On the waterfront

Seen through a car window

Taken in August, along the drive home from mum and dad's. The Armview is a sweet little diner about 10 minutes walk from us.

Back home

Well, we are back in Halifax. Back in our new home, and slowly coming to grips with regular life again. We spent our first night home sans Snoopy, which was a little odd. The bed seemed altogether too big, and I missed the comfort of that familiar warm furry body next to my leg. It's funny, but both Patty and I woke up the next morning feeling like something wasn't right. But we are all back together again now. It feels good. Now if someone would just take care of all the stuff that needs to get done around here! Groceries to get, laundry to be done, bags that need unpacking, grass that wants mowing... the list goes on. Good thing we had a vacation, although I feel I need another one to get over the long journey back.

For those of you who are wondering about the rest of our vacation, never fear! There is still lots to tell from our time in Singapore and our short stay in Vancouver. Lots more photos, and lots and lots more food. I'll try and get around to them soon, I promise.

Our house

I've been trying to get photos of the house, but haven't been too successful. I just don't seem to have a wide enough lens to shoot the interior. They all end up being views of walls, and not much else. I will keep trying, but in the meantime, here are some photos of the outside.

I assure you, there really is a house in there somewhere.

Covered in paint

It's in my hair, on my glasses, my fingers, my arms, my clothes.

We've been painting the house. It looks like a different house now. The main floor is almost all done, and today we made a start on the second floor. With a little luck, we might get it all done by the weekend. We've also got a new hot water tank, and a new burner for it. Dad did the plumbing hookups, and we put the burner in together. It took another day before I was able to figure out the wiring for the burner and get it fired up.

We've got a range, refrigerator and dishwasher now. The dishwasher is still a work in progress. We had to cut out some of the kitchen floor in order to get it under the counter. Today we hooked up water and electricity and ran it without any leaks. Now we have to figure out how to patch the floor! Washer and dryer were hooked up today too.

It's all starting to take shape. There is still lots to do though, and I feel like the house will keep me busy for a long time to come. Not that I am complaining. I am learning lots and having fun. Yes, I am a little sore from being on my knees most of today, bent over painting the baseboards, but the end result was worth it! Tomorrow...we'll tackle the refrigerator and hook up the ice-maker. I'm starting to think it won't be such a big job to plumb the espresso machine now.

Photos to follow.

The Halifax Crafters Spring Sale

Today we paid a visit to the Halifax Crafters spring sale, held in an old wooden church on North Street. There was live music, food, lovely crafty things, and lots of people who looked familiar to me. It was like I was back on Main Street, at a craft fair in Heritage Hall. It was, for want of a better word, comforting. And, to top it all off, a rather funny thing happened to me.

Ever since we arrived in Halifax, I have run into people who think they have met me before. It inevitably turns out that they haven't, although I'm starting to wonder if there is another long-hair myopic asian barista roaming these parts. When we went to view the house we ended up buying, the lady of the house was sure she'd met me before. 'Don't you work at Dal?', perhaps my double does.

In any case, back to the Halifax Crafters spring sale. Patty had spied some lovely screen printed handkerchiefs and called me over to inform me she was getting me a subscription to receive a new hanky each month. The woman at the table looked at me and said 'I think I know you!', to which both Patty and I replied 'No, you don't'. I was just about to explain how this has happened to me quite a bit, when she said 'You worked at JJ Bean on Main Street'. She did indeed know me, and I knew her too. We'd actually worked together for a short time at the store on Main Street! What a nice surprise, someone who thought they knew me, actually did know me! It really is a small world.

If you're in the area on Sunday 3 May, the Halifax Crafters spring sale is at the North Street Church, 5657 North Street from 11-5. Admission is free. You never know, you might run into someone you know too.

Misadventures in medicine

First, they misplace my medical charts from Vancouver. Then they question whether I actually brought them in when I said I did. They might as well have called me a liar. Not exactly the best way to start with a new doctor.

Not impressed.

Then I have to do a 24hr urine collection for some lab work. I wait for almost an hour just to get a bottle in a paper bag. Then I drop off the bottle at the lab for analysis. A few days later I get a call from my doctor informing me the lab was unable to use the sample. I had dropped it off on a Friday and they didn't get around to testing it till Monday, and evidently it was not properly stored during that time. Excuse me?! Not only have they wasted my time, but they want me to go through the whole process again because they screwed up!

Really not impressed.

I don't usually like to make a fuss, who's going to listen or do anything about it? But I made it known I wasn't happy, in no uncertain terms. I am in no particular hurry to have my time wasted again, but I suppose I will eventually have to go and get those test done. I think the next time I drop off my sample, I will instruct them in the proper handling and storage of it.

That's two strikes now...I can't wait to see what will happen next.

The hunt is over

We got the word at around 3pm this afternoon. In all honest truth, I had all but forgotten about the 4pm deadline today. When the phone rang, I was wondering who on earth would be calling me on Good Friday. It was our realtor Ernie, telling me we had just bought ourselves a house.

The sellers had agreed to carry out the repair work and clean out the ducts before we take possession of the house on 4 May. I was in the middle of a nap when the call came and for awhile I wasn't even sure if it was happening. After all the price dickering and waiting, I have to say the end was pretty anti-climatic. After I hung up, I think I turned to Patty and said 'Congratulations, you just bought yourself a house.', and went back to sleep.

That is not to say we aren't excited. We went out to dinner this evening with Jen, and stopped by to see the house on the way. In just a little over three weeks, we get the keys and start making it our own. Now we get to do some of the fun things, like go shopping for appliances, pick colours and hunt for furniture!

The inspection

We did the inspection of the house on Wednesday morning, and overall it went well. There were the usual bits and pieces here and there that needed taking care of, but nothing too daunting or scary.

The one concern was a spot in the ceiling of the kitchen that showed some water damage. The owners had pointed out a problem in this area and had indicated it had been repaired, so we're not sure if this is the same problem or an entirely new one. In any case, we want to have it taken care of before we take possession. The owners seem to be amenable to this, but they are getting their contractor in to look at it first before they give us a firm answer. So we wait till tomorrow evening.

On the plus side, neither Patty of myself seems to be swayed by these minor difficulties. We spent about two and a half hours in and around the house, and I did not once feel like I did not want it anymore. I think it grew on me even more, and I can see lots of potential in the basement and garage. Sure it won't all happen overnight, but I can see the basement getting fixed up over time and becoming a very nice rec space.

So fingers crossed it all will come together by tomorrow evening.

Four weeks in...

It's been four weeks since we left Vancouver for Halifax. Well, four weeks and a day I suppose. I was going to write this yesterday, but it just got away from me. As far as moves go, I guess this one has been pretty smooth sailing.

All our stuff arrived from Vancouver two weeks ago. It's all stowed away in mum and dad's basement. As far as we can tell, everything made it in one piece, although we haven't as yet unpacked.

Nate is settling in to his life in Halifax very well. He loves being around his grandparents, and is always telling us how much he likes it here. He is best friend to the bird, even if the feeling isn't mutual. It is quite a sight to see the bird, dog and Nate all follow dad around when he comes home from work.

We've finally found a house we both like. It doesn't give us everything on the wish list, but we always knew it was going to be hard to find a house that did. This one comes very close indeed. We did the house inspection this morning, but more about that in another post.

We've only been downtown a couple of times so far, once to go to the farmers market, and the other time to do some window shopping. Tomorrow we're going to take Nate to the Museum of Natural History. $82 buys you a family membership for a year, and is good for 27 museum locations throughout Nova Scotia, including the Maritime Museum. Not bad.

Myself, I am missing my old routine, but also enjoying not being the only set of eyes minding Nate. It's much easier getting Snoopy out for walks now. I occasionally feel I should be doing something more productive, but not enough to actually make me go do something about it. Besides, I think the house will provide me with lots of projects to keep me busy once we take possession. Every now and then I get homesick and wonder what everyone in Vancouver is up to. Otherwise I keep myself busy with Nate, Snoopy, and making to-do lists for the house. See, smooth sailing.

The house on Stuart Graham

kitchen kitchen dining room

living room

master bedroom bedroom built-ins 2nd bedroom upstairs

main floor bedroom bath bath

I didn't get too many pictures, because it felt weird taking photos of the place with the owner there. You know,...weird in a creepy kind of way.

Just when you think you have it figured out

We went to see the house on Edward Arab Avenue again Tuesday evening, to see if we liked it as much as we thought we did. And we did. So Wednesday morning, we called our realtor and got him to draw up the papers to make an offer on the scarey house.

While he did that, I went looking on the internet and found this house. It's in the same neighbourhood and almost the same size as the house on Edward Arab. It's carpet free, has a fenced yard, and their asking price is more than $40,000 less.

Another phone call to our realtor and Wednesday evening we went to see the house. It's had quite a few upgrades, most of the windows are new, there are four generously sized bedrooms, a half bath downsairs and a full bath with jetted tub upstairs. Long story short, we like it a lot.

Each house has its pros and cons. The house on Edward Arab is on a quieter street, with an unfenced backyard that looks out over a football field. It's got hot water radiators and a working fireplace. We would have to remove the carpets upstairs before we move in, and probably have a new tub installed as well.

The house on Stuart Graham is on a corner lot and bordered by a busy street to one side, church to the back and a short dead-end street in the front. It's got a fenced yard, a garage and is practically ready for us to move into. We would need to paint, but there isn't much else that needs to be done right away. It's got forced air heat as well as a working fireplace.

After a lot of back and forth and a rather sleepless night, we woke up this morning and put an offer on the house on Stuart Graham. In the end I think the extra money in our pocket made a strong argument for the house. While we like the house on Edward Arab, the higher asking price, coupled with the extra work we would need to do made that option less appealing.

Of course now I worry if I've made a mistake and chosen the wrong house.

A spring morning in Halifax

It started to snow here last night, and we woke up to find everything covered in another blanket of white. No winter isn't done here yet. So we spent the morning shovelling the drive and walkway. I cleared the snow, while Nate shovelled it right back to where I had just cleared it from. Nice to have a helping hand eh? After the work, some play. I had to convince him to make this snowman. He kept knocking it down as we were building it, but it eventually got done. And now, he's fast asleep. Nothing like a bit of snow to tire out a kid!

The scarey house

View from backyard Kitchen Bedroom

office Master bedroom Bedroom

Rec room in the basement Living room Living room

When I first saw this house on MLS, I told Patty that this house scared me. It was big and ominous looking and just didn't look like the house I wanted to live in. We went to see it without much hope of actually finding anything worth our while.

It's a little oddly laid out. The front door opens up directly into a living room. Up three steps to the right and down a hallway is the other living room with working fireplace. Adjacent is the dining room and kitchen. There is a large master bedroom with en suite and deck, and three more good sized bedrooms with another bath upstairs. Finally there is a finished rec room in the basement.

The house is situated in a nice family oriented neighbourhood, with lots of walkways and parks. The school Nate would go to is a short walk away. It's very close to groceries and the mall, as well and the bus exchange.

It's practically a no-brainer. It's not quite the neighbourhood we were thinking of, but in many respects it is so much better than what we had in mind. We'd still need to do some work on it, and who knows if it would even pass inspection, but it's looking promising.

We've ruled out the house on Connaught, it's just a little out of the way for us. So for now the two contenders are the house on Almon and the scarey house on Edward Arab Avenue.

A house in the North end

This is a house on Albert Street, in the North end of the Halifax peninsula. You can see our friends Kevin and Karen's place from this house. They have 2 boys and a girl, which would be nice for Nate.

From the outside, a pretty uninteresting house. A rectangular block of brick and siding. Some nice touches inside though. I like the little teardrop windows in the door, and it's got a wood-burning insert in the fireplace. Good size kitchen and a dining room that looks out onto the backyard. There are four bedrooms upstairs, with attic access through one of the closets. There's also a one bedroom apartment in the basement, although we didn't get to see it.

For some reason it all felt a little cramped to me, I'm not sure why. Maybe it was just the incredibly small bathroom. Whatever it was, I'm not sure it's the house for us. It isn't close to any groceries and maybe I just had my heart set on an old Halifax house. Still I haven't ruled it out altogether. I'm trying to keep an open mind and keep our options open.

Stalking houses

I'm afraid the bulk of the postings for the next little while will be more of the same. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but if you're even a little nosey like me, you'll probably get some mileage from them. I mean I've even asked to go see houses I know will not work for us, just because every once in awhile, one of them will look like this. Sadly that property was already under offer and we didn't get to see it.


The picture below are of a victorian house on Willow Street. It didn't look all that interesting from outside, but it all changed very quickly once we stepped inside





These photos don't do it justice, then again neither did the photos on MLS. It was a beautiful house. Large kitchen, one and a half baths, 3 bedrooms, good location, large yard and deck. Unfortunately, it was short a den or office space. I think our realtor saw us trying to make it work for us, and put a stop to it. She was right. Maybe we'd talk ourselves into it now, but we would be miserable a year later.


So when do you know you've found the right house? How do you know something even better isn't going to come on the market the very next week? Do you keep waiting for that absolutely perfect place to come along, or do you settle for the one that sorta fits the bill cause it's the closest thing out there and you don't want to lose it? So many questions. No answers. Maybe it wouldn't matter so much if I wasn't planning on dying in this house.

More from the hunt

The house on Connaught Street. We've always referred to this property as the purple house, because that's what it looks like on MLS. It didn't look anything like purple when we pulled up to it, and we're realizing that most colours on MLS bear no resemblance to the real thing. White balance people! Check your white balance!

Three bedrooms(carpeted) and a den upstairs. There's a living room, dining room, half bath, office and kitchen downstairs. We quite like this house. It was listed as a three bedroom, so we were pleasantly surprised by the office and den spaces. Access to two bedrooms are through the den, but it would make a nice sitting room/library/play space. The only real drawback is it faces onto 4 lanes of traffic, and the back yard is not exactly spacious. Nevertheless, at 334,900 it's pretty appealing.