Eastern Sun.

I'm so thankful we faced the back of our little cottage to the east. We get this wonderful sun that streams in early and sticks around for a good part of the morning, until lunchtime, when it starts to move towards the south end of our abode. It was a messy sink pic this morning but frankly, with temperatures still stuck in the deep freeze, and a cottage that is all neat and tidy, one spot can be messy! We baked cookies on the weekend and will now have to do more time on the treadmill! But oh, they were so yummy and we still have enough left over for the week, while we wait for the warmth to return. Someone today said that the predicated temperature on Saturday will be +3 C. Wow! To go from - 50 C one weekend, to + 3 C the following weekend is crazy. We'll take it though. Grateful for all we have but wish the weather could be more stable here. So tiring.

I find it hard to deal with bad weather. It could be massive thunderstorms, that increase my stress with thoughts of lightening strikes or possible tornadoes. Too much heat translates to forest fires. Last Summer was the first time since we moved to the country that we were on high alert due to a fire just down the road from us. We are so fortunate to have the best firefighters and they did a brilliant job of putting out a very large fire, without a single home lost. When it snows, it's so pretty and mkaes me feel so cozy, especially when I'm home. But when we have a blizzard with icy roads and very low temperatures. I love our 4 seasons but truly wish we could have warm Winters, with some snow but no blizzards, beautiful Springs but no flooding, warm Summers but no scary storms, and long Falls without threats of early snow storms. My ideal!

Not sure I could live somewhere where there is literally one season. I need the change every quarter, with a break from the hot, or the cold, the wind or the rain. It's fun to to decorate and prepare for each time. Having different sets of clothes and footwear is a pain. But doable. One of my favorite author, L. M. Montegomery, wrote in Anne of Green Gables ~ "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."  The cool crisp air, the crunching falling leaves, and the homeyness of life around us makes Fall my favorite! Ah, Fall! Makes it worth the seasons to get thru the crappy days to get to the good days. Seasons mirroring life!

Do you have 4 different seasons in your area?

~ Chy

Real Life.

Actually this doesn't show the true picture of real

life as I only took the "after" shot! Before this area

looked so tidy, it had a number of medications by

the lamp, bread in bags, some tea cups and a towel.

I try to keep everything so tidy but every once in a

while, life slips and something is out of place. All

better now and hopefully this corner will stay nice

and tidy. For now, real life. Until it's messy again.

~ Chy

Saturday Sharing.

My breakfast in bed this morning. Paying tribute to our upcoming Disney trip! And celebrating that we are safe and warm today. We had a bit of a blizzardy day yesterday. And despite careful driving and literally no traffic, we still ended up in the ditch. More on our adventure in a later post but all is well. A small dent in the muffler and no one was injured, so life continues, with thankfulness for amazing neighbors and perfect strangers who stopped to help. Life in the country continues to amaze us and this was just one example of how lovely and genuinely helpful people are out here. I asked dh if our experience yesterday would make him move back to town and his answer was quick and short ~ "no way!!" I guess that means we're staying put out here!

Yesterday afternoon, after our ditch escapade, I cancelled our grief program this morning. It was blowing snow, icy roads and cold wind. Thankfully, everyone agreed. We woke up this morning to beautiful bright sun but I didn't put class back on. Everyone is working so hard, a little break is okay. We'll go one week more this month to make up for this lost day. 

In this house, it will still be a busy day. We have hockey playoffs this afternoon and hockey to watch on tv this evening. In between both, we have to stop at Michael's to pick up an item I'm still missing for my art class tomorrow. I thought I had the glue required but went through my art studio and discovered that I'm out of that one. Off to the store we'll go, coupon in hand. We also have to stop at the grocery store for a few fresh items and pick up our favorite Chinese food that we didn't get yesterday with our ditch blip! Can't wait ~ such good food and prepared right in front of you as you order it. Mmmmmm! Home to eat and then time to chill. However, I have plans before the game on tv.

As you can see by my two pictures, the art studio has gotten very messy. Yup, this is real life some days. The rest of the house we can keep so tidy, except for our back entrance (five of us coming in and out each day means boots are all over and school bags and work bags dumped) and the art studio. As my dad, the realtor, would say "you have to have some spaces that look lived in!" And it's true. So part of my day before we go to hockey today (now that I'm not teaching this morning) and once we get home later today, is to tidy and purge the counters and put things back where they go. I have a whole cupboard full of painting supplies but do you see that nice pile above that should be IN the cupboard? And in the picture above, a few bins are out of their cupboard as I was looking for some items for the dollhouse reno. But then got sidetracked and never put them away. Once I'm doing cleaning up my mess, I'll post new pictures to show the open spaces that I dreamed of but keep filling up with projects. The back entrance will be my project next week ~ we bought some new heavy duty mats to cover the floor better in the Winter with our snowy boots. I'll take a before and after once I tackle that project. In the Spring, we're hoping to have someone come in and epoxy our garage floor but we'll paint the walls first and get it better organized. We built two big shelving units ~ one for the storage room and one for dh's workshop area but now I have bins to put items in so it's more streamlined. Can't wait for that project to start. Going to look great and be a nice work space for him, instead of "just a garage." 

Tomorrow I'm off to my art class, the one I'm nervous about and hope it goes well. I have some homework to do later when the game is on tv. My supplies are gathered and other than figuring out a snack to take along, I'm ready! I'll post pictures of my creation once I'm home. We have one more playoff game tomorrow, after my class, so it's a busy Sunday. Hope your weekend is fun and relaxing! Enjoy!!

~ Chy

Real Life.

 While we cooked our 1st dinner

today for Thanksgiving, I took a

half hour to tidy up our laundry

room. It was quite the big disaster! 

Isn't it awful? It had become a dumping 

ground that I was embarrassed to admit.

The counter is cluttered, the cupboards

not organized and the floor is a mess.

I can't believe it had somehow become

our "laundry basket" for dirty clothes.

But after a short time, I had it back under 

control and you could see the floor again.

Now you can even see the sweet vintage floral

and birdhouse pictures I've collected over the 

years. One day, they will actually all be hung up

on the walls but for now, they line our counter.

Figuring out curtains now for this bright and 

now tidy again space. A floral print for sure.

Do you have a messy spot in your home?

What are your plans for that space?