Couples – Page 3 – Cynthia Reyes

A Good Home, Aging Well, Apples, Architecture, Autumn, Canada, Childhood Memories, Country Living, Couples, Flowering shrubs, Flowers, Following your dreams, Garden, Gardening, Home, Home Decor, Homes, Interior Design, Life in canada, Lifestyle, Lunch, Physical challenges, Physical health, Renovating, Vegetables

At Home With Valerie Rowley – Pt. 2

April 28, 2014June 23, 2015 Cynthia Reyes

Interior designer Valerie Rowley and her husband Chris took a big risk in 1993 when they bought their future home. For one thing, the countryside house north of Toronto was quite run-down.

“We immediately saw the potential but we hadn’t sold our existing house and it was during the recession. So did we play it safe and wait? Nah! We bought it and just fervently hoped our other one sold (we were up against another bidder so really had no choice).”

The other house sold, in the nick of time.

Looking at the house today, you wouldn’t know all the work Val and Chris took on. “We virtually rebuilt the interior of this home. And made the garden almost from scratch – unless you count the few scrubby six-foot cedars that we inherited. It took many years which is why we feel we have so much of ourselves invested in it.” Val’s favourite interior spaces are the kitchen and sunroom. “The sunroom is full of light all year round. It’s also where I raise my vegetable and flower seedlings, grow watercress, herbs and salads through the winter, take cuttings of summer geraniums. To have this area full of pink, salmon and red blooms through the snow season makes the monochrome of winter bearable.” Favourite outdoor spaces?
The garden is an important part of “home” for Val and Chris. “Luckily, Chris enjoys physical work a lot more than I do, so it’s a good partnership. I grow things and prune and he digs holes and chops down branches. And we have a young weeding lady who is also a budding opera singer!” In late summer and early fall, there’s the harvest.
It takes work. But as you can see from Chris’ smile, it’s work they love doing. They plan to keep doing it for as long as possible.

Many people today are drawn to houses that look like they belong in a glossy interior design magazine. Valerie, an interior designer, and her husband Chris, a TV producer, didn’t do that. They bought a run-down place and worked hard at it for 20 years. Today, for this couple, this place is — quite simply — home.

“I guess because everywhere I look, what I see is immensely satisfying to me,” says Valerie. “The flowers (growing, not cut) that I always have everywhere, the artifacts that Chris and I have accumulated from numerous foreign countries over the years, the carefully chosen furnishings and the general knowledge that we have constructed a home that is very personal and comforting to the two of us. It all works.”

“We have no intention of leaving,” says Val, “ until we physically can’t handle the work it entails – and it does entail work!”

“It’s about staying as healthy as one can as one ages,” says Val. “I think it’s important for everyone to realize life doesn’t have to stop when the wrinkles and aches and pains start. “

Bravo, Val and Chris. You’re an inspiration.

A Good Home, Animals, Barns, Canadians, Country Living, Couples, Dogs, Life in canada

At Home with Valerie Rowley Pt. 1

April 28, 2014June 24, 2015 Cynthia Reyes

My mother always raised chickens. And when my husband and I got a place smack-dab in the country, some years ago, I wanted to raise chickens.

“Too much flippin’ work,” he said. “Never mind the fact that chickens attract weasels, foxes, you name it. No chickens!”

I got the drift: No chickens!

So imagine my delight in discovering, years later, that someone I know raises chickens. And – what’s more – invited me to come visit with her and them!

That someone is designer Valerie Rowley. She has 5 varieties of chickens.

“Silver Laced Wyandottes (small, bossy little hens); Buff Orpingtons – large, golden, affable hens – the archetypal Easter chick in fact. We also have Black Australorps – the Angelina Jolie of chickens with lustrous black feathers and large round eyes. “

“Then we have the big Light Brahmas. Grey and black with lovely feathery feet, they always make me smile. They are extremely vocal with a wide chicken vocabulary of sounds and a clumsy, waddling gait .”

“And then we have the Ameraucaunas. They lay the blue and green-shelled eggs – a throw back to a jungle fowl years ago. Sweet birds but tend to get picked on and rarely fight back.”

Happy memories from my childhood came flooding back at the sight of all these chickens roaming around the barn and the yard outside.

But raising chickens does have its challenges. Just the other day, Val was busy sewing a “chicken saddle” to protect the back feathers of Cleopatra, a hen who had attracted the amorous advances of Mr. T., the rooster.

Mr. T., Val says, “is still currently denuding more than a few of his favourite hens of their neck and back feathers in the throes of his passion”.

Well … er … ahem….

After saying hello to Mr. T and the flock, I then met the dogs. Val and her husband Chris raise and train Belgian Shepherd Dogs – the Tervueren variety.

“There are four varieties of Belgian Shepherd, but I like the Tervueren because it is not only extremely smart, athletic and loving but also very beautiful. And aesthetics mean a lot to me of course! They are also a healthy breed – not so popular, therefore not badly bred.”

Val says the Tervueren is not a dog for everyone. “They can be strong-willed and when young, often in constant motion.”

“You have to like exercise to own one of these dogs! But when they work well they look amazing. Neither Chris nor I would have anything else now.”

Thank you, Val, for a really lovely visit.

Next: Part 2. Val’s favourite spaces in her house and garden.

A Good Home, Architecture, Canadiana, Canadians, Country Living, Couples, Courage, elderly Parents, Flowers, Following your dreams, Garden, Home, Home Decor, Inspiration, Interior Design, Life in canada, Lifestyle, Photographs, Prince Edward County, Renovating, Restoration, Restoring old houses, Spring Bulbs

Almost There – John’s House Pt. 5

April 24, 2014April 24, 2014 Cynthia Reyes

Ever get the impression that this blog is my way of living vicariously through others? That I write stories about people who do things I wish I could do — or used to be able to do?

If so, you’d be partly right.

But what John Garside is doing – almost entirely by himself – blows my mind. And now, as he nears his self-imposed deadline for moving Ann and himself into their house in Prince Edward County, I find myself holding my breath every time a new email comes from John.

Will this be the email where John finally confesses that he needs a break from all this work, and that – promise or no promise – the idea of moving in this spring is ridiculously un-do-able?

But it never is. Not when he has to repair major cracks in the coach house foundation (below). Not when he undertakes the delicate restoration of original ceiling medallions. Not even when he is clearing out the basement.

A lot of the work has been onerous. As for the basement, John says it “was very crowded — 100 years of clutter — and cut up with old wooden partitions etc. This was totally removed by me. 6,300 lbs. of stuff!!”

Right now, John’s working on finishing up the library.

The more John restores the house, the closer he feels to it, and the more he learns about its past. He’s made a few intriguing discoveries. Like the original signatures of the first owner and his young son, written in concrete.

“William W. Bedell,” explains John, “was the father. Willet V. Bedell was his only son. The boy would have been only 7 or 8 years old when he did it.”

Sadly, Willet died as a young man. It was during the First World War, “on a Troop Ship in 1917 en route to France”.

The second family to own the house were the Wards, though John doesn’t yet know who exactly “Envers” was. There’s still a lot to learn about the home’s history.

John’s original move-in date was April 30. But life follows its own course.

Just a few weeks ago, John’s mother’s health declined suddenly. She died within days.

This spring is a time of change for John, Ann, and family.

It’s also a time of renewal.

After a rough winter, a flock of tiny blue scilla flowers is blooming in the garden. It’s one of the first flowers of spring.

And inside the house, John keeps repairing and restoring.

Another room done, one left to go. Then, after all the cleaning up, comes the big move.

The movers are now booked for May 7.

We’re cheering you on, John!

Photos by John Garside.

A Good Home, Couples, Following your dreams, Home, Home Decor, Homes, Inspiration, Interior Design, Life in canada, Lifestyle, Prince Edward County, Renovating, Restoration, Spring, Woodwork

Part 2: John’s House in Prince Edward County

March 27, 2014February 11, 2015 Cynthia Reyes

TACKLING THE GREEN ROOM

John Garside and his wife Ann sold their home in big-city Toronto last year and bought a house two hours away in Prince Edward County. They’ve been living in a condo nearby while John renovates the house.

Prince Edward County is known for small towns, farms and lakeside living. In the last decade, its vineyards and wines, fine cheeses and restaurants have also become popular. The County is a well-known mecca for artists and weekenders.

John has bravely promised Ann that they’ll be able to move in by the end of April.

But their “new” home is more than a hundred years old, huge — almost 4,000 square feet — and needs repair. John, who has never taken on a project of this scope, is doing almost all the work by himself.

The first room he tackled was “The Green Room” on the main floor.

“It was the worst room in the house, ” he says. “A water leak from the 1980’s had caused a great deal of damage to the plaster ceiling, walls and the crown moldings.”

John took on the challenge –– very carefully. He rebuilt ceiling, walls, and even the crown moldings.

“I repaired what others would have scrapped, and I did it all by myself! And I had never done anything like this in my life!” You can hear the joy in his voice.

Every time he looks at the room, John feels “a glow of satisfaction and a sense of oneness with the house”.

The house is full of beautiful features worth preserving. John has to proceed cautiously.

He says, “You think about each action a great deal before you act. That way the unpleasant surprises are held to a minimum.”

The skills he learned from his grandfather — extreme patience, careful planning, attention to detail and observing safety rules –are all essential right now. ‘Measure twice, cut once’ is the rule.

“You must understand,” he says, “that the project you are working on is not modern, but 100 years old. So you must take time to think about what you are about to do, and plan in detail how you are going to achieve success.”

John puts in 8 hours every day — and no slacking off. After all, the end of April is just around the corner.

Will he make the deadline? We’ll keep checking in.

Original Photos by John Garside