BeTtEr LaTe ThEn NeVeR...

Hello Everyone!

I know, it's me...have you all forgotten who I am? Well let's see, my name is Sandy and I am a prim attic! Yes, it's me :) I am sooooo sorry ladies to have been away for soooooo long!!! I am not going to make any excuses because they are always the same. BUT I feel so horrible for it to be so very long. I can't believe that it's been almost two months since I last posted. What happened? Where did those two months go? Time just flies on by and mentioning two months, Christmas is only two months away girls ;)

I have been following the majority of you and leaving the odd comments here and there. But now I am back! And on my last post, I promised to make a post on the different textures in my house. I know that I am VERY LATE but as my title says "Better late then never". So as promised, here you go...
So my friends, I hope you enjoyed my pics on textures. And once again...sorry it took so long.

Before I sign off for the night, I have to show you all what I purchased with my Birthday money. YES, I said birthday. Another year has come and gone. But sadly when I turned 36 on the 9th, I panicked because I don't remember turning 30. Where did those 6 years go??? I have a feeling that when my 40 comes around, I will have a very hard time accepting that number. When I look in the mirror, I don't find the person starring back at me is 36. I feel I look like someone in their 20's BUT then I have day's were I feel like 90...LOL.

So with all my birthday money, I just had to go shopping for some prim decorations. I know you all would have also :)

I fell in love with this candle reflector!!! I find it is just beautiful! I have been going around the house showing hubby what I would like for him to build for me. For instance, a box to cover up this small radio. He started panicking by saying he doesn't dare stay still to long because I might box him up...LOL
The last time I was in my favorite prim shop, I couldn't help but love this stitchery. There is just something about it that I love. So when I went back the other day and saw that it was still there, that was a sign for me :)
I also purchased yet again another treenware bowl but in black. I wanted one that hangs because I ordered a Fowl Rack online over at Farmhouse Primitives. I know exactly where I am putting it, just waiting for it to come in. I don't know if everyone has checked out this awesome prim site BUT all I can say is WOW!!! There are some really nice goodies there. It was hard not to go over board but I was a good girl. So for the time being I placed the bowl on the floor under a bench filled with some fall decor.
I also purchased some candles that are all stringed together on a metal rod. I also want to put it on the Fowl Rack. I just forgot to take some pics. But trust me, when the rack comes I will make sure to get pictures to show you all. I just can't wait :)

Lastly, I will be by early this week to share some pictures of my Father's 60th Birthday Surprise. We had so much fun! And finally for once it was a SURPRISE! He was even paid a visit by a special OLD lady :)))

So until next time my friends...

WHAT??? Fall Already?

I believe that we may have seen the end of our Summer weather :(((
Don't get me wrong...I can't wait to decorate for Fall. It's such a fun season with fall leaves, pumpkins, corn on the cob, Trick or Treating, witches, ghosts oh my...LOL. But after Fall comes the most longest season of all...WINTER! I HATE winter!!! It seems to last forever. Maybe Mother Nature will be nice to us and we will get a Indian Summer. That sure would be nice.

The last three weeks we have been having unbearable weather. To the point I could not do much without the heat bothering me. I have lots of things that I must complete painting, sanding and staining. So since I could not work outside, I did alot of indoor things. Such as going through all of Abby's clothes and bedroom. That child won't stop growing. I have never seen anything like it and never experienced it with Tabitha. Let's just say for Tabitha, I purchased a school coat in Kindergarden and she wore it right up till grade 6. That was the BEST $50 I have ever spent because she wore the coat for 7 years ;) How many kids can wear the same thing for so many years??? So now with Abby, it's just the opposite. Once we went through everything, I filled a extra large garbage bag FULL of all of her clothes from this past Winter and Spring. She has grown a couple inches. It took us the whole afternoon and once we were completed, Abby was very happy because she was fed up. Poor thing!

I promised awhile back that I would share some pictures from my yard. My poor flowers are really having a hard time. This year we had a really bad case of EAR WIGS. YUCK! At the beginning of July all it did was rain for the whole month, so the flowers were getting to much water...imagine that! And just these past few days, we were getting major winds which damaged some of my flowers, broke branches of the trees and blew off alot of leaves that are acutally cruchy.

I also will share other signs of Fall with some pictures...

Here is our Gazebo that is a must! Thank God for having it because for the last three weeks with our heat wave, the deck was reading 59 which is well over 100. To darn out to be in direct sunlight. And besides, I am not suppose to be getting to much sun.
These chairs and stools are sooooo comfy! Such a great spot for a nap. I have to admit I have taken a few along with my cuddly buddy, Daisy :)
Directly across is the love seat. So we have plenty seating for gathings.
As soon as you step out the patio doors, the table is right there. Holding some of Mikes's spices that he decided to grow on his own this year. You can also see that there is still some decking that never got finished staining :(
Over in this corner, is Mike's large egg. Unfortunately, he did not get to build his table to hold his egg. It just seems this year there was not alot of time on anyones hands. We had to many unexpected things. Hopefully Fall will be much smoother. On the side of the egg is more spices, then below are some tomatoes. The plant is looking really good but those couple of days from high winds, it kept knocking over all of my plants. So the majority of them look pretty droopy.
Now here is our problem...I took a picture to show everyone and wondering if anyone can help us. The stain of the deck now has black spots all over :((( Mike and I are very disappointed, but mostly Mike. He has spent many...many hours staining and we are not even done. But the spots are only on the exposed side of the deck and not the other half that is under the Gazebo. Sadly, we do not know what is causing them and they are almost impossible to remove when I use degergent to try and scrub it.
Has anyone ever experienced this or know's what is causing it? I loved the color so much that I chose and hate to think that I will need to change it once again. I think Mike will cry if we have to change everything.
And now here are some other views of my gardens...this is looking from the steps of the deck towards the front.
And here is our Ugly problem...LOL. This wooden wall belongs to our neighbor and it is the most ugliest thing that is invaded with many...many bugs! We planted at the bottom a plant that crawls but it did not bloom to the fullest that we all thought. So it looks like next Spring, a couple more will be going in to cover the looks of the old thing. Also down in the corner, I want to plant another garden. So that will be a Spring project since I desperately need to seperate and re-do my front garden.
Here is a view from the side of the stairs from the deck. We put in the stairs last year because we had no way of getting off the deck without having to go through the house. And that was one of our best ideas yet. I love it! My In-Laws planted this little garden for me and I love it so much. It did not bloom no where's as much as this year. I have honey suckle growing through the trellis and look another sign of Fall, black eyed susans. I have so many this year.
Going up the stairs, you can see some plants potted. I didn't get as many done this year that I wanted to, but there will be next year. I keep coming up with more ideas :)
A view towards the backyard...
Here is a grape tree that the In-Laws brought over from their place last year. We weren't sure if it was going to survive. It doesn't look as good as my In-Laws. But it did have a few leaves that grew this year, so maybe, just maybe we will have some grapes next year.
Another view of the garden that seperates our place from our neighbors.
Remember this Spring when we were putting stones around the tree and I was going to put hostas in it? Well here is the before picture...
And look at the plants in the background! Here is a after picture...
Much better :) The grass is so green but my hostas are now slowly dieing because once again, another sign of Fall. There was lots of crunchy leaves earlier today, but the man who mows our lawn came and mowed and cleaned up the mess. So it looked good all day. They are calling for rain for the rest of the weekend so I am sure the lawn will be full once again.

Here is a view of different plants that I planted on my extra large pot. I love it! It looked good all Summer long and is still looking super good ;) I inherited this wonderful cast iron bench that is well over 55 years. I have been trying to figure out what color to paint it, other then white. Does anyone have any great ideas? Please don't mind the wood. Hubby brought it home so we could have a fire tonight.
And here is the front of the house from this Spring...the plants were just starting to grow.
And here is the after...It is soooo grown in that it is in desperate need of seperating. So this will also be a Spring project for next year. Mike stuck the extra bricks to start a second row. I haven't decided if I want a second layer or just stay with the one. I guess we will see more next year when we work it. The poor flowers are so crowded!
And yet, another sign of Fall...I call these plants the broccoli plants because I can never remember the real name. But they are getting ready to turn red in which they do when Fall is here. They also attract ALOT of bumble bees. So I am considering moving them next Spring also. Not sure yet!
This is a new look for my front porch. You see in some of the pics that it is wet around my plants. Poor things were as dry as could be, so I had to refresh them. As you can see my neighbor, her door is green. We had the exact same thing. A nice new door with the window opening. Ah...so nice to have because I actually get a cross breaze through the house. We also changed the light. I thought I could have it hanging infront of the door but was not albe to because Mike would have to duck every time. He is just way to tall...LOL So we swayed it over to the side. I still like how it turned out.
And of course the last photo of all is of my little Abigayle with our baby girl Daisy-Roo.
I am sorry girls that I have not been blogging much. Just other things going on and then sometimes not feeling like doing much at all. I haven't had much get up and go lately, I think it got up and went! The Doctor changed the way I take my meds and upped my doses to help me out. I just feel like crying all the time, no energy and can't sleep. Not good because I remember these signs and don't want them back. I can't wait until my body starts getting use to the new doses and the new changes from taking them in the morning and not at night. I have been checking in on you guys to keep up to date with what everyone has been up to but really haven't been leaving any comments. I really like the Texture Challenge that you all have been doing. So I will have to grab my grey little friend and go around snapping pics for my next blog.

So I wish you all a wonderful weekend with lots of sun! So until next time my friends, have fun!

SuMmEr HaS fInAlLy ArRiVeD :))))

Hello Everyone!

I believe that Summer has finally found us :)))
It has been super hot here these past couple of weeks. Too hot to do any work really but I am still not complaining because we were getting nothing but rain...rain...and more rain. For the month of July, on the news it stated that we received only 9 full days of no rain for the whole month. That's pretty sad when you think about it. But so far this month, it has been absolutely fabulous!

Mind you, with all the rain and sunshine, we have still been quite busy. From working outside in the gardens and lawn, cleaning ALL cupboards and re-organizing and I have had alot of family that came home from Ontario visiting. So we have been quite busy out and about visiting everyone.

I wanted to share this next photo with you because it's quite special. I had one cousin who came down to visit a couple weeks back now to celebrate her Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary. So for the celebration, her husband, two daughters and granddaughter joined in on the mini family vacation. This will be a very cherished picture...
Standing in the back on your left (pink shirt) is my cousin Cindy, who was the first born grandchild in our family, her mother (Aunt Alvine, second born), Cindy's first born daughter and first born great-grandchild, Sarah, holding her daughter, Lily May (second born great-great grandchild) and my sweet grandmother, Lucy who was 97 back in April. This is a very special 5th Generation picture. I would only love to have Gramie around when my grandchildren come along (NOT for sometime yet) but I know she won't be here. But how special is this???

Gramie said she wanted to be able to live to see her first great-great grandchild. Well she now has TWO! And she also claims she will live to see her 100th Birthday. And you know, I believe she will. She is in such great health and has a memory as sharp as a pencil. She still gets up early in the morning, applies her makeup, dresses up and makes sure that her nails are painted at ALL TIMES! This picture will definitely make it my 'Cassista Genealogy' book. Someday, I hope to publish a book on my family line. At the rate I am going at, it looks like my dreams will come true. Sorry girls but this has been one project that has been keeping me from blogging. I get so caught up in it that I loose track of time quite quickly.

So all in all, we have been having fun visiting tons of family :) I was so happy to have a chance to visit with everyone. It's not often that so many of them come home for vacation around the same time.

I also just remembered tonight when I was getting ready to write up a new blog, I forgot to show you guys my treasures that I purchased when I was on vacation with the family. I almost died when I walked into a antique shop and saw these two beautiful crocks.
The white has a bad crack inside BUT that is fine with me and the brown one is in mint condition. The brown one has a 4 engraved it in on the front but very hard to see. Not quite sure if I will put anything in them but I have a plan and I will see if it will look good once I am finished. I will definitely share a picture once I have them in their spot. But I have to say...to my American friends, it seems that you guys find these all over the place and pay next to nothing for them. Here in Canada, they are very hard to find and when you do most of the time, they sell for a pretty penny. So when I got both of these for $40, I thought I hit the jackpot :))))

But I do have a question though...Exactly what were these crocks used for? I had one person tell me that the four gallon was for butter. Is this true??? And what made the difference between the colors?

The next item that I purchased while on vacation was one of these lights for only $17!!! They sell between $35 to $40, so once again, I was very excited when I saw the price tag on this. Of course I had to swoop it right up...LOL
And then just the other day, up the street from me someone was having a garage sale. So of course I had to go and check it out. I found this most wonderful basket for $1. All I could envision was it painted black, sanded a bit, stain rubbed all over and it filled with dried flowers.
I have it placed on top of this cabinet at the moment because I was trying to find a home for it since it is quite large. I think it will look wonderful once I have my idea done.

I have so many things to paint...unreal. I started the other day but then had to quit because it was just way to hot. I am not one of those lucky ones with a garage. So I have to paint on a nice day.

Then once again, the other day, the phone rings...hum, who could it be??? Remember that lady who was having the antique Garage Sale??? Well she was calling to let me know that she was selling a few new other things that she did not put in the Garage quite yet because she figured I would be very interested. Do I ever love her...hehe :)))) She had two smaller crocks...a four and three gallon for sale. I started shaking when I saw them. How much better could that be? I already had a five, now I have a four and three. The lid on the four is in really bad shape BUT that is OK with me. I will just end up putting it away. I felt like I was such a lucky person. Because I have been looking for these for years and could never find any and if I did, they were out of my price range. I saw one the same size as my 5 gallon going for $200. Imagine that??? To steep for my pocket book!

NOTE to Daphane because I know you read my blog...one of these would be really nice for your rolling pins collection. And if you don't want the collection anymore, you can send them my way and I will take really good care of them...LOL
I also purchased a old tool tote. I forgot to take a before picture. It's not done yet but once I have completed it, I will make sure to get a picture. It is quite large, so I want to put magazines in it. It won't hold all of them, but a good chunk at least.

I am hoping that tomorrow wont be quite as hot as today so I can finish painting the items and get them put in their place. My house has been a bit upside down and I am having trouble dealing with it...LOL. I am a bit of a neat freak. Everything has a home and do not, I repeat, do not leave anything laying around. My girls have learned the hard way. You leave it laying around, it goes in the garbage. You have to understand, my house is quite small. If anything is out of place or things laying around, it makes the house look dirty. So I am quite picky about this.

Finally the last picture I have to share is a 'Winning' that I received in the mail last week. Becca from "I'm me, What more do you want?" was having a drawing and I WON first place. I was so excited!!! Look at what I received...
A container full of homemade cookies AND they were delicious!!! My husband has a sweet tooth, so he jumped right in them as soon as I had the package opened. There were two chocolate bars, but my parents showed right when I had everything unpacked, so of course they jumped into the bar. Leaving nothing behind...LOL. And then this cute basket with some goodies I believe from The Body Shop. I haven't used them yet but the arrangement is cute. So once again, I want to thank Becca for the wonderful gift. I have to admit, it was loved by all :)))))

I also realized today that I never took pictures of the outdoors with all the work we have done. So you can be counting on some outdoor pictures coming up in the next few days. Mind you, I have seen much prettier yards so prim and all mine don't quite look like that. But this year sure does look alot better then last.

So until next time my friends...

...mOrE pIcTuReS aS pRoMiSed :)

How is Everyone's weekend so far???
We are yet again, getting more rain, more rain and MORE RAIN :'(
It seems that is what this Summer is all about. I think the Sun took it's vacation and forgot to come back...LOL. We get very lucky and have one OR maybe two nice days and then rain for 4 or 5 days. I am praying for a much nicer August. No more rain...PLEASE!

As promised, more yummy pictures from when we visited the Acadian Village :)
I tell ya, this place was to die for! I so want to go back next year so I will be able to take my time in each house and take everything in.

Here is what was once a one room school that taught children from Grade's 1 to Grade 8. My father told me many stories about attending one room schools. Amazing how the Teacher had to teach so many different things for all grade levels. This was the entrance to the old School House. Abby could not wait to enter to see what the school looked like.
And here she is, happily sitting at one of the desks :) She was very puzzled to as why and how did the children write on slate. Notice the pile of wood in the back corner that was used to heat the school in the Winter months.
And here you see Mike and Abby eagerly heading to church...
They decided to have a quick prayer :)
This Church was so beautiful! I fell in love the pews!!! And check out this chandelier...WOW!!!
We were now leaving the 1700-1800 section of the Village and getting ready to enter the 1900's. We needed to cross the bridge to enter the new section that was added this year...
This was so AMAZING! I just had to snap a picture of the sign...
And you know these laws really did exist. Here in Grand Falls (where I live), they use to have a bridge quite similar BUT the law was 'No riding horses across the bridge!' You had to walk your horse or you would be fined $10 or $20.

I thought this was really neat how the cribs started changing into the new decade BUT yet still quite tiny.
And here from a distance, you will find the actual Motel that existed back in the day. And you are able to stay the night here if you wish. I would so love to spend the night, I am sure I would NOT get a good night sleep but what a experience it would be. They offer meals in the restaurant that would of been served back in the early 1900's. Not sure if I would enjoy the meal either but it would only be one day of my life, RIGHT? It would be just a thrill for the experience :)
Here was a train station that was not up and running quite yet since this section of the Village was only added late this Spring. But oh WOW...love the colors of the building!
Here is what a gas station would of looked like once cars were first introduced. You can see the sign on top called 'Irving Oil Products'. Irving Oil is a very large and rich company here in the Maritimes, Canada.
...and check out this car! I thought of my Grandmother right away. I thought oh how she would have so many stories to tell. How this would bring back so many memories for her. To bad the Village is so far from home and it requires so much walking because I would love to bring my 97 year old Grandmother and listen to her stories and how she could relate to this lifestyle.
This store was closed with a sign in the window saying due to Inventory. I would have loved to enter, just to see the items.

This house here was much richer compared to when we were exploring the homes in the 1700-1800's.
It had this actual phone that really worked!
And electricity but ONLY for lights. It was so cute because the women worked there all day long and she had homemade molasses cookies all ready to serve to the public. She offered one to Abby, but she declined because she prefers fruit and veggies over cookies. I know, what a weird child...LOL. No child passes up cookies but mine does...LOL.

Check out how the fireplaces changed! To be honest, I much preferred the fireplace from my previous post. Actually, I preferred the look of the homes from the 1700 and 1800's. But it was still so fun to see how the homes, furniture and style changed over the years :) Even the way the men, ladies and children dressed changed quite dramatically.
And this was really neat...back then all the sidewalks were made from wood. I am not sure if in the States they did the same BUT here in New Brunswick and Quebec this is how they were made with dirt roads.
Here was yet another store that we did not get a chance to enter. I wanted to soooo bad but when I looked at my watch, it was 1:30 and we had to be in the other town to pick Tabitha up for 2:00. We had a half hour drive ahead of us and it took another 10 minutes to walk back to the main building so we could leave this small but wonderful Village.
So trust you me, we kicked our butts in high gear and that is how I ended up with MAJOR blisters under my feet...LOL

I had to snap one more picture of this beautiful home. I wanted to enter it so bad but knew we had NO time at all. So this is why I really...really need to go back next year. Because we also skipped homes in the older section of the Village.
I LOVED my visit here so much! It was my high point of our mini-vacation.

As we headed out of this small but yet wonderful village, we needed to cross over a bridge because Shippagan, where Tabitha was, was located on a small Island just off the coast of New Brunswick. It was so cloudy out that day, we were sure it was going to rain but we were so lucky not to get one drop for the whole day. This was our view all the way down to Moncton, another 3 1/2 hours of driving before we hit our destination for the next three days.
We made it to Moncton by 7pm. Hubby and I were soooo exhausted from driving for 7 hours that day. The kids were wound for sound, so we took them down to the pool that was located in our Motel for the evening. We were hoping to tire them out and it worked :)

For the next three days, they were spent as full but fun days. I will post more later this week. But before I sign off, I have to share with you my new display I made earlier this week that I was saying I needed to add a cloth or penny rug. Now it looks much better :))))
I had this penny rug put away because I was burning a candle one day and the wax fell out of the dish ALL over my penny rug. I wanted to cry because have you ever tried removing wax from wool??? Impossible!!! But then I had a friend who told me to put a rag over the wool and use a hot iron, it will come off and go on the rag. So I thought what do I have to loose? I tried it AND to my amazement IT WORKED!!! Now you can't see it and would never know where the wax was.
Well my Friends, I must run for now. We have company arriving from Toronto for Supper. We have the next couple of days quite full from visiting family from all over. I am so looking forward to it. So I wish you all a pleasant and wonderful rest of the weekend!

Until next time...

~ Home Sweet Home~

Hello Everyone :))))

We got back late Monday night from our mini 4 day family vacation. We had, or might I say the Girls had TONS of fun...well, I did to :) That is what we wanted...I want them to grow up and say 'Remember when...'. And might I say, I believe this one they will say just that :)

When we got home Monday night, it was 9pm. So we all were quite tired to do just about anything. I was also looking very forward to sleep in my own bed. Nothing like your own bed!!! So basically all we did was empty the van, empty all the luggage and put ALL the dirty clothes (there was ALOT!) in there piles so it would all be ready for washing the next day.

I shall share with you what we did during our mini-vacation, some items that I purchased and all the fun we had :) I will warn you all now, it will be picture heavy. But the pictures that I will share with you all today shall make you drool...LOL. At least I did! I will also break our vacation up in a few posts because if not, you guys will be looking - reading my blog for days...LOL...and I don't think any of you want that.

First off, remember that Garage Sale I was telling you all about??? Well I headed over there lastThursday night before we left early Friday morning to pick up Tabitha from her Acting Camp and got a couple more things. I just could not resist...LOL. I plan on going back :)))) She will be adding more old things later this week. I purchased this old Coca-Cola case...I always wanted one. You can't see it in the picture but it is written in red Coca-Cola but it is extremely faded...
...this is what I did with it. I am missing something for underneath...a cloth or something. I am thinking a penny rug, just haven't had time to finish the display quite yet. Once I am done tweaking this area, I will post a new picture.
I also purchased the second brown jug that she had, making number 3 for me. I want to make a display them. I have it in my head how I want it to look. So once again, I am getting another shelving built by my father's neighbor. So once it is built, painted and in place, I will also be posting a picture to share.
Now onto our trip...

We were up and at it early Friday morning. We wanted to be on the road bright and early so we had the vehicle loaded the night before. We made a pit stop at Tim Horton's for a good coffee and were on the road for 8 am. Tabitha's Summer Camp was finished at 2 pm but we wanted or should I say, "I" wanted to make a pit stop to a special spot...hehe. We had 3 1/2 hours of driving ahead of us, giving me a couple of hours to stop where I wanted to. If you go to the link just below, you can see where I live in Grand Falls (along the border of Maine) and we needed to go to Shippagan to pick up Tabitha. On the other side of the province along the Atlantic Ocean.
http://www.new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/maps/nb/ad7.jpg .

We made it to Caraquet a little bit after lunch, noon, which is only 1/2 away from where we needed to pick up Tab. Now what was in Caraquet you all ask??? A place that I have been wanting to visit for years now and even more when someone told me more about it this year. This special place is called 'Acadian Village' . OMG...is all I can say. When I entered, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven :))) Now let me tell you, a few years ago I went to another place here in New Brunswick which is very similar to the Acadian Village. It is called King's Landing. But I was warned that when I went to the Acadian Village, I would notice a difference because the Acadian Village is much poorer then King's Landing. Meaning that King's Landing is more of a museum like. There are many rooms that you are not allowed to even enter. You have to stand behing the area. But it is not the same at the Acadian Village. You are allowed to tour the houses, watch the people work, cook/bake and so much more. I touched ALOT of things...LOL

The village is broken up into two sections. You have the 1700-1800's era and then the 1900's, which is new this year. Here is another link that you go to and once you enter the site you are able to view the map. Each house was brought to this village from surrounding area's. Each and everyone of them tell's you the history, the family/families that lived in each house. Along with what the person/person's did for a living. The people who worked/lived in each house would explain it all out. WOW!!!

I took lots of pictures to share with all you ladies...this is where the drooling begins :)
Sadly, I never got to see all the houses, shops...ect because when we entered we were told it would take about 3-5 hours to tour the whole thing. WELL, I did not have much time to spend so we needed to boogy. And let me tell you, I never walked so much. Let's just say, I learned my lesson NOT and I mean NOT to wear sandles in a place like this...LOL. We did the Village in 1 1/2 hours and by the time we made it to the end, I could no longer walk. I had a very LARGE blister on the bottom of both feet. I was in a great deal of pain for the remainder of the weekend. But I sucked it up and suffered. After all, I was to blame...I do want to go back, hopefully next year so I will be able to tour each house and get even more pictures:) I already told hubby. For a person who is not much into things like this, he seemed to have enjoyed himself.

As we entered the Village, there was this cute bench along the trail. Abby was already due for a break from just walking from the car...LOL
The first house we stopped at, had this beautiful rope bed :))) As you can see in the picture, there is a corner of a craddle. As the years went on, you could see the beds, craddles and other things improve. Even the way of living...
And check this out...I don't remember which house this was from but ohhhh WOW!!!
Here comes the horses and wagon. You can actually get on for a tour with them. Abby really wanted to but we were pressed for time. You had to watch where you were walking because if not, you would get a gift for free :) And trust me, this is one gift you did NOT want...LOL
These were not small horses. Their horse shoes were HUGE!
This was one of the first houses. You can tell by how the inside was finished. Everything you see is original, nothing new here. Look at how the walls were made. But most important, don't you just LOVE this cabinet??? It was gorgeous in person! I want one just like it...hehe.
This was no small guy...
...and here he had a bad itch :)
Here's Abby just before we entered the General Merchant Store. Back in these days trading was done so people could make purchases. Not alot of money went around back then. It was very neat to see all the goodies. I was so caught up in everything that I forgot to take pictures from inside. Sorry girls...
Abby was getting a kick out of watching the ducks play and swim. It was a very humid day when we went.
Just check out this lighting!!! Isn't it beautiful???
This was one of my favorite pieces! I love it so much that I told hubby in our DREAM home, I want one...LOL
All the fireplaces there were in working use because this was how they were doing all their cooking. Talk about VERY hot in the houses on such a very humid day. And the men were wearing wool pants. I don't know how they were doing it.

I just LOVED these stairs! But talk about narrow. We were allowed to go upstairs, so of course I headed on up with Abby. But once again, so caught up, I forgot pictures.
I saw very little yellow ware, so when I saw this, I just had to snap a picture.
You see the beds are slowly changing in looks...
I just wanted to scoop up this blanket and bring it home with me. Heck, do you think they would have noticed a large lump under my short??? LOL

Here is what was known as the 'The Theriault's House - 1890'.
I loved this display of old jugs...
A original dough board...WOW! And I loved the floors in this house...same house as above.
And here is the 'Thos. W. Riordon - 1895 - Grist Mill'. The Mill itself actually worked. Very amazing!
Well my friends, I hope I didn't loose any of you. I still have more pictures to share but I think this post has been long enough. So guess what that means??? YES more pictures to share on yet another post. I hope you enjoyed your visit just as much as I did. So please do stay tuned for some more mouth watering, drooling pictures.

I shall run for now BUT I will be back. I hope that everyone had a wonderful hump day and the sun is shining in your neck of the woods. So until next time my friends...

A Little of this and that...

How was everyone's weekend?
I hope the sunshine found you all :)

In my neck of the woods it was actually quite windy, sunny, cloudy and little showers here and there. Made it a little hard to do any staining and working outside around the house. So instead I did a little tweaking here and there and some laundry since it was not overly hot in the house. I do not hang my clothes up outside for two reasons...first one, I hate bugs!!! Actually I am scared to death of them and always said when I was younger that I would never hang my clothes out for the fear of bringing in unwelcome guests...LOL. And the second reason is because of my hubby and Abby. I did not know until they were diagnosed with Asthma that you should never dry your clothes outside because you'll bring in pollen and other things that could trigger Asthma attacks. So do you think that made me ha:p:py when I was told that :)))))) Can you all see me smiling from ear to ear...LOL.

For awhile now, I have not been liking how my shelf looks in my half bath on the main floor. I have been wanting to change it but did not really have anything that I was looking for UNTIL I hit that wonderful Garage Sale that had so many goodies :)
This is what it use to look like...
...and now this is what it looks like...
And I have been looking at some wonderful pictures of some primitive ~ colonial homes and have been really thinking that I would like to change the look of this half bath. But I warned hubby that we would make this a Fall project since we are having a hard time to finish up our Summer ones :) I would like to take down the boarder and paint the walls all a light color (Belvedere Buff) and then paint all the trim work and cupboards a really nice green (Comfrey Green). I found these two colors in the Colonial Traditional Colors made by Para. These are the two colors that I have chosen...
Like I was saying it is only a half bath with the washer and dryer in it. And I have the front loads in which I LOVE alot but the washer door opens back to back with the dryer door. And since this is a really narrow room, I have to put my clothes on the floor when I take them out of the washer, then close the door, go over the pile of clothes and put them in the dryer. Hubby said we had to hire a plumber to come in to change the piping around. So I figured since the washer and dryer have to come out to do that, we could repaint the washroom at the same time :) Of course hubby looked at me with half a grin...hehe. I also got a old door from my dad that has holes from where there is suppose to be windows that I want to sand down and paint the same green. Then take the door to a window repair shop to have the windows put back in. I want to install this door on to the bathroom and sew up a curtain to cover up the windows. This way here I will get natural light in the hallway because with the door closed all the time, the hall is very dark. I am thinking it will look very sharp. I can't wait to start the project :) And don't worry, I will make sure to post pictures.

I also have this mini dry sink that I purchased last year at a craft show in the half bath.
I am thinking since I will be painting all the trim work green, this will have to change to another color. Undecided quite yet to what I will change it to. But do you see the jar on the top shelf with the rusty lid??? Well I purchased it from another Garage Sale for .25, exactly what I was looking for. I filled it with some wooden spools which I purchased from a local craft store, which eventually I will wind them all with threads. Here's a closer look...
I haven't had time to put threads around them and besides, I haven't found the colors I am looking for. The Dollar Store ran out, so I am waiting for their new stock to come in. But after I added the spools, I felt it was still missing something. I completely forgot that I had some prim labels, so I added a label that I ordered quite awhile back from online...Yankee Lane Primitives . Now I like it much better :)
The label suits it perfectly!

And then of course, I took a little break with my coffee during the day...guess who had to come and get some snuggle time???
...that's right, my baby girl, Daisy. She is looking at me as if to say "What do want?"

I then decided I wanted to change the look of my stove top. It has been the same for quite sometime now. I didn't realize I had so many molds. So I filled a bowl up with them and VOILA.
here's a closer look...I am liking it :)
Do you all remember all of those mason jars I bought? Well this is what I did with them...
I added flour, sugar, brown sugar and tea bags to them. I use to have these big bulky tin cans that hubby bought me one year for Christmas. I decided, it was time for a change. I will not get rid of my tins though because I love them so much but I am really liking the new look in this corner. I also put my wooden box with all my cutting boards here. I looked at hubby with my my eyelashes batting and asked him that I would really like a box similar to the one holding the cutting boards to hold the jars :))) At first I thought the jars would of fit in this box BUT they don't. Hubby did not say NO to making me one, he just said oh something like that is simple to make. So that means a YES! But when...well I will have to be patient...It will be hard since I am known not to be all that patient...hehe. I am still thinking how to hide those darn cords. But also thinks that when I get my box to hold the jars, it just might solve my problem.

Gee, I did not realize I had so much to say :) But of course it had been awhile since I last posted. I missed you all...

The last picture that I have to show you all is of my new lamp.
I LOVE...LOVE...LOVE, IT!!! I have been wanting one of these for a very long time. I finally got one at such a good deal that I could not say 'no' because I may never get the chance ever again. I also purchased a prim light to put over the sink but hubby has not gotten to it yet. Hopefully later this week it will be up so I can show you all.
That poor guy...I have been keeping him sooooo busy. I am sure he is thinking will the list ever come to an end. I promise it will...eventually...LOL. But on a good note, Friday we will be heading out for a few days of vacation. At first it did not look good for any vacation time at all but it turned around. HIP HIP...HOORAY!!!

Tabitha, my oldest left for camp today on the other side of the province, Shippagen. It is three and half hours away from us, right onto the Atlantic Ocean. It is a program that they offer for free to Francophone (French) Schools. They go for 6 days and there are tons of different camps to choose from BUT that is if you get accepted. They get tons of applications and then choose only so many children between the grades of 6 to 11 to attend. Well she got accepted for the Acting one...right down her alley. She was on cloud nine. When we go and pick her up on Friday, the kids will be doing a play that they will have all come up with and worked hard on all week. I am looking so forward to it and will be very happy to see her. But once we pick her up, we will drive another 3 hours further down the province for a three night stay in Moncton. We will hit the water parks, the zoo, some mini-put and we can not forget SHOPPING! Tabitha has been saving up her money for months now to go shopping for clothes. We will then head into Fredericton for one night and then be home by Tuesday. I must say that we are all looking very forward to our mini-vacation. I will try real hard to make the most of it with the girls and to have loads of fun. We have lots planned but I think it will still be relaxing. We promised the girls each night to go swimming at the Motel. They have an awesome pool. And what is fun about that is that I find it to be quite relaxing.

I have a busy few days ahead of me before we head out on Friday morning. Tomorrow Abby goes to her morning camp and then I think we will head on over to the Doctors. She is breaking out with some kind of red dots. They don't look like chicken pox and I am sure they are not because she started out with only one two weeks ago, in which I thought was a fly bite. But as of this morning she has about 15 of them. I will check her out tomorrow morning to see if they have worsen, she might not end up going to camp:( Then on Tuesday, she has a eye Dr Appt at 8:30, I have a hair appt at 10:30 and then I have a Dr Appt at 2:00. So it will be a busy day! I do hope to be back one day this week with a post before we head out early Friday morning.

So until next time my Friends...enjoy week :)

It HaS bEeN a LoNg TiMe...

Yes...I am still alive :)))

I haven't been blogging because it has been one crazy month and a half around the Beaulieu household. Once in awhile I would check in to see what was new with everyone but not enough time really to leave messages. I can get on here and spend hours, which I know you all understand that.

I am very HAPPY to say my Father In-Law is back home but still not doing all that well. When he was rushed to the other hospital (refer to my last message), one surgeon wanted to operate the very next day because he was saying that my FIL had a third hernia but the original surgeon who performed his first surgery was saying that it was only fluid built up in and around his stomach. As days passed by, FIL starting feeling better and better. So we were all getting happier and thinking well it must of been fluid built up. You see, he still has both blood clots in each leg and is taking medication for them. So we can not afford for him to go back into surgery right now because it is actual life and death if he goes back under. And trust me, the man does not want to get operated on anytime soon and can you blame him??? But now the problem is, he still has a lump where the doctor was saying it was just fluid and my FIL is still in pain and gets tired very easily. I feel for him so much...it has been a month since all this craziness has happened and he still is not back to himself. And can you imagine, the Doctor said the very next day he would be back to himself. We all are very grateful that he is here with us right now but honestly this poor man can not continue suffering like he is either. I think they are going for a third opinion in Fredericton. I will continue praying for him to get better and to get rid of these blood clots so his surgery will be less dangerous. I also want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers during our tuff and difficult time. It is appreciated so much...

Poor hubby was so tired from working 6 days a week and 9-9 shifts. They hired a part-time student for the Summer and thank god he was a very quick learner. So hubby gets to step out of the store here and there for breaks and now he is able to get his day off work again :)))) Mommy and the girls were having Daddy with drawls...LOL.

Then on top of that, my poor baby girl, Daisy fell down the stairs and hurt herself really bad. She didn't eat or drink for three days straight. I called the vet and they told me to give her 1/4 of a tylenol every so often but four days later she still was not better. The poor thing couldn't jump up on the furniture, barely walk, nor running and would actually lay on the floor crying. It broke my heart, so I called back the vet and explained to them that something had to be done because it was awful seeing her suffer so much. They put her on muscle relaxers because she had a pinched nerve. Imagine! Here she is all covered up in a blanket because all she could do was shiver all day long. When I brought her to the vet, they weighed her and the poor thing lost a pound. A pound on her is like 10 on us...she did weigh 9 pounds and now she is down to 8.
You see the pink sweater I put beside her? It's her new little sweater that I bought her for $4. I couldn't resist, perfect for our cold winter months when she goes outside :)
But I am happy to report she is feeling better, but does not use her leg proper anymore. She has a hard time balancing herself on it. But the vet said she is doing good, so I am not sure. But here she is feeling much better...
And then, I had a mole removed from my lower back, the same week that FIL was rushed to Edmundston. It was suppose to be simple and easy but I ended up ripping the stitches and it took a good month before it actually healed. I was running to the hospital twice a week for the bandages to be removed because the stitches didn't really hold due to where they were. It was located in my lower back that stretches, so that is why they ripped on me. And on top of that, I had my infusion the same week that the stitches were removed. Because of the infusion, it took ALOT longer for it to heal. So now I am left with one really good scar. Thank God it is where no one can see it...YUCK!

But on a good note...

I made a couple business trips with hubby, and while I was away I made a few purchases :))) I found this bowl at a discount store for $2 and got the lamp for $19, originally $39, so of course I had to scoop it right up. I also got the little flower arrangement and the purple flowers. Needed some summery things.
I placed the lamp over here at the entrance on this little table...
I was in need for some more candles that hanged, so I got a couple more and just loved this little pail. I was thinking about planting a flower in it but soon found out, that it would not be such a good idea. So I have it on display instead...forgot to take a picture.
A couple of weeks ago, I then decided to make a run over to the primitive store in the next town from me and found myself some more goodies :))) I had money saved up just for this and am very pleased once again with my purchases.
I hope you are still with me...so much to say since it has been so long...hehe...

I have been hitting some garage sales and I hit the mother load at one place :)))
They have so many old and antique things, I was in paradise!!! So many things to choose from...sure wish I had ALOT of money...LOL. They have so many things to choose from!

I decided to purchase these mason jars, medical bottles and even a old jam bottle. I googled some of the bottles and some date back to 1908. I even got a old bottle that use to have Heinz Vinegar. It dated back to the 40's I think, if my memory serves me correctly. Some of the mason jars I am going to use to put my flour, sugar and brown sugar in. Just haven't had time to get to that quite yet. To busy working outside since we finally have sun :))))
I then was very lucky to get these awesome skates. I was sitting in the clouds when I saw these. Along with these old tins...I just fell in love with them. And what a awesome dark brown jug.
I tell ya...this place is full. And the lady keeps digging it out of her basement. I guess it's full of old things that she has collected over the years. She keeps calling me, I have been there three times now. I don't dare go back because hubby may kill me...LOL. On my last trip she had this old wooden box and I fell in LOVE with it!!!
I am trying to think what I can display in it...does anyone have some good ideas for me??? Do PLEASE share...

And I also got these...
I have been looking on E-bay for some and they sell between $10 and $20 bucks. I got them for $3 each, so I thought I did pretty good.

So all in all, I think I did rather well with all my goodies from the Garage Sale. She told me that they were adding more antiques next week. Do I dare go back??? LOL
She told me that she had another wooden box but bigger then the one I purchased. I want to see it so bad...

And now since we finally have some nice sunny weather, hubby and I have been working outside to try and complete all the work. For the last two weeks we have been getting nothing but rain. In between all the rain, I have been weeding the flower beds, the lawn, planting new flowers and transferring others. The yard is starting to look really nice and homey :) Then in between hubby's days off and the rain, we have been trying to stain the deck. We were hoping to get it all stained inside and out but it looks like we will only be doing the inside this year. We want to have a chance to enjoy the deck before the nice weather is gone once again. And yes, once we are completed...hoping by the weekend...I will get some pics up for you all to see.

We then had to hire someone to spray our yard because we were having severe problems with the little red fire ants and ear wigs. OH YUCK!!!! Those darn ear wigs were eating all my plants and they were everywhere. We couldn't even sit outside under our gazebo at night because it was infested. And now...OH WOW!!! They are dead and we can actually go outside and not have to worry about them crawling all over us.

So I guess I am off so I can hit the hay for yet another wonderful sunny day ahead of us. So many things to do and as I mentioned I am hoping to have all the little things done for the coming weekend. They are forecasting sun for the entire weekend...I hope it doesn't change. And I hope you were able to stay with me for such a long post :)

So stay tuned for upcoming pics of my yard and gardens.

Until next time my friends...