One Part Inspiration...

In a few weeks, my family is coming.  The preparations are in full gear.  I find myself looking at my house and garden, wondering what jobs I should tackle, so that my house doesn't look like it always does. One of the things that has been on my list, is to get my windows cleaned.  We have really great windows.  We replaced them all as part of our 're-do' of The Pokeaway and every time I look at them, I like them better and better.  They slide easy.  They have a great profile and the screens work.  The only problem is, that they get dirty. This year has been particularly bad because there was a lot of birds who made deposits on the windows.  I knew that if I didn't get them cleaned before my family arrived, I would have to stand at strategic spots during the whole visit to try and cover them up:  " Hey look, what's over there?  Away from the dirty window?!" Admittedly, I don't like cleaning windows.  It is very time consuming. ...

When we first began our adventure at  The Pokeaway, the drive to get there seemed long.   It is only 10 minutes from the nearest Costco,  but for many of my drives out there,  there was a certain spot on the trip where I began to question  whether I had missed the turn off.   And then a few kilometers later, there it was.   If I just stayed on the road, and didn't panic,  the turn off would appear,  and soon, I would arrive at home. I find myself doing a mental check each time I travel this road.   "Remember?  This is the spot in the road, where you feel like  you're never going to get there.   Stay on the road, and soon enough, you'll see the turn off". This internal conversation has happened in my head for four years.  And then a couple of weeks ago,  I saw this sign posted beneath the speed limit sign.   I just had to jump out and take a picture of it.  ...

*A holiday isn't complete without plans to do a whole lot of nothing.  So do it.  Nothing.  That's right, N.O.T.H.I.N.G. *Make sure you have a room with a view.  A nice breeze blowing in the from the lake is a bonus for the evenings - no need for an air conditioner with the fresh air to lull you to sleep. *It's always nice to people watch, and dream about what life would be like if you had a private plane and a boat to take you away to the far island.  This costs next to nothing and there's no need for maintenance or extra insurance. *Take lots of walks along the pier. * Poke your nose into the shops and look at all the things you don't need to buy. *Take a 'walk-back' to pick up one or two things to remind you of your time away - not souvenirs because no one needs another fridge magnet, or spoon with the name of the place on it - but something you will enjoy using and remembering the lazy hazy days you spent pretending you had nothing...

This is one of our experiments this year.  My husband likes to plant things and started really early with veggies and flowers.  The only problem was that our dining room/hothouse was so encouraging, that the plants bloomed too fast and it was too early to put them in.  So we resorted to Plan B:   Take the rest of the flower seeds and throw them in the ground and see what happens.   To help the new plantings out, we put in some petunias, and rosemary to fill in some of the gaps. To my surprise and delight, the nasturtium, marigolds and something else which I can't quite identify yet, have stuck their heads through the ground and begun to grow. This, in spite of the very thick, clay-like soil.  I have been encouraging them by watering them, and weeding around them whenever I water. I call it "My Little Girl's Garden"    My other favourite part of the garden is 'my little'girl'.  My daughter gave her to me a few years ago for a ...

I have waited a long time to sit and write this post.  It has taken all that I could muster, not to jump the gun.  And now, the time has arrived. Time to pop the cork and celebrate! Each piece of gold melds into the next to create a ring. Similarly, the memories of 25 years together have sort of melded together like one solid ring....... Our wedding:  royal blue - handmade invitations which I labored intensively over to get the calligraphy just right - buying a house together before we said I do [still love the front door of that house every time I drive by] - composing a song and recording it [my only professional recording to date] to have sung to my husband before I came down the aisle - a lovely blue-sky day with a light breeze - dry ice for the photos courtesy of some other bride and groom who were in the day before -  Our first house:  brick - corner lot - lots of windows where we looked out as we ate and made up stories about the people who were...

Love this look.  Clean, bright, modern with a touch of old world.   Love this look too.   Love the floors.  Love the water coming out from the stove.  Love the butcher block.   Oh and this one: Clean and bright.  Love the bead board.   Although these three looks are fabulous, they don't fit our budget at all.   We have had three or four kitchen cabinet guys in and all have given different quotes - also out of our budget.  So, for months now, I have been scouring the online sales - searching for "Kitchen cabinets", hoping to find something that will suit our purposes. Here are some of the current choices: The size may be right, but I don't like the cabinet look at all.   Or this: There are lots of these - seems solid oak isn't what it used to be and lots of people are 'upgrading'.  "Upgrading" is not something I can relate to because for three years, I have had a pseudo-kit...

Remember this?  This was the floor that we took up to replace with new hardwood flooring.  It had some potential, and we kept it in storage.  In fact, my Dad removed it piece by piece in the dining room and kitchen when he knew we had to do some remedial work below the floor.   Well, my husband has been in the process of renovating his new office.  He did the same thing in the office that we did in the house - ripped out walls, removed flooring, redid the ceiling, added walls and so on.  The flooring was industrial strength carpeting.  Although he wanted an industrial look in the office, he didn't want that                                                                   carpet, so out it came. Eventually, he decided to use our old flooring to create the look he wanted in the off...