ManCave makeover

Ok, so here is a little back story on what I am working with. My wife and I bought our house about 4 years ago, at that time we where thinking that we wanted a farm but it was not the right time for us. I did good on our last house with all the renos and such, only problem is the wife hated the mess. So we found a model home we liked and the builder wanted to dump it,  so after the awesome deal he gave us we moved in. This past summer we went and looked at a couple farms as we figured it's a good time to move. Then we started to talk about where we wanted to end up in life (we had a kid 1 year after buying the house) and the farm went out the window cause we like our current house that much (and the free time). I did a couple things in the garage, just to use up what I had around. Was always more about storage then a place to work. Now that we have decided to stay, I am starting to make my work space the way I want it.

So here is what I am starting with. A 20x20 attached garage that is 14 Foot high. 2 lofts already built. One is a 4x8 that is just for seasonal storage. Another 8x10 with steps going up to it. This one was going to be my little workshop, but its to hard to get anything up to work on. Also built shelves to store tools and bins of stuff across from big loft.

Loft did not work out as work shop also cause of the mess.

Seeing as its cold right now I am first working on my new bench / work area under my loft. I am keeping as much as I can under this area so I can put something around it and heat the area up when needed. So that's a new bench I am starting to work on already and inwall storage of tools and other stuff. Everything also has to be movable or in the right spot as my wife and I both park in the garage. This is how it is as of now.

So there is the start of what I hope ends up to be a really useful space for storage/work/parking. Please feel free to give input or suggestions, as we all sometimes forget about the trees while looking at the forest.

Byron

Happy New Year - 2015

Hard to believe the Holiday season is nearing an end and a new year is here.  As you can probably tell from my lack of posts, life  has been crazy busy around our place. 2014 was not  the worst of years but it also was certainly not our favouriteend and hope 2015 is a much better year.

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Hope it is filled with an abundance of happiness,  love,  peace,  memorable memories but most of all good health so we can enjoy these things.

2015 = 1 Story, 12 chapters, 365 pages. Should be another interesting adventure. Happy New Year! 

Fall is Best...

For what you ask?  To clean out the gardens and put them to bed for the winter! 

 

My Parents Red Maple Tree is oh so beautiful in the Fall. Ours is beautiful also but it's small.

This past weekend I finally had a chance to clean out my flower beds and get them ready for the winter.  When I first started gardening when we got our first house (I can not believe it was almost 10 years ago already),  I left all my garden clean to do in the spring. Boy did I quickly discovered that was a big NO NO.  What a soggy yucky mess that was to clean up.

 

The fall is definitely the time to clean up the gardens while all the plants are somewhat dry and the weather is enjoyable.

 

This year I bought a big pack of yard waste bags from the Superstore and Hubby noticed they came with an insert support piece.  

 

 

Man did it make filling up the bags a whole lot easier!

 

 

 

I had some extra hands helping again this year until the Lil Man decided he wanted to play the Red-stop / Green-go game with Dad.

 

 

 

Five lawn bags later I finally finished and my flower beds are ready for the winter. It was so nice crossing that off my 'to do' list.

 

When do you do your garden clean up?

 

2014 Thanksgiving Celebrations

Thanksgiving was a little different for us this year. It was still very enjoyable and really nice to get together with family.

 

I did some baking... 

 

Made an Apple Crisp picture below

We enjoyed a turkey dinner with my family on the Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend.

 

 

On the Sunday we had a roast beef dinner at Hubby's parents. Oma made poffertjes with wild blueberries for dessert and the picky Lil Man enjoyed both things!  Aunt R went away Thanksgiving weekend which resulted in us celebrating thanksgiving with a turkey dinner a week later. Which worked out great as I had a few breaks from cooking, which is always so wonderful {insert a happy dance}.

 

 

Sitting around the table with the people that matter most to you, chatting away and reminiscing over past memories while enjoying a delicious home cooked meal with family,  is truly what Thanksgiving is all about. 

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

The Inevitable

 

Two months ago today we said our goodbyes to a close family member. No matter how old an individual whether ten, sixty-seven or ninety, it always seems to early to say goodbye to someone until we see them again.  Life is so precious. 

 

 

Although it is not a first I will be recording in the Lil' Man's book of firsts,  it is still a first. Two months ago today the Lil Man attended his first funeral. On August 9th we received the call that Aunt B had passed away.  She is the first spouse of our parent's siblings to pass away. At times like these it is really hard not to look at life as a whole and analyze it and reflect on what is truly important.



Image found on Google search

In all honesty I was quite worried as I was unsure how the Lil' Man would behave and I was not sure if people would see him being there as inappropriate. I did not have a babysitter and it was really important to us to attend Aunt B's funeral.  If you have not realized it by now,  Family is EXTREMELY important to us. Overall, considering the circumstances, the Lil Man did really well. I worried for nothing. For part of the morning I had to sit in the car with the Lil Man and we drew sad faces (pic above) as I explained to the Lil' Man that it was a sad day. Before we headed home, we received a thank you from Uncle E for bringing him with us. I guess in his own little unique way the Lil' Man kind of lightened the day a bit with his contagious smile and it brought a little bit of sunshine to a dark sad day.

I've seen the following verse before at my grandfathers funeral thirteen years ago and again on this day two months ago. I am sure I will see it many more times in the future.  I always try to think of it during sad times like these as I find it comforting.
 

One of the prints I designed recently. Another quote that I find comforting during the death of a loved one.

 

 

I wish life was full of just happy and joyous moments, like the celebration of two people in love - a wedding, an anniversary,  the birth of a child. But it is inevitable, we are here only for a while.  Every breath we take and every day/ hour we spend with those dear to us is a gift in itself. This summer, during a time of  celebrating happiness and joy we also experienced loss and sadness. We should not take for granted what we have. Life is just to short not to live it to the fullest and cherish every moment we get to spend with those we love.





 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was put to the test.  A certain someone said they don't like pumpkin spice anything.  Turns out he liked these guys! Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Icing!

Guess I passed the test.
Hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving with your families!  Time to pull out the stretchy pants. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Time Flies.

This is one of my favourite shots from that day, taken by Nat Caron from Nat Caron Photography.

 

This past weekend we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. It's crazy how fast the time flies. Feels like it was just yesterday.

 

We did not really do anything special this year. On the actual day we attended a first birthday party. The drive down was nice as all the fall colours are looking beautiful.

 The above photo and the one below were taken last weekend near our place. We snuck in a drive because the weather was beautiful. We are surrounded by so much beauty where we live. Don't you think? Have I mentioned I love this time of year, it's just so beautiful!

I thought I would replicate the dessert from our wedding day and made caramel apple crepes. It was my first time making crapes and lets just say I need to work on the thickness. Other than that they were very enjoyable.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!