oh i am in love!

farrow and ball you have won me over (not that there was a fight or anything!) - i LOVE their dragged wallpaper.... don't get me wrong the baroque is lovely too but when this page popped up http://us.farrow-ball.com/drag/wallpaper/fcp-category/list?resetFilters=true 

the colours and simplicity was heavenly.1249 through to the end are my ideal colours. but i am learning to love the warmer side of the palette also. but the pattern section has some beauties there too.... http://us.farrow-ball.com/patterns/wallpaper/fcp-category/sub?resetFilters=true

now i need to wallpaper something....

so long sweater weather....

it was a brief passionate affair - most of which i spent deep in the south and didn't get to enjoy your crispness and for that i am truly sorry. and now there is definitely a lovely white dusting of snow across the verdant lawns and my heart leaps for christmas and the holidays. thing is, most of that lemming tendency is all from memories. all shinier-in-my-mind memories. but i figure the first step is admitting that and accepting nothing will ever be the same as "those times". and just to make the best of it. i have also decided to adopt american thanksgiving into my life. it will be my second thanksgiving. a designated time for friends who should have been family to gather and eat lots of yummy food, laugh lots and indulge in the last bit of fall (maybe with some bocce?) before the maddening crush of christmas, and generally just enjoy each others company and be thankful. again. and what exactly is wrong with being thankful twice in as many months? nothing. i think we should remember to be so thankful on a daily basis. happy thanksgiving you southern-brothers-from-another-mother!

it's been a while (again)

i have just returned from a 3 week road trip from southwestern ontario to new orleans and back again. with many wonderful stops and sights along the way. now to be sure i would love to post all those stories and photos and of course overwhelm you with awesome, but alas that would take up oh so much time since my computer isn't always, shall we say cooperative? but i will include just a few here for your viewing pleasure. 


and of course upon my arrival home it is frosty and chilly and whatnot, as it does in cottage country in november, whereas the week before it was high 80's and i got sunburnt a lil! *sigh* on another note of chilliness, we replaced all our windows and a bunch of insulation this early fall and it has definitely made a difference with heating our old house, but, since we removed the soffet and didn't replace it - as we are doing the siding in the spring - the squirrels have found our roof to be quite a comfy little fall/winter retreat. our house is rooms right up to the 'attic' so that means the squirrels are right above our heads - in our bedroom! 


there's one now....

failed again

i forgot my camera in our rush to the fall fair. so alas i have no photos only words. specifically one. underwhelming. 

it wasn't all i had hoped. nay, all we had hoped. don't get me wrong the love of the idea was there, as well as good friends and walking hand in hand. i even won my very own zebra stuffie from a racing game. i never win anything.

we attempted three rides (really, there were only three for 'grown ups') and the first two were terrible. i love roller coasters. i do not like spinning. i loathe those swings at amusement parks - i just don't get it. and i always leave nauseated. 

well the first ride was very spiny. and you could increase or decrease your spin and speed. and of course the boys kept going faster. and the ride attendant made everyone go twice. i had also been fighting a terrible headache all day but told myself 'it's the fall fair!'.

ride two wasn't much better. it was like a ferris wheel but totally enclosed so you could spin upside down etc. and of course the carnies - for that is clearly what they were, and i mean no disrespect to travelling show folk - ignored protests of no spinning please and promises of vomit on their shoes and spun us anyways. it was awful. and backwards and fast. and then the carnie forgot myself and R, let off all our companions and started the ride again. we went around twice more yelling both passes at him to let us off. as we disembarked he grinned with his glassy eyed high-in-the-sky look and said 'thought i forgot someone'.

the last ride was the classic ferris wheel. fastest ferris wheel i've ever been on. and we had the good fortune to be swayed with the sounds on a nickelback song on repeat. and half our group had to wait for the second go round before getting on. then the music changed to the tragically hip. whilst on the ferris wheel trying to recount our very first outing to a fair together some almost 6 years ago, R quipped, 'do you think this is what hell is? being stuck on a terrible ferris wheel while nickelback plays?'. i couldn't have agreed more.

also while stuck at the top of the ferris wheel we noticed the kettle corn booth closing up for the night. as soon as we disembarked we yelled up to our friends that we'd be right back and ran as fast as we could down the midway and were able to secure a prized bag of possibly my favourite treat. our companions got off the wheel and laughed with us recounting at how we'd looked barreling down the empty dirt road (for that is what the fair was built on) in search of a treat.

needless to say it did not live up to our expectations. perhaps we are just jaded in our old(er) age? our memories have just made the initial fair that more shiny? i thanked R for a lovely time anyway, teased him once more about my winning my own midway game and subsequent prize, and kissed his nose. he kissed my forehead and apologized saying, 'it's about time i took you back to one of these, and i'm upset it took so long and wasn't all we'd hoped'. so i took him home and spent all night snuggled deep against his side wishing good thoughts and love to him for being such a wonderful manfriend. 

despite our fall un-fair.

fall fair time again

i love fall fairs. i always have. the weather is the perfect temperature and usually the rains hold off. the smell is to die for and of course who doesn't love the lights and neon? and since almost 6 years ago i've had even more reason to love them. 

it's like a date. a courtship. a start to something wonderful. a promise fulfilled. a stolen quick kiss and subsequent blush.

this weekend my town is hosting theirs - although i suppose it started yesterday. and i am going. for the sheer thrill of acting silly, eating cotton candy for dinner, laughing until i cry with friends and of course holding hands with him (whilst on the scrambler).

i hope to have photos to post. but i may just get too caught up in the thrill of it all.

thank god for fall.

i am so excited

cakies is giving away a polaroid camera and film. 

my heart just imploded. 

enter. win. create.

well dear friends

i bid you adieu, not forever but for a while. not that that is anything out of the ordinary for me anyways.... i am terrible at this blogging thing.

but i have family coming this weekend - tomorrow i am off from work (conveniently enough) and have some cleaning and prep work to do. friday i work and a few of them show up. the rest arrive saturday morning.

we have plans to visit my work to see the animals, go to the beach and play tourist as well of lots of backyard games. and of course mother nature has a thunderstorm planned for us saturday and showers for sunday. why am i not surprised.

but i will make it work, people will have fun - despite our house being reno ridden.  we will endure even in bad weather. and we will laugh and make memories. that's the main thing.

i read that you shouldn't compare yourself to others as you don't know what their journey is in this life. so even if my plans fall asunder i will be happy knowing that i tried and got to see my loved ones despite anything else. happy early weekend to you all too.

seasons change

i find that lately i am craving fall - i know, i know, don't shoot! let me explain. 

i LOVE summer, the sunshine, the heat, all that jazz. and as each season winds down i get excited for what the next brings. sometimes due to sheer frustration at the current seasons length (i.e. winter dragging on) and sometimes for what the next season holds (i.e. thanksgiving, christmas, new years, birthdays) and then of course just for a change (i.e. spring with all it's lush freshness). 

this obviously happens every few months and i'm glad for it. sometimes i think i'd like to live in hawaii or somewhere similar where it's gorgeous year round, but i actually think i would miss the change. i would get bored. i know they have seasons to an extent but not like we do here. where there's a very obvious change from one to the next. it keeps things feeling fresh and new since it isn't the same everyday. 

now this might all sound very blatant to people but it's a realization i've recently had and accepted. despite how much i may complain during the worst parts of winter and the hottest unbearable sweaty days of summer, i truly do love them for different reasons even if the main reason is to appreciate other seasons more!





and as i mentioned i am currently craving fall. and fall to me means classic fall. cozy sweaters, fun scarves. being outside in the crisp air with the colours and scent of leaves. playing bocce in the crunchy grass with warm cider or hot chocolate in hand. sitting around a big dinner of all the thick savory foods you couldn't bear in the summer. commencing more indoor activities as the nights get darker and cooler sooner. laughter and board games, movies, fires and knitting/sewing projects.

and for me fall makes me crave cities too. fall seems the perfect season for concrete jungles. starbucks in hand walking the streets in said cozy sweater feeling the wind blow by and listening to the bustle of the life the city holds. watching holiday decorations and prep go up way to early but secretly loving it because it means another change of season is almost upon us bringing with it family and so much cozy love and memories.

i think that maybe winter should/could be just a tad shorter to let spring stretch her legs a little more, so fall can sneak into summer a little with those warm fall days. i mean winter is fun too but at the end he drags just enough to make everyone miserable to a point. so if we could shorten him up a bit i think it'd be better for all involved. 

maybe i am just nostalgic for the extremely recent past.

(but i can't help it.) 

remember the blue chair i purchased?....

well ta-da!

as you can see it is being used/loved a lot and coveted as well.

busy as a bumblebee

this is how i spent my morning the other day! strawberry-mango! and it's so fresh and light and at least half the sugar of regular "cooked" homemade jam!.... as awful as some girls out there might think me i ADORE playing haus-frau....

also i have been crafting up a storm lately (will have to post pics shortly) and started my first scrapbook.... i enjoy the IDEA of scrapbooking but why is everything SO idealized and perfect and neat and coordinated and matchy-matchy?! i think now that i have a taste for it i will incorporate my old journaling experiences from 'angsty' high school years and make it into something different and more creative and personal to REALLY show off.

STILL have yet to get onto my previous projects of reupholstering my lovely chair and settee, as well as finish my coffee table refurbish but it's hard when those types of projects require so much more intensive equipment than just some felt and a needle and thread.... but i do want to get them done and in for use asap.

also i have my garden seeded, and this weekend i am devising a strategy to keep those pesky chipmunks out so i can get my seedlings planted as well without their tops getting chewed off!

oh and a visitor this weekend too, so that will be lovely. planning a yummy summery lunch to enjoy al fresco!

while i don't have any major plans for this summer (as my work schedule may be all over the map) i have two major trips in the fall in the works! and trust me as much as i love summer, i love travel more! one is a whirlwind big city trip and the other is a fabulous road trip!

i am inspired!

i have the day off, i woke early and am showered ready to go! i have freezer jam plans, and crafting for friends plans (which amazingly enough can be done by hand on my back deck in the sunshine!) today will be a good day. hope you all are having an equally inspired or at least good day!

(i will not get distracted inside!)

another awful weather weekend

which of course meant another weekend of not getting anything outside done.... i had wanted to get some seedlings into the garden and set up the yard a bit - move some plants and generally get organized, alas.

a rainy saturday morning....

.... has ruined my plans.

confessions of a reluctant pisces

i keep flowers in vases way longer than i should - pretty much until the petals fall off or they wilt right over.

i regret never going to a vineyard for a wine tasting when i lived somewhere where they were overabundantly plentiful.

i worry that i have not followed the path i should have - perhaps this is the pisces coming out? (2 fish swimming in different directions for those of you that don't know)

i get motivated and have all these 'plans' - then i get distracted and forget and do nothing about them.

i used to draw - constantly all the time. when i fell in love it waned, then it faltered, then it collapsed completely. i don't blame him at all. i don't know what happened. his song writing did the same. is this a sign that it (we) shouldn't be?

i love musicals. enough said.

i have never broken a bone. i have severely dislocated one big toe however to the point that the ER doctor exclaimed "i don't know how you didn't break this!"

i am a very fast learner. i picked up guitar chords crazy fast. thing is i still can't play, because i give up too easily. if one finger slips, i quit. even if it's that fingers first time ever caressing that string. i have no tolerance for less than perfect (in myself) - maybe that's why i love so many "hobbies" and am mediocore at most of them and really not very good or exceptional at anything.

i miss the pub.

i always wish i had siblings - lately, particularily, a sister. older, younger, whatever. i see my cousins (4 sisters) and am envious of their love and secrets and closeness. when i was younger i wanted an older brother for "protection" and to crush on his friends. i don't blame my mum or dad for not providing these playmates.

i wish i was closer to said cousins. and the 3 boys. this is all one side.

i wish i physically lived closer to the cousins from the other side.... a country keeps us apart. thank god for facebook.... i really should pick up a phone occassionally though.

on my mum's side i am the oldest of the cousins. on my dad's the youngest.

i get lost in books (and movies) in such a way that when they end i feel lost. and sometimes slightly betrayed.

i am a hopeless romantic.... scratch that - a hopeful romantic. i believe in love. as deep as the ocean. heartwrenching, gut tearing, can't breathe or move real love. i try not to let onto this too much for fear of limiting my gender's ability to be their own people.

i miss chivalry.

i miss the fifties - a time i wasn't ever a part of.

i want my loved ones to be happy, healthy and wealthy. i know it's a lot to ask but if anyone up there is listening it'd sure make a great christmas present.

i love water. being in it, drinking it, being near it. if i have to explain it more you just don't get it.

i love supertramp. i couldn't really name many or any of their songs and am sure some days i'd be like 'turn that crap off!' but when the time is right, they are a good portion of my heart.

i love reupholstering (or the idea of it) furniture - taking an older victorian settee and covering it in a paint pony hair fabric. something unexpected. hmm.... maybe that says more than i realized.

i want to travel. desperately and hopelessly and on a whim. funds and 'reponsibilities' limit me. my main responsibility being my soulmate. i don't mean my manfriend. i mean my cat. i have two and i love them equally, but the one just totally gets me. she found me and claimed me as her own. and i couldn't 'abandon' her to live vicariously.... is this what it feels like to have kids? how sad for me that it's a cat.... or is it.

i enjoy drinking. that being said, finish your chuckle as i know most people do enjoy it. but i really do. it awakens me and makes me motivated and feel creative and i really worry that it's a sign of something bad. i don't drink everyday (every other of course! lol jk) but when i do it makes me.... i dunno, the things i already said? i wish i could feel that way everyday. the fact that i can't makes me sad.

i love to sing. and am fairly bad at it. i have my moments, notes, songs, but generally i am on the shitty side of sound.

i want to have photos published in national geographic. my papa was a photographer - just for love - and i think i took to it in such a way because he was my back up father figure and because i lost him so early.... well not as early as some people might have, but early enough.

i always backtrack when i make a statement because i don't want someone to contradict what i've said (see above) or be offended or cause a confrontation. doormat? pisces? issues? probably all of the above....

i could probably do this all night but there is a sweet voice and melodic acoustic guitar singing for me from downstairs and i think it's time to live. even for a moment. cause that's all you have. as cliched as it is, it's honest. and sometimes i think people forget that the reason cliches are cliches is because once upon a time, a simpler time (or a more interesting? honest? free? time) they were true.

love is messy; and sometimes it hurts.

homemade lemonade

i made some delicious homemade lemonade yesterday my first attempt ever - strange since i have such an affinity for lemony flavour - and it turned out marvelously.... well it was a little too sweet for me at first but i just added more water and it is now devine. (and yes i know that bonsai in the background is seriously dead - the manfriend did it, not i).


on a side note, i feel so motivated in the morning and want to do all these projects i currently have time for and am up early enough to start without using up too much of the day and yet, after a few hours of being awake the motivational bar drops to zero.... or at least to "lazing about watching movies i've seen a hundred times".










my creativity and inspiration is seriously lacking lately i need to pick up my camera and adventure! or pull out the old sketch book or finger paints or something. i am just so focussed on house projects (or rather the idea of them; see above note about motivation) i have forgotten to practice fun projects too.