Playin' Catch Up

Whew! It's been a busy summer so far - not much time for posting so I thought I would share what we've done in photos. Grab some coffee and sit back and visit with us for a while :)

We've taken many road trips to Amish Country which is only a 20 minute ride from us. It's gorgeous country farmland and it's my "Happy Place". I hope to move there some day but for now I'm happy taking car rides there to de-stress. I can get lost on the back roads for hours! Good thing Miss Pearl likes it too :) 

This particular day the men were at their small school chopping wood for the winter. I asked if I could take some photos and they said yes. I didn't take any photos of the men themselves though, as I know they don't like that so I stuck to horses, buggies, and beautiful scenery.

This guy was raking hay the old way and right next to him in another field was a guy doing the same thing but using a tractor. This way appeals to me more and it sure was a lot more quiet than the guy using the tractor!

My Dad, Miss Pearl and I went strawberry picking - photo taken with my phone.

Miss Pearl and I went pickin' raspberries one day...

and met some friendly turkeys while we were there

We did some of this...

and some of this....

We also took a trip to Ottawa to see my eye doc last weekend and stopped at a gorgeous one room school house museum (coming in another post). Doc said everything is going good with my eye and she was pleased with the results of the operation. 

I've been doing some sewing and hope to have a few new finished items posted soon. I love how they're turning out.

It's a long weekend here in Canada so it's gonna be another busy one. Hope you all have a great weekend!

New Finds and help needed for display!

We have a new Antique store in the small town where I live....in fact it's been there since Feb! I've never noticed it as it's tucked away in a small corner of the one strip mall (if you can call it that) that I drive by almost every time I go to town. That just goes to show how observant I am :)

There are 4 dealers in there and the stuff they have is all antique/primitive and very $$$! I only found a few items that I would be willing to pay that much for and the next time I go, I'll try to take a few photos.

I did purchase this wooden Coca Cola box that I love. He was asking $20 but he gave it to me for $15. Believe it or not that's not a bad price around here. I know you can probably get them a lot cheaper elsewhere but I never seem to get a chance to go to the great Antique places that Southern Ontario has.

 My problem is this...I'm not sure how to display it or what to put in it. I was thinking some old bottles with cheese cloth wrapped around the lids but it's quite high at 13 inches and I don't have any bottles that big. It also has a board in the middle to separate it in half. Any suggestions or ideas are very welcome :)

I also found this old watering can at a recent farm/barn sale. It's a bit dented on one side but still a great find!

That's about all that's new old around here for now. Have a great night!

Miss Pearl & The Squirrel

We have a returning visitor and this year Miss Pearl and I are making friends with her. She's not afraid of either of us but will let Miss Pearl get a lot closer to her than I can. I think I'm too big and scary lookin'! It's now part of our daily routine to go out and feed the "quirl" 3 times a day.

Bread Board and Rolling Pin

I've seen these all over the internet lately and thought I'd try my hand at making some. I decided to add some cross stitching to them because I love hand stitching and it's something relaxing to do at night while the house is quiet. I just listed them on Ebay in separate auctions.  I've got a few other spring items in the works and hope to have them completed soon.

Other than that, not much is new here - still waiting on spring to arrive!

My first Prairie Bonnet

With a ton of help from my Mom who is an excellent seamstress, I finished my first Prairie Bonnet last night! They're harder to make than they look....LOL
 I made it in a nice pastel pink to bring a touch of Spring to any home. I hope to have more finished soon. I just listed it on Ebay.

My new Jupiter Lantern

I ordered a new Jupiter lantern from Lehman's - the first order I've ever placed with them. I was very happy with the customer service I got on the phone, the shipping charges and shipping time (2 weeks to Canada), and I'm very pleased with the lantern itself.

 In an effort to reduce our hydro costs, I'm going to try using a lantern in my kitchen in the evenings when supper and the dishes are all done and since my computer desk is in the kitchen, I'm writing this post by lantern light.


 It's really not that bad. Of course it wouldn't be ideal for the sewing and crafting I do at my kitchen table but it's fine for when I'm on the computer. It will be interesting to see if it helps - can't hurt trying right! Did you know that 1 in 5 Canadians can't afford rent AND hydro? I'm sure it's the same in the US and other parts of the world.  I can't imagine having to choose between the two and I'm very thankful I don't have to. 

Blast of Winter

Old Man Winter decided to come callin' today and is supposed to continue his visit for another day. I went outside and took a quick picture of the 2 small trees I have decorated in the yard. There's a lot more snow now than when I took the photo. In fact, I think we have more snow on the ground now than we did all last winter. 

Notice the perfect snowflake at the top middle of the picture...pretty cool!

~It's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas~

Fun Facts about Christmas Trees

- It’s estimated that two million Christmas trees are sold across Canada every year.

- Canada harvests around 5.5 million trees annually. Of those, B.C. produces 300,000.

- In 2008, Canada exported most of its trees to the United States. The breakdown of sales per province was as follows: 860,900 from Quebec, 540,000 from Nova Scotia, 307,100 from New Brunswick, 11,400 from Ontario, 3,300 from B.C. and 51,600 from Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan combined.

- Canada exports to other countries, including Mexico, Japan, the Cayman Islands, Panama, Venezuela, the Bahamas, Aruba, Barbados, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Honduras, British Virgin Islands, Colombia, Jamaica, El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Turks and Caicos Islands, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Singapore, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Nicaragua, St. Vincent and Grenada.

- The species that sell the most are the balsam fir and the Fraser fir.

- It takes six to 15 years for a tree to mature and bring to market.

- For every tree harvested, two to three seedlings are planted in its place

- A newer Christmas tree option is the "rental" idea. One company offering this service is Burnaby’s Evergrow Christmas Trees, which will deliver a potted tree to you and pick it up after Christmas.

The facts about artificial trees:

- Most are produced abroad — in China, Taiwan and South Korea.

- On average, an artificial tree lasts between seven and 10 years.

Source: The Canadian Christmas Tree Growers’ Association and the Recycling Council of B.C.

Keeping it simple outside too

I'm keeping true to a simpler Christmas outside too. In past years I've been so stressed out trying to 'do it all'  so this year less fuss + less stress = more enjoyment time and I'm already noticing a difference. I'm actually enjoying every bit of preparing for Christmas this year.

 Here are a couple of gatherings outside my back door (the one visitors come to).

An old milkcan holds a bunch of silk poinsettias. An old rusty bucket and tool caddy await fresh greens that I still have to go cut in our backyard. The vine reindeer was purchased for me by my oldest daughter a few years ago :)

I got this wooden toboggan at a garage sale this summer for $5 - can't beat that! It will be put to good use this winter when we take Grand-baby for rides. And Santa is there to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

I hope to get out and do some shopping today but they're calling for a major storm so we'll have to wait and see. 

Thankful for the views outside my window

Although our Thanksgiving was in October, I’ve enjoyed reading all the posts about everyone being thankful this time of year so I thought I would share a couple of things that I’m thankful for and that make me smile when I look out my window.

A few days ago I was lucky enough to have a special visitor that only shows up a couple of times a year…a gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker. I grabbed my trusty camera and took a few shots of him before he spread his massive wings and flew away. They really are very large birds!  Only one picture turned out clear enough. I was thankful for seeing him AND getting a photo.

That photo was take a couple of days ago and this is what it looks like outside today…

I’m thankful for the beauty of winter and my warm cozy home.

Sunset on Lake Nipissing

This is what I was doing last night. Even caught a few fish :)

Our garden is blooming!

Here are a few photos of our garden this year. Last year it was so neglected due to both hubby and I being sick, but by the way it’s blooming this year, I think it’s forgiven us :) The lilacs are done now…I always miss it when they leave. This year they were forever covered in butterflies and bumble bees.





And here’s our newest addition – a gooseberry plant my Dad bought for me. I love gooseberries!

Road Trip Sunday

Have you ever had one of those days where you just HAD to get away? I have them ALL the time. Those are the days that I usually wake up my teenage daughter and ask if she wants to go for drive. Sometimes hubby comes along if he doesn’t have too much work and now, grandbaby comes too! Last Sunday it was just the girls and we took a trip to a small town about an hour away called Burks Falls. It was raining a bit and I thought it would be a good day to visit some great craft and furniture stores that I’ve been to before. Guess I should have called first because both stores were closed! However, it gave us the opportunity to explore the tiny village of 1000 and find new places to visit on our next trip. We did manage to find a Flea Market that was open but it was so packed you couldn’t really see anything or get to it! Nothing was priced, and when I asked the lone man tending the market what a few pieces that caught my eye cost, I knew why the place was packed tight to the rafters. His prices were outrageous. I mean, he had some nice antiques and a lot of junk, but he wanted a lot for the junk too! I guess he’ll keep adding to the pile because at those prices, I don’t think he’ll sell too much!

After finding that place I found a garden center/craft store with all types of wooden birdhouses outside but it was closed on Sundays too. It did have this gorgeous old washer and wicker chair by the front entrance and as soon as I saw them I just knew they would make a great photo! On the ride home, I wondered how many loads of laundry were done on that beauty. My Mother had a washer similar to this and I remember spending a lot of time watching her put the clothes through the wringer. I loved how they came out flat!

We ended up going down a small dirt road that followed a lake in another small town and I was surprised to see all the Trilliums in the woods. I’ve never seen so many in one place before.  The  white trillium is Ontario’s Provincial flower and the symbol of the Government of Ontario.

While I was taking photos of the Trilliums, my daughter asked “what that thing was down the road ahead of us?” I looked up to see it moving towards the bush. As I inched my way toward it in the car, I could tell it was a wild turkey. I love seeing animals in their natural habitat like this. He wasn’t too scared of us as I snapped a couple of up close photos.

 

 

And last but not least, we found this cool looking clock in another small town called Sundridge. I couldn’t help but take a photo :) 

All in all it was a pretty good road trip and I think grandbaby enjoyed it too!

Garden gets a makeover

We have a small flower garden that we’ve been redoing this year. It was neglected last year due to both hubby and I being sick most of the year. I thought I’d share a few photos of the garden makeover we’ve been working on. I’ll post photos throughout the summer when the different flowers appear. Right now it’s pretty bare but it’s starting to look more like hoped it would.

Hubby and my brother Vic raked, weeded, and added 25 bags of red cedar chips over plastic tarps to help keep the weeds down.

This is the lilac bush that hubby bought me and planted in 2000. The buds are just starting on it but it should be in full bloom soon. I LOVE lilacs and can’t wait to smell their sweetness!

Can you spot the little boy fairy sitting on the wheel? My neighbour down the road owns a gorgeous farm and he had a few of these old wheels laying around. We made a  trade – this worn out old wagon wheel for the swing set my girls had outgrown. I definitely got the better end of that deal!

I took an old rusty wheel barrow wheel and leaned it up against some trees in the back and added the girl fairy to a piece of driftwood. The garden stone is one that Shelby made in school with colourful marbles and stones.

I found this old red water pump at a yard sale last year and fell in love with it but didn’t buy it. When I got home, I told my Mom about it and she handed me the money and told me to go get it for my birthday present. Thanks Mom! You’re the best there is! It looks so perfect in the garden – especially with an old rusty bucket hanging from it.

Now all we need are some warmer days and flowers! I think I might even try my hand at a few vegetables this year. I’ll start small for now and see how that goes. If it goes well and it’s something that we enjoy, I might have to plough up my back yard and make a real vegetable garden for next year! Learning to be more self sufficient is something I’m really taking an interest in lately.

Farmhouse Utensil Rack

I’m slowly adding more and more primitive pieces to my home. I’m transforming from country to primitive decor one piece at a time so my family doesn’t freak out. When I was making this last night, my daughter said “Mom, you’re making our house look old!” and although I didn’t say it out loud, I was thinking “And that’s a bad thing?” LOL

Actually she’s been pretty supportive and helps me a lot. Hubby doesn’t seem to mind so much either and Grandbaby just likes watching me work.

I was tired of looking at the shiny silver utensil rack by my stove so yesterday I did something about it. Daughter, Grandbaby, and I headed off to Home Depot and purchased a 1x4x6’ pine board. I had the other supplies I needed at home already. The board cost $8.46 – Wow, wouldn’t want to build a home out of this stuff! LOL

I cut the board to the desired length, painted it black, sanded it and primmed it up, then sealed it with a couple of coats of varnish.  I added some old nails that were removed from a 100 year old barn in Kentucky. I think it’s so much better now!

Notice the antique muffin tin hanging on the wall? – it’s from 1912 and was a wedding gift to a young bride.  I bet the muffins tasted so yummy cooked in an old wood stove. Items like this are incredible to me – I wish I knew the history behind every piece I have collected so far. Whenever I’m at a sale of any type – yard, garage, estate, auction, etc... I always ask if the seller knows anything about the history of the item and I keep track of it so when I hand it down some day it will be complete with it’s own unique story.

Here is the Before rack…

and here is the after rack…

Outdoor skating rinks

Outdoor rinks are everywhere in northern Ontario – especially in the rural areas. There are a few in the cities but most are in the smaller towns, villages, and outlying areas.

Here is a photo of the outdoor skating rink across the road from our house.

In December they replaced all the boards with brand new ones, replaced the fencing behind the goals and levelled the ground so the ice would be nice and smooth - something that has needed to be done for a long time. They had men working there for weeks and they finally finished it in January while all the neighbourhood kids waited patiently.

The kids managed to get a few good weeks of skating and hockey time in and then we had a thaw – no more rink for a while. February turned colder and was pretty good until the past few days – another major thaw!  Now, all that's left is a huge melting puddle and a bunch of sad looking faces! Hopefully it will freeze again for the upcoming March Break and they will get a few more days of winter fun before they hang up their skates and put away their sticks for another year. 

I grew up with outdoor rinks and have never really given much thought to them until my in laws came up from  Texas last fall. My MIL took some photos of the rink and that’s when it hit me that not everyone has the luxury of walking down ( or across in my case)  the road to skate or play hockey whenever they want. Some people never get to experience skating outside while big white fluffy snowflakes fall all around you. That’s the best!  And when that happens, everyone grabs a shovel, forms a line, and they work together to clear off the ice.`

I considered myself very lucky as a child because my parents bought a cottage on a small lake which we remodelled into our year round home.  All I had to do was put my skates on and walk across our front yard about 5o yards to a patch of ice that we cleared for a rink. That’s where I learned how to skate but always enjoyed going to the many outdoor rinks with my friends. Most of the rinks had a small shed or attached building that housed a few wooden benches and an old woodstove in the corner. The shed was always a nice warm place to take a quick break. The smell of the maple logs mixed with the aroma of hot chocolate is burned in my memory forever. There was always adult supervision and  kids of all ages.  It was as much a social gathering than anything else – something to do on the long winter nights that seemed way too long when darkness started at 5 PM and you only had 3 TV channels to choose from.

My skating days are pretty much over now and I don’t take my girls anymore because they are old enough to go themselves. In a few years, my Granddaughter will put on her first pair of skates and I’ll be glad to take her and help another generation learn the enjoyment of going to an outdoor skating rink.  Until then I’ll be content just listening to the *boom* of a slap shot echoing off the boards and watching the crowd of skaters from my kitchen window.

Hugs from Connie!