In case you wondered

...where I've been hiding, I thought I'd better touch base. Rosanna's Christmas swap will be ready for mailing on Monday; I'm still working my way through the Christkindl Market Stall. It's all stained and I'm in the process of filling the lowest shelf with product ...all printies as they won't be that visible.

I've had to switch to a different type of building project that was meant to start in the spring but unexpectedly got started early due to the availability of our builder. This is what the first 8 x 18 ft of my kitchen looked like, after we emptied it of furniture on Friday:

Because we were so determined to buy a waterfront home in this area three years ago, we bought a house with some ...lets call them flaws. Our house began life many years ago as a very tiny, non-insulated summer residence and each successive owner had added to or enlarged it here and there ...including the roof. At one time there were 3 layers of roof, one over the other, each slightly larger and differently angled.
After our first winter, we replaced the roof; unfortunately two years later we're still working on it ...but this time from the inside!
Of course with a fully furnished house, this can be somewhat harrowing. What you see ...or not see in this photo is a 7ft long table with all the bits and bobs piled on top. And to make it even more "fun", we've had to partially empty an upstairs storage room so a retro vapor barrier could be sprayed into the attic...
So what you're seeing in this photo is the result of that, another room turned into a storage pile. This was the view Saturday morning. The blue tarp kept the remainder of the kitchen "clean". and this is what came to light, a prior build that gave new meaning to "building code". All the existing ceiling framework had to be removed ....in pieces. Above that we had our new roof with its scissor trusses. This part of the kitchen was meant to have a vaulted ceiling from the time we had it built and since the far wall and all my cupboards are pine, my new ceiling will be clad in pine as well. The other three vertical walls will be drywalled ....which I will have the privilege of finishing and then painting.We had planned to finally put up our Christmas tree this year. It would have been the first time in 3 years. Thankfully we'll be celebrating both the 24th and the 25th of December with family at their homes and who knows maybe next year we might even be able to invite everybody to our house...