Friday, February 10, 2017

Snowy Day Brightened By Bill!

Bill's flight was delayed a couple of times this morning, due to the Moncton Airport needing to be plowed. The same was true for here too... I needed to be plowed out for him to come up the lane way.
I watched Allen, our plow guy do both my neighbours lane ways. And waited for him to come up mine and waited but no snow plow. Then I saw Bill come plowing through with his pick-up truck.
I told him that I thought he forgot about me as the lane wasn't done. He told me he hadn't & was 1/3 of the way up our lane & was in our side ditch! Oh my, now I felt real bad for him. Bill & a friendly neighbour helped shovel him out.

                                 I was inside,  upstairs in the mezzanine taking these pictures.

 How great is a snow plow like this, it works from the front with the bucket or the back with the blower!

                                                 A cloud of snow goes into the woods!

 This is a loaner plow as his is getting fixed, nearly 4 weeks of waiting on parts...the dealer gave him a loaner and he's not happy with the performance of this one. His had more horse power & stability, he never fell in the ditch last year with his tractor!
 
It was good for Bill to meet another one of neighbours! Thank you for clearing the way Allen!
Good luck on getting your tractor fix. See you next plow time!

Funny Story~~~~~~~

Bill had to go through security this morning to get on his flight to Moncton.
While in security, two woman security officers were talking, he could hear them say, ''Well I think they're dishes.", the other said "I don't know I see other things". Well that was Bill's suitcase that they were talking about.
''Excuse me sir, is this your suitcase?" Yes, replied Bill. We would like to see the contents of your suitcase, could you open it? He did and as he did, he started to explain that his wife had a Royal Doulton, Bunnykins collection & wanted to have it with her for Easter.

                              This is the suitcase.. My Canadian sweater was used for padding.

                                                        Inside were the Bunnykins!

I guess it does look rather dodgy for a man to have such a carry on suitcase. lol

 Neither woman knew what a Bunnykins was. As they opened the carefully packaged items they were delighted at the contents, ''Oh look at this one" the other would say, " Oh you have to see this one!" After several were unwrapped & revealed, Bill asked politely, "Excuse me, can I go now?" Yes was replied.
How funny to have these dishes & figurines, put smiles & giggles into these working professionals.
After hearing the story from Bill, it made my day, that Barbra Vernon would make people just as happy as she did with her figure drawings on children dishes,  from the 1930's!
It's a wonderful story.
Here's some of dishes that I've been collecting since the 70's up to now.


 A big thank you to all my girlfriends for collecting these plastic inserts from cereal boxes, cracker sleeves, ice cream cone sleeves, etc. Cynthia, you even took my request to work & a big thank you to you! Lou you had a great idea & I ran with it!

 All my rabbits arrived with all their delicate ears intact! This is a Beatrix Potter music box, it's nearly 30 yrs old. Mitchell your Aunt Margaret & Uncle Scott presented it to you upon your birth!

 I could not resist this music box, I brought it back from one of my England trips in 1992. Bunny abuse, Peter rabbit being punished by his uncle.

 Bunnykin figurines, Bill gave me the wedding ones, for an anniversary present. Very sweet!

 Some of  the Robin Hood 
Collection 2002

 The Bobby came back from England from another trip & more Robin Hood figurines.
                         1972 Mrs. Rabbit, Mary Mary Quite Contrary, & Baby's First Outing.

      A trademark to the Bunnykins design, is the rabbits running around the outer edge.

 How delightful are these daily living, family drawings of rabbits?! It was love at first sight for me!
Notice the name on the right, those are the antique dishes, she was a nun in a convent & it was her father that took her drawings to be made into children's dishes. She would go bling & could no longer draw & the popularity of the dishes took off. So an artist did her styling & added a mouse in the picture as his signature. Who would know?!
See the mice, this is a signed drawing, this is were he would get the idea for his signature & no one would know. Would they?

 This is not a Bunnykins but a design with her styling to it, it is not a Royal Doulton either.

 Beatrix Potter was the first to give personality to animals & put clothing on them.

 Tom Kitten is one of my favourites, Mitchell this is the plate you ate from as a little one, I'll serve you carrot cake on it this Easter. XO
There are a lot of pieces & each one is different, such delight looking at the activities draw by a very special talent nun!

 Bill also brought back some of Boris's old enamel bowls. They will be needed on Monday.
Funny how I had two bowls for one puppy, must have been at a good price! lol Handy now!!

Another Surprise~~~~~~

Bill was in Colorado this week & his motel was next to a Hobby Lobby. Look what he brought me home for 'my stash'. I asked for eyes & noses for the Boston's I made this week.
Thank you sweetheart, you are my soulmate! Forever And A Day!

The Floor Is Finished!

                                                    How beautiful is that floor now?!!

 The stairs are darker, as the stairs are hemlock, the bottom landing is pine, & the floor is spruce.

                                    I love the texture & colour of the antique brown stain!

                                                     The pine landing looks so good too!

 Thank you Maritime Hardwood Floors, I know I changed my mind several times about the stain colour but I had to get it right as there was no changing it once it was done. It is done & I love it!
Baseboards to go on, then a new coat of paint on the walls & furniture so I can sit & really enjoy that room! The two coats of varnish need some hardening time. Till then I'm enjoying the 'echoing room'.


 Well Bill is home for a few days before going to China. I'll post pictures of the baby Bostons on Monday! OMGoodness  three more sleeps & we go to get & bring them home to their, forever home!!!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Thank you for stopping in. I hope you too were delighted with the Royal Doulton - Bunnykins! The story alone should have made you laugh!

Stay safe & warm.
Cynthia










Monday, February 6, 2017

Stairs Have Stain...Looking Good!

The floor is going to be done today, the sanding will be finished up, then hopefully the stain will be added to the floor this afternoon. The stain colour I chose was 'Antique Brown'.
The room is rustic in style & is the original structure to the addition. It is also one of Bill's favourite rooms in the house, so I wanted a masculine feel to it. In the choice & there were many,  I think I succeeded!

Once the floor is stained, two coats of varnish will seal the wood.

The wood texture really has a rich, warm look to it.

The light wall colour & trim, which will be painted again after the floor is finished, keeps the room light & bright.

The view from the mezzinine, shows the knots in the spruce wood.

Soon Rexton will blend with the dark floor stain colour.
 
Maritime Floor Finishing, has reassured me that the dust will not be noticeable & the upkeep of the floor minimal. 

The backside of the stairs really show ith the light/white trim & walls.

Rug Hooking & Sewing

 I cut some more strips to add to the beach scene, oh the days of summer... daydreaming as I hooked.

I made a little mug rug place mat for Valentine's Day, red wool from Kingsmill, years & years ago & a Robyn Pandolph rose background. It's fabric I purchased to make some summer PJ's. lol
You have to love fabric, it never goes bad like the lettuce in the fridge! And fabric can have so many applications for making things like, quilts, tablerunners, curtains, clothing, etc. I love creating with  textiles!

Well the sound of the sanders in the great room are sending back into the sewing room. I've put in a CD of classical music & I laugh at different times listening to it.
As a child watching the black & white cartoons, the scenes were done to classical music, Bugs Bunny would be tip toeing & moving to Mozart's music & we didn't even know it! 60 beats a minute music, who knew!!!

A week today, Bill & I pick up those beautiful puppies! I'll have so many pictures to show you with their homecoming!

Thanks for popping in for a visit!

Have a great week. Stay warm & safe.
Cynthia

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Floor Refinishing Has Begun!

Yesterday the floor refinishing in the great room began.
I thought that the generator was noisy... wow the power machines used in the sanding of the spruce floor, yes spruce! Under all that yellowish orange varnish, Bill & I, thought that the floor was pine!
I love how life just keeps surprise us!

 The varnish has really hidden the beauty of the floor. It looks so different, stripped right down, the wobbles & waves, have also been sanded smooth!

                                     A 45 degree angle of sanding was done first.

 The hoses going everywhere is because it is a 'dust free sanding'. Dust free but oh so noisy!

                                                              It sure is looking good!

 This time next week I will be ready for the painters to come back & finish this room. Baseboards must be installed first though.

 The hand sanding is being done today, around the areas that the large machine could not get to.

 Old Tom is deaf & the noise or vibrates from the noise, just doesn't faze him. The other two have vanished. lol They will all have to be confined when the stain & varnish time comes.

                                               The yellowish, orange is now left the building!

 The hand sanding on the stairs is time consuming but will look great when it is all done!

                                           Wow it is so white in colour... who knew?!!

Now the decision of  a stain colour... I've thought about it overnight & with the hindsight that the stain samples are done on oak wood & I have spruce wood, the stain will be lighter.
I'm going to go with the 'antique brown' on the right of the photo.
There is very little to no grain on the sanded floor, so a brown colour will add to grounding the room with the dark panel & beam ceiling.
I've changed my mind a dozen times, in the two days of viewing samples.
Decisions, decisions...
I'll let you know how I make out with that decision! lol

Thanks for popping in for a brief visit.
I'm going to my sewing room to make a Valentine mug rug!
Love is in the air! Bill returns a week tomorrow! XOXO

Cynthia