Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everybunny!!

All the Best,

Christine

Spring time!

Hello,

Happy 1st day of Spring!

Welcome Spring!

All the Best,

Christine

Garden Urns & other interests...

Hello,

It is the start of another brand new week  ;0)

I have been walking around the gardens trying to see if there is anything happening yet....

Nope...everything is still sleeping!

My garden urns are still in winter storage...

I would love to add something like this to my gardens...

Love the size of it!

Or this one, I want it big enough that I can see it from a long distance away...

When we are sitting on the covered porch or from inside my kitchen window.

A couple of the spheres would be very nice as well...

I have entryways into the garden & patios that these would be perfect for!

These pieces are not easy to find and when you do find them the price is very expensive...

There has got to be a better way to get the look & interest that I want and for the right price!

I have this urn in the cedar hedge garden and love it!

This lantern will return to the cedar hedge garden as a point of interest...

A little something to cast your eye upon!

I like to enjoy these pieces all year long, for every season...

This is my new bird bath that I purchased last summer. 

It sits in the day lily / perennial border garden.

A concrete piece to heavy to move about so I just set the basin on its side for the winter...

I can't wait to fill it up with fresh water every morning... 

I found these urns the other day while I was out & about!

What do you think...they are fiberglass & bright colours...

Or just crisp, clean & white...

Good thing there is still lots of time before I have to choose...

What would be your choice concrete or fiberglass urns?

Have a great week...!

All the Best,

Christine

Hearty Irish Stew for 2...

Hello, 

Happy Friday!

Today, I find myself in the Stonehouse Kitchen filling my crock pot with hearty goodness!

Creating comforting one pot meals during the late winter months is one of my favourite things to do.

Fresh ingredients, spices and good for you food!

A nice way to have dinner ready on a busy afternoon...

With St.Patrick's Day on Sunday this is a perfect dish to help celebrate!

"Hearty Irish Stew for 2" ...

The list of ingredients is pretty simple for this recipe:

2 lb beef tenderloin/cubed, 2 large yellow onions/sliced, 3 stalks of celery/chopped, 2 large carrots/peeled & chopped, 2 large parsnips/peeled & chopped, 2 sweet potatoes/peeled & chopped, 12 Brussels sprouts, 4 large cloves of peeled garlic/minced.  

Chopped = chunky chop, chop all vegetables the same size.

I like to use Club House Beef Stew for Slow Cookers...
Seasoning Mix for Beef Stew.


I just add the packet to my crock pot, add 2 cups of water.  Stirring to dissolve.
I also like to add Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce about 3 tbsp.
Fresh coarsely ground pepper, stir to combine.

Place vegetables and beef tenderloin into crock pot.
Toss to coat well...

Cover and cook for 6 hours on high.
Stir before serving.

I like to have this Hearty Irish Stew for 2 on day 2.
I cool the stew completely, refrigerate over night.  I put my crock pot right in the fridge.
The next day I return my crock pot to the heating unit and re-heat on low for 4 hours or until stew is well heated.

Then I serve it, the flavors are more intense and it thickens up nicely as well.


Do you have Club House in your Kitchen pantry?
What are some of your favourite Club House products?


Have a great weekend!

Happy St. Patrick's Day too...

All the Best,
Christine

Water colour...

Hello, 

I have been enjoying all of the fresh flowers that you have been sharing lately.

Very nice fresh cut flowers...Thank you ;0)

As we all are trying to create a breath of an early Spring into our hearts & our homes.

I have purchased a bouquet of fresh cut flowers recently specifically for their size & colour.  

Fresh cut flowers to match my decor...purple carnations, lavender-pink freesia,

raspberry gerberas & asiatic lilies...

Usually I don't match my fresh cut flowers to my decor but this time I was working on a decor theme in our home.

My inner granny chic style...my colour palette for this look is consisting of indigo blues, turquoise, purple, raspberry, red, yellow & a touch of pink...whew (sigh) a lot of colour ;0) 

Try your own water colour, you need:  

A bouquet of fresh cut flowers, a clear glass vase, a box of club house food colour. 

(yum...)

Preparation of your fresh cut flowers:  

Always start with a clean washed vase, unwrap your flowers immediately when you arrive home.

Give a fresh cut to all of the stems before placing them in your vase.

Don't ever tear a flower stem if you do re-cut the stem with a clean sharp knife or clean flower scissors.  Some hardwood stems are okay to be torn but all of the soft flesh flower stems need to be cut on an angle ( / ) with a clean sharp knife.

Fill your glass vase 3/4 of the way with clean warm water.

Apply drops of food colouring into the water.  

(for mine it was 6 big drops of the blue out of my club house food colour box)

For intense colour add more drops, the less intense colour add less drops.  

Stir after adding your food colour drops...until well blended.

You can experiment with the intensity of colour by starting out with half of the water in the vase and start adding your drops of food colour one at a time to the desired intensity.  If it is too dark this is when you just add more clean water to change the vibrancy of the water colour...

(yummy!...)

These flowers won't absorb the food colour from the water.  

If you would like to change the colour of your flowers with food colouring visit here...

What water colour would you choose?

Would you match your room decor or use your favourite colour perhaps? 

What would be your choice?

Let me know... 

All the Best,

Christine

My hands in the dirt...

Hello, How is your weekend going so far?

Today it is daylight savings time ;0)

Spring forward...onward & upward!

I have a couple of sunlit photos to share @ Karen's

My Little Home and Garden - Sunlit Sunday

After seeing all of the beautiful tulips this week, I had to go out & get some of my own for the house.

These tulips are like a raspberry shade, they match my granny chic vibe that I have been creating in the Living Room this past week.

When I took them out of the pot to replant them in a terracotta planter, the roots of the tulip bulbs wound up so tightly reminded me of a woven birds nest...

This naturally distressed terracotta planter usually sits out on the back covered porch.

I made a little Spring arrangement in it, I couldn't resist any longer  ;0)

So, what I would seasonally see this planter filled with summer annuals when I look out the window...

Here is a reverse image of me outside the window looking in the front bay window.

It filled with a Spring planting in the Winter.

"Bringing the outside in"

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

All the Best,

Christine

Fabric Baskets...

Hello, Happy Friday!

For those of you starting March Break have a great one...

Enjoy!

It is a fresh day out today but not cold, just feels nice.  I am hoping the sun will shine today.

It would certainly make my day and put a ;0) on my face.
Maybe take some interior photos...?


I have plans to do some spring cleaning in the sewing studio.

Yup! Some of my friends have already started their spring cleaning!

When do you start your spring cleaning?

Or maybe you have it already finished...?

I want to make some more of these fabric baskets, they are great for having existing projects that I am still working on...

They are decorative and functional as well ;0)

I designed these fabric baskets with pocket dividers for tools and accessories.

I have made these fabric baskets for the girls.
Allison & Jessica use theirs for knitting projects they have on the go...
(They really get a lot of use out of them...I should probably make them some more ;0)
I have just the right fabric too!)


I have decided to make some for the sewing studio.
These fabric baskets are a great project to make a bunch of at a time...

I want to use them for fabric that is cut and ready to be sewn into the next project.

 I'm hoping they will keep everything neat & tidy, ready, organised.

When I walk into the studio I can just pick up the basket with all of the contents of a project inside and take it to the machine to be sewn...

They stack up really well too, and hold a whole bunch!

Clean up will be easier too!  ;0)

When everything will just go back into the fabric basket at the end of the day,
if it has not been complete...

Well, those are my plans for the weekend...


I hope you have a great weekend too!



All the Best,
Christine

My inner granny chic style...

Hello, How is your day going so far?

Off to a bright start I hope!

I have been craving spring....

 I thought I would share with you my love for flowers on print, on fabric 

with hook, hoop & needle...

& fresh cut flowers. 

I have been putting a few things together & shopping around the house...

Borrowing from room to room ;0)  

Pulling it all together for a bit of a vintage vibe.

Do you shop around the house too?

So, I have discovered that while I was busy craving spring & shopping around the house... 

 I have become a curator of my inner granny chic style... 

in
"The Living Room"

It is starting to feel old, thrifted, collected, vintage, handmade & new....

all at the same time.

Colour, pattern, materials & texture are some of the repeating details.

I still have a few things left to shop for, make & play with.

Enjoy your day today!

All the Best,
Christine

African Violet Blooms...

Hello, How was your weekend? 

Mine was filled with thoughts of Spring!

It may surprise some of you to know that...

I don't have a green thumb for indoor plants!

There I said it, now you know...

Cut fresh flowers, plants in the garden, no problem.

My Mother other the other hand was born with a green thumb...

But somehow I didn't get it, honestly I think it skipped a generation!

I am sure of it...

My Mother collects ;0)  African Violets...

In the winter months every window sill is filled with little pots of them! 

 In the summer they are all out on the front verandah.

And boy do they ever bloom for her continuous blooms...

Every year at this time they look so familiar to me at the store waiting for someone to take them home and make them theirs.

To fill their own window sills with the happy little plants.

So, in the cart they went and I will try once again to keep them alive before I send them home to my Mother...

She always has room for a few more ;0)

Do you have a green thumb for indoor plants?
How do you keep them thriving?

Enjoy your day today!

All the Best,

Christine

Knitted Felted Wool Slippers

Hello, How are you on this fine Friday? 

The first of a new month, a new beginning, so much potential...

Go for it...

Maybe we will even see the sun poke out today ;0)

I got busy the other day and felted my new wool slippers. 

Off to the local laundromat me and my slippers went...

We have a front loading machine at the house so that was not going to do.

I had other wool items that I was trying to shrink as well and they also needed to be closely monitored while in hot water...

First step:  Select whites cycle on washing machine for hot water. 

 Slippers are handmade with 100 % wool.  

Even the embroidered little snow flakes are made with 100 % wool. 

 Everything must be wool as it will all shrink together.

I added just a little of laundry soap, not much just a pinch or tablespoon of liquid laundry soap.

The top loader is great, you can lift the lid and check how the shrinking process is going many times.  I suggest that you do.  You don't want to over shrink, not a good idea...

Do you have a top loader or front loader washing machine?

Which do you prefer?

Second step:  Let the washing machine go through all of its cycles, the agitation of the rinse cycle will help with the felting.  Lots of agitation is best...

I hand embroidered the little snowflakes to help determine the right slipper from the left slipper.

Otherwise...it is very hard to tell your left slipper from your other left slipper ;0)

Step three:  Washed slippers go in the dryer. 

 We have a gas dryer at the house, which I set to the hottest cycle.

 Just the slippers nothing else.

Some would have added wet jeans or tennis balls to help with the felting process.  

You may if you like.

 Now this is where the monitoring comes into effect as you don't want to shrink your adult slippers into toddler slippers...  ;0)  Although those would be really cute!

I opened the dryer about every 10 minutes to see how much shrinking was going on...

Try them on a few times to see how they are fitting!

"Before"

big foot... visit here!

"After" 

Felted 100 % Wool Slippers

"knitted clog style slippers-felted" 

handmade with 100% wool

(Lake Joseph one of the three big Muskoka Lakes, in Ontario, Canada)

One of our many finest cottage country destinations!

So, after a hike on a winters day...

I have these to come home to...

Thank you, Jessica for making them for me xxoo

My daughters spoil their mother rotten! 

I am so proud of them, such big generous hearts they have...

Have a great day everyone!

All the Best,

Christine