and also remove the wall on the left and put in a railing to open it up a bit more!

This is the front entrance - in all its glory too! I think we may end up with a freezer in the corner by the front door as there is no way we can fit it down the stairway to the basement and no other place to put it!
Besides needing a light fixture and a different color of paint (tis like a light minty/teal green right now) The living room is quite nice - with laminate floors it should be easy to keep clean! I plan to put my piano against the wall on the left - and hopefuly build a window seat in the alcove in the middle.
The bathroom is a room that will someday need some work - but at least its useable right now - its not rotten or moldy or falling apart but it is somewhat outdated and maybe a big worn as well as being cramped and lacking in the storage department. The bathroom sink is located in the laundry room, outside the room where the toilet and shower are - so someday we'd like to expand the bathroom enough to put the sink inside and add some cupboards for towels, etc.
This is the "Master" bedroom - its not very large - none of the bedrooms are - but it does presently have two closets - one of which has been wired for a bathroom and we would like to finish that bathroom right away as the thought of rushing down the stairs in the middle of a cold winter night all the way to the other end of the house while the baby is kicking me in the bladder doesn't sound very appealing to me!! I also think that potty training will be much easier with a bathroom on each level! This bedroom is also the only room in the house besides the stairway that has carpet. The other two bedrooms have linoleum as well as most of the downstairs.

This is the second bedroom - presently occupied by two girls - I haven't yet decided which room I want as the baby's room yet - this one is long and narrow and has a full sized closet with mirrored doors at one end.

Bedroom number three is definitely a boys bedroom - so it will work good if we have a baby boy- but it might be the spare bedroom for now as which ever room has the crib in it will also have an extra bed and I think this room may be two small for both!

On my way home from looking at the house the other night this is what I watched (and drove toward) my whole way home! I had never seen a funnel cloud so this one was quite interesting - watching it go up and down and change shape all the time. I was just hoping and praying the whole time taht I would get home before it turned into something big - thankfully it never did - it just petered out into nothing!

Trevor has been cleaning up the yard around here a bit - sometimes I think its just an excuse to use his big machinery and make fires- but the yard is begining to look much better! I guess its just a pass time for now knowing we'll only be here for another month or so! Practicing for his own place I hope!

Here is a picture of Riata - my two year old - she's starting to fill out quite nicely and her head is actually kinda nice I think - despite my earlier worries that she might be somewhat ugly....Don't worry - I never told her that!

Announcements continued...

I guess its about time I made my own announcement....I've been meaning to do this for a while, but since most of you probably already know, it seems rather anticlimatic...

We're pregnant :) According to the calendar, the munchkin should appear around Valentines day - or approximately 26 weeks from today. Now I know there is a fairly small percentage of babies who are actually born on their due dates, but I think it would be kinda cool to have a Valentines baby. Come to think of it - especially if it was a girl, cause then someday her husband would only have one less important date to remember because there would be two special occasions on one day! Ok, now I'm blathering....

Before I get the standard question 50 times or more - I'm feeling quite well - at least I am now. I still have a little more fatigue then normal, but then again me and summer never got along that well anyways! The last couple of weeks have definitely been a lot more comfortable since I've come into my second trimester. Everything has been fairly uneventful so far and we hope it continues that way! I got to hear the munchkin's heartbeat for the first time last week - so now it seems a lot more real - and since I'm pretty much in maternity clothes full time or at least using my Bella Band on a few of my pair of pants that I can still fit into - I can't forget about the new little life inside of me anymore :) I should be scheduled for an ultrasound in about a month - so I'm pretty excited about that!
Besides that news - I had a good trip to Idaho - spending lots of time with Amy and little Luke - and I got to see all the rest of my family except my grandparents who were elsewhere on vacation. I miss being around my family sometimes - and after seeing quite a bit of them all this year and not having any plans to go back it seems even sadder to be away now - especially knowing that the little squirt will be growing and changing so fast in this time when I can't see him very often :(
Anyways - here are a few pictures from the trip and the times before and since :)
Ok after waiting for 15 minutes for photos to upload....TWICE the same thing happened and blogger just displayed the "This Page Cannot be displayed" page.....so I just wasted half and hour with no picutures to show for it - I HATE the blogger photo uploader - I'll just upload them elsewhere and post a link....sorry.