Thursday, January 2, 2014

Welcome 2014!

I didn't get my act together to write anything as 2013 came to a close so I'll make up for it now.

Yesterday was bittersweet. We dropped Aimee off at her new home with two of our friends. It was surreal to pack up all her stuff and put her in her crate for the last time. Thankfully we know we'll get to see her again and most importantly, we know she'll have a great life. Twenty minutes after we left she was already happily lounging on the floor. Shortly after that she was on the couch purring and headbutting and by early evening she was curled up cozily on her parents' bed. Sleeping on the bed is one of her favourite things and something she hasn't had the opportunity to do in more than a year thanks to my allergies. It was really nice to see her peaceful and content in the photos.

Waking up this morning and not finding her sleeping outside the bathroom door really made the move official. I miss her, but I know we did the right thing for her. She won't be alone so much and will get so much more love and attention than she has been with us in recent months. I also know unequivocally that she couldn't have gone to a better home and that makes it easier too.

Here's a couple of shots of Aimee's first day with her new family:



Other than that yesterday was a day to start gearing up for the things I want to do in 2014. There's a few big projects I want to focus on this year:

  • Build a gaming table. One of our friends up north who is an excellent carpenter has offered to help me build it and teach me some basics along the way. I'm very excited about this -- carpentry is something I've always been fascinated with and I'd love to know enough to build our cabinets and built-in bookshelves when we build our house. I spent some time yesterday gathering inspiration pictures. The next step is to start sketching some ideas.
    • Timeline: Mid May/early June
  • Finish the bedrooms, bathroom and laundry room in the cabin. We've made amazing progress lately and it finally feels like everything's starting to come together. This weekend we're going to finish installing the floor and hopefully assembling our electric fire place.
    • Timeline: Everything but the baseboards and trim  in the bedrooms should be done this weekend. The bathroom and laundry room won't be done until the beginning of summer.
  • Rewire the cabin and renovate the kitchen. Once the rest of the cabin is complete we'll turn our attention to the kitchen which needs some TLC. We're hoping to insulate it this year so the fridge can actually function in the winter.
    • Timeline: Summer/early fall
I think that sums up the big projects for the year, but apart from that I want to keep doing some leathercraft projects and maybe come up with some interesting things to do with my summer off. Watercolour painting, biking, and maybe learning some natural building techniques are all in the mix.

Bring on 2014!


4 comments:

  1. Bye Aimee!!!! I know you'll be happy with your new family and hopefully we will get together for some more headbutting love.

    Also... wicked pictures of cabin renos!

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  2. Awww... thanks Sarah!

    Yeah, the cabin's really come together in the past couple weeks. So happy!

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  3. I miss Aimes already. But it looks like she's settling in to her new home nicely. I still tell that story about when during the thunder storm she jumped up off the couch, swatted at Jas, and then ran upstairs. Classic.

    Renos are looking amazing. And to think I'm terrified of doing a small caulking job.

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    1. I'd totally forgotten about that! It was priceless.

      Thanks :) honestly, though, the only reason I feel confident doing this stuff is because of the knowledgable guidance we're getting. Without that, I'd be nervous about attempting anything including a caulking job.

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