the color blue

blue is just a marvelous color. here are some of my favorite blues.

The blue in these flowers are so intense, although some may see these as purpley blue.

It's the color of our livingroom, a nice deep robins egg blue. This photo with Eddie (looking a little grumpy) is cool, because his eyes sort of match the wall.

My blue willow tea cups are one of my favorite patterns for china. There is a story to blue willow china about how two lovers are transformed into birds, doves i think, so if you ever come across a blue willow teacup or plate look for the two doves.
This old phone is a nice soft robins' egg blue.

This ancient greek tile that we saw at the Brookyln Museum this past summer is one of the most brilliant blues I have ever seen, a rich turqouise that amazed me, and this jug is such a deep indigo blue, so breathtaking.

I love the blue in this painting.

and finally, who can resist a pair of blue eyes.

tell me about your favorite blue.

Autumn displays

Autumn is my favorite time of year for alot of reasons. I love walking around neighbourhoods of grand old houses watching the leaves gently float to the ground, and then the crunching sound they make under my foot. I wish people were'nt so particular about raking them away too soon. I especially love those really windy days, where whirlwinds of orange and red leaves swirl through the air, or really sunny days, the way the sunlight can make a maple tree look like a work of art. I remember as a child, piling leaves into a great mountain next to the porch and then taking turns with my brothers and sisters, joyfully jumping into the centre of the pile. What fun! I even have a photo of me as a baby sitting in a pile of maple leaves, I think that's when my affection must have begun.
It's almost midmonth now, and fall is in it's glory, and it will all be over much too soon. I want this moment to last longer like winter does. It would be so nice if it was reversed and we had a short winter and a long fall. How I wish......

Where does the time go?

How I wish there were more hours in the day.
I seem to be going to bed later and getting up late and by the time I have breakfast and do chores and get ready for the day, it seems the day is so short. I have my list of the days' schedule, appts, errands, projects, groceries, library, baking, cooking and blogging and by the time everything is done there just is'nt enough time to do everything I want to do. I do the things that need to be done, the things that have to be done for living but there just is'nt the energy to do the things that I really want to do. Yesterday, I reserved sometime in the afternoon to relearn knitting and I had just had a cup of tea to try to revive myself, but I found it very hard to concentrate because I felt sooo sleepy. I fought the sleepiness and tried my best to practice the knitting steps and after 20 minutes of struggling with the slipknot and casting on I gave in. I really need to take one of those 'Stitch n Bitch' classes at least to get the basics down. For the past 4 or 5 years, I think I've tried to knit every fall and end up throwing in the towel. I believe the change of seasons just drains me of energy. I hope soon that I can refuel my energy reserves so I can do more projects soon. I have some new stuff I want to do, including making a teddy bear (for my nephew C) from a soft brown sweater that's shrunk too small, using a cute pattern from a craft magazine. I also want to make patchwork tea cosies and felt applique coasters as Christmas gifts and perhaps sell in stores.
Now if only the day were longer.......sigh.

Of things past

We visited Canada's Oldest Antique Market in Aberfoyle, Ontario just recently. On Sunday we picked up my brother Tom and headed for the Antique Mk.
It was a beautiful day, quite warm, very Indian summer. We ended up spending 4 hours browsing around and looking for treasures. Steve and I found some nice stuff for the house, including a 50's turquoise lamp, a wicker basket, a metal trivet, blue willow china, a cute green birdhouse, S & P shaker. We were on the hunt for shutters for the house, but alas, it is difficult to find 4 matching shutters. So we did take quite a few photos and enjoyed just looking at alot of neat old stuff. Here are some interesting photos:




I loved these enamel flower pins and the jumble of colorful necklaces (only a dollar apiece for the these ones)



Boxes full of old keys and salt and pepper shakers made for interesting compositions.

Jadite mugs are hard to find and this one was a very expensive one in good condition (but too expensive at $28). Lots of old tins everywhere.

Steve and Tom (searching for reels for his ViewMaster).

I liked this pink boudoir chair (would be great for a vanity table).

This old green trike and old sign looked cool together.

After the market and a picnic lunch of bbq chicken sandwiches and pumpkin cream cheese muffins we went to Guelph to visit relatives and pick up my mom to take her back to Whitby for Thanksgiving dinner on Monday.

We had a lovely dinner that day and enjoyed each others' company, laughing alot and eating lots of turkey and stuffing, my favorite part of the dinner being the mashed potato and gravy. I served pumpkin pie for dessert with whipped cream and then later opened a bottle of sparkling wine to finish the meal. We were all so stuffed, lying around like beached whales and watching tv and talking. It was a very good day indeed.

what's new?

So what's new?
These gorgeous yellow and orange mums and purple salvia pots on our front steps.
They certainly herald in the fall season perfectly.

I recently painted one wall in the diningroom this nice dark orange color. We just love it so much and it really helps warm the room and add a bit of drama. The front hallway was all white and very sterile and cold, so I painted it a nice soft vanilla color. Just a touch of color to warm it up and still make it feel as open as possible.

It's so nice to have petite pumpkins around the house to add cheer and anticipation for Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving. I will be cooking up a big dinner next Monday and bake a few pies the day before.

I got these cute hats from Caban - they had a huge closing sale and I just adored these two, forest green cordoroy hat and rust wool felt to add some style and warmth to my ensemble. Steve says I will probably never wear them, so I better prove him wrong! I'm trying to become more of a 'hat person'.

We saw this print at Moore Gallery by May Karp, a photo artist, and really liked all her works. This one is called 'Urban Reflections #1' and alot of her pieces are inspired from Toronto and New York City.

Nice day

I'm baaa-aackk! It's been a crazy week with alot of appts and alot of sewing to catch up on but I finally have time to do this blog thing which I have missed actually. Steve and I had a nice Sunday, first hosting a birthday brunch for Blair who's turning the big 4-0. I made Buttermilk Belgian waffles with a mixed berry compote and Farmers Mk. turkey sausage - lots of pure maple syrup and coffee - it was a splendid morning. I put a candle on Blair's waffle and we sang 'Happy Birthday'.

Later, feeling sluggish and not wanting to do anything, we decided to take a walk at the Conservation park. It was very nice walking around in the crisp air, I stuffed my pockets with peanuts for the cute little chipmunks. There were so many people on the trail feeding them already, alot of the chipmunks had full cheek pouches, A woman had her arm stretched out to the birds, who swooped down and fed off her hand. We spotted some bluejays too. Afterwards, stopped off at the garden centre and picked out some fall mums in hues of bright yellow and orange, and some tiny pumpkins for the table.

When we returned home, I felt refreshed and ready to tackle some household stuff.

Another pleasant Whitby sunday.