New BLOG

So now that our website is fully functional and we are now Opened for Business, we have moved our blog to our own website.

Here we will continue with our Journey and we hope that you follow along with us.

We are also going to start sharing pictures and our take on events in the area, starting with the Pictou Lobster Carnival that was held this past weekend.

We hope you continue to follow along here

 

http://thepictoupuffin.com/2014/07/15/our-first-guests/

 

See you soon!!

The long road …

Well its been a hard few months and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  Thank goodness.

I have loved every minute (well almost) of living here in Nova Scotia, the people that we have met (well almost) have been incredible.  They are so friendly and down to earth and good.   No, I don’t have blinders on, there are some not so good people here too, but I don’t dwell on bad, I move forward with good.  So back to the journey, its been a long hard winter.  Weather wise of course, we all know that it was a hard winter for Canada, but for us here, in a new house with new ways of doing things it was especially hard and yes I”m sticking to that.  It was Cold, damn cold and now i’m done with talking about the cold.

So lets talk about good things.  Good thing number 1, we are currently dotting the i’s and crossing our t’s this week for our final inspections.  We are so close to opening.  We are so excited.  We keep getting phone calls and emails from people wanting to reserve rooms and unfortunately I need to keep telling them that we aren’t opened yet.  But that’s soon to change.  Hopefully by the end of next week.

Good thing number 2, the rooms are done!!!  This blog is going to show you a sneak peak of our new place…  Just a few rooms to give you a taste of what we have done.  You’ll have to see the rest of the pictures on the website.   Now don’t get all huffy, we want to have a little bit of mystery until our grand opening.  But I’ll show you some pictures that you haven’t seen yet, so don’t complain.

We are diligently working with the weather here this week to get the landscaping done.  There are lots of plants and flowers in the garden but like most everything else here in this old home, the upkeep wasn’t done and we have a lot of overgrowth and weeds and such.  But the good news is we are working on that now.  And we have a very good friend of ours doing that with us, so lol, I don’t pull out flowers thinking they are weeds and leaving weeds thinking that they are plants.  I’m not so hopeless in the garden anymore but everything is different out here.  LMAO

The first transition we have done, okay not really a transition, we changed the carpets and the furniture but kept the color.  But its ours now, so its a transition for us..

Yes the colours are the same, its the difference between a professional photographers equipment and my really good, but not that good equipment.  Did you notice the stairs, we painted them brown and white, which we think makes them POP!!!  I’m loving the hallway…  a few more pictures maybe, who knows, but for now its awesome!  Oh and that chandelier is temporary.  I brought one home from my mom’s and once I refinish it, it will look grand in the foyer.

That desk you see there at the front door, is called a Cratchit desk.  I was told they call them that because it is like the desk that Bob Cratchit used in A Christmas Carol.  Anyway, whatever the reason we loved the desk and bought it at an auction.  And you know how much I love auctions.  That Hall Tree and the deacon’s bench are also from an auction.  I wanted something different from what I was used to so we got those for an amazing price at an auction so now its here.  The rest of the furniture, pictures and decorations in the room was brought from my house in Holland Landing, we’ve been subconsciously planning this B&B for a long time.  The sideboard was the one I brought from my mom’s house.  Its absolutely gorgeous and fits in really nice here.  I’m glad its got a new forever home.  That red chair in the corner we bought that from our new friends Myrna and Blaise, here in Nova Scotia.  They have bears on their property and I can’t wait to go back and see one for real.  Right now I’ll settle for watching their videos.  LOL

 

      

And here is the Dining Room where our guests will be able to sit down and enjoy their fantastic breakfast, cooked to order, and of course cereal, coffee, tea and baked goods.

Five of the six tables were purchased here in Nova Scotia, we even have a Duncan Phyfe table.  The other round table I brought back from my mom’s house.  It was a beautiful oak table with great carvings on the side.  I couldn’t let it go to Goodwill, so now it has a new forever home like the sideboard.

Most of the tea sets and dishes in the room were also part of my mom’s collection.  She had a lot of dishes and what my sister didn’t take, I made sure to give it a new home so it stays in the family.  Who knows these may be heirlooms some day that my nieces and nephews will have.

Now the first bedroom… i”m only showing 1 shot..  more to come on the website, which I have to finish this week..  So this might be the last sneak peak (nah) before Monday.

We’ve named all our rooms after lighthouses.  We thought that was apropos.  There is Neils Harbour in Cape Breton which is north of us, then Peggy’s Point Lighthouse at Peggy’s cove, then Cape Forchu in Yarmouth and rounding out the forth room is Cape d’Or.  We have seen 3 of these lighthouses and they were fantastic, so they are part of our lighthouse tour in our home.  Cape Forchu is on the list for sometime this fall, after our season slows down (yeah yeah, once it starts)..

Here is the Peggy’s Point Room. (picture is crooked.. I know.. I’ve already fixed it.. )

 

And just incase you are wondering, the entire house, rooms and common areas and our spot is a Smoke-Free building.  And for those gentle reminders we’ve placed these in each room.

 

Well I really have to work on the website now and get these pictures there, then I have to go and get pics of all the other rooms, so I’ll be back soon with another post.

Ciao babies

 

 

They came, we saw, they left, we are now back to normal

So I told you about the Royals coming to visit and wasn’t sure if we were going to see them or not but as the hour approached we decided to go and see them. Here’s the story of The Royal Visit in Pictou as seen by The Pictou Puffin.

So the day of the Royal Visit started off like usual, us working hard getting the bed and breakfast ready for our grand opening.  Now don’t go thinking it’s taken a long time cause we know that, but we are doing this right and it will be worth the wait. So chillax my peeps. Lol

Alex and I were not going to  go see the Royals.  Really why. Not like we were going to have them over for a spot of tea or anything. But as the day wore on I started thinking about going and the things I only get one chance to do in life. It’s not like I had to travel miles to see them. It’s not like I had to pay to see them or do anything really. All I had to do was walk out the front door cross the street and walk 3 minutes and voila I would be there.

And as the afternoon  approached I really started thinking about you. Yes you. If I didn’t go down to see the Royals, how was I going to tell you all about it. This is part of my journey and how can I not go. So we went. Yup Alex went to.

We snuck over at 3pm hoping that they would be there at 3:15 ish. Lol. Nope we had to wait about 90 minutes. Probably closer to 2 hours but 90 minutes was probably more realistic.

The streets were lined with people, up and down the streets. Kids everywhere, people with hats on, big smiles and winter jackets.

Did I mention it was cold. The sun was out but it was threatening to rain and it was cold. When the sun shined down on you, you were ok but when the cloud covered it, it was cold. Spring keeps popping its head up here in the Maritimes but keeps deciding to sneak back under the covers and snuggling back in for a few more days. I think it’s a cruel joke being played on the new Ontarians in town. Oh well, it’s cold what can you do. Once it gets hot then I’ll complain about that. Lol

The Sea Cadets were handing out Canadian flags and were dressed in full uniform. I don’t know what the Sea Cadets are actually so I’m going to google that right now, brb. Oh I see they are like Scouts but on the sea. Pretty awesome. I wish I could have been part of brownies or scouts or 4H when I was a kid but oh well, no regrets.

We stood in front of Carvers where they set up a podium with some items on it. Not sure what those items were because we were across the street and couldn’t see it. They also had a carpet; they rolled out the red carpet for the Royals, I thought that was awesome. The owner, can’t remember his name, was handing out British flags, I didn’t get one 😦 . He ran out before he got to me. But that was really nice of him.

While we were waiting, in the cold, we had two marching bands with bagpipes play some ditties for us. Yes bagpipes, really. They were actually really good. I have a new fondness for bagpipes since I saw that guy play Thunderstruck by ACDC on the bagpipes. And since this is The Birthplace of New Scotland the bagpipes were apropos.

They bands kept us entertained and they played music for the Highland Dancers to perform. Those young ladies were really good. It was my first highland dance experience. I was standing beside a lovely lady named Jill while they were dancing and she has a daughter learning how to dance. Did you know that those marvellous kilts sell for about $1000 and the socks around $200 and the slipper/shoes (that’s what I call them) around $100. Geez I thought hockey was expensive. But the ladies were lovely in their outfits and it was very cool to watch.

So after some dancing, some music and a lot of chilliness, it’s almost time. How did I know it was almost time. Well the paparazzi showed up. News reporters were all over the place but not behind the purple ropes, oh no they were in the middle of the street. This does not bode well. They kept taking pictures and they were fixated on these great little kids sitting on the side of the road. Really cute little girls. Then the black SUVs show up. About 7 or 8, again right out of a movie. Not sure who they were all carrying but my assumption is that they were decoys. Lol. Who knows.

Then the Prince and Duchess finally arrive. And once they are out of the car, they are swarmed by the paparazzi, we couldn’t get a shot of Camilla at all. I saw the fancy blue coat she was wearing and I saw later that she looked lovely and had on the tartan which was a nice touch. But I never saw her. I did see Prince Charles and was excited about that.

I actually think he is getting handsome as he grows older.

We watched the Prince and the Attorney General Peter McKay who lives in New Glasgow walk around. Side note when Peter McKay and his wife and child get out of the car, I thought it was William, Kate and George, I got super excited then but alas it was not the other royals. Lol. We ended up staying for another hour or so, snapped some more pictures and the. Went home cause I was freezing and frankly by this time bored. Lol.

All in all it was a great afternoon. I got to do something that I will probably never do again. Could say I scratched it off my bucket list. And I got to share it with you. I’ll have a special page on The Pictou Puffin website to showcase all the pictures we took. But I’ve showed you a few of them.

I hope you enjoyed our Royal tale, they didn’t stop in for tea but they came to my little town.

See you soon. I’m on another adventure next week but I can’t spoil the surprise. So you’ll only get to hear about it after it’s all done. Sorry but this is a secret I wanna keep

TTFN

The Royals are Coming!!!

Hey everyone I can’t believe that we are a week away from the Royal Visit.  Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) will be gracing us with their presence on May 19th.  Why the long weekend you ask, well frankly I’m not 100% certain but it is Victoria Day weekend which means it was Queen Victoria’s birthday, so why not a royal visit on the long weekend.

Pictou is all a buzz (cute really) about the Royal Visit.  I’m a little excited about it too.  I won’t get to see them but I still think its pretty cool that they are going to be a stones throw (not that I would throw stones) away from us.  They are selling tickets to be on the street, so I hear, to get a glimpse of the Royal couple.  (Well this was a rumour, not sure where I heard that from but I must have completely misunderstood it. We did go see them and there were no ticket selling for where we went) no… but good on those that do go.

There are going to be so many people here this weekend.  Unfortunately we are not ready to receive guests or we would have been full up but what can you do.  We are working hard to get things done as fast as we can but restoration takes time and we want it done correctly not quickly.

Back to the Royals though, this should prove to be an interesting weekend.  I can’t wait to see what goes on.  I do know that we will be having a lot of baseball playing in the ball field across from the house.  I guess this is going to be the first time we see if balls actually do come over and hit our house.  I hope not but we shall see.  They are blocking part of Pictou and making it Royal access only for vehicles so it should be fun to see where I can drive that day.  But I’ll probably just stay home on Monday so I can catch all the excitement of the day.

So why are the Royals coming to Pictou of all places, well because I’m here duh!!  okay so you don’t buy that eh?  fine..

“It’s the birthplace of New Scotland,” suggests Pictou Mayor Joe Hawes. “The original Scottish settlers came over, they came over on the Hector. We have a replica of it and it’s here in Pictou.”

“Prince Charles has obviously very Scottish roots and, hopefully, it’s because they want to see where the immigrants landed,” says innkeeper Anne Emmett.

Read more: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/pictou-prepares-for-royal-visit-from-prince-charles-and-camilla-1.1775848#ixzz31hDCY5lZ

Anne Emmett is the owner, along with her husband Mike, of The Braeside Inn here in Pictou.  They are our neighbours and are a lovely couple, very knowledgeable and extremely helpful and welcoming.  Mike has been in the restaurant/service industry for over 60 years, he truly is a wealth of knowledge.

Our lovely Ship Hector

Ship Hector, Pictou, Nova Scotia

is already to go.  She/He/It 🙂 was put back up together over the last couple of weeks and I can’t wait to be able to get up close to it.  I was watching them  together through their webcam that they set up.  I’m sure they will take Charles and Camilla to see it when they are here.  Ship Hector officially opens on May 20.  I can’t wait to be a tourist here…

Well that’s about as much as I can write about the pending visit but if I snag some pictures or get some juicy stuff to report back, I certainly will.

Welcome Charles and Camilla to Pictou, stop in at The Pictou Puffin and I’ll give you a tour of this grand ole house, but please excuse the mess as we renovate.

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla

 

Our first B&B bedroom

Technically this is the second room that we’ve done some work to, however the first one is downstairs and we are currently using it to build our beds so no pics of that.   No major decorating work being done (but still a lot of work), we are not changing the decor as we do love the colors and the wall paper but again the ceiling and the trim needed to be fixed.  Tim did an excellent job of it and we are so happy.  Pictures on that room to come very soon.

But first lets go up to the second floor.  This is our first room on the second floor, as you can see from the pictures below, it was a lovely room, but I couldn’t get over that wallpaper… it looks nice from far away but DAMN it was just ugly when you got up close to it… lol  so it had to go…

We decided on a brown color for this room, it is such a rich color and to me screams luxury!!  so we picked, brown.. go figure.. but not just any brown we picked two colors of brown, “muddy waters” for two of the walls and they other two were “paper bag” color… lol, I just love the names they come up with for these colors.  I would have called it dark brown and light brown.

So the prep work began, filling any cracks, smoothing them down, taping the ceiling off  then painting the seams of the wallpaper.  Much easier than taking the damn thing down and well if it works then great!!!.  That gray wall is actually a really light brownish mauvey color.

  

Well here’s the “muddy waters” walls… what do you think?

Then comes the other 2 walls… more fixing and painting of the crack filler… Notice all the cracks in the fireplace mantel

Well here’s the “paper bag” color and you can see how it looks against the “muddy waters”.  It looks amazing.

 

 

Did you notice the fireplace? no more cracks and it is now pristinely white… as is all the trim in the room…  its an awesome room…  In a couple of weeks (or maybe sooner) I will be able to show you the finished room, with all the furniture and decorations.  I’m thinking its going to look absolutely freakin awesome and I hope you think so too.

Till next time my friends.

 

New Pictures of the finished room (painting only)

 

 

The Renovations are beginning to take shape

So as you know we have been working hard for the past three months getting this beautiful home ready for our grand opening in April. Yes I know that it is April but I have to April 30th before I’m officially late. So cut me some slack.

Let’s go back over the past few months. When we first looked at this house we fell in love with it. It was beautifully decorated and the old architecture and the accent pieces that were installed by the original home builders oh so long ago, made this a gorgeous house. Perfect for a B&B. Once we decided to buy the house the home inspector confirmed that the bones of the house was in excellent shape and we only had a few issues that we would have to deal with. So we bought this great house.

When we moved in and started looking at the home we noticed that a lot of the decorative things that were done were only cosmetic fixes. Upon closer inspection these cosmetic fixes needed a face lift. Not a huge deal but everything takes time and the more time we spent fixing all these cosmetic fixes the more time we needed to get going.

We have been extremely lucky in finding some awesome people to help us with the work needed here. Our greatest find was Tim Lunn. He was referred to us by another new friend named Charles Young. We’ll Tim is awesome and he has been fixing our very old ceilings. Removing the cracks from the plaster and painting the ceilings. He’s also painting a couple of our B&B rooms that we felt needed the work first. Everything g takes time and money so we have comprised a priority list and these are the priorities.

So the first from we started with was the dining room. Here is what it looked like before.

The are the pics of how the previous owners had the room. Quite lovely and looking at the pics you really can’t see all the wear and tear on the ceiling.

As you can see from these pics there are a lot of wear cracks in the ceiling. The home is 158 years old, so what did you expect. It’s funny but once Tim started pointing all the cracks I then started seeing all the cracks. But once Tim started working, the cracks started disappearing. Tim’s now referred to as “The Crack Man”.

Here are some of the after pictures for this room. Tim has done an amazing job.

Amazing work isn’t it? I’m in this room now setting up the dining tables and finding tablecloths and organizing the room. I should have it done by the end of the week so I’ll post pictures when I have that part of it done.

 

The Trek Home

Okay so I lied, the last post said the next post would be about the B&B and what we are doing, but I still have to tell you about the trip home, so I promise the next post will be the beginnings of the B&B coming together.

Well after being in Cambridge 10 days and accomplishing 95% of everything that we needed to get done, it was time to go home.  Poor Alex (okay Amer-Canuck Ladies, insert commentary here) was battling the weather in Nova Scotia.  It wasn’t as cold as it was in Ontario however in Ontario we have central heating with gas.  In Nova Scotia, in our new home we have something a little different.  We use oil to heat our water which circulates through our home through radiators.  It is a wonderfully nice heat and does keep the house toasty warm.  That being said, oil in Nova Scotia is through the roof expensive so we are trying to use our wood doctor (makeshift one, not the name brand) to do the exact same thing.  This year our house was never more than 12 degrees all winter long.  Getting to Ontario and sitting in 23 degree weather in the house, was like being on vacation.  So when I say poor Alex I mean it.  He was battling the wood stove and desperately trying to keep the pipes from freezing.  And with the winter that we had this year in Nova Scotia, it was a cold tough tough cold winter.  So much so that the supply of firewood, dry firewood and green firewood all but disappeared.  Suffice it to say, it was time to go home.

The adventure to Ontario was done by plane, so the adventure/trek home could have been done by plane or I could take the scenic route and go by train.  Well train it is.  The trek started with the Go-Train, up at 4:30 in the morning to catch the 5:50am train.  Luckily Ricky is used to getting up this early to take care of her client, she’s a PSW and I don’t know how she does it but she does, good for her, cause I would never be able to do that.  Anyways, off we went to catch the Go Train in Kitchener.  And wouldn’t it just happen that the train is late and its freaking cold too.  So after 30 minutes of waiting for the train, it finally arrives and I schlep my luggage onto the wheelchair car.  Its the only car with a ramp and your able to sit with your luggage.  With the trains being so crowded this was the only car that would work (not that I had to worry about a seat on the first stop and at 5:50 am), it was also easy to tell Priya where to find me.  See she’s on the same train, and although my connection with her didn’t work on the way to Cambridge it was going to work on the way home.

While I was waiting for the train I spoke with this young man (I say young man cause I know how old he is but when I first laid eyes on him, it was hottie) about the train, to make sure I was where I was supposed to be.  We struck up a conversation and I found out he was on his way to Queens.  I assumed he was going back to Queens, which was cool… University man, hubba hubba.  About 6 feet tall, broad shoulders, so polite.. wow, if I had a daughter I would set her up.  Kind of felt a little cougarish for a few minutes but we were just chatting.  I admit he was handsome but I guess its because I don’t have any kids that age and because I’m not “married” that I felt a little courgarish talking to him.  I know its wrong to feel like that but I did.  Anywho, it turns out he wasn’t going back, he was going to visit his girlfriend.  I find this out cause I asked what he was taking in University, “who me, I’m not in University, I’m in grade 12″… lol.. the look on my face must have been priceless cause the poor kid say “yeah I get mistaken for being older all the time”.  I tell him, yes its because you do look older, but its mostly because you are very mature and very articulate and polite. “I would never have guessed you were in high school”.  We then laugh and joke about how easy it is for him to get served in bars.  So he joins me on the wheelchair car too.

So there’s me and this young man on the wheelchair car and a few others and the people on the train are very chatty and so is the conductor (who is good looking by the way, just saying).  I get a flashback to my time taking the Go from Toronto to Streetsville on the Milton line.  We used to sit on the wheelchair car and everyone was so chatty.  They even made a very short lived Canadian TV Show about it called Train 48.  I joined that car a few times and met some interesting people.  This is what this Go-Train car reminded me of.  They were chatting and well me and the kid joined in.  The next stop we arrive at (yeah I don’t remember and to google it seems wrong) this kid jumps on board.  Expensive winter jacket, expensive boots, expensive backpack and full of life.  So he stands in front of the door operator/conductor (as I like to call him) and says would you like to hear a story.  Well of course I over hear this and since we are all talking I say “young man tell it to the crowd not just to one”… so he does.  He starts off by I have a story for you “I was born in a very religious family”, oh oh this isn’t starting off too well, I’m thinking this is going to be a “convert” speech.  But the kid goes on to say that I’m following my dream and I live in the here and now.  He doesn’t look to the future cause he’s living now and going where the road takes him.  He’s not afraid to try anything as long as he’s happy, blah blah blah…  To be honest I truly believe everything the kid said.  I do believe that you need to live for you, that you need to love what you are doing, that you shouldn’t be afraid to break free, but honestly this coming from a 19 year old whose daddy is paying for everything, well he lost a lot of credibility.  The people on my car (still the original 7 of us) started (in a very nice way) giving him a hard time.  So much so, cause he couldn’t answer their questions that he sat down away from us until he got to his stop.  Its great to believe in something but you need to know why you believe in it and be able to talk to it.  Once he got off the train, I stated that I believed in what he was talking about, but at the age of 19 you kinda had to pay your dues, you know get a job, pay a mortgage, have responsibility then you could do what he was talking about.  I actually told them that I quit my corporate life after 20 some odd years and packed up and moved to Nova Scotia to open a B&B, they were very impressed and wished me well.  They also said they wished they had the courage to do that.

As this kid is giving his spiel I start really looking at the people in the car and there is this Asian man who looks so damn familiar.  I know I’ve seen him somewhere before.  I can’t seem to place him though.  Was it at Soroc? no, IFDS, definitely not then it must have been TD.  He keeps looking at me as if I seem familiar to him too but of course neither of us say anything.  Then he mentions how he used to drive into Milton to catch the train and I jump up and say, you took the Milton Go-Train line didn’t you.  That’s where I know you from.  Lo and Behold the guy was from the same party car that I mentioned earlier… now that’s a coincidence or what.  We caught up a little on the people that we used to know and where they are now, it was nice strolling down memory lane.  See I knew I recognized him from somewhere.. lol

Well after that we just kept chugging along the stops, its a long ride from Kitchener, we get to Brampton and I’m expecting Priya, but she doesn’t come on.  Oh no did we get our wires crossed.  So the next step is in Brampton also, and I’m looking looking can’t see her, but then I here a “Lorie”, there she is… boy it was nice seeing Priya.  Then we get to the next stop and Nick M. from IFDS (another cutie) hopes the same car but at the other end.  So I call out to him and he’s stunned to see me, but of course I’m in Nova Scotia not on the go-train.. lol

Well Priya and I chatted the rest of the way to Toronto then we went for a quick breakfast before I had to catch my train and she needed to go back to work.  It was nice chatting with her and catching up.  I miss this woman.  I hope they are treating her right at IFDS she is a pretty smart cookie and I hope they aren’t dumb enough to lose her.

This is me and Priya…

Well after Priya went off to work I moseyed over to the first class lounge at Via to wait for my train ride home.  Yes I went business class, cause why not, gotta go in style sometime in your life. They converted the old restaurant that was there into the lounge, you need to check in (so they know you belong, no riff raff lol) and they have free drinks and coffee.  No Snacks though..  so I snagged an apple and orange juice cause it was going to be a long ride home.

This train left at 11ish and by 11:30 am I had my coke and rye (it was noon somewhere so zip it)

At 12:45pm a lovely lemon scented warm towel was delivered, in which I partook of the face and hand washing custom prior to lunch being served.  And for lunch at around 1:15pm

OH YUMMO, lentil salad, 3 huge slices of goat cheese and roasted vegetables, holy makka it was yummy.  Didn’t eat the salad but used the balsamic/oil dressing to dunk the bread in (so european of me).  And with lunch some lovely white wine, fudge, and biscotti.

I kept trying to take pictures across the aisle but couldn’t make it work and I think the french guy thought I was trying to get pics of him, so I just watched my movies and played Candy Crush and watched the scenery and chatted with the guy beside me all the way from Toronto to Montreal.

 

Once we arrive in Montreal, I grab my bags and head over to McDonalds for something to eat.  Its now about 6:30 and I’m hungry and I know that I’ll be in my sleeper car all night and all day tomorrow so I’d best eat something now.

The one thing I didn’t know was that because I was in a sleeper car, this was still consider first class, so I got to go into the first class lounge in Montreal too.  Not as big as Toronto, but nicer chairs than sitting out with the riff raff (lol).

Once the train was ready to board I grabbed my luggage and went looking for the Hogwarts train. lol.  Its exactly what it felt like.  So I get into my little sleeper car, it was so cute.  The first thing I do is look for a plug and I’m almost in tears cause I cant find one, but then I find it in the bathroom and I’m happy again.  No plug means no Movies and No phone…  so yeah I was a little panicked.  🙂

Once I sat down on the bench, I noticed there were two plugs there so I moved the electronics from the bathroom into the living car.. lol  I took some pictures…

I brought some snacks too…  the green bottle is Panana Jacks’s… oh my this was really really good, I also snagged two apples from Montreal First Class lounge and there’s the apple and orange juice and the silver packages are sandwiches (veal sandwiches) that I brought from the Portuguese store in Cambridge, or rather Ricky did.  This was going to be my food all day tomorrow, that and a little be of chocolate.

And here’s me and Chuck, told you he travelled in style.

 

I took some video too.  The car was really really really small, not sure how two people are supposed to sit here all comfy like but for one is good.

So I sat in the sleeper car, watched movies and looked out the window, there were some pretty spots when I could see.  Remember I was now travelling at night so not a lot to see.  We left Montreal around 8pm but weren’t arriving in Truro until 5pm, so I’m not sure where we stopped overnight but we did stop, I remember waking up a few times (more than a few) and we weren’t moving.  The reason I kept waking up, well I can’t sleep on hard beds and this mattress was like a rock.  It was a horrid night for sleeping but it was a great experience.  Would I ever travel in a sleeper car again, not without my air mattress. lol

I woke up at 6am to try and take some pictures of the sunrise, this is what I got and yes were were stopped.

Not a lot of sleep but hey I could sleep when I got home.  The next day I woke to apples and orange juice and a sandwich and took lots of pics and watch lots of TV.

 

It was a great trip, but I couldn’t stay cooped up in the cabin all day, so I started venturing out. I walked to the end of the train to the observation car, it was really cool, but there were some very noisy rugrats there and I couldn’t stay there very long.  But I got some pics and  sat downstairs and once they left then I went back up and really enjoyed the trip.

 

 

Well that’s basically the end of my trip home…  I spent the rest of the time watching movies and the scenery but not much else.  It was a very very very long ride and although I’m glad I did it, I doubt I’d ever do it again.

 

 

So that’s it…  Til next time and yes this time its the first part of the B&B and how things are coming together.

 

 

One Step Closer

I am so super excited to announce that we are finally seeing some progress… my next post will be all about what’s been happening here at The Pictou Puffin…  But for now here’s a special post about my trip to Cambridge which afforded me some great pieces for the b&b, but I get ahead of myself. This blog is supposed to be about the journey to my dreams, the start of a new life, of building a future in a new province and of course of running a b&b.  But in order to talk about the journey you need to include everything that goes into it.  So my journey back home, 1.5 months after moving is relevant to me and gives me the courage and the drive to continue on this journey. So here’s some past details that moulds into my new life. My parents, are of course in Ontario, and were the reason for my return home.  I won’t lie and say that our relationship (parent and middle child) has been the best one in the history cause it wasn’t.  But I won’t bore you with that cause frankly that doesn’t define me and I will never ever let it bring me down.  That being said although we don’t have a great relationship I still don’t want to see anything bad happen to them.  

For the past 10 years my parents have been fighting dementia and Alzheimer’s and its very sad but my mom has lost the battle and has been struggling for the past 5 years or so.  My sister and I have been trying to help for the past few years but unfortunately my father (who was slowly succumbing to the disease) wouldn’t hear of us helping.  This is due to the relationship he has with us (his daughters).  Suffice it to say, after many battles with the powers that be (ccac, doctors, family etc.) my parents are finally being cared for 24/7.  My mom is no longer in danger of getting hurt (she did fall two times previously and broke bones) and my dad is also getting the help that they need.  The family is of course madder than hell because they can’t see my dad deteriorating or refuse to see it and think he should still be caring for himself and my mom.  Suffice it to say, my parents are in a good place, together, just what my dad wanted.  They are about one hour away from Cambridge but they are together.  The family is up in arms about us moving them so far away.  I think they just want to complain about everything and frankly I’m over it and basically they should get over it too.  Mom and Dad are together, they are safe, they are being cared for and we have made sure that the rest of their lives will be lived together.

So back to my trip, with my mom and dad moving out of their home and into a nursing facility, their house needed to be sold.  No one was going to live there and it didn’t make sense to keep it.  So I flew back to Ontario to help my sister clear out the house and get it ready for market.  I was so excited at taking a flight from Halifax airport to Toronto.  It was my first domestic flight and this was going to be very cool.  Yes I can separate the trip and all my new experiences from what I was going back to do.  It was going to be a hard week going through that house but you can’t dwell on the negative all the time, you need to see the rainbows and smell the roses.  That’s the type of gal that I am…

This is the Halifax airport, a view from the airplane right before take off.  The two crane looking trucks are the de-icers that we had to go through so we could fly out.  It was mighty cold here in Nova Scotia but it was soooo much colder in Ontario (but I didn’t quite realize that til I got there).   And this is what de-icing looks like..

The plane ride was really nice… the seats were perfectly sized and there was enough room between the seats so you didn’t feel so damn crammed.  I got to the airport early, (Alex dropped me off), and had time for a quick coffee before going through security.  It really was a breeze.

We flew into Montreal and then hopped another plane, which was again very comfy and this time we got snacks, which then took us to Toronto Island, Porter Airport.  I love going into Porter.  Its the perfect size and you don’t get lost and you feel important.  Yeah Porter.  Once I landed I hopped the VIA train to Kitchener.  I had planned to come back to Ontario on a weekday to stop in and see some friends.  So I was excited to book my plane ride home and have enough time to catch the Go-Train to Kitchener and be able to go home with my friend Priya on the train.  I worked with Priya at IFDS and I missed her, so it was going to be great to catch up with her.  Unfortunately, I completely forgot that Feb 17th was Family Day in Ontario so 1. Priya wasn’t going to be at work and 2. no GO-Trains on holidays to Kitchener… lol  there goes that plan.  So Via Train was the way to go.   Ricky and Jose (sister and brother) picked me up at the station and off we went back to Ricky’s house.  After catching up on Nova Scotia, the move, the new house, the B&B plans and everything else under the sun we settled in for the night, knowing that tomorrow was going to be a very long day of sorting through things and memories.

I found out that my brother Jose kept Chuck Rodent safe and sound for me.  This was a present that I gave my father about 20 years ago and every time we discussed getting things from the house, this was the only thing I ever wanted and the only thing I had plans to take.  Well I got Chuck and he came home with me, in style no less (you’ll see next post lol).  But wait you’re asking who Chuck Rodent is aren’t you?  well watch the video… that should tell you…

Yup you guessed it, Chuck Rodent is the gopher from CaddyShack and at the time of the singing fish, I though he was much cuter… lol.  He’s mine now and sits in my office watching everyone who comes in.

Tuesday started bright and early, around 11am I’d say :).  Ricky and I went over to the house.  It had been about 5 years since I’d been there the last time (told you it wasn’t a good relationship, maybe someday I’ll write about that but not today).  The first thing that hit me was the state of the home.  The couches were worn, they were a little dirty, the carpet frayed and there was a smell.  This was not my mothers house.  My mother kept that home impeccable and being there, in this condition, I knew having them in a nursing home was good, she would have died knowing she was living like that.  We walked through all the rooms and made a plan to tackle it the next day.  What was going where, what Ricky wanted to keep, what I wanted to keep, what should be sold, what should be given away etc.  Obviously we couldn’t do it all at that one time but we needed to look and have some sort of game plan.  Just looking at the pictures on the wall brought back memories and of course a lot of teasing Ricky’s way.. lol

We came back on Wednesday armed with garbage bags and boxes.  I found two really great pieces of furniture that would be great for my house.  They were really old and 1. would look great and 2. was something I thought we should keep in the family and hopefully pass down to one of the kids some day.  Here are the two pieces:

They look pretty old and are in excellent condition so I talked with Ricky and we decided I should take them.  She has a small home and has no room for this furniture so I got to take it. I always say things happen, when they happen for a reason.  If I hadn’t of married my ex, I wouldn’t have moved to Toronto, I wouldn’t have met Alex and I wouldn’t be here right now.  I try very hard to never regret anything in life, cause it has made me who I am and I am where I am now because of my past and experiences.  So my parents going to a home now worked out really well.  If they would have gone 5 years ago, then a lot of this furniture and my mom’s dishes and things would have all been given away or sold at auction.  I had no use for it, Ricky had no use for it, my brother had no use for it and my sisters kids, LOL, they want nothing to do with it.  So this was good timing, I was able to save a lot of my mom’s things and I know that when she finds out (at least I hope so anyway) that she would be very happy that I took them and I’m caring for her stuff like she would.

Back to the house, once we started opening cupboards and china cabinets and closets and looking under beds, we realized that for the past 10 – 20 years my parents have been hoarding things.  Holy Makka, you should have seen everything.  Ricky and I were exhausted after a few hours of work every day.  It was such a daunting task.  Figuring out what to do with everything, figuring out what we should keep and who should keep it, figuring out what to do with all the furniture etc. etc. etc.  I don’t envy anyone this job.  It wasn’t so hard for us because we knew our parents were still alive and doing much much better, but I can’t imagine how hard it would have been if we were doing this after they passed.  Again, things happen when they happen for a reason. We spent days there at the house, packing items, sorting items, trying to find people to take stuff.  We were really lucky and we were able to donate a lot of things to the homeless shelter and also to St. Lukes (like goodwill).  Some furniture was sold, some taken by me and some taken by other family members. I found a couple of chairs, that once I sat in them, I thought they’d make an elegant addition to one of our b&b rooms, once I cleaned them.  So I brought them home with me and of course a few other items of interest.  Just to be clear my sister and I were in total agreement with all that that transpired over these 10 days.

So there’s the chair, its part of a pair… I’ll show you the rooms when they are done and you can see everything as we see envisioned it.  

I also found this ornate metal chandelier in my dad’s garage.  It was scheduled for junking but I decided I’d take it and refinish it… Hopefully in a year or so I can complete the work on it and have it displayed in our front hall.  Until I have some down time to be able to do this, its going to sit in my basement.  I’m going to paint it black and find great glass lanterns (or such) for it.  I also brought back this grandmother clock, I think this should be an heirloom and this awesome Heart Lock that I had to fight Jason for, but I’m older so I won.  I was also able to bring a tonne of dishes, dishes that my mom collected over the years.  I am so excited to have so much history, my own personal history, to add to this house.  The house is 158 years old and now has additional years of Portuguese history too.  This is something I’m going to take great pride in displaying to all who come to see the home and its furnishing.

While I was there I met with the real estate agent, Tony, and turns out he’s a really good guy.  Don’t have a lot of good to say about real estate agents but I like him.  And that was before he gave us crab legs that Jason cooked up for dinner one night.. lol Yummo.. they were Yummo.  Tony actually sold the house before it was even listed on MLS so yeah I like him a lot.  Kept things really simple for Ricky and me and kept things moving along.

Well the week went as expected, a lot of hard word, a lot of waiting around for people to show up to pick up things, a lot of packing, some tears, some arguments and a lot of memories.  Good and bad, happy and sad, all that makes me what I am today.  95% of the house was done by the time I left Cambridge, so Ricky didn’t have a lot of stuff to do but well she still needed to do some extra stuff and I thank her for that.  I was missing my family after 10 days and of course missing the new homestead.   So Friday morning after being there over a week I started the trek home.

And what a trek that was!!!

The Move

So it’s been about a month since I posted last but really what was there to say except “hey we are packing”. Lol and packing we did. We started looking at ways to move cross country, we could do it ourselves or we could hire movers, those seemed to be the two best options. So we called someone in to give us a quote. And what a quote, $12,000 to move all our stuff over to Nova Scotia. That was an incredible amount of money, something we didn’t really have to spend. So the next best thing is to do it ourselves. So off to U-Haul we go and rent their biggest truck, a 26 foot truck with an attic space called “mom’s attic” that we could us to move.

So the month of December was spent mostly packing, so that was fun. NOT!!!

But I also gave notice at work, and although some people were surprised, a lot of them wished me well in our endeavors. It was a blast the last few weeks. I tried to get as much done as possible so it would be an easy transition for my team but I didn’t really start anything new. What would have been the point. Lots of lunches and parties and just all good fun. I think my favorite line was “what are they going to do? Fire me?” That was used more than a few times and I had people finishing that sentence for me. Lol. I had fun and those around me I think were having fun with me.. On the day of our potluck, they surprised me with a lovely going away cake, chocolate cake with chocolate covered strawberries. And I got the cutest card and a gift certificate for Home Sense. That will come in handy when we start to decorate the B&B. I was so touched. This was of course all due to Priya, my very very good friend, whom I am missing dearly.

That night we had a celebration for work and of course I was going, they told me that at the all associates meeting my team was nominated for an award. I was so touched and surprised that I was actually crying about it. I could not believe it. I do hope my team wins. They are the best and Priya deserves to win. I will find out sometime in January. I’m sure someone will tell me.

So other than being at work and packing at night it was pretty uneventful. I was calling Nova Scotia to set up hydro, and phone and oil etc and working of course on our website for The Pictou Puffin, if I was packing at home all the other stuff was being done at work. Lol. Like really what were they going to do? Fire me?

Now I do not recommend to anyone to move at Christmas time, or in winter for that matter. Moving is stressful enough but add those two things and I was a basket case. Let’s see. That weekend we had a huge snowfall and we also had a nice storm. The worst one I’ve ever seen. The layer of ice on our trees and deck was 2 inches think. It was horrible. The tree in the back yard broke so while we are packing and getting everything ready for the truck p, we had to deal with the tree, chop ice off the driveway, keep up with snow removal and de-ice the stuff outside. Not fun!!! Luckily Alex handled it like a pro and was always even kiltered.

So Monday rolls along and off we go to get the truck. Woohoo. It’s getting closer. We gave ourselves 4 days to pack so that on Friday we can get up in the morning and head off. We get the truck home and open her up and my heart sank. There is no way that was going to carry all our stuff. No hope in hell. So Monday Alex starts loading all the boxes into the truck and once 90% of the boxes are in we are hopeful it will be enough. Yeah that was short lived. Lol. So on Tuesday, Christmas Eve we order another Huge truck and a trailer for the car. I am not happy. I don’t want to drive this thing, I don’t want the boys in the cab of the truck. Come on this sucks. But what choice do we have. So Tuesday we spend moving boxes and furniture and I get sick. I mean over the top sick. Throwing up, nauseous, just yucky. So I have to sit down every few minutes. Not good. Poor Alex (wow just had a flash back to AmerCanuck. Lol. Poor Alex my ass. Lol lol. Inside joke) was loading up the truck and doing everything himself. I finally convinced him to let me get him September help. So off to Kijiji I go. Put up an ad for help. And we had lots of responses. So I’d call up the guys and they wanted to come by and help but no one showed up. We had three people lined up and no one showed up. Now people you do realize when you commit to something that people are counting on you. So Tuesday went by with no help. Wednesday we tried for help and a couple of people again said they would come. But no go, I just kept calling. Finally I called this one guy named Munir. He was interested, he called me back and said yes he could come today. He told me he lived in Scarborough but said he would be there in two hours. We didn’t hold our breath, he’s coming in from Scarborough for heavens sake. But he actually showed up, when he did I could have kissed him. He was the sweetest guy ever, very very quiet but he helped Alex so much just for a couple of hours. He said he would be back on Boxing Day to help. This time I contacted some friends and asked if they knew anyone who could help us. Maryann who trained with Alex, was in Phoenix at the time and though he nephew Chris would be available and he was and he showed up the next day too. So we went and got the second truck and the boys packed it all up. They were great. Chris was an awesome young man. He was awesome!!!

Confession time: two trucks were still not enough. We had to leave behind our freezer and some weight equipment. Holy Makka a 2000 sq ft house sure had lots and lots of stuff. Hmmmm lesson 1 learned

Oh I haven’t told you the best part, Munir mentioned something about driving the second truck and Alex jumped all over that. In the end Munir drove the second truck, Alex drove the first truck and I took the boys in the car. I was so very very grateful for him.
He had never driven a truck that size before but after some tutelage he did great. So I’m in the lead car, following the GPS and the boys are beside me in their carriers. They can’t run around the car because, yes you got it, the car is full. Lol. So off the convoy goes, the yellow car followed by the two u-hauls. The weather was great, GyPSy the GPS was in fine form and we made it to Levis, Quebec by 9pm that night and stayed at The Hotel Kennedy. No getting lost in Montreal, no going through Montreal, we by-passed it completely thank god!! Sleep was good that night, the boys did well that night. I was so happy they were good. They are little troupers. They next morning we had to get gas, boy those trucks suck up gas. Here’s the best part, we used the credit card to fill up with gas but somehow something went wrong, so as we are pulling out of the gas station the attendant comes running out stating that we didn’t pay. I’m already on the road so in essence we have just stolen gas in Quebec. Lol lol lol. But we turned right around and paid the $330 bill. Lol.

So we are driving through Quebec and into New Brunswick and it’s getting dark fast and damn these roads are dark. I mean no lights and no stars and no moon and overcast and damn it’s dark. It is so dark, we only have 3 hours to go but I’m having a hard time seeing and Alex and Munir are not having fun either. So I’m driving, on our way to Moncton, making calls and trying to find a hotel for the night. Found one called the Moutaintop Motel and with all the driving that the guys did this was the scariest that they faced. The motel was on top of a hill and they had to get those trucks up there. Wasn’t the most lavish hotel in the world but it was clean and the boys were good and I didn’t have to drive anymore that night so I was good.

Next day, we are off again, straight to our new house. Meeting the real estate agent Debby MacLean for our final showing. I have to tell you that Debby was awesome. She is a wonderful person and so is her husband Jim.

So we get to the house and drop off some items from the car so it’s easier to travel and we drop off the uHauls at the house and off we go to our last hotel, the comfort inn in New Glasgow. Now that was a nice hotel. I was really impressed and I was so comfortable.

The next day, won’t say morning cause we well we were tired and wanted to sleep in. Oh by the way Munir stayed with us for a few days to help us unpack, I really like this guy. We found a couple of guys on Kijiji to help us here too, Donnie and Daniel and these guys were awesome too. And they showed up lol. Those two guys, Alex and Munir were able to empty both trucks into the house in 6 hours. With breaks and lunch of course. I was of course the supervisor.

So after weeks of packing and worrying and driving and worrying, we are finally here!!! The building of The Pictou Puffin begins!!!

That was a short recap of our trip. Nothing too eventful, nothing too scary but damn I’m glad that’s over.

So I learned a couple of lessons:
1. If you are going to move cross country. Sell everything and buy it all new. Don’t take it all with you for heavens sake.
2. If you are moving cross country spend the money and get a mover or follow number one and rent a little trailer.

Next up is arriving at the homestead. It will be my only rant. We ran into some issues and frankly I think people should know in order to learn from it. After the rant then we will slowly go into the building of our b&b, I want to do before and after pictures so you can see our dream come alive as we live it.

Till next time my friends.

it 100% Official

As today is December 1st, it now gives us 27 days to ensure that the UHaul is packed and we are on the road ready to go to our new destination in life.  27 days, to pack up a house completely and pack it into a truck and move across country… Holy Makka what am I thinking.  But it can be done, damn it, it will be done!!!

We have lots of boxes, thanks to a great guy I found on Kijiji the other day.  He had moved in a couple of months ago and bought over 100 boxes from UHaul.  He then moved to a new home within the same city, so not a lot of wear on the boxes.  Then he waited a few months until they were completely unpacked so he could offer them all at the same time in one fell swoop.  So he puts it on Kijiji a few times, people say they want them but never pick them up.  He puts it up again and I see the ad and say yes I’m coming to get them and of course I do because I need to pack an ENTIRE house to move (lol).  What a nice guy!!  not only are the boxes perfect they have been kept in a dry place and have not been destroyed.  He helps us get it into the car, yes the little yellow Mazda protege that is still with me.  It will be with me til it just completely konks out.  To his surprise (not mine, cause I know my car) they ALL fit!!  The best part about this is that they guy offered the boxes for free and wouldn’t even take a $20 for his trouble.  I’m telling you we need more people like this in this world.  When we finish moving, I’m hoping that we can give these boxes to other movers that need them as much as we did.  So all in all I think we are good for boxes, God I hope so!!!

So if you happen to come by my house, (LOL did I just type that, nobody just comes by my house, not even invited family) you will be walking amongst the boxes.  We have started packing.  We did a great deal when we first started staging but now we need to do everything.  And I mean everything.  We are packing it all up and moving it.  Its just going to be a lot easier to do it this way then trying to sort it all out and having a garage sale (in the middle of winter) and just taking what we want.  We are taking it all.  Yeah we should have done a garage sale in the summer but frankly I had no desire.  We were constantly on call with house showings and I just didn’t have the patience for it.

Once we get to Pictou, we will put all the boxes in their respective areas, yes we have numbered them all by ROOM, so boxes with 100 series on them go into my Craft Room,.  I just haven’t figured out which room is going to be my craft room.  Once we open a box then we will sort it out, keep, trash, sell.  Its not like I’m going to need to go to work everyday and won’t have the time. LOL  Yes I know its contrary to how you’re supposed to do it, but I can then have a Garage Sale in the Spring and meet all the Pictou residents…  Come on, its a good idea and you know it.. 🙂

So all the house stuff (besides packing) needs to be done.  Cancelling services, setting up services in the new place, making sure people don’t screw up.  Its a fulltime job.. lol  So we currently have TekSavvy here in Ontario and love it, I mean love it.  The bills are always correct, it gets taken from my CC every month, it doesn’t go down and there are no unexpected expenses, EVER.  So of course I want to move TekSavvy out there.  Sure they say, that can be done.  It will cost you $10 more per month for 10Mb/s less but its unlimited.  I’m like WOOOHOOO, unlimited is Great for a B&B so lets do it.  Do you have a phone line, they ask.  umm no, we got magic jack so no phone line.. Well then it’ll cost you $30 extra per month to have TekSavvy.  WHAT!!! no way…  So off I go and get a phone line.. lol..  Its only $27/month, so I save $3 per month and we have a home phone that the B&B guests can use.  Perfect.. its a 902 number.. how many times am I going to type 905 instead.. hee hee

Everything is different out there.. no Rogers service in the house (awww shucks) but there is EastLink and Bell Alliant but I’ve got TekSavvy.. hee hee.  Yes I’m giddy, if you don’t have TekSavvy then you won’t understand.

So the game plan, pack pack pack. Get the UHaul on Dec 24th, and fill fill fill then on the 27th we head out.  We will stay overnight in Levis at the Hotel Kennedy with the boys and then on the 28th we head off to our new home.  We don’t take possession until the 30th so we will be staying in a motel for couple of nights but that’s okay, we will be so close.  We do the final house inspection on the 29th and then we are good to go.

Christmas this year is sort of put on hold, we will have some festivities but not a lot of decorating since everything will be packed and in the truck, but that’s okay.. This year my present is a 158 year old Victorian home.  Did you see the pics?  yes i’m gushing, i’m so happy. lol

I’m going to keep this blog going because I want to show you step by step what we are doing.  Would love the feedback as you see what we are doing.  The other reason for the blog is to show anyone who logs into our B&B website all that we have done and gone through to get this place.  So if those two reasons aren’t good enough then that’s okay too, at least I get to enjoy it.

We’ve already started putting out ads on Kijiji for a renter.  There is an apartment at the house that has its own entrance and driveway so that’s an added income that we will love to have.  We of course want non-smokers and quiet people.  Pets are okay, since I have them but they need to be quiet too.  That’s going to be exciting too.

So let me describe tell you a bit about the house, since I’ve only shown the front of it.  The first floor has 2 front rooms, the one on the left is going to be my office and the one on the right is going to be the dining room.  Then behind the dining room is a bedroom with an ensuite (for guests that can’t walk up to the second floor) and behind that is the side door to the patio and parking area.  The door to the dungeon (basement) is right beside that room and the kitchen is behind it.  The servant stairs are right there also so I can sneak up to the second floor from the kitchen anytime, and there’s a washroom there too.  Behind the office is the apartment.  It has a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and a living room, so it’s pretty good.  Let’s go to the dungeon, I’m telling you this is a dungeon, its freaking awesome.  Once we get there I’ll post pics, because I’m enamored with it..  it has about 6-8 separate rooms and the walls are built with stone.  The walls have window openings with bars.. dungeon I tell you..  and we even found shackles in one of the rooms.  There is a entry to the basement from the outside, horror movie style… sooooo excited..

I’ve got plans for that too.. it doesn’t look like that but you get the idea.

From the front hall you go upstairs, (you can see the servant stairs at the back of this hall).

The second floor as you walk up the stairs goes to what we are going to use for the B&B.  There is a nice large bedroom on the right as you walk up the stairs, we are going to paint that room (cause I hate the wallpaper) and add a ensuite bathroom to it.  This will be the last things we do.  Then beside that room is another huge room that I’ve decided will be the common area for the guests.  TV, Popcorn Maker, Books, places to sit, games etc. will be in this room.  then next to this room is a little nook that we are going to use for quiet reading, this exits to the balcony at the top of the house that you can see in the pics.  Beside this room is another large room with kitchen and ensuite.  We are taking out the kitchen and making that a sitting area.  Don’t want anyone to burn my house down and its a b&b not a boarding house, so no kitchen.  Then beside that room coming to the back of the house now (still on the side though) is a large bathroom and a small bedroom.  At the back of the house is another bedroom and ensuite, at least I think there is an ensuite, Alex says there is, I don’t remember it.  That’s it for the second floor and the B&B guest floor.  Here’s the what the hallway looks like.

That door you see is going to be removed.  so it will be opened up to the reading nook.  theres the bedroom on the right and the bathroom on the left near the sewing machine, then the other two bedrooms are behind the staircase, so to speak.

Then we go up to the third floor.  I still marvel at how large the third floor actually is.  From the front of the house all you see is the dormers but the rooms up here are huge, in height and size.  The third floor is closed off so that the B&Ber’s don’t go up there.  I’m going to keep it like that and put in one of those push button locks so we can come and go as we please and no one can get in there but us.  We’ll need to put a cat door in for the boys of course.

The third floor will house us.  It will consist of Alex’s office (until I can kick him out and send him either to the dungeon or the garage lol, then it will be my craft room), our living room, our bedroom and our bathroom.  There is even a small room at the front of the house that is just big enough for storage or dare I say it, to be the play house for the boys.. lol  yes its going to be the playhouse.

The only other thing left to describe is the funny door in the picture.

Weird place for a door, yes you are right.  For now we are going to cover that with a lovely quilt or wall hanging (so if anyone is thinking of a house warming present, that’s the best one to get 😉 ).  Inside that door is a lovely attic space.  Needs some work and a dormer but could easily function as another bedroom with ensuite or my craftroom (if I don’t kick Alex to the garage).

Well that’s pretty much the inside of the house.  I”m not posting a lot of pics because they still have all their b&b stuff in it and they are not leaving any of it.  Also you can see it when I get there and how we transform it into The Pictou Puffin B&B. 

Okay, what do you think of the name.  We think that 1. it has the city name in it so that’s a plus, 2. it has a lovable character to be our mascot, and because there are places along the coast where you can go on whale watching and puffin tours we thought it’d be a great link to that.  Okay honest opinions, what do you think?