Tile Backplash Project – Part TWO

Where did I leave off…..oh yeah…drywall done, taped, primed and painted.  After arriving at the Homestead Friday and even though he had just spent 3 ½ hours in a car, hubby got to work hanging the upper cabinets back up on the wall.  He really is a hard worker, I am totally blessed to have him as my hubby. 

It took just over an hour to get the cabinets back up, which went off without a hitch.  I then rewashed the glassware and dishes that I had wrapped in newspaper as they were packed them away until we could get … Read more...

Do You Know What This Is?

It is contest time! 

Want to win this as a prize?

If you can correctly identify the mystery critter below, leave your answer in the comments section and a winner will be drawn at random from correct answers given.  Draw will be held next Tuesday, October 30th.

Kudos to those that immediately know what this is… 

Family Members are excluded from this contest, one entry per person, comments will not be shown until Tuesday morning.

 

 … Read more...

Homestead Halloween

Next door to the Homestead is a recreational Cottage Camp, a small, 5 cottage operation run by a lovely couple that took it over late last year.  They also have 4 lovely little girls….Melanie, Annie, Piper and Mira.  Melanie is the oldest at 7 and Mira the youngest who is getting close to 3.  They are well-behaved kids who absolutely adore fishing as much as their parents do.  Watching them charge out onto the dock with their miniature fishing poles in hand, and seeing their excited, happy faces when they ‘land the big one’ (usually a 3″ bluegill or rockbass) … Read more...

Replacing a Tile Backplash-Part ONE

Sounds fairly simple doesn’t it?  But sometimes the easiest of plans often go awry….

Awry…what an interesting word too, and the best one that describes our *minor* kitchen reno as the definition of Awry is: ‘Away from the appropriate, planned, or expected course’…clearly, that was happening here.

When we bought the Homestead a year ago, the previous owner ‘prettied’ up the place to sell.  We knew this going into it as it was obvious from the first look at it.  So we were going to live with the little odd things for the time being until we got the major … Read more...

Bushels of Bulbs

It is that time of year again.  After the garden beds have been pulled of the weeds and annuals and the perennials have been cut back, it is time to plant bulbs in the ground so your gardens ‘makeup face’ is fresh and new come early Spring.

Walk into any grocery store, hardware store, or big box store right now and you are guaranteed to see bushels of bulbs in hundreds of varieties.

Daffodils come in a myriad of bloom types, Tulips from Holland show off their vibrant colours, and Crocus’s and Snowdrops offer the first glimpses of green, often … Read more...

Knuts for Knitting

Ever get the bug for something and you can’t stop? 

That is me lately… I have not been able to put down the knitting needles since mid-August.  The cooler weather of Fall that arrived has prodded me further into action.

I just finished a beautiful, hooded cowl for my daughter (below), that was made using an Alpaca blended yarn.  First time ever working with Alpaca….man, talk about a hairy yarn.  I felt like I had 5 cats sleeping on my lap whenever I was working on it.  Definitely a ‘messy’ yarn, but extremely warm and works up beautifully.  My best … Read more...

DIY Drink Coasters

If you are a knitter or a crochet person (like me), then you will definitely see the benefits to these simple drink coasters.

I always have tons of leftover wool from projects.  Never enough to DO anything with as you typically just buy the amount you need for any given project.  Patterns always give you leeway and there is always some leftover.

I came upon this idea long, long ago…so long I forgot about it until I sat at the Homestead over the weekend knitting mittens (which would lead to more scrap wool) and surveyed how many of these things … Read more...

Bye Bye Boat….

Here I thought Fall was officially here when I tore the garden out October 1st…..nope…I was wrong.

Fall officially arrived this morning, October 14th.  The day the boat came out of the water for the season.  

The day dawned gray and gloomy, fittingly enough for such a sad task we had to do today.  The cloud cover was so low, you could almost reach up and touch the water laden clouds. As we had our tea and coffee first thing in the morning, I picked up Saturday’s paper, which had spent the night on the coffee … Read more...

GangUp Challenge Results are IN!

As promised, today is the day.  The day I showcase the results of the ‘Cooking Challenge’ that I threw out 10 days ago…. And boy, did the 10 days flew by fast.  Doesn’t help that there was a holiday (Canadian) shoved in the middle of it to make it that much more harried for us in the Great White North. 

BUT… 

Here we are and let me just say, I am thrilled with the results.  There are some extremely talented ‘Home Chefs’ out there that were not at all intimidated by the list of ingredients.  This round was one of … Read more...