Sunday 28 June 2015

The $100.00 potato masher

Well, the potato masher was actually free. But what started out with me looking for a potato masher at a yard sale turned into this….

 teak 1

teak 2


All that wood is a solid teak wall shelving unit. It came from Europe and was used in a veterinarian’s office. I forgot to take a before picture, but this wall used to be long and white and empty. I’m crappy at styling and there’s still shelf space to fill, but here’s how it looks all put together. Guess I could have moved the dog beds out of the way first ;-) And don’t laugh at the flowery sofa photo bombing the pictures, it came with the house.

teak unit on wall 

whole unit 

We positioned it so that it’s closer to the living room end and doesn’t get in the way of the dining end. But it’s a good spot to display some dishes – all the bowls and glass canisters were free from the yard sale :-) And whoever was in this house before left the big blue plates behind.

teak dining side

bowls

The antique stool was free from the yard sale too – these people really wanted to get rid of all their stuff!

plates 

It’s totally modular, so the shelves can be moved around into any configuration. Now I have lots of room to display my beach glass and fishing float and driftwood and other finds :-)

glass float

painting corner

small glass

heart rock

books


Oh, and did I mention the solar bike that we picked up as well?

solar bike

All that for a hundred bucks. Not a bad haul! Brian and I didn’t have enough cash on us, so we gave them $60 and we’ll go back tomorrow with the rest. Only in Nova Scotia!

I’ve never really been into yard sales, but I’ve been to three in the past week. It’s definitely a great way to decorate on a budget :-)

Do you have a favourite yard sale find?

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Linking to…

MM   Inspire-Me-Monday-Link-Party

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Kelly’s Big Beach Adventure Day

Today I hit five beaches – yes, FIVE BEACHES! And hung out with my friend Sara and took the ferry and went to the bakery and found beach glass and bought a big glass fishing float…. it was a pretty awesome day :-) Here’s some of it in pictures…

 sig bakery

sig beach 1

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sig glass

sig crescent

sig bakery and float

sig ferry

sig five houses 1

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sig oxners 5


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Tomorrow morning is the Lunenburg Farmer’s Market, then a meeting with the architect to discuss house plans in the afternoon and a local pub night get-together in the evening. Might only have time for one or two trips to the beach tomorrow ;-)

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Tuesday 23 June 2015

Making friends

beach friends 2 Source

It can be daunting to move to a place where you don’t know anybody. Making friends from scratch isn’t easy! But if you put yourself out there and make an effort to meet people, you might find yourself with some new friends :-)

Our first weekend here, I went to a crafting party at The Lunenburg Makery. I thought it would be a good way to meet some people who enjoy crafts like me. Having something in common is always a good start! And as it turned out, the people I met in the class were all really nice :-) We had a fun afternoon creating weavings with paper and wool. Don’t laugh, I wasn’t trying to be perfect!

turtle weaving sig


One of the ladies in the class mentioned that she had signed up for a class at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax to learn how to make a net for a glass float. I signed up for the class too, and on Saturday Leah picked me up and we drove to Halifax together. We talked non-stop both ways in the car, and had a blast making our nets. Well, OK, it was a bit stressful at times because we had no idea what we were doing and it took us an hour longer than it was supposed to! But in the end, we each had a beautiful glass float to bring home, as well as a new friendship :-)

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After the class, we walked along the harbour front and ate lunch and Cows ice cream and talked. And talked and talked and talked! We’ll be going back to the museum in a few weeks to take another class together :-)

A couple of weeks ago, I came across a blog called Nova Scotia Postcards.

NovaScotiaPostcards_SHarley


Sara writes the blog, and she also founded a project called Paws For Charity. The money she raises goes towards helping a local shelter called Sheltering Helpless Animals In Distress (SHAID). I just knew Sara was someone who I wanted to get to know! So I sent her a message on Facebook, and found out that she used to live in both Ottawa and Kemptville, and also helped animal rescue groups back in Ontario with her dog biscuit business.

paws dog Click here to order a copy of Sara’s Paws for Charity magazine and help support the animals at SHAID.


We met up for a walk on the beach, that turned into a walk on the beach and a walk on the road and a walk on another beach and a walk on another road :-) We walked for two hours and never stopped talking – I’m pretty sure that means that we should be friends :-)

friends

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Sunday 21 June 2015

Lovely Lunenburg – Part III

We looked at colourful doors in Lovely Lunenburg – Part I and colourfu houses in Lovely Lunenburg – Part II. This time, it’s colourful business buildings. Like this pottery shop… 

sig pottery shop


The green building is a pizza place. I’m not sure if the orange building is part of the pizza place or a separate residence. Either way, the two of them together make a really bold statement!

sig orange and green 

Lunenburg Academy is one of the more elaborate buildings you’ll see here. It was built in 1894/95 and it’s now the only intact 19th century Academy building surviving in Nova Scotia.

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I think this is my favourite building in Lunenburg – the green is so vibrant!

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sig looking up from cilantro


This is the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, right on the harbour.

sig fisheries museum 

A bright red folk art shop… this is the building with the boat window planters.

sig folk art shop


We drie by the Lunenburg Foundry & Engineering Limited building every time we go into Lunenburg. I never realized that it’s actually a combination workshop/store until I walked by it and stopped to look in the windows. They primarily make bronze collectables and solar castings here. I bought a really cool bronze piece that I’ll be showing you soon.

sig foundry


A health/wellness/beauty business operates out of this pretty turquoise building.

sig blue wellness


Bluenose Lodge – there seems to be a lot of painting going on around here!

sig bluenose lodge


This lovely old red brick building is the court house.

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Just a couple of the many charming inns &  B&Bs in Lunenburg…

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sig brigantine inn


Anyone up for some seafood? :-)

sig fish shack 2


There are lots of artists in Lunenburg. This is just one of the many art galleries.

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So as you can see, there’s no shortage of colour in lovely Lunenburg :-) Whether your favourite colour is purple or orange or red or green or blue, you’re sure to find it here!

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