Kitchen Inspiration

I was looking through the Country Living website and found some lovely kitchens. I am always drawn to the retro look and so I hope when we redo our kitchen that I will be able to keep it fairly true to it's 1927 roots. The kitchen above is so elegant, I love the chandelier.

Don't you just adore the colors of the one above? I think they are so yummy!

The kitchen above reminds me of mine. It is so small. I love to cook and it is so hard to do so without room to spread out. I really like the clear canisters, I have thought of storing my red ones and getting the clear ones. Ikea has them. I have seen light fixtures like those at the Home Depot.

Isn't that the sweetest pantry door? And in RED!

Who wouldn't love a retro kitchen with a little eating area off to the side?

These cabinets look like something they would have had back in 1927, the year my house was built, don't you think? I have a wood floor to uncover, too. I have no idea what condition it will be in. Maybe I could paint it like the pic above?

Well, I can dream and finding pictures like these certainly help!

Have a dreamy day!

Hugs, Cindy

PINK

Yeah!! It is Pink Saturday over at How Sweet the Sound, take a look at Beverley's blog. I adore the color pink, but I have never had a chance to decorate with it a whole lot. So here are a few pink things around Oakview Cottage. Up first is the beautiful painting that my sweet friend Diane gave me just before I moved away from BC. I made up my mind that I would make it fit in my little cottage so I put it in my living room. Recently I added more pink to bring it into the decor. So I have made pink striped slip covers for the large pillows on my couch.

And what is better than having Pink geraniums to greet guests at my front door!

My dear sister Sue gave me this pink and yellow rose plate picture frame. I got it for my birthday this year. My youngest dd gave me the teapot with pink roses on it.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and I will see you next week!

Hugs, Cindy

Thrifty Thursday and I will tell you about a Give Away

It is Thrifty Thursday over at Bloggeritaville

You really need to check out her lovely blog and see what other thrifty people are coming up with this week.

I actually got these two chairs about a month ago, before I was blogging, at a garage sale. I paid $2 apiece for them. Yes, just $2. The funny thing is that I was just going to buy one of the chairs, because all I had on me was a twoonie (Canadian for a two dollar coin). But a sweet lady who was also looking at them told me I really should buy the two of them and handed me a twoonie. Isn't that amazing?! I had not planned to go garage saleing that day, I just happened to see the sign and it was tempting, so I went. They are solid, but covered in very dirty stinky gold velvet fabric. So I threw some fabric over them to see how it would look and I like it. So, I have painted the wood white and will soon reupholster them in the beige fabric. I think they will look marvelous, don't you?


My next thrify find was about two weeks ago. I found the table and chairs at another garage sale for $20. Again, they are very solid and in very good condition. I am in the process of painting them white, also. Then my little screened in porch will look ship-shape.

The only thing I will need to do then is to rip up the berber carpet and put down a rug. I saw an amazing give away over at The Old White Cottage and if I could win that rug it would be wonderful! But hey, it is open to all, so why don't you go over and see if you can win it. It is worth a try, I think. I may be painting the inside of my porch also, then it will all be brand new.



Thank you for coming by to see my Thrifty Finds, that I am quite proud of!! It is so sweet of you to leave a comment, I read them all and enjoy them to the fullest.

Have a beautiful day,



Hugs, Cindy

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

I am joining the "Outdoor Wednesday" party over at A Southern Daydreamer. Be sure to check out her blog, it is always so interesting! Thank you, Susan, for hosting this.

My back yard is such a peaceful place to sit and read a book, drink iced tea or eat my lunch. It is private because of the hedge, also. That is where my lilac bushes are, so soon I should have lilacs showing up on this side as well as the back.

If you click on my pics they enlarge. Can anyone please identify this plant? It is a perrenial and it grows to about 2 and 1/2 feet high with little white bells growing off of each frond. It is so pretty. It reminds me of the Lily of the Valley that I have growing in other areas of my garden. But it is much larger.

Our oldest grand son has such a kind little heart. If we are doing anything, he wants to help. He has proven himself to be a very hard worker! He is helping his grandpa pull dandelions.

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, you never know how soon it will be too late." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." ~Plato

Eph 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.

Life is such a fleeting thing. It was just 18 years ago this month that my sweet dad passed away. One day he was seemingly perfectly healthy and the next day, on his 59th birthday, he had a massive stroke. His last words were in his Heavenly language and after being in a coma for one month he went on to meet Jesus face to face. He was the kindest, most loving man I had ever met, until I met my husband, who also has a heart as big as Canada!

Every person I meet has a story, I don't have to dig very deep until I begin to peel back layers of pain and suffering. So often people do not deal with their pain sufficiently and they continue to live in it for years. One of my passions is to help bring healing to these hurting souls. In simply being kind to every person I meet I can make a difference in somebodies day. My goal every day, is to be like Jesus. He never made a thoughtless statement, said an unkind word that He later had to go back and apologize for, or blew somebody off as not worthy of His time. So if I do, then I am not what I so desperately want to be.

Hope you have a beautiful day today, full of sunshine and love. And, see if you can make a difference in somebodies day!

Hugs, Cindy

Lilac Bushes!!

I was looking at my shrubs that divide our yard from the alley and I recognized one of the leafy bushes as being a lilac bush. I very excitedly began to examine the 10 foot hedge to see if there were any lilac blooms and sure enough!!!

I was so excited!!! I have always wanted a lilac bush and now I have one. We moved here last November so we have had alot of surprises. Some good, some not so good.

I love the little table that you see here. My dear Aunt Ruby gave it to me many years ago. First I painted it black and now I have painted it white. I think it is very sweet in white. Thank you Auntie! See how pretty it looks in my house?!

And here are my gorgeous Lilac Bushes!

Have a beautiful day,

Cindy

Cottagey Fireplace Cover

After: I painted it and monogrammed it. You can't see it in the picture, but I also distressed it. I know I have these backwards, but I am new to blogging and am learning as I go.

Before: It was okay, but looked more colonial than cottagey to me. It also had a crackle finish, which again was okay, but not what I wanted. I like the after picture much better.

I am joining Metamorphosis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch. Be sure to check out what some of the very talented people are doing today. There is some great stuff there!

My metamorphosis is the fireplace cover that I bought at our local Value Village. I disliked the gaping black hole in my Living Room and wanted something to cover it in a "cottagey" manner. When I saw this I immediately knew it could be exactly what I needed. So with a little paint and work I now have my cottagey fireplace cover. Thank you for taking a look and please check out Between Naps on the Porch for many other makeovers!!

Have a beautiful Monday!

Cindy

Apple Blossoms

There is nothing more beautiful than the fruit trees blossoming! We have three fruit trees in our small yard, a crabapple, apple and a plum tree. The plum tree is pretty well done blossoming, so we are enjoying the others now. You can see our patchy lawn that we were going to work on tomorrow, but it is supposed to rain and be about 50 deg., so it isn't going to happen.

Hope your weekend is a happy one.

Hugs,

Cindy

Help me with my dining room, PLEASE!

Several years ago we inherited a dining room set from my Father-in-law. I gave the modern oak table and chairs away, but elected to keep the china cabinet. I have never liked the oak and I like it even less now that I have the oak flooring. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the oak flooring and the wood trim in my home, just not the oak furniture. The second picture here is my inspiration of a table like mine painted white, slip covers covering chairs like mine and a white china cabinet. The photo is from Country Living. I think it looks divine. Do you think I could paint my china cabinet to give me the look in the inspiration picture? I need your opinions because once wood is painted it is painted forever! There will be no undoing it. And the only person I have to ask is my sweet husband who LOVES wood! I am already looking for a chandelier that will fit the cottage decor.

Thank you for your help, I need it, as you can see!

Have a lovely weekend,

Cindy

The Red is nearly back to normal

Winnipeg is built along the meandering Red River. This year was the third worst flood recorded in the history of Manitoba. If you look closely in the first picture, there is a path that is just barely visible. In the second one it is clearly visible. I am standing right next to the park sign when I took the first one. So the view is practically identical. It just gives you a very clear picture of how high the flood was just in this park alone. It was all southern Manitobans were talking about in April, it was constantly on all of our minds. Many homes were flooded out, many were destroyed by the terrific ice jams just north of us. Alot of properties had to be sandbagged in order to protect homes and animals, the communities along the river really pulled together. They say disasters bring out the best and the worst in people, in this case it definitely brought out the best.

May God keep you safe in His hands today,

Cindy

What's for Tea?

Banana Bread and fresh strawberries!

I am joining in on Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum. There you will find links to some wonderful recipes. Please stop by and check them out.

This morning I made some delicious Banana Bread, I originally got the recipe here at Daisy Cottage some time back now. Kim's recipe was delicious, but I like to use butter in my recipe and whole wheat flour whenever possible. I used pecans in it, because that is what I had on hand and I enjoy the mild taste of pecans. By the way, did you know that Canadians pronounce the word pee cans. I cannot say it that way, it sounds offensive to my American root ears! But I digress.

Grandma's Banana Bread (with Cindy's changes)
3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and beat. Add flour, sifted with salt and soda. Add mashed bananas last. Bake in a greased loaf pan at 325 degrees for 1 hour. I put it in a bundt pan and baked for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

I hope you all have a delicious day!

Cindy

My Cottage Living Room

We moved into our 1927 Craftsman bungalow just seven months ago. My husband and I had always wanted to live in an older home with character, so finding this place was alotof fun. We found that the woodwork had been painted in a lot of the older homes that we looked at and the oak flooring had been replaced or covered over. This place is a little gem, we think! I have wanted to decorate in a cottage style for so long and none of my homes have given themselves to that style. Until now!!! We painted all of the walls a butter yellow and started from there. Here are a few pictures of my living room. I continually waffle between wanting to paint all of my wood furniture white and loving the dark furniture. Do you ever do that? I have a lovely old wood dresser that I have put in the living room. It was given to my parents back in the 1969 after our house burnt down. It was painted a dark brown, I told my folks if they ever wanted to get rid of it I would love to have it. I have always loved old furniture, so after they gave it to me I stripped it and I have so enjoyed it ever since. We are wanting to replace all of the cabinets in the kitchen, so a kitchen re-do will be coming up soon!!

May your day be a blessed one!

Cindy

I Love, Love, Love the Outdoors

A Southern Daydreamer is hosting an Outdoor Wednesday Party, so I will take this chance to show you one part of my little cottage garden that is very late in putting in an appearance. The peonies are not even blooming yet. Only the ferns are really growing, we have had plenty of rain, so that does not surprise me. I was able to get the cutest little old bike that has a front basket for flowers and a little basket on the back. Do you like the sign? It says "Grandms's Garden". I have the names of my grandchildren written on large rocks scattered throughout the garden.

We live just a block from the Red River, the first three pictures are of the beautiful park that follows it for a ways. My sweet hubby and I went for a walk along it last night, it was so-o-o-o peaceful down there. I did not want to leave.

I hope you are able to enjoy the out of doors today, too. Please check out all of the gorgeous blogs over at A Southern Daydreamer. I love the Daydreamers Hydrangeas, I was going to plant one of them here until I realized that I really should see what I had already before planting anything else. I have several bushes and lots of perennials. I will give you a peak at them when they bloom.

Have a blessed day,

Cindy

~Wednesdays Words of Wisdom~

~Praising and adoring God is the noblest part of the saint's work on earth. As it will be his chief employ in Heaven. ~the Daily Walk Bible

I love to worship God, worship is what ushers me into His presence. I think it is so important for me to understand the importance of praising and worshiping God now while I am still on Earth, because when I leave here, that is what I will be doing for all eternity!

The picture is of a beautiful old stone church built back at the turn of the century, just north of Winnipeg, Man.

May many blessing come your way today,

Cindy

~A Give Away~

Cynthia, from Cynthia's Cottage Design is having a give away! These are so fun and she is giving away some amazing stuff. Go check it out! My favorite is the sweet little apron that I am showing you here. I could add it to my collection of aprons, that is if I win, of course! (While you are there, check out her beautiful blog, her decorating is TDF!)

I have been using my Royal Albert Old Country Rose pattern china as my inspiration for my kitchen, I love the red, yellow and pink together. It just says ME! So that apron would be perfect, don't you think?

While my daughter-in-law and I were out tonight a hail storm came through and left our lawn white with hail and blossoms from our apple, plum and crabapple trees! How crazy is that!

Wishing you many blessing in your day!

~Cindy~