pooped!!!

Sorry, but i just could'nt resist!! Fun at the expensive of humiliating my poor grey cat Edie! But i am feeling quite pooped lately! I don't want to do anything, and i can't even blame the heat and humidity of summer anymore, because it is really cooled down lately. I've been sleeping with my blankie at night, and stopped reading the paper on the deck in the morning because it's too breezy. Fall is starting early this year! I've been trying to sew some new bags and organizing my studio plus getting the house back in order after the terrible insulation project. I still want to do the following:

1. Paint the fireplace white (currenntly a med. toned wood, that is boring)
2. Reorganize the sunroom again (it has fallen into the messy zone once again)
3. Paint a wall in my studio a 50's turqoise green
4. Paint out the knotty pine on the kitchen island and the tops of the kitchen stools to match.
5. Finish painting the trim in the livingroom and master bedroom (currently a dull cream, that needs to be a crisp white

Now, if only i could find the energy to do these projects!!! If you would like to come and help me, feel free to visit!

I leave you with photos of Long Pt. Beach and Port Dover, my favorite August destinations. We only live an hour and a half from there but we are so busy with the house, we have'nt had a chance to visit yet. These pictures were taken one year ago....

I would love to here right now!

Sunset at Port Dover

and here i am with my new glasses and haircut. I colored my hair myself to save some moolah, but it won't stay this red for long, red tends to fade out within a month, but it will still look reddish after that. I love the glasses but i may have to take them back since they are quite heavy on my nose! What do you think of them?

A rant and Antiquing in Coburg

So what have i been up to for the 1st week of August? Everything but blogging! I have'nt had much time for the ole blogger since we just got our house insulated. You see last winter we froze our tooshes off so we had our house checked and there was no insulation in our 89 year old farmhouse!!! No wonder we were freezing and spending lots of dough on heat that was seeping outside.......oh dear! But now the house is properly insulated and we have a kajillion 2 inch holes in our house that have to be plugged, plastered and painted!! Yes, more work!! I nearly cried after seeing the state of the house after the workers had finished. Even though we had packed away alot of our things and covered everything (i mean EVERYTHING) in plastic, there was still tons of a fine, powdery dust and insulation stuff all over! That evening it took me 5 hours with no break of vacuuming and damp sponging in order that the cats could return from their torturous day in the basement. (said kitties were meowing half the day to be let back up!) So after the clean up i discovered the workers had broken the antique glass shade of our treasured bridge lamp, plus they drilled through the tongue and groove part of the wainscotting in our bathroom (Argh!) which ruined the look of it, and they also were careless with the things covered and plastic which caused all the dust and powder to get messy. I was furious that night and sooooo exhausted, my tired arms like limp zucchini (don't ask me why i said that). That was about a week ago, and we still have'nt got the house back in order yet!! not to mention the holes!!!! Our walls look like swiss cheese right now!

Okay, enough comlaining....we also got our new door with leaded glass today, since the old one was causing major heat loss and we are going to get new windows for most of the house!
Renos!!!! OMG! Hate em!!!
So on with todays subject.....Antiquing in Coburg....we found out there was an amazing shop only one half hour drive away in a huge warehouse/barn. Coburg was a delightful little town with beautiful old homes and a nice beachfront. We later found out there was a sandcastle competition that day! darn! We wondered, actually, why the lake was packed with people. Oh well! So here is a photo montage of what we saw at Legacy, the antique place:


lots of doors...

beautiful stained glass...

architectural pieces (love the green)

this pinball machine looks pretty old...

we 'saw ' some art (teehee)

a sea of cast iron bathtubs.....

old rads....



they had a room with this scary bear and other creatures....

poor smokey........ i did a double take when i saw it!

okay, this is really strange...a bear claw with a log cabin sculpture...wow!

whoever made this is very odd!

i did'nt like this!!! poor thumper!



this lady was taking a bath....without water!

her friend was doing vogue!
lady in red!!

We ended up purchasing a small stained glass window for our livingroom,

an antique glass shade for the one broken by the moron who insulated our house

here is the light shade we had to replace since that dumdum broke it!

I may be taking another blog break, since the house still need lots of work and i'm trying to get some sewing done....so if i don't comment on your blogs or email you you will know why! Ciao for now friends!

Kookyhandbags from not so long ago

as i was wondering what i should blog about next, i started looking at my photo collection for ideas and ended up looking at alot of photos of bags i'd made from previous years and thought what an excellent idea to show some of my fave bags. so i will give you a little show.....

this is my one of my fall bags from a few years ago. i think it is so cool, but it was a b**** to sew, pardon my french.....but seriously it was, it almost drove me crazy insane trying to make it!

this pretty ribbon bag was an experiment with pvc vinyl.....i think it is so fun and colorful...almost cartoonish! it even had little bows at the side and gold handles with adorable striped lining...

next we have a wee evening purse with pretty pink bow (it was a big year for bows) and this lovely beaded fringe. i just love this fabric so much!

the priscilla bag, again with the bow in a lovely chartruese lace....again the fabric is so beautiful, a plushy velour...



this is from 3-4 years ago...gosh, i think i better make this one again..i do remember it being a good seller for one of my craft shows....

this floppy-ish flowery bag is so fun and whimsical...i did a trade for it. i loved making this one!

ah, the Meredith....with the felt flower and scrunchy handles...it had blue piping on the sides and a bright pink lining...

one of my flower pot bags, another design that was popular for me at one time....i wish i could find this fabric again! i had it in orange and yellow too!

hope you enjoyed looking at them.....which design did you like best?

Niagara trip....part III

Continuing on the trip, we drove up the Niagara parkway on our way to the Falls, it was about a 20 min. drive from the cute town of Virgil where we stayed at the b&b in vino country. It was a lovely day and a lovely drive, and on the way we stopped at the flower clock and the butterfly conservatory which i featured in my last blog entry.

i snapped this photo of a stately looking building from the car....

Upon arriving at Niagara falls we saw the mini CN tower, the Skylon tower....

(Okay, i'm feeling too lazy too organize all the photos in a organized manner, and i'm having problems with my blog photo arrangments, so the rest of the photos are random pics of us on the Maid of the Mist boat and touring the tacky, touristy town with all the freaky, annoying museums. Enjoy the show!)

see the giant herseys' kiss?

king kong has taken over Niagara falls.....run for your lives!!



after walking through the town i was glad to be out of there, so crowded!

this is me doing an impression of Paris Hilton.....



the American falls are on the left, the Canadian horseshoe falls to the right...

whirlpools near the falls...

ooooh, scary!





the maid of the mist boat tour was a blast, in more ways than one...those raincoats don't really keep you dry!


we saw this wonderful rainbow....

Steve and I were drowned rats afterward but totally refreshed!
(click on above photo to see happy smiley face birds)


another rainbow shot....ahhh!

this is the closest we got to the big gusher....it was terrifying and exhilerating....the sound was thunderous! ( click to enlarge photo if you are brave enough!!)



the trip almost over we headed home, viewing a lovely sunset....

oops, almost forgot to show you this yummy fudge shop....we bought some of the Chocolate walnut one...so creamy and rich!

pensive thought on the drive home....


Hope you all enjoyed my three part photo montage of our trip....it was a nice 2 day getaway and i would love to go back again one day! Even though i've visited Niagara Falls many times since i only live a few hours away, i much prefer the peaceful Niagara-on-the-lake area to the busy, crowded tourist jammed town!