Tuesday 30 December 2008

My Amazing Sister

My sister says she had been working on this quilt for quite awhile before she gave it to me. She also was working on a quilt for The Geek and a similar one for my dad, all at the same time.
Considering she has three boys, only one of whom is in school full time, and, until a short time ago, she worked full time, she gets a lot of things done. I am really impressed, since most days I barely manage to find matching socks.
I love this quilt!

Sunday 28 December 2008

The Cheapest, All-Purpose Cleaner

It is also extremely environmentally friendly.
I give you...used coffee grounds. The Geek read an article about using coffee grounds to scrub your face. I tried it and it did a good job and since it is oily, it moisturizes at the same time(since I don't have dry skin, that wasn't so good). We have since tried it on greasy hands and washing the flame covers on the stove. It worked well there also. We now have a jar standing by the sink. It is, however, somewhat messy to use.

This link also has other suggestions you can consider. We were happy to see they found some of the same ideas handy.

Saturday 27 December 2008

Did we mention that the saga continues?

Ya know, we have not yet gone for a lowest bidder in these bathroom renos. With that in mind, I am amazed at the number of problems we have had. One of the highlights must be this newest example of "cutting corners". Sox was cleaning off the new bathroom floor this morning and came across this:

I must have made an exceptionally feeble impression on the installers if they thought this was going to go unnoticed. Obviously I will have to cultivate my German forbiddingness more.
(can you guess this was actually posted by berserk?)

Wednesday 24 December 2008

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

Bathroom Reno Phase 10: The Seamless Floor

First the levelling compound was applied,
and the linoleum was installed.
I am relieved that its colour is as unassuming as we first thought.

Tuesday 23 December 2008

Uncharted Territory

Except for the dust, the living room was largely unaffected by the bathroom shenanigans. Until today.
It is the only room with enough floor space to lay out the linoleum, so all the furniture was pushed to the side or moved out of the room.

The hallway has been no stranger to extra bits and pieces so it doesn't look so odd.
Tomorrow the linoleum should be in the bathroom and then everything else can go back where it more or less belongs.

I am Cautiously Optimistic-Again

An e-mail from The Geek with an update...
"Apparently the stain is normal and will fade with exposure to light and air. It's part of being Marmoleum - he even had a pamphlet for me with details.
Roland, the installer, will likely be back tomorrow to put the stuff in.
And we got a big thing of Toblerone out of the deal.
The rep also told me that they are using this stuff in the new airport and the new addition to the VGH."

I have my fingers crossed.

We Should be Used to This

The linoleum that arrived yesterday has a stain.
The Geek is waiting to hear what the lady who sold it to her is going to say.

Battle Scars

Compared to The Geek, I seem to be slightly more prone to minor mishaps.Yesterday, the steam from the shower loosened one of the two pieces of masking tape holding up a piece of trim. The trim, using the remaining piece of tape as a pivot point, swung away from its spot on the wall. The momentum loosened the tape completely and it did a 'tarzan swing' across the room, landing sharp side down across my toes. Luckily, there was no blood on the trim.

The blackened toenail happened during the bathtub extraction. I don't know what fell on my foot, but I suspect it is a very good thing I was wearing steel-toed boots.

Monday 22 December 2008

The Mystery Package


What might this be?

Sunday 21 December 2008

What One Can Do in About Six Hours

My Christmas baking.


(And a few loads of laundry).

No doubt my foremothers would be appalled by my inefficiency. Ah well.

Saturday 20 December 2008

What Blooms in December?

The Christmas Cactus is blooming, at least on the 'cold' side as are the geraniums. I guess they have decided to cope with their new location.
They were used to being outside on the south side of the house and now have to live in a sunroom on the north side of the house.
Unless, like those types of plants that blossom just before they die, this is their last gasp.

Books by Their Titles

Just a sample of some 'interesting' titles I have notice of late.

Dog-Ku: Very Clever Haikus Cleverly Written by Very Clever Dogs (I didn't know dogs could use a pen. Or did they use a dictaphone and someone else types it up?)

Don’t Tell Mom I Work on the Rigs; She Thinks I’m a Piano Player in a Whorehouse (Can this possibly be as interesting as it sounds?)

Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists and Spirits of Letters, Word and Combinations Thereof: Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths and Pips (Try remembering this whole title {tho' I am curious about the content}.)

The Bride Instruction Manual; How to Survive and Possibly Even Enjoy the Biggest Day in Your Life (Why would you even consider a wedding after a title like that?)

Animal Talk: Interspecies Telepathic Communication (Really?!?)

Existentialism for Dummies (Oi!)

Friday 19 December 2008

Santa's Helpers are Everywhere

While waiting for the gym to open today, I noticed one of the other fellows standing in the lineup. With his hooded jacket, baggy shorts, cycling tights and boot covers, he looked very much like an elf.
I wonder if he would have appreciated the comparison.

Thursday 18 December 2008

Trimming the Trim

The Geek has started cutting the trim to fit.

I am finding encouraging pieces in the basement, the armoire room, the hall, the medicine cabinet....

Tuesday 16 December 2008

A Different Kind of Practical

Yesterday, on the way to work, I saw a young-ish looking fellow riding on the back of a motorized wheelchair. He seemed to be dressed warmly enough but I was puzzled as to why he would be riding when he would be much warmer if he walked.
As we passed the duo, I noticed that the fellow on the back of the wheelchair was holding his mittened hands over the ears of the bareheaded driver. The rest of the driver's head was still likely quite cold but at least his ears wouldn't freeze.

Sunday 14 December 2008

Decorating for the Holidays

The garland is on the chimney,Nutcrackers and inscence holders are scattered with other Christmas decorations on the bookshelves,
Mary, Joseph and the animals await the baby and long for the day we are able to find three wise men, anywhere,

and the Christmas tree and Weihnachtspyramide (Christmas pyramid) are waiting to be lit in their respective ways.The best thing about all of this is we had to dust first!

Recipe # 4 Red Curry

1 chicken breast-cut into 1” pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tsp red curry paste
1 cup brown rice
1 can coconut milk
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 yam or sweet potato-cut into 1” pieces
2 potatoes-cut into pieces
3 cups green and or yellow beans
2 tsp lime juice
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Heat oil in frying pan and brown the chicken. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Pour chicken stock into pan and bring to a boil. Stir in curry paste, brown sugar and rice. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in coconut milk and lime leaves, then browned chicken, yam and potato. Cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans, lime juice and cilantro and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Makes 6 generous servings.

Seeing is Believing

At least in this case. It is as cold outside as it looks.

We are currently sitting at -27C with a wind speed of 39km/hr resulting in a windchill of -43C. According to a wind chill calculator, if it was -40C, and we had the same wind, the windchill would be -61C. Nasty!Almost all of Western Canada is under a wind chill warning and eastern Canada is being warned about heavy snowfall and blizzards.
There is even frost in the bathroom window, but I suspect that is due more to poor air circulation rather than the house being too cold.

All About Cozy

We had our office Christmas party Thursday night at the home of my co-workers and
I was rather surprised by her house. Her brothers are builders and this house looked like a show home. It is very pretentious with 14 foot ceilings, art work placed strategically about, restaurant grade appliances, and not a picture, toy or book to be seen.
She is not the least bit pretentious, and her husband and children appear to be perfectly normal and active so the only way I could see that they live in this house is if they did their real 'living' in the basement. These pictures are not exactly great examples, but it does give an idea...
I was so happy to get home where we have pictures, toys, and books galore.

Sunday 7 December 2008

A Corner Meant for Wheels

Its a good thing we are cleaning things up. Now the corner in which the scaffolding sat for weeks (months) can be used for bicycle repairs.
Especially since it is -18 in the garage.

Saturday 6 December 2008

Two for the Price of One

Last weekend The Geek took a wheel building course and made a spare wheel for her hybrid bicycle. She enjoyed it so much that she bought the parts to make a flip-flop hub.
If you have the wheel mounted one way in the frame it is a fixed wheel. Turn it around and it becomes a free wheel.

Sheldon Brown's website is quite interesting and The Geek just thinks he looks cool

Poor Spelling or Poor Hearing?

How many times have you heard a song, and then been totally amazed at the words when you read the lyrics?

I am trying to figure out if the person who printed this label thought tensor was tension, or if they just thought is was just spelled this way. I wonder if the addition of 'high' was a marketing ploy.
A third possibility: I have been away from the world of emergency medicine for over 10 years. Who knows what they have come up with!

Wednesday 3 December 2008

Reclaiming the Basement

While we are making progress in returning the main floor to its original level of chaos, the basement has been taking a pounding. The Geek finally had enough and started sorting things out.
The floor area is still bad, but at least she has part of her workbench in a usable state again.
Once the trim is up in the bathroom, there will be more space on the workroom floor.

Saturday 29 November 2008

Defying Gravity

The overnight parking ban on Designated Snow Routes starts Monday so we had to pull the panel out of the fence so we could park both vehicles in the back.

When we pulled out the fence, the mirror resting against it refused to fall. This non-typical winter of icy, rainy snow has proven to be very interesting.

Friday 28 November 2008

Intellectual Pursuits


N1 and N2 play chess while N3 invents stuff with the K'nex.

Thursday 27 November 2008

Are We Going to be a "Big Pond"?

This was on CBC radio yesterday and this item was in today's Free Press.
"Ikea coming to town maybe, in few years

WINNIPEG appears to be next in line in Canada for an Ikea home furnishings store, but don't expect one to spring up here for a few years at least, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The Swedish-based retail giant has identified a parcel of land for development in the city, but it hasn't purchased it yet, Ikea Canada's Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick said from Burlington, Ont.
"It is very premature for us to say anything at this point," she said, and there is no timeline for a Winnipeg here.
"Yes, there is a piece of land that we are interested in, but there is no deal signed on it and we have not purchased the land," Lowenborg-Frick said. She would not say what part of Winnipeg the company has its eyes on.
Winnipeggers have longed for decades for an Ikea store -- huge outlets that carry furnishings and accessories for every part of the home -- but until now they've had to order products by catalogue.
Lowenborg-Frick said Wednesday the city is now a priority for a new store in Canada.
"It is the market that we are taking the most serious look at right now for expansion," she said.
Local developer Sandy Shindleman, president of Shindico Realty Inc., said an Ikea could take 30 acres or more of land. To put that into perspective, Polo Park Shopping Centre complex, excluding the expansion areas that Shindico is working on, is about 40 acres.
Shindleman has followed the Winnipeg-Ikea saga for at least 25 years. "If I had all my money back from my long-distance charges (from) calling Ikea, I could probably buy a three-room group there when they open," he quipped.
Shindleman said he believes that "it's likely a question of when, not if" a store will materialize in the city.
He said potential locations include Kenaston Boulevard, the east side of town or on the northern outskirts, near the capital region's booming bedroom communities.
Premier Gary Doer said Wednesday the provincial government and the city have been meeting Ikea for some time, and he hinted the province may have offered some incentives to lure the company."

Wednesday 26 November 2008

It Has Been A Long Time

since I have had such a good steak. Odd to find it in a Greek place.
The Geek and I stopped for supper at the Pembina Village Restaurant. A friend brought it back to my attention when she said she and her husband went there for their anniversary in October.
The last time I was here was with Ruzter and K when K was newly pregnant with Baby A.

Sunday 23 November 2008

Bathroom Reno Phase 9: Bliss

I will no longer take showering at home for granted. During the week I usually shower at the gym, but this certainly will be lovely on the weekends!

I Wish it Were Always This Easy

to clean the bathtub


(can you tell I'm anxious to give it a try?)

Saturday 22 November 2008

It's Just Various Shades of ...White

So, now that we have the first coat of paint, can you tell the difference from when it was just primer alone?
I just compeared the two. Maybe it is a different shade of white.

Friday 21 November 2008

Wednesday 19 November 2008

Tuesday 18 November 2008

False Alarm

Since The Geek made her comment on the previous post, she has done some checking. The door is reversible.
While it isn't easy to see, there is no seal on one side of the door while there is on the other.

She has to move it from one side to the other and then it can be mounted on the wall.

Sunday 16 November 2008

Saturday 15 November 2008

Still Moving Forward

Since The Geek has put up all the tile she can until the floor is installed,
she will also grout what she can.

Thursday 13 November 2008

Multi-use Tools

The Geek's portable air filtration system is good for cleaning dust out of the airand for scaring off menacing aircraft.


Wednesday 12 November 2008

Measuring Time

Just how long have we been working on the bathroom?


Long enough to have used an entire tube of toothpaste.