Kittens Lately

Here's a few pictures of the kittens lately...as you can see they're doing a lot of sleeping! Lazy summer days...must be nice!

This was a fabulous shot of Boy-Cat that Chris found last weekend. I had just put this box under the bench, and he quickly found a way to cram himself in between the top of the bench and top of the box! He's also been found sleeping in the scarf basket lately:)

A Day at Christie

This Saturday marked one of my favourite days of the year...the Christie Antique show. My friends introduced me to this show a few years back, and I haven't missed one since. It's Canada's largest antique show, and you never know what you're going to find or who you'll see! 

Here's a look at some of my favourite things from the show. I'll post later in the week on what I took home.

Doug (of Doug and DA who introduced me to Christie in the first place) is one of my favourite people...and a loyal blog reader- hi Doug!! He collects tin trucks as well as photographs real trucks (see here for examples) and has been known to truck a number of furniture pieces for me. This is him (on the right) with his neighbour Wayne who I bought my kitchen chairs from. 

As I said- you never know who you're going to run into. Here's Tommy Smythe from HGTV. He was waiting in line for a sausage...a Christie must...and I may or may not have followed him back to his picnic table to see if Sarah Richardson was with him...and alas she was! It was very exciting:)

Fab Find Friday: Dreaming of Paris!

I picked up this beauty on last Friday night at Value Village and can't wait to try a few of the recipes. There's just something magical about french pastries and cakes to me. I have never been to Paris, but it is definitely at the top of my list, and bakeries are certainly on the itinerary! I secretly hope that Chris will get sent to France for work, we'll live in an apartment above a bakery, and the owner will take me in and let me be their apprentice!

I also found a bag of old thread spools for $0.99! I have an apothecary jar filled with ones from my grammy's house in our hallway. I've seen these going for $10-15 a dozen at antique shows...so I just couldn't leave them behind!

I love the illustrations at the start of each section

What I'm Reading

I'm currently reading two books at once. This is uncommon for me, I typically like to focus, but my friend has loaned me a book that I just had to start right away. Both of these books are fantastic, and I'd recommend them to anyone considering a bit of change to their daily routine:)

This book is great for anyone who has a dream of doing something on their own one day, and after reading the book you'll learn the one day/someday doesn't have to be so far away!

I wanted to read this book after I heard Sherry talked about it on Young House Love. It's basically a DIY for improving your own day to day happiness. I'm only on the third chapter, but it already inspired me to de-clutter this weekend. For some reason I do feel better that our linen closet and files are now organized!

Have you read any good books lately? Summer is definitely the time I love to take advantage of some sunny-day reading, so if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them!

Things I Love: Little Red Watering Can

Every summer I plant something, this year I'm taking a break with tomatoes and just planting herbs and a few flower baskets/planters. I picked up this red watering can at Value Village earlier in the year (more on that here), and meant for it to be purely decorative. Luckily, it's also functional and has been put to good use every evening!

Fab Find Friday

Happy Friday everyone! As promised here are some pics of a few of the goodies we picked up at Aberfoyle on Sunday! The theme of this trip was storage, and we found lost of options...here's what we brought home!

I picked up the yellow metal tin on the right for $5. It's a great storage piece and is sharing a room with my Christie picnic basket that holds all of the cat toys and brushes.

We found our "chest of drawers" in the form of an old washstand. It got a good cleaning and although it may get stripped down the road (the wood is gorgeous)...it's a happy antique white for now

Chris bought me this basket after I fell in love at first sight and he convinced me to walk away. It's at the bottom of our stairs right now, but I have visions of it holding blankets or towels in the future.

This was a non-storage decorative purchase...an old non-functional kitchen scale...I LOVE IT!!!

Have a great long weekend:)

Shiner

Missy lived up to her full name on Sunday: "Mischief" managed to catch her third eyelid (who knew cats had 3?!?) on something under our Lazyboy couch on Sunday. We had to take her for an emergency trip to the vet as her eye was bleeding; luckily no cornea damage (just wallet damage).

 Talk about a Happy first Mother's Day!

This picture doesn't do her swolen shiner justice!

Aberfoyle Adventures

Chris and I went to the Aberfoyle spring show on Saturday morning. Chris was very enthusiastic about finding everything on my list (I think he thought if we got it all done in one go we wouldn't have to go to any more antique shows this summer)! We found a few items, and Chris actually did the majority of the negotiating. Here's some of the eye candy from the show. I'll post our purchases later this week.

Loving the grey chest of drawers

These were a steal for $85 for the set...I couldn't justify them,
but i'm sure they made someone happy!

Design Thoughts

I've been thinking a lot lately about different things that I would like to do around the house now that spring has sprung and we've been here for over a year. This post is more for me to keep track of design priorities throughout the summer, but thought I'd share

1. I would like to keep an eye out for a coat rack for the front room. Our (read: Chris') coats usually end up on the staircase if they don't make it to the back closet, and it would be nice for guests who are just staying a while to have a place to hang their coat. I have the perfect little nook for one.

2. I would like to re-do the back entry way. I have pinterest board dedicated to it.  I would like to install a rail to hang coats (possibly using old pallets) as well as potentially set up cubbies, although I am worried about the cats climbing them. I'm thinking about a bench,mirror, rack combo thing, so I should measure the space before I venture to Christie.

3. I would like to re-do the office upstairs as we do not use the desk, and turn it into a reading room, moving my desk, a rug and table I have in storage. The idea would be to move the exercise equipment downstairs behind the living room. I'm still having trouble sectioning off this huge space...so we'll see...thoughts in process

4. I am also thinking of putting a chest of drawers in the living room for additional storage and moving the lovely metal table that's there now...I wonder if I could add casters to the table and turn it into a cart for the kitchen?

5. If we're in this place for the long haul, I would also like to re-do the spare bedroom. I know it's the boat room now, and that doesn't need to change...but the wall colour has to go.

Summer Find Wish List
Chest of Drawers for the Living Room
Coat Rack (Standing)
Coat Rack (Hanging)
Possibly a small bench
Comfy Chair (possibly rocking) & Ottoman
Chalkboard
Wire Baskets

Super Fudge

I went to see Christina Marsigliese speak about her new book a few weeks back. She is a self-taught baker and a food scientist. Her book Scientifically Sweet is all about the science behind baking and why you have to do certain things to get the best baking results.

The first recipe I tried was her Dark Fudge Brownies, and they didn't disappoint. These were by far the BEST brownies I have ever made (sorry Grammy). They are super fudgey deliciousness, so if you're a fudge brownie fan (vs. cake brownies) these are definitely for you.

Christina has a version of the recipe on her blog here.

Literary Patina

I have always loved books. My mom is a literacy teacher, so I come by it honestly. Growing up most kids played on sports teams or went to summer camp in the summer, I joined the library summer reading challenge (it takes far less coordination). Recently I have started collecting old books, mostly for display, although I am reading an old copy of Pride and Prejudice at the moment.

Top: 1857 copy of John Halifax with an inscription dated September 25, 1917 "To Methven Adamson from Mother on his birthday, The Year of the Great War

Bottom- collection from latest Flea Market

I have seen old books used as centerpieces at rustic vintage weddings, and I'm loving this idea! I've pinned a few examples on my Interesting DIY board, but here's my favourite:

boards.weddingbee.com

The Doctor Is In

I picked up this old guy at the flea market last weekend! It was only a dollar, and so many fellow flea market goers commented on it throughout the morning! I haven't decided if I will actually use it as a piece of luggage or just a storage display piece, but I love it nonetheless.

One of my favourite things about thrifting is you never know exactly what you'll find inside a piece that will tell you more about where it came from. I found the business card of the original owner of this piece (his initials are also stamped on the outside). He was a Doctor in Etobicoke. I also found the original key for the bag as well on an old leather keychain!

Coming up Doilies

I have pinned a couple of doily table runners on pinterest lately after seeing them on Suzanne's blog including the one below from Vintage Junky (PS- this is a new favourite blog to check out)

 I'm always looking for simple sewing projects, and I liked the idea of incorporating some of the doilies my grammy has gifted me over the years. I picked some up at the flea market on Sunday to add to my collection and when I got home I laid them out on the floor. I'm still not all the way to runner status, but it's a good start!

PS- a sweet hello to the lovely lady at the flea market who gave me a great deal on these; gushing "I'm just so glad someone still likes these"!