Spring is almost here, and with it, new life!

So much time has past (almost 10 months!) since I started this blog that I was beginning to fear never looking at it again! The Summer and Autumn passed in a whirlwind of work and getting used to having a house to call our own, with all the small challenges and extra work that is associated with that. We were pretty much settled in just before Winter, and with such a beautiful and warm September and October as we had, we spent lots of time just enjoying the outside. Needless to say, after the initial burst of improvements when we first moved in, things slowed down to a crawl.

Winter passed by somewhat uneventfully, though it was amazing to finally celebrate the Holiday Season in our own house! We ended up having quite a few people over for Christmas dinner, and it was wonderful to share in the love and warmth that it brought to our home. I even managed to convince the dear husband that getting a real tree was the only way to go; you just cannot replace the wonderful aroma of a fir tree!

Once the new year started, we made the effort to begin working again on improving the house. The first thing we began was Lucien's room, and instead of simply doing one basic colour, or even an accent wall or two, no; we decided to have a mural on all FOUR walls, AND the ceiling! It is done to look as if you are in the jungle, looking up at the night sky (complete with accurate Milky Way and constellations!), with the ocean and full moon rising on one side. I can safely say that we did not realise just how involved this process would be (we have probably already clocked more than 50 hours painting it, with about another 20 more to finish!), though if I had to go back, I would still do it again. The effect is will be just amazing!

In other exciting news, we have started painting the third bedroom, as a nursery! We are soon to welcome baby boy number two in only a matter of weeks! This room was a much quicker job, with only one more final coat of paint on the trim to go! The change has been dramatic (as you can see below), and will make for a bright and cheery first room for our new little one. We have also decided to introduce new baseboards, quarter-round and trim to both boys rooms (and eventually throughout the rest of the house) to try and bring back the feel reminiscent of the age of the house. Just the act of putting trim around the windows, then painting the casements white evokes a much older feel, and one we are quite pleased with.

For both rooms, we were lucky enough to find that the previous owners left us much of the remaining cans of paint that was used throughout the house. This meant that we were able to match the white trim paint exactly with what was painted already, and saved us a lot of headache. However, we were able to buy VOC-free paint for the wall colours, which eventually will be all we use inside and outside the house. Not only is this paint safer for the environment (and us by default!), but is amazing to work with - imagine no paint fumes whatsoever! And for rooms that will be used by our children, that is very important.

As for the outside, once Chris is off for a few weeks with me and the new baby, we will be building in the raised beds of the vegetable garden. Initially this was supposed to happen in Autumn, but between working and other engagements, it just wasn't meant to be. Though we did level and clear out the side yard, and Chris cleaned up and built a bed just for our raspberry bushes, which ended up providing us with over 10 cups of raspberries, of which I made some yummy Christmas jam.

Hopefully we'll get a decent yeild this year from the gardens, and though it will mostly be a learning experience, I am hoping we will have enough fresh produce to last us at least a couple months through the Winter. I know we are still due for at least one more good snowstorm, but I cannot wait to get outside and enjoy some beautiful Spring weather with my sons!