hello edmonton!

Yes, I’m in Alberta – yee haw!  I’m visiting my new niece Matilda – or Tilly (or Tilly-pants as I can’t stop calling her as part of my new role as aunt lame-pants).  Here’s the gratuitous baby-shot:

She’s two months, for those who care about these things (I do now, obviously, but I totally get not getting it, or thinking ‘Why is there a baby pic?  Is she renovating children now?’  Nope, not yet…).

But there’s always renovating and real estate business to distract me, even in the town of oil and new babies.  My brother (also in Edmonton) is condo-hunting, and has enlisted my help.  Well, ‘enlisted’ might be overstating it a bit, I may have just invited myself along (as my Halifax friends will know, I’m always game for a property viewing).  In any case, I’m getting a crash course in Alberta property, which of course, is completely different from Halifax  – being primarily newer and significantly more expensive.  Never one to shy away from spending other people’s money, however, I’m super pumped.

On the renovating front, here’s my sister’s spare room she wants help with:

It might not look that bad, but there are several issues.

You may notice the shelving unit is not exactly straight.  No, that’s not the camera.

The closet doors, and the main door, harken back to the fifties, and not in a particularly good way.

Not really sure what is going on here…

or here.

But not only does Tiff (my sister) not even like the colour (which I actually do, it not being that dissimilar to my own bedroom), it hasn’t even been painted particularly well.  Actually it’s just pretty bad:

It was done by a guy who lived with them for a bit (both the shelving and the paint job).  I believe he now works renovating houses for a living.  Seriously.

Oh Alberta, land of opportunity…

So, the plan is to fix it, particularly as it means I won’t have to lie in bed staring at it, which is already driving me a little crazy after only two days.  But, with a new baby in the house, the speed of decorating is going to be, shall we say, somewhat slower than normal.

Here’s what I found when I came back to ask about paint colour:

So, you know what – maybe it gets done, maybe not.

There’s a few other priorities.