"'S math sin!"

"S math sin" means 'great!' and 'terrific!' in Gaelic.  And that is exactly what last night was.

A tipsy piper falls into a wine-soaked tray of scotch eggs.

Some hae meat, and canna eat, 

And some wad eat that want it; 

But we hae meat, and we can eat - 

And sae the Lord be thankit.

We were a tad tardy getting our 14th annual Burns Supper off the ground.  But who cared if we were 3 weeks late in getting our scotch and haggis on?  Certainly not us!

Our evening was filled with the usual shenanigans: toasts and graces; mirth and merriment; songs and laughter; poetry and thick brogues; tartan and yorkshire puddin'.

I will let the photos tell the story of our evening.  Fourteen years now and counting.

Scottish highland dancing to kick the night off.

The pipin' in o' the haggis.

No matter how we cook it, our haggis never fails to explode.

The wearin' o' the tartan kilt.

The toast to the lassies.

Reciting...

...'To A Mouse'...

...amid gales...

...of laughter.

The singin' o' "Scotland The Brave".

More poetry recitations to end a fun-filled evening.

I'm already looking forward to celebrating Robbie Burns' 254th birthday next year!

Home and Design

I was reading the 'Home and Design' magazine that was delivered inside the Vancouver Sun this morning.  In it was an article describing a couple of glorious make-over projects on Gambier Island and in Fort Langley.  Both renovations had been nominated for Georgie Awards.  Included alongside the article were the perfunctory before and after photos of the kitchen.

I thought, "Phfffffft.  You call those before and after photos?  I'll give you before and after photos!"

I think Marcel Lanter deserves a Georgie Award for our kitchen renovation.  Seriously.  Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow's ear!  Not only that, he did it in 38 days.  Thirty-eight short days!!!  He started gutting our old kitchen on November 17th and on December 25th Joe cooked Christmas dinner in our fully functional new kitchen.  CRAZY, I know!

But that is how it is when Marcel is at the helm of your project.

Professional, knowledgeable, high quality workmanship, and stress-free.  (Well, almost stress-free.  I did have that mini-breakdown over dust, remember?  I think all homeowners must have issues with dust.  You can't have a reno without dust.)

I'm nominating Marcel Lanter for a Georgie Award.

I was going to wait to write a blog post with the entire collection of before and after photos, but after reading that magazine article this morning I decided to publish the photos of the kitchen today.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

After

I love our new home.  In the mornings before work I sit on the couch drinking coffee with the fire flickering in the background and I think to myself, "I can hardly wait to get back here."  

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Marcel Lanter

Markor Construction

markorconstruction@gmail.com

604.898.1765

Forwards and Backwards

Our renovation went three steps forward and one step back this week.  I guess that is to be expected.  "C'est normal" as they say in France.

Forward:

As everyone knows, Joe's amazingly beautiful espresso machine arrived from Italy last week.  Amir, from Stone Galaxy, came up from North Vancouver on Saturday to cut a hole in the silestone countertop to prepare it for the plumber.

Backward:

Joe was playing around with Big Bertha's levers and discovered that the right hand lever made a metal-on-metal grinding sound when he pulled it.  Uh-oh.  A few phone calls were placed and now we are waiting for a repairman from Naples (just kidding) to arrive next week.

Poor Big Bertha is in sick bay before she's even able to pull one cup of java.

Backward:

Several days ago, our hot water tank decided to spring a leak.  OF COURSE IT DID!

Leakage.

Forward:

We decided to replace our old hot water tank with a tankless hot water heater.

Backward:  
The heating guys were scheduled to come on Friday.  But someone (not saying who) forgot to keep the front door unlocked for them.  Hmmmm...I wonder who that was?  Needless to say, the new hot water tank did not get installed nor did the free standing gas fireplace in the TV room.

The floor tiles sit bereft of the gas fireplace.

Forward:
Now that the entryway landing is tiled with charcoal grey slate, the front door was looking sad and tired.  We decided to get Ray (Howe Sound Painters) to paint the front door black.  All I can say is, "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUST WHERE WILL THIS RENOVATION STOP?"

Priming the front door.

Paint it black.

Now all we need is a new door handle and we're done!

Backward:

We finally returned all the leftover bits and bobs from our kitchen renovation to Ikea.  We discovered that we had $400.00 worth of odds and ends.  Ikea advertises that you can always return things.  But we discovered that to get cash back, you must return the items within 45 days of purchase.  Who can build a kitchen in less than 45 days?  (Well, actually, Marcel can.  With one hand tied around his back.)  But we were lazy and didn't get around to returning the stuff.  What Ikea will give you after 45 days is an Ikea gift card for the amount.

Ikea's exchange and return department.

Forward:

We decided to use the $400.00 gift card to buy door mats, waste paper baskets, candles, throw pillows, frames, a duvet and its cover, blankets, and cupboard pulls for the bathroom.

Shopaholic.

Forward:

Instead of buying someone else's art to decorate the walls, I decided to use my own.  I went through thousands of my travel photographs and chose a few to frame and hang.

A sampling of photos.

Backward:

I enlarged one of my favourite photos to 20" x 30" poster size.  It is of the medieval village of Puy L'Eveque where Joe and I stayed for a month this past summer.  I bought a huge frame during our shopping spree at Ikea.  I later discovered there is no glass in the frame, just plexiglass that seems to get scratched by breathing on it.  I mounted my photo to the white mat, attached all the screws and wires, only to have one of the frame corners come apart in my hands!  Grrrrrr.  I was so frustrated!  I just MacGyver'd the two pieces together with a piece of tape and said, "To hell with it."

I love Scotch tape.

Forward:

Our kitchen's fairy godmother (aka Colleen) gave us her father's 1956 Telefunken stereo cabinet for our living room.  We are hoping to convert it into a bar.

Drinks, anyone?

Forward:

The heating guys came on Monday and installed our tankless hot water heater!

Hot water forever.

Forward:

The heating guys also installed our free standing gas fireplace in the TV room!  (But we have to wait for the proper chimney pipe.)

Almost there....

Forward:

Dave, the electrician, came this morning to install our entryway light fixture.  It was hand-blown on the Island of Murano, just off the coast from Venice.  We love it.

Blown glass loveliness.

And that, my friends, was the week that was.

Happy Valentines Day!

Lots of Action

We are getting nearer to the end of this renovation, people.  Nearer to the end!  I couldn't believe how much had happened in the house when I got home from school this afternoon!

First and foremost, Joe's lover (his Italian double-barrelled espresso maker) was delivered at 7:30am.  After all these months of waiting, she is finally here.  Sitting so proud and pretty in Joe's 'coffee corner'.  There is still work to be done before the machine is operational.  Holes need to be drilled through our beautiful countertop (ack!) for the plumbing and the electricity on that side of the kitchen needs to be turned on.  So no coffee yet from 'Big Bertha'.

I said to Joe, "Wow....this machine is waaaaaay over the top."  His response?  "Absolutely!"  "Did you really need two levers instead of one?" "Absolutely!"

 Big Bertha even warms the cups on top!

Arnold Bayer (604.815.9587), master tiler, has almost finished his work here.  He has re-surfaced the bottom section of our fireplace, tiled both landings in the stairwell, and tiled the bit of floor that the free-standing gas fireplace will sit on in our TV room.

Slate being set on the front door landing.

Slate set on the basement landing.

Here is a story that illustrates how amazing Arnold is:

The lower portion of our fireplace needed extra stones after the ugly shelf/hearth got knocked off back in November.  Joe went down to Ames Tiles in the city to buy a few replacement pieces.  He gave the stone to Arnold and left him to work his magic.

The new stone pieces were totally wrong.  Not the right colour.  Not the right texture.  Not right.

Arnold pondered the situation and asked himself, "Where could I get some rock that would match the fireplace?"  His answer?  Our garden.  Arnold went into our backyard and found some stone in the field behind our fence.  He cut it and fit it into place on our fireplace.  It is perfect.

Arnold is a genius.

And speaking of fireplaces, the gas insert came today!  Hurray!  Mind you, they shipped the wrong metal trim, so we have to wait for the correct trim to be delivered and installed.  But while we wait, it is very cozy and warm in the living room now!

Gas insert installation.

I love a burning pile of rocks.  And see what I mean about Arnold's brilliance?  Look at that stone along the floor!  Is it a perfect match or what?

Little things thrill me as much as big things.  Like door knobs on the hall closets!  Yippee!

Door knobs to match the kitchen cabinet hardware.

Well, folks, that's it for now.  We are striking things off of our 'to do' list left, right and centre.  Keep up the momentum, I say.  I can see the finish line now.  It's off in the distance, but it's there.  Not much longer now.

Sun And Snow

We were going to drive into Vancouver yesterday to return some leftover renovation bits and bobs to Lee Valley Hardware and Ikea.  We also have the ill-fated draperies to return to Restoration Hardware.

As we were getting ready to leave for the city, Joe and I looked at each other and said, "What are we doing?  How can we justify spending this glorious Saturday day driving around Vancouver?  Let's pile our snowshoes in the car and head up to the Callaghan Valley!"

And so we did.  Best decision we made.  Sun and snow.  Blue skies and green trees.  Miles and miles of snowshoe trails.  We had the entire place to ourselves.

Someone once asked me if it is crowded on the weekends.  Take a look for yourself.  No crowds.

Black Tusk

No crowds

As you know, Joe can sleep anywhere.  

Here he is napping in the shelter at the 'Top of the World'.

We're going to head back up there today for another much needed dose of Vitamin D.

Happy Girl

I am a happy girl.  This morning when I left for school my house was buzzing with the sounds of construction.  Saws and grinders were joyful noises to my ears.

My nervous breakdown over drywall dust is but a distant memory.

Marcel and Derek were here at 8:00am to install more newel posts on our stairway.

Cheese and crackers, could these newel posts be any bigger?  One could tether one's horse to them!

Hard at work.

Most of the posts installed.

Arnold and his son arrived at 8:10am and began work on our fireplace.  Arnold is a master at what he does.  

Hard at work.

Replacing the stone on the bottom of the fireplace.

The painters arrived after Arnold.  We figured if you are going to have most of your house painted, then you might as well hire the professionals to paint the bathroom.

Painting the ceiling of the TV room.

The bathroom gets a few holes filled.

And the closet doors got delivered!  They've been installed and the trim has gone up.  Just need door handles and paint.

Hallway closets with doors and trim.

And that my friends is what makes this girl happy on a Friday night.  Enjoy your weekend!