Well, I figure it's time for another home reno post, as there finally seems to be some "movement at the station". We had hoped to race the winter last year, and get the roof on and windows in so that we could heat the inside and work could continue over winter. Sadly, our builders lost the race, and the house has been pretty much snowed in for the last 4 months. During winter we had a bit of drama, including finding mould and rot in the new timber that had been used in the frame (let's not go there) which resulted in a few heated exchanges with the builder, but we have now moved on, both in terms of solutions and emotionally. We also found a lot more rot and decay in the older walls, and by now, with a bit of extra demolishing (oh, joy), I can safely say I will have a 90% brand-new house. Not what I ever wanted, but that's the way it's turned out, and I'm TRYING to roll with it. The only bits of old that are left are the end walls, the staircase, one or two individual bit of interior wall that we could save, and, um... the chimneys, and that's about it. I am not going to complain or whinge at this point, apart from mentioning the fact that if I had known in the beginning I was getting a new house, I certainly wouldn't have opted for leaving the original floor plan of a 1890s workers boarding house. But... let's not go there either.
Now the temps are up above zero again, and everything is moving at a cracking pace! Yesterday we had our windows put in. This is a huge step, one which has suggested the quiet hope that we may actually see a finished house at some stage. Because the house is in a heritage area - this inner-city suburb has been included in Riga's UNESCO world heritage site because of its untouched (ha!) wooden architecture - our facade has to be traditional, and so our windows are quite lovely, stained and oiled wood. Amazing to see 24 of them being installed in one day (Maria, you said you wanted to sew curtains when you came to visit in June.... well there's certainly lots of opportunities for you to express yourself!). All sewerage and water pipes are going in, and Jem has spent today pacing things out in the house to work out where our electricity switches are going. So things are getting a little more exciting for us!
Whenever we drive out to see how building work is going, the boys are rebellious. We always spend way too long there, and they can't run around because of all of the holes in the floors and nails and building trash around. Their initial excitement when we bought "Jeff" (this is the name they gave the house way back then) was quickly replaced by dread and boredom when they realised that "Jeff" was going to monopolise their parents' time and patience, and meant long hours of sitting in the car waiting for us to finish talking to builders. They also have not been able to visualise the place when it will be finished - and let's face it, all of us have had trouble at times - and so have started to develop a fear that we will one day have to sleep and eat in the huge expanse of demolished and rotting timber that we keep talking about. But I get the feeling that yesterday was also a turning point for the boys, because the windows made it seem more "house-like", and after Mikus was helped to climb up the timber frame so that he could perch on the third floor under the rafters, everyone seemed a bit happier.
In the next update we are hoping to have our facade almost finished - the boards we are cladding the house with have an old-fashioned profile, and have been painted in a lovely, powdery, matt traditional Swedish paint. The colour has turned out very orange, though, and I get the feeling that pretty soon "Jeff" will be re-christened the "carrot-house"!




Keeping the old staircase is my last stand. Lord help the builder who suggests "we just have to dismantle the staircase while we work on the floor, don't worry, we will put it back in for you, only straighter". The poor man saw what it's like when I go beserk!

A visit to Riga Zoo at this time of year is always a must - the ice has finally started to melt, spring is in the air, and the animals have woken up and are a-snuffling.
Every time we go to the zoo we draw.  Usually it was just Tiss but now Mikus has started as well.  Its a great pastime, because it makes the boys stop and examine the animals more closely.  This time, Mikus' rendition of a camel (complete with a very realistic pooing action) was priceless, and Tiss sketched an incredibly lifelike stick insect.  The fun bit was guessing which animals they were at the end - because I (M) had to work ALL WEEKEND, and only got the second-hand stories of the animals they saw. 

So, things have been hectic as usual around here. Only this time things seem to have come to some culmination - and a few things had to snap, so that we could restore some kind of calm here around the house. Ever since I had kids - no actually, I remember this feeling started some time when I was still unmarried and at uni - I have not had enough hours in the day. I don't know if its a personality flaw. I suspect it is - the fact that my life is, and for years has been so full of commitments, interests and responsibilities that I have not had time to stop and "chill". Heaven forbid I could ever say I was "bored". This concept has not entered my universe since primary school! So I guess it must be a personality flaw - because let's face it, no one aside from Barack Obama can really be that busy that they have no time to relax and do nothing at some point in the last ten years. In my profile description for a group I joined a few years back, the other group members describe me as a "mūžīgi skrienošā māte" (translation : the eternally on-the-go mother), so others must identify this "busy, busy, busy" side of my existence as well.
I guess it would be easy to fix, if I could identify where it all went pear-shaped. But I can't. All I know is that there is NO TIME, and I am constantly behind in my housework, payments, promises, meetings, blog updates, etc. Maybe I set standards too high? Hmmm, hard to believe, for me "near enough" is "good enough" most of the time. But to be fair, I do give myself a hard time about not updating this blog often enough. I feel like I should post on here more often to describe our life in Latvia and things we've been up to - and then tonight I stopped and thought about it. How many of the people who read my blog are themselves more efficient updaters and communicators? How much do I know about your (yes, you know who you are) lives and what you are doing with them? Apart from an awesome sister-in-law who is a prolific blogger - I am living vicariously through her pregnancy - most of the rest of you get your own lives together. Get stuff done around the house. Organise your own holidays. Watch a bit of TV, read the Saturday papers. All that stuff that normal people do while they're not updating their blogs. Well, I say - good for you. And good for me, too! So enough of guilt tripping myself.
What I have done recently to give myself a bit more time and energy is leave my singing group. Time will tell if its permanent or temporary. The girls have been such a big part of us living in Latvia, of the cultural contacts we have made and our understanding of the locals. A way of upkeeping the Latvian culture we fought so hard for in Australia. The twice a week rehearsals and common weekend performances were killing me, though - having participated for 7 years - and so I have left for a period of time to take stock, take a breather, and clean out my cupboards. Literally! Since leaving, of course I haven't joined the gym like I said I would. I also haven't read any significant books, or caught up with more friends, as was the intention. I have, however, got a tidier house than I have had for a long, long time - which makes and incredible change in the daily psychological grind. I have also got (marginally) happier kids, mainly, I think, because I myself am less rushed and stressed. So amen for that!
Another reason why I haven't posted for a while is because I realised that my blog could be easily renamed "Weather and Children", which in my opinion, does not make for very interesting reading. I vowed that I would not have more than the occassional post about either weather/children, and so I have stopped myself from updating on the constancy of the snow, or the developmental milestones of my ankle biters (like your own kids aren't doing/haven't done similar things at similar times...). Since this observation, though, I have surmised that life is largely made up of the above two factors (hi Dad!), so there's not much to say, really.
Anyhow, next week - the traditional Easter round up. Can't wait for that! I'll try to do it with minimum mention of kids'egg hunts, snow, mud, sun and air temperature. Ok? Ok. Cheers!

So seeing as we are avoiding comment on winter or the cold, here are some pictures of us on an excursion to the old town last weekend. Beautiful view of the Daugava River in the back. (Yes, it's all still a big block of ice)

And while we're on the subject of less kids commentary: here are M and M loving the recent toys exhibition at the Latvian National Museum of History. Getting into character as two little devils...

Here's Mikus this morning in line for a haircut. His hair is about as unkempt as our house and family at the moment! We have been super busy, as always, and the last thing I've wanted to do is update this blog. The endless winter is taking its toll, too. Last week it actually got sunny and the snow began to melt, and it seemed that there was an end in sight to the cold and ice. Yesterday and today it started snowing again. And I say, enough is enough. It's the middle of March already! I'm hoping to write a proper post soon, but for now, thanks for tuning in. Over and out!
PS. On the flickr link (right) there are some pics of our super-fast trip to Hamburg/Bremerhaven to visit some museums and get out of the daily grind. We went last weekend and very much enjoyed the environmental educational "experience", Klimahaus, a multimillion dollar experiential journey. We also stopped in at miniature world, which had truly amazing miniature trains going through all kinds of terrain. Even a mother of sons found it fascinating!