Painting Refresh

I had always meant to paint the garage door a darkish grey, it has been white and slowly fading since we moved in. I had envisioned faking a row of windows near the top, with paint (taping out squares, maybe even some light shading to give them depth.) Then I saw that you can get decorative garage door hardware, which would look fancier than windows and be easy. (They also have them in magnetic form to stick them on metal garage doors too, but I got the screw on ones since ours is wood.)

When I mentioned it to Jason though, he wanted it painted black. (Which reminds me of the song when I was younger, that I gather is actually a cover of The Rolling Stones. But isn't a cover when it is done exactly the same? There is a difference, it is a bit like a remix or something. I like the Gob version better and, upon looking it up, found out they are Canadian. It is a little more metal than The Stones rock version.) 

Paining it black then meant that I had to spray paint the decorative hardware a different colour to get it to show up - I went with 'stainless steel.' It didn't really made it look like stainless steel so wouldn't recommend it for that purpose, but it worked to make it a greyish colour that would show up against the black. Jason helped me attach the hardware.

Happy with how it turned out! Even more so now that I see what it looked like before!

Didn't Even Make It A Week!

Photo of page in my bullet journal

I couldn't even get through 7 days of my 17 Day Covid Plan, it was a good attempt at staying motivated but something about it just didn't work for me. Nope! Didn't work.

Not really depressed, though there have been periods of time when I have been. Just feeling unproductive. There are lots and lots of articles going around that talk about it being okay to not be productive at this time. A lot of focus on just "getting through the day" and "self-care." So I am trying not to beat myself up about the fact that I am having a hard time getting anything useful done lately.

Beginner Drawing - Class 4 of 4

I have been sick and I missed class tonight. The past three nights have really opened my eyes to the joy that pursuing a hobby can bring to my life. That making art and learning, meeting new people and participating in something like this really elevates my day. I am so sad to miss this last class and though my new business will take up too much time to continue with more courses at this time, I hope I don't stay away from art for too long.

Beginner Drawing - Class 3 of 4

We worked with charcoal tonight and it was really interesting to try the different types. I was scared because you don't have the safety of easy erasing. But I enjoyed it and am happy with my results. Next week we get to pick which medium we want to work it, I think I will return to pencil but this was a nice experiment.

Beginner Drawing - Class 2 of 4

So I spent Halloween drawing objects, learning how to measure and more accurately reflect sizes and distance between shapes. I am very slow, didn't come even close to completing the shoe last week and this week I was really enjoying the challenging shapes in the second composition but hadn't even finished the vinegar bottle by the time class ended.

Beginner Drawing - Class 1 of 4

I am taking a Beginning Drawing class at ARTiculations, in The Junction on Wednesday nights. Here is what I did on my first night.

The image on the right is a recreation from a Degas sketch, we used a grid technique to draw it. This is the remaining aspect of drawing that I can still do, I can recreate when someone else has already taken something and made it 2D, black and white, especially when it is a sketch, even more so if a gird is involved. It was nice to end on that, helped renew my confidence.

New Look Too!

For the past two and a half years, Always Standing has looked like this:

Before making the design change to the basic burgundy appearance above, the blog was purple and had a pretty filigree-ish pattern.  I think this new one has humming birds in the background - I am almost always using a split screen on my computer so the window for the blog is too small to see much of the edges. What do you think of the new peach-coloured look?

Much Nicer!

Fun staging tip - Use boxes under a blow-up mattress to give the appearance of a bed. (The suggestion online said milk crates, but we didn't have those.) Obviously you can't sit on it, and we used a king-size sheet to cover the boxes. I looked into renting things from a professional staging place but it was all really expensive. I figured that using ideas from the internet and borrowing from friends if we didn't have the right stuff to use would work out just as well. Luckily we have friends with awesome taste and were able to use some really great pieces to highlight our basement.

Also, this picture below is perfect for the end of our demolition photo reel that shows the progression from inspection to the end of the tear-end.

Staged The Apartment -- Posted To Rent

The Bedroom

April 2018

Stage It!

Staged The Apartment -- Posted To Rent

Set up the basement with our stuff, borrowed stuff, and a cheap IKEA couch.

April 2018

Also I re-potted some of my succulents after FINALLY finding the small white stones that I wanted to use. Ended up getting a, very expensive, bag of fish-tank gravel and it looks amazing. I can't wait to move this group back upstairs.

Plant Nite!

Succulents In A Fish Bowl

Teri and I, taken by the instructor

March 2018

Part of my Christmas gift from Teri this year was an evening together making a terrarium. I have been to a few of the ones that are for painting a canvas - with both Tessa and Kristen on multiple occasions. I always have issues figuring out what to do with the picture afterwards. Teri had heard me complain about this aspect and thought the plant one would be a good solution. It was! We had dinner together at the pub beforehand, as these things are often hosted at a bar, and then made a little planter. It has inspired me to re-pot my other house plants too!

Also, is it just me or does Ter look the same as she did in 2006 in the photo? Way to not age over the past 12 years. This shot actually reminds me of an exact picture of her from somewhere but I couldn't find it on the blog and I am not heading over to Facebook to see if it is there. Either-way, basically if you just refer to this photo, she is still 22.

Bringing Back The Verde

I wanted a modern font for our house number at Casa Verde, it really updates the look. My plan had been to possibly 3D print some since buying them is much more expensive than the more traditional house numbers. Eventually I ran across a project online that included a recommendation for numbers that weren't too insanely expensive, and the grass highlights would mean that the house could tie back to its name.

So here is another little weekend project that we just finished. Though it feels like it took much longer because gathering the supplies (like getting the house numbers) took months:

New House Number And Mail Box

Casa Verde - July 2017

We also fixed up the area right below the mail box. It used to be a pile of bricks blocking animals from getting under the porch and some cracked grey patio stones. A couple of weekends ago we had a big dump bin so that we could tear up the cement pad in the back yard and dispose of all the concrete. We took the opportunity to move some patio stones around on our property - getting rid of broken ones and clearing them out from areas we don't want to have them anymore. We also had to get a couple of bags of red rocks and even did proper excavation, lining it underneath with landscape fabric to prevent weeds.

Jason and I are really bad at taking before photos, even though I know how great they are when things line up side by side. Here are a couple shots that can fill in for a true before and after shot of our house number:

Slowly Improving The Facade

Bought it - December 2015

New eaves - March 2016

New house number - July 2017

Casa Verde

I am very happy that the old number is gone!

Casa Verde - July 2017

Yes, I know that the 9 is a bit tilted, Jason and I can fix that with a normal drill - just moving the nail at the bottom over slightly. We needed to borrow a hammer drill from the Tool Library in order to screw the plywood backing onto the brick. That was the main focus this weekend, so that we could return the tools last night.

Also, in case you can't tell from the photo, it isn't real grass. (It might look weird in the winter.) It was quite the 'crafty' project, there was spay paint and trips to Micheal's:

Hole In The Soul

I have been feeling a bit empty lately and I realize that it is because I haven't made or 'created' anything in a while. My mind is filled with timelines, organizational details, and budgets/prices for work, Casa Verde, travel, family and more. These leaves me feeling productive but hollow. I know that I am good at keeping track of these types of details. I analyse data well, much better than any creative skill I might have. But the data isn't enough, I need to be creative.

I thought that Casa Verde projects would fill that void. Fun little DIY upgrades like our 'fake crown molding' are really enjoyable, especially as they tend to take a fair amount of problem solving to recreate in our space. However, at the same time it often just feels like I am following instructions, just going step by step and not being really creative.

Hopefully I will get a chance to be artistic soon, but the opportunities seem more limited now for some reason. Maybe just getting back to writing will be enough.

Your Cowboy Name

Happy Halloween! On Friday at work we had a pumpkin painting competition, it was a fun thing to do on my lunch break. Also according to this photo by my co-worker, I paint with my pinkie up. I am going to take the pumpkin home today since we don't have any decorations and are planning to give out candy at Casa Verde this year.

Dressed up at work today with my team as Cowgirls, (Since I was able to supply a lot of hats.) According to the quiz below my Cowboy Name is Billy The Stubborn Sheriff, which is cool but I have decided to be Chris The Kid.

---- from The Internet

Click to enlarge

Let me know your Cowboy Name in the comments!

In Memoriam In The Program

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

In Memoriam Page

Wedding Program 2016

Photos by myself and Stephanie Beach Photography

Layout by me using Canva

One of the pages in our massive wedding program was dedicated to my dad. You can see it below. It included my favourite photo of Dad that I took in Portugal, a photo taken by Steph that was included in her Photo Essay after Dad's death, the poem When Great Trees Fall by Maya Angelou, as well as the poem we had read at his funeral by Henry Van Dyke, which I have included below.

Gone From My Sight 

 I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, 

spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts 

for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. 

I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck 

of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. 

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone." 

Gone where? 

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast, 

hull and spar as she was when she left my side. 

And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. 

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her. 

 And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone," 

there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices 

ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!" 

And that is dying...

By Henry Van Dyke, 1904

My Big Extended Family

I have never considered my family particularly large, but when mapping it out I discovered it is a good size. I made a family tree, with photos, for our wedding program. I have used names in italics to indicate what I use to refer to my relatives, which is sometimes not their real names. Birth years for my cousins, nephew and niece are included, as well as, the years various couples got married. The banner at the top is just a collection of old photos of my relatives with the a rough estimate of the year they were taken. Check it out:

My Family Tree

Made by ME using Canva
Click image to view it larger.

And before you try to correct me, yes that is the way to spell my grandmother's name. Most people are Bernice but she has an extra 'e' and is Berneice.

Also, I have a hard time with my grandfather's name, since it is actually 'Alex.' However he died before my parents were even engaged so I only know him through family stories, and he was called 'Alec' and that 'ek' sound is so distinctive to my connection to his memory that it feels wrong to use the 'x'.

It was amazing to have everyone (living) from the above family free present at our wedding this weekend. As we get older and more relatives live further away this is becoming a very rare occurrence.

Motherhood - What I Would Not Be Doing

Excerpts from Mother, Writer, Monster, Maid by Rufi Thorpe:

"I am proud of being a mother. I love my two children. I love them so much that it hurts to look at them and I am pretty sure they are the best, smartest, scrappiest, funniest boys in the world, and having them changed my life. My life before children was selfish and bland, all feelings and no grit, just a drifting miasma of mood. To go back to living like that seems like hell."

"I have tried to say it to my husband; I have tried to say, 'I hate my life.' I have tried to say, 'I need help.' I have tried to explain why I am finding being a mother so difficult, but in the face of his questions, my explanations collapse. It isn’t exactly that spending time with the children is so horrible. I mean, sometimes it is, sometimes we have a bad day, but most of the time it is relatively pleasant: we go to the store, we go to the park, everyone is well behaved, the three-year-old says something cute, the baby does something new. The problem is not in what I am doing. The problem is in what I am not doing, which is writing every day, but which is also leading a life of the mind."

"I recognize the leveraging power of ineptitude. My husband can’t cook well; I do the cooking. My husband accidentally shrinks a few sweaters; I do the laundry. My husband can’t lactate; the baby comes to New York. In his inability to do things, he is excused from labor. In my rush to excel, to shine, to be a good wife and mother, I have done nothing but ensure my labor will be lengthy and unpaid."

"The conflict is between the selfishness of the artist and the selflessness of a mother."

"I am profoundly unfree."

For me, the haunting quote is: The problem is in what I am not doing.

I never thought I would be the type of person to have FOMO but I fear that having children wouldn't mean just be missing out on an event or two it would be missing out on who I could be. Sacrificing not just part of life but choosing to walk away from whole lives I could be living, other things I could be doing,

Basement Before & After - Open Up!

Since the final completion photo of this Before and After features Two, I am posting it on Caturday.

I think this is my favourite Before and After comparison, opening up the living area in the basement at Casa Verde was one of our main goals. Originally, at the bottom of the stairs was a small table and thin hallway - the rest of the space was 'wall-ed' off for the utility room and laundry machines. There was then a door (which you can see someone walking through on the right-side of the top photo) into this dark cluttered central space:

Casa Verde Basement - North Brick Column

House Inspection to Final Completion

By taking out that door and moving the utility room wall WAY over we were able to completely open up the front (north) part of the basement and provide a small living area. The bathroom door frame stayed in through the entire demolition and re-build - we then put the same door back into the frame afterwards. (All other doors in the space were replaced.)

The brick column also didn't move, since it holds up the house! But we did clean it, seal it, and paint it. If you have a keen eye you can see the three new tiles that the contractor installed for us because we knocked down a wall that had previously been part of the bathroom. (Jason and I tried to find matching tiles but we didn't quite get them right.) Also, the floor that looks like hardwood is actually a vinyl sheet, everyone really likes it. We painted using the same colours as upstairs, the living area in the basement is the same as our master bedroom upstairs.

We are so happy with the space and this is one of the best picture to show the amazing transformation.

We Have A Logo

I made a logo for Casa Verde! I used Canva again to design it. I decided to make a logo because our tenant asked for rent receipts and I thought it would be nice to have a consistent letterhead each month. (Yes we have a tenant! She moves in this coming weekend.)

Little Weekend Project

Warmth For The Mind

Stacked books in the fireplace at Casa Verde - June 2016

Photo by ME

Done Painting, For Now

Jason and I finished painting yesterday! Actually that isn't true, we have finished painting what we are going to do before moving in this coming weekend. With Mom's help a couple of weekends ago, and my Aunt and Uncle's help last month, we got a good handle on what needed to get done. Check out our finished dining room paint job:

I don't have a good before picture to put together a comparison at this time but you should just know that it was yellow, all yellow, very very yellow. I feel like I achieved the look I was going for and I am really happy with it!

So excited to move in, but not looking forward to all the packing we need to do this week to get ready for moving day on Saturday.