Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season. I will be back in the new year with more adventures in renovating and country living.
Thank you for reading. Merry Christmas.
Author Archives: Julia at Home on 129 Acres
Ready for hibernation… pretty much
Nearly three months ago I published the list of fall chores that we needed to complete to be ready for winter. Well, winter officially arrives today. Are we ready?
Winterize exterior waterlines. Done.Take off the window screens for cleaning and patching. — I have no excuse why this, one of the simplest tasks on the list, isn’t done. Maybe this weekend?
Update: Done! Closing early at work for the holidays meant I was home in the daylight. Popping off all of the screens, labeling them and carrying them down to the basement took all of 15 minutes.Fix up some winter beds for the cats. Done.- Fix leak in basement foundation. — Matt adjusted the downspouts and put a sheet of plywood under the window to run water away from foundation, which seem to be working for now, but we will have to give this job some proper attention next year.
From the light above the window and the retaining wall half buried in the garden, you can see that this used to be a door, so we’re pretty sure this is the source of the water we see once in awhile in the laundry room.
Get rid of scrap metal. Done.- Organize driveshed so that we can
find the snow shovelsand park at least one car inside. — Matt has dug out the shovels, but the driveshed is still mostly in shambles. - Get rid of the woodstove and old chimney, which are also in the driveshed. — We thought we had a buyer, but he never showed to pick up the stove. Anyone want it?
This beauty is still for sale. Send offers to homeon129acres@hotmail.com.
- Fit out the mudroom and
front hall closet. — Halfway done. The front hall closet is super functional now, but the only progress we made in the mudroom so far is adding two boot trays and moving the coats to the inside closet. I’m hoping to finish off this project over the Christmas break and will of course share posts in the new year. Remove stakes from established treesand stake the new trees that we planted this spring. — Halfway done.Install the flag pole. Done.- Pull the fallen tree out of the pond. — A project for next year. If the pond does freeze this winter, we’ll still have plenty of room for skating and hockey. I guess a good thing about putting this job off for a few months is that I didn’t have to go swimming in November.
Buy snow tires for my car. Done.
Wiley got bling, and my poor little car lost hers. 😦
Put away the lawn furniture. Done.
Something else I should have put on the original list was learn how to count. I thought I had 14 tasks when I actually had only 13. Oops.
I also had two bonus “nice-to-dos,” one of which got some attention.
- Install a bird feeder on the driveway turnaround. — Didn’t even try to do this.
Trim up some trees around the property. — We trimmed two trees, but we didn’t take down our sickly blue spruce or trim the very twisted willow tree at the pond.
Our other twisted willow before and after its haircut
Anyways, out of the original 13 and the two bonus, we can officially cross off 7 8… or 8 9 if you count the jobs that are half done. Not a great completion rate, I guess. But hey, the basement’s looking really good, and it will be a nice and cozy hang-out space this winter!
In addition, we did do a few extra tasks specifically for winter.
Winterize Wiley. Done.Put the blanket on the bed. (Not really post or picture worthy.)Get the outside lights working. Done.Dig out the snow fence, although we haven’t decided if we actually need to put it up yet.
A few rolls of snow fence were buried in the long grass of the field behind the barn, and Wiley helped us dig them out.
I met our local councilor a few weeks ago, and he told me that I’m not a true rural resident until I’ve made it through a winter. I like winter, so I’m actually looking forward to a snowy season of hiking and skating and staying cozy in the house. My fingers are crossed that we’re prepared enough to be able to enjoy it without too much hardship.
My Christmas cold may have knocked me out, but at least my tile are grouted
For the second year in a row I have been struck down by a doozy of a Christmas cold.
The fatigue, fever, headache and muscle aches are not conducive to writing… or thought, so for today’s post, all I have for you is a low quality picture of our grouted tile.
You’re not tired of hearing about tile, are you?
The tile are grouted, the bench top is in place, the fixtures are all installed, and we even have running water.
Germs aside, it’s a merry Christmas in the basement.
No chandeliers here
Last week on the Art of Doing Stuff, Karen professed her love of chicken coops and shared images readers had submitted of their coops.
Her post inspired me to get out and investigate our chicken coop. I confess, this is a spot that I usually prefer to avoid.
Karen wrote, “some of the most dilapidated coops are among my favourites.”
Well, dilapidated is a good descriptor of our coop. If you’re feeling charitable, you might call it rustic. Usually, I tend to just call it gross.
Perhaps a chicken laid a very heavy egg and broke the concrete floor?
I’ve seen some coops with chandeliers and artwork. The leaky roof in ours has started to form stalactites, which I guess could be considered sculpture.
And in case you’re starting to wonder, you are in fact correct. The coop has not been cleaned out. Likely not for several years. (Warning: The next photo may spoil your appetite).
The coop is cozily tucked into the west side of the barn under the pines. The worn barn boards, old mullioned windows and generous size are appealing. The abandoned water and food dishes in the run, the layers and layers of manure inside and the overall dilapidated state both inside and out are decidedly not appealing.
I’m planning on adding geese, ducks and chickens to the farm someday, and they will need a home–a better home than this coop. My Dad (the general contractor) upon seeing the coop for the first time suggested that dynamite might be the best solution. We probably will end up starting over, but we’ll likely still end up more on the rustic side of coop design–I can’t see myself putting a chandelier in a chicken coop.
If you’re looking for some slightly more inspiring coops than ours (albeit no chandeliers), check out what Art of Doing Stuff readers submitted. And while you’re there, make sure to check out Karen’s own coop which completely puts ours to shame. Even though she says her hens don’t care how their coop looks, I don’t think Walnut and the ladies would be too happy if their home was anything like ours.
Christmas comes early
Merry Christmas to us!
Sorry for the lighting. Winter hours plus being underground make for challenging photography.
The sectional we bought for the basement–Matt’s and my Christmas present to each other–wasn’t slated to arrive until maybe Dec. 22. However, the Christmas elves were obviously working overtime, because the couch showed up early.
Despite the fresh snow, the couch arrived by truck rather than sleigh
There may have been a happy dance when I heard it was on its way… Okay, and a fist pump too.
The sections of the sectional as our delivery team elves set it up
We went with what I would term a semi custom sectional. It’s made by Decor-Rest, a Canadian company, and we ordered it through Smitty’s Fine Furniture, another Canadian company.
Semi-custom means we got to pick the configuration and the fabric from a selection of options. We went with a pretty neutral grey-black-white tweed fabric, and then I picked a few brightly coloured cushions to pep up the fun factor.
It’s probably not everyone’s taste, but I love the bright colours and retro look of the striped cushion
Ever since I first saw the basement, I knew I wanted a big corner sectional with a chaise. With this couch I definitely got my Christmas wish. The couch fits perfectly in the corner and has lots of space for Matt, me and anyone who comes to visit.
Although please do not sit in my seat
It’s incredibly comfortable too. In fact, there may have been an hour-long nap one evening when we were supposed to be working on finishing touches in Matt’s office.
I’m looking forward to a lot more of those soon! Maybe over Christmas vacation?
How tiling is like reality TV
I should have known. It was like a scene out of reality TV where someone says, “I completely trust my alliance. That million dollars is mine.” You just know that they’re going to be the next person voted off.
A month after I naively wrote “I actually enjoy [tiling]. It’s not hard work.” the reno gods were still chuckling at me as I glowered at the untiled walls of the basement shower.
I decided I really do mind tiling, and I did everything I could think of to avoid it. I delayed, I procrastinated, I spent my time on other things (important things like baseboards and tractors and carpet, and less important things like parties and first snowfalls). However, none of these were tiling and none were enough to distract me from the ugly cement board, the cartons of tile and the need to bring the two together.
So I appealed to my alliance.
I negotiated with the reno gods: “I don’t need the whole Lotto Max jackpot. Just a little bit will be enough to finish the tile!” I bargained with Matt: “I don’t think I’ll do a good enough job. What if it ends up crooked and we hate it?” I pleaded with my Dad: “Please call your tile guy!”
The reno gods were silent. Matt was supportive: “You’ll do a great job. I have confidence in you.” My Dad was befuddled: “You, the woman who drywalled her own basement, are now intimidated by a shower stall?” But because he’s my Dad, he called his tile guy.
The tile guy said it would be $900.
$900? Just for tiling? With materials I already own?
$900 for professionals versus $0 for me. Ummm… “I guess I’m tiling a shower.”
So I booked a day off work. I booked my Dad. Just like the challenge part of the episode, I threw myself into the mud pit (mortar bucket?), and we got to work.
The first step was to figure out our starting point. Between the bench, the niche, the accent band and the vanity, there were lots of spots that I wanted to line up. However, the most critical was the top of the vanity, so we drew our level line from there.
Despite any appearances, the line is actually in line with the top of the vanity, and it is level.
Once we got going with our tile, the most important objective was keeping everything level and even. For me the solution was using spacers. I wanted fairly narrow joints, and every single one had to be the same. I may have gone a bit overboard.
Too many spacers?
I had two bags of spacers, but those were quickly emptied. As I progressed around the shower, I kept going back to areas that had already set up and removing the spacers so that I could reuse them.
The other spacing issue I ran into was with the accent band. I’d chosen a marble mosaic tile that was slightly thicker than the white subway tile I was using the rest of the shower. I could have camouflaged the difference with a chair rail or another type of tile, but I really wanted a flat, clean, simple look. My tile supplier suggested putting a little extra mortar on the subway tiles to build them out to the same depth as the mosaic.
Back buttering the subway tile
I back buttered for two rows on either side of the accent band. Because I only did it in this one spot, the walls have a very slight curve. I’m hoping it’s imperceptible unless you know it’s there (obviously, all of you will be diplomatic enough to not point it out when you come to visit, please).
Everything looks pretty even between the carrera marble accent tile and the subway tile. Doesn’t it?
The back buttering was tedious, but not particularly difficult. The trickiest area–and the point that I started to go slightly insane–was the niche.
When we were building the shower, I thought the niche was a great idea. No bars of soap and bottles of shampoo set on the bench or the floor. No caddy hanging from the shower head. Just a convenient built-in shelf.
It turns out niche functionality, good. Niche tiling, bad.
Because I’m a glutton for punishment, I wanted the pattern to continue from the walls right through the niche. That meant dozens and dozens of cuts. In the whole niche, there is only one full tile. Ugh. But, I have to say, the result was worth all of the extra figuring and cutting. And yes, the next photo is completely bragging.
Look at that brick pattern marching right along!
We used a small piece of marble we picked up at Home Depot for the base of the niche, as I wanted a single solid piece on any horizontal surface. It’s slightly sloped so that the water, but hopefully not the soap, will run off.
In the end, tiling the shower is not as fun as sitting on the couch all weekend watching a reality TV marathon, but my early fears proved unfounded. I did do a good enough job, I think. Everything is nice and straight–and it will look even better when it’s grouted.
I may not have won the million dollars, but I didn’t get voted off the island.
Comatose
No post today. I’m in a tile coma.
The result of three days of labour
Obviously, I still have to put the seat on the bench and the top on the threshold, take out all of the spacers and grout everything, but the hard part is done.
Finally.
Thank goodness.
Sorry for the brevity today. Full breakdown… project breakdown, not personal sanity (already had my “I’m going crazy” moment at the end of my 12-hour second day)… will come later.
How did you spend your weekend?
Forget jewels. I want tools!
I don’t know about anybody else, but the commercials that pop up this time of year talking about how really expensive diamond jewelry is the perfect Christmas gift are a little bit odd to me. Who has that much money to spend on a Christmas present?
But that could just be me. My Christmas list likely looks a little bit different than most women’s. At the top of my list this year is a Kreg Jig.
Photo from www.kregtool.com since I don’t have a jig of my own to photograph… yet
As the reno winds down, I’m realizing I’m going to have to start furnishing some of these beautiful spaces we’ve built.
Thoughts of TV stands and kitchen islands and sofa tables and ottomans and coffee tables and benches lead to web searches and Pinterest and project plans and Ana White and “I can build that!”
So it’s official. If I’m going to be building furniture, I need a Kreg Jig.
Oh, and some extra red Robertson bits (#8) and a new carpenter’s square would also be helpful. Jewelry would not.
Santa, are you listening?
Wiley gets blinged out
Remember how I said Wiley likes to accessorize? Well, our little tractor is in heaven with a brand new bauble that arrived last week. And it’s a big one.
Subtle is not in Wiley’s vocabulary.
In case anyone doesn’t know what they’re looking at here, this is our new snowblower.
The sales rep from our tractor dealership goes for the first test drive (normally we will not be blowing 2 inches of snow)
Over the weekend, we got Wiley all set for winter, disconnecting the mower and hooking up the blower.
The mower deck has been scraped and scrubbed and tucked away for the season.
We even broke out our new grease gun and lubed up all of the fittings. Wiley’s affection for accessories became even clearer when he grabbed onto the grease gun and wouldn’t let go. After wiggling and jiggling and yanking Matt and I were starting to envision plowing snow with the gun dangling from the side of the tractor. However, through a combination of vice grips and pliers Matt was able to detach the gun from the fitting.
Sorry, Wiley, but sometimes less is more.
Climbing the property ladder
Everybody knows about the property ladder. Scrape your pennies together to buy a house and get on the bottom rung of the ladder. Eventually use the equity from your first house to move up the ladder until you’re able to (hopefully) afford to buy the house of your dreams.
The other week, I had the opportunity to talk to the Toronto Star about Matt’s and my experience with the mortgage on our first house. As I was preparing for the interview, it occurred to me that the lessons we learned might be interesting to some of you too.
Our first house got us onto the property ladder. It set us up to buy the farm and begin building our forever house. However, in order to go from our starter house to the farm, we had to skip a few rungs along the climb.
We were able to move up the property ladder quickly because when Matt and I sold our first house, we owned it free and clear. We had no mortgage.
For two 30-year-olds to pay off their first house in four and a half years is a bit unusual.
We didn’t win the lottery, no relative left us a big inheritance, we work regular jobs and earn average salaries, and our parents didn’t give us money to purchase either our first house or the farm.
So how did we pay off our mortgage early?
First, we bought a house we could afford. When we went to the bank to be pre-approved for our mortgage, we were astounded by how much we qualified to borrow. It was close to twice the amount we were expecting to spend. It’s easy to be sucked into spending more than you planned, especially if the bank says that you can. Be disciplined and stick to your budget.
The other thing that we did at the very start was to put down the biggest down payment we could. For Matt and me that was 25%. The hardest part of buying a house for many young first time buyers is building up their savings to make the down payment.
Fortunately, Matt and I were able to live with our parents and pay little or no rent. We saved and economized, and when we were ready to buy the house, we had enough (in my case just enough) to put 25% down. Making the largest down payment you can at the beginning puts you much further ahead in paying off your mortgage over the long term.
The biggest thing that helped us to pay off our mortgage in four and a half years was taking advantage of the accelerated payment plans our bank allowed. To start, we chose a “weekly rapid” plan where we made a payment every single Friday for a total of 52 payments a year. The amount of the payment was determined by taking what we would have paid monthly, dividing it by four and then paying that amount each week. This works out to basically making 13 months of payments rather than 12.
I remember sitting in the bank going over the payment options with the mortgage advisor and her showing us that by making just one extra month of payments a year, we would pay off our 25 year mortgage in 21 years. That was an easy choice for us.
However, 21 years wasn’t fast enough.
The other option we took advantage of was to make lump sum payments directly against the principal of our mortgage. For our bank, the maximum they allowed was 15% per year. Every single year, Matt and I took full advantage of this, and every single year we knocked roughly another 5 years off our mortgage.
I’m not saying it was easy to see that much money going out of my bank account each year, but getting a printout showing our mortgage would be done in 15, 8, and then 3 years did soften the sting.
The Amortization Period line at the bottom is the one to keep your eye on.
Most banks will also allow you to increase the the amount of your weekly (or biweekly or monthly) payments. We did eventually bump up our weekly installments, but for the most part we focused on saving for the annual lump sum payments.
With any financial situation, I think it’s really important to watch your numbers and understand exactly where your money is going. We requested extra statements from the bank that showed the breakdown of exactly how much of our weekly payments went towards principal and how much was interest. When the ratio finally crossed 50-50 with even just a few more dollars going towards principal than interest, that was cause for celebration. We also kept an eye on the amortization period that changed every time we made a lump sum payment and carefully read our annual statements.
It will likely take a few years, but eventually you will pay more principal than interest.
Because we know our numbers, we know that we paid just over $20,000 in interest on our mortgage. This is versus nearly $200,000 in interest we would have paid if we stuck with the bank’s schedule and taken the full 25 years to pay off our mortgage.
Despite Matt’s and my focus on our mortgage, we did try to keep a balance in our life. Prioritizing our mortgage was important to us, but having a life was too. In the time that we owned our first house, we got married (and paid for our wedding), traveled, furnished our house and renovated. If we had put all of our money towards only our mortgage, I don’t think we would have enjoyed our house in the same way we were able to.
So here are my five tips for how we paid off our mortgage in less than five years:
- Buy the house you can afford.
- Put as much down as you can.
- Take advantage of accelerated and lump sum payment plans.
- Watch your numbers.
- Prioritize what’s important to you.
Now at the farm, we have a mortgage again, and it’s much bigger than it was on our first house. However, it’s still affordable for us. We’ve again chosen an accelerated payment plan of 13 months of payments per year. And we’re already planning on making a lump sum payment before the end of the year. (Note, lump sum payments are usually calendar year, not mortgage year, so even though we’ve only owned the farm for 8 months, we can still make a payment against the principal).
Our first house put us on the property ladder, and the strong financial foundation we built by paying off our mortgage early allowed us to quickly move up the ladder.
We won’t pay the farm off in five years like we did at our first house, but we’re not satisfied to wait the full term of our mortgage either.
Now it’s your turn. Do you have a mortgage? What’s your approach to payments? Any tips to share?
