Ta da...diningroom after many hours, many cans of paint....

I won't even bother to put in details about each picture until tomorrow as it takes long enough to just upload the photos....if you want to see what my diningroom looked like before, check here.

I love this vase...purchased at a yard sale!

This dining set was mahogany...i cringe even saying that...but it was in bad shape and I do love the white!

my $20 vintage china cabinet...see the before here.


my beautiful, most favourite abstract painting by David Hayward .

my $1 fabric...it did all eight chairs.

This was the table I set for special company I was having!






Just threw these in. This dresser is in m kitchen. I have had it since I was a kid!

Another memo to me...

finished painting the dining table today
finished painting the first four chairs
framed the most beautiful abstract painting by the talented David Hayward.
got a second coat of paint on two of the next four chairs...ran out of paint...for umpteenth time!
found a temporary fabric for my dining chairs today...for a dollar!!! Yep a dollar!!!
found a tres cool funky fabric I love, but can't afford yet!
finished covering the seats...and it is now after 1am and I hate my electric stapler...junk!
painted the front steps
painted the mudroom steps
plus general housework, homeschooling, kids & meals...not bad for one day!

Memo to self

Since we went camping the second week of August, we have all been sick. Four out of six came down with pneumonia and ella my youngest is now miserable with a bad cold, fever, chest infection.

However, within all that I still managed to get a lot done on my todo list. I should also add, my husband has done his fair share too!

Stacked six cords of wood
split cedar for kindling (on going)
painted front door
painted mudroom door
painted trim
painted garage door
painted china cabinet (on going)
painted dining table & eight chairs (on going)
harvested my little garlic patch...big disappointment
cleaned and decluttered house
cleaned and decluttered garage
weeded garden
started decorating for fall
started homeschooling three kids grades 5, 8, 10


Still to do....

Paint steps into house
remove shingles by garage
paint trim above garage & fix rain gutter
take more stuff to value village
fix lights along flower beds going to my mums
finish kids homeschooling schedule

to be continued!

Recycling Woes

http://www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com/

I have been a faithful recycler for much of my adult life. If I can reuse something I will, I feel good when things find a new and useful purpose. Ten years ago, when our town finally got three very limited recycling bins, I used them...it would be another five years before there was a recycling plan for this area that still falls behind other communities. Our community is not lucky enough to have curbside pick up for recyclables, only compostable waste. Those that do have curbside pick up have no idea how lucky you are!


There is a lot of extra work that comes with recycling. Washing the containers, storing the mountain of plastic, paper, metal and bottles, then transporting them to the local recycling bins.

Then separating it all to the proper containers equals a lot of time and energy!
However, I couldn't imagine not doing it! No more than I could imagine not composting.

My dilemma is the storing of recyclables. I am tired of storing the whole mess, then separating the stuff...hauling it to the van to then sort into the appropriate containers...which are lined up to add on extra time and distance for each container, plus the opening are so small...grrr! I wish there was an easier way. I do have it as streamlined as I can for the space I give it... I just wish I could figure out a neat, easy system for dealing with the clutter.

For a family of six, under the counter bins aren't practical...we use a closet for our recyclables which we try to empty once a week...though that can certainly stretch out. When you see the mountain of stuff that is recyclable and or compostable it really makes you realize how wasteful our society has become. I love the idea of the containers above...I might even be able to find a cheap alternative that will work just as well...

So, though I grumble I couldn't imagine just tossing it all away...I do care about what the future holds for my children when it comes to the environment...we aren't doing much compared to others more dedicated, but we are doing our small part...so anyone with good organizing ideas on how to handle the storage issues...I'd love to hear about them.

Painting Furniture

I've been going a bit nuts around here since the first whiff of fall hit the air....the fear of missing out on painting outside to avoid fumes has spurred me on. I am almost finished the china cabinet which in turn has pushed me to start painting my diningroom set. After that, I hope to paint my kitchen table and chairs. I have always wanted to paint each chair a different colour and I plan to do it before fall gets any colder!

Here are some photos of some beautiful painted furniture.

This is what I am doing for my diningroom...painting it all white!

I have this colour for my kitchen set..I just am not sure if I still want to do a yellow table.

I plan on painting a beautiful cupboard my brother in-law made me this colour....apple green!

This is my inspiration photo for my kitchen table and chairs!

Ella's 1st Day...

Ella started pre-school today...she has been telling me for a long time now that she didn't want to go...then when we went to the open house on Saturday she decided she liked it afterall. So, hoping I was in the clear we prepared to attend our first day! Since she is going to the afternoon classes, she had to much time to think and changed her mind and informed me that she hated it and didn't want to go!

We went anyways...and yes, I was the last mother to leave but I was out of there within 15 minutes. Some kids screamed and cried which kinda freaked ella out. But, my luck changed when a little girl ella invited over to play was named Heidi! Naturally, I played that one up since my best friend is named Heidi and ella loves Heidi! So when I asked Heidi if she would play with ella, suddenly I was allowed to leave to wait outside in the van! Yes, I told her I would sit outside in the van and relax, drink coffee, read magazines and nap while she played inside! Whatever works! (no, i didn't wait outside!)

When I came to pick her up...I arrived 45 minutes early since I never read the parent handbook and had to wait in the van afterall! It turns out, she really enjoyed herself...we both survived being apart and I am really proud of her!

Ella with her princess lunch box

at the sand table

playing dollhouse

dress up corner in the back



ella's birthday


painting

heading into school

1970's Vintage China Cabinet

I would never have imagined that I would be loving many of the same things I talked my mother into getting rid of! Recently I found this china cupboard on isj and remembered how we had one similar to it...not super great quality but a staple of most households in the 70's!

The lady was selling it for $20, mainly because no one bit at her original price of $40, then it dropped to $30 and when it hit $20, I snapped it up. My husband primed it for me as I was sick with pneumonia. Then I finished it off with a Martha Stewart paint in a beautiful scandanavian blue...I love it!

One of the challenges is the frosted glass doors. I don't care for the pattern and it seems to "granny" like. So, I am playing around with some ideas to replace the glass doors or paint the glass!

I just finished the last coat and I will show the after photos once I bring it inside from the garage!

Preserving Food And Friendship

I would love to learn how to do this locally. I find myself wishing I knew how to can food at this time of the year. I used to make my own herbed vinegars and oils and felt so good using them!

My Bedroom

My bedroom is large...and has neat angles and three windows! It also has two closets so I have lots of storage. However, all that we have managed to do so far, is to paint the walls, ceiling and trim...oh and the closet doors until we renovate the room the way we want to.

We plan to add an ensuite bathroom. The area we chose shares the wall with the main bathroom, so it will make plumbing the bathroom relatively easy and fairly inexpensive! All we need to do is add a wall to close in the space, install a pocket door and voila, we have a private space to transform into our own private bathroom! I know how I want my new bathroom to look and I can't wait till we tackle that project! But, it will all tie in together with finishing the renovations on our bedroom, so for now I wait.

I will show you my bedroom as it is today. I wish I had before pictures! My only reason for showing them is to remind you of the power in a paint can! I think we can forget how much paint can transform a room...it is fairly cheap and easy! I painted the ceilings a pretty blue as our house is on a treed lot and my bedroom is on the shady side. The walls are a pretty green...but you can't really tell from the photos, but it does look pretty with the blue. I consider it a quick fix as I had used the wall colour in my last house and it didn't involve much thought! I just needed to remove the blech beige walls that was a favourite of the previous owner. Painting the old mahogany closet doors, trim and windows to white really lightened and brightened the room.

I change my bedding with the seasons...that is my weakness...beautiful bedding! However, I haven't indulged for quite a while! I do love April Cornell linens...which is on my bed right now! Many of her prints are timeless...I have had this duvet cover for almost 10 years!!! Though, I haven't used it in a very long time and when I do, it is only seasonally!

To the right of the bed is the window with my much loved white cupboard. On the left, you can see my wicker chair which you can't actually sit in as the ceiling slopes to low. That is where we plan to build another book shelf so that they flank the window seat.

The cupboard was another yard sale find from years ago!

The cool chair I bought recently at a yard sale for $2! My other Heidi bag!

My husband's grandmother tatted this for me before she passed away. I cherish this!

This photo better shows the angles of the wall.

I love my vintage wicker chair & dresser!

These are more vintage pictures I bought at a yard sale. They are all paintings of Bermuda.

The window seat that we plan to make deeper. The seat has storage and is wonderful for hiding christmas gifts!

We plan to build book cases in under the eaves! For now, the tv and ella's barbie house own this corner!

This is the area that will be turned into our bathroom. It doesn't look large in this picture, but it will hold a toilet, sink & shower!

A small dresser I plan to paint. But for now, it holds my books which will someday be on the bookshelves that need built!





I love the old Limoge jug. The vase normally holds flowers, but ella takes them everytime!


I love this old vintage picture!



My old suitcases that hold more of my books!


Some of my favourite jewellery hanging from my dresser mirror!

Fair Trade Coffee...at an affordable price!

One of my favourite things in life is my daily cup of coffee! I have loved coffee since I was about age three or four, as a kid in Ireland, when my dad would save me some of his Nescafe instant coffee, (aka Nasty Nestle) made with milk, in his flask from his lunch at work. The flavour is still in my memory and I remember it as delicious!

Thankfully, those days are a happy memory only. For years, I have only ever used fresh beans, freshly ground each morning, using the best beans I could afford. I used to buy from a local coffee roaster here in my area called Java Moose. I love their products but I would at times find the roasting to be inconsistent and at the time, they did not offer Fair Trade.

I then moved onto Just Us Fair Trade Coffee purchased locally at our Superstore, but the price became to prohibitive, approx. $9-$10 per half pound bag. I then would purchase Starbucks version of Fair Trade coffee (approx. $13 per 1 lb bag) and that was great for a long time, though inconvenient as we had to go to Fredericton to buy our coffee, but we tied it in with a visit to my brother and sister in-law or begged them to bring us some when they travelled to Saint John.

Until....eureka, about three years ago we discovered that Costco not only sells Starbucks under their own brand Kirkland, but it is also Fair Trade and it only costs approx. $13 per 2lb bag!



Another one that they offer and also my favourite, is by a Canadian company called William Spartivento Coffee costing approx. $14 for a 2lb bag!


This is the most beautiful, smooth, rich, full bodied coffee that I love! I wish they offered in other locations closer to home, but I am just so happy to drink it!

So, now we trek to Moncton, which is the closest Costco to us and buy a two month supply of coffee which compared to what we were paying saves us half and we enjoy our day trip and we are supporting Fair Trade! Worth the drive!

But, my other amazing discovery is that Irving Convenience Stores offers a Fair Trade Coffee that is truly delicious! Instead of always hitting Tim Horton's for that quick cup of coffee, I will now go the extra distance to buy a cup of coffee there and support their good effort! I also discovered that they sell their cold slushy drinks or iced coffee's in cups that are totally compostable, made out of corn! If you recycle and compost as we do, you will appreciate that! So, for the first time in a very long time, I actually have to acknowledge these good efforts and the fact that their slushies are only a 99 cents!!!!