Tag Archives: our house

Carrying Place Photo Gallery

our home, Rural Life, , , ,

Carrying Place 2016 (27 of 33) On the water at sundown
Carrying Place 2016 (19 of 33) One of our resident chipmunks
Carrying Place 2016 (20 of 33) Our home
Carrying Place 2016 (21 of 33) The other view (from our kitchen window)
Carrying Place 2016 (22 of 33) On the water
Carrying Place 2016 (23 of 33) On the water
Carrying Place 2016 (24 of 33) Captain Paul
Carrying Place 2016 (25 of 33) Rorschach shadows
Carrying Place 2016 (26 of 33) On the water at sundown
Carrying Place 2016 (18 of 33) Water lily
Carrying Place 2016 (28 of 33) On the water at sundown
Carrying Place 2016 (29 of 33) On the water at sundown
Carrying Place 2016 (30 of 33) Fire on Alice Island (Harvest moon)
Carrying Place 2016 (31 of 33) Harvest moon
Carrying Place 2016 (32 of 33) At Harvest moon
Carrying Place 2016 (33 of 33) We have lots of frogs
Carrying Place 2016 (1 of 1) Bryan's farm from the water
Carrying Place 2016 (10 of 33) A house with a view . . .
Carrying Place 2016 (2 of 33) Our home
Carrying Place 2016 (3 of 33) Our dock
Carrying Place 2016 (4 of 33) Our dock
Carrying Place 2016 (5 of 33) Our home from the water
Carrying Place 2016 (6 of 33) Our home from the water
Carrying Place 2016 (7 of 33) Sunset across the Rideau
Carrying Place 2016 (8 of 33) The cat who stole the cream
Carrying Place 2016 (9 of 33) A house with a view . . .
Carrying Place 2016 (1 of 33) Our home
Carrying Place 2016 (11 of 33) A house with a view . . .
Carrying Place 2016 (12 of 33) Heading out
Carrying Place 2016 (13 of 33) Our boat has been christened 'the little weed collector'
Carrying Place 2016 (14 of 33) Early morning on the water
Carrying Place 2016 (15 of 33) Early morning on the water
Carrying Place 2016 (16 of 33) Early morning on the water
Carrying Place 2016 (17 of 33) On the water

Photos from the first month in our new home.

Painting with plants . . .

Garden, our home, , , ,

All winter I have been waiting, gathering thoughts, learning about native species, thinking about colour, height, flowering time, scent and more. I have never savoured the process of creating a garden this way before.

At last the sun has made a claim on summer for the Victoria Day weekend; my muscles may be complaining, but my soul feels sated with the pleasure of transformation. A day and a half of planting and a garden has emerged from our back yard.

There is, too, a sense of the garden that exists for now only in my vision of it, of an ongoing process of transformation to be wrought by nature in the months and years to come.

Back garden
Back garden, before planting

Back garden
Back garden
Back garden

(Click into any photo for a mini-gallery and to see a larger view)

I still have the planting at the front to do that we were unable to complete in the Fall, hence the remaining plant pots. And Paul wants to give the deck an additional coat of protection, but we are nearly there in time for summer!

Last year’s efforts on our front garden are already repaying the hard work with the pleasure of breakfast on the terrace,  surrounded by tulips and narcissi, punctuated by fritillary.

Front garden in Spring
Front garden in Spring

Front garden in Spring
Front garden in Spring

After the whirlwind . . .

Garden, our home, , ,

I spent last weekend creating a front garden, doing all the planting, following a whirlwind week of landscaping by the professionals – lots of rocks!

Continue reading After the whirlwind . . . →

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

The move

arrival, Househunting, , , , ,

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 . . .

dscn6494-medium

dscn6495-medium dscn6488-medium dscn6489-medium
dscn6491-medium dscn6492-medium dscn6493-medium

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.