There's Always Hope Part II

It has been five years since my sister walked through the door of the house she purchased without seeing inside.  If you missed Part I click here.

The lady who sold it to my sister was just as dumbfounded as everyone else at the condition it was in.  She turned to my sister and asked her if she still wanted to close the deal that day.  What were the options? There was no other place available in the village.  They wanted to stay in the community that had given them a place of friendship and peace after their son was killed.  The mortgage payment would be about half the cost of renting an apartment and they could keep their pets. The spacious yard gave ample room to grow their own vegetables, which would save them money on their grocery bills. With knots in her stomach, she said yes.  The vendor offered to absorb the cost of replacing the furnace and that, at least, didn't have to come out of the $10,000 reno budget.

My brother renovated the bathroom, while my sister's son pulled up and replaced the rotting kitchen floor. Although my brother in law's back injury didn't allow for him to do heavy work, he helped his cousin replace the electrical wiring. ~

The doors were replaced and as many windows as they could afford were installed by a professional.  The rest they would have to do themselves, with some help from family.  Loads of demolition materials beyond counting, were hauled to the dump.  My sister and I have no idea what kind on insulation filled the bathtub during that demolition and that we bagged and carried out of the house.  Sometimes, it's best not to think about the stuff you get into in these jobs!

The kitchen had an acoustic tile ceiling that was mouldy from a roof leak.  It came down and the good news is, there was a beadboad ceiling under it.  The bad news is, it was a heck of a mess! ~

Can it be salvaged?  You betcha!  All it took was a whole lot of scraping, her husband fitting a few missing boards in and my sister devoting her life to filling the cracks with silicone filler.

Five years later and she still hasn't got it done. ~

The kitchen also had wood on the walls.  Okay, they need a little patching. Or a lot of patching! ~

Ta Da! ~

The roof leak had done serious damage in the upstairs bedrooms as well.  Under the mouldy panelling and layers of wallpaper was the original plaster.  It's a very rough plaster so you have to embrace a rustic look for it to work.

Down came the panelling. ~

My sister set in with a bucket of plaster to fix the walls as much as she could.  ~

Only the window wall was beyond repair and I had a roll of textured wallpaper that we put on it to cover up the worst of the patches.

Here's that same room today. ~

My sis says to be sure to tell you that she bought that bedding on deep discount.  I think she's getting into this story. LOL

The original beams in the living room ceiling were exposed and stained in a dark grey. ~

Having lived with my parents for a few years, they had very little of their own furniture left.  Almost everything in the house came from auction sales and thrift shops. It all has to do double duty as well.  With only 800 sq. ft. of living space, storage is at a premium.

This corner cabinet cost $5 and looks great with a new paint job. My sister made all her own window coverings, using discounted remnant fabrics. ~

You may remember this buffet I painted and added a Modpodge transfer to the doors.  It still seems to be circulating around Pinterest.  It not only holds the TV but gives them extra storage. ~

Over the years, as funds have permitted, they've done upgrades to the house.

A narrow hall between the kitchen and living room was redesigned to hold a coat closet.  Their son is busy with his own home and family, but came to build it for them. In a house that didn't have even one closet, this is a huge deal!  ~

Their son also built a new front porch to give the house a little curb appeal. ~

I well remember my sister sitting crying because they would never be able to have a house again.  They would never qualify for a mortgage.  I remember how she worried, night and day, about where they would go when my mom's house was sold.  She was in her sixties and the future looked very bleak.  There didn't seem to be any hope.

They had a little luck and a lot of hard work and perseverance to turn that fate around.

At Thanksgiving, they had a comfortable and, not perfect but charming, home to host a family dinner in. ~

Saving that house became my sister's mission.  It returned the favour by helping her heal from the sorrows in her life and by giving her a place to call HOME.

It proved to her that there is always hope!

ps - As someone who has suffered and survived, she has really appreciated your heartfelt comments on the last post.

There Is Always Hope

Not everyone is entering 2014 with life going along just hunky dory.  And, for those who feel that their problems are overwhelming right now, I'm sharing the story of the renovation of my sister's little cottage.  I asked her if she minded if I explained a little bit about how she came to buy the house and assured her I would use discretion and tell as little as possible; just enough have it all make sense.  My goal was to show that any house can become a home, without spending a great deal of money. Even when it seems it never will, life can get better.

She said, "If you think it may help someone, tell it all".  That was very courageous of her and I thank her for it.

This is the house when she bought it.  It's not a beauty and a little overgrown. ~

For all that, it was still an answer to a prayer for her.  A decade before, her husband had been injured at work.  He was on sick leave for awhile and it ran out.  He went on long term disability and that ran out. Their only income was what my sister brought in from her job as manager of a real estate office.  His benefits were cancelled and his drug bill per month was more than she earned.  While they fought their way through the system, debts began to mount. They were sinking fast.

With little left in the way of emotional or physical reserves, they had the ultimate nightmare happen.  Their son was killed in a senseless shooting at a party.  Life had literally collapsed around them.

They sold their home for just enough to pay their debts and moved in with my parents. It was intended to be a temporary situation. My sister stayed on in her job for a couple of years, until the stress became too much to handle.  My brother in law lost his claim and was left with a small disability pension to live on.  My dad died of cancer, Mom developed Alzheimer's and had to go into a nursing home.  My parent's house had to be sold and my sister had to find a home where she could have her pets and that was affordable on a very small income.

A friend of my mother's, a widow, wanted to sell her rental property.  A single man had been living in it for a dozen years and he was moving out.  She named an amount that was insanely low.  Knowing they couldn't qualify for a mortgage, my sister asked if she would hold one for her and sell without a down payment. She agreed.  So, the house was sold without my sister ever seeing inside.  The vendor hadn't been in it since the single man moved in.

On closing day, everyone was in for a big shock!

The kitchen taps have corroded so badly, they don't function. ~

Everyone expected the place to need a little cleaning, but have you ever seen dust an inch thick on a floor where someone was living? ~

Most of the windows and doors aren't functioning anymore and it looks like the roof has been leaking. Upstairs is pretty rough, too. ~

But, the killer was the bathroom!  Not the toilet nor the sink nor the bathtub worked.  In short, there was no water in the house.

Yes, that is what you think it is in the toilet.  There's also a whole roll of toilet paper in there. ~

Keep in mind that there is no money to renovate this place.  The only answer to getting the house in a livable state was to open a Home Depot account.  They were able to combine that with a little bit of credit card money and some government energy grants to offset the cost of replacing the furnace, windows and doors. The total budget would be $10,000.

Demolition began. Out came the rotten kitchen floor. ~

My sister bailed that toilet out and I helped her carry it outside.  Gross!  This is our baby brother starting work on the bathroom.  Normally, he's and computer guy. ~

In the next post, I'll show you the how the little house looks today.

Just so no one has nightmares from what you've seen, here's a much nicer bathroom. ~

Everything had to be budget friendly and the the only tradesmen that could be hired were for furnace and window and door installation.  All the rest would be DIY.

I bet you are feeling better already.  You don't have to face making this house livable!

What Makes A Perfect Christmas?

It takes beautiful decorations. ~

With last minute decorating client calls to do their homes, mine was nowhere near done.  No blog posts could be written to show the clever ideas I had all worked out in my head.

A white Christmas is wonderful unless storm after storm makes the roads treacherous and shopping for gifts difficult. ~

I didn't see the beauty, just the difficulties that it presented.

A trip to the market to pick up the fresh, organic turkey I ordered brought the news that my order was the only one lost.  Ekes!  I could be mean and give them a hard time about it, but they were obviously terrified to tell me.  I shrugged and asked what alternative they suggested. They offered to give me all the parts of a fresh turkey, unassembled, but that was a bit too Frankenstein for me. Instead, they gave me a frozen, organic turkey for less than the cost of a grocery store bird.  Yay!

Surely, that is the last of the snags and all I have to do is finish sewing a Juliet costume for one granddaughter, clean the house and decorate it. ~

And then, the ice storm hit Ontario! ~

Trees toppled under the weight of the ice and hydro lines came down.  Thousands of homes were without power. ~

My power stayed on, but would the kids be able to make it home for Christmas?  It seemed to be problems and more problems! ~

Then, I realised the problem was me! I couldn't see the beauty of the ice and snow because I was too busy looking for cobwebs and dust.  I didn't have faith that the roads would clear and the travelling would be fine. I was putting all the emphasis on a picture perfect, Hallmark card home and not on the scent wafting from the kitchen and the anticipation of spending the special day with those I loved.

The house began to fill with people.  My nephew and his family were without power for five days and couldn't stay in their frigid house anymore.  They didn't care what decorations hung from the chandelier, just that the house was warm and a turkey was roasting in the oven. ~

Grandkids came through the door with all the excitement of Christmas Eve on their faces.  For Clara Jane, ten kids in the house, throwing toys for her to fetch, was the best part of the day. 

When she needed a nap to recover her energy, two little girls made sure she was petted. ~

Artificial snow from the village was sprinkled all over the floor from kittens and kiddies alike. ~

Everyone was happy! ~

No one seemed to notice what was left undone.  They talked and laughed while the little ones fetched the basket of toys to play and dangled garland beads for kittens to bat.  No one cared that the turkey had been frozen as long as it came golden brown from the oven. Seventeen sat down to a bountiful dinner.

My granddaughter, Serena, said to me, "Grandma, you can never leave this house because IT IS JUST PERFECT!"

I looked around and agreed because it had the best decoration any home could have.~

It was filled, from top to bottom with Joy!

I hope each and every one of you had a perfect Christmas!

 

Cooks Around The World With Slurrpy.com

I was making lemon tarts to take to friend's house after his mother passed away and thinking that food is such a universal way of giving comfort and showing we care for someone.

With that thought in my head, I picked up a  message from a food website asking if I would contribute to a series they were running as a special event for the month of December. ~

Slurrpy .com has put together twelve bloggers, from five continents, to celebrate the common ingredient in cooking.  That ingredient is love.  All twelve bloggers are as different from each other as you could imagine and yet, we all care about the food we make; where it comes from and how it is prepared.  We are much more alike that it seems at first glance.  We step over walls of politics, faith and culture to become global friends, with food as our common ground.

I'd say that embodies the spirit of Christmas for me.

Each week we are given two ingredients to use in a recipe of our choice. We are asked to use recipes that anyone can make, with no special equipment and minimal preparation.  These are dishes that are made by people living busy lives, not trained chefs with a fully staffed kitchen.  I do admit to having quite a bit of cat help in the kitchen but I certainly don't have a sous chef!

This week our ingredients were cinnamon and pear.

My contribution is a Canadian take on a classic French dessert, Clafoutis. ~

The Canadian spin is replacing the powdered sugar, usually sprinkled on top, with a drizzle of pure maple syrup. Pears baked in custard just went from dessert to a delicious and elegant special occasion breakfast! ~

I can't give you the full recipe here because I wrote it for Slurrpy.com so you'll have to head over there to see all this weeks pear and cinnamon creations.  Click here to head on over.

I took the clafoutis over to my sister and brother in law and it passed the taste test with flying colours!

Seeing Red At Christmas

Just in case you were wondering if I was doing any Christmas decorating, I am. I'm doing it again and again. As fast as I put it up, the kittens (commonly known around here as 'The Barbarians'), are pulling it down.  The tree has gone over twice!  If I want any Christmas touches in this house at all, I'm going to have to rethink my strategy.  The only way is to take it all down and go with things that they can't eat or use as toys.

They declared open war on me while I worked on the buffet in the family room.  Making no pretence at helping, they ganged up on me, scooting in and grabbing things to run away with.  I was actually seeing red in more ways than decor by the time I was done!

The colour scheme started when I bought this pair of coal oil lantern sconces at auction.  They had been electrified and were missing the hurricane shades.  The shades were easily replaced for $6 each. Ask me what I paid for the sconces.  You know you want to.  $9 for the pair! ~

A couple of poinsettias that were on sale for $5 each got a bit of dressing up with some red and white snowflake patterned fabric I had in my stash. ~

Clara Jane did have a go at eating the plants but she seems to be leaving them alone now.  Don't worry about her eating them.  The head of the Canadian Poinsettia Growers Association assures us it is a myth that they are poisonous to cats and they would have to eat a whole forest of them to get sick.

Let's pretend we are joining Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle for Christmas.  I figure I'm safe to use old books, snow globes and a hand carved, wooden Santa. ~

The holly berry garland was a $4 thrift store find.  It's lost a few of it's berries to The Barbarians I'm afraid, but still looks okay.  The partridge in the feather nest is an experiment to see if I can add a few more birds without dooming them to a horrible end. ~

A trinket box in Balmoral plaid holds a string of gold beads and a couple of reproduction Pottery Barn glass balls that were a gift from my daughter. ~

A print from 1900 reminisces about at even earlier time. ~

Before the rail line came through, draft horses pulled barges up the river that runs behind my house. I've found two horse shoes buried in the bank and this print is a favourite of mine.  It gets a bit of vine and some mistletoe to dress it up.

Some Christmas cheer is in a decanter that dates back to William, Queen Victoria's uncle, who reigned before her.  So does the sideboard itself. A star shaped candle is safely tucked away in a hurricane holder.  The girls are drawn to flame and I have to be careful with candles. ~

It's a simpler look than I would normally do and yet I'm happy with it.  ~

Best of all, it has stayed intact for 24 hrs.!

Special Interest Books As Gifts

I always feel the giver shows an extra level of thought when they gift me with a book that is about things they know I am experiencing and care about.  On the most difficult Christmas of my life, I was given a copy of Simple Abundance.  It is written as a chapter for each day of the year and I used that book as an anchor as I found my way in a new and sometimes frightening life.  Other books have been invaluable learning tools and sources of enlightenment.  I've loved gardening books, cookbooks and magazine subscriptions.

These are a few suggestions for the people on your gift list who have special interests.

For the person interested in healthy eating, sustainable food production methods and the state of agriculture in the world today, I recommend Real Dirt. ~

A sixth generation farmer, having taken over the family industrial pig farm and with a masters in business and agriculture, Harry Stoddart made the transition to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable means of producing food.  It's a common sense look at how our food is grown and relies on scientific fact, not sentimentality, to argue for change in the agricultural sector.  He says he has enough material in the book to make everyone mad at him, from vegetarians to organic proponents to industrial farm corporations. I'd agree with him there, but found it a great book to sort through all the rhetoric and develop my own stance on what forms of agriculture I will support with my dollars.  You can order the book through Amazon here.

For the person looking to reconcile religion, metaphysics and science, this book has it all. ~ 

Bruce Lipton takes us on his fascinating journey from successful biologist, to believer in the power of the mind and our environment to affect our health, well being and success in life.  Even though this book is scientifically based, it's written for the layman.  This is one of my top 10 books for 2013!  You can order the book here.

If someone on your list is considering or has adopted older children ~

The Promise is a truthful, raw and inspiring memoir of the struggles of one family to heal their four adopted children and create an atmosphere where everyone can thrive and grow together as a true family.  Written by the mother of the children (and incidentally my daughter) and the Child and Youth Counselor, who helped them develop strategies for success, it has proved so valuable to adoptive parents that it is endorsed by many adoptive agencies and the authors are enlisted to speak at Adoption Council functions. You can buy the book here.

The next one is a book review that several people have asked me to write and I've avoided for personal reasons.  I guess that all goes out the window now!

If you have anyone on your list who is trying to come to terms with the sudden and unexpected abandonment by a long term love, Runaway Husbands is the book for them. ~

When you've been in a long term relationship, often more than 25 years, and your mate blindsides you by walking out, many are left with no explanation and certainly no closure.  Someone you thought you knew well is behaving in completely different ways.  A life that was so intertwined with another is suddenly floating without ballast.  Absolutely everything in life gets called into question and no one is providing any answers. That is, until psychotherapist and family counsellor Vikki Stark had it happen to her.  Her study of the phenomenon led her to write the book that has been a tremendous tool for helping abandoned women understand what happened, regain their feeling of self worth and rebuild their lives.  The book was an enormous help to me and whenever I felt someone was having a tough time coming out of their shell shocked state, I've given it to them.  Every single one has thanked me for it and passed it on to the next person in need.  You can buy the book here.

Now that I've reviewed all the intellectual books, how about a little bit of Christmas fun for you?  You've earned a sweet, little read that transports you to Nantucket and and the magic that only a Christmas story by Nancy Thayer can bring.  It has new love, an adorable kid and an abandoned puppy looking for a forever home, all set in the historic beauty of a Massachusetts island paradise.

You can't help but feel happy when you read A Nantucket Christmas. ~

You can buy the book here.

Ready for the disclaimer?  Here it is.  I'm an idiot!  I have not signed up as an Amazon or Lulu.com affiliate and I will not receive a penny for promoting these books. I just put the links in to make shopping easier. My daughter, however, may say, "Thanks, Mom".  Therefore, all opinions are my own.