I GOT IN!

There. No one can accuse me of burying the lead on this item! I’ll stop shouting now…

Back in January I was thinking about goals for the year. I’ve had the Sidney Fine Art Show in my sights for some time. And I know that the goal ‘Get into the Fine Art Show’ isn’t a realistic one – who knows who the jurors will be or what their criteria will be. I did set myself the goal of  having  a strong piece to enter into the show. Not just the most recently completed piece, not the one that was just good enough. And I was pleased that I accomplished that goal. I have another piece that is good, but not big enough. And a third one that has problems and has since been disassembled for further consideration.

But actually being accepted? Woohoo – whipped cream with a cherry on top time, folks.

I don’t know what the boundaries are around showing work in advance of the show, so I think I’ll wait on posting a picture. However, this is part of on ongoing series, so I’ll show you the first one I did and entered into the Victoria Quilters’ Guild show last year.

Yeah, complete with my toes at the bottom!

p.s. granite counter top arrived today – its gorgeous!

Progress and waiting.

Week 10 of the project begins tomorrow. This past week there was quite a bit of activity – measuring for glass and granite, installation of the cabinet, electrical work and painting. The bathtub is still in the dining room, but the plumbers are coming tomorrow, we’re told, so perhaps that will change.

Excuse the cupboard door in the shower – fresh coat of paint is drying. . . The tiles need to be sealed, and the tub is to be installed along with the tap set and the shower fixtures.

The granite guys are working on the counter top, then the backsplash can go on. The mirror and its frame are in the bedroom, waiting their turn. We went into Victoria on Friday and looked at light fixtures – that is an outstanding task. And somewhere along the way there is a toilet to be installed.

We’re having a run of beautiful Fall weather – sunny and bright with that clear golden light that comes in the Autumn. I made pear-ginger jam from pears from Kristin’s tree and there are enough pears left over for a batch of pear ginger scones. I’m still working on the best scones ever – fortunately I have a willing guinea pig here at the house who will cheerfully polish off all experiments!

Behold – the bionic finger!

Oh, wait. That’s not right….

Ummmm – behold armor for quilters! That’s better. I’ve been working away on my entry for the Sidney Fine Art Show. Many hours of stitching, as the quilt continued to say more, more, more – you can see some of the result in the background. I finally acquired an underthimble to try and spare my poor hamburger like index finger. I wasn’t sure that it a) would stick and b) I’d be able to sense the needle coming through the fabric. Wrong on both counts. In fact the adhesive really really hangs in there – I’m not sure I’ll have any fingerprints left after all this… And I could tell that the needle was through, so all was well.

I got my entry completed – even early, for me. No last minute panic, late nights and last minute dash to beat the clock for the adjudication process. Not that I didn’t put in a lot of hours this week. Perhaps by the end of the week I’ll hear if it was accepted.

There’s been a bit of hurry up and wait with the bathroom project – Alberto ran out of one tile, and when the next batch arrived it didn’t match. That set things back a bit, but the proper tile arrived this past week and Michelle came along to finish the job. Rumour has it that the new cabinet will be delivered tomorrow.

After some decidedly Fall like temperatures and rain this past week Summer (sweet Summer) has made a return visit this weekend. And my Fall crocuses are up!

Colchicum Giant – in the spring the leaves come up – large and strappy. They die back and then one day in the Fall there are these big crocus like flowers standing by themselves in the garden. They naturalize very well and left to their own devices make big drifts of purple. They’re actually a form of lily, not a true crocus. Some years the rains come and beat them down, but this year I’m able to enjoy them in the sunshine.

It is also the time of year for spiders. I’ll just pass over the big wolf spiders that wander through the house, at their peril. Yesterday morning I looked out the kitchen window and had quite a start:

Yep, right in front of the screen this huge spider has spun a huge web. There are spiders and webs everywhere outside – walking in the yard is a rather sticky experience. As long as they stay outside we sort of get along….

Progress

And we’re back in business. Quite suddenly a bathtub appeared – the delivery didn’t take as many weeks as I had feared. That meant that the tub surround could be cut, and once that was done the tile guys could get to work.

Tile guys turned out to be tile guy – Alberto. And he has been doing a beautiful, meticulous job. Here’s a work in progress shot:

The drywall/painter guys assumed that the tiles were going right to the window edge, so there’s some touching up to be done there.

Soon they’ll be installing the tub, which will be great, because in its current location……

 

It is going to be wonderful to have a bathtub that is the right size – no more swimming in a pond!

Raspberry mojitos – or how to survive a heat wave

I mentioned over on Facebook that our hot weather survival techniques included appropriate application of raspberry mojitos. That led to requests for how to make, so here we go:

Put a dozen or so torn up mint leaves into a large glass. Add the juice from 1/2 of a lime. Mash lightly with a wooden spoon or a muddler.

Add a teaspoon of sugar (or Splenda, which dissolves better). Add ice. Add 1 oz of raspberry infused rum (or vodka? We’re using Bacardi Razz – yummy yummy. Nice clear raspberry taste without the excessive sweetness of a liqueur).

Top up with club soda. If you are feeling fancy garnish with raspberries and a sprig of mint.

Enjoy. Repeat until you don’t care how hot it is out there.

Reno update

It may be stinkin’ hot, but the work continues. Next up will be the prep work for the heated floor. The guys came from the tile company today to get themselves set up to begin work tomorrow. I didn’t envy them hauling every thing up the hill today, but until we get an escalator….

The shower area got a coat of waterproofing compound today:

The shower pan is installed (and is covered with a drop cloth). The surround for the tub is built, and awaiting the tub itself for further activity.

The painter was here today as well and the primer paint coat was put down. The colour is called Crystalline, and is a pale grey/lavender shade. The above picture shows the cement board unpainted where the tile will be.

There will be lots of cutting involved in the tile work, so the balcony off of our bedroom is now a work area:

I’m glad to see a tile scorer and not a saw out there – perhaps a smidge less dust will be created this way. What this picture doesn’t show is the boxes and piles of tile stacked around.

And then there’s the bedroom:

Yeah. I’m trying not to think too much about it all.

Yes, I am a weather geek.

I saw a guy on the Weather Network who self identified as a ‘Weather Hobbyist’. I’m not sure where on the ladder that is, but I have a feeling it may be for those more dedicated to all things weather than we mere weather geeks. Technically we live in a temperate rainforest, but you wouldn’t get the rainforest thing right now. In fact, because we are in the shadow of the Olympic mountains, the Victoria area gets a lot less rain than areas near to us. And in the summer we get very little rain. The grass pretty much dries up and turns yellow, waiting for the fall rain. Our ‘city of gardens’ tends to look a wee bit ratty around the edges by mid-summer.

One thing we don’t usually have to deal with is heat and humidity. I say usually because – holy cow! We’re getting it this year. The jet stream has soared way up north, which is pulling hot air from places like Phoenix and sending it our way. At the same time there is a big strong high stalled off the west coast of the island, which is doing two things. All that hot air comes zooming in from the east and piles up against the high, piling heat on heat. The high also prevents lovely cool Pacific breezes from reaching us. And to add to the fun the prevailing wind is blowing from the east instead of the usual western flow.

We’re actually getting humidex readings, and temperature records are falling left right and centre. Last Saturday was when the humidity began to build. It built so much that we actually had a thunderstorm. And probably the most magnificent sunset I’ve ever seen. The storm blew in from the east, and as the sky filled with clouds (and smoke haze from forest fires in the interior) the setting sun filled the entire sky with amazing colours, reflecting back to the east. All while the rain came down. It was quite a sight, changing minute by minute.

The apricot to orange phase:

Followed by the violet phase:

Every day since has been hotter and hotter. In normal weather we can count on cool night breezes and an nice outflow of cool air from the forest behind us. We’re not seeing big drops in night time temps, which means the house isn’t cooling off. By late afternoon it is 33 or more degrees C outside, and at least that inside. Because our our renovation we’re sleeping downstairs, where it is slightly cooler, which helps.

In honour of all this hot weather we did something the other day. It was a first in our nine years of living on the coast. We actually entered the ocean. Oh yes we did! We drove over to Chalet Beach on the Saanich Inlet. We figured after two weeks of above normal temps and several days of over 30C temps that the water would have warmed up. And sure enough it had.

Wilf is battling a cold, so he just waded a bit and took pictures. I actually did duck in for a swim, but it was a blink and you’ll miss it kind of thing!

That was Monday, now its Wednesday and I’m thinking a return visit might be in order for a little cooling off!