Midweek Celebrations ~ Canada Day!!

Tomorrow is July 1st and that date marks one of my favorite holidays of the year ~ Canada Day. I think of it as the official kick-off to summer ~ a time to gather with family and friends ~ have a BBQ ~



wear red (my favorite color) and white ~



make some yummy treats ~



i have been wanting to try this one the last year or so ~



wave that flag ~



and top off the night with some of these ~



Happy Canada Day!!

Summer Read

Although our book club meetings are wrapping up for the summer ~ we have one evening left and need to pick our summer read. Now I have tons of books in my "to read" pile and cannot wait to get to the cottage so I can lounge and read all day! I would love to hear your pick for a good summer read....



Would you like to join me? I am sure I can find another chair where that one came from...

Back Door Guests

The old saying that "Back Door Guests ~ Are Best" ~ of course this means that your closest friends will always enter through the back door. The way that our home is now we rarely have back door guests as everyone always come through the front as it is more convenient. I hope that in our new home we can make the back door more inviting and love, love this ~



I also love this as a back entryway ~ isn't it just darling ~



I chose this as a back entry as I hope to have a front porch similar to this ~



All pictures can be found here.

Have a lovely week ~

Just a Swingin'

I have always dreamed of a house with a big sprawling veranda where I could place one of these ~



Curl up with a book and some lemonade....





There was one like this where we had our honeymoon ~ we spent more time in the jacuzzi though than the swing!



Happy Week-end!

He Ain't Heavy ~ He's My Brother

I have had to dig deep the last few days ~ they have been trying and stressful. Funny thing is I have not cried ~ I have come close ~ stay strong ~ bend like a willow in the wind.



This was going to start out as a post about music as I sat here tonight loading my old mp3 player to take to my brother as he is in the hospital. In times of trouble or need ~ music has always been there for us ~ to calm or make you laugh and to always sing along!



We were raised with music ~ Dad: the country bumpkin and Mom: loving the old time rock & roll. A wide variety of music was always played in our house, so we grew up to appreciate it and love it.

My brother Gord's old favorites are 80's hair bands ~ so now I have songs that bring back a smile and a memory of our teenage years ~ and I hope these make him smile and help him heal.

Father's Day

This is my Dad ~ the one that treated me like a princess....



I would say from the beginning ~ I was "Daddy's Little Girl"



So ~ on Father's Day I will honor his memory and think of him just a little bit more than usual ~ oh how I miss him....



In some ways it is hard to believe that it has been 8 years.....

A Sweet Giveaway!

Melanie over at My Sweet Savannah is having a giveaway ~ she is an amazing woman ~ head over and say "Hellooooo"

Prom Night!

My sweet, sweet God daughter Jillian's prom was last night. I worked a 1/2 day and headed out to see all the little princesses in their finery ~ I was NOT disappointed! They were beautiful ~ but the most lovely of them all was:



Now I know I am biased here ~ but look at her ~


The dress was breathtakingly gorgeous!



I got out of my car and she was out front of the house for pictures and I almost started into the ugly cry right there! I dried my tears and posed for one with her and another one of my best girls ~ Lisa ~ sister of the prom princess:



After pictures at the house we went to the university grounds and where the locals call the "swan pond"



Princesses on parade ~ the dresses were all beautiful and the boys looked great all decked out too.

This is Matthew ~ brother of the prom princess:



So off she went in her silver flip flops to dance the night away ~ love you girl!

Giveaway!

Head on over to see Maggie at The White Farmhouse II
She is having a giveaway for her 100th post!

My Heart ~ Tagged!

Dear sweet Simone over at The Bottom of the Ironing Basket has tagged me today. I met Simone on line while I was planning my wedding and although we have never met in person ~ I love her like a sister and hope to one day soon see her face to face.

So ~ without further ado:

With as much creativity as you can muster, show your heart in: a picture, a poem, a song (or piece of music), a phrase (or quote), an item of clothing, a place, and (just for fun) a Disney princess. If you want to join in, tag 6 more blogs."

Picture:


This is my husband ~ we will be celebrating 8 years married in August. He is the one that makes my heart happy.

Poem:
"Across the years I will walk with you -
in deep green forests; on shores of sand:
and when our time on earth is through,
in heaven, too, you will have my hand"




Can be found here: http://www.robertsexton.com/images.html

Song:
It is impossible for me to pick just one song as I have too many favorites. One that captures my heart is one that we played as our last waltz at our wedding and my dear sweet boy cried on my shoulder ~ Don Henley’s ~ "Taking You Home".

I had a good life
before you came
I had my friends and my freedom
I had my name

Still there was sorrow and emptyness
till you made me glad
oh and this love
i found strength
never knew i had

And this love
Is like nothing i have ever known
Take my hand
Im taking you home
Taking you home

There were days, lonely days
When the world
Wouldnt throw me a crumb
But i kept on believin
That this day would come

And this love
Is like nothig like i have ever known baby
Take my hand
Im takin you home
Im taking you home
Where we can be with the ones who really care
Home
Where we can grow old together
Keep you in my heart forever

Oh and this love
Is like nothing i have ever known
Take my hand
Taking you home
Taking you home

Yes I am

Quote:
Live ~ Laugh ~ Love



Yes Simone ~ I copied you on this one because it is my mantra.....

Item of Clothing:
Even though I adore my shoes ~ PJ’s are a fav of mine.


Place:
Our Cottage ~ Dorchester Cape, NB

This little spot in the woods is not fancy ~ it has to be "de-moused" (is that a word??) every spring ~ but it is one place where I can go ~ totally relax ~ feel close to nature ~ walk the beach ~ lay in the hammock ~ read a good book and last but certainly not least ~ feel my Dad's presence still.





Disney Princess:
What girl does not want to marry her prince charming! Really now!



So now it is my turn to tag but I am cheating with only 3 ~


Ziz at Chez Zizi
Kim at Mimi Charmante
Maggie at The White Farmhouse II

One of those weeks.....

Have you ever had one of those weeks ~ you know, the ones where you think you just may have to call in dead to work because you are so tired.....

That is the kind of week I am having ~ tired out! I think with all that was going on getting the house ready to list ~ and now the constant upkeep of clean and uncluttered may just be the death of me. Plus every night there is something to do or somewhere to go.

I was suppose to go out tonight with the girls ~ but I am home ~ taking pictures of my flowers and on the computer... Yes ~ I did not go out as I knew one "big girl beverage" would surely knock me on my a**.

So relax I am doing ~ and when I relax ~ I think. Oh Oh ~ she is thinking again! Really though ~ I wandered around my yard ~ no tears this evening ~ rather proud of myself ~ and looked at all the colours ~ the textures and the beauty that just one seed can bring.

I love the different colours and textures in this one although it is a little blurry:



I feel in love with this planter and bought it a couple of years ago:



And what girl does not love peonies! I will miss these when we do indeed sell:



My Mom bought me this a few years back and I love how it has aged:



Tomorrow night is my God Daughter's prom ~ she is a precious little thing ~ so I will be sharing those pictures later.

The Wishing Well

During the planning of our wedding, one of the little details was “what are we going to put our cards in”?? Dad suggested a wishing well ~ something he could build and make it special. There was talk of gathering rocks from the beach by our cottage and some from the river down by Trevor’s parents’ camp. It was set ~ and we were both excited to start the project.

Sadly ~ the only start Dad got on the project was some measurements and drawings as he passed away before he had the chance to start the build or walk me down the aisle. Wishing wells became bittersweet for me after that ~ knowing what he wanted to do and never got the chance.

Last summer my brother pulls up out front and tells me to come outside ~ he has something for me. He is on the road all the time and “every time I drive past these, I think of you & Dad” he says. I do not have to tell you what my dear brother pulled out of the truck:

So now it has a home in the back yard ~ it’s different that the one that Dad was going to build me, but that’s OK. I think I will have to “jazz it up” this summer with some flowers or something. I cannot wait for it to turn grey and get all weathered looking. Thanks Gord!

Sunday, Sunday.....

Don't you just love this shot? Although some days I would like to take a run down it and cannonball into the water ~ today I can see myself sitting on the edge and dangling my feet in the water. Would you like to join me?

The butterflies are gone and dare I say it, I almost feel content today. Content that it is OK that the house goes on the market tomorrow ~ content that we will be in limbo again ~ not knowing where we will live or what we will do between selling here and moving there ~ content that we went up to the new sub division today and picked out the lot we would like ~ content because the house we looked at 2 weeks ago and thought we wanted is not the one we want anymore. Is that OK? Yes ~ I think so ~ because we found one we liked even better. Funny thing is ~ it's not finished yet ~ but I still felt so much better about it than the one that was all finished and "sparkly". We walked up boards to get into it and down a ladder to the basement ~ thinking of things we could do to make it ours.

You see I went to the other house again yesterday ~ by myself ~ looked around ~ opened cupboards ~ tried to place my stuff in this house and you know what ~ nothing fit! What is up with that?? So talk again this afternoon ~ I know ~ I think to much ~ then I talk too much.... So we went for a drive ~ found the new place and then felt much better about everything.

Yes ~ I think everything will be OK.

xo

Looking Ahead...

Yes ~ it's me ~ the same person that was snottin' and bawlin' last week-end about not being sure about putting the house on the market. After our talk and decision to just "do it" ~ hey are we Nike people now, I think not! Anywhooo ~ I am looking ahead ~ new house means new stuff...right??

One thing I have been wanting to do for the last year or so is to re-do our bedroom. I so desperately want a new duvet cover and curtains ~ I want it to be all comfy. So now I am thinking ~ I will have a blank canvas to work with and the colors I am gravitating towards are chocolate brown and blue.

I found these ~











something to think about.... and I think I now need chocolate as I am having a craving.

Happy week-end!

Spool Bed

Oh the history in this piece. It is the bed that my Dad slept in as a child ~ in the farmhouse where he was born and raised. I got this bed back in the late 70’s – my grandmother was fading fast ~ Alzheimer’s disease taking away her wonderful stories and everything that made Grammy, well Grammy. Although the farm was kept in the family, my grandparents took an apartment the most of the furnishings, well the antiques anyway were divided up or sold at auction. So Dad scooped up his childhood bed and it became my new bed. Being a teenage girl who always dreamed of having the white bedroom set from the Sears catalog, decided that this bed that was painted a mustard yellow color would look much better with a coat of white paint. So with Dad’s help – we painted over the yellow and it became my dream bed.

Flash forward 15 years and I am in my own apartment. I had stripped down an old farm chair and could not even entertain the thought and elbow grease that would be required to strip this bed. I was lucky enough to have a co-worker who *loved* doing things like this when she was off. I trucked the pieces over to her and she stripped it down for a price. Oh well ~ I was the one that slapped the white on it….right! Because the white which went over the yellow, which was over the green and so one and so on…. You get the picture.

Once it was stripped we stained it ~ but I was never in love with the color…. So about a month ago, I decided to dig this bed back out as it has been in storage and give it a little face lift. I am back in love with my bed, even though it is not white. This past week-end I put some finishing wax on it and brought it in and set it up. I love how you can still see a hint of the yellow.....



I also found these ones, which I love ~



can be found here and



can be found here