Office makeover

Awhile back I mentioned that we were working on an overhaul for our home office.  I really didn't want to call it a 'redecorating' project because that implies that it was decorated to start with....and it wasn't!!  When we moved into this house 11 years ago, we dumped the office furniture, papers, books, etc. and figured we would deal with it later.  Later became much, much later : - )

I had bought a custom-made (used) computer workstation/desk several years ago with the intention of finishing the unfinished room in our basement and making an office down there.  It was a HUGE desk and really would only fit in a large room.  Since the basement hasn't even been touched, I was thinking about selling it to get it out of our garage but one night I had an epiphany and thought that I could get Dad to help me cut it down to size to fit in the office.  With that idea, we moved full steam ahead with altering the desk and painting it black since the light grey melamine was a bit dated, to say the least.  Once the desk was painted, we thought that we might as well paint the walls and we considered finally buying hardwood to replace the old, ripping linoleum.  The budget just wouldn't stand for new flooring, but a can of paint was within reach.

Finally, we have a lovely area to work in at home.  Since I spend a lot of time on the computer, it is a real treat to be in a room that is nicely organized and cozy.  Everything is not yet complete, but the most of the work is done.  We want to get hardwood down at some point and the old thrift store chair will likely get a new teal slipcover but those things will get done at some point.

Here are some before and after pics of our project:

BEFORE

AFTER

Thanksgiving weekend Part II

Our Thanksgiving weekend was full to overflowing with family, friends and activities.  On Sunday, we headed to the cottage for the Patterson Thanksgiving dinner.  I always take the time to snap a bunch of pics for the annual grandparent's calendar.  The day was incredibly warm and after dinner we ended up on the beach...in shorts and a tank top, mind you!  The teens went in the water for their traditional semi-polar bear swim except it was much warmer than normal and they actually stayed in the water for a bit...brrrrr!  Not warm enough for me : - )

We were missing our lovely Karissa this year.  She is spending Thanksgiving (and her birthday...and Christmas...and Easter) in Ecuador.  There were little reminders of her everywhere.  Elaine took lots of pictures and the teens were working on a video for her birthday.  I love all of the love that my nieces and nephews have for each other.  It warms my heart!!

Here are a few photos from the day:

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and gave thanks for their many blessings...I know I did!!

Thanksgiving weekend Part I

Wow!  We have been experiencing some much warmer than normal temperatures for the past few days.  On Saturday, we went to the apple orchard and it hit 25C...kerazy!!

The apple orchard was a zoo.  There were a couple of hundred people in line when we got there but we all decided that it was a gorgeous day, we had nowhere else to be and we had good company to pass the time with so we got in line.  It took us almost an hour to make it through the line to the front where we got on a trailer pulled by a tractor and made our way to the orchard.  Did I mention it was a gorgeous day??

We had a wonderful afternoon with great friends and then hit Heather's for a fall supper of chili, corn bread and a selection of apple desserts.  What could be more enjoyable than a fall (that felt like summer) afternoon of friendship, fresh air and fun???