Reluctant Renovator: I Fall to Pieces

It's too late to turn back now!!

As you can see from the photo above, we've gone past the point of no return with the renovation.  The initial plans & design are done, the material is ordered and the tile, which covers most of the first floor, is a thing of the past.

We spent the weekend throwing things out and packing up the rest.  I found the undecorating (removing photos, art, knick-knacks etc.) to be a tad traumatic, sentimental fool that I am, and it probably didn't help that Patsy Cline's tune "I Fall to Pieces" kept running through my head.

As an antidote, I revisited one of my favourite George Carlin riffs where he talks about "Stuff".  Thanks for the much needed perspective, George!

I've been pretty quiet, blog wise, since my initial renovation post And So It Begins back in November.  Planning & design are labour intensive but apparently not very blog worthy.  I do hope to make up for it now that things are really rolling along.  For those of you that are interested in a bit of a sneak peek, you can check out My Reno Pinterest Board to get a bit of an idea of where we are, hopefully, heading.  Dining, Kitchen and Interiors provided some of the inspiration.

Comments are most welcome, including your preference: Patsy or George?
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Reluctant Renovator: And so it Begins

I love good renovation stories. I love how they seduce me with their whispered promises, endless energy, optimism and, of course, their humour.

Those were the first words that I wrote on this blog (Renaissance Daze/Days) and they still hold true;  I do love good renovation stories!  The thing is, though I find these stories endlessly entertaining and inspiring, I really don't want to star in one.  Apparently as far as my home is concerned I have become a "Reluctant Renovator" to say the least.

Perhaps it's all my experience managing IT projects.  I would like to believe that my story will be mostly sweetness & light à la Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun but experience says it will probably be closer to that of Tom Hanks in The Money Pit.

Worse yet, I could end up like Nathan Lane & Lee Evans in Mousehunt.

You see where I'm going with this.

Not that I'm actually concerned about intelligent mice sabotaging the project; I worry about things like scope creep, time delays, cost overruns, bad decisions that I will have to live with for the rest of my natural life, etc. etc.  Considering that I've spent the last three years reducing the stress in my life isn't this just like pinning a big "Kick Me" sign to my own back?

Then again, how bad can it be?  I mean really.  Perhaps I can take all my project management experience and actually put it to good use.  Perhaps the end result will be absolutely fabulous!  In any case, I'm finally going to face my fears and give this home renovation project a shot.  As therapy, I'll be blogging a bit about it and above all I'll be trying to keep my sense of humour intact.

Wish me luck!

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An Unexpected Briefing: Hobbit themed Safety Video

Since I began the Walking to Mordor Challenge I've really had Middle Earth & Hobbits on the brain.

 

I've always loved Tolkien's magical realm and now that I'm "walking" through it I'm catching frequent glimpses of it in the everyday world.  Apparently I'm not the only one!

 

Air New Zealand partnered with WETA Workshop on a brand new Hobbit inspired Safety Video. It features cameo appearances including Sir Peter Jackson and it really is a lot of fun.

 

Enjoy!

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Wallis & Elizabeth

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon & Wallis Simpson

 Anyone who has seen Madonna's movie W.E. has caught a glimpse into the life & romance of Wallis Simpson & Edward VIII.  They know that this was a relationship that altered history and they know that "W.E." was the cypher used to symbolise that relationship.  They may also remember a few of the movie's "bit players" including Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, first seen as the Duchess of York and played by Natalie Dormer (who in a lovely little twist also played Anne Boleyn in The Tudors).

Elizabeth pops up again in The King's Speech where she is portrayed as charming & rather quirky by Helena Bonham Carter (who, as luck would have it, also played Anne Boleyn in the ITV mini-series Henry VIII). She goes about her business, dutifully supporting her husband as he makes his reluctant transition from Duke of York to King George VI.

This certainly was the image that I had of Elizabeth; always gracious (except when it came to Wallis of course), always smiling and always a bit boring.  Elizabeth appeared to be more like the "Bound to Obey and Serve" Jane Seymour while Wallis appeared more along the lines of the stylish, sophisticated and, some might say, shrewish Anne Boleyn.

Apparently I was off track with these stereotypes, way off track.  Having dug a bit deeper, it now appears to me that instead of being polar opposites Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and Wallis Simpson were actually more like "sisters under the skin".  Who would have thought that theirs is the "W.E." relationship that is truly fascinating!

My interest in Elizabeth was first piqued when we recently discovered a photo of her in an old family album (see The King's Trip: George VI visits Oba, Ontario) but I took a rather roundabout means of learning more about her starting with That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anne Sebba.  After that I tackled The Queen Mother: The Untold Story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who Became Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother by Lady Colin Campbell.  Both books have eye opening "revelations" and they were good to read in series noting the contradictions and collaborations, especially in some of the more controversial areas.

I certainly came away with a greater appreciation for the era in which they lived and I'm now happily indulging myself with Downton Abbey which, I imagine, reflects a bit of the lifestyle of Elizabeth's early years.  It's interesting to note that Elizabeth is just two years younger than the Downton character Lady Sybil Crawley and that her childhood home, Glamis Castle, was actually turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, which Elizabeth helped to run.

As for my opinion of the two women, it does seem to me that they were very much alike although Elizabeth certainly represented the old ways while Wallis was forging ahead with the new.  I have more respect and sympathy for each of them and I'm going to try to keep an open mind as I discover more.

Gareth Russell's excellent post,  Beyond a stereotype  should help me with this.  As he relates "The six wives of Henry VIII hover in our collective imagination, fulfilling our need for female stereotypes or historical fantasies".  It's intriguing that this also seems to be the fate of Wallis & Elizabeth.

Wallis & Elizabeth at the funeral of the Duke of Windsor, 1972

Have you already discovered Wallis and Elizabeth?  What's your opinion of these two "warring wives of Windsor"?

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• The King's Trip: George VI visits Oba, Ontario