Welcome To My Town

Welcome to the thriving metropolis town of Grand Valley.

Although on a technicality we actually live in East Garafraxa, there is no real town there and so we fall under Grand Valley.  And I'm sure that was the most riveting piece of information you've received today. 

This is our Main Street.  To be honest, the first time we drove down it I thought we surely were in the wrong place.  It was slightly frightening to me that this was where we had really chosen to live.  There are so many shops along here that are closed and the town really needs some life injected into it.  So much potential, so little interest.  In 1985 an F4 tornado came through and destroyed most of the town...not a comforting thought. I keep telling my Country Boy that I would really feel much better with an underground shelter.  He told me to not be paranoid and that we would be fine in the basement.  Sure, until the house falls in on top of me.  Anyhow.

Here is Marie's Valley Inn Restaurant.  I had to be dragged in kicking and screaming originally but we've since been back several times for the good 'homestyle' cooking and friendly staff. I'm beginning to believe that people use the word 'homestyle' when the food is really exactly what you could make at home (or worse) but they would rather go pay $5.99 for it at one of these 'cozy' restaurants.  And 'cozy' is really code for small and wornout...but you get the picture.  Anyways, turns out I'm one of those who would rather go pay for it than make it myself.  I get a little OCD about my kitchen getting messed up!

This is Wyn's Mercantile where you can buy...ummm...well, any of this:

I found this lovely lady sitting in a corner covered with dust.  Must get back there and snatch it up.  Country Lovin' Boy will be so thrilled to have another item in the house that doesn't actually do anything but that I had to have.  On another note...doesn't this remind you of exactly the type of store the people from that show "Hoarders" would shop at?  Makes me glad to be a thrower-awayer myself.  That is totally a word.

Ice cream cones in hand (from Marie's of course), my sister and I set off to explore some of the natural beauty in Grand Valley.  Apparently it is called "Nature's Playground" (according to a sign we passed just before entering the town).  While I wouldn't call it a playground exactly, we did find a really beautiful spot by the Grand  River that I will definately be coming back to picnic at.

Tomorrow?  I say goodbye to being a dreaded 'mini-van mom'.

Wild Thing

Hanging the first tire swing

An inventive way to test the strength...the drive-by, airborne jump and swing.

Can't have the land without the toys...and what are the toys for if not to do crazy jumps?

Tomorrow?  Camping and cooking.

The Reveal - Part 2

Apparently I haven't mastered the art of 'scheduling' my posts as this was supposed to arrive online yesterday...and it obviously did not.  Whoopsie.

Okay, here are the next batch of before and after pictures.  Enjoy!

Big Farmer Boys Room - Before

After

Alternate View - Before

After

Upstairs Powder Room - Before

After

Front Hallway - Before

After (and a better view)

A little flashback - hard to believe the beautiful floor in the picture above was perfectly preserved under all this for probably close to 70 years.

That's it for today.  Thank you so much for all your comments so far! 

Tomorrow?  My wild thing...you'll see.

Wide Open Spaces...and Cows

You know what the best thing is about things you don't want to do?  How easy it is to just not do them.  Take cooking for example.   I was all set to try out a new recipe for Spicy Chicken Tortillas and realized I had no sour cream.  Now, had I been back in Markham, a 15 minute jaunt would have had me some sour cream (5 if they had it in stock at the Daisy Mart).  But as it is, I just couldn't make a 45 minute trip to get sour cream.  On top of that we decided to take the Little Farmers to see Madagascar 3*.

*Side note: recommended.  It was funnier than I thought it would be from the previews.

Anyhow, we drove into Orangeville for the 7:15 show with 3 VERY excited little farmers...to find that it was sold out.  Seriously?  Of course, there was still a 9:45 showing...and wouldn't you know Country Lovin' Boy thought that was a perfect idea.  Me, not so much.  But to my great surprise, they did well.  Even this one:

What am I talking about?  That has nothing to do with the title of this post...I digress as usual.  Must be my gift of the gab.  Yes, I was told a short time ago that I have the "gift of gab"  I'm not entirely sure that is a compliment.  Honestly, in the great realm of gifts is that really the best one to get?  I guess I do enjoy blabbing but at least when I blab through my fingers into the online world I don't have to watch your eyes glaze over.

Did it again.

Okay so here we go with the original entity of my post.  To fill another long day, we visited some friends who have a dairy farm.  Tiny Farmer is obsessed with cows, Little Farmer loves anything that is called a farm and Big Farmer couldn't wait to do this:

He is shoveling hay (straw? is there a difference?) into a moving...trolley-ish...no, gutter like...he is doing something with a shovel in the barn!  Good golly, evidently I didn't learn much! 





I know my way to the farm very well but decided to use my GPS anyway.  Normally,  I take a paved road the whole way there...but the GPS had something different in mind.  I swear it knows when I am the one driving!  Ah, gravel roads.  But the scenery was worth it.  And it did make me feel pretty country.  Who wants to take a paved road to a farm anyway?

 

At the end of the day, I love that I live here. 

Tomorrow?  Part 2 of the after photos...at the rate I'm getting the rooms cleaned this is going to end up being a 5 part series. 

The Reveal - Part 1

Wow.  I honestly had no idea how much time had gone by since my last post.  However, I will force you all to forgive me since I have the worlds worst internet and I have waited 37 minutes for the following picture to load.  Take pity.  Anyhow, there is no way for me to catch you up on all the happenings other than to use good old bullet points so here we go:

• Jack Frost wanted to make liars out of all the northern dwellers up here and sent hardly any snow (until April that is).  But Josh rode his snowmobile anyway...if there is white stuff on the grass it qualifies in his mind.
• Learned: heating a 3600 sq ft house with oil is expensive.
• Also learned: having to go out and split wood at 5:30 in the morning is horrible...what? No, of course I didn't do it!  But Josh did.  And I thought about him out there, you know, while lying in bed under 8 blankets with a hot water bottle on my feet.
• There is this thing called parging that has something to do with bricks, and filling cracks, zzzz.  We had it done and it resulted in having no oil or propane hooked up for almost two weeks which meant I couldn't heat the playroom, cook or do laundry.  I know not having to cook or do laundry sounds fantastic....and at first it was.  But then it got really annoying wearing the same underwear.
• Spring came! And then winter.  And then spring!  We bought a playset and Josh promised to have it up in a couple hours so we could kick back and watch the kids play.  We did just that....3 days later when it was finally done.
• I bought Josh a John Deere tractor for his birthday (or so I was told) which he used to pull out all the overgrown bushes and trees around the front and side of the house.  Then he bought a tiller and tilled me up some dirt so I could plant flowers.  What a huge difference a little gardening and pride in your property can make.
• The farmer next door let his cows out...and they ran!  Did you know cows run?  Excuse me, I grew up in the city.  I know that dogs run if that helps at all. 
• Learned:  not all pieces of farm equipment are called 'tractors'. 
• Also learned: being told repeatedly what they are is never going to make me remember.  Until the day that Dolce & Gabbana or Gucci start making tractors, the name or brand is not going to matter to me.
• We got a trampoline at my insistence.  It is crazy fun and it makes the boys sleep like logs at night!  A little 15 minute jump right before bed and they are all set.

And that pretty much catches y'all  you all up!

Now then, there have been some strong requests and suggestions that I post some of the 'after' pictures so here we go.  Enjoy!  I'll post more when I clean the rest of my house...don't hold your breath!

The Living Room - Before

After - I really should have kept those charming curtains...eesh.

From the other end of the room

Laundry Room - Before

After

Main Floor Bath - Vanity Before

After

Main Floor Bath - Tub/Shower Before

After - MY tub, dirty boys shower upstairs!

Front of the house - before

Home Sweet Home

Before we started this renovation, I truly had NO idea what we were getting ourselves into.  The amount of work that goes into restoring a house in this level of disrepair is huge.  But at the end of the day, this house is more 'ours' than any one that we could ever buy new. 

Tomorrow?  I'll cook...something....hopefully edible.

Lists

5 Things I Love About Small-Town Living

1.  The Scenery - there is something wonderful about looking out my window at the farmers fields that seems so peaceful...and if definately beats seeing the daily walkers pass by my front porch in Markham in their too-tight jogging pants or the gentleman across the street and a few doors down who liked to smoke outside topless.  To say he was fit would be like saying Richard Simmons is a hottie.

2.  The Friendly Small Town Dwellers - so apparently saying good morning to someone is not a criminal offense as the looks of disdain you receive when wishing the same to a neighbour in the city would have you believe. 

3.  The McDonalds Lady - the abbreviated version of this story is that Josh and I simply wanted to eat a quick dinner in peace during one of the times we were up working on the house...but it was not to be.  'Joyce' decided that it would be a great time to empty the garbage bins located about a foot from where we were trying to eat and strike up a conversation at the same time.  She proceeded to warn us to not bring our kids there after 1:00 a.m. on a Friday or Saturday night.  You know, because parents routinely do that...??  Apparently, once the one bar in town closes the McDonald's gets "rowdy.  All those men come in here and scream and throw food on each other...one of them even tried getting fresh with me!"  Joyce is about 65 years old and, we'll say, pleasantly plump.  We certainly learned a lot that evening.

4.  The Family Restaurants - being as Country Lovin' Boy was already on a "I don't eat at chain restaurants!" kick long before we made the decision to move, the wide variety of little places to eat are right up his alley.  And I will grudgingly admit that many of them are very good.  Angel's is a favourite, as is the Winchester Arms and their killer burgers. 

5.  Space - with almost 9 acres and a house pushing 3500 sq feet, it is so easy to find a quiet space.  Country Boy couldn't be happier playing out in the field with his toys, and the farmers love their sunfilled playroom...well, now that it has heat.

5 Things I Hate About Small Town Living

1.  The Family Restaurants - oh, you saw this already?  Yes, but there is a flip side.  Here is an example.  Last week Country Boy was insistent that we go out for breakfast.  It didn't matter that the temperature was dropping like crazy and it was snowing so hard we couldn't see across the street, he wanted to go out for breakfast.  To some little diner no doubt, I thought to myself.  AND HOW.  We pulled up to a corner which housed a gas station and a very tiny white building.  "If that is it, I'm not eating there", I told him promptly.  "But look at all the cars, it must be good if it's that busy!", was the reply.  Fine, that did make sense.  However, that very small beacon of hope was quickly extinguished when we opened the door to be greeted by a roomful of middle-aged men wearing trucker hats and lumber jackets.  Truckers.  I have nothing against them, but they will likely eat anything.  We proceeded down to a lower level where there was no one sitting.  I quickly gathered that it may be due to the lack of heating and the pile of snow inside the door.  While Country Boy and the Farmers scarfed down their food (because really, how badly can you mess up eggs and toast?) I got through my clubhouse.  *Sigh*, because I know my country boy I'm sure we'll be back.

As bad as that experience was it didn't hold a candle to the dinner we took my parents out to several nights before.  Fresh fish and chips.  Yeah.  Fresh out of the box from the freezer aisle, or even fresh out of the microwave where they were heated up. 

But even that pales in comparison to the review I could give on one of my first diner experiences in our new town.  Let's just say that when your decor involves truck stickers stuck around the top of the wall to fashion a border and brown drapes hung under the counter to hide all the dishes, etc., you must be a thriving business.  Sadly (*cough*), they closed just two weeks later.  We later found out that they close and then re-open quite regularly.  Ah, the sign of a thriving business. 

Tomorrow?  Well, most likely nothing but I promise you Before & After pictures on Saturday.  Stay with me!

This Is Me...Now

Several weeks ago, before we officially moved, I went to visit Country Lovin' Boy down at his work.  While waiting in line for the GO bus my attention was grabbed by two men talking to one of the clerks.  They were very obviously not city dwellers, or so I quickly learned by the following comments.

"We don' know nothin' bout these here big city parts.  Wese jest tryin' a git back home to Uxbridge afore feedin' time.  We came in on the train, now howda we git back on one?"

All I could think was that is me in 6 months.  What have I done?

Okay, so I may have exagerated their accents slightly, and I may never become that hick but still...my situation is dire!  I'm suffering from 'societal withdrawal'.  While this may not be a legitimate disorder it is legitimate enough in my mind as I sit with my playbook waiting 10 minutes for my Hotmail page to load.  Forget about waiting 20 minutes for all the pictures to load on People.com so I can get caught up, or heaven forbid trying to upload pictures to create a blog post.  Beyonce had her baby?  An Italian cruise ship flipped on his side?  No, I didn't know those things.  What I do know is that a Marg Creeson lost her cat, there is a sale on Uncle Ben's packaged rice at the Foodland in Hillsburgh, and the local 'theatre' is doing a showing of Babar. 

But looking out my window to the rolling countryside, watching my little farmers run through their big, old house, or seeing the snowmobile tracks outside after thinking Country Boy was cutting wood for our fire (but that's a whole other story) makes up for everything.

Yes, this Big City Girl has given up many things but I have realized that at the end of the day, they weren't the things that really mattered.  Laid-back country living is better.  Did I just type that sentence?  Hey, if Tori Spelling can do it so can I!