May 31, 2014

Jamie 

I walked through U of T yesterday. It's amazing to see the things that change - like the UC back campus being turned into a venue for the Pan Am games - and the things that remain the same - like the food trucks on St. George! I've eaten more than a little fried rice from those!

Shannon
I finished my first Sherlock Holmes book! The odd thing is, it's a public domain copy and there was no illustration or photo for the cover, which puts my book-tracking-by-photos in a bit of a pickle. I looked on GoodReads for some covers but none super spoke to me. So I might just go with this image for my tracking. So odd!

Suzie

Friday was all about getting the house ready for showings! Oh I was so happy when the real estate agent called twice. :) I have even started looking at apartments in BC, just in case. You never know! I just hope the Universe says yes, it is time to go home.

May 30, 2014

Jamie 

I was up in one of my old neighbourhood's yesterday and snapped a picture of where I used to live. I actually don't think I have a single picture of the outside of this place! Clearly, that was back in the days before digital cameras. Both of the apartments that I lived in here were beautiful and I really came to love living in the neighbourhood. It's nice to get back there now and again.

Shannon
I feel like I'm a good rhythm of going out to journal and write regularly. One indicator, was the folks at the coffee shop enthusiastically saying hi, and remembering what I order! Wow!

Suzie

The big news of course was our house went up for sale but I was also very happy to purchase an expandable hose, LOL. It's not this particular one but similar. Much lighter and easier to move around with. With all the lawn care we are doing, I am hoping this is going to help my hands and shoulders have less pain. We paid for most of it in Canadian Tire money (all gone!) and change so it felt like a deal, LOL. Yup, I am D-O-N-E with home ownership. But at least now life will be easier until we get back west!

May 29, 2014

Jamie

I know this is a totally weird pic and couldclearly be classified as "random" lol but it was a big part of yesterday. We took Jinx for her yearly check-up and she was so unhappy being there. She just shed, shed, shed and kept wanting to curl up in me for comfort. And so.... I probably shouldn't have worn a black shirt that I wanted to wear out for drinks with Sabine last night, LOL! I didn't even put my jacket on for the walk home because the lining would have been covered with Jinx hair! So instead I walked home absolutely covered "it actually looked worse than the pic). I kind of figured it was a public "Yes, that's how much I love my cat" statement, haha.

Shannon
The other day I hopped on to the library website to request a book I had heard a BookTuber mentioned. The creepy thing was, the library page opened and suggested the exact book! I hadn't googled it and I hadn't been watching anything that mentioned it by name. Totally creepy! Or serendipitous! Either way, it kind of freaked me out.

Suzie

The photographer came yesterday (although is my photo) and by the end of the day our house was online and ready for a virtual tour!!! One of the longest days of my life. The photographer said we did a great job and so did he. He made the house look fabulous in his photos!

May 28, 2014

Shannon
I worked on some planning and some vlogging. I've falling into a bit of a regular rhythm with vlogging, and it's starting to feel really good. Woohoo!

Suzie

Yesterday we filed the papers to list the house and finished off removing all character from it too. We have worked so hard and in a way, doing this process makes selling easier because now my kitchen (which looks awesome) doesn't really look like my kitchen anymore. Which is what home staging is all about. Making a space look like anyone could live there. It was one of the longest days of my life and it is sad but I am so ready to move on.

May 27, 2014

Shannon
Still trying to remember to take random pictures of myself. I mostly forget, but today... success!

Suzie

Working on the finishing touches for the house and picked up this beautiful watering can mini garden to welcome people by the front door. It made me smile so I just knew I had to get it. This part of home staging is fun which is good because the rest of it was mostly hell!

May 26, 2014

Jamie

This weekend we got out to Home Depot. Our goal was actually to replace the cushions for some of our deck furniture. The racoons made short shrift of them last year! The problem is it turns out they aren't a standard size. ACK! Good thing there were some flowers to cheer us up - a few even made their way home with us.

Shannon
ALthought most shows are finale-ing up, Penny Dreadful just started and it's way creepy but also very cool. Totally gothic, great costumes and sets. Might be too much and too creepy and.. um, too buggy to recommend though :(

May 25, 2014: Random

Jamie

This is the season that I just love exploring the garden. It's amazing how "the garden" has always been a part of our lives. I've been looking at pictures and am just amazed by the abundance of the gardens Mom created at home. What a treat to have this picture of those gardens and of Grandma!

Shannon
What could be more random than random pick ups! Went to VV randomly and then randomly found some treats - all of which were on a list to-buy somewhere or other, whether it just hit my list this week or had been on it for years! Quite lovely to tick them off now and enjoy them.

Suzie

I totally don't remember painting this! Maybe I didn't because you would think I would remember but it was on my old laptop in my creative folder called "art" and it only has art I have done. We took my old laptop in to a company that retrieves lost data and this was there and now I have all my BC photos again!!! I feel like a part of me has been restored. And hey, maybe I am kind of talented. Now that I know I like surreal art, I like this even more.

May 24, 2014

Shannon
Here is a pic of what's most recently added/read on my Kobo. I kinda wish some of the images were more clear, but then on the other hand it makes it kind of mysterious to not quite know what everythign is!

Suzie

Remember how I mentioned that our new mirror took quite a bit of damage? Well I went out and bought paper clay to mend it, then I hand painted it, added salt to it to give it similar texture and then yesterday I spray painted the whole piece. It is finally repaired and can be put on the wall!

I have always wanted to be a little bit of a DIY person and have to say, I am so impressed and happy with myself for not giving up on this item but mending it and bringing it back to life. A few years ago I would never have had the confidence to do it. Amazing how playing with clay and paint has changed my life and perspective.

May 23, 2014

Jamie Well, I'm finally starting to feel better and am trying not to be overwhelmed by all there is to catch up on. Yesterday was a beautiful day so I took the camera outside and made a different kind of a Behind the Scenes, taking everyone on a tour of the garden. It was nice to get outside and to see everything starting to grow. We also had some work done on the house and hopefully (hopefully!) we'll be done with leaking when it rains. That would be so awesome.

Shannon
Although last week was a mega-finale week, the there are few that trickled in this week as well including Supernatural (don't worry...no spoilers). But it was wild to see yet again the awesome The Road So Far montage, for the 9th season in a row. Wowza.

Suzie

Every day has been insane lately but yesterday was really nuts. We finally got all the crap together the former owners of the house dumped us with and went out to an industrial recycling place and paid $11 to legally get rid of all the junk they left us with. I have never been to a place quite like it and it freaked me out a bit.

May 22, 2014

Shannon
Well I've decided on the name of my reading...challenge, project, experience ..what have you so it really is going to happen. I've even recorded my intro for it and will have it up soon. Very exciting to start a new endeavour! Here is hoping it doesn't totally take over things.

Suzie

Yesterday I had the craziest urge to go to my thrift store. I wrote about it here. I fought it. Told myself I was too tired and then all of a sudden, found myself going there. I found these two huge treasures. I have really been wanting to buy a stovetop coffee percolator the way grandma and granddad had. It makes the house smell so good and I keep thinking it would be almost like aromatherapy for me and for selling the house. There it was! And I still can't believe I got this vintage Le Creuset from France cast iron Dutch oven for $5!!! Best treasure I have come across yet. I really feel like Mom was there telling me to go. It was quite amazing.

May 21, 2014

Jamie

So... little stare down with the raccoon next door! She waltzed out into the neighbour's yard in the middle of the morning and stopped the minute she saw me. It didn't take me long to see what was up - little racoons poking their head out of the neighbour's shed! I think that has become a favourite nesting ground.

Shannon
May has been a big reading (not just listing!) month for me, and I just finished Will Grayson, Will Grayson before it poofed! back to the library. I found this one a bit odd, and structurally it feels more like an exercise than a book but I stuck will it and eventually loved (most) of it. Reading! Fun!

Suzie

Reg and I went downtown yesterday to do some errands and I just had to take a photo of this fabulous mannequin! We are getting so much closer to getting the house ready. Finally!

May 20, 2014

Jamie 

Well, I have been sick for the entire long weekend. Mostly, I slept. When I was awake, I spent time doodling to keep my mind off how I was feeling. I explored the world of Zentangles. There were so many good references online and I figure that each exploration expands my visual vocabulary, which is great.

Shannon
Getting all coffee's and snack-ready up for recording Before the Dawn with Marina! It was a treat to dive into book to movie & TV news.

 

Suzie

Reg and I indulged in a few sweet treats out of the house this weekend. I had a real chocolate and peanut butter craving. We got a ton done around the house this weekend but I'm glad we got out for some foodie fun too.

May 19, 2014

Shannon
I'm well into my X-Files rewatch (I really think I'll finish this time!), and then I found this absolute gem of a crossover episode. I hope you both have already seen it, and if not I hope the pics are vague enough not to give anything away! If you want to check it out, it's Season 7, Episode 12 and has no long-arc content.

Suzie

Can't live without a cookbook holder and mine has bitten the dust so I got this one for under $10! I love it. Not too big although I hope it can handle some of the monstrously big cookbooks I have.

Random: May 18

Jamie 

How's this for random? This totally made me laugh in a souvenir shop in Quebec. They had such great stuff. I got an awesome pair of moose jammie pants!

 

Shannon
My cat Googled. For realz.

Suzie

We rented the RugDoctor a while ago to clean our carpets (which was such a pain but did a great job). This week with my throat infection I was suddenly able to detect the last big of fragrance from the shampoo in the carpet because… ouch! Oh the joys of house selling. It was worth it though. Was only $50 in comparison to having someone come and do it for us.

May 17, 2014

Shannon
It was my second week of doing Library Loot and Friday Reads and I'm still enjoying it! I know it's not quite what people expect, but hey - I don't feel the need to conform :)

Suzie

I finally did it! I got summer sandals and they were only $40. I wasn't even going to look because I don't want to spend money but they were so much like my old ones that I loved and Mom loved and when I went to the cash I found out they were on sale. It feels healing to have these and I felt like Mom really urged me to the cash to buy them.

May 16, 2014

Jamie

Yesterday was such a treat. I got to spend the day hanging out with my dear friend Jenn Lee, who was in town for a signing for her latest book, Building Your Business the Right Brain Way. It was glorious to have a really relaxed time to just hang out and catch up instead of grabbing a few minutes here and there as we've had in the past! She had a great reading at Indigo and I got to meet Valarie in person too, who has been to several Creativity Coffees with me online! What a day!

Shannon
It's been a crazy week of finale-ing TV, every day there are several more shows that say goodbye until the fall (or forever...goodbye Star-Crossed!). I wonder what the heck I will do next week when I have all this free time on my hands!

May 15, 2014

Jamie

Yesterday was a wonderfully lively day! After getting a bunch of work done in the morning, the afternoon was spent recording stART, being interviewed for the And Then... chronicles, appearing at the Go Green Inside Telesummit and then being a part of the Soul Art Day hangout! Lots of fun and lots of interesting conversation!

Shannon
Cat overseer! I was doing some organizing, and guess who decided to "help". Well, at least he didn't knock everything over!

Suzie

Our magnolia tree is just started to bloom!

May 14, 2014

Jamie

When we left for Quebec City on Friday the garden was bare! Shannon sent us some wonderful picture updates and yesterday I was able to go outside and see how the garden is growing! After such a harsh winter, I've been wondering how things are going to do. I'm delighted to see that the lilac is coming to life. I can't wait to smell her blooms.

Shannon
This image probably doesn't look like much, but it's my big huge list of books that I've been working with. I finally finished the research part of the list, and now I might dive into figuring out which books I'm actually looking to read on the list. So exciting. And finishing the list was very rewarding.

Suzie

I decided Reg and I needed a break together so we went to see Spiderman 2 which was a very flawed movie but I still enjoyed it. Because we skipped the 3D and I have a Scene card it was only $12 for the two of us! When we left there was this display for the next dragon taming movie. We love the TV show and watch it on Sunday mornings. Toothless looks so cute!

May 13, 2014

Jamie

On our last day in Quebec we did a bus tour out to Montmorency Falls. Yes, that's a bridge that goes right over the falls. And yes, I even went on it! I still can't believe it. I thought it was a "no way!" for me but I did it. Yay! In fact, it was far (FAR!) scarier to cross that bridge you see in the distance in our swaying bus across the mighty St. Lawrence. That scared me even more than flying!! OMG. 

Shannon
Another Monday, another planning day! I didn't actually do that much planning, but I did some. Brain has been very full, it was nice to get some ideas on paper and hopefully they will grow into more!

Suzie

Reg had a night out with some gaming friends so I took the opportunity to put together a new video, finally! I love working on videos but it takes all my time and attention which I have had little of these days. It was fun to put together and am so happy I got it under 3 minutes long!

May 12, 2014

Jamie

On Sunday Justin and I went to the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Quebec City. This exhibit by Jean-Paul Riopelle touched me deeply. The series extended over three rooms and were the paintings the artist poured out of his heart after the death of his love. Especially with it being Mother's Day, I was moved by the process of grieving reflected in the extraordinary and beautiful works of Riopelle. What a blessing.

 

Shannon
After ages of working though The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I finally finished it! For just a wee book, it took me a long time. I wasn't super enjoying it, but then it finally picked up and wow... pretty awesome. One more book read! YAY! I think one is even on one of my lists... oh, I hope so!

Suzie

This Saturday there was a Halifax sort of open house called Open City where there were all sorts of events. Here is my friend Emily on the right doing hoolahooping. We also had $10 lobster poutine, free cupcakes and lemonade and got to try a wedding cake and so much more. It was tiring but awesome!