Hey all!

Our Precious cat fell down the stairs 4 weeks ago. She was playing and jumping around, took off running and lost control by the basement entrance where the high gloss floor ends and the staircase begins... Of course we took her to the vet, because she dislocated some bones in the wrist... 4 weeks later and $500.00, she still is in pain and refuses to use her paw...


This is painful to watch.

This is what she looked like when we came home from the clinic. Now, she is no longer dizzy from the drugs that they gave her, but nether less, she is not the same cat, she used to be.
They took the splint off two weeks ago and here we are with a cat who uses only three legs. Now the doctor has her on the painkillers again.
I hope that she will start using the leg soon, she needs to build up the straight and the muscle. She lost a lot of hair from the rubbing of the splint, it is slowly growing back, but the injured leg looks much thinner than the healthy one.

Still Painting...


Nice! Just looke at that snow in the back yard.

Here we are, still painting, this time it's the crown moulding that Rick just installed. It looks very nice, we may ad a small moulding just below to make it seam wider, but that's still up for discussion.

Let's see, what else needs to be done?
Entire basement, top and bottom mouldings on out kitchen cabinets, staircase to the basement, the back and side decks, the garden... there is no end to this. But it is so exciting....

I was in the basement looking through the boxes that are still there from the move... loads of homeschooling material that is no longer used. We are talking boxes and boxes of brand new books and workbooks from grade 3 to 7. I will need to find a way to get rid of this stuff and get some money back somehow...

The books are brand new, because we coppied the pages (that way I was able to teach both boys from the same book)Now I look at this stuff and can not beleive how much we were able to go through in four short years. Amaizing!

Peter is in Highschool now and dooing great and Adam is in grade 7 and amaizes every one including me. He want's to be a doctor and it looks like he has what it takes...

Time to go back to work. I will be back soon.

Painting & decorating the
Moonstone House

I have been home sick lately, tomorrow it's back to work.

My time off was used quite effectively. I managed to finally choose the colors for the family room. Hubby painted in a flash! We decided to go with dark red with pink-orange undertones on the feature wall and the cabinet wall and I chose a light yellow with green undertones for the two remaining walls. It looks quite nice and now, the only thing left to do is to put the crown moulding up.

I also managed to finish the drapery panels for both patio doors and the window. Those are crinkle sheer in warm cherry colour with pale leaf design, that is almost not visible. I used the rings that go in the fabric and give the drape the modern look.

For me it was more the ease of closing the sheers. (Not that they need to be closed, but it's good to have that ability for the summer months when the sun is a bit strong.

Winter Wonderland...

Snow is still falling and every thing looks just dreamy. Even at 5.30am, when we ususly leave the house, it is simply spectacular. The crisp air, the dark sky adorn with bright stars. The snow is light and fluffy, perfect for skiing and snowbording. Not so great for the snowman building, but eventualy we will be able to do that too.

Boys can't wait for the exams to be over, we have a huge get-together planned. Friend are coming and we will be skiing at the St. Louis Moonstone. Just like last year... 7 years ago I never though that I would ever had such a blast in the middle of freezing winter. I used to hibernate for several months during winter, after I came to Canada. To read the story of how we started skiing, check this out.

Moonstone Dreams




Hi, my name is Joanna.

I'm the publisher of winter-vacations-ontario.com. The development of that page is a huge part of my life, but this blog is not abouut that...

I would like to invite you to journey with me and my family, through upcoming home projects, outings and endeavours. We are lucky enough to live smack in the middle of the Ontario Winter Wonderland. Our closest ski resort is 5 minutes away and we enjoy the closeness very much.

We just finished building a home in Moonstone, where we moved from Barrie. We lived there for 9 short years, we love that city dearly and even thou, our kids were born elsewhere, they both feel that Barrie is their home town. Now they feel a little out of place but with time, they will come to love Moonstone as much as we do.

This is what we saw today in the back yard... Isn't it spectacular. The boys went skiing, I'm at home with a sick cat, she fell down the stairs (off all things). We are going to Barrie today to take the splint off. Hopefully, she will be OK.
Our plans for the near future include finishing up the house and making it a home, organizing the yard into zones and getting stuff planted and growing.
As you see there is plenty of space available, perhaps a little too much...
That's the "project" part. We will also post notes on our skiing outings and trips and will keep you up to date with the progress of our two websites: www.winter-vacations-ontario.com and www.hardwood-floor-decor-and-care.com. Both are a labour of love.

Our home projects, next couple of months will take us into the Family Room, where I still can't decide on the wall colour, even thou some walls have been pained twice already... I can't get it right. I try to keep a keen eye on the budget and spend a little to get a great results. Will see what happens...

I will also show you what we already did, (riped out brand new tiles in the bathroom, to start over...)

The new tiles were so much nicer and looked better in the space:

Tiles are from Olimpia Tile in Toronto. So worth the trip, I loved them, and the price was right... I have this thing, I refuse to pay full price, unless it's the right price. I got a nice surprise... since we are in the FLOORING business ourselves, I got those at the huge discount! NICE! It was such a great decision to start over, I need to dig up the before pictures to compare.

I love the way the new stuff looks, but I can't decide what to do with the master bedroom, so your input will be appreciated.
TTFN