The Little Things

I am sitting here, cleaning off my desk, organizing more, wondering if it will EVER be done.   The renovation project is nearing the end, and I am in the very last stages.  I am labelling drawers and closets, sorting papers, creating a space for scrapbooking and art, finances and education.  As I work, I ponder the blessing that this room is to our family.  

Not only was it built by our very own hands, but my husband designed it.  This GREAT room serves as a family room, a classroom, an art workshop, a sewing room, and a communication centre.  We are connected here - to one another through our family times, and to the world through the internet.  

It's a bright space, with eleven windows.  It's an airy space, with a cathedral ceiling.  Yet it's a cosy space, with warm dark brown flooring, and couches that invite you to curl up and read.  

I love this room, and the family that built it.  I love looking at the painted walls, the trimmed ceilngs, the new laminate flooring, and thinking about all of the little details that went into the renovations.

Today, after Linda wrote her blog, she called me over to read it.  I sat down at her computer, and the pain in my neck warned me that I couldn't stay in that position for long.  I stood, and read, and as I finished, I marvelled that my desk is 2 and a half inches shorter than Linda's, and that makes all the difference.

When Daniel built my desk, he built the desktop to fit onto my existing drawers, from a rather short old desk I had.  It fits me perfectly, and the placement of my monitor is just right.  I can look at the monitor without hurting my neck.

He built the kids' desks approximately 2.5 inches higher.  They're just the right height for my tall children - but just a bit too high for me.  This wasn't planned, by Daniel, or any of us.  But God, Who is rich in mercy, took care of that little detail.  He guided my son as he sawed and drilled and screwed the desks in place.  And He ordained that my desk would be at the perfect height for me.

The little things matter.  God blesses us in the work we do.

  Deut. 2:7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. 

Reno List

We are getting there. This is what is left to be done on our great room, which is a combination Family Room and Learning Centre.

· Paint all trim
· Trim under lights
· Trim windows
ü Paint 1 x 2’s
üPut up 1 x 2’s over lines in ceiling
· Paint the two cabinets (wall colour)
ü Get chimney inspected (it didn't pass.  :( ) 
· Put down flagstone base
· Install wood stove
üBrick up the window
üPaint the brick wall
· Move TV corner
· Paint shelves
· Put up shelves
üFinish my desk
· Build kids’ desks
üInstall my computer
· Install kids’ computers
· Hang chalkboard
· Install tile by doors
üInstall laminate flooring
· Install steps
üSet up furniture
üBring home the massive ottoman
· Rejoice!

When that is all accomplished, I will be able to move the stuff from my kitchen and have a kitchen again. Oh, the joy!

We did it!

We moved the shed that I have been wanting to move for quite some time. I failed to take pictures, and I am too tired to really explain it all, but for posterity's sake I wanted to record the achievement.

We've all been working at the last corner of our property that needs to be tidied up and organized. Everything else is fine. However, just behind the barn was a little patch (maybe 30 square feet) full of burdocks and thistles and twigs and branches and stones and old tools and duck bones (THAT'S where the predators take the poor ducks to dispatch them! - we never knew!) and old fencing.

We all raked and dug and picked up and put away and carried all sorts of things. It's been really hot working out there, so I was determined that today would be the day. I didn't want to have to spend another day at this miserable job.

Just about everything was ready when we came in for supper. After supper, Rick decided that he and Daniel had to go and dump the truck. We begged him to wait until the building was moved, but he would have none of it. He needed to dump in the daylight, which was fast fading.

So, we called Jared - it's a handy thing having a son who is 6'7" - and then Linda and Heather and Elena and Tiana and I hooked a couple of ropes to the building, and we P-U-L-L-E-D! It moved!! We pulled some more, and lifted a bit, and with much huffing and puffing, we got it where we want it.

Now we have to put the tarp on it, but that's a job for Rick. My part's done. YEAH!!