I Had to Do It.

When you have fresh organic raspberries,

And some free range eggs,

What's a gal to do?

Make pavlova.

Apologies to my vegan friends but it was delicious!

Broken Item of the Week

Yes, Gentle Readers, we are back to our sporadically scheduled Broken Item of the Week.  A few weeks ago Daughter #2 gifted us ( I use this term loosely, she got it free from work.)with a splendid new beverage container.  It was some new kind of super safe plastic cup with its own straw.  The only thing was that you could not put it in the dishwasher.

I make a smoothie everyday and this cup affair was the perfect size to put it in.  Mr LC would argue that #2 gave it to him personally but she assured me that it was ours to share.  Yesterday when I went to make my smoothie I could not find said cup.  I asked Mr LC where the cup was and he looked me straight in the eye and said 'I give my share of the cup to you'.  I immediately feared the worst.  You guessed it.

He said he was putting ice cubes in it and it broke.

I don't like drinking my smoothie in a regular glass because it doesn't fit.

I had to dig out this cup to use even though it's smaller than the broken one.  Then I told Mr LC that if I ever catch him using it and it broke he was going to have to fund my trip to New York to attend the musical Wicked and procure another cup. On second thought, maybe I should let him use it.

p.s. I will have you know dear readers, that I had to plunge into a full can of garbage to retrieve the cup to photograph for you.  These are the lengths I will go to for your reading pleasure.

Horders: The Loyalist Cottage Edition Part II

Horders: The Loyalist Cottage Edition Part I is here. 

The storage shed was purged.  Not to my satisfaction, but sacrifices were made on Mr LC's part.

This is the second load of things we parked at the end of the driveway.  That chair on the right belonged to  Lady Beaverbrook.(Her husband, Sir Max Aitken, was a newspaper baron in London).   Mr. LC made the big sacrifice and disposed of it.  That green suitcase is alligator skin.

Here's a peek at the contents of the shed.

Sixty-seven bails of hay and room for more.

Bmer approved.

The pile at the end of the driveway is totally gone.  Yay for garbage day, the garbage guys took all the leftovers.

Have you ever thrown something out and then totally regretted it?

Hoarders: The Loyalist Cottage Edition.

Mr LC dragged me out of bed this morning at first light.  He was a man on a mission.  The storage barn must be cleaned out for the nth time as he needed space to store Sassy's hay supply.  Out to the shed we went.

 I would get rid of everything.  Well, almost everything.

What are we doing with a toilet!  I was told that it was a perfectly good toilet.

Anybody want a gently used bath tub?

Is this the keep pile or the throwaway pile?  Do you see that blue bucket up there?  I found a carton in it with a box of kraft dinner, a can of tuna and a bottle of vanilla extract.  Mr LC says keep the tuna. NOT!

How about camping in a rotting tent?  Mr LC used to take the girls 'camping' for a few days every summer.  I heard they ate out a lot.

How about a chair to reupholster?

Gratuitous picture of a kangaroo for my Australian contingent.

My dolls' crib from when I was a wee girl.  I know, it's vintage.  It's going.

My table from when I was a little tot.  I have the chairs too.  It's staying.

An angel, anyone?  We have six.  I don't know why.

We tried to get rid of this Chanel display stand last time.  But we got caught by Daughter #1.  So it stays.  sigh.
There are piles of boxes stacked up in there. All  A lot of it belongs to the girls.  Things they used when they went to university and had their own apartments.  Glasses, dishware, odd tables, that sort of thing.  But, you'll never guess what I uncovered while going through their stuff.

The mother load!  Not even opened.  I guess someone never got up the courage to try it.
Aaaand this one...

Isn't this the Queen's tipple?  Alas, it is half gone.  Finding these just made my day.  I never laughed so hard in my life when I came across these all safely wrapped in newspaper.  Now, I wonder if anyone will cop to the crime???

Anyway, if you think you can't live without any of this wonderful junk, stop by the end of my driveway.  It will be waiting for you!  Except for the booze of course.

p.s.  If you're up for another laugh, visit my daughter's blog Broken Poet and see how she tries to make me over.  Try being the operative word.

Some Sarah Love.

Yesterday I received my copy of Country Living's July/August issue in the mail.  I was pleasantly surprised to see my favourite Canadian designer featured.

Credit-Style at Home

The article showed some rooms from the island cottage owned by Sarah's husband before they were married.

She took a dark pine walled cabin and made it into a lovely getaway home.

HGTV.ca

I love her style.  It's always fresh and clean with lots of pattern but never too much.

If you can watch Sarah's Cottage on HGTV (Canada) you should try and see it.  The whole cottage renovation is shown in several episodes.  Sarah is lively and funny and has a great side kick in her assistant Tommy.
Do you have a favourite designer?

Only the Best Will Do.

For some months now, Daughter #2 and her Hubby have been weighing the merits of various stroller/car seat combos.  Who knew their were so many options?

Everything seems so high tech and difficult these days.

#2's Pa-in-law chimed in and declared that he would buy said stroller/car seat/computer/dvd etc combo.  Money was to be no object for his first born grandson to be.

Well, he delivered.  All the way from Italy.

This Peg Perego can do everything but wash the dishes.  It's a wonder in safety and innovation . 
  This is #2's new stroller/carseat/yada yada yada:

#2 and her hubby were so excited they had to bring it over to our house to show it to us.  See Mr LC mesmerized by the Peg?

He's just so relieved he didn't have to pay for the thing.

Those Were the Days.

Daughter #2 dropped in for a visit today.  She went up to her old bedroom and found a box of photos that she had stashed under her bed.  After looking through them she handed me some and asked me if I wanted them.  Well, seeing as how they were mine in the first place I certainly did want them!

Here is #2 at two and a half years old:

 How cute is she???  I was taken by the toys she had arranged on her shelves.  Cabbage Patch doll, Smurf, and Fisher Price toys, and she's wearing her Osh Kosh overalls.  A Child of the Eighties. sigh.

Broken Item of the Week

Here we go again folks, the long awaited much anticipated Broken Item of the Week.

Mr LC was heating up leftover crap Kraft dinner for his lunch.  He ate it right out of the bowl (my mum's vintage Fire King) and left it sitting on that little stand you see in the picture.  After the delicious meal, he decided to give Sophie a hair cut.  Like a good boy, when he was finished he got out the vacuum cleaner to clean up.  You know the rest of the story...
It's funny because a little while earlier I was wondering around the house (avoiding my job) thinking about a broken item.  A few weeks ago a dear friend begged me to break something to cheer her up.  Nay, Nay, I told her, it has to be real, I have my integrity to uphold.

Well, I hope you're happy Carmel.

Eating My Words.

Yes, people, sometimes I say things and then change my mind and do just the opposite.  I have been reading lately like there's no tomorrow.

Books.  I have been reading books.  Then every few weeks I'll have a book sort out and get rid of a box full.  Soooo,  I have determined that if I have an e-reader I will not have books lying around to trip over, dust, lose, etc.  You get the drift.
I invested in one of these:

I did some research and because I am cheap careful about my purchases I bought a Kobo.  The e-books are half the price of printed ones!

Don't be distressed though, I still love real books, the feel of the paper, the smell...  I am keeping all of my well loved favourites and you can't enjoy a cookbook or a decor book on a little screen.
So far, I'm enjoying the e-reader.  I hope I don't wear it out!

Things Are Blooming Around Here.

When I think about how cold winter is here I'm always relieved to see my flowers blooming again come summer.  It truly is a miracle how they manage to survive the winter.

There are five kinds of roses growing there.

These white ones are my favourite because they have such a lovely fragrance.

The tiger lilies came from my Mother in law's garden many years ago.

The yellow day lilies are just starting to bloom.

And this sweet pea is really blooming.

Happy Canada Day!

Have a great day eh!