Category Archives: our home

Holidaying at home

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We are enjoying a glorious, sunny Victoria Day weekend here in Toronto.

Probably the one thing we haven’t done since we arrived is to just ‘chill’ around our home.  After too long doing too many wonderful things, we decided we needed a rest cure.  What I can’t quite get over is really being able to feel as if we are on holiday whilst staying at home!

Yesterday’s long, lazy brunch at Quigleys on Queen Street gave way to an afternoon on the Balmy Beach, which more than lived up to its name!

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A cool breeze comes up off the water as the never-crowded shore plays host to beachcombers, a guitarist on the rocks, canoeists, games of volleyball. . . In the background  there is a gentle but ceaseless flow of promenaders along Boardwalk. Further back again, in the shade of trees now summer-green, cyclists and roller-bladers make speedier progress along the  Martin Goodman trail.

Paul in hammock on our balcony

This morning we breakfasted on our balcony, looking out at the trees and gardens of the street behind our house.  Paul is now ensconced in the hammock. Later we will head for the beach again, taking an evening pic-nic with us. Tonight the skies over Ashbridge’s Bay will explode with multi-coloured stars in Celebration of Canada’s historical and current ties with Britain.

Our house has been ‘warmed’!

connections, Leisure, our home,

Some thirty friends, neighbours and acquaintances (plus small children) warmed our first Canadian home by their presence on Friday evening.

We were thoroughly spoiled, not just with bottles of wine but with a number of more personal gifts – totally unexpected and heartwarming. Paul’s Tyco colleagues live at some distance, so didn’t make it, but we were taken completely by surprise by the appearance of an ‘Edible Arrangement’ from them on our doorstep, a lovely gesture which we much appreciated. It made a great addition to the spread of finger foods I’d prepared. I’ve never really done this kind of food before, more usually offering a full buffet, but received good reviews!

Edible Arrangement

The party ran from 6pm, as we know many of our neighbours have young children – till 8 or so, there was a pleasant pandemonium!  It was an interesting experience to open the door to one or two people we had never met (we invited all our closest neighbours in our street, as well as a couple who had contacted us by e-mail to welcome us), but it worked well. We were also really pleased to be able in some small way to say thank you to the many people who have been so supportive during our first few months.

As often happens, a smaller group of closer friends stayed on, with the party winding down by around 11.30. This was perfect, as Paul had an early start to go to PodCamp on Saturday morning (a podcasting and social media conference). And we also had a party to go to in the evening (champagne cocktails to chase away the ‘winter blahs’), as well as a gala opening at a friend’s gallery – busy days!

Homemaking

our home,

The last month; hard slog (too many late nights to mention) and the pleasure of seeing a house begin to become a home. Unpacking is sometimes tedious, sometimes joyous, occasionally sad (one smashed pot).  I carried every book we own up two flights of stairs!

There is much more we hope to do in the next few months and other things we would like to do if we stay long enough, but we do now have a comfortable home.  As we did not significantly change the decor of our last home over the last 15 years or so, I am enjoying the sense of evolution in creating a new space for our possessions that reflects the people we have become but also nods at where we have come from.

Living Room Kitchen Family Room

Family Room Master Bedroom Master Bathroom

Mess and milestones

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Those two words seem to sum up the last 10 days pretty well!

As soon as we had tidied up after moving in, we managed to get the electricians in to sort out the badly placed switches and sockets, add some pot lights, wire us for sound etc. So my beautiful, clean, tidy new home is now full of holes! As with most North American houses, the structure is wood frame and drywall (plasterboard), so changing things involves cutting pieces out of the walls and fishing for wires, with the occasional need to pass through a beam. And, of course, every surface is now covered with a fine layer of dust, which will only get worse as we fill and sand . . .

New pan rack with lights!

Mess Mess Mess

But it will be worth it, especially the freshly painted family/media room ready to embrace my piano when it finishes its journey with an ascent to the first floor! And our new central vacuum cleaner, which Paul fitted apparently effortlessly last weekend, vanquishes the dust with ease.

In the meantime, the milestones.

The first snowfall came wet and howling overnight  on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning Paul set out for Tyco at Markham, where a Christmas pot-luck lunch was scheduled, through a thick layer of sludgy snow. A neighbour kindly cleared the sidewalk (pavement) in front of our house but, later, I christened our snow shovel and attacked the side (one downside of a corner property!).  This is definitely worth doing whilst the snow is fresh. We have only had flurries since Wednesday, but Toronto remains dusted with icing sugar in temperatures between around –5 and –8, with hard candy crusts where snow has gathered. Wednesday was gray, gloomy and damp, but the last couple of days have been mostly sunny and invigorating. Yes, it is cold, especially when the wind catches you, but as long as you have appropriate layers, hat and gloves, everything feels so clear and bright.

Yesterday we received notification that our container was arriving in Montreal, followed today by a copy of the manifest. We then had to take this, together with our shipping list, passports, Permanent Residency cards and declaration to the imposing official building at 1 Front Street to gain customs clearance. This was achieved so swiftly that it was almost a (welcome) anticlimax. The container should by now have been released for loading onto a train to Toronto and, hopefully sometime next week, there will be another round of chaos as the 169 boxes containing our worldly goods are delivered to our home.

The move

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The move went very smoothly – we got the keys at lunchtime on  Monday and moved most of our stuff (including a bed frame, which traveled on the roof of our car) on Monday afternoon and evening.

We were in the house by 8am yesterday ready for Rogers to come to connect the Internet and phone and for our bed and a lazy-boy type sofa (for our media/family room) to be delivered. The piles of packaging grew and grew . . .

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Then it was off to the Mall, spending courageously as my mother used to put it!

Paul had an event to go to in the evening, so I was forced into driving as he picked up the subway on the way home – it wasn’t far and I felt about ready to start getting over my nervousness at adjusting to controls on the opposite side and city driving all at the same time!  This also meant I could go off to the supermarket to frighten myself at the cost of stocking up with all the essential staples, toiletries etc. –  it”s easy to forget the initial outlay of starting from scratch with food, cleaning materials etc!

After two long and busy days, I really feel for Paul trying to find the energy and concentration to get back to his Tyco work. There are still a thousand and one small things to do, which he has to let go in working hours, as well as some re-design of badly sited switches and lighting (we have an electrician working on a quote) to be sorted before our furniture arrives from the UK around 15 December (it’s due to reach port in Montreal on 11th). We also discovered that the house has been plumbed for a central vacuum cleaner and anticipate getting this fitted as soon as possible.