Flowers in the house.

I picked all my peonies. All of them.  Every year they get all dehydrated and battered by the rain and humid weather, so this year, I picked pretty well the whole bush. I took them at the bud stage when the waxy top has just broken to reveal the petal underneath, and they have lasted over 10 days. The scent is heavenly. I put them in an old champagne bucket I found at a lovely vintage shop. Only after I bought it did I see the engraving. Happy 50th Maureen and Ian. It doesn't matter to me. I figured it must have good ju ju if it came from a home with a 50 year marriage. The little green chair is one I've had for years. It spoke to me at a flea market one day, despite the fact there were no little ones in our house. I keep it here because my Sweet Mama can only use her left hand, so when she is here, it provides a little spot for her coffee at just the right level, where ever she sits. You can also sit on it and smell the peonies if you like.

Linking to Jane's Flowers in the House today. Pop over to see what bouquets and posies await you.

Ontario's Northern Bruce Peninsula.

Lion's Head. A cool mist today in the outer harbour.

Right by that point on the right, the water here in Georgian Bay reaches 400 feet deep,

Reflections resemble charcoal or pastel lines

The harbor is breathtaking. Imagine waking up on your boat looking at those cliffs.

Why I am not a sailor....i'm too untidy to leave things like this.

Our old cottage......I had to walk by and check it out. The gardens look the same. I wanted to go in and nose around, but refrained from knocking on the door.

Pretty spot facing the Bay

The woman who lived here became a good friend when we had this cottage. Many a chat on my porch and she was my garage sale buddy. She took care of our place for us. A wonderful lady. I've been by twice but she hasn't been home. Her dad build this cottage himself, hauling rocks from the lake and cutting his own trees. I believe he bought the land in the 1930's for $170.00

"The Bruce" as the area is known is a humble community. There are many ramshackle farms and falling down barns. It has a unique charm and "back in time" feel. I love the countryside up here.

Hey Girl, whatcha eating?

Gone fishing.....

We've spent the weekend in "The Bruce" as the Bruce Peninsula is known. An area of humble and beautiful farms, lakes, cottages and people. I love the down home feel of this area, where we once owned a cottage. I so miss our weekend drive to out little place on the Marina, and especially my morning coffee over looking the sailboats in the marina. Frenchie has enjoyed waking in the lake which is at an all time low level on the Lake Huron side. Camp fires and full moons and a constant cool mist over the lake are a welcome change from the steamy temperatures in the city this weekend. 

Mink.....I Think.

I was walking around the Lion's Head Marina this afternoon when a young man called me over to look at 2 animals beside the boat ramp. He picked them up and tried to stop them from falling over the side of the boat ramp. Apparently he had seen the mother carrying another of the babies to a new location. Luckily my camera was with me and I managed to get some shots. First I thought they were ferrets, but then a man came over and told me they were minks. He told me minks stink like a skunk and promptly proceeded to pick one up and make me smell it. AWFUL. Then it peed on him. Good thing the mother returned or I would be boxing them up and shipping to the Home for Abandoned and Unwanted Animals in Trelawnyd aka the home of John Gray. If you read his blog Going Gently you know what I mean. If you haven't read it..you should. 

Does anyone know IF this is a mink or maybe a fisher?

The Perfect Guest

Toss a stack of decorating (or other) books into you weekend bag. It's always fun to peruse other people's books and weekend guests may enjoy your lovely books

You can add a cookbook, such as the Barefoot Contessa book to your gift....a great read at the cottage and practical too.

Slightly rumpled casual ribbons....in keeping with a casual, slightly rumpled weekend.

Clay tag decorations....the crown for the queen of the house....Fleur de Lys for your French friends

Some of my favorite books....color coordinating with the jam....

The Perfect Guest brings a pot of homemade Blueberry and Vanilla Jam, a loaf of crusty bread, and a stack of decorating books to peruse with her host over the weekend.

Officially Day 1 of summer and the invites to cottages, picnics, BBQ's and weekends in the country  means you need to be ready with small tokens of appreciation to bring your kind hosts. Luckily summer is also a time of abundant and well priced fruit such as blueberries, peaches and strawberries. 4 packets of blueberries made 7 jars of this gorgeous jam, now ready and waiting to be tossed in a basket with a batch of scones and a box of good tea, to make a lovely gift for your host/hostess. Don't fear gifting a man jam. I sent a bag of fresh croissants and a pot of raspberry jam down to my neighbor on the morning of his birthday and he LOVED it.

For this batch, I recycled some pretty bought jam jars. Because I have been jamming for so long, I know how to check the jars are properly sealed, and use very careful canning practices, I will use a jar over again but only once. If you plan to sell jam, you are not allowed to re-use jars. 

I followed the recipe on the Certo package for this blueberry jam, but I cut open a large vanilla bean, scraped the seeds and put them in with the sugar and fruit and tossed the bean in while it was boiling. Remove the bean before you bottle your jam. Add a bow, a tag, flower etc, and you're done. I hope our weekend host enjoys it. Frenchie tested the jam this morning on a stolen piece of toast. 

A weekend post from the Bruce Peninsula to follow........

Project 333-My challenge.

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Short, long and tunic length tanks. Can be worn with skirts, pants or as short dress.

Cram knitted long sweater, grey linen dress, tanks in 3 neutral colors.

Linen pants in wide leg, loos fit and slim fit...to accommodate all shoes and length of top. Trying to pick what accessories I need.

Multi function necklace can be a long necklace,, short necklace or bracelet and a necklace.(CHEATNG)

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Have you heard about Project 333 ? It's a minimalist Fashion Project that inspires you to live with a capsule closet of 33 items for 3 months (per season). For those of you not familiar with the Project here are the rules.

Original rules

• When: October 1 – December 31 (It’s never too late to start so join in anytime!)
• What: 33 items including clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear and shoes.
• What not: these items are not counted as part of the 33 items – wedding ring, underwear, sleep, in-home lounge wear,  and workout clothing (you can only wear your workout clothing to workout)
• How: over the next two months, outline your 33 items, by the 1st of October, box up the remainder of your fashion statement, seal it with tape and put it out of site.
• What else: consider that you are creating a wardrobe that you can live, work and play in for three months. If you purchase items for project 333, stick with the one in, two out approach. Consider the essentials and stick to 33. (from HERE)

The idea is to live with less, spend less and make life easier. I've been purging my closet for months and what I have are TONS of clothes that I purchased, many never worn, most seldom worn, and some well loved basics. I mostly work from home, and therefore, I am really casual. I often shop out of boredom, and often buy clothes for the lifestyle I would like to have. For instance, I have dozens of dresses. I buy them thinking I need them for a party or dinner out and then seldom wear them. We don't go out dressed up other than to weddings and funerals. Realistically, I can get by with one party dress per season, the occasional pair of heels and, despite selling jewelry, I only really wear bracelets daily. 

I started Project 333 a few weeks ago so I would have my "capsule" ready for the start of summer. For me, I have to be totally comfortable in order to wear something. I don't suffer for fashion and what I have in my "Capsule" had to take me from a client visit (add heels and jewelry) to supplier warehouses (can be dusty and dirty) to walking the dog and tolling in the garden. 

After the weeks of sorting, donating and purging, three words clearly described my summer Capsule. LINEN and NEUTRAL and PLAIN.

Linen is the mainstay of my wardrobe for a few reasons.

1. it's a natural fiber

2. it's cool and comfy

3. It can go in the washer

4. Can be casual or dressed up-either way

And NEUTRAL has always been my thing, whether in decorating or dressing. Because.

1. It is easier to mix

2. I fear color somewhat

3. I prefer color in accessories

4. Classic...less need to change it and update.

And PLAIN is clearly what I ended up with. Other than a belt and shoes, everything was plain, except for one grey linen dress with a subtle floral pattern. To brighten my Summer Capsule I am going to add this scarf in color Wisteria. It goes with all the soft greys and whites and can be used as a shawl if needed.

The contents of my capsule are as follows. 33 items. If you wonder if spend my day ironing. I DO NOT. I pull right from the dryer and hang, iron a top once in a while, but use my HAIRDRYER to smooth wrinkles while I am wearing it just before I go out the door.

Black Linen Cropped pant

White linen baggy pant

Cream linen cropped pant

Grey linen cropped pant

grey linen wide leg pant

black Linen pant

grey linen print dress

long black linen tank tunic

black linen tank

long white linen tank tunic

White linen tank

Oatmeal linen tank

Grey linen tank ruffled neck

black long sleeve linen tunic

grey linen long sleeve tunic

white linen long sleeve tunic

white cotton tank

black cotton tank

Oatmeal cotton tank

Cropped jeans

Jeans

Asymmetrical long cream cotton/linen sweater tunic

White cotton long cardigan

Shorter cream cotton light sweater

Black cotton jersey dress (can be beach cover too)

white linen top with pockets.

bathing suit

Columbia sport sandal (totally comfy but a bit ugly)

Black dress sandal with heel

Wisteria scarf.

Multifunctional necklace/bracelet combo

Bracelet. Beaded with charms and multi strands

Khaki raincoat

New Arrivals in Shop

Have you ever photographed jewelry? Trying to get a bracelet to sit a certain way or capture the entire length of a necklace is really quite tricky. I play around with different backgrounds, including any fabric samples I have around the house. I've been attempting to get my product tags in the photos too. I'm going to need a lot more practice because it takes me 100 shots to get one I like.

All these pieces are new to the shop and will be added over the next few days to my website. www.razmatazmarket.com. 

Congratulations to Jim at Ocean Breezes for helping me spread the word about the new Razmataz Website. Jim has a lovely blog and a gorgeous dog that frequently makes it into his posts...and if you want to see what life in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada is like, pop over to visit his blog. Jim selected a bracelet as his prize in my Sno of Sweden giveaway.

Happy Quiet

Henry Francis on the left with another puppy visitor Duke.

Over 3 days we had 42 people and 2 dogs visit to see the baby and/or the new puppy Henry Francis. We consumed a staggering amount of food and drink, and between the puppy and the baby created many loads of laundry and trash. 

In the midst of such chaos Hannah Cat retreated for 4 days to the office and only had one chance meeting with Henry Francis. While tearing around a corner, he came almost face to face with the cat and screeched to a halt and retreated BACKWARDS out of the room.

Frenchie suffered an episode of Vestibular disease (an old dog disease that affects the balance)  and has been quiet and off center somewhat.

Baby Emma is a delight and was one of 3 infants here over the weekend.

Boy Child, DIL and Baby are on their way home to Montreal.

Girl Child and Henry Francis are now back in Toronto and adjusting to life with a puppy in the 49th floor

Hannah Cat is in the basket after her 4 day exile.

The Raz Man and I are clearing the debris from the extended weekend.

And we are missing the kids, puppy and baby already.

Henri Francis

Meet 8 week old French Bulldog Henry Francis, the latest addition to the Razmataz Family. Henry belongs to Girl Child, but is spending his first week here with his Human Nanna while I teach him how to potty and get through the day and night without hollering. He's a fast learner and already has the potty training pretty well in the bag. Last night he woke only once to howl at the moon, and then settled back to sleep until morning. Hannah Cat is not impressed with his screeching and Poor Frenchie (the original Frenchie (lab)) is being such a sweetie and just moving out of the way when this little munchkin comes running at him to play.His boot camp ends on Monday when he leaves for life in the Bug City. 

This weekend we have baby Emma arriving with Boy Child and daughter in law. No one will be able to choose which baby to hold.

Sno of Sweden Jewelry $125.00 giveaway-Contest Closed

I am really happy to announce the launch of my new website www.razmatazmarket.com 

As well as design services, I offer Dash and Albert rugs, Pine Cone Hill linens and my new line, 

Sno of Sweden Jewelry. 

I offer Free Shipping on Dash and Albert and Pine Cone Hill for all orders over $150.00 and 

Free Shipping on ALL Sno of Sweden in Canada & USA.

In order to get my new link out there on the Web, I am offering the chance to win a piece of Sno of Sweden jewelry of your choice from my website with a value up to $125.00.

To get a chance to win, I need you to put a link to www.razmatazmarket.com on your blog, either on the sidebar, or in a post. You can add it with a quick mention at the end of another post.

Please leave me a comment to let me know to enter you in the draw.

Thank you so much for your help.

CONTEST CLOSED JUNE 6.