Saturday, May 5, 2012

Crazy May!

On Monday, we went to the notary to sign the final papers for the house. I still can't believe it! Owning a house is not something I ever though possible when I lived in Montreal. A condo, maybe, and even then, with a NGO job, it was not something I saw coming before a looooog time.

But it happened. A big house, a big garden, a garage and 2 sheds! It is a little bit against all my ecological beliefs (I am all for population density, against its sprawl) and I feel a little bit guilty to buy it. At least, it's in the city, near a bus station, and near everything we need, so we won't be wasting too much gas. We'll also be able to eat fruits and veggies that will not have travelled at all as soon as we get the garden going, so there, it's not all bad.

But yeah, Monday was a very emotional day for both us and the lady who sold us the house. She had spent over 60 years in it! We're very happy we were able to visit her a few times before we moved in, we heard a lot of stories about her and her husband, who seemed to be a very special person (at one point, he had a monkey, at another, a few raccoons, and we also heard of a wolf that he kept in one of the shed!). Her daughter told us that her mother had told her that she was happy to leave the house to us, that she felt we had a connection. She told us should would come for our housewarming party.

So she was quite emotional. I was too. My man and I are not married, and we are not planning to tie the knot. So, this signature was, for me, kind of an engagement towards us: I can't just pack my stuff and run back to Montreal now if things don't work out. There is a contract between us, even if it is just a a mortgage and a joint bank account! 

All week, we have been running around to get the renos going.

The living room went from this:


To this:

in only a few hours, thanks to a lot of work from my (very strong) man. The house still had all its curtains, crosses, and a lot of other little trinkets all over. It also smelled a lot of moth balls. Cute attention, the ex-owner had also left a little set of hand towels next to each sink, as if she was expecting guests. Anyway, it already looks much nicer now, and it is starting to show that it could eventually look like I had imagined it. 

We spent the whole day there with my mother-in-law today, and we were even able to start painting (well, she did).

We are now ready for the next steps: wood floors, windows, and more paint.

Oh, and there is still that little thing to take care of:

In our apartment, boxes are slowly, but surely, starting to get filed with books, dishes and our own trinkets. It's weird. For the past 2 apartments I had, I knew exactly where I was going to put everything when I packed it, but this time, maybe because it is a much bigger house, maybe because we are 2 making decisions (although it should have been the case the last time as well...), I have no idea where the stuff is going to be. I'm just filing boxes, writing what's in them, but not writing their destination. We'll see what the house looks like in a few weeks.

On the craft side, I'm still trying to weave as much as I can. I finished the checkered piece (didn't like it too much, too country for me) and started a new one, trying to experience with colours.


I kind of like it, but I realise that maybe one of the reasons I can't seem to be weaving quickly is that I don't really enjoy these colours. I'm more of a cold palette, and this, well, is not for me. I got them when I thought I would be weaving for my current kitchen, with is also in warm colours. But I don't like my current kitchen, so that should have been a clue from the beginning. Anyway, I like what I'm weaving, I just know it's not for me. The good news is that a lot of people will be receiving hand-made presents in a near future. The better news is that my weaving teacher has offered to help me finishing this warp so I can move the loom, so it will be over soon, right on time for the Québec Weavers Association's congress, in June. Hum, what next?

If you are interested in knowing how my Peasy is going, well, it has been resting for a little while now, once again stuck with a mistake at the beginning of a row, and I don't feel like tink-ing a whole row to try to fix it, so I decided I would wait until I can ask advise from a much better knitter (yeah, Elizabeth, sorry, that's you...). The last time I started to un-knit, I made so many mistakes I had to restart several rows, and I just don't have the courage to do that again, after also starting the whole thing several times. It upsets me (actually, it p. me o.!!) because it is an easy pattern. I don't know what it is, I'm just not focused enough.

So, while the poor Peasy is waiting, I decided to buy more yarn the last time I went to Montreal, and to start another project: Folded, by Veera Valimaki. I've been wanting to knit this sweater forever. I thought now was the right time. I got beautiful yarn (cascade heritage hand-paintedsock yarn, in forest. I quickly knitted my swatch (note to self: socks yarn knitted with #4 needles really shows all mistakes...will have to be super extra careful!) and was ready to start when I saw that I had to start with 3.5 needles, the same that were being used for Peasy...So I gave up for now. I could very easily go and get another set of needles at the store, but I'm just so overwhelmed with too many things (house, work, translation contracts and volunteering at the upcoming Memorial Cup) that I decided to take a break for now. The same goes with the gazillion baby projects I should be starting (what is this baby boom???). I just can't decide on a pattern, or on yearn, or anything. I decided to wait until I had one good night of sleep to add this to my list of to-dos for this month.



Have a great, restful weekend!