A little culture

We have been checking out some of the local entertainment. We don't go to the movies as they are in Ukrainain. Fortunately, some things are easy to understand without knowing the language. We could not get tickets for the big football (soccer) match- two weeks ago there was a World cup qualifying game right in Dnepropetroesk. The Ukrainain team beat England 1-0.

However we have gone to the circus, which the boys really enjoyed from the clowns to the animal acts- trained cats, dogs and bears, trick horse riding, acrobats and even a girl on the trapeze.

Last Saturday night Garry and I went to see Swan Lake. The ballet was great, and the conductor was a show by himself as he led the orchestra most dramatically.

Garry and I have been studying Russian with a teacher for a month now- still lots to learn but we are learning more vocbulary every lesson- we go twice a week, right in the village. We are skipping a lesson this week as we are off to Crimea for a mini-vacation.

Taking a break

It's true, we are planning a little trip this week down to Crimea, to visit fellow Canadians and see Yalta. We heard that the tempurature was 28 c there when it was 10 here, so the boys hope to jump in the Black Sea.

The reno is nearly complete, a little more painting to do. This photo is from 2 weeks ago when we were putting in the kitchen floor tile- Garry decided on the diagonal checkerboard pattern, and it looks pretty good. Next week I will try to get up more completed kitchen photos as the paint went on the walls this week. The next big thing is getting our higher rated electric line in so we can hook up the electric powered radiators on the newly reno side of the house. Our bedrooms we have been using are heated with gas (it is also hot water pipes) as it comes from the summer kitchen, and we have had this running sometimes this fall. I am still cooking there until the new line arrives, unless I use the microwave or slowcooker that we got after the cabinets went in.

Jonah is feeling good again- he had a two week battle with a cold that climaxed in 4 days of barely eating (if you know Jonah- you know how sore his throat had to be for him to live on cup of soup and jello) which was finally solved by a doctor visit and antibiotics.

Reno news and so on

We are getting closer to reno completion! Our carpenters made great progress from the building of walls at the beginning of September to the plastering they finally finished last week. We have been painting for a week. Garry has all the kitchen cabinets in place and I put up the backsplash tiles, they still need grouting. The two of us stuck up the bathroom tile while the carpenters were gone (they work at a gas station part-time, so some days they weren’t here) then did the kitchen floor tile at the final break before the final sanding.
We have some new pets- the white cat- seen here when she first came in August was gone for over a month and suddenly reappeared about three weeks ago. Unfortunately Velcro, the boys’ kitten, got outside while we were in Crimea and has not returned to the boys. Garry brought home a sad looking kitten that Seth has named Tabby. Her fleas are gone now, and she sleeps in the boys’ room, they let her outside sometimes, but keep a close eye on her. We had been adopted by Jack the dog who came and hung around and ate here- he even was staying at night and barking at strangers in the yard. We think he may not have a home in the village as we never saw him until September. Jack seems to have left; maybe there is better dog food elsewhere. Last weekend Seth’s bike disappeared from the yard, right after the dog did-so maybe we need to get our own dog to bark at people in the yard after all!
We just had visitors for a few nights, it was nice to have people from Steinbach stay with us while they were touring with Victor. They got to stay in the room the carpenters were working on in this before photo from the beginning of September. The paint was very fresh, and Garry put the flooring in that morning, but we were ready. This is the bedroom that Garry and I plan to move into, all we have to do is change the beds, so the boys can move into the larger room we have been sleeping in. Right now Garry is painting the kitchen/living room ceiling, he hopes to have the room finished by Monday so we can buy a couch to sit on. We miss having a couch, it’s been three and a half months of reno, we can’t wait!

We're painting!

Yes! the carpenters have done their final sanding of all those walls they built and plastered! We have started painting rooms- well, the bathroom is painted and Garry has installed the tub for the third and final time- and the shower doors- but I didn't take another photo. We are getting radiators installed this weekend, and picking the paint for the bedroom and kitchen/living room. The tile is all grouted on the floors, and all that's left is the kitchen backsplash to finish.

 Here are a few photos to see how it's come- look for the final views maybe next week-if we get a couch by then. The kitchen stove has to wait for the upgraded electric line to be installed but.... we are feeling more like we are home, even if I am still cooking in the summer kitchen and carrying stuff back and forth until December!

Getting closer!

We are getting closer to finishing this reno- the guys are nearly done plastering the walls and we have started tiling. The days are getting shorter- the sun comes up at 6:30 instead of 4:30 in the morning. I have made a little 6 minute video of what we did in August which I am attaching here. Russian lessons are going well, we have learned days of the week,months and how to tell the time- which is harder than you'd think! Not reading it but whether you say morning, day, evening or night, and not just numbers but we need to learn the words for first through 31st for the date!