Can you believe I forgot my own 5 year blogging anniversary?? Yes, I did. April 23, 2007 is when I started writing this little old blog. Who knew I would still be here, 5 years later? Not me.

I'd like to thank each and every one of you who have dropped by here, read a post or two, and left me a comment. You might not realize it, but you make my day. I'm incredibly thankful for all the friendships and opportunities this blog has brought my way. My life wouldn't be the same without it.

Funny, but I look around my house and memories of it are intertwined with the blog. Like how HandyMan fell through the kitchen floor, all because he was backing out of the way as I was taking a photo for the blog. Or how I was rushing to put up a post about Chloe's nursery hours before I went into labour.

The blog was there, capturing moments of my life I might have forgotten. Perhaps that is what I'm most thankful for of all.

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We will be away on a family vacation this week, so in celebration of a fun-filled dust-filled five years here at Rambling Renovators, I'm reposting some of my favourite posts. Hope you enjoy them the second time around. See you in a week!

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Originally posted April 6, 2008


Chaos. A dust-covered, disorganized, messy chaos. In a short 48-hours, that is what my house has become.

Our gang of 4 started out early on a perfect sunny Saturday morning. HandyMan cut the water pipes and the tear out began. I suspect my brother-in-law was hiding some pent-up frustrations because he attacked the kitchen - attacked with a sledgehammer and crowbar and whatever else tool was within reach - with fervour and determination I'd never seen him display before. HandyMan and BestMan alternated between running the debris piles to the bin and hacking away at the cabinetry and plaster. And I was sweeper-upper/beer-fetcher/nail-popper-outer.



Lucky for us (okay - lucky for me!), no creepy-crawlies were unearthed. We did find a long-abandoned mouse-house beneath the kitchen sink though. Shredded newspaper, peanut shells, and chicken bones had helped make a happy haven for little Mickey. Some knob and tube wiring was the only other surprise. Everything else went just as expected. And in eight hours, the dust had settled, and we reached our goal...cabinets out, plaster down, ceiling off, and beers drank.



HandyMan and I continued on the next day, tearing up the subfloor. Three layers of linoleum and plywood later, we were able to do some investigation into the cause of the sag. Seems the floors had sagged before because we found some patched-in floorboards. HandyMan's cousin K the carpenter will come have a look next weekend and help us figure out how to fix it. Early thoughts are 5/8" plywood and some self-levelling cement may do the trick.



So this is where we're at. This shell will start to take shape as HandyMan and K do the framing next weekend, the electrician works his magic, and the drywaller gives me back some semblance of a room back. HandyMan and I even had a few bits of energy left to rake out all the leaves that had been hidden beneath the snow, and enjoy an impromptu picnic in the back of our new CRV. It was good to get out of the house, away from the dust, even for a while. Welcome Spring. Your timing is perfect.