Barn Raising At Cottage Corners.

So it has definitely been a while since my last post. Too long of a while if you ask me. Maybe some of you are thinking "gosh... finally a break from her blogging posts appearing on Facebook". Tough. Here's another one.

We've been in our new home now for almost 3 months now. When we first moved in we said we would give it a couple months, at least until the fall, before we begin to do renos. Well... that sure didn't happen. My fingers itched with the need to change things beyond a coat of paint.

 We did some landscaping, adding a couple gardens,enhancing the ones already present, cleared walkways and paths, added some cedars. 

I decided that we needed a better garden shed. The one that we had was one of those basic metal ones, you know with the rusty roof and sliding doors that don't really slide but just scrape along a hinged edge? I wanted a rustic little garden shed. And so I started planning, designing, calculating costs etc. I thought I could build a really cheap little shed, like the ones I've seen on Pinterest. Let's just say my calculations were WAY off and the shed had some "unexpected" costs. I know that it could have been built a lot cheaper since we used a lot of new lumber, when we could have searched more for the used stuff. 

While my husband and father were building the shed, I started some separate projects. Of course I cannot do one project at a time, I have to do them all at once. 

I started to paint the exterior window frames from a nasty old faded brown to a clean crisp white ( I still have a couple windows to do but they are obstructed by either excessive height...or bees). I also started making shutters for my windows. I thought a bout buying them....but what a rip off! I just made shutters for about $10 a pair. I've only completed the shutters for the large front window for now. I also painted my front and back door a beautiful red. ($5/can at Liquidation World!). Of course in the midst of these projects I also started a quilt. But I will blog about that when it's done. 

The shed was completed just a couple of days ago I added a couple coats of "weathered barn wood" stain and a dry brush applique with white to the frames. I attached my solar lanterns that fade on and off ( rather that rapid flashes). My mother helped me add some gardens with a nice stone border as well as a couple new gardens around the back yard

Then as I was biking to work this past Wednesday, I saw that one of my neighbours had tossed out a wooden bench. I quickly called the hubby ( I don't know about the legality of cellphone use and cycling) and he picked it up. I sanded it after work and placed it by the new shed.

We have now started renovating the basement. The idea is to make it look like a beach house, inspired by our friends' guest cottage. So far the basement has been gutted and a new staircase is in place.

Side story:

While working on the front gardens, we heard what sounded like a motorcycle and when we turned around this really old toothless man drove by on a motorized bicycle, wearing aviator goggles and a hat. He looked so serious! Have you ever seen the movie Waking Ned Divine? well this seemed like a very similar scene out of that movie:

He looked just like this but with clothes, no teeth and
a hat instead of a helmet