Lucy

Lucy.

Changes have a way of happening in multiples.  There have been a lot of changes around here lately.  One of them is Lucy.  This is Lucy (photo above).  Out of the blue this little black and white fuzz ball showed up on my back porch 3 months ago, desperately crying from hunger,,,,all skin and bones, she wrapped herself around my ankles and my heart in an instant.  Her timing couldn't have been worse, or, more perfect if you're a cat looking for a beachside home.  We were in the middle of packing up a house in Toronto and moving it all to the East Coast.  She was homeless and decided she wanted to come with us, she literally forced her way into our home and made it clear she wasn't leaving.  She could care less we already had a cat.  She wanted what he had and nothing was going to stop her.  Apparantly word on the street was that we were headed to a house on 5 acres complete with an old barn and she wanted to hitch a ride.  Her plan worked.  After taking her to the vet and nursing her thru her shots and being spayed,,,I was completely and hopelessly attached and couldn't possibly part with her or give her up to anyone, so of course she came with us to Nova Scotia.   Our 11.5 year old tabby wasn't so thrilled.  We weren't so thrilled about the prospect of a two day long road trip with them, which was pretty much a nightmare but we made it.

Elliot

The two cats are polar opposites as far as personality goes and its been fun to watch them slowly become friends.  It was stressful and chaotic keeping them separated from each other for the many weeks that we had to but as I told myself it was better than her living on the streets.  It took a long time to name her and for months she was simply called Kitty. So impersonal.  Her personality is so dominant I just couldn't think of a name that suited her character.  She's what I call a cartoon cat...the epitome of every stereo typical cat characiture.  She's a bully and a sucky baby at the same time.  She's a girl but she's about as graceful as a bulldog (no offense to bulldogs!).   She's kinda gawky looking and with her broad stance and her pipe cleaner stick legs she's quite hilarious to watch when she runs.  She's only 10 months but she's a survivor,  every time we let her outside she quickly returns with a "present" she's caught.  She knows how to fend for herself, she's fearless.   We now call her Lucy as named by a brother who was staying with us over thanksgiving.  She seems to suit it.  She bullies and torments our 11.5 year old Elliot just like Lucy did to Charlie Brown.  

This is where kitty was living until I took her in.   She was living in these bushes 24/7 all by herself, never leaving our yard.

I've come to see how beautiful she is and even though she was completely unexpected and totally a surprise in our lives, it seems like she fits into our new house here like she was made for it.  I have so many black and white accessories in the house, she really looks like just another one.   The diamond shaped black and white markings on her face and chest mimic the gothic window on the front of our black and white house.  She matches.  So yah, we think she's kinda special like she was meant to be here and now we can't imagine life without her.  Everything happens for a reason.

For a street cat Lucy's adapted to life indoors pretty quickly.  She's a cling on.  This is her regular position.  She wants to be on our laps every moment of the day.  Its become a bit of a problem especially when trying to work.  She'll stay on your lap for hours or until you pick her up and move her.

From sleeping in the bushes to sleeping in our bed - she's lapping up the luxury.  If ever she isn't on one of our  laps, she's on our bed.  She looks almost regal in this shot, which is funny because she really isn't at all.   Her nose was badly bruised and scraped up from her days on the 'street'  but its healed nicely now and she's put on some pounds.

Although I am insanely head over heels crazy about my older cat and this new little one (they are my *babies*)  I vowed when I started this design blog I would  keep my crazy cat pictures to a minimum.  But I do feel that pets are one of the most important elements that make a house a home.  This little one is the newest addition to our home and as you'll see in an upcoming post she's the reason behind many design decisions and changes we'll be implementing into the reno plans.  

All Photos by:   Carol Reed

Beautiful Old Things

Blue & White antique fruit plates.

Our new old house in Nova Scotia will give me an opportunity to explore some of my personal passions with regards to design.  My preferences and tastes always include some traditional reference or vintage nod, even in contemporary spaces.  This is the oldest house I've ever owned  (read the first post about the house here) so I'm excited about embracing its humble character and creating a home where my passion for all things old, simple and rustic can be indulged while at the same time provide a beautiful contrast to some of the modern things I love.  I've had some antique pieces in storage for quite some time that finally will have a place to fit in, and my small collections can start to grow, like my blue & white pieces.  I picked up almost a dozen of these antique blue willow fruit plates (above) last month in a local antique shop to add to my small collection.  

Dining Room Ceiling During demolition we discovered the house was older than we first thought based on the construction which is all timber beams, notched and pegged.  I'm in love with the structure and we're planning on leaving the wood beams (ceiling joists) in the living room and dining room exposed (previously covered up with layers of plaster and acoustic tile).  They were really really rough, including bark.  After the demo crew finished up, BF did a bit of work scraping them down and this is what they look like now. The question of whether to paint or not to paint has yet to be decided.

Square nails removed from window casing.

When the casings around the windows were removed, these rusty square nails were pulled out with them.  We figure there are a few hundred more in the house but I've put these ones in a mason jar for safe keeping until I come about a way to display them.  This type of square nail was pressed or cut by blacksmiths as opposed to hand forged and were commonly used between 1820-1910.  

Original Gothic Window/Door in Dormer

The house is a gothic carpenter style and the front of the house features a high peaked dormer with a gothic window in the centre of the dormer.  The window is actually a door which leads out to the porch roof.  On the inside its located up on the second floor hallway opposite the stairwell.  We're opening up the ceiling and eaves all around the dormer to expose the peaked ceiling and create a nook in this landing area but we're going to maintain as much of this original window as possible.  I love its leaded panes and peaked arc.

Spot sanded original floor boards.

The number one most thrilling discovery was that the house's original wide plank wood floor boards were all still in tact, hidden under carpet and vinyl.  We peeled back layers of flooring and plywood sheeting to reveal very thick, very long, wide original floor boards throughout the entire house.  I had suspected they were there but to actually confirm this was a total high,,,,a few places will need some patching/shifting around of boards and they all need to be sanded down but I'm ecstatic about this discovery.  We've spot sanded a few areas to get a peek of what the wood will look like, they'll have lots of character from knots and because they're face nailed they also have visible nail heads for added goodness (which all need to be recessed before sanding!).

Barnboard walls in our barn.

There's no shortage of old wood in this house.  We've pulled dozens of old wood boards out of the attic space which were just laying around loose and have them stored in the barn for use in the house reno. Some of the boards are up to 20"in width and 16' long.  Incredible sizes.  In the barn we can see some of the same wood was used in its construction. The photo above shows the barn board cladding on the barn walls, you've probably seen loads of faux antique barn board around, but this is the real thing.  I love the texture and patina.

Modern chair and barn board.

I noticed that everything looks great against barn board.  Currently we're storing most of our furniture in the barn including most of my office furniture and I can't help but get excited when I see the modern lines of these chairs against the rustic boards and how this space will one day transform into my studio.

Modern furniture in the barn.

All of these beautiful old things are driving the design direction for the interior renovation, I'm just letting it lead me along where it so naturally wants to go -  I'm psyched about seeing the old bones of this house brought back to modern life.




All Photos by:   Carol Reed

Changing Times

I started my last post by attempting to explain my recent prolonged absence from the blog and declaring I was finally back and ready to just jump back in where I left off!  Only a few short hours after posting that, things changed.

The Fall is all about change.  Its unquestionably my favorite time of the year because of its sheer beauty and the fact that its always signified great changes and new beginnings in my life over the years.  This year has been no exception.  My recent lack of blogging was a result of one of the biggest changes in my life - a move to a new province, a new house, a new lifestyle.

There are those changes in life that you initiate and changes in life you have no control over.  My decision to move away was completely my own but one that came with sacrifices.  It would be the first time in my life I was going to live away from my family and friends.  Sacrifices.  My Mom took this news the hardest as I'm her only daughter - I reassured her I would be returning to Toronto frequently and that she'd see me often.   So here I was, the moving truck just left and we were finally semi-settled in our temporary living arrangements ready to begin a renovation to our new old house.  Ahhh, a chance to breathe and catch up with the blog.

Shortly after publishing my last post I received one of those phone calls that you never want to get, a phone call that changes your life forever.   To receive that phone call, the news that my Mom had suddenly passed away, while being so so far away from my family was difficult to say the least.

I never expected my first trip back to Toronto to be so soon and for such an ocassion.  During this past week with my family I couldn't help but notice the overwhelming beauty of the changing season around me.  I couldn't imagine a more beautiful day for that final fall drive to her resting place beside my Dad.  If anything, it was a magical setting that she would have loved.

For the most part I prefer to write very little about my private life here but something like this has such a lasting effect on ones perspective that in order to understand me and my point of view going forward I feel its relevant to share as I know I will reflect on this and the events of last week often, particularly the relation of home and family.

This is the last photo I have of my Mom and I together, taken last April when I took her to see the cherry tree blossoms in bloom.  I remember how happy I was that I had taken her as she'd never seen the cherry blossoms before. : )

Once again I've just arrived back in Nova Scotia, this time with a heavy heart and wishing that the last time I sat down to write something here that I had picked up the phone and called my Mom instead.  Without a doubt its going to be difficult this time to just pick up where I left off in all aspects of my world.

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