I am the new Director of School Programs at the TELUS World of Science.
I am really looking forward to it. Even though it has been crazy busy so far, I am excited about the possibility of creating amazing things there.
K
A long time ago (Easter Sat) two brave adventurers traveled EAST of Highway #2. (Yes, the province extends east of the QE2.) The adventurers found a wonderful family living in a place called Brownfield. As spring was being uncovered all around them, the adventurers decided to take a look at the past life in this area, as new life starts again.
Our adventure begins:
The adventurers forged rushing streams. (synchronized jumping)
They used the materials available to them, to test their surroundings.
They collected samples of our natural world.
They sat and listened to the ice breaking on the river.
And they just sat and looked pretty.
Little did our adventurers know that the biggest adventure was still to come. Back in the big city, they found that there was a surprise waiting for them. That's right, the adventure of being a home owner who finds a crack in their basement.
Only about 1/3 of our basement is finished and of course the snow melts and in comes the water. We weren't flooded out, but as you can see, we did have to take out some wall and do a bit of air drying.
Once everything is dried again, we will look at where this adventure is going to take us.This weekend we went to K'naan. Check him out- this was one of the best shows that we have been to for a LONG time. He is FANTASTIC. He inspires movement in your feet and your heart.
On Sunday, Mat and Tyrn bottled our first attempt at wine making. We can't believe how good it is, especially the red. 
Here is the operation set up in the basement. Since our basement is so cold, lack of insulation, the wine took a lot longer than normal to go through all the stages. 
It took the boys about 3 hours to fill, cork, label and seal the bottles.
Our moonshine is bottled and ready for sampling. Feel free to come over and test it anytime.
Seriously, we have lots of it- COME OFTEN!
K
After 6 months of living in our new house, we decided to do a weekend blitz to paint the walls. From right after work on Friday evening to 11:30 pm on Sunday, it was tape, paint and pizza. We're pretty proud of our new house (because that's what it seems like). It was a huge amount of work but we had a fun time doing it. Here are a few pics of the process.
What a difference some colour makes.
Home ownership comes with some great perks. Our new home is in really good shape, and really doesn't need anything done to it, but as it seems to go, every new home owner wants to change a few things. We've been planning on doing a few renovations but at the moment that seems like biting off more than we can chew, SO we started small.
Project #3: Stop the draughty windows. Once again, a bit late, but better than not at all. We picked up a bunch of this stuff in the bargain bin at Canadian Tire and sealed up most of the main floor. It makes a huge difference. If you haven't seen this stuff before, it's pretty cool. It goes on all floppy and wrinkly and then you use a hair dryer to heat it up and it tightens up like a snare drum. Maybe one day we'll make the real investment for better windows.
Project #4: Turn the broom closet into a pantry. I wish we had a 'before' picture, but it probably wouldn't be as exciting to our readers as it is to us. This project was started in October, 2008, believe it or not. Unfortunately it sat dormant for many weeks after I made the rookie mistake of measuring once, cutting three times. Now that it's done, it makes a big difference in our whole kitchen situation.
Project #5: Install a scarf rack. This was such a good idea. Since I've become a scarf wearer during the trip last year, it seemed vital to have a good place to keep our scarves. Check it out! There have been a few other minor improvements we've made around the house, like installing LED lights in dark closets, assembling a couple pieces of new furniture, hanging a few pictures and things like that. Next up: installing my climbing trainer in the basement ceiling.
Getting some help from my skip in a family game of floor curling. Grandpa is a pro!
And of course, giving and receiving. Everybody loves that part. This was my first Christmas with Kelsey's family and it was a really great time. I know I have to say that, but really, it was great.
