Too much stuff...

I'm not a hoarder. I just have lots of stuff. I love stuff... mostly old stuff - vintage stuff. And I have lots of it. I can't stop my love of finding stuff and I can't keep all my stuff because I'm running out of places to put some of it and the little stuff just gets put into a jewelery box or something and forgotten.


I'm going to get rid of some of my stuff and have me a yard sale but not in my yard. Several items of what I'm showing here is stuff that was sold as junk jewellry. How delightful to learn I acquired silver and gold sold as costume jewelly. My kind of junk. 


When it comes to the vintage stuff, many here don't know or appreciate the value of old stuff. To them, it's just old stuff. To me, and perhaps you, it's a found treasure. It carries the feel of less complicated days... carefree and innocent. It has character, patina and was made with integrity. Does that sound odd? Made with integrity. Maybe I should say it was made to last, with quality in mind instead of mass produced and cheaply done.


Lots of my stuff is on my other blog... fabfindsgentlertimes.blogspot.com but there's so much more that I haven't taken photos of yet. Too much lovely stuff. 


Here's some lovely stuff but it's not necessarily old stuff. Just great stuff.

Snake chain and pendant, stamped .925 Italy

.925 silver ring with cubic zirconia
(not sure of the stone, actually)

Beautiful silverplated Monet choker.

Choker made of silver beads and
what I believe to be potato pearls

Ladies Zodiac Automatic 60's watch in 18kt gold

Pretty vintage clutch purse and earrings.
Wouldn't these be a lovely accessory with that little black dress?

Pretty little silver (.925) necklace, most likely for a child.

Silver (stamped .925) bracelet.
This is perfect for a small wrist. 

A whopping 120 grams of silver snake chain.
Stamped .925 Italy.

There are 21 stands of silver chain in this stunning necklace.

Blue turquoise and silver earrings.

About that reno...

Hubs to me... Why did you show that photo of the siding to your brother?


Me.... Which one?


Hubs... The one where the siding doesn't quite line up. 


Me.... Oh, Sweetie. It's not out that much. You're too fussy. He won't even notice. (umm... actually, he did notice)


Hubs... It looks bad. It makes me look bad.


Me... No, it doesn't look bad at all. Hey, did you know if you tilt your head all the way towards your left shoulder it looks perfectly lined up. It does. Try it.


Hubs...    


Me.... Hey! Where'd ya go? 


Seriously, though. A major undertaking, done solo by a perfectionist who is not a builder and who suffers immensely with 2 herniated discs, 2 compacted discs (and lots of spasms), a torn right rotator cuff that often causes a lack of feeling in his hand, a damaged sternum from a work injury, a damaged ankle from a break as well as severely torn ligaments (worse than the broken bone) that still causes him great pain after THREE years and there's even more that he suffers from but you get the picture, right? 


I don't ever look for perfection in the things done around our humble home. I love the little imperfections as they serve as reminders that we are just human, not perfect but doing our best. To me, those little things that aren't perfect are akin to the patina on a vintage treasure. They show character. Overall, the addition was well done; he does his homework and refuses to cut corners. It's a solid 2x6 construction with great attention paid to those things that will prevent issues down the road (like rodent prevention, for one)... ewww.

At present, (pics to come) the insulation and vapor barrier is completed inside. Hubs needs a break now and is chewing on how he's going to finish the interior. Wainscot on some walls, the style and size of closet, etc. The roof (to be re-shingled next year) and rafters are original and not to code. That is to say, not 16 on center and with materials being as 4 x 8, it's a lot of extra work with regards to drywall and such. It had been debated whether to completely replace the roof or keep it. We found the wood to be in excellent condition so he decided to keep it. 


I've probably caused Hubs much more 'labour' just by having him explain to me why this can't be done like 'such and such' because of the not-to-code rafters. I listen but I'm like a deer in headlights. I get it but I try to find ways to offer easy solutions for Hubs. I should just practice the fine art of shut-up instead. 


This is our inspiration pic for the east wall that faces the river. I can't wait. Just focus on the bench seating and vintage table. Our layout won't allow for all the other gorgeous elements in this gorgeous photo.

Inspiration pic for our nook.

Reno Update....

Things have come a long way since my last post with the mudroom reno. It's such a relief to have this near completion. We feared the attached garage wouldn't make it through another winter. During the course of the demo, it was discovered that the posts on the north wall that the structure sat on were just pounded into the ground without any cement footings. Any wonder it was sinking, rotting from the ground up and prone to some serious frost heaves! 

Stairs to the cellar... where I don't need to go!

Looking at the north wall

New shingle on mud room & back of house next year

Entrance on west side

Looking at the east wall. Skirting to come to keep rodents out.

Coming along... lattice will go and hardy board skirting added

Temporary stairs. Wrap around deck next summer?

A deck will cover the ugly, old cement garage floor

Skirting being added to keep rodents out

Our new mudroom is built with 2 x 6 lumber, up off the ground on post techs that go about 8 ft into the ground. The floor is insulated and under that is fine wire mesh to keep the rodents out. We're almost there... needing some exterior finish work and then interior insulation, drywall and floors to do. Such a big improvement!

Summer's Bounty and Reno's....

The expression "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" have taken on new meaning for me this year. It's certainly been crazy. The hazy is how I could describe my thoughts as I try to process all I need or want to do, and the lazy is how I feel but can't afford the luxury of such for more than a few hours, even on weekends.


We have a reno underway and this is a huge undertaking for just one person - my hubs. Our attached garage is done. We fear it won't make it through another winter so hubs has torn it down, saving an 8 ft section of the roof which is where our new mudroom will be. It will be nice to have a proper place to store winter gear and also a place to put my treadmill and gym which will mean I am out of excuses for not using them.


Housework waits for no one and I have two floors to contend with along with two dogs and a long-haired cat who shed like crazy and track in reno refuse. Our gentle Mike has been coming home lately covered in something very stinky so everything stops while he gets yet another bath. And dealing with the financial end of our reno job with a bank on the other side of the country, plus the discovery that hub's Visa card has a damaged chip while he's some 40 km away purchasing things needed for the reno has had me on the phone for what feels like hours at a time. It's been stressful trying to sort these gliches out over the phone, being put on hold each time I have to call back. Perhaps time to move the bank account - but I don't want to. I like my Vancouver account a lot and despite the inconvenience at this time, they are wonderful to deal with.

Support beams for the outside wall.
Everything to the left is torn down.

These techno posts are 8 ft down.
B'bye frost heaves.

A sorry site of what is soon to be history.

Progress of the demolition.

The sad cement floor will be covered with a deck.

We've done good on our red currants this year and we were able to cash in on the wild blueberries in the back field. It was a good year for the blueberries and I make freezer jam in small jars to last till next season (and I like to give some away as well). 

We also used some of the red currants to make a liquor which will be ready the end of October. Since I had purchased a rather large bottle of vodka, we decided to use the small amount of black currants from our young bush to make a black currant liquor and when our blackberries are ready, I think we'll do up some liquor from those as I don't do much baking and they'll get forgotten in the freezer. These are not big batches of liquor so I think I'll find pretty jars to store them in and save for a cold winter day where they'll be used to warm cold toes and noses.

Just before our chive flowers were finished, hubs came across a blog showing chive flower infused vinegar. It's a pretty pink, although you can't really see that in this photo but it makes a great salad dressing. We enjoyed some on a salad with freshly picked sugar snap peas, cucumbers and dill from our garden. Despite the horrid summer weather, our garden has manage to reward us with a variety of lovely things. 

Vintage Ads from 1950

Quite some time ago, I dug out my 1950 Life Magazine and proceeded to take photos of several ads. I couldn't scan them as my scanner bed (and patience) was too small and tiling them was too much like work. Every so often, I'll remember I have these images so I think it's time they reside here. I do wish the pages had sat flat as I clicked away but, at the same time, I don't care to manhandle the pages more than necessary. You know, I was born halfway through this particular decade so the styles of this era are not so far from some of my earliest memories.

Those earrings! So trendy.

Whiskey and a squirrel with nuts?

14 kt. and just $71.50!
I'll take two.

Roy Rogers & the Indian Princess

I wouldn't change a thing on this.

When ads for 'undergarments' were modest

I loved Art Linkletter!

Good old Campbell's Soup.

When smoking was cool.

Well... that's a tiny waistline!

Aunt Jemima! I miss you.

Wouldn't you love to know the prices?

Price is roughly 10x more today?

Mmmm... salt on everything!

This is pure vintage!

Somehow, the brown shoes
aren't working.

Bob Hope as I remember him
when I was a young girl.

I'd love a fridge like this. 

Oh, deer!

It's not often I get to see a couple of young deer come down to the river's edge and swim across. That's not to say wildlife here is in short supply. It certainly is not!


A couple of years back, hubs was in back of the shed, doing finishing touches and standing on a ladder. There is an approximate 12 foot space to the neighbour's gazebo and a deer came bounding through, brushing against the ladder and hub's legs and startling both of them. I mean, we're in the country with a smattering of homes in a tiny village.


Deer sightings are common. Just not by me so much. And didn't they bound across the road in front of pick up? Fortunately, the driver saw them before they scooted out in front of him.


Sorry for the blurry in the first two shots.... it was a stretch for my camera to zoom that far and through the branches at the road's edge. In the last photo, one deer is looking over this way because we had barking Blind Guy safely behind our locked screened door who knew something was going on. Letting him loose would be a disaster as he just goes after something like a mad dog. Gentle Mike started to give chase but he could see they were much bigger than him.