New life...

I am thrilled to announce the arrival of our grandson!
He came into this world on August 28th, 2013 two weeks early, weighing in at 7 pounds 12 ounces.

Isla has a baby brother

Henry Brian

Vegetarian chili

While my daughter in law was in labour I needed to keep busy.

I got to work in the kitchen preparing food for them.

 When they get home from the hospital there will be lots to do and little time to spend in the kitchen.

They will be adjusting to the new routine and very likely tired.

Something nutritious to eat for the new family...

Blueberry Muffins

I had several cups of coffee

as I had been up since I got the text that her water had broken at 5:00 am

Perogies 

Grammy knit this for you Henry...

I can see you swaddled up in this cozy blanket.

I thought you might be a boy!

My BFF left me this beautiful Blue Bouquet while I was out delivering the food to my son and DIL's home

 I had a small window of opportunity while he dashed home from the hospital for a shave and a shower.

delphinium blooms are so pretty

I wish they liked my garden soil, 

 that they might thrive 

in The Humble Bungalow Garden but alas

 it is not to be...

beauty in blues

New life and babies,

   a miracle in so many ways...

 a humbling and emotional experience

and not one that I can find the right words to describe my feelings...

I'm overwhelmed and bursting...

saturated with Joy.

Baby Henry, 

you've been born into a family that will honour, love and support you.

Welcome into the fold...

Love Grammy and Grampa.

XO

OOTD ~ the basic black dress

The basic black dress has been my best friend throughout my recent weight loss experience.
I have been alternating wearing two Gilmour black dresses...one is to the knee and the other one you see here.

This Gilmour bamboo shift has been worn many many times in the past 4 months...
the fabric is cool and comfortable in the heat and the style is simple yet able to be worn for day or evening.

The hemline is slightly higher in the front ~ longer in the back

It is versatile enough to wear to the beach or to a BBQ...

when I am running errands I wear a summer weight cotton cardigan over top by Velvet.

The fabric is weighty and drapes beautifully as it skims the body.

I wore this OOTD out for lunch with Mother.

In this picture you can see why older women often wear scarves and turtle necks...

it's probably the reason Nora Ephron wrote her book...

I Feel Bad About My Neck.

 I miss her writing...

Seriously though, 

do we honestly believe that we are going to look the same as we did when we were in our 20's or 30's?

If we do I think we are kidding ourselves.

Either that or totally brainwashed by the advertising that we are bombarded with in almost every magazine...

baby boomers are the largest demographic group so you'd think the pendulum might shift sometime soon.

My grandmother was a wonderful woman filled with passion, wit and energy.

I never asked her, but I would be surprised if she looked in the mirror and lamented on her wrinkles and slack jaw.

Her no nonsense approach to life was an inspiration.

In her day she did not wear much make up...

 a bit of red lipstick, perhaps a light dust of face powder and a spritz of Yardley's lavender scent.

She was the wholesome soap and water kind of gal who used Noxema...

do you remember the blue jar and their signature scent?

(I think of her whenever I get a whiff of that scent.)

Look at the grey creeping in...

I like to think of them as tinsel highlights.

I've been keeping my hair bobbed quite short throughout this process.

I explained to my hairdresser that I did not want to look like a skunk as we transition to grey.

Having had my hair coloured for so many years I was not sure how much grey to expect...

 so far it's just a smattering here and there.

Still it is an obvious indicator of the aging process...

but it's an honest reflection of myself.

I am comfortable in my own skin.

It might have taken me a few years to get here but thankfully I have finally arrived.

 I will need to add some brighter shades to my winter wardrobe...

perhaps a plum or robin's egg blue cashmere cardigan 

to wear with jeans and the black pants in smaller sizes that I still need to buy.

I have been wearing softer lip colours 

(not the nude that they are showing on the runways though as I look positively ill wearing that shade!) 

I love the creamy texture of the Revlon Colourburst Lip Butters.

They are full of moisture and silky on the lips with a lovely assortment of colours.

The price is good too, a budget friendly basic.

I've been noticing a lot of DD or double denim in the stores and in magazines...

not too sure if I will embrace this trend 

as I can still hear my lovely daughter admonishing me when I wore it many years ago!

"Too matchy matchy Mom!"

Things that match top and bottom are what old ladies wear!

Her style expertise has stood me in good stead over the years and I appreciate her honesty.

Speaking of DD 

I think the cosmetic industry has taken on a new way of marketing their products...

rather like the alphabet mystery writer Sue Grafton.

 AA (anti-aging)

BB (beauty balm)

CC (colour correcting)

DD (dynamic do-all)

Do you think they are working on an EE cream?

I might suggest Excellent Epidermis...

If you are a cosmetics company executive please feel free to email me if you'd like to use my idea...

I am "retired" and living on a pension and I am in dire need of a new basic wardrobe...

Today it feels a bit like Fall is in the air so these LBD's will be far too chilly to wear much longer.

Hope that your week is off to a great start!

Hostess

Sea Ray...our Waterlust.

Mr. HB and I have been boatless for less than 2 months
and we have really missed summer not being on the water....
we've missed it so much that we started looking at boats for sale online.
Actually I started looking at boats online and I arranged to look at several smaller fibreglass power boats.
I like to think of them as "Go Fasts."
The first two that we looked at were tired and badly maintained which was such a disappointment as the ads stated that they were "immaculate" or "pristine."

Then we saw a gorgeous 27 foot Sea Ray Sun Dancer...she was and is a real beauty.
So we wasted no time in having her hauled out of the water, we had her surveyed and the mechanic gave her an inspection. We liked what the experts told us so we bought her and brought her home to the marina.

It's been a busy weekend cleaning and getting her ship shape and buying some new gear.
I'm tired and achy but very happy.

I've replaced the glasses above the microwave with clear acrylic stemware.

When a boat cruises at 20 -25 mph one doesn't want to have glasses flying about in the cabin!

Scotty manufactures marine products 

downriggers, safety equipment, and even these glasses!

Our friends, whose family own this company have grown up with us.

We have many wonderful memories of times spent cruising in the local waters...

Mr. HB and I introduced the president and his wife and they have been together and married for years.

(we have never dabbled in match making since as we think once is enough!) 

Acrylic "wine" glasses

short stemmed so they do not tip over as easily!

French press from Starbucks

two thermal stainless Starbucks mugs 

they keep the coffee hot longer and fit into the cup holders on the deck.

The dinette makes into a large bed

but we plan to sleep aft on the queen size bed

that way we can keep this made up as a table and the first one up makes coffee...

while the other lays in bed longer!

(thanks honey!)

I bought some large pillows to make sitting more comfortable...

we can have quite a few guests at the table.

I plan to keep marine blue as the theme.

I chose Tommy Hilfiger striped navy and white sheets and pillow slips

and the duvet cover is Tommy Hilfiger's preppy and crisp red white and blue.

Plenty of comfy seating out on the deck.

I have a few more basics to buy but storage is at a premium

so I am keeping it all the gear to a bare minimum

as we still need to bring food aboard!

I am so sleepy I'll need to close now

and get myself off to bed.

Sweet dreams...

( I hope you had a fun weekend!)

Busy weekend...

It's a busy busy weekend here in The Humble Bungalow!

I am taking a wee break to get some things done and hope to be back blogging next week.

Hostess

XO

OOTD on laundry day....and bloggers.

Our house guests have left and I am spending the morning doing laundry and generally tidying up.
It is a slow mo kind of day here in The Humble Bungalow.

I've had the kettle on several times to make tea.
Played with the cats as they got into the act of "helping" me change the bedding in the guest room.
I have a scratch on my ankle from Chester when he pounced out from under the bed to attack me.
It required antiseptic and a bandaid so as not to bleed all over the carpet.

The downstairs storage area is a catch all for donations and out of season items so I gave it a lick and a promise...
packed up 2 bags for the charity shops in the Volvo ready for the next time I am close to their donation bins.

Adrienne inspired me to pick some hydrangeas today after reading her blog post.

limelights 

whites

dabs of blue

looks like a flower within a flower

"The Secret Life of Flowers" 

sounds like a book title...

I'm wearing the white Talbots shirt that I saved from the donation bag at the last minute

I think it was a good decision because when Mr. HB came home he said

"you look nice."

these are fun freshwater pearls

 perfect for a home day when one wants to feel great 

while tending to the daily

"domestics"

 Keeping house is hard work and I think it's worth taking pride in...

materfamilias had some thoughts on "women of a certain age" showing what they wear 

and it got me thinking...

why do I do it when I have hardly any clothes that fit me now...

at WW today I weighed in and the scale showed I was down another 1.2 pounds

less than 4 pounds to go to reach my goal.

~ ~ ~

Pinched myself when I saw the recent post wedding image on Privilege

So delighted to see Lisa's wedding dress...

if it were not for her I would not be blogging.

Thank you again...

Congratulations!

 Best wishes for a lifetime of happiness.

~ ~ ~

Back to reality here in The Humble Bungalow.

Floors need to be swept, dishes need to be washed and life ticks on as the Westminster clock chimes.

"I make no secret of the fact that I would rather lie on a sofa than sweep beneath it. 

But you have to be efficient if you're going to be lazy."

 ~ Shirley Conran ~

About last weekend...OOTD and a milestone birthday.

Our weekend was jam packed with fun...
on Friday evening we had our BFF's over for a casual dinner.

I love the joy of sharing a simple meal with friends

entertaining that is comfortable and enjoyable for the Host and Hostess.

having the table set ahead of the arrival of the guests makes sense to me

I pour the water over the lemon wedges in the glasses to allow for the flavour of the lemon to infuse with the water

there is a full pitcher with lemons on the sideboard for refills

the roses are putting on a great showing this summer

it must be all the glorious sunshine

I tried a new recipe

which was very tasty

and easy to make.

Mr. HB grilled the steaks while I boiled up some baby new potatoes 

which I then topped with a blob of sweet butter, chopped mint leaves and a grinding of fresh pepper.

I served the steaks with sauteed mushrooms, steamed green beans and red pepper slices

The star of this meal was definitely the sauce...

cilantro was the main attraction

I harvested some rhubarb and actioned a crisp

served warm with some coconut Bliss

 these two flavours together are a match made in heaven

The next morning bright and early we drove up island

to look at a boat.

OOTD

deck shoes

(Vans)

Distressed boyfriend jeans

(Vera Wang)

Striped jacket

(Joes Fresh)

a smaller boat might be in our future

we thought we could stop boating 

but after a summer with no boat 

we realized that the sea is so much a part of our life and our history together

we have owned boats for the past 25 years and Mr. HB had a speedboat when we first met.

I was a guest on my BFF's family's boat when I first met Mr. HB

most of our friends are boaters...

in fact our BFF's recently downsized to a smaller boat 

and we were feeling rather sad that we would not be joining them as we get along so well.

Mr. HB has been on the ocean since he was a baby

and Mr. HB is celebrating his 60th birthday this week.

That's a lot of time spent messing about in boats!

(Happy Birthday Honey!)

we went out for lunch 

fabulous flower baskets line the railings

grilled pineapple ring

topped with warm butter lettuce

coconut prawns with mango salsa

yummy

Weight Watcher's Point friendly too...

later in the afternoon we had a ride on a small ferry

the ocean was rippled and a warm breeze was blowing

my fingers are crossed that we are back on the ocean soon

now it's time to sit and relax

and soak in the sun's rays

some are better than others at the art of relaxation

cats seem to be at home anywhere there is a soft surface

this new door mat has been adopted by Pepper!

Hope your week is off to a great start...