Complainy Pants

I'm going to rant again... this time it's serious.

When we moved into our loverly new place we were well aware of the fact that there was a factory of sorts across the street. We were willing to deal with it because we loved the house so much and we can put up with a bit of noise during the day. It's clear that things are not all sunshine and roses around here.

The building is called CB Freezers and they are a blast freezer facility. They are also a 24 hour a day business, something no one told us. No worries, how bad can it be? Truth be told it can be pretty damned bad at times.

I can deal with noise. I lived near a main road in a city of 500,000 people in a house that backed on to a bar and Harley Dealship. This is worse and no one in power seems to give a hoot. Imagine a continual loud hum that alternates 5-10 minutes on/10-20 minutes off from late at night to the wee hours of the morning. One night last month this lasted 9 hours. It's not every night but it's enough to get me pretty pissy.

Here is my problem. I've called the by-law office and have been told that there is nothing I can do because the building is zoned industrial they are exempt from the noise by-law. They can make as much noise as they want, whenever they want, no matter what time of the night or day. Despite the fact that I told the by-law gal that even airports and gravel pits have to adhere to certain guidelines I was told that there is nothin' for me to do but deal with it.

This is all sorts of wrong on so many levels. There ARE laws for noise contamination, so what gives?

A tired me is a mean me and I'm ready to do something. All can do is try right? Let's hope that trying actually gets me somewhere.

I was going to make pie...

but the Big D and I made this instead. I think it was the perfect project for a beautiful October, Sunday afternoon.

My faith is restored.

I emailed the folks at Rona and they contacted me about the paint issue I had using their Eco-Paint. I'm really pleased about this because it means they give a hoot about their products and their customers.

I'm also happy they did because I had a can of "Cotton" sitting here and I used it on my hallway yesterday. This was a much better experience :) The best part of all was that I managed to do the whole thing in a single coat! I honestly don't think I've ever painted anything with a single coat.



It doesn't look like too much of a change in the photos but we went from a dirty greeny yellow to a lovely soft very pale sort of grey/white which looks much cleaner and less sickly.

Anyway, despite the previous bad paint I'm a pretty happy customer :)

Another old gal

This fine lady is definately one of pickiest gals I've worked on. She is refusing to photograph well.

Rain, Leaves and Eco-Paint

This is the view out my front window today.



Across the street from our new house there is a freezer 'factory'. Occasionally they get a bit noisy and drive me around the bend. I can't wait to get some more trees planted to block out the eyesore.

This is the view out my back window today.

Isn't it dreamy? *sigh* When I feel a bit tense about the folks across the street I just look at this and remember how lucky I am.

I've been working on my bedroom. The Mr. was getting impatient because it was a complete disaster. I decided to go with the Rona Eco Recycled Interior Paint I used on the bathroom since it seemed to cover fairly well and it made me feel like I was doing one little thing to be a bit greener. I needed 3 cans to paint the bedroom (it's massive), I chose "Sand" from the 16 available colours only to find that each bloody tin was a different shade! Ug! Ug! Ug! Take a look at the difference...

It's totally noticeable and looks a mess :(

I'm going to make myself happy by looking out of my back window again.

*P.S. Rona has looked into the problem and believes that during a packaging change a tin was mis-labled. They've been totally awesome and I'm pleased as punch with their efforts :)

The Crones

I've managed to compete most of my Crones. It's a lovely day to have them complete (well almost). The leaves are quickly turning and falling and there is enough of a chill to make me want to grab a chunk sweater. A perfect day.

Anyway, here are a bunch of the old gals. There are a few who are being difficult and need a little extra attention, or are refusing to photograph well, but I'll deal with them over the next week. I'm just so happy that so much is being completed and I'm back to making with full force!

Yum

Sometimes pie makes everything alright.

More crones...

I'm still working away at my witchy crone gals. It's really interesting to me how their personalities develop as they are worked with and embellished. I find myself having conversations with them "Oh stop being difficult!" and "Don't worry, you'll look fine." Does anyone else do this or am I going mental from the lack of human interaction?



My husband was a tad worried that I'd feel isolated moving away from everyone I know. I'm not finding it too difficult (yet). I guess I've never really been a people person and I find the silence sort of soothing. I really and truly enjoy being home.

I'm off to paint walls (beige this time, not white *gasp!*) and then I'll be making a loverly dinner for my hubby for our 8th wedding anniversary. I can't believe we've been together for over 17 years. Holy crackers that makes me sound old! No worries... I think getting old is kinda nice.

The Royal Flush

Here's the before ...

Here she is after stripping that horrible wall paper...

And less than $80 later...

I know I complained about being afraid of colour but I love my black and white bathroom.

The mirror is hung low so that the kiddo can see into it. The poor thing has spent a month and a half strugging to see into mirrors that are too high for him.

ATC's framed above the tub

These are some awesome old dowels we found in the storage space above our garage. Below is an lovely knickknack cupboard that craftewoman from craftster sent me for the 'birds, birds, birds' swap. I'm going to put old bottles and other lovely little things in there.

The big D and I worked on this project yesterday. I took an old broken frame and used scrapbooking paper, faux pearls, rickrack and a crown brad to make this silhouette portrait of the kiddo to hang.

So, there's still a few spaces that need a special touch but I'm loving it so far. Here's a rundown of my costs

$15 white eco friendly paint for the walls

$17 white floor paint

$35.99 mirror

$3.94 2 metres fabric for curtains

$2 supplies for silhouette picture

Everything else was stuff from my stash (frames, atc's, vase, cotton to line curtains).

Crones

I've been a busy bee and managed to finish up two more Crone dollies.

The Fountainhead

I just watched a documentary about Frank Gehry. If you don't know who he is, google his name and you'll see that he's the architect behind some pretty famous (and outrageous) buildings. I'm not a huge fan of crazy looking buildings and have fairly traditional tastes so Gehry's stuff ain't exactly my cup-o-tea, but I like him. He appears to be the best type of artist. He seems to be someone who creates because they can, because they want to, and to see where their making will lead them next. No matter what medium you're creating in, it's the thrill of the adventure of making that makes it worthwhile.

One thing that really struck me was that Gehry's buildings totally remind me of the novel The Fountainhead. (If you haven't read it, don't. I really and truly hated that book and will forever curse the day I opened it.) The main character in the book is an architect who creates buildings that most people find totally hideous, but whom their inhabitants would live no where else. When I see the outside of a Frank Gehry building I wonder what the hell people were thinking to erect such things, when I see the inside I totally understand.