We are away from home at our island cottage enjoying the summer. I still haven’t sorted out the internet here so the blog has been neglected! We have been blessed to see these beautiful creatures while out and about. Hope you enjoy these pictures! Happy summer! Continue reading Ontario Wildlife Photos
How to clean old oil paintings at home – a DIY project Continue reading How to Clean Oil Paintings
We made Corn Dogs or Pogos in our test kitchen Continue reading Hot Dogs, Pogos and a Twist
You can never have too much basil – A few tips about how to grow basil. Continue reading How to Grow Basil
The Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa Ontario – May 13 -23, 2022 – is an enjoyable and easy to access event. Continue reading Canadian Tulip Festival – Ottawa
I take those sales calls because I remember the greatest salesman that ever lived. Continue reading The Greatest Salesman That Ever Lived
We had fun making fresh homemade ravioli ourselves. Continue reading How to Make Ravioli
My husband loves cottage life. It’s funny that his childhood cottage memories are so similar to mine. Continue reading Cottage Memories
Easter Eggs, Giant Easter Eggs and trivia Continue reading Easter Weekend – Easter Eggs and Giant Roadside Attraction Eggs
An old house dining room before and after – and how to remove wallpaper Continue reading Dining Room Before and After – Removing Wallpaper
One of our favorite ways to serve pasta is with Homemade Bolognese Sauce. This is our recipe in the style of Ragu Alla Bolognese. Continue reading What’s in a Sauce? A Bolognese Recipe
Sometimes the simplest of things make us happy. Enjoy spring! Continue reading Spring Happiness and Simple Things
Is getting older making me grumpy, is it the technology, or the tech support ?- older adults and tech rage Continue reading Older Adults and Tech Rage
Why not bake a banana cream pie on Pi Day? Continue reading Pi Day?
I made home brewed beer with a kit and refills from Mr. Beer. Continue reading Mr Beer Home Brewing
Positive thinking quotations – is your glass half full? Continue reading Positive Thinking
Silly thoughts while waiting for the snow to melt. Continue reading More Snow Days
A post from 2020 about the War Measures Act during the 1970 October Crisis – and comment about today’s invoking of the Emergency Act Continue reading The October Crisis – War Measures Act
Part 2 of our Century Home Bedroom Before and After Continue reading Renovating the Master Bedroom (Part 2)
There is no comparison between fresh homemade and dried storebought pasta. Try these two recipes for homemade pasta – one vegan and one with eggs. Continue reading Make Fresh Homemade Pasta
A few Blogging Tips for 2022. Continue reading Blogging Advice 2022
Happy Groundhog Day 2022! (Apologies to anyone who follows Punxsutawney Phil. He had the wrong prediction today – so I’m sticking with Wiarton Willie!) Continue reading Groundhog Day
Renovating the Master Bedroom in our century home ourselves. Part 1 of a Before and After story. Continue reading Renovating our Master Bedroom
Some scary winter weather terminology. Continue reading Weather Drama
A few travel details about our latest ice fishing road trip. Continue reading Ice Fishing Lake Nipissing
Five ways to turn Blue Monday around! (It’s not a real thing anyway!) Continue reading Five Ways to Turn Blue Monday Around
This pandemic makes me feel like The Little Red Hen Continue reading I am The Little Red Hen
I wondered whether the swans in our local river were supposed to stay during the winter. Continue reading Winter Swans Revisited
Being good to myself one small step at a time. Continue reading Stepping into 2022
Our Ontario government is encouraging us to take Ontario Staycations this year with a refundable Tax Credit Continue reading Ontario Road Trip – Staycation
A before and after story about our century home family room makeover. Continue reading Family Room Reno – Before and After
I am blessed to be baking (this time Cinnamon Vegan Buttermilk Holiday Cake) for my visiting young adults this holiday season. Happy holidays! Continue reading Vegan Buttermilk Holiday Cake
An update to a story about 2 past Christmas Eves. Continue reading (Updated) Two Previous Christmas Eves
Three anecdotes about Christmas Shopping now and in the not so distant past. Continue reading Christmas Shopping Then and Now
Two personal anecdotes about rapid testing (including an Omicron experience) Continue reading Rapid Tests and Omicron
Trying to sort out my Christmas gift list Continue reading Christmas Shopping Ideas
The Canada’s Carbon Tax is ineffective and confusing Greenwashing Continue reading Canada’s Carbon Tax Confusion
Sorting and soaking my vintage tablecloths and linens was easy and worthwhile. Continue reading Getting Holiday Ready – Washing Vintage Linens
Kananaskis is an easy short road trip from Calgary and a great place to see wildlife Continue reading Calgary to Kananaskis Road Trip
Working on my Christmas Spirit while baking my family’s Fruitcake recipe Continue reading Dark Fruitcake and Christmas Spirit
A before and after story about our old house living room renovation Continue reading Old House Living Room Before and After
I was overwhelmed many years ago when I experienced my first Black Friday. Continue reading My First Black Friday
I experimented with different silver polishes and silver polishing “hacks” with some success! Continue reading Getting Holiday Ready – Polishing Silver
We took a roadtrip to Southern Saskatchewan and can promise you the land is not flat. Continue reading Southern Saskatchewan Road Trip
We just love chicken thighs and spinach. It requires no oil and only 6 ingredients and tha’ts including water, salt and pepper! Continue reading One Pan Chicken Thighs and Spinach
We make Lemon Chicken and Potatoes in one pan – and place it in the centre of the table so that everyone can ladle their own food. Continue reading One Pan Lemon Chicken and Potatoes from our test kitchen
A quick 9 or so hour drive from Thunder Bay to Brandon Manitoba. Continue reading Thunder Bay ON to Brandon MB
Happy Halloween 2021! Continue reading Happy Halloween!
We jumped in a car and drove from Ontario to Alberta and back. Continue reading Canadian Road Trip (again)
Having our home staged isn’t fun, but we can definitely learn from it. We have had our homes staged a few times over the years. Continue reading Home Staging 101
A recipe for easy but sophisticated Pasta with Anchovies – and it’s a Keeper Continue reading A Keeper from our Test Kitchen – Pasta with Anchovies
I painted my 1990s green slate fireplace surround to give it an inexpensive makeover Continue reading Midnight Fireplace Surround Makeover
We renovated three bathrooms in our 1890s home and this is a quick summary Continue reading 3 Bathrooms Before and After
The mechanisms in our current Real Estate market, just aren’t right. Continue reading Real Estate Rant
We completed few small projects in our almost complete bathroom reno ourselves – spraypainting a light fixture and installing a vintage doorknob. Continue reading The New Old Bathroom
Canadian Flag pictures for Canada Day Continue reading Happy Canada Day 2021
We are turning our laundry room back into a bathroom in our century home with a little help
Continue reading Laundry to Bathroom Progress
An easy to make “homemade” pasta sauce for a change from jarred sauce. Continue reading Everyday Tomato Pasta Sauce
We were happy to make our ledgestone wall disappear with a thin layer of paint
Continue reading Painting Ledgestone
We wanted to move our washer and dryer in our 1890s home but things didn’t go as originally planned. Continue reading Airing My Dirty Laundry
A recipe for Flapper Pie – a delicious fluffy Canadian concoction from our Prairie Provinces Continue reading Flapper Pie
Sometimes, one thing leads to another and nothing gets done around the house. Continue reading Around the House
We waited a year to get vaccinated and then couldn’t decide what to wear. Continue reading Vaccine Day
Remembering the last at home Blue Jays opening day Continue reading MLB Opening Day
Scraping carpet underpadding up from hardwood floor is no fun but can be done. Continue reading The Final Floor
How to make comforting cabbage rolls Continue reading Cabbage Rolls
Does what goes around really come around? Continue reading Karma – What Goes Around Comes Around?
Happy Groundhog Day! Continue reading Groundhog Day
A easy recipe for Slow Cooker Yellow Split Pea Soup from our pantry Continue reading Split Pea Soup – Pantry Slow Cooking
Our DIY penny round tile floor project is finished without too much drama ( why and how to install and cut penny tile and how to avoid bad penny tile installation) Continue reading Penny Tile Floor – How To
It;s easy to make comfort food -baked beans in the slow cooker Continue reading Easy Slow Cooker Baked Beans
What I learned from baking 12 cookie recipes for Christmas. Continue reading What I Learned from My 12 Cookies of Christmas Project
Painting radiators in our 130 year old house wasn’t difficult, just time consuming and a little messy. What paint to use and how to apply. Continue reading Old House Reno – Painting the Radiators
Christmas photo traditions including a composite picture, family calendar and photo Christmas cards.
Continue reading Christmas Photo Traditions
Trying to Christmas Shop entirely online Continue reading Pandemic Online Stocking Stuffing
Bread pudding has humble beginnings. Here are two ways to make this classic comfort food. Continue reading Bread Pudding
We evicted our neighbourhood terrors Continue reading Terror in the Neighbourhood
We didn’t like our shiny green gas 1990s fireplace, so we gave it an inexpensive DIY makeover Continue reading 1990s Gas Fireplace Makeover
Filling holes while waiting out the pandemic Continue reading The Cat Door Needed to Go
2 fall road trips to view Canadian wildlife – and answering the question – why does wildlife cross the road? Continue reading Why did the Canadian Wildlife Cross the Road?
Having to fix or replace a roof is no fun at all. Continue reading Fiddling with the roof
A thrifty crackled white mirror Continue reading Thrifty Crackle Mirror Project
A rant about Covid 19 contact reporting Continue reading Just the Facts Please
Petrainer Remote Control Dog Training Collar – we tried it out on our goldendoodle Max to reduce barking – and it helped – Product Review Continue reading Product Review – Remote Dog Training Collar
Cross Canada Road Trip – Winnipeg to Southern Ontario with driving distance and durations Continue reading Canadian Road Trip-Winnipeg to Ontario
Masked roadside attractions Continue reading Masked Road Trip
It was a Vegan emergency – that is our daughter, a long time vegan, surprised us by arriving home for her birthday. Now, as her birthday always falls on the first day of school or so, she has not been … Continue reading A Vegemergency – Apple Dump Cake
Day 6 of our TransCanada journey took us from Rocky Mountain House Alberta through Saskatchewan to Winnipeg Manitoba Continue reading Canadian Road Trip Day 6 – Rocky Mountain House to Winnipeg
If you’ve never tried spatchcock chicken – it’s a must! Continue reading Spatchcock Chicken from our Test Kitchen
Kamloops Day 5 really started with a peaceful “what should we do now?” state of mind. We were not required back home, we had already done the TransCanada Highway westbound, and thought, well…… – should we dawdle a little and … Continue reading Canadian Road Trip – Day 5 – Kamloops to Rocky Mountain House
A delicious recipe for comforting Braised Beef Shank in Red Wine from our Test Kitchen. Continue reading Braised Beef Shank in Red Wine from our Test Kitchen
Day 4 of our TransCanada road trip from Calgary to Kamloops. Continue reading Canadian Road Trip Day 4 – Calgary to Kamloops British Columbia
Day 3 of our Canadian Road Trip was a short drive from Regina Saskatchewan to Calgary Alberta. Continue reading Canadian Road Trip Day 3 – Regina to Calgary
The 2nd day of our TransCanada drive beginning in Thunder Day Ontario, travelling through Manitoba and ending in Regina Saskatchewan. Continue reading Canadian Road Trip Day 2 – NW Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
Day 1 of our TransCanada Highway cross Canada road trip Continue reading Canadian Road Trip Day 1
Tomorrow, July 1st in Canada Day. This has always been my favourite holiday. No gifts to buy, no cards, the stores are all closed and the weather is typically wonderful and warm wherever we may be. We have all been … Continue reading Canadian Road Trip
I thought it was time for something completely different. A distraction from politics and the everyday….. On the long car ride back from our fishing/northern vacation I interviewed one of our boys about his Canadian drug testing experience. He is … Continue reading A Young Athlete Describes being Drug Tested
In our large family, we (well maybe JUST ME) enjoy taking family road trips. Whether it be a family wedding in another city, or a vacation at a cottage style resort, we load up the car with snacks and belongings … Continue reading The “Fun Car” Road Trip
A few Ontario wild bird pictures Continue reading Ontario Wild Birds