Our front yard renovation!

In the beginning of August we hired the same contractor who did our back yard to essentially slash and burn our front yard. It has needed a refresh since the late 1960s (honestly!), so starting over was the best approach.  Our plan was to remove the tired shrubbery and terribly narrow walkway, to pull out the small and decrepit trees, and to scrape away the horrible lawn.

The old walkway and shrubs

Precarious stairs

The worst lawn on the block

Work began and moved very quickly.

Trees going away

Walkway gone

Roots being dealt with

Lots of progress - rocks being prepared for installation

Since we previously had a very narrow and treacherous path to get to the front door, and that most people climbed over our old 'rock garden' instead, we decided to put in real stairs where the rock garden was, and to put a wide and gradually sloping walkway as well. Options!

We wanted the walkway to curve to the driveway rather than to have a sharp turn

Large pieces of granite separated the driveway from the front yard

Concrete was poured and pebbles (plus an addition) were pressed in to allow it to become exposed aggregate later

Walkway needed to cure for a day

The top surface was washed away to create the exposed aggregate to match our back yard

The addition to the top of the walkway was a glow in the dark chip. Essentially, the walkway is studded with glowing green/blue spots. Not particularly functional to highlight the path (unless the lighting is right), but kind of fun either way.  The following two images show what it looks like in the dark.

The new walkway with some extra soil added to the garden areas.

We got a new post lamp installed and new electrical - including an external electrical outlet on the side of the house for us to plug in Christmas lights without running extensions from the garage.

New sod was installed and some mulch to cover the garden areas.

Mulch added

The new entrance

The "after" shot

All that remains is watering the new sod and planting in the gardens. We have a gardener who helps with our back yard and she is going to provide lots of suggestions for making the new front yard look spectacular! This project took approximately one month to complete, and it will hopefully last another 50+ years.

Bathroom renovation is complete!

You may not have known, but we had one of our bathrooms renovated this fall. The kid's bathroom was one of the only rooms of the house that has had little done to it (since 1964, apparently!), so it sorely needed a complete re-do.

We started with the design and came up with a concept of what we wanted. We found a cabinet maker for some custom cabinets (The Willow Woodshop in Waterdown). We bought most of the finish materials in the summer/early fall but had to find a new contractor after our original contractor got ill. We found another local company (Huisman Construction) and it was off to the races November 16th!

Before:

Over the past 26 years, we have painted it several times, put in new flooring, replaced the sink and toilet, and added a vinyl tub surround - that was about it. 

During:

Essentially done by a single guy (Kris), it took barely a day to demolish the entire room. We decided we didn't want a useless bulkhead over the tub (that tub and the toilet were the only things that we kept), so out that went as well. All new electrical and plumbing was installed, then new insulation in all the walls went in.

After:

An here is the finished product, 1 day short of one month of work! We got new pot lights and a wall light fixture, a new ceiling exhaust fan, more electrical plugs, a new sink and faucet, a tiled floor and shower with two custom alcoves, and new custom cabinetry with a lot more storage.

We decided on glass tile for the backsplash. The countertop is similar to our master bathroom in that it it has glass chips embedded in a white background. 

The shower tiles are shiny versions of the tile used on the floor. We also added hexagon tiles to each of the alcoves to add some pattern. Both are neutral grey in colour. 

We went with a soft blue as the wall colour and picked up a shower curtain that coordinates. 

We are very pleased with the results. Maybe this bathroom will also last for 57 years!

The blur they called September

We thought August was busy, and it seemed that even more stuff piled on in September.  Both Adam and Parker went back to school (Adam to finish the Aviation Maintenance program at Canadore College, and Parker to begin the Paralegal program at Mohawk College).

We had planned to have our back yard ripped up and a new patio get installed, and that is what happened for most of the month of September.  Essentially, we had our 1964 original pink and green 2x2 patio stones removed and a new patio designed that would allow us access to the the new shed (which Adam finished last August) and be able to get to the front yard. We decided on 'exposed aggregate' rather than plain concrete, and added a permanent patio roof similar to what we had originally but needed to remove for our major upstairs renovation.

Here is what it looked like before the contractors started:

Faded pink and green... so lovely! We will miss the weeds.

Initially put in place to handle a stroller (Adam), but it never worked well. 

Used to have an awning above the patio door - we missed it more than we thought.

It has looked unfinished like this for over 20 years!

A few during photos:

Stones were the first to go!

A curving edge was our choice

Sono tubes for the awning/patio roof

The final finished back yard:

Awning will give shade and shelter all year round

Looks much more finished

Full width step for Maddy (and Eric)

Wie walkway to the driveway, through the gate

Translucent awning makes the back room very bright

A great place to sit/stand when it is raining and the dog is out on the grass

The final product!

In all of this construction mess, Ying and Fanfan got everything packed up and prepared to move back home to China after a whole year in our family.  We also had someone new move in!  Sally, a Ph.D. student at McMaster, moved in to our small guest room and planned to move to the larger guest room when Ying and Fanfan returned home.

We had some visits with the "Canadian cousins" (our great nieces and great nephew) so everyone could say their goodbye's.

Fanfan, Brynn, Elyse, and Laura

On the evening that they left for China, Wendy read a new book to Fanfan (which she brought home to read to her sister) and took a few pictures.

The last 'book time' in Canada for Fanfan

There were hugs and tears all around

We will miss our Chinese family.

We have had a few video calls between us and Ying and Fanfan, and it seems like things are settling back into a routine for them. Maddy was a bit sad after they left, and Wendy noticed how quiet it was - so much so, that we had to replace our loudly ticking wall clocks that we had not previously noticed were so loud.

Eric continued to wait for medical appointments and also still had his sore neck that appeared at the end of July. He also started noticing lumps on his neck that should not be there.  Our family doctor made many referrals, and the internal medicine clinic at McMaster was the winner of that race. The specialist decided they needed to get an urgent CT image of Eric's neck and arranged it within an hour (that is very unusual!). Even before the radiologist had read the image and reported the results, the specialist called Eric at home as urged him to go to the ER at the Hamilton General Hospital. Not knowing what it was we were dealing with, off we went. 

Here we go again!

Essentially, they found a very large tumour/mass (roughly 8cm x 6cm x 5cm) in his left thyroid that was pushing his trachea (windpipe) off to the opposite side of the neck. They were worried about his airway being blocked, but eventually settled on it not being quite so urgent. They made some calls and got connected to a surgeon who would see him a few days later at St. Joseph's hospital.  Eric continued to deal with the significant and relentless pain from the mass as best he could, and monitored for any drastic changes.

Somehow, this puts the August 'losing the licence nightmare' into a different light.... priorities completely changed once faced with this new problem.