Finally, in a fit of true cruelty, I will not post any new pictures on this blog – just to entice you over to the new site. Come on, it’s real pretty!

Moreover, the kitchen is particularly heritage. We looked at modern cupboards trying to be old, but something just didn’t seem to fit. Eventually, one rainy day, the Man and I ventured over to the Spencerville Fall Fair and were pleasantly surprised to find Garnet and Maureen Carmichael running a very damp outdoor booth. We took one look at a reproduction hutch that Garnet had made and knew instantly what we wanted to do in the kitchen.

Our plan, instead of having fitted built-in cupboards, is to have free standing pieces that look more authentic to the age of the home. Garnet managed to complete the first piece just before the Open House, which we very much appreciated. Not only does he do custom pieces, but Garnet will use the same accent colours you are using already in your design, and does amazing finishes to make the piece look older. Furthermore, the furniture is solid wood! None of the this press-board veneer so common to pre-fabricated kitchen cupboards.

The hutch Garnet built has already transformed the kitchen, and we look forward to what the rest of our plans will bring once he has finished. As usual, the before shots are to below-left and the after pictures to the right:

We found the above cupboard in what I like to call the shack – a hastily put together and unfinished addition that might have had some condemned tape around it, put there by the bank to avoid liability after repossessing the house. In a fit of desperation to clean out the shack and gain some much needed storage space before the Open House, Carlotta and I ventured to clean it. Let’s not go into any great detail about what we found, but suffice it to say that Hanta virus is something I never gave much thought to previously.

The Man spent a considerable amount of time repairing my beloved corner hutch, pictured below. There were many a man, in particular, who suggested we divest of this antiquity in favour of making space for modern appliances. Fortunately, the Man has now laboured so much on this built-in, that I am safe to venture that it will remain indefinitely – and for that, I am very happy! The hutch had been in pretty rough shape. In fixing it, the Man (with some guidance from my father, mother and the kind folks at the Kemptville Building Centre) stripped the back walls and added fresh beaded board, built and laid new shelves and painted it all in that fabulous Behr Grasshopper Wing accent colour. I contributed, as usual, in stripping paint from the doors (and then from the windows, where someone had accidentally added it) and organising my great-great grandmother’s old china – it’s a tough life.

While working in Toronto, my friend Lola2 helped me get started on what would prove to be a curtain-making-marathon – not quite completed, but happily continuing on my new Singer Curvy! One of our first projects were these Button-Up Window Shades, as directed on the Martha Stewart website. Made with a linen and beautiful cotton print, these blinds look fine, but block out a lot of light. When time permits, I might need to add a second set of ribbon loops in order to roll them up farther so as to enjoy the bright morning light of our country kitchen. For now, the ones rolled up higher in the picture above are simply held by sewing pins.

And what home would be complete without a resident domovoi? Our Shisha travelled back with us from Suzdal, Russia and we wouldn’t dream of moving without him. A domovoi, for those not already in the know, is a house spirit. These little guys were thought by more superstitious Slavs to inhabit every home, protecting it and mostly residing under the threshold of the front door or under the stove. We love Sisha far too much to condemn him to such a fate, so he lives happily wherever we can see him.

Our kitchen is far from finished – so please stay tuned for those exciting changes as they are unveiled.

We would like to thank everyone who was able to make it and extend a special thanks to Jeanette for her support. We are also very grateful that Garnet Carmichael was able to deliver our new hutch in time for the party and that Jason Taylor could help manage the outside of Crowder House while the Man was away on business to the west coast.

Our friend Louise from Sunny Acres Barnyard Zoo was also a big help in the days leading up to the Open House. We’re quite happy that she was able to win the Blu Dot Interiors gift certificate.

The local-products Gift Basket, sponsored by HomeStars.com, was brimming with great products – in no small part as a result of the additional contributions donated by Barry Fawcett, Pat Lemaire, Jeanette MacNaughtan and Sunny Acres Barnyard Zoo. A grand merci for all of those great donations!

A friend from Ottawa – who paid a sort of homage to the Crowder House blog by visiting the many spots we mention here – was the lucky winner of the Gift Basket with this review. For more pictures of the great items included in the basket, please see below.

In addition to free advice from Badr, Blu Dot Interiors is also tossing in two designer throw pillows – making this door prize something very special!

All guests of our Open House will be invited to participate in the draw – all they have to do is write a review on HomeStars.com for the renovator of their choice. The only rule about writing reviews is that services or a product must have been purchased.  For every review posted, we’ll enter your name into the draw for great prizes such as the Blu Dot Interiors gift certificate and throw pillows. For a full list of categories, please visit HomeStars.com

To learn more about Badr and Blu Dot Interiors, please visit her website or check out her growing dossier of reviews on HomeStars. Badr is also an instrumental participant in an ongoing fundraiser, which I also support, called 20.4.20 Designer Day Marathon to be held on October 20 at Gendron Antiques. All proceeds for that event will go to Stephanie Lanctot in her fight against cancer.

Please note some travel restrictions will apply on the gift certificate as Badr does work out of Ottawa. If an out-of-towner does win this prize, a phone consultation using pictures could still be an option.

In the end we found a solution that didn’t cost us too much in the set up and is working very well. Fortunately, HomeStars had a Rocket Stick from Rogers that they could lend me to test at Crowder House. We were able to get online, albeit with a fairly weak connection. We tried to contact Bell about testing their version of mobile internet, but the best they could do was offer us the buyer’s remorse policy, whereby you have a week or so to return the stick without penalty, short of covering the costs of the internet you use in your trial. (More on the technicalities and troubles with these buyer’s remorse policies to follow.)

Without certainty that Bell would work out here – and Bell was our preference so that we could at least bundle the legacy landline,  so required out in the middle of nowhere where the electricity went down briefly twice last week – we felt we must choose Rogers. So, I ordered the Rocket Stick at some point just before the move. This meant that the package containing the Rocket Stick sat at our post office in Spencerville for a few extra days before I was able to pick it up. Moreover, with the move occupying us, a few more days passed before I was able to actually test the device out. By the time I realised that we had a decent internet connection and that the Rocket Stick heats up to dangers degrees when worked for anything over an hour, I was nearly at the end of my 15 day buyer’s remorse period – which, by the way, goes into effect from the day you order the device, not from the day you start using it.

I called Rogers to ask about upgrading to the Rocket Hub and hit a snag. Apparently, Rogers doesn’t have a process for upgrades – you either have a Stick or a Hub, but moving from one to the other causes some sort of call-centre mind melt-downs (oh, and I could write a book on our experiences with useless customer service at call-centres a a result of this move.) I was presented with one option, call UPS that day to have my Rocket Stick picked up the following day in order to qualify for the Buyer’s Remorse policy, leaving me without internet for a few days while the Rocket Hub made its way to me. But I need the internet to work, I replied meekly to the customer service rep. Fortunately, for me, I had found myself talking to the most helpful and determined call-centre representative this country has to offer. She talked to as many managers as she needed to, explaining that I wasn’t just returning the Stick, but taking the Hub, and I just needed a couple of days grace to get the Stick back to them. It might be too soon to write about this as I haven’t yet found the $179-or-so rebate from the Stick, but I remain hopeful because this call centre goddess seemed to know what she was talking about and deliberately sought the right references to put into my file. We did end up on a 2-year contract (despite how contracts pain my nerves), but the Hub cost us $149 and our minimum service payment will be $35 and scaled on usage.

Before I had ordered the Hub, this article had found its way to me, providing simple antenna alternatives for improving our connection. We ordered the window-mount antenna solution from RF Connections for approximately $140 and have had solid internet ever since – without having anything stuck on our roof or building a 40-foot TV tower, which most of the wireless providers insisted we must. In fact, some days we achieve over a 4 Mb download speed, but most days are just over between 3.32 Mb to 3.5 – which pleases me to no end. This is a connection far better than I had hoped for out here. Yes, we are sort of capped at 10 Gb per month, but we are watching our usage to see what that gets us.

On a technical note, it might be worth mentioning that Crowder House is but a couple of kilometres at most from the nearest cell tower. This is giving us an advantage in cellular internet connection.

Beyond sharing our trials, tribulations and, more importantly, triumphs with our friends, neighbours and colleagues, we have many additional surprises planned.

Jeanette MacNaughtan of Epicure Selections will be preparing a variety of recipes from the spice company’s wide repertoire. Jeanette will also be attending the open house and available to explain the sumptuous and tantalizing tastes to which she will be spoiling us. Be sure to come prepared – if one of these foods tickles your taste buds, you’ll be able to order the spices or flavours from Jeanette while at Crowder House. For those of you not familiar with this great company, Epicure Selections is an 100% Canadian owned and operated Company, offering affordable delicious and nutritious mealtime and entertaining solutions with a line of versatile spice blends, time-saving recipes and professional quality cookware.

We will also be having a draw for door prizes donated by HomeStars and Blu Dot Interiors. Visit our blog regularly to learn more about the great items up for grabs. All you have to do to enter is post a review for your favourite home renovator on HomeStars.com while visiting Crowder House. HomeStars is an online community of homeowners and home improvement companies, offering a free service for homeowners to find reputable renovators, repairmen and retailers. Blu Dot Interiors is a funky interior design firm based in Ottawa.

Of course, all of this is to say nothing of the excitement of visiting Crowder House. Anyone who is daring enough will be welcome to wander the grounds and tell us what is out on our 50 acres. Crowder House itself will be open to those visitors looking for a more relaxing visit. Our wood stove is now repaired and working, so cold or rainy, this Open House will happen!

There is limited space for out of town guests to stay overnight. These will be made available on a first-come-first-serve basis, so please let us know as soon as possible if you need a bed.

We would appreciate a response to let us know if you are planning on attending for food, drink and parking purposes. If you could let either Michael or myself know by Monday, October 4, that would be wonderful!

Hope to see you soon in the country!

For some reason our camera is inadequate when photographing the wilderness that once engulfed Crowder House. We have two video clips that provide some insight into the foliage that once seemed to block out the surrounding world. The first depicts some of the back yard and fence line and the second is a shaky jaunt through the front yard.

There was a particularly virulent vine that had crept over everything possible, including the house, the fence and many trees, ultimately killing a number of our barked friends. The roots on this beast were remarkable. Of the thicker vines we were able to remove from the fence row, one is pictured here to the right in my hand for some perspective. The vine had woven itself many times around the fence and up to the top of trees taller than our house. A pine tree still looks deciduous thanks to the leafy covering of the vine. One lost tree that Richard chopped continued to stand after axing given the brace the many vines had created.

Below are some shots of the fence as it is today. The first on the left is the area where we stopped. The post in the middle of the shot is part of the fence – everything in front was cleaned, the rest is what awaits us. We were quite impressed with the condition of the fence. All things considered, it is in very good shape. We also have a much clearer view of the field – I use the term loosely – on the other side. Now the questions of what to do in that space have begun to arise (garden or orchard?). The last picture shows the the fence row and in the foreground the pile of foliage we collected in that spot.

Some additional footage of our work: the first is as close as you will ever come to a picture of me on this blog, the second is of Richard and I going about the clearing, the last of Richard and his pile of refuse.

Jason Taylor was also out over the weekend and finished clearing the front lawn of all the many things hidden there – including rotten boards from gardens long lost.

The Man loves finding the forgotten things strewn about the property. Perhaps because he always seems to stumble upon Muskoka chairs and picnic tables.  My discovery over the weekend was a composted composter that looked as if it had burst forth its contents some time ago.

So instead of half-finished renovations and red, snuffly noses, I offer you, Dear Readers, something pretty and alluring in the hopes that you might trek into our woods and enjoy the many artists who also reside in it.

The Seaway Autumn Colour Studio Tour 2010 will be running this weekend in and around Prescott.  One of the more surprising discoveries of our new region is just how many great artists are living out here too.  Of my favourites include fabric artist Pat Lemaire who does amazing works of art combining quilting and other techniques. Pat’s studio will be open outside of Johnstown as part of the studio tour.

In visiting the tour’s website, however, I noticed quite a number of other artists worthy of visit. Weaver, Janet Whitman (whose work is pictured here below), and digital photoartistan, Mike Laking (whose photo is the featured image on this post) are certainly two that have piqued my interest.

There was one other artist, Bonnie Lemaire, who creates illustrations for children that stood out for me.  In addition to painting and book illustrations, Bonnie also offers a gift section on her website that has some great holiday images that would delight any child and adult alike.

The tour recommends a new pub in Prescott, O’Heaphy’s Restaurant, but if you are out and about on the tour, you could also try our local haunt The Red George Pub. Of course, nothing is stopping you from trying one for lunch and the other for dinner!

While the Fair offers a variety of modern entertainment, it also boasts a number of agricultural activities more reminiscent of a traditional Canadian fall fair. Such events include: The Lady Blacksmith, The Western Games Horseshow and Antique Machinery and Steam Show. If you have some time and are in the area, it’s definitely worth stopping in!

Visit the Fair’s website for a schedule of events.

That’s right, we’re now officially living in renovations. Well, one of us is living in renovations, the other is also working in it too.

As you might be aware, I recently took a job with HomeStars, which has given me the freedom to work from home. For many people, it’s challenging to work from home at the best of times. I love it. Self-motivated, I have no problem getting up in the morning writing and working. That is, in a nice clean room I have no problem working. I now have the additional challenge of ignoring that which remains packed and instead concentrating on my job. For a results-oriented person, let me tell you, it’s like not scratching an itchy bug bite.

When we moved in one of the first areas of concentration was the office. Work would start again for me the following Tuesday, and I would need a place to work. Also, we had no place to store the many books we (well, I, the Man would love to purge but I cannot part with them) have amassed over the years. The shack-of-an-addition is very humid and my father who had come to help was concerned about leaving books in there too long. This meant that shelves were thrown up where they could be, and books unloaded onto them, which is fine by me because I find something comforting about being surrounding by a wall of books.

I will be sparing you pictures of the soothing wall for now, because in front of it boxes are piling. If you haven’t gather yet, here at Crowder House, we exercise our editorial privileges.  (Although if the Crowder House regular, Carlotta, isn’t careful with her comments, I will release compromising footage of her and Samson.)

For now, please find a shot of the spot from which I now write, pictured here to the right. Below, well, what would a Proletariat Room be without the requisite propaganda? Being a former Russian Major, I had to put these Soviet babies up, souvenirs from a trip to Russia. To the left is the wall as it was before, and to the right as it is today.

We had enough space in the Office to also house a couch (one of our many double bed sleeping options for those considering visiting for the Open House!) This is the spot where our two pets sleep all day. The pictures below are, to the left, a before shot, and to the right, as it is today.