...and the walls came tumbling down.

The renovations have begun.

Before.

I've decided to show you real before pictures.  I took the photos as the bathroom was.  I didn't put away the bottles of shampoos and lotions and things.  I really wanted to show the transformation to a space that made us cringe to hopefully a peaceful space with an actual working bath tub! You can see here we kind of gave up on this bathroom a while ago.  The windows were replaced a few years back but we never did replace the window coverings. Yes, those are sheets that we used as curtains tacked to the wall. It can only get better!

After demolition.

 Gone is the vanity and tub. Not a thing left.  The bathroom is totally gutted.

Before.

I will not miss the purple on the walls. It seemed fine at the time when I painted it years ago but once we repainted our master bedroom it clashed.  I had really lost any enthusiasm to repaint while things were breaking and we knew repairs and renovations were in the future.

There goes the shower.  (good riddance!)

After demolition.

...and it looks promising.  Some expected water damage (but no mold which is great) and a weird pipe thingie (yes, that is the correct term) in the wrong spot that needs to be relocated.  A new subfloor needs to go in but best to start the work correctly.

Flutter by my garden.

Last week I noticed a few butterflies in our garden.  They were brown and orange and they were pretty to look at.  Soon I realized that there were many - I could probably count at least 20 - although it was hard to get an accurate count as they flit and fly around.

On Wednesday, I read in the paper that eastern Canada is in the midst of what's believed to be the biggest springtime butterfly migration in history.  Apparently 90% of them are Red Admirals - which is definitely what I was seeing although I didn't know it at the time.

As you can imagine it's difficult to actually get a picture of one of these lovelies.  Just when you get close enough your dog runs up and scares them away or even just a slight breeze will do it.  I finally captured these photos on Friday.

Perfect symmetry.

Speechless.

In My Backyard

Well there was quite a bit of commotion outside my window a few minutes ago.  A slight bang on the window, the sounds of wings flapping and such.  I went to the window and looked out to the ground below the birdfeeder thinking I would see a bird that had been stunned by his misguided flight into our window.  Instead, there was nothing...until I looked up at the fence...and this is what I saw.

Wow isn't he spectacular.  I think it's a peregrine falcon or maybe a hawk but I'm not actually sure. 

  Maybe someone knows?

Anyways, quite a treat to see so close up and he was quite accommodating to stay while I ran for my camera and snapped these pictures.