GARAGE SALE SAFARI!

Hello Friends... well, today is the first post of my "garage sale safari".  It is a beautiful sunny day here in the north and I came upon the mother of all fabric sales this morning!  Oooooooohhhhh yeah!  All I came away with was this .... cotton voile.... ( for a tank top maybe?)

Yes folks, I am trying to practice self-control.  NO MORE FABRIC unless I will use it in the immediate future.  (man oh man I am hard on myself!!!!)  There is no sense in trying to fool myself...I have a fabric problem as I have shared before in previous posts.

The market umbrella is a candidate for some fabric painting perhaps and the pig will house some lovely ivy.  I don't really know what grabbed me about the little pig, just that she is so flowery and pretty.

Lastly, check out the flashy mirror!  Just look at it's glossy swirly loveliness.....  momma likey.....

There you have it ... next week I will try to remember to bring my camera for some action shots of the actual sales.... although some people are funny about someone taking pictures of their sale....

Happy Day Friends!

TODAY IS A SPECIAL DAY

On April 28 1975, I had a beautiful baby boy.  Jamie.  He would be 36 today.  Sadly, we lost our precious son to a depressive illness on November 21 2006.  He was handsome, intelligent, thoughtful, articulate and self-made.  He worked his way through university and graduated with an Honors Degree in English.  He got married and had a beautiful baby girl.  His job at the National Library of Canada was a challenging one and he won an award for being the project manager of a website for jazz great Oscar Peterson.

Then one day, he fell ill.  Very very ill.  He thought it was a flu that wouldn't go away.  But the symptoms were all too familiar to me.  Depression.  And he lost the battle with it.  I know that if Jamie were here, he would want me to use this platform to say that if anyone of you or someone you know, has this dark sickness, please seek medical attention immediately.  The symptoms are here at depression.com. 

This day also marks another loss in our lives.  My sweet mother-in-law, Marion, passed away on this day in 1980.  She suffered a major heart attack and passed away on Jamie's 5th birthday.   She was a mother to me in every sense of the word.  I was a very young bride and mother and she took me under her wing, teaching me what I needed to know about caring for my little family.  I loved her so. 

I debated about sharing such personal information on this blog.  I do so with the intent of helping others who may suffer challenges in their own lives.

We do not define our son by how he died, but rather how he lived.  He did the absolute best he could in this life and we are so proud of him.  I feel that we will see him again.  If I didn't have this assurance, I don't think I could get through this.  But, I am getting through and so is my dear husband.  We know that day by day, we must make the decision and effort to feel the joy and happiness that is ours.  Do we feel down, unhappy and sad at times?  Yes, absolutely.  The feelings of loss will always be with us.  But, we must make the best of the remainder of our lives.  We feel we have a responsibility to do this when so many cannot. 

I wish you dear reader, all the love and joy that is yours on this special day. 

IN THE MOMENT

Happy Easter everyone... I hope you are enjoying the love and hope that this day brings.

I am STILL working away on the slipcover for the sofa....

Now I do not especially enjoy sewing slipcovers.  But, I have made up my mind that I will embrace this task with a better attitude.  I keep thinking that it will be a wonderful addition to our decor here at the bungalow.  I am grateful to have a bit of skill which enables me to create this thing.  I am VERY grateful to Miss Mustard Seed for her fabulous tutorial as well!

I think that when we are "in the moment" and savoring it as we ought to, the task at hand seems much more manageable... don't you think?  I like to take a lesson from my adorable Molly...she really lives in the moment too!  Here she is savoring a lovely nap....

Please stay tuned for the big reveal of the slipcover.... hopefully in the very near future!  Happy Day all!

COTTAGEY CHAIR

Is there such a word as cottagey?  Well, I guess there is now!  Happy Day all!  Sorry I have been MIA from this blog for a bit but I have been giving my sofa the "slip".

Now back to the "cottagey chair" which I think turned out so very well.  It sat all winter in the dark recesses of the garage and when I moved my bedroom chair out to the porch, I found this little chair would be a perfect replacement.  That is, with a bit of sanding, cleaning, paint and fabric for the seat.

The fabric on the seat is Liz Claiborne's beautiful linen.  I LOVE this fabric and you will see how much once I have finished the slipcover in my livingroom!  It washes well and even though some thread escapes the little circles which are embroidered on, I can live with that.  The color of it reminds me of beach sand.  Sigh.  Guess I won't be seeing much of that for a while since we got a huge amount of SNOW the other day.  Ugh. 

Well, back to the slipcover....

Linked to http://www.beyondthepicketfence.com/

SLIPCOVERS

Just the word slipcover is enough to send shivers down my spine!  In a word, making them can be....daunting.

However, not according to that slipcover genius, Miss Mustard Seed!   Thanks to her fantastic series of instructional videos, I think I can actually tackle this thing!  And by thing, I mean my velvet sofa.  It is burgundy and looks quite dated.  So, it is off to the store to buy my drop cloths for the slipcover.   If only Ikea were closer, I would just bite the bullet and buy an Ektorp sofa and be done with it.  But alas, my sofa is in good shape and I cannot justify getting rid of it because of the color.  I figure I can cover this thing for under 100.00.

Of course, if I can get this done and if it looks okay, I will tackle the chair which sort of matches the sofa.  It is from Pottery Barn and I bought it last year at a garage sale for 75.00.  It has great "bones" as they say and would be worth the time and energy to slipcover it as well.

Wish me luck friends!  If I am missing in action on this blog, it means I am up to my armpits in fabric!!!!!!

PLANTS ARE PEOPLE TOO

I know...weird title.  But, I do have a plant which seems very much like a person to me in that it likes to go to "bed" at around the same time each night!  I love this little plant so very much...

This is a "shamrock" plant.  Usually, it sports delicate little white flowers.  So pretty.  Anyways, it is a bit of a joke in our house between hubby and I to be quiet once she has gone to bed.  Her little leaves fold up for the night.  Isn't nature wonderful?  What is it that makes her leaves hide their faces when night falls?  I know there is a "scientific" explanation but I prefer to think in more imaginative terms!

My father always said he saw God in nature.  I do too.  And I see Him right here on my kitchen table in the leaves of a little houseplant that seems to "know" when it is bedtime.

Happy Day everyone.



SILVER AND SHELLS

Happy Day everyone!  I hope your weekend was a beautiful one.  Ours was quite lovely here... spring sunshine, raking our now-visible lawn, then a cleansing rain and cooking some delicious food.  Life is good here at the bungalow.  And we are thankful as always.

In our dining room is a little shelf which I designed and had my "wood guy" Pete build.  Pete is a wonderful man who retired a long while ago.  He is quite handy with the power tools and can build anything I can draw.  Anyways, this shelf is something which I never tire of looking at.  Especially when it has silver and shells on it....

I just love the combination of silver and shells!  You can see photos of my loved ones peeking around the perimeters of the picture.  Of course my family photos are more precious than anything else, but I felt that for the purposes of today's post, you would probably be more interested in the silver and shells!  I enjoy looking at this little vignette and thought you might too.

Have a beautiful day everyone!

SALES ON BANK

Hello Friends!  I have mentioned previously that I do a little selling here and there at the bungalow.  This week I have two really nice pieces that are "diamonds in the rough".
Here is diamond number one...

I wish that I had room for this piece!   Sadly, I do not, but I think it will have a new home in the near future.  I would love to see this painted (white of course).  I watched the TV show Steven and Chris yesterday and they did a feature on Chris Kaufman's home.  She is the author of the Just Beachy blog.  There is a pair of nearly identical dressers on either side of her bed which she painted aqua and white.  Fabulous!  Check it out folks....it's worth the looky loo...http://www.chriskauffman.blogspot.com/

I love this little night stand.  What great lines.  I can see it a very pale blue for some reason!  And I think I would add a wonderful floral "curtain" across the opening.  The handle is perfect too.  I really do love nearly everything I sell.

I meet the nicest people who come to my home and buy my things.  I just love helping them to see a piece in a finished state too.  Sometimes a person will look at something and not know what to do with it.  They know they like it, but feel that it may need something.  I guess I have a "knack" when it comes to seeing something "done".  I just seem to know when a piece needs changing up.  It is great fun to do this.  Transforming furniture is a wonderful way to make something your own and fit into your decor.                                                            



LITTLE WHITE BENCH

Happy Day friends!  It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood and it might just be warm enough for a little painting... WOOT!  Now, deep in the recesses of my garage sits a little piano bench.  I purchased it last year with the intent of using it at my kitchen table.  The table is an oldie but a goody that I found in a barn 25 years ago.  The bench is a perfect width for the table, but it needs to be white.   I love that the lid opens and will provide storage for my grand daughter's coloring books, crayons and markers.  The color I will use is called "Simply White" by Benjamin Moore.

Stay tuned for the reveal of the little "white" bench in an upcoming post... I can't wait to shake that paint can!

PAINTED "SILVER"

Happy Day all!  I found a wonderful container for flowers at the thrift store some time ago.  I didn't use it for the longest time.  It just sat in a cupboard til one day I looked at it and thought "hey, I should throw some paint on that!" 

It has a silver plate on it and I love it's little "legs".  My current obsession seems to be for sea shells, so I thought it would make a nice container for part of my collection of shells.  I find I really like the aqua interior as well. 

You can paint anything these days.  Even if it is metal, plastic, whatever.  Now I look at things in a whole new way.  I LOVE PAINT!  I should probably add that I love a transformation of things (and people for that matter!). 

I also found a candy dish with a lid that was such a good deal at a garage sale last summer, that I bought it without a clue as to what to do with it.  (no candy in a dish for me sadly)  Again I thought... seashells!  It looks great in my jam cupboard that is in our bedroom.  I love how it looks.

Hopefully, there will be some garage sales this weekend and I can write the first "Garage Sale Safari" post for this blog.  Here's hoping the weather co-operates!

This post linked to http://www.abeachcottage.com/ linky party and http://www.somewhatsimple.com/ and http://funkyjunkinteriors.com/

A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE!

Hey all!  For those of you who read this blog, you know that I really love this town I live in.  I guess there are a few more folks who love it too,  for it has been voted in the top 25 best places to live in Canada.

It's rugged wilderness, natural resources and multi cultural people together make for a most beautiful city.  Situated between two lakes, in the Laurentian mountain foothills, the "Bay" is a great place for anyone to call home.  Three generations of my family have called it home and it is my hope that future generations will too.

Sadly, many of our young people have had to leave due to limited job opportunities, but hopefully this will change in the near future as more and more people learn about our fair city.  Of course, I would hate to see any polluting factories coming here to sully the environment for our clean air and water are what we really have going for us among other things.

There is a thriving arts community here and the talent I have seen is second to none.  Actually, I feel that our city will become a "retirement community" with the baby boomers leaving the larger centers in search of a quality environment to spend their "golden years".

I wanted to dedicate this post to the place I call home.  I feel a part of the land here, like it owns me rather than the other way round.  For those of you in other parts of the world, if ever you get a chance to come to Northern Ontario Canada, do not hesitate.  You will be welcome and I know that you will have a wonderful time.