In the summer, my husband and I move to our cottage on the great prairie ocean. In order to spend lots of time there we need an office from which to do our daily business in the outside world. We renovated a 50 year old 8 x 9 ft shed into a pine scented oasis, replete with laminate floor and big windows to look out into our bird land. Imagine how wonderful, while trying to solve a difficult

Today was the first day of my harvest basket pick up at the local organic farm, of which we have a share. Boundary Creek Farm near Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba, is a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) operation. I was so excited to go over to get my first basket of freshness and goodness.  Knowing the family themselves and the happy face when I pulled up in the driveway made it even sweeter. Knowing

Part of the planet said ‘Hurrah’ tonight.  We were out for a stroll on the beach and it turned into a clean-up. First we commented on how much garbage there was.  Then we found an old plastic bag but it had a huge hole. Then a sturdy stick held it in place so the two of us could carry one end each. The hole in the first bag was covered over by another piece of plastic. And thus we zigzagged

Do you know what’s growing in the back of your refrigerator? We live for part of the year in a different part of the country therefore we do a complete purge of food items in our house before leaving. I almost make it a game to meat out every last morsel of edible items from my cupboards and fridge, designing meals to use up every conceivable ingredient.  When I go to clean the fridge before

Have you ever been in a house where the pictures were hung too high?  Or they looked like they were floating in nowhere land? Most people make the mistake of hanging pictures too high. Most art is viewed from the sitting position, except for pictures in hallways, entrances, receiving areas (or behind a toilet, that one’s for the guys). Pictures need to relate to the furniture. 6-8 inches is a

A Home of Love

Yesterday’s blog from DailyOM was so right on I just couldn’t pass up sharing it with you. I really can’t say it better myself.

 

“At their best, our homes act as our sanctuaries. They are the nests we return to for rest and nurturing nourishment before we venture out once again to spread our wings and fly. But there are times that we may feel quite differently about our homes—

Last Friday afternoon and evening a bunch of us came together to lend a hand to friends. If you want to get a lot of labour done in a short period of time, just get a group of people together, to sweat, laugh and carouse. The the spirit of an old fashioned barn-raising, ‘many hands make light work’ credo, I organized a yard clean up for some friends who are moving overseas to teach. Their

I heard on the radio that some people in Windsor Ontario were participating in a community wide cleanse as a charity event. What a great idea. Seven days to detoxify your body and your city. Cleaning inside and outside. Participants were encouraged to eat foods that help to purge the system of toxins, exercise and to take walks to pick up garbage in their neighbourhoods.

 

I love old dressers. I have one in my dining room for storing my table linen and placemat collection (a collection I actually use). One in the basement for storing painting and drywall tools. One in the garage for gardening stuff. One in my studio for hand made paper. One in the family room for stuff; a drawer for electronic cords, a drawer for camera paraphernalia, a drawer for gift wrap. You