Wildflowers in My Creek Bed

 

Hello Friends!

 

I am posting over at my new blog today.

I hope you'll have time to visit me there.

 

 

My sweet granddaughter has gone home after visiting for two weeks.

It's always an adjustment every summer when this happens. I enjoy her company so much and we have such a good time together.

 

As you can see from the photo we did crafts together. Starlet had this wonderful idea to make neck pillows for herself, her brother and her best friend. She cut the fabric from the pattern, chose the embroidery designs, and then did the sewing and stuffing herself. She did a great job! She says she now wants her own sewing machine.

We are both hooked on the Australian cooking show 'My Kitchen Rules', and we watched it together every night. She also read my old Donna Parker books and Gene Stratton Porters, 'Freckles and The Girl of Limberlost'. She was so inspired by 'The Girl of Limberlost' that she went on line to see if there was still a market for selling moths and butterflies! She said there is.

She's a girl after my own heart and I'm going to miss her, for sure.

 

Now it's time to mosey on over to my new blog here if I haven't worn you out already!

Blessings-Kim



Beary Busy Days Here

 

I thought I would show you first my peonies that have finally bloomed, then get on to the nitty gritty of what's been happening here at Camp and cottage Living these past few days.

 

First, we (my grand daughter and I) are on bear watch this morning. We have noticed the last few days that this bear is cutting through our back yard to go for his morning, and sometimes evening, explorations through town.

I know this is a lousy photo, but that's what happens when your camera is in the other room and the bear is moving fast!

 

These garbage cans are the reason for our concern.

Today is trash pick-up day.

 But I am prepared with my fog horn handy and ready to blow!

 

Realistically, I can't just sit here watching out the window all day.

 I have things to do, places to go, and people to see......

Today Starlet, Nana and I plan to go down to the park and walk the path along the lake, then go to get an ice cream cone. Next I am forcing Star to go shopping with me. She strongly dislikes shopping, but it has to be done. Then I expect we will either go fishing or swimming, depending on how warm it gets here. I prefer fishing.

 

 

Yesterday Tim and I canned thirty five quarts of various meats.

We put up bacon for the first time. It is easy to do.

 We just followed a youtube video and all went well.

 

I wanted to share this much better photo of the bear we spotted on our way home from White Lake Provincial Park last weekend when Tim's sisters were here visiting. As you can see he was right next to the very busy (to us) Hwy 17 and it didn't bother him at all. He just kept grazing about on the grasses.

 I'm hoping ,now that I have my camera handy and ready to go, to get a better shot of the bear that is using my backyard as his thoroughfare.

Wish me luck on that!

 Kimberly

 













Lace Curtains

 

I have really taken a shine to lace curtain lately.

So much so that I am seriously thinking of hanging them in my kitchen windows.

 

 

I had not been a fan of lace curtains in the past. I suppose because I had not seen many that I liked before. But pinterest has changed all of that.

 Now my world has broadened....

Ha!!

 

Even if I had found lace curtains that I liked, I never would have thought of hanging them in my kitchen.

I thought that they would be too frilly, perfect for the bedroom, but never the kitchen.

 

 

I can see now how wrong I was!

 

This lace curtain appears to be a patchwork of several different laces and vanity scarves.

I've been fortunate these last couple of months to have found varying lace pieces cheap at rummage sales, so I could attempt to make my own....

Although I don't think they would come out quite as pretty as this panel did.

 

Now in the end, after I have raved on and on about lace curtains, the homemade roll up shades in the photo above are my favourite. I'm not sure why I like them better, but it may be because I think I have figured how I can make the centre panel detachable and then change it with the seasons.

 

What do you think?

Which curtain is your favourite?

Would you ever hang lace curtains in your kitchen?

 



 

 





The Good Ol' Days

 

Do you ever find yourself romancing about the good ol' days?

I do.

 I often think about how much politer society was back then. It seemed to me that people were less narcissist and more industrious...

That folks were neighbourly and more willing to lend a helping hand. I mean a real hand, not a hand out!

 

Well, you know the whole scenario. We could all write a book on how wonderful everything was way back when.

 

 

But then, while surfing through pinterest, I run across a board with old ads and then I say to myself, "Just how stupid could people have been back then?"

 

 

Honestly, does anyone know if these ads are for real?

 

It certainly gives a whole new meaning to the, "You've come a long ways, Baby" quote!

 

 

If I ever met the person who created this sign I know I could come up with an alternative use for that big old cast iron skillet of mine that's hanging on my wall.

Gee it's enough to make a non-violent gal like me see red!

 

Funny, I never realised all of the torture I had been subjected to while I was raising our four children!

 

Someone please tell me if these ads are for real or not, or are they actual signs or just ones someone has made up to humour us?











Lost Sheep Found

 

A Story of My Lost Sheep, Now Found

 

Tell me dear friends, are you like me?

Do you decide you're going to de-clutter, then pack  many of your décor goodies away in a box never to think of them again? In fact, you just completely

forget that you ever even owned them.

 

This is sorta how I lost my sheep.

Two years ago we moved into the house that we are presently living in. Of course the first thing I had to do was paint, replace flooring, sew curtains, and so on and so forth. So somehow those poor little sheep that were packed in a box for the move never did get unpacked.
You can view my sheep display here from my previous home if you'd like.

 

 

My husband has been working on turning a spare room in our basement into a livable space. Many of the boxes from the basement have made there way to the garage, but many more were brought up to me to go through before they were taken to the resale shop.

Yikes!!

 

I'm just so glad I ran across my old sheep collection.

They not only make me happy to look at.......

 

but are also a reminder to me of my Good Shepherd-Jesus! 
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I am partying here:
link-party-friday

 fridays-five-features-party
 

Happy 4th of July

 

 

 

Happy 4th of July from Canada!



How To Make a Hoop Thread Holder

 

I debated about whether to title my post today "how to make a hoop thread holder" or "how not to make a hoop thread holder'.

 

I had debated about checking pinterest for a tutorial, but honestly how hard can it be to put something so simple looking together? I figure you buy a hoop (I get all mine for peanuts at resale shops), buy two one eighth inch dowels ($1.09 each for me), cut the dowels to determined bobbin length, and then just stick the cut dowels in between the inside and outside of your hoop.

 

Wrong!

It didn't work that way.....

It was all good for the first five dowel inserts, but after that the space between the inside and outside hoop became too wide and the dowels started falling over.

 

This is when I brought out my hot glue gun and began to glue each dowel to the inside of the hoop.

Now be sure at this point that you have your threads handy to measure distance between your dowels. My machine embroidery thread has a very wide bottom and won't fit on a regular thread holder, which is why I decided to make my own holder.

 

Now look at what happened!

The distance between the two sides of the top hoop made it impossible to use the screw that is attached for tension so I decided I would just wire the too top sides together.

Wrong!

As you can see the tension ripped the bracket right out of the wood.

At this point I was tempted to trash the whole project. But I needed this thread holder! 

 

In the end I decided to wire the inside and outside hoop together with thin wire at intervals and cover it with pretty tied fabric strips

All in all it turned out okay. I estimate I put three hours into the project. Now that I know what to anticipate it may only take me one hour to complete the next one. I need three!

I did check pinterest to see how someone else recommended putting this together and there is a tutorial here.  I guess I should have read it first.

It's a lesson learned...

Blessings-Kim

 

 

 





 

 











Happy Dominion Day!

                                                                                                                  Lyrics in French, then English
                            Have a wonderful Canada Day!

 

The lyrics for O Canada

 

An adorable representative!

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For more Canadiana visit here.

 

 



 



Hunting for Canning Jars

 

 Do you remember my post on canning here? 

Then I showed you all my beautiful canned goods on the new farmhouse counter Tim built for me here.      

Well, guess what? I've run out of canning jars again and I am having quite a time finding any. A few weeks ago when I was canning I paid $15.00 here at our local Home Hardware for a dozen regular mouth jars. Ouch!

This really hurts a woman like myself who always had ten dozen or more jars piled high in boxes in my garage most of my married life.

What happened to them? They were left behind in the last move two years ago.

 

source

 I'm sure you're thinking it's no big deal I can just buy a few jars at a rummage sale or at one of the resale shops.

No, not anymore ladies!

You see that photo above with the beautiful recycled canning jar chandelier?

This is one of the reasons I can no longer find cheap canning jars!

Some smarty pants had to go and dream up another use for my gems.

 

                                                                            source

People just can't be happy with putting food in their Ball jars any longer.

Now we have to paint them up pretty like and add flowers to  them.

 

 

                                                                           source

Did you know that you can line canning jars with fabric?

This looks kind of hard to me....

But cute never the less.
Oh I'm not really as aggravated as I sound, if I had any extras I'd be using them for something pretty too!

 

I thought I had it made today when I went to WalMart  Canada's on line store and found a dozen one liter jars for $8.97. I had to have a minimum of over $50. for the free shipping. No problem, I could just order six dozen jars and meet the requirement.

I did this and this is what my final charge was with shipping:



Your Shopping Cart

Subtotal:

^$53.^{22 **}

Applied discounts:

$0.00

Eco handling fees:

$0.00

FREE

Standard shipping to (my address)

$100.00

Pick up

$100.00

HST

$19.92

Order Total:

^$173.^{14 **}

** Prices are based on your shipping location, and are subject to change in different shipping locations.
Do the math on this. It appears I'm getting taxed for the shipping.
Is that even legal?
 





 Now I thought this was crazy, so I called and the young  customer service guy thought it couldn't be right either so he was going to report it to his supervisor. He told me to try again in an hour. I tried again, same price. I tried several hours later, same price.

I want these jars badly enough, ladies, that I am going to call again tomorrow and find out just what in the world is going on over there at Wally World.

Stayed tuned and I'll let you know what happens!

Enjoy your Tuesday-Kim

 

 



Happiness Is Homemade

 

Kim's Embroidery Project

 

Is Happiness really Homemade?

 

Well it's true that much of my happiness is found in my home. In truth, there just isn't much that I don't enjoy about being a Susie homemaker!

 

But in reality I think true Happiness is more

Heart-made.

 

 It's a decision we have to make each day to believe and trust that our Heavenly Father sees and knows every single happening in our life.

 

 All of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

 My mission is to try to be a light in an ever darkening world and like Paul to find contentment for this moment that I find myself in right now, knowing that nothing passes The Lord's attention.

 

I must allow my heart to be guided by his Holy Spirit and my mind to be renewed by His Word.

This is my prayer for this hour!

 

 

 



Where Is Everyone?

 

                                             Where has everyone gone?

I checked my sidebar and many of you haven't posted in almost a week! No doubt you are all out and about enjoying summer.

I can't say I blame anyone. After that long winter we need to soak up all the sunshine we can.

 

As usual my brain has been working overtime, coming up with all kinds of new ideas. Scary, right?

I have decided not to leave blogger completely.

 

 

 

I have always wanted a blog dedicated totally to sewing, so that is next in the works.

My blogger friend, Dawn, at Creative Cain Cabin

has been helping me to get all of the kinks worked out over at Word Press. And hopefully soon it will be easier for you to access me there!

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If you are reading this and would like to pop over to my latest post, click here to go to my new blog site.

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I've missed visiting with all of you.

Blessing-Kim



Camp and Cottage Living Has Moved

 

 

 

Hello Friends!

Camp and Cottage Living has moved here.

I thank you for being such a faithful follower these past four years and I hope you'll enjoy my new site!

 

Once you visit the new site you will find several options for following me there.

Take your pick!

Blessing to all-Kimberly



A Day of Disorder

 

I awoke this morning with my day all nicely planned.

I didn't get very far into it before it became apparent that my plans were going to have to take a detour....

I was going to devote the day to putting the finishing touches on my new WP blog so I can finally begin blogging from there.

When I went to log on it didn't accept my passwords.
Three times it didn't accept my password!

So a quick note to the designer and now I wait until she has the time to get back to me.

 



 

I had a choice to make, I could either let this ruin my day or put on my Doris Day face (Que Sera Sera) and get on with it. I do have a kazillion other projects around the house I could (should) be working on, after all.

 

 I did make it to Home Hardware and the local grocery to purchase my herbs and flowers to plant this last weekend. I've decided to concentrate on developing a perennial garden this year.

I don't mind buying annuals for the hanging flower pots, but I would like to have the front flower beds filled with something that returns on it's own every year.

Less expense and less work!

 

See this mess?

While I'm busy twiddling my thumbs trying to decide which task to do next.....

 

this fellow is hard at work on the latest unnecessary (his words, not mine) project I've come up with for our kitchen.

I quickly snapped this photo, then fled left, least I hear any muttering coming out of his mouth!

 

My default project for today is ironing.

My youtube audio book for today is 'The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax'.

And then, of course, listening to Doris for a little inspiration and uplifting.

 

Hope you're having an amazing Monday!

 

 

Kim

 

 







 

 

Forget Me Nots

 

I had to quickly get out today to pick the Forget Me Not before they disappeared.

They are really the most delicate and prettiest of flowers to me.
But they don't seem to last long enough.
I bet they are already long gone from your yards.

 

I hadn't showed you yet, but the day of the Mother's Day tea there was also a church sale at the local St. Paul's United Church.

I was so thrilled to find two Forget Me Not teacups there.

They are both bone china and I was able to purchase them, along with several other items, for just a twenty dollar donation.

 

 

 I couldn't resist getting a shot of the Forget Me Not teacups along side the real thing.

The sun was bright on the yard at that time, so there are many shadows showing, but I like the photo just the same!

 

 

Of course now that I was on this whole Forget Me Not theme, I remembered that I had bought a necklace that reminded me of Forget Me Not.

I quickly retrieved it from the drawer, double wrapped it around my wrist, then called to Tim to come out and take a picture of me picking the flowers.

Even though none of this makes any sense to him, I'm sure, he was still good about going along with my craziness!

 

 

Lastly, here is my pretty ......

What? I don't know what it is.

Maybe a sugar dish?

It's another pretty Forget Me Not piece I found and it had to come home with me.

 

Just one more shot.

As you can see I could be a 'before' candidate for Jane Seymour's special tissue paper hands cream.

 If by chance you are reading this, Jane, just e-mail me and I will send you my address.

I am more than ready and willing to be a guinea pig for your new tissue crepe paper skin cream!

 

~Until next time-Kimberly~

I found a review here-http://amominredhighheels.com/crepe-erase-review/