"O Canada" Canada's national anthem lyrics and vocals

Happy Canada Day!!

I wanted to share this video with all of my U.S. friends who

may not know the words to Canada's National Anthem

or have had opportunity to visit here.

 

I think this it is a nice display of Canada's beautiful Province's and Territories.

Please enjoy!

I Woke With Good Intentions

Today (Friday) was one of those days were all my good plans came to not!

I had intended to get up, put on my painting clothes and start the big job of painting my whole kitchen.

Yep, everything....

The cabinets, the wall, the table and chairs, and the china cabinet.

The plan is to take my kitchen from this....

whoorl.com

To something that looks more like this!

 

But that was not meant to be.

Without going into a lot of uninteresting detail, I'll just say all my plans were blown to pieces.

I ended up getting dressed up, made up:(,

and then spending almost all of the day away from home AGAIN.

 I did manage to find the time this evening to order Return to Cranford. So I feel as if I've accomplished something today!

I know it's hard to imagine, but Tim and I just finished watching Cranford series for the first time.

We loved it and decided we had to see how it all progressed and finally ended.

emile Vernon

Now friends, would you do a favour for me?

Would you please become my bloglovin follower?

I highly doubt that blogger follower will disappear, but because I don't want to take the chance of losing you to Never, Never Land, I have attached a bloglovin button at the top left side-bar of this post.

When you post it will go directly to my e-mail.

So simple!

Well here I am after midnight watching Miss Marple when I should be sleeping so I can get an early start on that painting job.

But I rarely do what is the sensible thing to do.

Maybe someday I'll grow up.

One can only hope!

 

 





 

Cottage Dreams

 

I found this sweet poem on Pinterest and wanted to share it with all of you.

It set my mind to thinking about cottage decor.

This is a cottage pincushion.

I think a larger version would make a nice tea cozy.

 

I'm not even going to tell you that I'm going to make this, because roughly 95% of the time I never get those projects even started, let alone done!

 

Beautiful cottage flowers for a wall....

joysthoughtsandthings.blogspot.com

and a hand made cottage pillow.









And finally a sweet cottage pattern to make your own cottage pillow or t-towel.....

What is it that comes to your mind when you think of a cottage?



All images from pinterest.

Bird Brain!

 

graphic fairy

                         Did I say Bird Brain?



I'm sorry, I meant Bird on the Brain!

Pip Studio

Everywhere I look I am seeing the cutest birds.

pinterest.com

There are little birds sewing.....

pinterest.com

There are birds serving tea.....

pininterest.com

And a birdie making tea......

Time Warp Wife

And two sweet birds quoting a favorite scripture!

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A big Happy Birthday shout out to our oldest son, Jefferson!



 

 



 





 

 

 



 





A Few Inspiration Pieces

 

I am not able at this time to give you any photos of a room that is completed, because I don't have a single room that I've finished yet!

So I will give you a few photos of my inspiration pieces for  the living room and kitchen, then you can get an idea of where I'm going with my decorating theme.

This cabinet was left in the basement by the previous owner.

I have brought it into the kitchen and plan to paint it either white or a blue to match my porcelain bowl pictured above.

You can see how beautifully this one turned out

after it was painted.

I can only hope I can do as good a job with mine as this lady did with hers.

You've seen this before-I had it in my cabin kitchen.

Can you see again that pretty blue?

 I think it's my favourite colour right now for the kitchen.

This is the fabric for our living room curtains.

It matches our leather couch perfectly.

This is an old plate that I had forgotten that I had.

Unpacking is a bit like Christmas in some ways-so many surprises from things you'd  forgotten that you had!

But then on the other hand, I can't find half the stuff I know I had either.

The verse on my little plate is really what I want to achieve in this cottage of ours;

The Cottage of Content

And we all know that that is a thing of the heart, not measured by our possessions or riches.

 I would be lying if I tried to tell you that I don't take some joy from the things that I possess.

 

I have, however, been in a place in my life where I thought my days were numbered and I can tell you first hand from that experience that what I had hanging on my walls or what furniture I had in my home didn't mean a thing to me.

It literally disappears in significance.

All that matters then is family, your loved ones, and your relationship with your maker.

So I do try to keep it all in proper perspective.

Frankly I don't know how I got off on that little tangent.  Maybe it was just a reminder  for me!

 



This is what is beckoning me now.

I still have many flowers to get potted and seeds that need sown.

So I'm off.....

What is it that's calling you today?





 



 



 

Google Plus or Bloglovin'?

 

I have just read that as of July 1st we will be losing Google Friend Connect and Google Reader!

Spring cleaning for Google and a way of forcing us to use Google+.

 

I done a little research myself of the options. I already have Linksy, but I'm not particularly fond of it and I haven't had many followers who wanted to follow my blog on it.

It appears to me that Bloglovin would be the best alternative and easiest way to transfer ones followers.

 

I have to admit I am really clueless about the best route to go....

Please let me know what you have decided to do.

After a little research of my own, I'm not so sure that what I read was true.
Read this link.
I suggest you do your own research and decide.
I have heard this scare before and it proved not to be true.
Let me know what you find out!
 



Thank You for Your Hospitality

  Hospitable : given to generous and

cordial reception of guest

Today, dear ladies, marks my second year blogging anniversary.

Can you believe it?

 

As I sat thinking about what blogging has meant to me, I realized that it is like being cordially

 welcomed into your homes.

 

Kind of like my  daily visits to my MIL's apartment.

We don't intrude on one another's privacy, but one of us drops by each day just to say hi and see what the other one is up to that day.

We talk about what projects we are working on or what we are going to prepare for supper.

 We might discuss a book we're reading or a DVD we enjoyed watching recently.

 

Here in blogland we have the advantage of learning about life in parts of the world that we may never have opportunity to visit.

I think that is very much what blogging has been for me.

I am so blown away when I occasionally visit my stats and find that someone in Croatia, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Poland, Australia, Russia, Greece or France have bothered to visit me!

I was just thrilled to get visitors from the U.S. and The United Kingdom.

Anyway, it is just so amazing to me and I guess what I'm am trying to express is my thanks to all of you who have been faithful followers here at my blog.

 And please know how much I enjoy visiting yours.

I'd better shut-up now before I start thinking I'm Bob Hope and begin singing,

'Thanks For the Memories'.

 

Have a great weekend friends-Kimberly



Driving the Superior

 

As many of you know my husband and I have recently moved  to a Northern Ontario community.

 It is located almost exactly half way between Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.

If we want to shop in the 'Big' city we have to drive five hours to one city or the other.

 We opted for Thunder Bay this time.

 



The scenery is gorgeous as you drive along the lake.

There are many high cliffs or what I call mini-mountains!

When we arrived we booked a room at The Prince Arthur.

It's a historic hotel located near the waterfront in the old downtown of Thunder Bay.

My husband always wanted to stay at The Prince Arthur

and now he can say that he has.

We had a beautiful view of the harbour and waterfront from our hotel window.

We later walked the over-pass and toured the park just like we often did when we had lived there several years ago.

Here is a close-up of the lighthouse.

You can see from this photo what a gorgeous day it was there Saturday.









This is a photo of the Sleeping Giant.

 I wasn't able to take my own because it was cloud covered while we were there.

The Sleeping Giant is Thunder Bay's 50 million ton mascot!

The Ojibway people, who have made Lake Superior their home for over 500 years, identify the Sleeping Giant as Nanabijou.

Ojibway legend has it that Nanabijou was turned to stone when the secret location of a rich silver mine was disclosed.

If you are looking for a summer vacation, the Circle Tour around Lake Superior has fabulous scenery.

 I like it in both the summer and the fall when the foliage colours are so vibrant.

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I couldn't close without showing you a photo of the most patient man in the world.

 Well, at least he was on Saturday!

My MIL and I dragged him through two Salvation Army shops, a Value Village store, Canadian Tire, The Home Depot, The Home Store, Dollarama,  and then on to The Hoito to eat.

Finally, after hours at Wal-Mart I ask him if he would mind running over to Chapters for me to buy a book I had picked out for him for Father's Day.

He was more than happy to oblige.

All in all he's a pretty good guy, I think.

I hope you all had a good Father's Day weekend as well.

                                                      Blessings-Kimberly









Forget Me Not

 

This evening I wandered out to our backyard to gather a small bouquet of one of my favourite Spring wildflowers-Forget Me Not.

It was a beautiful evening.

 However, the mosquitoes and black flies were wanting to have me for  their supper.

So I didn't  stay out very long.

I did manage to get Tim's Grandparents clock unpacked and placed on a shelf today.

A big accomplishment, eh?

Several of you have asked for photos of the house, but I just don't have it put together yet.

I guess I'm getting slower in my old age!

But I can show you a shot of our backyard leading out to the alley.

We have our own little bridge that crosses over a small creek bed, which is full of Marsh Marigolds right now.

I hope someday to plant a vining flower over the arbour.

And look what else we have.

A visiting fox.

I couldn't believe it when I say this fellow across the street this morning!

Do you think he's followed us from Goulais River?

Or maybe he just called a relative of his and told him to drop by to see how we're making out.

Whatever the case may be, we've sure enjoyed watching him!

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I want to say a big thanks to the Sherri and Pat for instructions on how to change my banner!

It may take me a while to collect the photos I want, but I will get it done-someday.

Blessings to all-Kimberly

 





 









Summer Tour of Homes

 

Today I went on a Summer Tour of Houses.

It is a tour of 25 amazing blogger homes.

It was hosted by Gina at  The Shabby Creek Cottage.

Honestly, if your day is anything like mine has been, this tour

will work like a  tub of  hot Calgon bath water in taking

you away from reality for a while.

 

What is my whine? I have no phone yet!

Yes, so sad something like this can send me over the edge....

I know it's just a culmination of so many things, not just the phone.

I'm not going to go into all the bloody details.

I mean really, who wants to hear it?

But just to give you a little taste of what's been happening with this move,

and remember this is just a taste.

The day we went to pick up our moving truck and trailer we were

informed that they only had a small trailer available.

We were booked weeks ahead with this company.

So to make a long story short I had to leave a lot of my

stuff behind!

I wouldn't have minded lightening my load at all.

But it would've been nice to have known ahead of

time so I could have picked what I wanted and

didn't want.

 

In the end I keep telling myself it is just stuff.

I have my health. We have shelter, lots of food,

and opportunities ahead.

 So what really do I have to complain about, right?

 

As far as the phone goes, we had made arrangement way ahead of time to have it connected last Monday.

I was expecting a VIP call today which I was

unable to receive.

But that's life.

 Little bumps in the road, they call it, I guess.

All I know is that I'm so...glad tomorrow is a new day!





The Worlds Worst Blogger

 

Yes, I know I'm right up there as one of the Worlds Worst bloggers lately.

I've just been so darn busy it seems.



I did take the time yesterday to step outside to take a quick tour of our new yard here at the new house.

As you can see my Spring flowers are just blooming!



When we looked at the house to buy, everything out doors was covered in snow.

It was a nice surprise to see this sweet cement border, with cement houses all around the front flower garden.

They need a little re-freshening, but that will come with time.

And lastly, here is the screened in porch off of our garage.

I got a feeling I'm going to be spending some quality reading time here this summer.

Believe me, I can't wait!