In from the Wild.

Roger is allergic to a real Christmas tree so for years a fake one was all we had. I have nothing against fake trees in fact this year I'm partial to the white ones but I just love the smell of a real tree. Since moving here many years ago I once again could have a real tree because it sits in my living room. The door is shut to this room during the week so it stays cool enough to have the tree up already and no sneezing and sinus issues. Win, Win!
Normally we buy our trees but for a couple of years I wanted a tree that didn't come from a tree farm. I wanted one that grew in the wild and hadn't been perfectly manicured to fit the Christmas tree requirements. Google vintage Christmas trees and you'll see what I mean.

So off to my favourite in-laws to find the tree of my dreams.

I really get the whole Clark Griswold thing now. Walking thru the woods looking for just the right one until the heavens open and you see " Your " tree.

This is it!! My tree. Roger is tucked in behind and Jools is front and center waiting to help.

And help he does.

A lot. hehe

I can also tell you that what you think is the right height is way off, just ask my daughters. We brought a tree for each of them and they looked like Buddy the Elf's Christmas tree when they brought them in. A little to tall for the room. Oops.

So here it is my perfectly perfect tree!! It just touches the ceiling.(insert giddy laughter)

I just can't stop smiling when I sit and bask in its Christmassy glory.

Today is also my birthday and look what those two favourite in-laws got me for my birthday!
Vintage goat skin gloves!!!!

They came in this wonderful box all wrapped in tissue. Eek!! what a great day so far. :)

8 Months and Counting

Yup it's been that long. I didn't mean for that to happen it just did. There has been another baby added and another on the way in a couple of weeks. That's three new kids on the block for this Christmas and in case you lost track it makes 7 in total. Debbie and Pops' house becomes a happening place to be when everyone is home.
So the newest member is also also going to be a new adventure for M'lynn and Taylor so we've been collecting and handing down items from cousins. A shower added a few more things and Pops scored a few freebees at work in the way of some dressers. Two went to be built in at Amy's house and one I redid for M'lynn.

Groovy eh?!

It was basically a blank canvas with a bit of varnish because they had been built into the wall.

Sidenote- Finding furniture to paint has become a bit of like finding a needle in a haystack. Firstly it's become really expensive to buy a secondhand piece and my own home has just enough...ok well maybe to much fun finds to justify buying something even when it's a deal.  Some of my finds have made it to find new homes but I just don't have the space to store furniture until it does. I tried custom work but found its not for me."sigh"

For our new little boy to come here is his dresser.

It's more navy then the royal blue it looks like and is a paint of my own design. A little bit of this and that to get the colour I was going for. It's a homemade chalkpaint and waxed with my own wax recipe.

The top was stained and varnished as are the handles.

The drawers have been lined with a wallpaper I had on hand and are adhered with carpet tape so it's not permanent and can be changed out later. 

Cost to do- maybe $2.00. I had everything on hand. 

This is a plain solid wood dresser and is kind of a depart from some of the more ornate things I've done in the past. I'm finding myself being drawn to this simple style more and more this year, so you know what that means...time to change my house!!! :)

How to fit Five People in One Room

My house will be full this weekend and with all available beds taken we needed to come up with a way to fit a family of five into one room.

Roger and I had talked about this last year when we found out about our latest addition (Baby James) and that our current sleeping arrangements would need to change when everybody visits. 

So here is our plan. Custom made bunks!

We used two by fours, plywood and mattress foam. Roger made a simple design that can easily be unscrewed when they are no longer needed or we need to move them. We cut them to measure five feet long which gives them plenty of growing space but still leaves room to move around the room.  These beds would make a easy addition to a cottage or bunkhouse as well. We laughingly said we have the room we could go three beds high which can be done if your short on space but have plenty of height. 

The total cost including the foam was $160.

Believe it or not there is also a playpen and a rocker in this room and I can hardly wait for the little ones to try out our bunks. :)

P.S. Roger tried the top bunk and I tried the bottom so besides being a little on the short side they are more then sturdy enough if longer is what your looking for. 

P.P.S. Check Pinterest out for other bunk ideas!!!

Foam was bought at Len's Mill Store

Wood was bought at Rona

Blame it on the Woodstove.

It's been three whole months since I appeared here and my disappearance was due to some bodily rest. Since finding out at Christmas that my vitamin d levels were still loowwww it has taken a toll on my health in the form of osterarthis. My hands really don't function like they use to so projects are slow and sometimes sit there for weeks while I move to something else to rest my hands. Not that this is a sob story by any means just an explanation. I'm getting into a better groove of things and will have outfit and furniture posts plus some tales to tell. This just happens to be my first tale to tell.

In the fall we put a wood-stove in. With all the free wood we were and are going to get it only made sense to heat our home with wood. For the majority of our married life we've had a wood-stove so having one is nothing new and boy did I miss the cozy warm heat it gives. In this house for the past seven years we hummed and hawed about where to put one and finally decided in our basement directly under our dining room. (free wood will always give you a much needed push) We found this awesome grate last summer to help bring the heat up at a really good price. We cut and plopped it in the floor. I say that like it was easy. It was not since the cut had to be perfect and the grate stay flush with the existing floor boards.



So with all those warm cozy feelings, my wood-stove has started to impart a more simple life.

 For almost 3 years 95% of my clothes are either thrift or up-cycled  and I'm always on the hunt for thrift store fabric to sew up my vintage looking wardrobe. The longing for more simple doesn't mean my sewing won't still reflect the vintage wear I love so much. In my opinion I'm just that more authenticly vintage. HaHa! 
My shift into canning more and sourcing my goods more locally has become pretty important. When your body starts to do funky things you start thinking about what your feeding yourself and what can you do to make it better. A couple of years ago I had watched Wartime Farm  and they mentioned that after the war the British people were actually the fittest and healthiest they had ever been. This has stayed with me and really made me start to think about where my food comes from. If this is when an entire country was labeled as being it's healthiest and obviously everything was grown and raised pretty locally I'd say that it's a pretty good endorsement for the "Eat Local" mantra.  Growing up on farm you know exactly where its coming from but living in town I now want to be able to go to the source. Luckily for most everything I can and I can see some field trips happening to show you just that.

So as I branch off into this new/ age old lifestyle I shall take you along on my journey of sourdough bread and komboucha making. I'll share with you my gardening trials in a small space plus the other fun stuff we do around here like this Christmas present Roger made for Ashley and Darryl.




He's made another one and has wood to make more. Hopefully I can show you how he's made this simple table/bench in the future.  In the meantime we've got some cute custom made bunk beds for some cute custom made kids that is sitting in pieces that need to be put together.  :)