Summer, Summer, Summertime!

It was the last day of school today and the kids and I are now finished for the summer! 
We'll be doing lots of this:



(Camping 2008, Pinery Provincial Park, near Goderich, Ontario with our previous trailer.)
And this:

(Canoeing 2009, Six Mile Lake Provincial Park, Coldwater, Ontario~ Georgian Bay)


And this:
 
 (Wasaga Beach, Wasaga, Ontario 2008)
And this:

(Dairy Cows, Beef Cows, Fairs, Shows and more Fairs.)


Lots of camping, canoeing, cows, beaches, and swimming in sister and bil's pool two streets away. Hopefully I can fit in some projects around here too.

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Summer, Summer, Summertime!

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Hydrangea in the Backyard

The hydrangea blooms are plentiful this year so I kept some on the patio table. Peeking from behind are
a few of the pillows I sewed for the windsor chairs.



Wave Petunias and ivy on what I am told was an old cheese board(?)


We're getting lots of use out of our little fire bowl.





More hydrangeas in an old Crown mason jar. I love the zinc rings and glass lids with the crowns on them.
Pretty blooms under the screen gazebo. 



I have received lots of kind comments from my last post. I was surprised to hear the hydrangea called green. I always thought of them as white. Many are quite white, but I realize now they have a green undertone. Especially the ones that were not quite open when I cut them (due to impending storm.)



Hoping you can enjoy some time outdoors this weekend!

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Hydrangea in the Backyard

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Hydrangea in the Family Room and an Earthquake

Today in Ontario we had an earthquake and later this evening we are expecting heavy rains, thunderstorms, potentially damaging winds and hail.


Luckily, throughout the large area of Ontario affected by the 5.0 earthquake this afternoon, there were only reports of trembling and objects moving but no reported damage. I was at work (on the ground floor) and felt the computer and my chair shake slightly. With the heavy rains we had earlier in the week, and the heavy rains and winds expected tonight, I decided to cut some hydrangea and bring them in. I added some to the old sap bucket I scored at a yard sale this spring for $1, rusty stars included.

                                      

You might remember that I bought the white slipcover from IKEA, and it fit our family room couch almost perfectly. I had switched the living room leather couch with this white slipcovered one in the family room, but now they are back in their original spots. I decided I would rather live with two boys and having to wash the slipcover in the family room often, than have two boys destroy eat on my favourite leather sofa. The leather is happily back in our living room.

                                     


I sewed all the pillows and pick them up off the floor move them around often. I still have to finish painting the TV nook and a favourite stitched piece's frame, and then I will post pictures of the other side of this room. I'll be needing ideas for the mantleless fireplace wall.





 I also moved the blue denim slipcovered chair up from the basement TV room. One more week of school and I can concentrate on finishing slipcovers for the other chair in the room and the dark brown ottoman.




This is the end of the family room, with two sets of windows on the family room side, and patio doors on the kitchen side. My plan is to one day cover the popcorn ceiling of the cathedral with beadboard. I hope to practice on a smaller area in the basement stairs ceiling this summer.





Hydrangea are one of my favourite flowers and I am so happy that the bush has so many pretty blooms this year.





Just some fun shots in Photobucket.







I'm linking to The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday. Thanks, Gina, for hosting.


I'm also joining Donna at Funky Junk Interiors for her SNS party. Be sure to drop by to see the other links plus the special themed links each week. This week's special theme is old doors.

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Building a home for Bunny

Our oldest son is a 4-H member, as I mentioned here. This is his 4-H Rabbit Club project.

She is a Californian and is only two months old.

K. built this hutch for her, following a simple plan in his John Deere hobby farm book. K. picked out all the wood at Home Depot and with the help of his younger brother loaded it in our truck. He then built the hutch himself, with only some safety supervision from Mom and Dad with the compound mitre saw. He had trouble with the design of the front door of the sleeping box so for now it is just screwed closed.

K. spends lots of time visiting and caring for his rabbit. He also works with her each day, practising for
4-H judging competitions. 
With all the allergies in our family we have never had house pets. Pets are not my thing, either. I was a bit worried about how this would all work out but I am very proud of how he is handling the responsibility. J., our youngest, and hubby are in love with her too, often visiting her throughout the day.

 

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What I Love About Our Home

Grace from Sense and Simplicity and Janice from Canadian Cottage have both posted about what they love about their homes. I enjoyed their posts and decided to join in.





So, welcome to our home and I hope you enjoy the tour.

We live in a great subdivision neighbourhood in a medium sized town. We are within driving distance of major urban centres, but have farms, parks and countryside within only a 5-10 minute walk. Our home is medium sized for our neighbourhood at 1900 sq.ft. plus a finished basement. Upstairs we have four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a laundry room. On the main floor is a living room, family room, dining room, kitchen with eat in area, and a small washroom. Our basement has a large guest room, bathroom, living area, and a kitchen that we are taking out, plus tons of storage room and closets.




I love our brick colour and the board detail above the windows at the front of the house. Our roof has lots of interesting peaks too.

I love the light streaming through our bedroom windows and like the cathedral ceiling area above the bay.





I love our large soaking tub in the ensuite.




The back of our home has a cathedral ceiling with skylights over the eat in area of the kitchen and back of the family room, providing great light and an awesome view of incoming clouds or storms.





I dream of a large wrap-around porch but we love our little covered porch. It is just enough room for a couple of chairs and has a vinyl beadboard ceiling that matches trim on the rest of the house.











This past summer we installed a Unilock Brussels Brick patio in our small back yard. We added wide steps from the patio doors that encourages us to get out and enjoy our backyard more.





This spring we got a permit from the Fire Deptartment and added this little firepit between the patio and back garden bed. It gives us a nice spot to make s'mores and enjoy an evening under the stars, even when we aren't camping.




We enjoy lots of potted plants and the perennial garden bed along our fence lines.














 I hope you enjoyed the little tour of what I like about our home. Grace has been adding the tours to her blog, so be sure to stop by Sense and Simplicity to see more.
  

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Cows, cows and more cows

I was inspired by a post from Kristin at Faded Prairie to share our family's love of cows.



Hubby was raised on a small farm and I was raised in a small city. When we married and bought our first home in the same small city, our home reflected my love of cows. The more cow-themed items the better! We had cow canisters, cow wallpaper borders, cow fabric curtains, cow everything! Over the years, the cow themed items have drifted away. Only a few favourites remain.





But now the inanimate cow decor has been replaced with the real thing (one our son owns and the others generously lended by farmers for the shows.)



 
Our oldest son, now 13, must have inherited B.O.D., as Kristin calls it. Bovine Obsessed Disorder. Last year he researched and joined our local 4-H Club. We live in town, not on a farm, but 4-H people are welcoming and encouraging. Truly a great bunch of people. The 4-H Program is an organization of leaders building leaders. They pledge their Head, Heart, Hands and Health as members of community based clubs to "Learn by doing." Last year he joined our local Dairy Club and Beef Club. This year there is Dairy, Beef, Rabbit and Tractor Clubs.



He saved all his birthday money and Show and Fair winnings to buy a Holstein calf (the muddy one) that he keeps on his uncle's farm, two hours away. We are very proud of this young man with the big dreams. The boy who falls asleep at night reading stock brochures and farm manuals. We are also proud of his little brother, who goes along to all the barns, fairs and shows and is his brother's biggest fan. We often hear them discussing the land and the tractors they will own one day. Boys with big plans amd big dreams.





The school year will soon be over here and this will allow us more time for all the activities. It will also give me more free time for projects around our home. As soon as I repaint the frame, I will share one of my favourite cow themed items, a stitched piece, that I saved from those early homemaking days. This girl with B.O.D. will also be keeping an eye out for some unique pieces like those Kristin has collected.



I'm linking to A Few of My Favorite Things Saturdays over at Laurie's/Bargain Hunting and Chatting With Laurie. I found Laurie's blog, back when I first started blogging, from her comments on two of the first blogs I visited. Be sure to stop by a see her great blog and all the party link ups.



 

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