Wednesday, November 29, 2006


I haven`t had a lot of time lately for much blogging, with swapping stories and pictures back and forth with a new found cousin, work, making a Christmas wreath and thinking about whether to paint or not to paint the baskets. This weekend is hubby`s annual family Christmas dinner re-union. They hold it in a church basement in a little town near where he`s from. It`s a nice time with all the aunts, uncles and cousins along with his parents and brother and sisters. I`m starting to get into the Christmas mode now I think :)
This was in a magazine of reproduced stories and advertising from 1930 for women. It`s the funniest thing. Just click on the picture to enlarge and magnify it to read..........

Saturday, November 25, 2006

"When You Wish Upon a Star........


You`re Dreams Come True".......
Well that`s not necessarily so unforunately. But when I was a child watching little Jiminy Cricket sing that before a Walt Disney movie, I believed it with heart and soul.
I do believe that when you pray and believe with all your might, that if something is right and good, it will happen. There`s a magical system set up in this universe for making good things happen. I`m witness to that.

I`m hoping that it`s happening for my sister now. She`s my younger sister and although our paths have been different circumstances, she seems to have followed the same one.
We both had dreams of the house, the dog and the white picket fence. Sugar plums that danced in our heads when we were younger, only to find out that they were sour grapes in disguise.
Tomorrow my parents are having a family dinner in celebration of my hubby`s birthday which is this coming Thursday and we`re going to meet the guy my sister has been dating recently. From all we`ve heard, he sounds like the real article. A genuinely nice and well adjusted person with integrity. The important things one may overlook that are missing when young and foolish. I look forward to it! Maybe he is the one that will enrich her life, be her "soul mate".
Today my best friend is coming over and now I must go and clean!
Happy weekend!!!!!
*** Picture entitled "The Star" by me, drawn as one of my cards several years ago.
It`s represents hope and bright prospects and inspiration.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

A Happy Thanksgiving To All My Bloggy Friends in The United States

Hope everyone celebrating Thanksgiving today has a wonderful one :)
One more pic here of an extension on the pictures and then I think I`ll give kitchen pictures a break for a bit before it becomes "Oh..... she`s still going on about that darn kitchen" to anyone clicking on the blog!

I dug out a couple of mirrors I had and put them and some pretty plates on this big wall. Someday may put pictures instead of mirror in those frames, but maybe not. Good and busy and not for those who prefer a sleeker contempory look, but I like it. It feels better and cozier. I need cozy. Though I see a plate needs straightening and that ivy vase on the table is a bit high. We very rarely use any of the baseboard electric heaters like the one showing here, they`re just part of the decore hehe. The old table opens up at either end for a bigger crowd round. Hubby is going to put the trim on at the weekend. Then next year build a short wall at our entrance hall. He boggles my mind at times because he can do or fix practically anything, even computer problems of which I`ve had many!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Some More of the Finished Kitchen

Mister Possum Update...
he was buried beside Daisy. I thought all day at work about where he went after that picture was taken and thought it would be nice to have him beside Daisy where he had crawled to. Found out later that my Dad had already thought of that :) It seemed right.

First, thanks everyone for the nice compliments! Here`s some more of the kitchen. I haven`t taken a picture of the other end yet because I`m not sure yet what to put above the sink window and along. I have some plates but not enough or the right colour combination so I might do the water colour art I bought. It`s sort of like paint by number but no numbers and a finely drawn picture to water-colour. I need a long frame though and I only have one that I already have a picture I like in. It`s the three dog heads that now sits above the computer desk. That always happens. I need something and that something is something I`m already using and liking the way I`m using it, hehe. I`m sure I can find something around here to improvise for now.
First is what the kitchen looked like before. The wallpaper got shabby looking and also formed over the seams in the wall, being almost plain, they showed through badly. The two mirrors are a strange place to put either side of a table but they balanced things. The antique mirror on the left will go in the hall to replace the picture frame I took from there and painted white and gold. That`s the big paint by number one in the middle of the new kitchen.
The roses hanging and also strung along the shelf are all the roses my sweet hubby has given me over the years. In the new kitchen they are all strung mostly and I put shiny gold plastic beads inbetween each dried rose. You can see them in the one with Teddy farther down here. I may hang a few down I haven`t used as in the old room picture inbetween hanging tea cups later. It may be too much though now. I think I do need a picture on either side of the little plates. Things seem a bit too compact all in the middle. Needs some balance to pull it across a bit but will have to wait for now.

Below is what it looks like now with lovely Elvis adorning it.....

Yep, that`a another clear plastic tablecloth on the table too. Not as noticable in real but nessesary for spills after spending so much time making the cloths, of which only the large one is showing. The other small white one on top, I painted around the edges a pattern because I couldn`t find one like it. The gold is muted and isn`t as shiny as it looks here from the reflection of that roses picture.
The two on top and bottom are from the thrift store that I previously posted about. The two on top, I wasn`t quite sure about placing together because they are such a different shape from each other. But I`m partial to them that way for some reason, so I`ve left them. In the books I`ve been reading it speaks of pictures being grouped by subject rather than symmetry in a cottage. And some they show are mad squashed toether and jumbled! I may eventually add more to this wall because after all, I am a cluttery person. I love bits and pieces of interesting things and lots to look at.

This is what we now see coming in rather than my computer desk and computer.Teddy got hungry while I was taking this one. Someday I would like to find an old china glass fronted tall cubboard for where the little shelf is. It would come in handy for storing things in below too. That shelf is made from an old wooden crate from the 50`s. There was advertising on back of it for oranges. Someone just added shelves and fancy posts. That would fit nicely above the stove. To answer Jackie from "Musings from Jacran Cottage, http://jacrancottage.blogspot.com/

I found the material hiding amongst the hundreds at Len`s Mills Warehouse downstairs and made the curtains last year. It was almost exactly what I was looking for and a great low price. The sheers are just little cafe` curtains with the holes along the top. The radio is a reproduction that I got as a birthday gift years ago.
And Saur♥Kraut from http://franklysaurkraut.blogspot.com/ , your answer about the card is in comments in the previous post. It`s a condensed version of it because there is too much to really be able to explain there. Hope it helps a little.

The boys helped me hang the baskets back up on the weekend. It was cute. I couldn`t reach certain spots on a chair and didn`t want to drag the ladder in on the new floor.
So the oldest put the youngest on his shoulders and they became one needed tall person!
I like the baskets still but I need to look at them more and see if they would be better painted white. Not sure yet. I wish I would have taken a picture of the boys but I wasn`t thinking, I do have some pictures of how I hung the baskets which I`ll post soon. Putting the quarter round or actually cove molding on this weekend. We`re having troubles with the clock. We need two in the kitchen I guess. It used to be above the sink window and now is above the computer table. We look for the time on a blank wall at the moment.
Is that a sign of old age ? LOL.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

More of the Kitchen and I`m in the Queen of Disks Mode.......

Although I don`t follow astrology, my birth time is represented by the Queen of Coins, Disks or Pentacles.
I would love to have the qualities of this queen, I aspire to have them. And though I don`t pick up the cards often for myself, when I glimpse her there, I remember this.
She is earthy and generous, wise and helpful as well as creative, a good entertainer and smart with money, which she has enough of for herself and her family to make a good sound secure life . I may have some of these and I`m working on others, especially the money one! I`m not so good with that one. I like to spend it.
I`m in her creative mode at the moment and thought I`d post an old picture I did several years ago of this Queen in prisma colour pencils. She`s not as well done as the Moon and High Priestess I`ve posted in the past, but what she stands for is nice.Here she sits with her dog and a cushion embroidered to look like a disk or coin. I chose to make her an older queen than is usually represented because she has bloomed to her fullest potential, comfortable in herself and now the family matriarch, the nurturer of her husband, children, family and friends. The earth mother who has a great love of nature and home. Making that environment more welcoming, more attuned to her own sense of peacefulness. Buying something that makes things more comfortable, or re-arranging something so it's more pleasing, or cleaning out that cupboard that has been gathering cobwebs for ages.
Spending time and energy both on self, and home - and to do both of these things with the intent to harmonize more thoroughly, to feel more rested and centered, to make more of a haven than we already have.

Excuse the flash mark. I had to take it with my camera rather than scan it.
And speaking of cupboards, my Mum came over and lined mine to match the dish and glasses cupboards I`d previously lined, and tidied them. She is a pro at good housekeeping! If I could be half as good, that will fulfill another aspiration! Oh no....look! I`ve shown you two cat dishes that are on the counter :(
They are banned to that end and until we can figure out another spot, this is the only place Elvis can`t help himself to a snack. One other dish is on a small table but with three cats all wanting to munch at the same time, sometimes, I`m stuck with this faux paux.

Here`s the little table with the other cat dish. A dollar store clear plastic tablecloth covers my good white antique one and protects against a big furry back that sticks his head underneath to sup. You might be able to see the pretty fairy ring that my darling hubby got me one year. It has a little white lily candle in the centre.

More pictures to come....

Monday, November 20, 2006

Paint by Numbers and Computer Corner

I finished the paint by numbers last night. Stuck it in the painted frame and put a matt I`d painted gold along the sides because the picture is only the size showing....

My computer was the first thing in view originally when walking into the kitchen. By moving the fridge and stove, I was able to put it on the other wall and imitate a corner effect by placing it beside the fridge. It also helped the fact that the fridge stuck out. The stove is now in a built in area where the fridge was, at the end of the counter and is hidden from immediate view. This I like because it`s almond while the fridge is white. So it helps with them being two different colours. And now I have a great spot on the fridge to put that pretty calendar in the new year. The cords for the computer showed underneath the old desk I painted, so for now I`ve just fastened a tablecloth along the edge to hide them. I like the look though later I might replace the cloth with some fabric so it hangs better. The doorway is just to the right of this picture.

The wall items are hung low because although the ceiling is high, the wall doesn`t go right up to it. It`s bordered with a dark wood trim and there`s a thick wood beam inbetween wall and ceiling. Sounds strange but half the room is like that because there is a long shelf above the other wall to put things on. This was a small barn years ago originally. I may have to juggle that plant around a bit and place it more in the middle. Pictures are great for seeing what isn`t quite right!
More pictures another day. I still need to put a few more things up :)

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Laying the Kitchen Floor

We`re finished the floor and it looks amazing! My Mum and me did the laying of the big pieces and some small while sweet hubby went along and cut and layed the smaller areas and doorway. He also thought to have the camera on hand for the process. Good thinking! We began around 10 in the morning and finished at 3. That time includes removing everything from the room by hubby and one of the boys and me washing the floor. Notice all the paint splatters from painting the table and chairs hehe. Then hubby measuring to see how square it was.

A utility knife is all that`s needed to score with....

Then for just fold and snap for those shorter areas....

You just lay each piece staggered over the other`s gripping ridge. Good sturdy stuff with a 25 year guarentee! It lays beautifully.........

We love it! Unless you actually get down and tap it with your nail, it looks exactly like wood, rough texture and all.......

Angus also loves it..........

Today I`m going to hang my baskets back up from the ceiling and try to finish that picture too. We changed the fridge and stove around also and it gives lots more room, as well as my little computer desk. It`s not in your face now as you walk in the room, which I like so much better. I was thinking of moving it out of the kitchen but it`s handy there and I can bake and `puter at the same time.
More pictures to follow as I get it all together in there.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Isabell`s Favorite Spot

This weekend we`re going to empty out the kitchen and lay the floor. I`ll post a picture afterwards of it. Just the floor though because I want to wait until I get all the bits and pieces arranged for some of the whole room. Have to finish that painting too and paint the frame and matting. It`s 3/4`s done so it shouldn`t take much longer. I haven`t been working on it every night, otherwise it would have been finished. One odd day of different working hours makes for a too tired me!
I went to grab a towel the other morning and grabbed something else instead. We have a few shelves above the hot water heater in a cupboard where someone loves to sleep.....

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Rest In Peace Mister Possum

My Dad came over and asked me to come and see a strange site before he removed it. This isn`t the most pleasant picture to be showing but don`t you think Daisy`s grave is an unnusual place for this poor guy to lay down to die? Perhaps the stone statue drew him to seek some last comfort. How sad.
Possums are not from this area originally and some hop onto trucks to make their way here in Ontario.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Famous Mrs. Hering's Chicken Pot Pie

I found this recipe at Simply Recipes....
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004089chicken_pot_pie.php

It`s a great place with step by step directions and pictures and you can subscribe to it.

I thought it best not to put the picture of the Pot Pie here, but Angus doesn`t mind.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Found The Floor!

The Chicken Pot Pie with Sherry turned out yummy but I didn`t take a picture due to it going splat, as it hit the plate. Not the prettiest site. It`s meant to be made in 6 small dishes but I didn`t have any so I made it in one big one.

We found a floor! THE floor I never realized was possible to get. One that looks like wood but isn`t. After going to one place that was extravagantly expensive, we thought we`d try good ole Home Depot, and there it was. Something just new out that looks like wood but is vinyl and goes on like laminate, by the piece. Not a bad price at $45 for a pack of 24 strips and it`s guarenteed for 25 years and waterproof to boot. We can do it ourselves which saves large dollars! This one is called Hickory. The floor isn`t as golden in colour as showing in these pictures. Even my old counter looks golden in the last picture for some reason, on my monitor anyway.


Can`t wait to put it down!
I also found the perfect picture for the large frame. It`s a paint by number of all things. I never realized that they were still making them. We popped into a toy store and I thought I`d have a look just in case, and there it was! It will be fun to do and I like the idea of it being a painting, even if it is a cheat. Won`t need the glass in the frame now. I originally didn`t want any more matted ones but I liked this and do have a matt I can paint a colour to match or the same colour as the background of the roses even.

These are two of the frames I painted. They were dark green originally as I`d posted a day or two ago. I did them white, but thought they needed a bit more something. I also did this to the large frame I have with some gold acrylic paint and non stick tape to help keep a fairly straight line...

Sunday, November 12, 2006

The Queen and Other Things

We decided to go to the movies last night and check out "The Queen". Helen Mirren who played her did an excellent role. She an amazing actress and was perfect as the Queen. If you`re interested in "all things royal" then you might like this movie. It`s a fictionalized version of how she handled the death of Princess Diana and the surrounding events. A bit slow moving and hubby and I being the youngest in the theatre (it was the late movie and not many there) had a chuckle afterwards that we were the ones having a hard time keeping our eyes open at times. Not from boredom but just from tiredness LOL

Beforehand we went to Chapters, one of my favorite stores to get a calendar for the new year and also a book for a Christmas gift.
Found a really nice calendar that`s also a piece of art which will look perfect in the kitchen. I wanted something a little nicer because I need to have the calendar right smack where I can see it. I tried the side of the fridge for awhile but we kept forgetting to look at it....



I bought some magazines and a hard back book to put with my Dad`s gift by Edward Rutherfurd called "The Princes of Ireland" he enjoyed "London"....

This book, I`ve had for quite awhile but decided to actually read it instead of just looking at the pictures. Nicely written with some good information of what I`m looking to do.

Yesterday I hung grouped pictures on the biggest wall in the kitchen after painting some of the frames. I have a big empty frame and glass in the middle waiting to find a picture yet so no photo here for that.
Today we`re going out to look at flooring and then come home and sort and throw out useless things I have stuffed in the cupboards and line them. That....I`m not looking forward to. Off now to make my Chicken Pot Pie for tonight. Hope everyone is having a nice weekend.....it`s almost over!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Lest We Forget.....


This day in Canada is Remembrance Day. A day amongst all our other busy days that we must pause to remember the heros and the loved ones who were lost fighting the satanic evil threatening to take over Europe and then possibly North America and who allowed us to still remain a free country.

Sadly there are not many left from this time, but we must keep their purpose alive and never forget.....


And we must pray for the men and women now sent on such a dangerous and perilous journey into horror by our new "Bush buddy" Prime Minister...

Canadian`s are supposed to be the peace keepers in all this mess Mr. Steven Harper!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

My Cheap Vintage Finds

I bought 4 each of these small glasses for 99 cents each. Keeping them away in the cupboard, but we needed some sturdy glasses and the clear ones will suit a nice drop of Scotch whiskey...

This teapot was 9.99 and on the bottom says "Sudlow Burslem England" It will match perfectly!

I couldn`t resist this little picture for 1.99. Haven`t cleaned it up yet so you can see the smudges in the picture. It`s hand painted in England and has real flowers on it. I never even looked at the back but hubby noticed when I got home. It says... "Wildlife study of an original watercolour by Sharon Jervis. Real English flowers are added by hand to create an original design." from Village Country Crafts Ltd in Hallaton, Leicestershire, England. How cool is that to discover!

These are some other pictures I found also each for 1.99. The lady will go in the front room and the others on the big wall in the kitchen with some others I have already. I`m either going to paint the green frames white or brown stain. And the other floral maybe white in the middle of the frame if I stay white. Not sure yet. I want to have a floral theme of pictures all grouped somehow there.

The teapot is from China and will match perfectly also for 5.99 and looks nice above the cupboards with my other teapots. The silver plated candlesticks were 1.99 each...need a good polishing yet. The little ceramic pot with the pink flower, 99 cents, and looks cute on the sink shelf . Pale green tray candle holder, 99 cents. Little Spode saucer, 2.99. And last but not least an extrememly real looking sage plant in a clay pot. This one is new from Winnners for $7. I also did some Christmas shopping but couldn`t resist one more thing for the kitchen.

I also bought two long lace pieces for my china shelf but they need to be washed yet.
This old wicker tray was 1.99 and I`ve just finished staining it and will put a clear coat on top. It`s actually darker than this picture shows. It looks like milk chocolate here lol. Going to decopauge something in the middle at some point. I thought it would be pretty to carry drinks out to the back garden on.

Now I`m patiently waiting for some more plates that I bought from E-Bay. Some Spode Toile and some Red/Pink Transferware ones. Oh and then the floor next! But I`m having fun :) Still have to decide whether to have dark frames and dark china shelf or all white. The shelf is white at the moment. I`ll probably stick with white because it evens out the white cupboards, but we`ll see later.

Life in the 1500`s



I found some nice things the other night at the vintage shop and will post some pictures soon, maybe today since I`m not working until this afternoon. The kitchen is in progress....slow progress. Who feels like working after work? LOL
My Mum bless her, is finishing the cupboards tomorrow and today if I can, I`ll be putting clear coat on the woodwork. My daughter sent this the other day and if anyone is interested in where certain sayings originate, this is worth reading. The one about people being buried alive is I know for certain true....horrifying!

*LIFE IN THE 1500's


** Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath
in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting
to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
****Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.


**Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the
house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons
and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies.
By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.
**** Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.


**Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath.
It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
****Hence the saying - It's raining cats and dogs.


**There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house... This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed.
****Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.
That's how canopy beds came into existence.


**The floor was dirt Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.
Hence the saying, dirt poor.
The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you pened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway.
****Hence the saying a thresh hold.


**In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot.
They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.
****Hence the rhyme, peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.


**Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon.
They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.


**Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.


**Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.


**Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would
sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would ta ke them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.
Hence the custom of holding a wake.


**England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all nigh (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a ..dead ringer

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

A Short Break

I`m going to take a couple of days break from blogging. Read some blogs, read a book, relax a bit after work and tonight my Mum and I are going to check out the local vintage shop and see if they have any pretty old china pieces and also pick up another quart of paint to finish the cupboards. Be back soon :)







"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

Monday, November 06, 2006

Grumpy Old Man

Sweet Teddy is usually just like a teddy bear. Happy and healthy and constantly purring at nineteen. I think this was the very first picture that I posted in my blog.

This day he wasn`t too pleased about something. My 10 year old niece loves to carry him around and cuddle him. He never squirms or scratches when he is dissatisfied, only shows it on his face.

The walls in the kitchen are all finished and now this week it`s on to refreshing the cupboards. I`d like to thank everyone who has commented on my blog and hope to get a chance to visit theirs more frequently than I have been lately.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Yummy Supper and Elvis

Last night hubby made a special chicken and cornmeal dish with cheese, fresh beans and potatoes with parsley for supper, for the boys and me. Yummy and what a treat to be served :)

"Awwwww Mum, not again!" Nice paint splatters on the floor too!

"That camera again!!" The reason why I need and have everything washable. Elvis is a bed dog. Every once in awhile I`ll find a pillow or two or the stuffed dog brought out into the frontroom. Sometimes all three. Must be those herding instincts. If nothing else gets changed about that room for awhile....those pink walls definately have to go! They aren`t quite that pink in real, but yuck. One day I became possessed with a bottled of acrylic paint and sponged it on. Ew.
Off to try and finish up the kitchen walls...