Broken Item of the Week

Yes Gentle Readers, I'm back with another tale of woe.  I've been really good as of late and haven't broken anything on my watch.


Until now.


You remember this lovely chair, don't you?

I cleaned it all up for lovely, pregnant Daughter #2

She does not look like this now.

On Monday, I went to look after the grandson as per usual.  As per usual I rocked him to sleep for his nap. (I spoil him)  All of a sudden, this happened:

Disclaimer: No babies were hurt in the making this BIOTW

I see you laughing Steve

Rollin' in the Dough.

I mean bread dough.  Literally.  I read The Gardner's Cottage latest post on how to make an inexpensive and thoughtful hostess gift of homemade artisan bread and was very impressed.  Mostly though, I just wish I lived near an Ikea.

The Gardner's Cottage

Daughter #1 called yesterday and asked if she could come over and help her make The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls With much trepidation I agreed.  Have you seen that recipe?  Do you know how many rolls that recipe makes?

So Daughter shows up around 8pm.  Yes, 8pm to make yeast rolls.  Scores of yeast rolls.

Eight pans worth of yeast rolls.

I think we finished up around 11pm.

Yes, that is pure butter she is slathering around the dough.

 She stood in front of the clock to verify how late is was.

All packed up and ready to go.  I think by the time I got her home and back to my place it was after midnight.  I'm a senior!  I don't stay up this late!

I had to laugh.  There's Janet's elegant healthy bread and here's our heart attack waiting to happen bread.  There's enough butter and sugar in those cinnamon rolls to clog the arteries of ten people I'm sure.

They sure are tasty though.

Chuckle for the Week and some Good Things.

If you want to have a good laugh atmyexpense go visit my daughter's blog Broken Poet .  I hope everybody's whipping up some great plans for their Christmas Festivities.



Here's a great gift giving idea for you at An Urban Cottage

Photo from An Urban Cottage

I'm expecting one of these any day now.


These look good enough to eat.

Photo by The Domestic Fringe

So does this:

Photo by The Gardner's Cottage

I can't believe this was last Christmas.

He's a whole lot bigger now:

October - One year old!

Go do some Good Things.

I Will Remember

One of the best things about my Cheapskate two country European Vacation was that it turned into four countries. Double the fun!

Anyway, we went to Luxembourg for two days and it was wonderful.  Very chic and civilized as well.  No shops open on Sundays!  Since we were there on a Sunday we decided to take a drive.  One of our stops was a war cemetery. This was for American soldiers. The Americans liberated Luxembourg after the Second World War.

To say it was moving can hardly do justice to the way it made me feel.

It was so quiet and peaceful and holy.

I loved the Jewish markers with the stones placed on them from visitors. Maybe family from America.

There were crosses as far as the eye could see.  All made from the most beautiful pure white marble. I just kept repeating In Flanders Fields over and over in my head.

There was also a lovely memorial that had a tiny chapel inside.

Above is the ceiling in the chapel.

This is the gatehouse.  The whole cemetery was immaculate.


I have always wanted to visit a war memorial in Europe and I never thought I would.  I'm so glad I did.  I had an uncle who served in the war and when he came home he would never talk about it.  I just cannot imagine what these people went through but I was so glad I could pay tribute to them in my small way.



Always remember.  Never forget.

Arc de Triomphe

I love Joni Mitchell don't you?

I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
Nobody calling me up for favours
No one's future to decide.

I loved the Arc de Triomphe.  Seriously.

I look so happy.

I never thought all that much about it until I saw all the history recorded there.  It honours all those who fought and died for France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

Here's a view from the top.  I didn't go up on this one but Mr LC did.

Guess who's peeking over there.

I just love the architecture.  The white stone kills me.

My son-in-law's grandfather fought in the Resistance.  Then he married a German girl, had two kids, and moved to Canada.

It's much bigger than it looks.  It's such a busy spot, being in the center of a roundabout, traffic whizzing by constantly.

I would love to be free in Paris.

Seriously.

The Eiffel Tour.

The main thing I wanted to see in Paris was the Eiffel Tower.

So, I saw it.

The day was pretty hot and also a Sunday so the spot was crowded.

It's a long way up there.  Don't let this picture fool you.  Mr LC said he was going up.  I said I'll see you later.  He said You're coming with me.  Gulp. We walked up.  Oh yes, we did.  I thought I would die.  I had to let people pass me on the stairs.  I thought I would never make it.  This was just the first level.

 Proof that I made it.

I'm so glad I did.  The views were amazing even with the haze.

They were filming a commercial or something way over there.  You could hear the music and the director say "yell and jump".  I know French.

I was never so glad to pay three euros for a bottle of water before.

fini.

A Change is as Good as a Rest.

I've been home from my cheapskatetwocountry European vacation for a week today.  It seems so long ago now. 

Well, I've come back with a new man.  Yes indeedy.  Remember Mr LC?

How could you forget that face?

I went to France and came back with a new and improved Mr LC.

How about that scarf?  The baret?  The tight(ish) pants! He even got a haircut there!

I think H&M gave him stock options or something.  The whole outfit came from that shop. One French city per item of clothing. Watch out guys.  Next year you'll be wearing coral pants.  Oh yes you will.

Cross Cultural Cognition.

Hello Gentle Readers!  I've been missing in action for awhile and guess where I turned up? Heidelberg,Germany.



As part of my cheapskate2country World Tour I've noticed some troubling differences between We and They.

1. Diet Coke is called Coke Light.
2. Bottled water is either 'still' or 'with gas'
3.Soda/pop is not as fizzy here.
4.There are virtually no Pepsi products here.
5.The above items do not taste the same as at home.
6.You can buy beer glasses full of beer coloured gummi bears and white gummi bears for the foam on top.
7.Germany is much more civilized than we are.
8. You can buy real beer ANYWHERE. *

I had this great post written in my head last night and now I'm totally blank.

au revoir!

* This may not be troubling for some people.

A Depends Moment.

Do you remember the post I wrote a while ago about meeting a bear while driving down the road near our house?  Well, it just gets better and better.


Last night as Mr LC and I were taking our daily constitutional we happened upon a bear about 50 up the road from us.

Definitely a reenactment.

I turned around and headed for home so fast it would make your head spin.  I did wait long enough to see the bear run off when he heard me screaming talking.  I turned around to see Mr LC head off toward the spot where we saw the bear.  What are you doing? I shrieked while running in place.  I just want to see where he went says Mr LC all calm and crazy like.

Finally (it seemed like an hour)  Mr LC heads toward home behind me.  I turn around again and wait for him to catch up.  Wow he marvels aloud. I didn't know you could run that fast.  Aggghhhh!

Reenactment photo from here

Brain Explosion.

I don't know where to start.  There's so much going on around here and I don't even have time to write posts much less take pictures to go with them.  I ran outside just now and snapped a couple.

It's been really hot here this summer which is amazing.  Things still look pretty green though.

I'm still getting orders for cushion covers.  It seems unbelievable to me.

The living room is almost finished being painted.  It's slow going because Mr LC is repairing the plaster and I have to follow along with painting at his speed.

I know I still haven't taken pictures of the bathroom because I don't have any dodads or pictures on the walls yet.

Mr LC is making four sets of drapes for other folks as we speak.  Besides looking like a tip, the dining room is now festooned with drapery fabric.

I have a repetitive stress injury in my left shoulder which  involves physio therapy and acupuncture.  I'm not allowed to be on the computer more than twenty minutes a day.  Laptops are the devil.

I'll now insert a picture.

We have to go to a wedding this evening.  Did I tell you I hate weddings?

My shoulder is killing me so I have to go.

Guess what,  WE'RE GOING TO FRANCE FOR THREE WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to Paris and eat a macaron.  Don't anybody try and stop me either.

link

I'm On a Roll.

I mentioned in my last post that I won a blog giveaway from Frugal Farmhouse Design blog. Well guess what, I won another giveaway as well!

FringeGirl from The Domestic Fringe had a dress giveaway.  I'll let her model the dress for you.

Image stolen from here.

Isn't she cute?  Isn't that dress cute?  Believe me it looks much better on her than on me.  The poor girl had lost some weight recently and it was too big for her so she had a giveaway.  Companies are always sending her free clothes.  She told me her secret was to just put your photo out there.  I'm too shy. I'll just hope she keeps losing weight and passes the clothes on to me.  Go visit her blog.  She'll make you laugh, she'll make you cry, and she'll make you think. She's one of my besties.

I've also won a couple more giveaways so stay tuned.  I tell you, I'm on a roll and I don't mean bread.

I WON!!!!!!!!!!

A little while ago I won a gorgeous giveaway from Lori at White Flower Farmhouse .  She was giving away one of her gorgeous little sailboats made of driftwood with a linen sail.

Photo from here

Lori also included the starfish and a huge bouquet of sea lavender.  I've been drooling over her little sailboats for a while now.

She has a wonderful blog called Frugal Farmhouse Design and she does the most wonderful things to houses for next to nothing.

When she announced me as the winner she told everyone about my blog and my Etsy shop.  How sweet is that?

Thanks so much Lori for your generous giveaway!  Everyone sprint on over to visit her.

Almost Finished. Gardens.

My bathroom is almost finished!  Just some paint touch ups to do but the bathroom is fully functional.  I just go in there and look around a  lot.

Here's my floor:

Here's my shower tile:

I love the gray grout.  I wasn't sure before I saw it, but I'm glad I chose the gray.  Who wants to clean white grout all the time?  I've got better things to do.

I'll show more photos when I get the room purtied up.

In other news Mr LC finally built me a raised garden bed.

I already want another one!  Next year I hope.

I hope the birds and or deer don't get to it before I do.  I've put Sassy on guard.

Sassy on guard duty.

My white roses are out in full force.  They smell so wonderful.(ly?)

Nestled among the forget-me-nots. 

Well, gentle readers, that's all I have for now.  I hope you're enjoying some fine weather where you live.  If it's anything like ours, you may freeze tonight!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Look at my poor bathroom.

This was yesterday.

It gets worse.  Here's today:

That blue stuff is spray foam insulation that we did a few years ago.  It made all the difference in the world in keeping the house warm. Those floor joists are too far apart by today's codes.  I can't believe we haven't fallen through the floor by now!  Last night the guys hooked the toilet back up for us.  Tonight, maybe not. At least we have an outhouse out behind the house. ewww.

Beyond those studs is our back porch/laundry/junk room.

These clapboards were found under an inside wall.  Looks like this part of the house was built on later.  Why oh why weren't they taken off?  Ah, sweet mystery of life.

The builders found some dog and cat food between the old floors.  Looks like Millie isn't doing her job.

Well, that's the bad and the ugly.  The good part is that we are getting it done!

Tomorrow, I will show you what I got for the floor tile and the wall tile.  (If I can find it!)  Now all the bathroom stuff is also in the dining room along with all the living room stuff.  The contractor guys just laughed when they saw the living room.  I don't know what's so funny. hmmm