Bonjour 332 !!

As some of you may know - I'm very partial to France and all things French!! On our honeymoon last year (we spent a week in Biarritz) - I desperately wanted to get a traditional house number sign for our new house.

Unfortunately, time ran away with us - and I didn't get a chance to find one. To my delight, Chris ordered one online from Emaillerie Normande as a wedding anniversary gift - and it arrived this week!!!!!! I LOVE IT! 

Now we just have to wait for the stucco guys to finish and it will be proudly placed at the front of the house!! 

Minturn Clean-up Day

On May 14th, Minturn had its annual 'clean-up' day. The town provided the community with big dumpsters, burly men to assist and pick-ups if needed, plus plenty of encouragement to rid our houses and gardens of trash and unslightly waste, in preparation for the Summer ahead. We were notified of the event on several occasions - by several different Town of Minturn workers - who were keen for us to clean up the front of our house, and understandably so! We had already filled three, 40 yard dumpsters with remodel waste last Fall, but once the snow came - we were no longer allowed to leave the dumpster along the side of the road, as the plough needed to get by. So the remainder of the remodel waste was left at the front of the house, in the garage and partially in our neighbours driveway, to be covered in snow and forgotten about. As the snow melted - the eyesore got worse!

So, we rose early, and started to load the trusty Jeep with the rubbish. At the other end- the burly man including Chris unloaded. We made 5 trips. For the big pieces a neighbour came by twice, and filled up his pick-up! The following day we made two more trips to get rid off the 'trash' in the garage. All in all a productive weekend,, and it certainly saved us a lot of money (we spent over $1500 last year on dumpster fees!!). We also started to level the soil at the back of the house. So the landscaping has started, however as it has been on again, off again snowing since then - we are on stand still with that. Hopefully Winter will be over soon and we'll have a few weeks/months of Summer to get the garden looking good,  before the snow begins again!

The rubbish is piled up  - and this was taken after we had already made two runs to the dumpster!

You can see why the Town of Minturn were keen for us to get rid of the ghastly mess in front of the house!!

The mess is gone, and the garage can now open! The stucco guys start this week (if the weather co-operates) -so we almost have a nice looking house! Not a hodge podge of chicken wire, plaster and plywood!!

Chris - very proud of his handy 'garage door' making skills - and the fact it lasted the winter and still opens!

Decluttered garage - and new wheel-barrow!!

The trusty Jeep - still smells a little fousty after all the rubbish it had in it - but we'll have the soft top on soon so that will ventilate it well enough - I hope!!

A little more respectible - still needs a little work!!

Chris leveling the back garden.

I was also helping - believe it or not!

Somewhat level - extremely wet. Eventually want to move the retaining wall (left) back a few metres to allow for a wee 'patio' space!

Kira and Url were extremely tired after the productive weekend.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...........

Having finished the vanity in the bathroom, and needed to find some stylish mirrors to sit above the sinks. After looking online - I found nothing that suited, or that was in my price range. So I got creative.

I won a bid on ebay for two 2 Vtg. LARGE Wood & Gesso BAROQUE PICTURE~MIRROR FRAMES.

Very antique looking, a little garish with their gold colouring, but perfect for what I had in mind.

I bought some gloss black spray paint. Sprayed a few coats on each. Took them to the local glass shop, to have mirrors fitted inside the frame, and then had my lovely husband assist in hanging them level above the vessel sinks. I think the outcome was good. What do you think?

My winning Ebay bid!

First coat of paint

Lovely detailing. Just need the mirror!

Chris helping to hook and hang them!

Hanging above the vanity

His and her sink and mirror!

Happy Helen with her new mirrors!

Flooring

Our engineered hardwood flooring had acclimated for a week - so this weekend we had no excuses - we were going to lay the flooring in the kitchen, living room and hallway. There would be no fishing, snowboarding or relaxing until it was done. As it turned out our weekend was extremely dull. There were none of the above activities - we laid the last piece at about 5 pm Sunday. Thank goodness for the Masters. It was on all weekend and provided a slight distraction from all the bending, kneeling, glueing, sawing and splinters. The house now looks like a house, and not a construction site. Its awesome!

We started at the end of the hallway  - it ended up being the hardest area as there were a lot of cuts needed.

We lay the underlay first.

It took all day to lay this much. We ended friday somewhat deflated by how time consuming it was, but we were happy with how it was starting to look!

Day 2 - the kitchen and entrance way.

Once we didn't have to make many cuts, and we could just glue and click - progress was quicker

Url was exhausted

and then had a second wind, and wanted to help!!

The workshop in the basement

Almost finished with the kitchen

The KITCHEN!!

Hallway

We started the living room on Sunday

Only a few pieces left to lay

Happy to be almost finished!

Living room

KITCHEN

LIVING ROOM

Progress.

April is here. The winter has flown by. We continue to plod on with the remodel, and we can almost see light at the end of the long, expensive, stressful tunnel. This is what's been happening in the past few months in Minturn.

• Url and the dog down the road have a regular stand off. 

• We have heat and water!!

Baseboard heaters

•  I re-finished an old dining room table - I think its awesome - Chris is not so sure!!

Legs.

My lovely purple table

•  The engineered hard wood floor arrived - we hope to install it this weekend!! Its acclimatising rght now!

Maple Nougat Hardwood Flooring - from SimpleFloors.com

•  The bathroom vanity is finished

• The shower is a work in progress - the tiling has been started, but is a job I keep avoiding. The plastic works well enough - so at least we can shower!! 

Plastic covered shower

• The washing machine works, as does the dishwasher - which is a complete luxury. We need to vent the gas range and also the dryer before we can use those though!
• Warrick the fish has been reunited with the family, after an extended stay in East Vail!
• The fire-door in the garage has been installed. As has one of the bathroom doors. We are waiting for the clawfoot tub to arrive before the main door is installed. Hopefully next week!!!!!!! I can't wait to have a bath!!!!

Chris installing the door from the bathroom to the master bed!