Children and the Seasons

 I am linking up to Mosaic Mondays.

For those of you that sent your guesses on my last Mosaic Monday post....

I posted the answers below that post, check it out here.

À tantôt

Disqus Comment Platform

So, on the weekend I switched from Blogger Comments to Disqus.
I am not sure what I think.
I certainly do not like the fact that I am now losing your image/avatar when you post.
It does allow me to respond directly to a comment by email.
It also means I can respond to individual comments.
Not sure I am sold on it completely...
how about you?
Are you using this, considering it?
Let me know please if you have another that you feel is better.
Bonne Journée!


À tantôt

Attack Ads here we go!!

Well, according to my stats,

it appears that many,

if not most of you 

that drop by here from time to time

are not from Canada

and therefore have no idea what we are about to get into....

in my part of the world.

Saturdays

 Well, yesterday, marked the first day of my new regard on

Saturdays,

I have been inspired by the BC Saturday club, 

and the idea of taking this particular day of the week

and adding a little adventure to it...

mais...

pourquoi-pas?

Bad luck/Good luck

Well, I posted a while back about a buffet that

I had found on kijiji....

hmmm...big disappointment....somebody else

got there first.

And then...when I went back to find the listing for

the cute little picnic basket....

well it had vanished.

Wuz up with that??

But, today I was back on kijiji and there it was!

First time they were asking 15$ but this time 5$

So...no hesitation ...I rushed over.

 ...and look..

it is soooooo much larger than I imagined..

Oh, I cannot wait until my first warm day when I will

fill this up,

head to the lake,

with a nice bottle of wine, 

good baguette,

fruit,

cheeses, paté, and

some really good cretons..not cheap but the good stuff...

mais oui....

À tantôt

Tulip Tips

Hints of the "good life"........
 I may have to remind you,

or perhaps inform you,

that I am a real nut about having fresh flowers 

around our home.

It does something to lift my spirits

when I walk into a room

and am greeted by this lovely bouquet...

okay and I am a bit of a snob about bouquets ..

I like a mix of flowers but not necessarily

a mix of colours.

And the mix of flowers is fairly specific,

Anyway, my silliness around all of that is not

why I am coming to you with a post

called....

Tulip Tips...

yep, that is what I have called it..

anyway, I was given a tip the other day that I have to share

these little beauties, that I purchased last Saturday morning

are still looking lovely after 6 days.

Usually cut tulips don't survive long indoors for me... 

This was taken at 3 days but they are now fully open 

and oh so slightly drooping.....

so, what is the tip??

turns out these lovely ladies like a touch of vodka in their water!

Martinis anyone???

À tantôt

Water

As you may know,

or not,

I love water......

 Just two months away.....

À tantôt!

You can see other shots of water right here!

Quebec Canada

My world... Québec, Canada

dominated by seasons

influenced by history... et la langue......

dating over 400 years...

and touched by the sea...

home to belugas, fin whales, minkes.....

and outdoor enthusiasts

Québec, la belle province, Canada

À tantôt

I am linking this to  My World
and
http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ 

Mosaic Monday Photo 2

Linking up to Mosaic Monday... 

So, let's have a little fun with this one.

There are 4 countries represented below...

Can you guess which ones?

 Let's consider that image # 1 is the upper left corner

and then number them off clockwise

so, for any of you directionally challenged
(... no worries, I live with one of them.....)

that means the two children in the bottom right corner

would be image # 7....

So, any ideas....leave me a comment if you think you know.

À tantôt!

Update:

 1. Peru - a food delicacy in the country - guinea pig
2. Greece
3. Canada - Percé, Quebec
4. Peru - Machu Picchu
5. Canada - Nova Scotia
6. Peru - A private school performing Monday assembly march
7. Peru - two young children by the side of the road
8. Chili - museum in Santiago
9. Canada - Québec city, one of the oldest cities in North America
10. Chili
11. Peru

Linking it up:

A Sign of Spring

........Signs of Spring.....  In Canada

À tantôt

Flea Market Finds

 I am a lover of flea markets, or as we call them.....la marché aux puces...... but at this time of year we have very few open.
A good friend of mine was over for dinner last night after having just stopped off at an indoor marché aux puces where she got this vintage light.

We hung it up right away over the island so we could see the full effect of this piece.  Very unique, not everybody's taste, but a real beauty over our kitchen island.

I just love the moroccan feel to it.  Probably not best suited for my house but what character.

So, since I have been on a kick of blue in my kitchen these days ...I headed over and found this cute blue glass jar. I think I will store tea bags in here....not sure...but I love blue glass.

À tantôt..

linking this up:
to Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

 

Drop Cloth Magic?

I thought I would share a little drop-cloth magic!

We usually don't use a table cloth for casual dinners with 

friends but...

one of the couples coming is in the midst of a rather

large renovation

so...

I thought they might appreciate 

our drop-cloth

table cloth?

We will see...

Check out what I am really going to do with this drop-cloth.....click here

À tantôt

The Maritimes

Remembering my Irish Roots....







 William Butler Yeats wrote.....

 I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin built there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glad,

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnights all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway or on the pavements gray,
 I hear it in the deep heart's core.




     




A tantôt



linking this up:

Into the Vortex I Go

Since the kitchen renovation I have been trying to get busy with all the 'details' 
around our house.
But...of course, these things take time.
Sooo...I decided that perhaps
I should listen to the advice of others and do things room by room.

The obvious place to start is the diningroom.
We have this table that I love!
Very rustic, made from reclaimed wood by my brother-in-law..
very heavy
and a great table for entertaining.
Seats 8-10 people comfortably. 

Sarah from Modern Country Style  cautioned me that my latest purchase would be responsible for my descent into the drop-cloth vortex!
Ha! .... I think she may be right!!
And I think I am already lovin' it!!!
No reveals as of yet but I will
let you know..
this drop cloth material is going to give the perfect touch to our parson chairs.

These were a great deal that we picked up when the Fly stores all closed shop here a few years ago.  The problem was we could not get the same colour leg nor fabric.  No big deal though since we bought 6 chairs, half in a cream and the other half in a moss green for 25$ a piece.

So, thanks to all the talented bloggers out there 

I have found some great tutorials on making slipcovers for these type chairs

and ....well....time to get busy!
More on the magic of dropcloths! Click below.......

http://anangloinquebec.blogspot.com/2011/03/drop-cloth-magic.html

Mosaic Monday

It appears that the theme of Spring has taken over...

So,
since I just recently took these photos outside my door..

I thought I should really try out this mosaic feature...
and 

love it...

sharing my spring photos...

yes, spring means snow for at least another month...

but blue skies,

warmer weather...

great spring skiing,

more birds,

and maple syrup.

I am linking this up to Mosaic Monday.
http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2011/03/mosaic-monday-vintage-spring.html

A tantôt

Gotta get my creativity going!!

While I was in the city yesterday, 

I stopped by the hardware store to pick up a few supplies

and

I bought this......

 Do you know what it is?

Well,  I have been inspired by so many of your blogs to do this,

got any ideas?..

I am sure you do..

so, taking the day off, or the afteroon anyway,
to do a little crafty thing...

will get back to you

with the results!

A tantôt

Winter's End

Usually I look at this amount of snow sitting 

on the edge of my driveway

in mid-March

and I feel somewhat,
perhaps ever so slightly...
depressed.

My outdoor wooden planters came down in the night 

under the weight of too much

snow....

I won't be able to get to them until most of this snow melts.

But

it is a beautiful sunny day here 

 I really can't complain

life is good for me and my family

and given what is going on in the world

my own frustration and preoccupation with snow 

seems trivial,

superficial.

So, I think I will choose to look at it through a different set of lenses today

and not complain

but rather 

simply be

thankful.

For those of you
feeling as I am these days,

After some research, it appears that the Red Cross is the principal 

organization for donations to the Japan relief.

A tantôt

Details in the Kitchen: Part Three

This is a three part post so if you have not followed this and want to start at the beginning then just click the image below, the before photo.....

My one big concern was that our kitchen be functional as a kitchen should be....but more importantly that everything be organized according to the way we function in the kitchen.
So, that meant thinking about what we need from the kitchen.
We have always enjoyed entertaining, having friends over for small dinner parties as well as throwing larger soirées where we can entertain throughout the year on special occasions or holidays. That means, extra plates, wine glasses etc. that need to be stored and out of the way from day to day storage.

The Food Pantry:

I am still in disbelief at the amount of food we get in here.  The food pantry runs all the way to the ceiling and is nice and deep.  Of course that necessitates the need for sliding drawers.

One drawer is designated to pastas, boxed dry foods etc and another holds all the canned goods.

We had room for a shallow drawer so it allowed us a place for tea towels and dish cloths. This was in the plans as a must-have and I love it.

The top two shelves were designed as static shelves and house the 'extra' food. (spices, canned goods, sauces, jellies etc.) Almost all of our food storage is contained within this tall pantry making it very functional.

The pantry is the place where a lot of food prep takes place.  It is a great place to hide warming dishes during a party as well as all those extra glasses, plates and serving dishes.

All the small appliances that take up a lot of counter space in the kitchen are stashed in the pantry.  

Baskets are my secret storage space for more unsightly/less used items. The island below is another storage space.

A more traditional island, with drawers and closed in cupboards  was out of our budget, so this was built to hold baskets. The island costs 250$ to build. The large baskets on the bottom hold extra fry pans, salad spinner, shredders and other kitchen items.  The upper shelf baskets hold all our produce such as onions, garlic, potatoes and bread. Very handy! And all baskets are from Ikea.

,

The cupboard above the fridge is my go-to storage for entertaining.  Extra bowls, large pasta bowls, baking dishes, chinese steamers for dumplings, dipping bowls, casserole dishes etc.

Yep, guilty.  These baskets have been around for many years but....they have always served a purpose beyond just looking good.

The one on the far right stores candles of all sizes.

The one in the middle stores fondue pots and the hot stone plaque that are all great at a dinner party.

So, that is it ....the finale...ending of course on a realistic note with the garbage,
compost bin and
recycling bin which all roll out
from under the sink...
now,
you have seen it all....my kitchen fully exposed.

 I hope this helps some of you that are considering a kitchen renovation. 
If you have a budget to respect, a small kitchen and lots of needs/wants....well, planning is the key. I read, before starting our reno, that you should write down everything you want, everything you need and then list and categorize ......
oh...
And a bit of purging along the way doesn't hurt either.




 A tantôt!


I am linking up with: