Happy Birthday Barkley!

On friday we had a little celebration of Barkley, and she dressed for the event. Happy Birthday Barkley - 13 years young!

Before and After!

Building project done! The builders took 5 days - 3 more than expected, but they weren't in a hurry and they were well within their budget too, which makes us happy! Painting is a winter project, so for now, all the furniture is back and we're getting resettled!

Living room before. Cigarette stained laminate. 

Living room, before. 

Living room after. Engineered hickory. 

Living room back together! 

Living room entry and closet, before. 

Knocked through. 

Floor done and furniture! The middle piece there will be tiled, Brandon and I are going to do that part ourselves. The door has also been turned around, so you enter onto the tile, instead of into the clock. 

The biggest change. Office before. 

Office after - engineered hickory. 

Office after - archway cut into the corridor to match the one between the kitchen and living room. 

Office after and entryway. 

Let the demolition begin!

Originally we thought we'd get the building work done over the fall.....but the builder called last week and said he could do this week......eeek! I just got my promotion bonus too, which is what we were going to use to get this done.....so we said heck with it, let's get it done! Well, at least the builders part....painting the walls will have to wait until later in the year, or at least when I get back from Chile (I leave in 3 weeks!). 

Living room before. It's the wall behind the stairs there we're having knocked through into our green office space. 

Living room before, looking the other direction. 

This closet is going! Creating an archway into the room next door. 

The corridor will have the new flooring - which i'm excited about, as it's really scuffed and stained under those carpets! 

Before - doorway into the green office. 

Before, green office - and storage space for new flooring. 

The wall that is going! 

Cleaning out.....which included our liquor cabinet beneath the TV! 

Refinding of fun things.....Barkley's glow in the dark horns....her halloween costume a few years ago! 

Living room cleaned out - as not only is the wall going, but the cigarette stained floor is headed out too, so it all matches on the first floor! 

Brandon's grandmother's clock and the fireplace - they'll move these around as they do the floor.  

It'll be fun to have a full walkway around! 

The kitchen.....I hope this doesn't last too long! 

Demo Day 1 - yesterday....

Demo Day 1 - yesterday....

Demo Day 1 - yesterday....

Maybe the couch should stay in the kitchen......

All the floor is up and the archways done! 

Closet no longer! 

And we have an open plan living space! 

The archway into the corridor - same shape and size as the one from the kitchen to living room! 

Favorite Toy

Every morning, Brody runs up stairs from his kennel and selects a toy from the toy basket to play with while waiting for breakfast. Every morning, it's the chicken. He LOVES his chicken, he rolls with it, rolls on it, throws it in the air, leaps around the room after it. He loves his chicken. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of him laying upside-down with it inbetween his paws. 

So Brody says thank you to Mum and Jon for the chicken, lets hope it lives a long life! 

When do Barkley and I share the front seat?

When we go to pick up our new flooring! Exciting, getting real now, and time to book an actual date with the builder! 

My first jam!

We have had soooo many blueberries, alongside a bunch given to us by Brandon's parents, I thought i'd try my hand at making blueberry jam - it came out great! And what's more, was soooooo easy! I did a small batch to begin with, and want to play more with low sugar pectin, but we tried the full sugar version and it's definitely yummy!