Can you say "s#itty"?

Yes, Thursday I was happy, and happily out of focus with some good pals after a night of burgs (lettuce wrapped for the GF crowd) and fries (if Romer's does one thing really well, it's their fries)

And Friday, well, that was pretty great too - a siblings night out watching Maureen sing at the Cellar. I haven't seen her perform since I moved back from Toronto (come to think of it, I'm not sure I've seen any vocal jazz since I moved back) and she was great - right on her game, with a fistful of great new tunes and a fantastic backing band supporting her. A really great night.  And her new CD will be out in the fall, which is something else to look forward to.
And Saturday? Well, it started ok, with my regular weekend exercise and trip to Mum's. Well, with the caveat that my laundry tubs backed up. Mum and I took a closer look, and decided that once again, my sewer line had failed me. So - it spun into an afternoon of sewer line auguring and stress. And expense. And the realization that I have to decide whether to do one more repair on the line (another pipe section destroyed by the neighbours stupid f$&king red maple - no offense, tree, but I'm not your biggest fan), or bite the bullet and replace the whole line - which really does need to be done, in a perfect world. My sewer line is not properly graded (read: has dipping "belly" that collects water and gunk - I'm ok with my own dipping belly but the sewer line is another story), and has too many repairs between old crap pipe and new plastic pipe, and the joins and old pipe just keep on failing. Yesterday's plumbing company were pushy and annoying so I am going to get more quotes before doing anything, but to give you an idea, their quoted repair would be over 2K and the replacement, 7K. I do OK financially, but an unplanned 7K expense is enough to make me sweat. Particularly when I am bracing to spend a whack getting my chimney rebuilt in the next month or so. OH this is the reason people cohabit - to share the joys of home ownership? ;)
*SIGH*
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Waiting for the plumber...

Actually, now I'm waiting for the plumber to finish and leave - he's been here almost three hours already (ka-CHING!).  The hot water pressure in my tub suddenly dropped, so I had to get someone in to look at it.  It took a fair amount of trouble shooting but it looks like the problem is the valve in the pipe coming out of my hot water tank - so, pipe has been sawed off, plumber now attaching a new pipe.  I am not looking forward to the bill for this one.  Not.  I have gone a bit crazy on the spending recently (Coach bag - whee! Plane fare to Portland - whee! My continually improving closet - whee! Clothes - whee!) and am also planning to rebuild my chimney this year (I'm waiting on a quote for that), so I guess the plumber is just one more expense ... nothing to worry about I guess, provided I don't lose my job any time soon?

If nothing else, Maggie enjoyed waiting for the plumber (she loves the bath mat these days).  Her expression will become even more glowering when we go to the vet for a nail trim later today...hopefully this time she won't try to recreate scenes from the Exorcist on the examination table.

Note the tail wag

Things that start with C

It has been a busy couple of "holiday" days (ha) since I came back from Penticton - the great news is that my kitchen ceiling (aka keeper of the wiring holes) is FINALLY repaired and looking fine, 5 (or is it 6?) years after I had the electricians rewire the place, thanks to the help of a drywall elf who came to repair when I was away (thanks Brad!).  So, I spent the last two days painting the ceiling and walls.  As I get older, I find my tolerance for painting has been ... diminished.   But, it is done, and as you see from the photos attached, I had company.  I include the light photo only to provide an update to the photo here.

Other than that, I've been listening to a lot of music.  I'm gravitating towards singer songwriters right now - hooked on the new Fiona Apple, The idler wheel is wiser than the driver of the screw and whipping chords will server you more than ropes will ever do.  Take a listen here.  It is tempting me to shell out for her concert at the Orpheum in a couple of weeks - I had written it off because the good seats are pricey, but now....hmmm.

Less poetic, but grabbing me maybe because of that (and because it deals with everything from antibiotics to back pain to cats to relationships - with women, his dad, guitar repair guys...) is the new Sun Kil Moon (Mark Kozelek), Among the Leaves.  Listen here.  Quite a lot less dark than earlier Sun Kil Moon, or the Red House Painters he fronted in the 90s, a much folkier vibe, but it is suiting my mood.

And that is all she wrote.  For now.

OK OK I'm still here....

*phew*

I am apparently still being a bit lame arsed when it comes to posting.   Lack of motivation and lack of time, not lack of cool things to post about, trust me.

I am back at home after my month long holiday at Mum's.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around having to do things like cook for myself again - it sure doesn't take long to get completely spoiled.  And why am I back home? BECAUSE MY AWESOME BATHROOM IS DONE!!   My photos are far from awesome really, but they give you an idea.  And if you look back at this you will see how far things have come.  I'm not completely finished yet - I foresee a wall cabinet in the near future, and a few other bits and bobs.  My home away from home at the moment  is (unfortunately) Restoration Hardware...$ka-ching, $ka-ching.  I unfortunately have a soft spot for polished nickel fixtures.

I can't believe what a difference it makes to have a bathroom you actually enjoy being in.  A bathroom with ONE door, not three...and tile, not a poorly laid vinyl nightmare.

And as an aside, this has been proof to me that non-nightmarish contractors DO exist.

As I sit here, there is a plumber in my bathroom replacing my bath's intake pipes with stupidly expensive chrome ones.  My bank account and I are the only ones that will notice, I know - unless of course you hang sideways off my toilet and look behind the tub.  It's the little things....

And in other news, I saw the absolutely phenomenal Joanna Newsom last week.  This video doesn't do the gig justice at all - but it was the best I could do under the high-security situation.   Such a talented performer, supported by an incredibly tight band.  And you've got to love the harp - it is such a physically demanding instrument, and it's just odd enough to completely transfix me. Undoubtedly one of the best concerts I've seen - and thank you Vogue for being such a great venue for quieter acts like this.

And unfortunately I have had to enable comment moderation on this blog...grrr to all you Asian spam sites!  I CURSE YOU!! 

See, I'm doing what I promised...

...and not waiting a month to blog again.  That's because I have something to blog about - an extended, wine-laden weekend in BC's desert country, Osoyoos, with two of my favorite partners in crime.

We splurged and stayed at Spirit Ridge  - gorgeous, gorgeous.  The slightly crap photo I've posted is the view from our balcony, out over the NK'MIP vineyards.  Why is the photo crap? Because I couldn't find my camera so had to use my Blackberry.  (I'm hoping my camera wielding pal A will let me post some of her inevitably awesome photos when she downloads them). 

We had a great trip - 35C temperatures, an air conditioned car, and many, many winery moments, followed by tasty meals and lazy nights by the pool and beds so high you had to climb into them - who could complain?  Not me, that's for sure. 

A few favorites: Silver Sage (ooooh those fruit dessert wines!!!), Tinhorn Creek (that view! that Cab Franc!!),  and Stoneboat (lovely bright tasting room with some really nice whites).  One to avoid, despite the great graphics - Road 13.  Such lovely staff, such blah wine.  But what I can recommend is taking the time to get away with a dear friends for some luxury and laughs.

And I came home to find THIS - yes, my new, gorgeous, bathroom floor...whoop whoop!  One more reason to break open one of the many bottles that made the trip back home with me...

No I haven't disappeared...but I'm not home either!

I can't believe it has been a month (augh!) since I have posted - to the two people in the universe who bother checking in to see if I've posted, I'm sorry for being a lazy-arse.

The good news is that finally I do have something to post about!  My bathroom renos are finally (FINALLY) starting - I think I purchased the new vanity about a year ago so that tells you how long I've been waiting - and I enclose a "before" shot that hopefully captures the truly horrendous vanity and the awful vinyl flooring (though the awfulness really doesn't show well in this photo - bear in mind the flooring doesn't actually go right to the wall in all places and is more like a badly laid plastic carpet than anything.  And it doesn't show the giant light-laden disco mirror.)

So, I moved to Mum's on Tuesday with the beasts, because bathroom renos mean no bathroom at home for, oh, three weeks.  The cats weren't all that impressed with things, and I think they are likely still not all that thrilled with their change of situation, but they are adjusting.  The first night I slept with Maggie curled up beside my head, and Thom just below her at my shoulder.  Not our usual sleeping pattern to say the least - firstly the two of them rarely occupy the same piece of furniture let alone sleep within inches of each other, and if they do sleep on the bed it is by my feet.  Either they found being by my head somewhat comforting, or they were preparing to lie on my face and steal my breath.  Looking at Maggie sometimes I fear the second option was really the plan, but she likely fell asleep and forgot.

So - right now, my bathroom has NO floor (you can see through to the basement), the drywall with the tiles has been cut out, and two of the three doors into the bathroom have been framed in ready for drywall.  So far so good with the contractors - they have been extremely tidy about things and all seems to be going according to plan. 

And I will try and be a better poster this month.  Promise. 

Is this what you mean by "in situ"?

In situ being code for "under the cats".

It's in an awkward spot to take a good photo (my dining room is really more of a wide hallway than a dining room, and I have yet to get an overhead light so the lighting is a bit of an issue), but I will try, soon.  Thankfully, I LOVE IT!! And so do the cats, unfortunately.  The pillow you catch a glimpse of on the seat below Thomas is part of the temporary cat-repellant setup (a combo of books and pillows).  The issue with the chair seats is that they are a very coarse weave that the cats will inevitably get stuck to.   Potential solution suggestions (that don't involve cat foot-binding, tempting though that is) welcome!

The Bunkle goes mid-century modern???

Um....apparently.

I am not at heart a danish modern fan (particularly not a teak fan) - but there was something about this rosewood table that just kind of felt right.  The grain and colour of the wood somehow goes back a lot further than the 60's, and the light, simple structure is kind of perfect for the very small space it will be placed in.   With leaves extended I will actually be able to seat ten.  TEN.  Better than the big fat zero I can currently seat ... and the little chairs are extremely comfortable - and come upholstered with fabric that the cats will LOVE destroying (nice coarse weave perfect for trapping cat claws).  Perfect.  I foresee more dinner parties, and more games nights, in 2010.

Anyway, the set arrives tomorrow.  Fingers crossed it will look like it belongs.

Maybe getting older isn't so bad....

Yep, it's that time of year. Making it less traumatic:
1) adorable Shinzi Kato book from my pal L. in TO!


2) Present to myself: new fridge!


3) Present #2 to myself: new kitchen light! (you can tell it is the kitchen because of the holes in the ceiling). At first I was a bit disappointed in the shade - when I bought it I thought it was much simpler, without all the ridges (my own mistake - I relied on the simplified computerized images as I was "trying out" different shades on the Rejuvenation website) but I've got to say I really like it now - the ridges look very cute when the light is turned on! You should know I have lived with a bare bulb for the past three years. The new light is a BIG deal :)

Off to DOXA's opening night tonight! More on the festival in the days to come...

Still struggling...

...with this blogging thing. So - here goes another dive into my random world:

• after a day of delving into the unbelievably varied (and expensive) world of faucets ($800 for a faucet? REALLY??), I have decided to go Canadian with the Cheviot number pictured (fear not, it will be chrome not gold...). This will adorn the Porcher Stanza cabinet I currently have sitting in my dining room. Seemed to me like a good mix of traditional styling & clean lines
  
• I have ordered yet another light fixture from Rejuvenation. I did look at some light fixtures here, but didn't see anything I love - and also realized that ordering online is a way of managing my tendency to OBSESS. So - almost all the "parts" are in place for the bathroom. Now I just have to will the contractor into calling me back...
  

• and an update on Mr. Big Eyes from the last blog post. Little bugger was sitting by my head at about 2am this morning, purring. And his squishy face causes a particularly loud, snotty sounding purr....a sound punctuated every so often with a very loud swallow. As I lay there, pretending to be alseep, I wondered whether purring is in fact a voluntary action, and whether Thom is smart enough to use it as a weapon (in the middle of the night, his purr has all the subtlety of a lawnmower). Then he whapped me on the head with a paw, and I realized that yes, he knows how to use the arsenal of weapons at his disposal. So, don't be fooled by those big innocent eyes.
• And finally, I am beyond excited by the line-up at this year's Vancouver Folk Festival. Great Lake Swimmers? Dan Mangan (who, in my fantasy world, will be on a workshop stage with Veda Hille, who is also in the lineup)? Rock Plaza Central? Iron & Wine? Geoff Berner? The Weakerthans?... catch me as I swoon.
  

avoiding.

I'm off to Boston on Tuesday morning - work related stuff, fly back Friday. Weather sounds ... not ideal. High teens, showery, cloudy. Whee. Not that I mind Boston. I like Boston.

Whatever. What it comes down to is that I HATE packing. Particularly work-packing...which is what I am avoiding by writing this.

This is going to be another scattered post. I'm still not really in a good blogging head space for some reason, but I will do my best to work through it. So, here goes my scattered attempt.

House
Well, things are starting to move, ever so slowly, on the reno front. I finally decided on this vanity, ordered it, expected it to take 6 weeks and it took less than 2. It was a big purchase, sight unseen - and I unpacked it with a bit of worry. Thankfully I like it. It is now sitting (without the sink top) in the middle of my dining room (if you can call it a dining room), waiting for me to call the contractor and see when he can get started. I should mention I don't like the knobs it came with, so I am now obsessing as only I can about replacements. I will be going white ceramic, but which white ceramic remains to be seen - as you can see I've bought two different ones so far (actually I've bought three, but the third is a no). No doubt will be buying a whole bunch of random ceramic knobs trying to figure it out. I have also been obsessing about flooring - I am going for the black and white hex and dot shown above...really, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I hope it looks ok in the end. For some reason I can't quite understand it is all starting to remind me of a Vermeer. If only I could fit a harpsichord in beside the toilet...hmmm.

Cats have been enjoying the related boxes. Maggie spent a fair bit of today looking imperious from her perch on top of the one box I have yet to unpack.



And in other news, my mum and I installed my new kitchen light - love it. I did mention the big hole in the kitchen ceiling last post - well, here it is, in all it's grandeur. Sigh. Patience. Bathroom now, kitchen - later....

(And as an aside, I've got to figure out the html to get my text and photos to play more happily together. Argh.)

And finally - went to see Winnipeg's the Weakerthans, and the Constantines, at the Commodore Friday. Very good show - but I honestly don't feel like writing a review, except to say that the background chatter noise at the Commodore drives me MENTAL. Couple of videos attached - and a shout out to the Weakerthans for doing a DOXA celeb camera!

**SNOW**

Too much, even for Maggie.

The king has a new throne

Yes, the new chair arrived. Still not 100% sure about it but I think it will work out.

It took Thomas about two minutes after the delivery to hop up. He hasn't hopped down since. He seems to understand how well it matches his eyes. In fact, it is like a big grid of Thomas eyes (crazy work days are not doing my mind any favours).

Maggie did try to wander by and investigate, but she got a quick swat on the head from the Newly Enthroned One and skittered off. No worries - We the Banished will stay on the couch instead....

AAUUUUGHHHHHHH !!!!

Woke up this morning to a puddle of water on my hardwood floor....where did it come from? Well, I guess you could say THE SKY. Via the ceiling fixture, via MY LEAKING ROOF. Oh wait - let me clarify: my NEW LEAKING ROOF. New as of 10 months ago. And the drywall on the ceiling that is now buckling? Ya, that was new as of about 3 years ago too.

So far, the roofing crew manager has shown up. He took some photos. He was very quiet. I was very quiet. He didn't have a ladder (?!!). I didn't have a ladder. He left to get a ladder. Two hours ago. And I am waiting for his return.

I am furious. Really. Furious. Furious at the thought of having to live through drywall dust one more time. Furious that for two years I lived with a completely sketchy, rag-tag roof, worried about leaks which never happened. Furious that after spending $12,000 I relaxed completely about the possibilities of leaks. More fool me.

But enough of that. On a happier house note, Thomas Kitten Esq. made his final fabric selection as you can see (a gold polka-dotted number that matches his eyes quite nicely), and the chair has now been ordered.

There is beauty in defeat...

Welcome to the faux english country garden out front of the Bunkle (read: completely uncontrolled, unweeded, and not thought out). The crazy array of tulips is the result of a mixed bag of crazy tulips (wouldn't it be great if that was actually what they were called?) planted last fall. And despite the sudden overrun of bluebells, the tough as nails horsetails, and dandelions whose sunny faces mock me every time I look at the lawn, these guys are pretty breathtaking.

The cats weigh in....

WARNING: this is entirely about cats and couches. Most will find it too boring for words.

So it's arrived - the new couch! In my eagerness to blog I haven't really staged the photo very well, but as you can see we've got quite a different beast in the house - more massive, and much more neutral. I think it's going to work.

Cat reaction has been reserved. Neither would come near it at first - Mags focus was to play like a crazy thing in the "cage" formed by my old couch, which is currently pushed up against the railing to downstairs. As I type this she is scrabbling around in there having as good a time as a cat can have on a couch.

Thom has acted with his usual caution. Some careful studying from a safe distance, followed by a touch of the tail against the side of the couch - that is as far as it's got at this point. Miss Mags walked along the window letting one paw touch the couch every now and then, then finally got brave enough to lie on it, and I think she's given it the OK, as you'll see from the video (once again, BOREDOM warning).

Oooh - breaking news - Thom is now sitting beside me on the new addition, and has rolled a couple of times, so I guess he's ok with it too. Even if I didn't take his advice on upholstery fabric.

For the Bunkle fans...

Time for a shorter, lighter post.

Couple of snaps to prove things have been progressing - bunkle now has gutters (which cost about $650 more than expected as all the fascia had rotted out. Rot not a surprise, cost was...oh well) AND there is no more hole above the bedroom door. Small steps.
Only thing left is for the roofers to do something about the white caulking used on the black flashing on the small roof on the left of the photo - how dumb was that? - but it WILL be fixed.

And my couch is ready!! woo hoo.

There Will Be Shingles...

So, here are the first photos of the new roof. NOTE that the new gutters are still on their way - the photo of the little roof above the back porch has an old gutter that is falling off on the right hand side. Next photo I take should show a marked gutter improvement.

What the photos DO show is how hard it is to actually see my roof. The little grey house that is right beside mine is RIGHT BESIDE MINE - so "right beside" that her roof actually drains into my gutter. The other side of the roof is more visible as the other neighbour is farther away, but alas it is the 'uglier' side of the roof as all the venting pokes through there. Anyway, it is much better than the old mushroom roof, which I am now realizing I didn't really have any good photos of. Oh well, some things are best forgotten.

What these shots also show is the weird some paint, some not situation - the body of my house is painted a rather hideous beige, but there are large areas of lovely new shingles too. Ohhh, would that my house were ALL new shingles! As it is, I have plans to paint sometime soon (soon meaning in the next couple of years ;-). I'm thinking a heritage red, but we will see.

In other news, just saw There Will Be Blood, P.T. Anderson's new film. As you've read before on this site, Anderson's Magnolia tops my fave film list - an imperfect film perhaps, but one that I can watch over and over and over. There Will Be Blood is unusual for a PTA film - the narrative is quite simple and linear for one thing - but there are other things that are clearly PTA - the trademark use of soundtrack as major character for one, and epic length as another. Daniel Day Lewis is fantastic as the dark and deeply driven "oil man." After the film, my pals and I joked about his character being a fair match for Javier Bardem's serial killer in No Country for Old Men. Could just be. But Daniel Day Lewis' Daniel Plainview is a much more developed, more human character. Certainly he manipulates those around him to his own end, but the levels of his anger and revenge point to the fact that he is a character that actually does feel - and arguably has genuine emotional connection and fondness his young son, as turned around and twisted as their relationship becomes later on. Bardem's ice cold, impassive Anton Chigurth is waaaay more frightening. Both are films you should see. And if you are looking for something less nasty in tone, see the really delightful Juno. Bonus: it's filmed in Vancouver ;-)

New Year, New Roof...

AUGH! It is finally happening - the bunkle is getting it's roof. I got the call that they would be starting next week - and really, who wouldn't start a reroofing project in the middle of January... (??!). The roofers assure me that they will only expose what they can reroof each day. Then again, rumour has it that most roofers are freshly out of The Big House, so whether or not I should believe it is another question.

As part one of the process, the little roof above the back door had to come down, and I didn't want to leave it to the roofers to do. My pals A & J once again swooped in and helped out (not sure what the bunkle would look like without their help). As it turns out, the roof was really more of an oreo cookie with wasp larvae as the soft chewy filling and rotting wood as the tasty outer coating, so I am glad it's gone. No idea really what will replace it, but will figure that out after the roof goes up. As you can sort of see from the photo, the wall above the door had to have some shingles quickly slapped on to keep the rain out (the roof had jutted slightly into the structure of the wall) - it will get properly reshingled after the roofers leave. And in a true masterwork of gubbins technology the top of a pop bottle and some caulking was used to plug a hole in the old gutters (which will be replaced along with the roof). As you can see by the drip, it ain't perfect but at least it stops a huge torrent of water spewing down.

In other news, the bunkle was de-Christmased today. Bit sad to get rid of the tree, and felt kind of ...mean...as I sawed it into three so the recycling guys will pick it up. Mags immediately sat where the tree was and looked a bit despondent. Thom is still asleep, so the trauma of losing the reindeer ornament he removed daily hasn't hit yet.

Speaking of Thomas, as you can see from the photo his vote on the couch fabric front is a darkish brown slightly velvety thing. I don't think he's backing the ultimate winner, but you never know.

All tree all the time

I decided to put aside my general not-all-that-celebratory attitude towards Christmas this year and (gasp) DECORATE. For years, I haven't really decorated at Christmas. There are a few different reasons - for years, I lived out of town and was always travelling back for the holidays - so why bother? And the one year that I stayed out of town and DID decorate was one of the worst Christmases in known history, so that scared me off a bit too. But this year, all year, I have been quietly sewing little things with plans for getting a tree to put them on.

My very first tree.

And I didn't want a big, bushy cultured mammoth tree - the bunkle is too small, and too modest for such...treeish grandiosity. So, when driving with my mum we found a tree lot that had "Charlie Brown Trees" (that's how they were labelled) - uncultured firs of some sort - which is just what I was looking for.

So here it is.

I admit, I have tree pride.











Cat reactions have been interesting. Maggie has a tendency to sit behind the tree and hide - if you can say that a 15 lb cat can hide behind a 2" trunk. Thomas has stolen a wooden reindeer from one of the branches, but seems more interested in the shadows the lights cast on the wall.

As for me, I will keep sewing little things, and will spend too much time looking for just the right branch on the just-right tree to hang them from.

If only all of Christmas was that simple.

I should also mention that I have been playing this to death, thanks to my pal A. - the perfect mix of traditional carols and soon-to-be Christmas standards like "Did I make you cry on Christmas Day? (Well you deserved it)".

Happy Holidays.