A Couple of Projects

I bought Isla a table and chairs and a step to get up to the sink from Ikea.  They were nice enough - but I thought they would be soooo much nicer if they we stained a nice dark walnut with a chalkboard top so she can draw on it.  A simple procedure - I did it over a few nights as it needed some drying time between stages:

1) Lightly sand top of table and chairs

2) Paint the top of the table, chairs and step with a primer and allow to dry for an hour

3) Paint the top of the table, chairs and step with two coats of chalkboard paint, allowing an hour between coats for drying.  Hide these items so that Isla cannot get covered in paint.  Allow 7 days for the paint to "cure" and be ready for chalking on.  

4) Stain the legs of all items with as many coats of walnut varnish as you can be bothered to apply.  I could do with adding another couple of coats but Isla was SOOOO keen to get playing and chalking I had to cut this stage short.  Allow to dry at least overnight or it will stink the house out.

Now for the moment you have been waiting for - the before and after........ tah dah!!!  Plus a couple of pictures of Isla demonstrating how useful it is.  No shots of her helping herself to the contents of the cupboards on her new step.

PS - buy dust free chalk the first time, saves a lot of cleaning up

A late summer evening on the deck

Enjoying the sunset with a glass of wine, the lego and a roller coaster of emotions from Isla. 

Thinking

Over the past couple of years a lot has happened.  We had a beautiful baby girl.  Lived on three different continents.  Visited many beautiful places.  Met so many wonderful, lifelong-friends-even-from-a-distance, kind of people.  Crammed so much new and fun and different into those two years.  We did not sleep a lot (not ALWAYS in a fun way).  We ate a lot of sushi and sashimi.  Drank a lot of Japanese beer.

Sunday was ten years since 9/11, and six months since the earthquake in Japan.  Almost six months since we left Tokyo.  Even in that short space of time a lot has happened.  We spent a month with family in the UK.  Drove 6,500 miles across the USA.  Arrived in Canada and set ourselves up with (with the help of amazing family and friends) in an apartment in Vancouver.  

The teacher at the yoga studio on Granville Island I have been going to shared this quote from John Lennon last Saturday morning:

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.

I asked Charlie how he was feeling at the moment, stressed?  Worried about finding work?  We both agree - we are just HAPPY right now, and that has always been the most important thing for us - to be happy in the moment.  I feel so lucky for the three of us have this time together as a family, just hanging out and enjoying being together.  Especially when we think about the anniversaries that just came around and the people affected by them.

At the moment we are slowing down, enjoying our family and friends, and just waiting to see what happens next.

Pictures of our new hood (when Mel and Rich visited):

 This is the seawall - so no cars, just bikes and pedestrians

 Turn left from here to go up our street

Our place is behind the big bush by the lamp post on the left

Head First Sliding

Sunshine

Making the most of the end of summer.  Visiting the local water park with Isla, and enjoying the final week of Kitsilano outdoor pool, the longest saltwater outdoor pool in Canada.

 At the Pool

Sliding backwards

Tanned toes after months of sunshine!

Spinning!

Spinning!

Spinning!

Picnic at the Water Park