kittycafe

Big and small messes, I mean projects

It really started with all the rain.

...and one thing leading to another

Every day dark and gloomy, a virus that I couldn't shake....

 We decided to rearrange some things around the house (the big mess/project) which of course took longer than I had hoped.

But it did mean that there is now more room in the family room/studio, which is a good thing. I took a whole new corner for myself.

It is inspiring to have a clean space to work in and of course, incentive to mess it up again, starting with finishing small projects: Remember these without glaze?

And the work horse computer is now upstairs in the loft, where it is warmer and there is the only (partial) view of the pond from the house (and also occasionally of one the cats catching a little red squirrel, ahem)

 

The very large giclee printer is now upstairs as well (nearly doing in my back in the process)...

which means there is much more room in the pantry, where I thought it was unfairly taking up too much space.

This necessitated a rearranging of the pantry (the kitchen side if not the "office supply' side, oh the joys of a spouse working from home)

Having taken my jars of dry goods down from their shelves I found an inspiring idea somewhere on the internet and painted all the lids with primer and them blackboard paint. Now I can do away with sticking and re-sticking labels on the jars as the contents changes, I can write on the lids!

 

 

These are just a few; I have a lot of these jars. I snagged them from work as soon as we were finished with the contents. My co-workers roll their eyes at what they call my "jar obsession".

I wanted to use chalk markers but I could only find expensive sets, and I only wanted one white one.

And I finally finished a large in size/small project in this mirror. It was found resting against a recycle box on garbage day and after wrestling it into my tiny car, it sat in the porch for a few weeks. The frame was some sort of wood product, very heavy and imperfect so I gave it a few coats of paint and a little distressing. It is sitting awaiting it's fate; we are not sure where it will live - teenage negotiations ensue.

 

 

Finally, I mean FINALLY, on Sunday the sun came out and it was too nice to stay inside so the mister and I went to Mono Cliffs Provincial Park for a hike and some geocaching. Have you tried this? It is a lot of fun and adds another dimension to a hike.

We found wild grapes 

and I can't resist an apple orchard, also found in the park. The apples in the foreground were wormy but the tree behind this one yielded the prize. 

The apples turned out to be delicious and a surprising colour inside. We have been eating them out of hand but I couldn't resist making a little apple sauce because how often do you get techni-colour pink applesauce ? Isn't it fabulous?

I didn't mind staying in making applesauce, because today?

Today it's raining again.

 

Corner View: Exotic

I had a hard time with this one. From my perspective nothing around me is exotic - just commonplace.

But then, there are these popping up here and there where you least expect them, homegrown exotic I guess.

 

 

 

Cv: October

A favourite month!

It's a birthday month for my boys, and my niece, which we just celebrated on Thanksgiving this past weekend. It was summery warm and we ate outside on my sister's patio.

We always have birthday pie

made with pumpkins from the garden

and apples from the tree.

More October views around my house:

this little fellow was outside the kitchen window this morning

the view down our road, a little colour, still a lot of green

A lot of reasons to love October.

Corner View: The last thing I learnt

I learn things every day and I love that.

One of the most important things I've learnt is that sometimes you have to be reminded of the things you already know, like:

carpe diem

In our small town is a very nice, expensive furniture/ decor shop on the corner of our Main St. When I go to the grocery store, I can see the back of the shop. There has always been two pieces of ornate iron fencing resting on the wall there,  turquoise painted with a little rust thrown in. I'd always envisioned one of those pieces making a great head board for our bed, newly sand blasted and freshly painted.

But I never went in and asked. I figured they would want more than I could pay (not a lot) There must have been some reason they were sitting there so long? (At least two years) And how would I bring them home? Not in my small car. I would wait to ask when my friend S was at work, she has a big truck.

Well, I finally decided I would ask.

That day it was gone.

So my head board is still an empty canvas, literally.

Perhaps I should paint the iron fence pattern on it as a reminder to "seize the day!"