Overcoming

Daydreaming of my roses!

Hello dear friends! Remember me?  Yes, it has been awhile!

Those health problems I was experiencing back in the Fall turned out to be the cancer rearing its ugly head again.  I've been on chemo since mid-December and I figured I'd be up and around in no time.  No such luck.  This chemo packs a punch and leaves me feeling very tired.  It also works slowly but after three months, my blood work last week showed that it's finally working!

I never wanted this blog to turn into a cancer journal.  I'd much rather share what's going on around my home and garden!  So I kept waiting until I felt better to post.  Unfortunately, the longer I stayed away, the harder it was to get back to blogging!  Now that Spring is here and I'm able to get up and around a little more, I'm going to slowly ease my way back to posting again.

I've truly missed you all!   I'm dreaming of my garden and what I'd like to do this year ... but I'll save that for another post.

Happy Spring!

Autumn snow

Hello friends!  It's been awhile since I've posted!  Early October was busy with our Thanksgiving preparations (it seems so long ago now!) which kept me away.  And then I came down with some sort of respiratory thing that they're still trying to figure out.  Apparently, I only have about 74% of my lung function and an xray yesterday revealed some fluid in my right lung and some "fullness" that they want a CT scan of.  I see my oncologist in just a few weeks so he'll take care of that.  In the meantime, I'm feeling a little better so I'm optimistic that this was maybe just a virus and is on it's way out!

We've had snow!  Quite a lot of it for this time of year - I don't remember ever having this much snow this early.  It did make for some pretty photos though and maybe I did get a little carried away.  :)

 

I can't believe that next week is American Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent after that!  I confess that I've put away my Autumn decor (it looked a little out of place with all the snow outside!) and have brought out a few wintery things, pine cones and such.  I like to wait until Advent to begin decorating for Christmas and will add things gradually over the coming weeks.

How about you?  Have you started putting up your Christmas decor?

Simple Autumn Centrepiece

In my last post, I mentioned that I bought what I thought might be a mini dough bowl that I was planning to use for my Autumn decor.  I gathered some leaves from the yard, placed three baby boos in it, scattered some faux acorns and voila!  A simple Autumn centrepiece for my dining room table!

It's so perfect that I can see this little dough bowl being used every season.  I usually find the best things when I'm not looking for them.

I have to say that I'm smitten!  It isn't often that something catches my eye and I just know it's meant to come home with me.  The vendor I bought it from was downsizing and I assured her that it would have a good home.  :)

What have you found that you just knew was meant for you?

Happy Autumn!

My favourite time of year officially arrives tonight but I've already started added Autumn touches to my home.  I'm trying to keep things soft and natural.  I did add a few touches of orange but somehow they seemed overdone so I removed them.  They might return as the season progresses - especially if I manage to find some bittersweet!

I covered old books with Kraft paper to give them a uniform look.  I bought several baby boo pumpkins from the grocery store and scattered them about.  An ironstone soap dish is filled with faux acorns (the squirrels beat me to the real ones!) and I added dried hydrangeas from my garden to a wooden box.

Later in the week I'll share my latest find.  It looks like a small version of a baguette dough bowl - perfect for baby boos and maybe a candle or two!

Autumn - the year's last, loveliest smile.

- William Cullen Bryant

Home work

Happy September! Just when I was about to welcome the cooler temperatures and get ready for an early Fall, Summer decided to appear! It's been hot and humid here this week, making me not feel at all like decorating for Autumn.   I know it will be short lived and by next week, we'll be back to normal (cooler) temperatures. The leaves are already changing and falling!  This is the earliest I ever remember that happening.

September always feels like the month of new beginnings.  I'm more inspired to make changes in September than I am in January!  On my list of things to do is to freshen up my home.  I love my home but ... it's been awhile since I've shown it some love.  

It's easy to get sidetracked by all the lovely rooms I see on blogs and Pinterest.  And I'll admit that there are days when I feel totally frustrated because I'll never have the budget or the energy to accomplish the wonderful ideas that I pin.  What I can do is make my home more functional.   I can make it feel, well, like home.  My home.  I might not be able to build those bookshelves I want but I can paint and I can sew.  I can also rearrange the furniture and accessories seasonally to keep things fresh.

I created and printed a collage of photos I've pinned on my Pinterest boards that best represent how I want my home to look.  I like the look of wood, natural or painted a dark colour.  I like neutral colours on my walls and furniture so I can add pops of colour seasonally.  I like lots of light coming in through the windows.  I like things clean and uncluttered.   I also came up with three words to indicate how I want my home to feel - cosy, simple, classic.  These little reminders will help keep me on track  when I'm choosing new paint colours or purchasing something to add to my decor.  I've started a mood board on the bulletin board by my computer and I'll be adding to it and editing it as I begin to make changes in my home.  I haven't done this since design school and I've got to admit, it's kind of fun!

Home is where we feel at ease, where we belong, where we can create surroundings that reflect our tastes and pleasures. - Terence Conran