Rest in Peace Purla

Purla passed away today in the comfort of her little house.

We are not sure of Purlas' exact age. She was part of the package when we bought our house. When we first moved in, Purla was quite standoffish. She had been a barn cat and a reputable mouser. As time went on, she first made friends with Julien, as he was not interested in chasing her, and was quite interested in what she was eating for supper! Purla soon enjoyed cuddling and rubbing up to Julien and eventually she made a truce with Madeline. The first winter we lived here, we felt sorry for her and tried to bring her inside for warm up periods, she was happy to come inside, but only for a few minutes at a time. By next winter she would have willingly moved right in....in front of the wood stove to be exact, but the house was a little full with doggies, to allow her in all the time, but she enjoyed many evenings toasting in front of the fire.She mourned with us last summer when Julien passed away. Yet she immediately became best friends with Dorian when he came home! They spent many happy hours playing together. Last fall we built her a new home, located on the porch, as it was clear her mousing days were over. She enjoyed the beginning of the summer basking in the sun. She passed away peacefully this afternoon. She has been laid to rest on the acreage that she spent all her days on.

Purla, it was lovely to know you and have you as a part of our family for a few years.

I'm well aware it's been a month....

Sorry, I have no excuses. Well I do, but I won't waste my breath!

Summer has finally arrived, we haven't seen rain in weeks! The clothes are drying nicely on the line and the garden has finally started to grow. My mom and stepdad were here for three weeks, and they didn't do any relaxing, all they want to do is work. It was exhausting just watching them. They arrived on Friday night and we spent Sunday at Rona getting supplies. Those crazy kids worked their butts off and had our kitchen remodelled in days! First the old view...

Yucky, dingy and dreary.

And the new view...
Bright, airy and shiny! We originally wanted to restain, but the laminate was too thin to work with and we had some damaged spots that needed lots of sanding. So we went with a light grey in a melamine paint, and new handles, and Mel and Tom found this dark grey tile for the backsplash. It looks stunning! Here are some of the hard workers, Mr Cherries;

Mr Rona,

They also built me a new platform for standing on when I hang my laundry, so I don't have to balance on wobbly lawn furniture anymore. It even has a pedestal for my laundry basket;)

Mr Rona is enjoying a nice summer off work to due knee surgery that couldn't have come at better time! What a lucky guy. It's no fun being the breadwinner that's for sure.

And lastly some FO's that were finished earlier in the summer.

My Husband Made Me Pee My Pants

So we have had a rough couple of weeks, here in the Kootenays, but last night, we finally remembered how to have a good laugh.

I recently decided we needed some new form of exercise, and was inspired by my sister's wii. So at our last field trip to walmart, we picked up....you guessed it....hula hoops.

It took us a while to get it going, but holy cow , what a work out.

Baby, your awesome, I literally peed my pants.

Progress Report - A+

Wow, has hubby ever gotten busy in two days!

Check out my new bedroom. I'm not even joking, it took me a minute to figure out where I was this morning! And what day it was. I thought for sure it must be the weekend, waking up in such a soothing room! (Refer to previous post to see the old color) Excuse the mess, we haven't put things all back yet.
However, I have clearly come to the conclusion that new window coverings are REQUIRED. Hubby however has not come to that conclusion yet...can we all agree that the beige mini blinds are horrific? Some nice white flowy whispy curtains? Yes? Everybody post your opinions so I can use them to convince him!

Last year my mom gave me this nifty little gizmo, for those of who are a little challenged in the flower arranging department. You bend it over the vase and then each flower will stay in place.

And this is how they turned out! Looks pretty good, thanx mom!

Yup, still raining.

And I can't believe I lit the wood stove in JUNE! Good Grief.

The biggest news of the week is we bought a new to us vehicle! Wait for it....no laughing....it's a mini van. I said no laughing! It's awesome. And it has AC. And it was really cheap. And I can't wait to bring it home! But first we must sell the corolla...soooo if anybody wants a corolla 4wd, call me! Here she is! What a beauty! So roomy! And since my pictures are downloading in record time today, here are the Rhododendrons in bloom, there is no sun to take a picture, but the color is really much better then it shows. There are a ton of iris' blooming too.

The upstairs bathroom is completed, CHECK! The color is a little more subtle then before. I'm still not in love with it next to the cedar, but it's growing on me, we put up new toilet roll holders and new towel holders, and thats about all we will do in there for now. Maybe some new lights if I come across anything good.

And here is a picture of our bedroom, so you can appreciate why we sometimes have trouble sleeping. Who picks these colors? I'm still debating doing it the same blue as the bathroom or the grey from downstairs. I just don't want to introduce another color.

And lastly, a picture of the lighting in the bonus room, I really like them and Tommy did a great job getting them all to hang the same height!

Wish us luck for a speedy sale on the corolla so we can start driving our dreamy van!

Rain rain go away...

Finally success. I have successful not killed a plant. My Rhodo is in bloom!

And there are lots more blooms to come.

I manage to get out there and snap a few shots in between the torrential downpours that are neverending around here.

Well, I have just spent three days trying upload some pictures. I give up. You win rain. You've broken my soul.