Rainy Days.

After a couple of weeks of hot, dry weather and just a sprinkle of rain or two, it's been lovely to have some actual rainy days. The precipitation has cooled down the air and the moisture is, I'm sure a welcome gift to the wildlife and vegetation in our region. The province beside us is on fire and it's a scary time when it gets this hot. Structures are being burned to the ground and forests obliterated in moments. I hope that our rain will move to the West and douse the fires naturally. Send blessings.

I took a few pics the other night while closing up things for the night. The rain pitter pattered outside but inside was cozy and warm, inviting and calm. Our living room above. I'd like to find a nice soft rug to go in the middle. Not cover the whole floor, just a bit to offer a soft landing for tired feet at the end of the day. And we still need to figure out window coverings beyond the lace panels we have now. A work in progress. I know it will evolve in time.

The side table, comfy arm chair and my gramma's tea cart that sit in the bay window. I was gifted the tea cart not long after we moved out to the country. My mom had it in her little apartment but one day asked if we'd like to have it now. A sweet gift in the perfect spot in our home.

Looking from the living room in to the dining room, the light from the butler's pantry shines through. I'd love a rug here too, likely one that would match whatever we find for the living room. And of course, the same window coverings to keep things consistent. The bit of OCD in my little body would truthfully appreciate that. 

The "new to us but old to someone else vintage thrifted lamp" we bought last week for the also "new to us but old to someone else vintage side table" we bought the week before at the Antique Mall. 

Another thrifted find .... the heart shaped vintage chair we scored last year at the AM. I love this piece and it was so worth the price the vendor negotiated with us. 

The lamp sitting on top of the old victrola was the very first item we ever bought at the AM. It was upstairs, back in the corner of a very small and not really put together booth. Sitting on the floor with it's matching mate, we loved them right away. And at just $20 for both, we also knew that we were getting an amazing deal. The picture beside it was a $2 find from the thrift store ~ love the gilded frame. The little rabbit on the chair ~ another AM find for $8. And finally, the victrola we found online from a family that was moving from a community next to our County. We were the first to respond and made it out that night to pick it up. After we negotiated and made a deal, the family received quite a few inquiries and likely they could have received full price or even higher. One of our deals where it just all fell in to place. 

That's my rainy day tour to show you how soft the light comes through the lacy windows when it rains outside. I'm grateful for the cooling mist, a warm place to call home, a cozy neighborhood and a free country. I hope you feel this in your heart too, wherever you live. 

New Summer Wreath.

I love having a wreath on the front door. It either tells the season we are in or a special day. Recently I visited our local charity shop to search for a small wreath for the little door on our potting shed. This one caught my eye and for $5, I was happy to give it a new home. But when I got it out to the shed, it was just a bit too big for the small door. I'm still searching for a smaller wreath but the new one didn't go to waste. I love that if fit the front door just fine and brings together our colors of lavender, sage and ivory. It wasn't meant to be for the shed but it was definitely meant to be for the cottage. A great find.

Bedtime Snack.

When I was a kid growing up, we were allowed to have a small "bedtime snack" before going to sleep. Fruit or a veggie, sometimes a cookie. Small but enough to help us get to sleep faster. As an adult, I still do this. I know it's always suggested to not eat after 7 p.m. but I have to eat something every few hours or I get very shaky. So a bedtime snack helps me sleep and I'm less hungry in the morning. Here's my latest favorite snack to munch on: small organic cheezies and fresh green grapes.

Do you enjoy a bedtime snack?

If so, what is your favorite?

Our Little Garden.

The view from our front door.

On the back deck.

A close up of the big pot.

And the smaller one.

Welcome July.

The year is half gone already.

Enjoying our sunny, warm days.

Playhouse Progress.

As some of you may have read in my previous posts, we recently acquired our "quaint" shed. Our landscape designer was very clear that we really could just have any old metal shed but that we need to find something that would stand out and be a good fit for the acreage. So this is what we came up with. I haven't sent her any pictures or had her come over yet to see it. Very excited for her to see it. And hope she loves it as much as we truly do.

The pink potting shed/playhouse/garden ~ tool hut in it's original color of bright pink. I knew the second I saw it that it would not stay pink. Figuring out what color to paint it was bit challenging but in the end, I love what we ended up choosing. Just the right shade of the right color.

And in it's new hue of radiance .... our little guy was not impressed. He really liked the pink! Now he says it's dark but we really like that it matches the big house. 

There will be more progress over the long weekend .... painting, sawing, gluing, hammering .... I'll do more updates as we go. This project has been a lot of fun so far. We're half way there and loving it making it truly ours.

Final Frugal Finds.

My last two Frugal Friday finds .... dirt and clothes. We've been thinking about buying dirt to fill up our raised garden boxes. To get it delivered is handy but then the dirt would be sitting out in the rain. So we then decided to buy bags of it. Yesterday, I was given a $10 coupon to use online if I was to purchase $50. I searched for dirt and found an amazing sale. Bags that were originally $5 were on sale for $2.50 each. And with my coupon, the price came down to $2.14. In the end, I spent $75 which ended up being a total of 35 bags, at 28 litres each for a grand total of 980 litres. This should fill up our garden boxes very nicely. Can't wait to get our garden finished up.

Our last deal of the day .... clothes. We love a particular store and recently bought a $10 store card that gives us an additional 10% off all orders online and in the store all the time, even during sales. We've had some amazing deals and today was the best. A one day sale, with an additional 40% of sale items, plus 15% off that total (up from the original 10% due to Canada's 150th birthday tomorrow), and to make it even sweeter, free shipping. So we chose over $1,140 worth of clothing but paid just $182. Isn't that the most amazing deal!! Time to purge our closet and donate the items we haven't been wearing all year so there is room for our new finds. 

That's the end of the Frugal Friday Finds for this week. Hope you had a good week too!

Frugal Friday #8.

The best frugal find of the week was this

vintage end table. I was at the Antique

Mall tidying up our little booth and kept

walking past a pile of items at the front.

I finally stopped and asked the staff if

someone had bought the items and they

told me that they were just being dropped

off by on the vendors for their booth.

The owner than showed up and the next

thing I know, I'm loading up this beautiful

piece into my car. And we had just the

perfect spot for it. Love the drawers, the

handles, the curves, the hand painted 

flowers, the colors and the legs. The fit

was just right for this challenging spot. I

am so happy I stopped to ask the owner.