A Travelin' We Will Go

Traveling has kept me very busy and away from my computer for awhile. We just got back from one of our nephews graduations from high school in California. We were excited to go there for that wonderful sunshine California is known for, but to our disappointment it did not show its face until the last day we were to leave. In fact, the day of said nephews graduation we were all bundled under blankets sitting in the football bleachers. Not something you would think you would see in California in May! We were all so glad when it was over so that we could get back in our cars and turn the heated seats on full blast.

The family freezing their butts off!

It was a good time catching up with cousins, aunts and uncles, brothers, sisters, and the like. Some I hadn't seen in quite a long time. They were amazed at how grown up the daughters were. And we enjoyed some amazing Mexican food that my brother cooked and also had catered. It's been a long time since I have had good, authentic Mexican food - it's just hard to come by in Canada.

Since there was no sunshine to be had, we had to occupy our time somewhere so the outlets in Gilroy seemed like the best place. Let's just say that I have my summer wardrobe in clothes and shoes and won't be needing anything else. I love the Gap! And I love shoes!

I am very excited for next weekend when I will be traveling to The Farm Chicks in Spokane, WA. I am anticipating finding a lot of treasures for our home and great vintage items. I am hoping that the weather is going to be wonderfully sunny so that I can soak it up. I've only been to Spokane once before so I plan on exploring the downtown as well. It'll be just Lola and I so I have no planned agenda - just an agenda for MOI! And, look at this great vintage shopping cart that found on where else, EBAY. I made a liner for it so that I can have hands free shopping and put all of my great finds in the cart. Lola will get a "free ride" all day inside of it. Isn't she cute?

So, wish me luck on my buying spree and I will be back home on Tuesday, June 10th. We'll see you all then and I will show you what treasures I found in the town of Spokane, WA!

Sunshine Is Here!!!

The sunshine is here in our little town of Chilliwack! Yah!! Boy, it went from being rainy and cold straight to a heat wave (for us in the cold north) of 90 degree weather. Our pasty white skin bodies don't know what to do in this kind of heat. Burn baby burn is what happens when you spend eight hours times 3 days working in your neglected gardens. So, as I type this post my body is screaming out for some cool aloe vera gel and crying because it knows it is going right back out tomorrow to finish what it has started. So, by tomorrow night all of the flower beds, containers, and any other item that contains flowers, will be singing a sweet song because they finally look so beautiful and cute. Thanks to my two lovely daughters who helped and also one of their friends who spent the night and was so lucky to be able to weed and tan at the same time! You rock girls! I just wish I would've taken some pictures of the three of you scrunched over in your bikini tops pulling weeds with an occasional screech when one of you found a spider, worm, centipede, or other "garden creature". There's still tomorrow!

Look at the little angels weeding the remainder of the front yard....

A garden bed in the front yard....

Another thing that I have to tackle tomorrow is the very, very, slimy pond that I have in an antique bathtub in our front yard. I had never cleaned it out from last summer and who knows what is lurking in the depths of that tub. It certainly looks gross as you can see from the picture below. Once it is clean though it will be the focal point of the front yard once again.

Yucky, slimy mess.....

Yuck!!!!!

Now, looking at the backyard I see that I am going to also have to repair the hammock. I guess it has spent too many summers and winters in the elements and it is now showing it's age. A trip to the local fabric store to get some outdoor fabric that will withstand the heat and rain and it will look new again. I'm just waiting for someone to hop on it and have it rip right in half underneath them. I'm hoping to just cover over the existing fabric - hopefully that will do. Boy, this list just goes on and on.

Come into my backyard......

Next weekend the daughters and I are flying to California to see one of my nephews graduate from high school. It will be a time to catch up with some relatives and to catch some California rays! Also, Gilroy has the greatest outlets in town and you better believe we will be doing some damage there!

I hope the sun is shining where you are and that you get out and enjoy it!

Our Son Has Graduated!!!

Yeah!! Our son will soon be graduating from the Langara College Professional Photo Imaging Program. He has spent the last two years in Vancouver attending Langara College. Last Thursday evening the graduating class had their grad show "POST" at the Moat Gallery in the Vancouver Library building. The show consisted of a mixture of genres and styles. Each student had a portfolio of their own work plus there was framed work lining the walls of the gallery. We are proud and excited for him to venture out into the great big world and accomplish his dreams and desires while making oodles of money!

Our son and one of his photos "Floyd"....

Our son and daughters...
Son and parents...
Our son happy that he received a $500 award...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

I'm back from "busy"ness and home once again. I know what tomorrow holds for me - LAUNDRY!! It's always fun to go away, but then coming back home brings a rude awakening to reality and the normal daily things that need to be tended to.

My daughters and I traveled south to Oregon where my parents and sisters live. We had a really nice visit and celebrated Mother's Day with my mom on Saturday. It made it even more extra special when we had lunch and treats from this place......

This place has the most awesome cakes to choose from and every time we go there I try to pick something new to try, but I always seem to have the tiramisu because it is to die for. So, if you are ever in Salem, Oregon you must try this place. We also spent the rest of the day shopping (what girls do best!) up a storm and brought home many new things!

On Monday night my little sister had her grad graphic design show at Linn Benton College. Her work is so great I am sure she will have no problem finding work after she graduates. The evening was spent looking at the different projects all of the grad students had accomplished through the year and also eating all the fantastic appetizers that they had.

My sister the artist with our parents....

With my daughters and other sister....

Here is some of her artwork - Chinese New Year boxes......

And an animal collage.....

I wanted to post more of her artwork but blogger is not letting me do it now - major problems and very slow uploading. Maybe in another post I will show more. 

This week also will be a week to finally get to work in the yard. We will be having very warm weather here so I must take advantage of this and tend to the garden. I will have to put all the other indoor projects on hold for awhile and make those flowers smile!

Yeah!! I Have My Life Back...

Yes! The tilers have finished all three rooms and I have my life and my house back! There's something about having strangers in your home while you are there - an uncomfortable feeling, feeling like you can't do anything while they are there, always underfoot. I am so glad I can wake up when I want to, wear my pajamas around in the morning, and not have to hurry to throw some clothes on before they arrive to work on the floors. I has been three weeks since they started and it seems like forever. I am pleased with the way the floors turned out. I can't show you right now what they look like because the house is a mess and it has to be cleaned up before I can do the photo shoot. But I promise to get some pictures posted sometime next week before I head to Oregon for a long/short weekend getaway.

Too Sick To Do Anything!

Boy, I haven't been this sick in a long time....the kind of sick where you just feel like a blob and can't move because all of your bones in your body ache, ache, ache. Today I had plans on painting the upstairs bathroom (since the tile guys finished with their handiwork there) - not happening. Dishes in the sink - they will stay there till one of my daughters does them. Living room clean-up - I guess I will just trip over whatever is on the floor because I can't seem to move out of my recliner. I have my little Lola keeping me company all day.....such a cutie!

While I was feeling better earlier this week I was able to do some sewing. In our bedroom we have these cream cotton blinds that don't keep a lot of light out of the room. There is a street light right outside of our window that glares through the thin blind material and it is impossible to fall asleep at night. Ta Da! I covered them with a deep red floral fabric that now blacks out that annoying street light. It works so well that the other night when I was coming up the stairs I couldn't even see our bedroom from across the hall. 

And, as soon as I am feeling better this bathroom will have a new coat of paint on it and the blinds in here will also be covered in some pretty floral fabric with some fancy trim on the bottom edge. You can see from the picture below where I had to paint the wall behind the toilet before it was installed again.

And these holes in the floor.......

Are where this tub needs to be reconnected - I'm thinking of painting it gloss black before reinstalling it. What do you think?

And lastly, our baby girl turned 17 yesterday - time sure does fly by. I remember celebrating her first birthday just a few years ago! What a cutie!

Bushes Are Bloomin'

Finally it seems like a glimpse of spring has arrived here in the north....despite the recent snow and rain that we've had! And, today the sun is peeking through the cloudy sky that we have. I hear that they are calling for more rain today but that tomorrow and Saturday are supposed to be in the 70's and sunny. That is something to celebrate. My perennials roots are doing the happy dance right now as I type! Weedy flower beds watch out because the gardening gal is going to get out her gear and clear you and your pesky little weedy families out of her life and yard! Can you hear them crying right now?

Look at my fabric collection....

I have plans for all this. I am going to recover my recliner and also re-slipcover these chairs so that they are in the same color family.  Also the vintage tablecloths that I have been collecting are going to make seat cushions for my dining room chairs and kitchen chairs. See, there is a plan to all this ebay fabric shopping madness - I just know that I need more fabric though so I must visit ebay again and see if there are any new vintage red fabrics or tablecloths listed. No wonder I never get any house cleaning done! I'm always too busy online.....better get offline soon so that I can get some laundry and cooking done today otherwise I will have an unhappy family when they come home.

Here are the chairs that the fabrics will cover...

The Piano

Look at my great find on Craigslist......it is a piano from the 1920's and it is gorgeous. Only $50!! It's sounds great too. Do I know how to play the piano? No..... But, I plan on learning. I can't wait to have this beauty delivered and to make it part of our home.

Addicted To EBAY!!

Okay, so I am an addict.....but in a good way! I have this addiction every morning to check my email and then go to ebay to see what is new and available for my liking. Could today be a day to feed my quilt addiction, or my aunt jemima addiction, or my red addiction, or my see what I can find to start a new addiction? Well, last month it was my "feed my aunt jemima" addiction. I found the two cutest things from the same seller - an apron and a toaster cover.  Aren't they adorable? I think so.

And, in the past couple of years I have fed my "red" addiction to fill this little red cupboard I got at an "antiques in the street" sale in Oregon. I just loved finding these little treasures and it was a bonus if they were red. Problem is I am running out of room! I just might have to find another showcase for my future treasures at The Farm Chicks show in Spokane, WA in June. I can't wait to see what that show will hold in store for this collector!

Shelf #1
Shelf #2

Shelf #3

I guess it's a good thing that I only collect "red" things and not the entire color wheel of colors - otherwise I'd be in serious trouble!

What Is Going On...It's April Already!

I can't believe that it is already April 18th and we are having more snow...yes, snow!! They are calling for it all weekend. If you don't believe me, look below:

I guess we'll have our thermostat turned up once again because it's going to get to 0 degrees at night. Where is our sunshine?? There's enough of it to go around - share some already! If I'd wanted this type of weather I would've lived in the North Pole!

My middle daughter gets home today from Mexico.....I wonder how she will react with her new room?? What do you think of it?

Do you think it passes for something a 20 year old would love? or hate? or not care? Personally, I think it turned out pretty great and if I were her I would be ecstatic about it. Everything in it's place, a place for everything. It's all about organization in her room. She needed storage to hide all her "collectibles" that aren't really collectibles (I just call it clutter!). And I will make it clear to her that if this room doesn't stay this clean or this tidy, that youngest daughter will take possession of said room and she will move into the smaller bedroom that youngest daughter now has. Do you think that this threat will work? We'll have to wait and see what happens - maybe she'll have a new found "pride" in her redecorated room and treat it with the special love that it deserves. Well, as you can see when said daughter returned home today and went upstairs to her room, she was totally thrilled with the new look and it shows on her face! Mission accomplished!

Can't Believe It!!

Well today and yesterday have just knocked the socks right off me! As you know I have been doing some renovating (of what I am capable of) and we have also enlisted the help of a tile laying company here in town to redo both of our bathrooms and our laundry room. I went into their showroom and carefully picked out the right tiles for each room to be done and yesterday the demolition began in the downstairs bathroom. It has had this really bad linoleum in it and it had begun to stain and look really gross. So, in keeping with the heritage of the home, we decided to lay a solid black tile to match the existing tile in the bath and shower area as well as the walls. So, as they started taking up the old flooring, a peek of the same tiles that are on the walls and bath began to show through! After they removed all of the linoleum, not one tile on the floor was damaged! I can't believe someone would cover over perfectly good tile. They will have to replace the grout once everything is cleaned up and we have decided to go with a black grout that won't show the staining in the future.

Isn't this great looking tile??

Who would cover it up to not have it match the rest of this great vintage bathroom.....

Surprises abound everywhere......today as they started taking apart the flooring in the laundry room, the same thing happens. Tile underneath! Now, it could've been a hidious color, something that wouldn't have matched my color scheme in the house. But, it was amazing that it was in the exact color family of what I have in the laundry room and kitchen! I can't believe it. I betcha the tile layers wish they would've known that there was tile underneath all that linoleum before they brought in all the tile we had ordered!

See what I mean.....perfect!

So, right now I am doing the happy dance because we are able to keep the original heritage of the home. That should be a good selling feature when it comes time to list it. Somebody else will be able to enjoy all the hard work that has been put into preserving this home's heritage!

Well, I must go upstairs to middle daughter's bedroom and put the second coat of paint on the walls.  I will be painting the trim tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to start decorating it (this is the part I love) tomorrow night and Thursday. When all is said and done in that room I will post the after pictures.