ANYWHERE BUT HERE

It's not often I can say during these last few years, that I like the cold or the snow. Call it getting older, I'm not sure really, but there are moments in this cold climate of ours on Canada's East Coast when I think I can't stand it for one winter longer but there are more moments still each year when I can't imagine living anywhere else. 

Unlike the days of when I was a kid, and my mom letting my little brother and I dress in snowsuits and lie outside on the snowbank in our front yard to catch snowflakes on our tongues, I no longer relish the snow. Being the romantic that I am, that surprises me. I used to get butterflies in my tummy at first snowfall and make my husband drop everything he was doing, to have us take a walk in our first snowfall of the year together. But I have to say, today was a day, in the bitter cold, when I couldn't possibly fathom a Christmas spent in balmy temperatures surrounded by palm trees (and trust me when I say, prior to today, there have been many!).

Today, we had the privilege of experiencing a Norman Rockwell Christmas moment if ever there was one. We have this wonderful lady, Sue is her name, who cares for our Golden Retriever, Murphy, when we are away. Sue and her family own a gorgeous property about a 15 minute drive from us. There they have their home on a huge lot of land, a brook running through the property some distance from the house where she takes daily walks with her dogs and the others she so lovingly cares for, as well as the kennels along with her dog grooming business. What I didn't know was that Sue also owns a horse, and he/she is kept at a stable yet another 5 minute drive from her home in an area called Glenlevit. Sue called a couple of weeks ago to invite us to a family afternoon at the stables, for horse drawn sleigh rides and an appearance from Santa. Joe and I had been set to Christmas shop away this weekend, but couldn't imagine missing out on this for Lizzy, so we stuck around the weekend and attended the much awaited event. And we were not disappointed.

"Boudreau Lane, Boudreau Lane...was that what she had said"? We followed the jeep in front of us as it looked familiar, and luckily he led us straight to our destination. What I saw as we turned the bend in the road, were white covered fields of glistening diamonds as the sun shone brightly, a huge barn in the background, a beautiful newer home situated at an angle on a sprawling fenced property and tons of vehicles. This must be it!

I'M IN THE KITCHEN

Two posts in one night...imagine!!

Further to our attempts to rid ourselves of all evidence of pink in our kitchen, I wasn't really sure that I would like a true ceramic tiled backsplash. Loving French Country colors and the decor style itself with it's motifs, I thought I would try my hand at freehand painting a rooster over faux tiles above our oven. Here's how I did it (I'm sure others will have different approaches...this is what worked for me). If unsuccessful, just repaint, right? Right! I have to say that it was not really my intention to have him stay, but he has all along on a temporary basis...sort of. Again, until the big reno!

The new kitchen drywalled walls were basecoated with a water-based ivory color in an eggshell finish. I opted for a gold color called Livingston Gold (BM) and mixed it with equal parts of water. Using a seasponge, I dipped the sponge into the mixture and lightly dabbed the color onto a handcut stencil I had made to resemble small ceramic tiles. Easy enough. Once dried, I traced a rooster pattern which I had photocopied from placemats I had for our breakfast island with pencil, and transferred that using transfer paper, to the wall. Using acrylic paints mixed with a bit of water, I then filled in the rooster freehand until he resembled, well...a rooster :-)! This was the result...  

I've still not finished the faux tile work due to waiting on my husband to finish with the brackets he added to the underside of the cupboards, and it's only been about 6 years since I left that project :-(! But I will get back at it one day...hmmmm. I hear myself saying that quite a bit lately. That and "my next post will come much sooner"...

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'TIS THE SEASON

Well the festive time of year is upon us and WOW...did it come from nowhere, and fast!! It's been a super busy Fall with the business, Lizzy's dance classes, fighting off sinus infections, throat infections.  For some reason, she and I seem to be on the same cycle and have both been ill off and on since about August. Skipping workouts and making time only for the business and my family, has made for not much activity outside of just that.  No need to wonder what my first new year's resolution will be. 

My Painted Porch hosted an Open House mid November for one afternoon only, with a great turnout. I guess the flue meds prevented me from having the presence of mind to take pics - I keep forgetting there's a blog now that I can share them to :-)! 

In preparing for the Open House, I wondered if I should decorate for Christmas, but thank goodness I didn't as, as it turned out, I was still painting signs until 3 am the night before and a tree, let alone anything else, would have been beyond unrealistic. We had our first snowfall in mid October and an absolutely fabulous month of fall weather in November seeing no snow again until last week, and a winter storm yesterday. The mild weather thus far has been completely out of the norm for our area this time of year and made for considerable slowing down of the natural dive into the Christmas spirit. Once we saw 30 cm fall yesterday tho, that changed everything...we have a tree! 

I made a few new signs for the Christmas season, keeping one of each of my faves for myself. Ck out the Gumdrops sign...looks fab peeking out from behind our tree. The Noel in the bottom right you can barely see...will try to snap a better pic a bit later for posting.