Fall Is Here In Northern New Brunswick!

Fall has arrived & I nearly fell into it's season...I forgot how slippery the wooden porch & steps are, when they're coated in a layer of ice. Nice recovery with a very quick balance, to avoid that fall!

 We've had our first ice coating now, this photo of the cats enjoying their greens, was taken earlier this week. I'm glad they had a good feast.

 They have lemon grass & cat mint to munch on, from a flower box I move in & then back out to the porch. Next year this box will last longer in the 3 season sun porch, at the Hardwicke House.

Playing With Colouring~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Thank you Paulette for my box of soy colouring crayons, for fabric colouring. I had hand embroidered all these pieces & they looked boring with no colour, then I remembered my crayons!

                                             It was just what was needed in this project!

                           I started this project last summer, it is going to hang in the new pantry.

 I have used Crayola Crayons before but these are so much better & if you colour when the fabric is hot/warm, the colour is so much more intense, melting right into the fabric. I love these Paulette!

 This is the pattern that I'm using. It came from Liz's Mom's magazine, dated 1989. Thanks Liz for the magazines, old ideas made new, with my old Thimbleberries fabrics for the logs in the log cabin squares.

 Remember the bag of your 'surprises' Liz? Like these four orphan blocks? I put them together for the Carroll Cottage decor of blue & white, they were perfect in size too!

 It's really a 16" x 16" pillow, I used the left over piping that I made for the last pillow project for the cottage, the blue & white check looks so cozy in a cottage. Having only four blocks, I made it reversible...

 I had this 5" charm square of birds eggs, from the Three Sisters, Aviary collection, I just couyldn't cut it up! So it became my center focus & the muslin coordinated beautifully with it. So summery!

 With Fall, I'm using darker colours in the kitchen, to warm up the feeling of the coolness in the air.

 I've also hung a quilt up, I hung it over the cabinet door. That cabinet was to be painted white this summer... just not enough time this year.

More UFO's made & in the making...

I've had this kit for years now & finally started making the sewing accessory pieces. Here is the pin cushion, filled with walnut shells. Thank you Deb for the large bag of walnut shells, they are hard to find!

 And the pillow/banner, mine is going to be a pillow. If I just find out where Rexton has taken the small bag of 4 red heart buttons, so I can attach the embroidered piece to the quilted pillow top!
She has also taken my red embroidery perle cotton ball & I cannot find it!! I'm using a DMC & may have to use 'other buttons' to attach this piece. Rexton the cat is very impish!
 

I thought I would back the back for Christmas decorating. I love the colour red at Christmas!

 The view outside still has flowering Costco pots that I purchased in London last May. I'm going to winter my geraniums in the basement, never have done that before but I remember my Aunt Louise doing it & the front of her house was all red geraniums come summer.

 Cottage life at the Carroll Cottage this summer has been fun & very comfortable, the only thing I've missed is the dishwasher. When you prepare all your food from scratch, there is always a lot of dishes!

Neighbourly Surprise!  :-)

 I was visiting my neighbours Jocelyn & Donny & commented how nice their anchor looked, at the front of their house. Donny said "I'll make you one!" And he did!

 Thank you Donny! I'm going to take this anchor, to the Hardwicke House, so it can show itself most fittingly at the shore home.

Sweet Mr. Boots

 I was upstairs sewing, listening to my CD of Celtic pipe music & Danny Boy was playing. I saw Mr. Boots sleeping & could not help thinking of my father-in-law John, from Ireland. And looking at his cat Mr. Boots, sleeping so sweetly. Mr. Boots gave comfort to Eva after John's passing & now his sweet nature, brings comfort to me. RIP John & Eva.
He's so not like Rexton & she's a mean girl to him. Mr. Boots weighs in at 22 pounds now & Rexton at 11 pounds, I'm so thankful for his gentle nature or Rexton would be in trouble with her bossy nature!

 Hardwicke House Reno~~~~

                                                 Love, love the look of the brick!
This area will be enclosed with screen on the inside, once the outside is completed.
                                                         Looking good Mark!

 Wow, I've never had the privilege of watching a picture from an architect come to life, week by week, right infront of my eyes! Thank you to Breakwater, thank you Reid!
 

 The composite board has been installed on the front porch. Everything is really coming together!

 The front entry has such an elegant look to it. I can't wait to decorate it with a few ideas I have!

Chaos...

 The garage is a holding area for all things being worked on & storage for the items to be installed.

 That large box on the left corner is the Restoration Hardware chandelier, it has arrived!

 Here's my chaos, once the construction of the trades are done! It's taller than me, it's stacked high!

See the dusty RH chandelier? The one in the box is the same, in a pewter finish for the foyer. The positive thing in this messy stacked room, is there are furnace vents in it now!

 Enough Chaos...
Remember, you have to have chaos, to have change! ;-)

                                                A change indeed! This is the sewing room.

     Jeff the cabinet maker, has been busy this week putting together the IKEA kitchen cabinets.

 This is the other side of the kitchen, the fridge, stove, & microwave, will go on that wall. Jeff called with a hindsight problem he thought I would run into with the microwave cabinet being too high for my reach. He was right, lucky for us that Bill was in Toronto only for that day & here in NB the next, so he & Nick went to IKEA & purchased a longer cabinet & doors for the void in the wall! What luck I have had these days with everything coming together. Pinch Me!!

 The island has been pushed into the dining area, to allow room for the cabinet making.
I love how the grid in the french doors is going to mirror with the grid in the cabinets!

 A better photo of the kitchen cabinets & appliance work center. The sink & dishwasher are in the island.

             The exercise room floor has been installed, thank you Alvin the laminate installer!

 The ceiling has been painted in the room colour, ceilings are done first for the electrical trades to come in & install the pot lights. I did this room is a very soft grey colour as most equipment is black & white, except my infra sauna, that is in natural cedar.

 Bill's office is done & I had his ceiling done in the same colour, his room will be a saturated green hue. The floor is done & baseboards installed!

 The sun pouring through the windows in the affternnon, is most welcomed during the cooler season of Fall & the seasons beyond. lol

 The master bedroom is now done & the paint awaits Leopold, for the application to complete this room. Moving day is fast approaching!

 This did not photograph well, it's a pale blue ceiling & the darker blue walls are still in the paint can.

 The dressing room will be in that soft blue that was done in the ceiling but in eggshell, not flat like all the ceiling.

 The basket weave shower floor looks great. Martin is the best tile guy & I'm glad Francis put him on our reno! Thank you Martin for a job well done. Your grout, in the garage storage,  awaits you. :-)

 The bathroom seemed so small before but with all these textures & white tiles,  it has really opened up!

 There will be a glass panel wall installed, that will keep the openness to this small room.

 The stained glass studio really shows its lines with the primer & ceiling paint added onto it!

 It's a very soft shade of grey also. I joke to everyone saying that this house will have 50 shades of grey in it & it probably will! We have a lot of wood antiques to add to it & that will warm the space.

 The studio will have 'eyeball pot lights' that means that you can direct them to where you want the light to go or not go.

 The guest room will need it's floor soon as the company will be arriving next Friday!

 The guest bathroom will need its tile floor & paint...not to mention some plumbing hooked up?!

 I don't know if we're going to be able to sit in this room for Thanksgiving but Bill & I are going to give it our best this week.
Bill will be arriving today at supper hour, with the trailer & the elevator has been loaded in. Soon the boys will be here for the installation of that elevator in our new renovated home in Hardwicke.

This is one of my favourite trees in Hardwicke. It's located right across from the Canada Post lock boxes on highway 117. This photo doesn't do it justice, to much sun in my camera shutter.
As you can see Autumn is upon us here in northern New Brunswick!

Hope you enjoyed your visit here. Thanks for taking the time to see some of the many, many things that I'm thankful for as we, here in Canada, are fast approaching our Thanksgiving Day!

Warmest regards,
Cynthia