White Wedding

My boy...the groom

Father and Daughter...she's played bride all her life.

My New daughter in law.....

His face when he turned ti see her,.......

The absolute devotion and joy of her beloved grandpa watching her walk the aisle

The light was perfect behind her veil

Mr and Mrs................

My favorite shot.....

Wedding Week

Our exciting week has begun, starting at the airport where our Toronto group met up with the Montreal group, building up the excitement and merriment.  Grooms shirt was purchased by the bride.

Hotel check in....of course we bought them the bride and groom hats................................

First glimpse of the resort.  Emerald Bay, Exuma.  A gorgeous place...a couples resort so hopefully our non coupled group members won't disturb the peace too much.  

The "welcome lunch".  The resort has set up a table for 26 for us.

And since there is nothing to do but relax, eat and swim, we've been making the most of that.  I have never swam in such turquoise waters.  We want to book a trip to swim with the pigs, but we hear from a local that the colony of pigs was pretty well wiped out after the hurricane last month....rumour has it that there is only one left! 

Swimming with pigs in Exuma.

http://www.caribbeantravelmag.com/articles/day-trip-exumas-pigs-paradise photo by Raegan Johnson

I feel like I have been an absentee blogger most of the summer. I must say I am struggling with where I am going with this. I have been reading most of the blogs on my sidebar.  Such a great mixed bag of bloggers.

Throw in a week full of other dramas, and I am about good and ready to let loose, and sink my teeth into the biggest week of the year....my son's wedding.

We head to Exuma on Sunday for an entire week of fun and frolic and celebration with 26 family and friends.  And I can;t wait.  I did my big Walmart shop for shampoos, sun screen, bathers etc...tomorrow hair, Saturday nails...and then we are off.   The fun thing is that half of the party are flying from Montreal to Toronto first, so we'll have a big breakfast reunion at the Airport Starbucks.  Ladies night on Monday, rehearsal dinner Tuesday and wedding on Wednesday.

That leaves Thursday for swimming with pigs...yep on Exuma, there is a colony of pigs that swim for food...you can take a dunk in the ocean with them, but you have to watch out for them snorting down your fingers or other parts.......

Of course, I'll take photos...Fare Thee Well until next week.....

Fancy a House Boat? Plus a New Blog

I've been busy with a house guest.  An 82 year old man I've never met who is my father's brother.  Part of the family we found 3 years ago, 60 years after my father left home and never went back.  At 82, he made the journey from England to meet the "kids" he never knew.  He's very proud of his family and what they accomplished with so little.

Yesterday I took him down to Port Dover on Lake Erie.  Fed him a hot dog and a donut (the Canadian thing to do) and then we went on a boat cruise up the Grand River.  I was the youngest by at least 30 years on the cruise...which made me feel like I was 20 again.  Along the way was a company that takes old metal boats and renovates them into pleasure crafts.

 I think some of you chippy paint lovers would like this one.

And this is what they do with them. How's that for a makeover.

I wanted to introduce a  new blog to you.  I really do love young people.  Teenagers and twenty somethings are so cool and interesting, I can;t help being fascinated.  This is a blog of 3 sisters, all in the 20's, all in different stages of their lives.  One is about to be married, one is dating a very cute Italian, and the other is keeping us guessing.  And I may or may not know these girls..........Life Of Three...pay them a visit....remember how fun it was when you started to get your first comments......

Below....this island...a wedding......9 days to go....YAHOO.

No Cupcakes and Roses.

photo from Am I still a girl?

As we all know sometimes life can really suck.  Good people sometimes get bad luck.
Meet Jen.  I don`t really know anything about her.

I have never met Jen.
Jen has 2 young boys.
She`s married.
She has some very close friends.
She just found out she has Stage 3 Ovarian cancer.
She just had a major surgery.
Jen has to undergo chemotherapy.
Do know the symptoms of Ovarian Cancer.
Jen wants to spread the word.

Her friends say she is really enjoying the supportive comments left for her on her blog.  If you have a minute, perhaps you can send a comment Jen`s way to boost her through the next few tough months.
Thank You Very Much. You can find her blog HERE

Back to the Start - Willie Nelson

I was remiss in not being on time for Suzan's Project Genesis on September 1st.  When I saw this today I knew this was perfect.  I don't need to say anything else.  Just watch it.  A dozen messages wrapped up a dozen more. Click on Back to the Start for the video.

Support local organic farms if possible like Missing Goat in British Columbia..........

For more food for thought please visit Project Genesis with Suzan at Old Grey Mare ya'all.

Farewell Florida!

Farewell for now Florida Home.  We arrived back In Toronto on Friday to hot and steamy weather to find cat and daughter both well and happy to see us. I am already missing the gorgeous Florida kitchen with it's custom cherry cabinets and granite counters....and the space.....much bigger than our kitchen here in our 1979 suburban home.  It's hard to believe that the Florida house is worth half what ours here is....it seems so much nicer and better finished.  We were lucky to be able to buy it in a depressed market.  

The granite is called "Blue Eyes" and comes from the Arctic Canada...only harvested a few months a year.  It has bright blue chunks of some stone that gleams a bright blue...like blue eyes...through the stone.

The clock above is the "Roost" clock made from recycled aluminum bits....Again the window sills in this house provide the perfect place to display my Bits....this window houses my Crown jars.....some are 90 years old.

And this is the garden.....the elephant fountain will become a feature in the one-day pool....and it is full of lizards ......everywhere you move there's one...or more.  This one below is the brown kind....the black ones look very evil.....they apparently eat lots of bugs so are a good thing.... 

A lot of the historic houses here have alley in the back where the garage or parking pad is.  Originally built as a carriage house, this house has a very large set back from the road and really no backyard.  Thus the front yard is really the back yard.....this fence will be replaced with black wrought iron as it makes the house feel like a walled compound when you can;t see the street. 

Florida Living and Dining Room

Our days are running our here in Florida  to get our house sorted out.  We leave on Friday just as we are getting a feel for the area and our neighbourhood.  You could walk for miles here admiring the beautiful historic homes.  We have the living room pretty well as we like it. Our cottage things fit in here quite well and it is starting to feel cozy and bright.

Above the day bed seen here on the left will be our TV mounted on the wall.  We carefully found the stud, measured and made level, but when we drilled into the beam.....poof....we hit a wire and blew the electrical to half the house.  Luckily the neighbor has an electrician working there right now and he is coming over to fix it........ 

Behind the sofa on the right there, I am having bookshelves added to the 2 odd niches which are now just empty space.  Because the ceilings are low here, the shelves will visually heighten the room.

In the dining room, I have an old table that my MIL gave me, and two Louis chairs that my friend left behind when she went to Abu Dhabi. I think they work well in here, although I would like to get rid of the velvet fabric.....not in the budget for ages yet.  I used metal Tolix chairs as they are simple and versatile.  The chandelier came with us and the sofa is actually a futon that turns into a double bed for extra guests.  With only 2 bedrooms I needed to create as many sleeping spots as possible.

Beyond that door is a screened in porch.  It has a bit of a leaky roof, but could be really pretty with a  little bit of work.  It runs the whole width of the house and is very shady.  With a little porch paint and TLC, it could be a good spot.....

Florida Day 10

Front door and staircase.

The house is pretty well set up now.  We've hung blinds, bought a TV, security system etc. and are starting to feel quite at home.  We had supper out on the weekend with people the Raz Man does business with here, and they have invited us to their favourite Italian joint on Wednesday night. Lat night we met some great neighbours who have offered to keep an eye on the place while we are gone, which makes me feel much better.  You feel a bit vulnerable in a new city with no contacts.

What I love about this house are the window sills...still with original tile from 1936 when the home was built. Perfect for all my bits.  This large bottle is a Jumbo the Elephant Orange soda bottle.  Marbles I picked up in the UK shopping with my Grandad.  Baby cups from Mexico. 

The upstairs hallway is my favourite spot.  Here I've put me shell and shell box collections.

The guest room.  We removed a shelf from behind where the daybed is.  I HATE when people don't paint behind things!.  This room is quite large and has a window seat (not shown) with a built in cedar lined blanket box. This house is 2 bedrooms.  We need places for people to sleep.  Hence the daybed in this room.  If my kids come and bring friends, it's a good place to extra people to sleep. 

View from guest room into the hallway with original arches.

Master bedroom....this room is more shaded as there is a covered porch off the french door that is screened in. It has been too hot to open these doors so far, but in cooler months it will be lovely to sleep with them open.

This house was originally a garage apartment converted into a 2 story house.  The upstairs master bedroom was originally the living room, hence the large stone fireplace and enclosed patio.

View to the JUNGLE.

The yard is full of old brick patio, hex block paths and a rain forest of palms and other plantings.

To the left is where we hope to put a pool.........It is very pretty, but quite dark.......

The crew hired to trim back the massive trees and limbs that were overhanging the house......a full day's work for 4 men. The picture above from the balcony was taken AFTER the trimming....you can imagine how full it was before.