This is the "Enough disaster and complaints post", (AKA My name's not Alanis), lets talk roses instead.
Put your face into the flower for five seconds and inhale.There. That's better, isn't it?The roses are running amok. And why not? It's their month; they own June. They work it.It may look like bedlam to some, but to me, the free-for-all is what happens when roses are allowed to fulfill their destiny.
I have a particular love for yellow roses. There was a climbing yellow rose in every one of my grandfather's gardens. They were his absolute favourite roses, and each time I see a golden climber my heart skips a beat.
Each year I play the How-many-new-roses-can-I-still-fit-into-the-garden game. Do you do that? It's such a fine line between falling in love with a must-have rose and making sure there is enough space, sunlight, and optimal growing conditions for the rose to thrive.
My life would be diminished without roses, without my gardens where I can be with my roses.I'm so lucky that my life is this wonderfully full.And so, now that we have our mind straight and beautiful again, just a quick update on day four of the floor reno saga.1. Things which were messed up are being un-messed as I write. (including: towels taken away to be laundered, new MAC brushes being ordered, new coat of paint on doors after sanding prior to re-install, door man coming to check integrity of the frames and hinges, dad's medicine bag has been sent away for proper cleaning, zippered plastic doors being installed, the Levolor company to re-install and replace blinds if necessary, ducts have been vacuumed and are being protected...in short, everything is being fixed at reno company's expense or else they are off the job.)2. Big, BIG warning to work crews and various site foremen and job managers plus Project Manager, both from me and from my insurance agent or they are off this job too.3. Big, BIG apology from everybody involved, new plan of attack plus itemized work list being submitted to me for approval.4. I think we all understand each other now. :)Sharing with Mary at Little Red House on this Mosaic Monday. :)
Day three of the floor replacement and people almost died...and they still might!!!
Saturday morning 8:15am there was a knock on the door. I was determined to ignore it. But then there was another, and another and I walked up in my jamas and guess what? Five unannounced workmen were standing on my front porch and Boris, their leader, said in a heavily Russian accented English, "Ve here to take up floor."You don't say. I am already beginning to regret that I didn't hire professional flooring service. My friend suggested I can find out more information about Gettysburg Hardwood Flooring Group as suggested it as a reputable company.Yesterday I had a gas engineer take a look at the gas pipeline and fix them to ensure that I don't get disturbed by him, as I had planned to sleep until at least the noon. Which is why I was a bit freaked out when Boris decided to show up at my place at 8:15am.So another loud conversation with my project manager ensued, a key was handed over to the crew, C went climbing as was her plan and I took mom out for lunch as was my plan, and then I came back home at 4:30 to find a new Boris smoking on my front porch.Thank goodness that the original Boris and crew were not here any longer because I swear heads would have been rolling.This is what the floors looked like before I left and after I came home..fair enough...
...but then! I found that my hundred year old doors were taken off their hinges and placed in the bathroom. I guess one of the doors didn't come off it's hinges properly because the door frame is cracked, gouged and part of the hinge is missing. Here, have a look: Complete hinge on left, broken hinges in middle and right. I guess any house repair or remodeling should start with the basement. Check out https://www.purlevel.com/choose-a-concrete-leveling-contractor/ for it.
More doors were taken off the hinges and stacked beside the toilet and now get this!!!!! The toilet was used messy boy style and there is urine and toilet water splashed onto my doors!!! Are you freaking out yet? Yeah, me too.Do you see that crumpled mess on the ground behind the door? Those are my extremely expensive Levolor blinds from my bedroom.
Here is a shot of my sink vanity. Believe it or not, I was promised site protection, zipped plastic doors, extreme care of my things. I think that my MAC make-up brushes, now completely caked with dust, dust after table saws, dewalt combo kits, and other grime may have to be replaced, the basket of fresh towels needs to be rewashed and my father's vintage Dr.s bag which holds the medicine and sits on a metal shelf high above Binky and Bunny reach, probably needs to be somehow professionally cleaned. What does one do with old leather? Oh, and that shelf has had one of the anchors pulled part way out of the wall by one of the doors.
This is what the promised secure dust proof zip entrance door between the kitchen and the rest of the house mess looks like. Not quite what I was expecting.
To say that I'm totally fed up is an understatement. I sent an email following my phone call with the project manager. This is what I said:Hi James,I had to leave today and I wish I would have just hired services from water removal austin to get the work done, but I had trust that things would be OK with the unexpected work crew who showed up first thing this morning. I came home this afternoon at 4:30 pm.Before I left I had to instruct the crew to tape up the kitchen/dining room entrance. They began removal without the plastic door, which should have been a zippered door properly sealing the kitchen off the renovations as per Eric’s promise, but it wasn’t. It is just a piece of plastic taped here and there by painter’s tape. The result is that the kitchen is full of sawdust. At one point, one of the workmen dropped his roll of painter’s tape down the back of the kitchen cabinets and started flailing a long piece of wood (one of the baseboard mouldings full of nails) on the top of my stainless steel fridge seriously threatening to crack the porcelain stored there and scratch the fridge. I stopped him and Boris came to investigate and started pulling the fridge away from the wall. I told him to stop as I didn’t want him to damage the floor under the fridge or crash the porcelain on the ground behind the fridge and he became argumentative telling me it’s not a problem to pull the fridge out that they do that all the time, and I had to climb to the top of the counters and retrieve their stupid spool of tape only to be told that they had more tape available.I left Boris and his work team with a house key. Upon my return I found a new work crew here and the original Boris and crew had left and availed themselves of the house facilities in a way I wasn’t quite expecting. The bathroom is now unusable due to a thick coating of dust because they moved the interior doors into is, used it, and failed to shut the ian ashe door or protect the room. As I kept asking you and Eric what I was to prepare for and what to expect, and I was told that the rooms not part of the renovation did not need to be packed up and would be site protected. Therefore the towels all need to be washed, all the toiletries, make up brushes and my father’s vintage Dr.s bag need to be cleaned. (Contact bathroom remodeling Houston for excellent renovation experience).The kitchen has been used as the workmen’s crew cabin. There are used coffee cups, a water bottle and pop cans on the counter and the microwave has been used and the time not reset to the clock function and my household broom was used to sweep up the wood dust. There are apple cores tossed into the flower garden where they are attracting ants and they obviously have had a pleasant picnic as my patio furniture has been moved after cleaning microfiber cover, the plants moved along the table and the chairs draped in black plastic. The two foot square piece of wood I asked to be saved for historic reference and agreed with Eric on his last visits (and also reminded Boris of this this morning) turned into a cracked six by six inch piece of wood and, it was my understanding that the ducts would be protected from saw dust but are instead full of saw dust and I cannot turn the furnace on for fear of sucking the sawdust into it or blowing it through the house.All of this stuff might seem trivial to you but coupled with the problems with having to redo the baseboards of laundry room, the delay on the removal of the machines, the floor delivery man swearing and causing a scene yesterday and the work crew showing up this morning unannounced can be summed up with one word DISRESPECT. I did expect a follow up phone call of explanation from you or Eric about why the workmen showed up unannounced this morning and how that mishap could have happened but there was no call. I feel that On Side Restoration are talking up a good game verbally but the service is really below par and I feel like perhaps you have much more important projects than my floors.I really cannot be the police here and make sure things are done as they should be done because I’m going by on promises that everything will be alright only to find one upset after another and, since I don’t know what to expect, never having dealt with a renovation of this magnitude before, perhaps I’m being over sensitive, but, this evening, I’m seriously so upset I am considering cancelling this whole project and finding someone else to finish it. Could you please assure me that these major upsets are not going to continue to happen if we continue on this project and tell me how this will all be made better.VeronicaThe reply I received was:Veronica,I will be discussing these matters in depth with Eric.I do not believe I have ever treated this job or the issues as trivial. I am not sure why you are under that impression. This is a very important job to me and I am also upset at the issues you have brought up. I can assure you we (Eric and I) will be speaking with the work crews about their conduct on the jobWhen we spoke earlier, I told you I would get back to you on Monday with a more firm timetable for repairs. I did not know you wanted a call back for an explanation. I believe I have responded and replied to you in a timely matter whenever you have contacted me and will continue to do so.There is a certain level of dust that is unavoidable, but we will prepare your home better in future in attempt to contain this. We will also rectify all the issues and clean whatever is required due to dust. As some dust is unavoidable, this was accounted for when estimating for the final clean at the end of the repairs. A job like this obviously requires more cleaning than other jobs due to the type of repairs we are doing. However, there is no excuse for unaffected areas to be completely exposed during demolition/installationI will update you on Monday when I have had a chance to discuss the issues in depth with Eric and his crew and I sincerely apologize for the stress this has caused.Once again, these issues are not being treated as trivial and the job is important for us.I do not work on weekends, but I am replying to you because the repairs at your home are important to me and I will do whatever I can to rectify the issues and get the job moving forward with more attention to detail.Can you say defensive? After having a through look thru the house I sent this this morning with photos:Hello James,Thank you for your reply. While I appreciate that you don't wish to work on weekends, my feeling is that if you, or your hired trades, send out work crews on weekends then you surely must be prepared to deal with the aftermath of their service.As you said that you will be discussing the matter with Eric on Monday I am sending you some photos of the situation around here. Out of the several distressing things here, the main are:1. The 1920 doors have been removed from their hinges and stacked beside the toilet, the toilet has been used and urine and toilet water has been splashed onto the doors.2. One of the pairs of doors has come off its hinges without damage (as you can see from the photo) but the other door's 1920 hinges have been compromised as has the door frame, which has been split and scratched and probably will have to be replaced, and parts of those two hinges are missing and I don't know where they are.3. My very expensive Levolor blinds have been removed from my bedroom and, without any protection or care, have been piled on the floor behind the removed doors in the bathroom.4. Our makeup brushes have been damaged with the dust and dirt and will probably have to be replaced.Awaiting the result of your conversation with Eric tomorrow so am not dealing with the situation until I hear from you.VeronicaI've not had a reply...guess he's making a point of not working on weekends!And check this service at this website, if you suffer from water damages.
Yeah, we all feel a bit deflated here...kinda like Morgan.Anyroadup.Any comments, suggestions, Zen master contacts gratefully accepted.Your frustrated friend.V.
Day one of the hardwood floor replacement saga. Nobody died, no one was killed!
Do you ever do this? Do you ever wake up at some ridiculous time, like...say...4am, and then can't go back to sleep because the anticipation of the worst the day has to bring is racing thru your head and all you can do is set up terrible scenarios in your head and come up with solutions while thinking about how tired you're going to be when you actually need all the energy you possibly can get and how you need more sleep but have to be up in a couple of hours and so know that you're probably not likely to get any more sleep and know that by the late afternoon you'll feel absolutely shattered and probably need to monitor your even tempered-ness?Yeah, I know you know what I'm talking about.
So the adventure begins on very little sleep and, by 8am, there were three of the loveliest ladies at my door with lists and boxes and paper and plastic and packing tape, and proceeded to set to work packing up the rooms on the main floor of the house. With good cheer and a continued supply of Sbux tea and cookies, (courtesy of me), they packed up most of my stuff by 2pm. The wonderful Tracey, (image below), ordered the movers in for 1am and personally packed away all my fragile crystal and china. So lucky to have her be part of this crew. The movers arrived at 1pm; five cheerful strong guys and began shrink wrapping the antiques in blankets and cling film, cataloguing everything on corresponding tags and sheets and sheets of lists and carefully wrangling my precious furniture into the container on the moving van where it would be sealed and not opened till its return. And so far, all it cost me was tea, cookies, glasses of water and a granola bar or two and very little stress.And then, just because things couldn't possibly go that well, my flooring company people called to say they were sorry but the floor will be delivered a little later than they thought at 1:30 pm. This meant that I had to call up the floor waterproofing services I'd hired for the bathroom and update them about the change in plans, which was troublesome for both the sides.Well, I'll tell you what that meant. It meant that the floor delivery people would stand in the middle of my house, in the middle of the mayhem of movers and packers and loudly swear and threaten that they will not give up their Friday night beer and plans, will not work past 3pm, will murder their dispatcher...etc...
To say that C and I were not impressed was an understatement. And here's my mistake: I took charge and responsibility! I called my project manager who did not answer his phone. I called his emergency immediate assistance assistant, again voice mail. I called the floor people and was told that the project manager was in a conference with the floor manager. OK then. I checked out https://adhesiveslab.com/ to learn about liquid floor coatings and products and best suppliers.What I should have done, what Robert told me later that I should have done, and, had he still been here what he would have done, is to take C and me by the hand and walk right out of my house, gone to Sbux and let them all sort it out.Duh...Actually, what happened next is the project manager called Tracey and then called me back and while I was talking to him on the phone, the Fantastic Tracey sorted the floor delivery guy's face right out and suddenly the floor guys were saying things like, "oh well, we all have to cooperate and get stuff done, don't we?"
So there you go, one displaced little family, one empty house, one load of new hardwood flooring, two exhausted girls, two freaked out cats and 13 more days to go....but at the end of the day no one was killed, so that's good news. :)
Curves for Wordpress and some random five
The word is curves and I'm sat here in the office processing photos not daring to go downstairs into the mayhem which is my house this morning. I'm getting lost in my photographs because today is the first day of the hardwood floor replacement. Boy Nancy, do I ever have random thoughts today, but I'll try to keep it to the five I should. :)
(Curve one)Thought 1: Why is it so hard for me to focus in the office while a team of extremely competent women is packing up the house? Well, probably because I'm a control freak! It's true I tell you. I can't not be part of the business even if I don't want to be, no one is paying me for it, these really lovely ladies are professional, they will not break the china and crystal and, if they do, they are completely insured for replacement. Get a grip V! Focus and get some work done!Thought 2: I hate displacement. I know that in the long run having the floors replaced to new/old fir floors will increase the price of the house, it'll have to be done at some future time anyway, I've been paying house insurance for years and years and since I have a entitlement after the bad plumber debacle, it is very logical to get it done. But I hate being displaced out of my home, out of my bedroom!!!!! Doesn't make sense, does it? I'm being a princess baby from hell, aren't I? Suck it up V!Thought 3: I wish I was at the cabin and this was all over with by the time I came back.
(Curves two)Thought 4: I will survive...hey, hey. Honestly, I think I'm so attached to my house and all my things being around me because, right or wrong, (probably wrong), I feel like my life has been one of repetitive major loss of stuff. I mean, lost everything immigrating to Canada as political refugees, lost homes and so much twice thru two divorces, (except kept the children, which was the only thing I wanted anyway). And I do tell myself it's just stuff. It's just stuff!!! Stuff V!
(Curves three)Thought 5: It's raining...again...wish I was in Mexico sitting on the beach counting pelicans. Yes, that would be so nice. :)Linking to Nancy's A Rural Journal and the Wordpress weekly photo challenge - curves
C calls them "selfies"
Do you take self portraits with your phone/camera? Chloe does it all the time. Thank goodness she doesn't do the trout lip pout most of her friends tend to do when they post their selfies.
We tend to goof around a lot. No trout pouts here! Except when we're serious.
But we do have a lot of "epic fail" shots too! Lol :)
A traditional time for tea on this hectic Tuesday
Some days are like that, don't you think?This morning C and I had to be out of the house first thing to drive across town for a Dr.s appointment. Then battle downtown traffic back and get C to her afternoon university class. Then work. Half way thru the afternoon C texted, "Oh my god I'm tired and still have an hour and half to go."Hmm, time for tea.
I stopped by our favourite bakery to pick up some treats and made tea in my generous Sadler tea pot and we sat down at the kitchen table for a little girl time.
The cup I chose for myself is this little coronation cup in the "official design" by the British Pottery Manufacturers Federation. I love the duck egg blue in the cameo.
And for Chloe, this little golden princess cup by Paragon.
I've had these two pressed glass domed plates for a few years now and love bringing them out as a special treat. I think they make everyone feel a little like Cindy-Lu Who with that strawberry, don't you?
Thank goodness the sun has been shining lately and there are some spectacular flowers in the garden now. I know, I must be mad to try to grow roses in the Pacific Northwest, but I just love them. Actually, the climate here is very similar to Oxfordshire where I grow beautiful roses too. Hmm, maybe it's me! :)
This is the first full season for some of my roses and they are doing brilliantly. In this bunch are "Pat Austin, Julia Child, Climbing Blaze, a pink rambler, and that yellow cabbage rose is one I saved from the demolition at my late aunt's house. It's the most powerfully perfumed rose I've ever smelled and even one by my bedside can be a little overwhelming on still nights.
Well then, everything is better after cake and tea, isn't it? It's even better to try a little taste from all the cakes. OK, well, I suppose we should save one or two pieces for Robert or at least let him join us in the kitchen.
Joining Teri at Artful Affirmations and really hoping I can join in for tea outside on the 25th, come on weather...cooperate! And Martha to wish her a big congratulations for little Noah the big graduate and happy milestone birthday to her sis, with Bernideen, who has the loveliest summer outdoor tea this week..what a treat, and missing Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage. Thinking about you girl. :) 
Good bye ugly, ugly photinia hedge!
Ok, I've had this house for almost two years, so have had almost 730 days, (give or take 300 when I'm not here), to try to come to terms with the photinia hedge around the front. Yup, still hating it!Actually, it does offer a great deal of privacy from our side neighbours, but the front began to feel...well...unfriendly. Having spent a fortune to buy this house in this city where four bedroom houses in the burbs cost more than ten bedroom mansions in Beverly Hills, link, the only option was to do something about this hedge myself.Yesterday being Sunday...my day to have a good lie in and rest, and my day to muck about a great deal...was an all out attack on the hedge day.
It happened like this: Chloe came running into my bedroom first thing in the morning all over-excited to get rid of the hedge. We decided that, since some other neighbours were taking down a black walnut and making a Sunday racket, we might as well get out there and contribute to the weekend warrior din. :)
Here, in this green, green city, we have free yard trimmings collections every Monday, but branches and stems have to be bundled into 3" lengths and leaves etc have to be either bagged in large paper compostable yard waste bags or placed in garbage bins specially designated for green recycling.
Morgan, being the wonderful garden helper she is, lay in the shade and approved of our work.
We cut and bunched up and tied with biodegradable string and did this over and over ad infinitum much to the happiness of my neighbours who all stopped by to offer us a beer, a hand and say how much they love seeing my house.
I gave the camera to C and asked her to take some photos so all these photos are thanks to our lovely girl, and no thanks to this photo she called "attack of the feral snapdragons". Don't you hate bum shots? Oy vey! No, I have no idea what I was doing just then...lol. :)
A fleeting moment and random five.
This morning my favorite Blue Ridge Gal reminded me that over at Nancy’s Rural Journal it’s time for a random five post and I've been thinking about the Wordpress weekly photo challenge which is “fleeting”.So I give you three dead Cedar Waxwings and say to you, “Life is fleeting. One minute you’re flying along and the next you hit a great, big window.” 
The huge wall of double story windows have claimed their fair share of birds over the years...including a Canada goose who broke the glass. I do feel really bad about this though, but I guess it’s all fair. I mean, the poor little bodies do provide food for the other creatures and, in the wild, not much goes to waste.The random things I’d like to tell you are:1. I love the work of Robert Bateman. Love it, love it to pieces. Each time I find a dead bird I want to freeze it like he does and take it out frozen, pose it and use it as a model for painting. He talks about the sad little creatures which, after seven or so thaws and freezes, really do have to be discarded. Guess I’d learn to work really fast.2. I only heard a single thud against the window and I guess the whole little flock flew into it at almost the same time. When little tragedies happen I go into complete shock and disbelief each time. That sort of unacceptance even though I know in my heart it’s the situation. Wish I had a time machine. True enough.3. I held the birds in turn, feeling their warmth, feeling their softness. I felt all teary. Couldn't put them down. They are so unbelievable soft and real and felt so...alive. I always have this need to remember, to feel, to take in everything, not to leave out any sensory detail. Is that my artistic soul? Or is it what everyone does? Couldn't stop photographing them. Is that morbid?4. I questioned whether or not I should have the little flock stuffed. I've had a pheasant, a seagull and a kamikaze quail, who ran into my car wheel, stuffed. But then I remembered the incredible hassle of trying to get a permit for the gull – a migratory bird – to have him stuffed, and also remembered that I don’t have electricity at the cabin and cannot freeze their little bodies and so gave up on that idea. It was high time for me to reach out to Utility Saving Expert to see if the area could get any electricity.5. I walked around the cabin trying to find the perfect place to bury them. The real story is I couldn't bring myself to put three such exquisite creatures into the ground. If you must know, I still have my late aunt’s ashes in my home. My grandmother kept grandfather’s ashes in her china cabinet until her death, and then I interned them both in the family crypt in Prague. I hate having them there. I wish I had them here with me. For the past several years I've said I must take Aunt Vera to the alpines and sprinkle her ashes there, but having her here gives me some strange comfort and, even though I hike into alpines each September, I've never brought her ashes with me. Maybe this year.Whew, this is what comes from taking photos.
Just back from three glorious days at the cabin
One of the glorious things about living in the great North West is...well...the great North West!
About 200 km away from the door of my house, past Whistler, thru the Pemberton Valley, past lakes and over rivers is mile 120 on the rail road and that is the location of my cabin.It’s heaven there.
We bought the cabin when Jonathan and Kerstin were 12 and 10 and Chloe was just a few days old so this means we’ve had it for 21 years.The view out is to the west, over a lake, meadow, river and up to these two beautiful mountains. That’s Gates Mountain on the left with the Birken glacier and Birkenhead Mountain on the right.
The lake is really a pond, but it was called lake before we bought the cabin and tradition prevails. Over the years two rafts have been built and a Tarzan swing, river otters call it home for the winter and all sorts of water fowl stop over for the night.
The inside is full of vintage and family collectibles. This old scale holds coins that the children have squashed on the train tracks.
There is a medicine cabinet on the wall that holds strange treasures, like: my late aunt’s silly doll, a photo of my grandfather camping, owl feathers, a dried bat, bugs and dragonflies, silver ore and Chloe’s baby rattle.
The cabin is very rustic and has well loved vintage furniture and a new wood stove to replace the smoky old one.
Here is a little remembrance to my tea cup gals. There is no elecricity at the cabin and no phone or internet, so I've missed you all this week, but thought about you all. :)
My tea set at the cabin is Royal Doulton stone ware in a pattern called Africa. It is the richest most beautiful brown hue I've ever seen.
First thing I do when I open the cabin is take the hammock outside. It gets almost constant use. The wind chime was custom made by C and K from scrap iron found on the railroad tracks.
This is a little guest cottage called Odds and Ends. It is built from an old trailer used by the work gangs who built the railroad thru to Lillooet.
I’m very interested in gardening and so try to grow as many wildflowers as I can up there. This time of the year there are so many beautiful flowers and each time we get to the cabin, winter or summer, we try to find flowers or greenery or something lovely to decorate the cabin with. Then, I just can’t resist and end up taking a great big bunch home.
Now I'm back in Vancouver and planning the next visit. :)
Sunday morning and the Sunday whirl, a fable
It's Sunday morning and the birdsong has chased away the dark of the night, so I suppose it's safe to bring you a darker whirl, since the sun is out and we're all feeling safe and cozy with our tea and breakfast in our bed.
vault, halls, swirl, crave, throat, wind,limbs, nimble, prairie, rapture, train, each‘Listen to me’, she said in a raspy voice, dusty and torn on that street corner as she stopped us on our walk.‘There was a day on Earth when nothing died,’ she said, ‘and Death was pacing the black halls of his black heart with nothing to do and a craving he could not explain.But rather than give in, he drew his scythe from his vault and ascended above the world, above the prairie, the forest, the mountain and past Earth’s borders to do some astral tidying up.All day he nimbly swung his scythe. The swirl of silver steel cut thru the wind, the cold, the dark, and life string after life string was cut free sending the stars tumbling thru the celestial blue till his limbs felt weak and his scythe was beginning to dull.And hundreds of lovers stared up at the sky holding hands and kissing and counting their blessings that night as a steady train of shooting stars fell down, tangling in trees or landing in back yard sand boxes.But when Death stopped to mop his brow he realised that the stars shine so brightly in their desperate state to deceive Death of their dying, and now there were only a few stars left fighting off the dark of the night.Then the next day and for years afterwards he had double the work as heart after heart broke at the sight of a starless sky.’She stopped speaking and released her hold and she stared at each of us; our eyes wide open in rapture.Then she looked away thru tears and swallowed hard, as though there was a lump in the back of her throat.