Giveaways…

Wow – more amazing giveaways are underway in blog-land!

 

Christie on A Lil’ Welsh Rarebit is giving away this amazing, versatile carpet from CSN Rugs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julia over on Hooked on Houses is giving away a $50 gift cert for a “Dali” Decal. These are amazing and come in so many marvelous designs.

 

 

 

 

 

Kelly over at Design Ties is giving away this marvelous tassel which was made by Angela from Angela’s Peony Patch. Check out her Etsy Store!

Enjoy everyone – and Good Luck!

Hooked on Chaise Lounges

I absolutely love the Chaise.  Just saying the word conjures up days of lazing and eating truffles in a flowing gown– days I have never had, but hey a girl can dream can’t she???

Originally a misspelling of the French term chaise longue, and pronounced "shez long," chaise lounge literally means long chair. I love the functionality of a chaise, useful in almost any room of the house – even outdoors.  Here are some examples.  There are a couple I would absolutely love to have – how about you?

 

         

Photo credits:  1) Yellow Blue Xjavierx via www.desiretoinspire.net 2) Charalambous Chaise from www.hgtv.com  3) Chaise at www.iconocast.com  4) Crate and Barrel Josephine Arm Chaise at www.casasugar.com  5) Lecorbusier LC4 at www.parkcitymodern.com 6) Eames “La Chaise” at www.ohthemodernity.com 7) Flipt Chaise at www.momoy.info 7) 8) Cleopatra Chaise Lounge by Alemonna at www.luxurylaunches.com 9) Cork Cortica Chaise designed by Daniel Michalik 10) chill chaise 11 & 12) Happy Chaise by Dima Loginoff www.homedosh.com

 

Summer breezes in…

Well, June 21st has come and gone, and in my neck of the woods it actually brought “summer”, with warm days and beautiful breezy evenings.  With vacations looming and the hot tub delivery today (more to come on that front), we are super busy trying to get all the loose ends finished.  That can make for some crazy busy days, so I thought some calming summer images were in order … enjoy everyone!

 

 

    

And this is where I wish I was on breezy summer days like today!

Photo credits:

1 – decortherapia via www.simplynaturaldecor.blogspot.com 2 – naturalcurtaincompany.co.uk 3 – allysatticcrafts on etsy  4, 5, 6 – house beautiful 7 – naturalcurtaincompany.co.uk  8 – from colonialvacationrentals.com 9 - unknown

One day … two milestones

 

Yesterday was a big day in our family – the celebration of two milestones that made for one loooong day.

First was the celebration of our daughter’s 25th birthday – one that I must admit I secretly deny – there is NO WAY I am 25 years older!  I guess the secret really is that I don’t FEEL 25 years older.

 

The second celebration was my very own graduation from the local college’s Residential Decor certificate program.   I was blessed to have my husband and both daughters attend the convocation ceremony yesterday, letting everyone know as I walked across the stage to accept my certificate.

After four years of night classes, weekend sourcing, late nights printing pictures, cutting fabrics, sawing hardwood samples, mixing paint and creating paint chips, drafting floor plans and putting it all together in sample boards, idea files and client presentations, the final goal has been achieved!  Pheww…  you know, I think I’m actually going to miss it – the people mostly

And now it’s time to put all that education to work! 

Hooked on Flower Photos

Here is my very first Hooked on … post – a contribution to Julia’s Hooked on Houses fabulous Hooked on Fridays.

Was just over on Searching for Style for Friday Flowers (this week is Peonies) and the peony photo got me thinking about how hooked I am on taking photos of flowers. 

Here are a couple of my favourites taken over the last few years:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I can safely say I am hooked on flower photos!  Hope you enjoy!

Some inspiring words…

Take a moment or two to head over to An Inspired Life to read Melissa's inspiring post on Daring to Rediscover What you Love.

Sometimes we need to pause a moment in our busy lives to take stock, reflect and re-position ourselves. This may be necessary for a multitude of reasons, in fact, sometimes the reflection is forced on us by life events. Regardless of the reason, it’s an important task we must undertake. Because there is only one “me” and only one “life”.

Thank you Melissa for giving me the inspiration to do just that. Much appreciated!

Project advances….

This past weekend hubby and I made ALOT of progress on the biggest of our summer projects.  The hot tub project was moved miles forward with the installation of the wiring and gravel pad.

Sod Removal …

Installation of the electrical wiring (hard to see because hubby did such a great job on the sod!)… 

And finally, the gravel base is prepared and waiting for the delivery of our new toy…

After all this hard work, we sat back and enjoyed the late afternoons and evenings while making plans for the deck that will connect the hot tub to the house…

What an accomplishment!  Hubby certainly deserved that nice thick steak he got for supper!

Other projects accomplished …

• new birdfeeders installed (we love our feathered friends – in fact we watched a robin couple building a nest in our grape vine arbour over the patio – welcome to the neighbourhood!)

• Painting of the metal poles holding up the grapes – finally rid of the rust!!!

(this is what the grapes looked like in 2006 – a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!)

Projects remaining …

• Paint our dining room table … this is a biggie!  I have an old dining room table that my parents gave me.  It’s a pedestal table with one leaf and I love it’s versatility, but it’s finish is quite warn, almost completely off on the top.  I had an estimate to refinish it and well, let’s just say it’s not worth putting that much money into it.  So, I’m painting it – black.  One of my first posts – the Dream Dining Room – was the vision for my dining room, and the table is the first step.  I have another small table I will do a test run on, so I’ll post some pics as I work through the process – and I hope to have a successful “finish” – pun intended!
• Completion of our interlock driveway – last summer we had to dig up the foundation – story for another time – and we have waited for the ground to settle (and to make sure the water issue was taken care of) before completing the interlock
• New garden beds – my green thumb was itching, so 2 new locations have been scoped for garden beds – can’t wait to get started!
• etc. etc.. etc…

Hope everyone had as productive a weekend as I did …

Thanks … and check these out…

My friends Kelly and Victoria over on DesignTies were deservedly awarded the “One Lovely Blog” award for their hard work and amazing content. Way to go girls!

In turn, DesignTies awarded 15 Canadian blogs with the same award - AND MY BLOG WAS ONE OF THEM! Thank you ladies – I am honoured. Check out their post and all of the great blogs (both Canadian and International) that they follow! Well worth the trip.

I am becoming more exposed to the world of blogging, and one of the neat aspects is all of the GIVEAWAYS!!! Here are some I came across:

• A Jamie Drake Book giveaway at DesignTies
• Kitchen and Residential Design — Win a great Michael Graves 9093 Kettle.
• A Lil’ Welsh Rarebit — Win one of three great prizes.
• Gals in the Know — Win Stila makeup, fabulous books, and jewelry.

And for a neat list of giveaways check out this blog

• Blog Giveaways

Check them all out – and good luck!

A weekend in the Garden

Well, we have perhaps finally seen the beginning of the summer in Eastern Canada – perhaps. I’m not counting my chickens…

This past weekend I spent at the garden centre, and then elbows deep giving new homes to my fine flowering friends…

First was the hunt for effusys, after reading a great post by Kelly from DesignTies, which I finally tracked down. The last four to be had were found hidden behind some dracena – phew. If you haven’t read Kelly’s post and wonder what all the excitement is about – check this out …

This spiky curly plant is just begging to be asked about … I love it!

Next, was finding some plants to fill my many and varied containers collected over the years. The key for me was height, movement and cascades of colour. And so, I ended up with…

… a mixture of grass, potato vine, ivy and lobelia. This was day one – I think it will fill in quite nicely!

After all the planting, I thought I would take some shots of previous non-floral additions to my garden…

Red lanterns I found at Home Sense, with candles from Home Sense as well.

The original birdbath was a terracotta dish with a beautiful blue glaze finish, but someone dropped it while putting it away for the winter – and it wasn’t me… but, really, I’m over it now :o). I replaced the dish with a glass bowl I found at – yep – Home Sense. I’m not sure birds will be able use it (it’s a little slippery) – but darn it looks good!!

 

This trellis (from guess where) was supposed to house a new clematis, but instead I found the most beautiful bright pink honeysuckle, who now has a new home!

 

 

 

And for those of you wondering where my new hot tub is … stay tuned!!!