Sweeping Beauty....and men in kilts!

Cleaning is an ongoing job that never seems to get finished.
As soon as I complete a task there is another one that needs tending to.
My standards have relaxed somewhat and the dust bunnies are having a convention here in The Humble Bungalow!
It's not for lack of vacuuming, dusting or sweeping...I think there is a dust bunny baby boom afoot...make that underfoot!

The rays of sunshine are drawing attention to my lack of due diligence, and pointing their fingers at me as if to say "tisk tisk" Hostess. All I can say is that it is very difficult keeping a house of this vintage dust free. The forced air furnace seems to whip up the dust in whirls of frenzied spirals and they land willy nilly settling on the plate rails and dark wood fir panels.
Life is much too short to obsess about this but I recoil a bit when I spy this mayhem.
It's bad enough that I judge the dust in disgust ~ imagine what guests must think!

Meet Sweeping Beauty.

One might as well have beautiful tools when doing a rather thankless job.

They elevate my mood when I am darting about trying to capture the dirt.

Did I mention that I now wear my walking or Yoga gear so that I feel like I am getting some exercize?

The psychology of wearing stretchy fabrics and my hoodie are making me more active.

Who knew that this would happen?

I think perhaps I have turned over a new leaf.

I've often thought about trying to use a leaf blower to eradicate the dust by using brute force.

Has it ever crossed your mind?

Bring in the big Guns?

Spring is a time for renewal...

Spring Cleaning is currently Number 1 on my do list.

Windows are done by a friendly fellow who loves leaping up on ladders ad squeegeeing his way 

around the many panes. I've had him do the inside and the outside and I do admit it's a bit of a luxury but he does a far superior job than I can do!

I've heard about a new service in town that might be worth a call

but I am loyal to my fellow who has been taking care of our windows for the last 20 years...

when he retires I think I'll hire these blokes!

Deeper cleaning happens in the Spring. 

Every day I wipe and disinfect the kitchen counters

(our cats are the reason I need to be so fastidious as they jump up and drink out of the kitchen faucet!)

I keep on top of the clutter

a small home looks smaller if it's littered with stuff

besides feeling way too chaotic...

I wash dishes 24/7

 keep the stainless appliances shining

wipe off the cooktop and keep on top of the fridge and it's contents.

Laundry is probably my favourite domestic chore...

and I LOVE my new LG steam machines.

We "domestics" have an important job and one that I think offers job security!

~ ~ ~

Mr. HB is busy too...

We have quite a few major projects planned...

a new roof, 

a sun deck repair and rebuild 

and a green house at some point.

~ ~ ~

I am so disturbed by the recent events in Boston at the marathon.

I'll never really understand the use of violence...

I admit to being naive and I do live my life by the Golden Rule.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Spread Peace in your daily round this week

the world needs balance and I feel we can all do our little bit to help.

Namaste

~ ~ ~

Hatley Castle...a Victoria treasure.

The day was sunny and mild and we decided to take our house guests out for a bit of a wander.
I had mentioned Hatley Castle as a possible destination to Mr. HB and he agreed.

Hatley Castle was commissioned by the wealthy entrepreneur James Dunsmuir and was completed in 1908.
The links here will give you all the details that you might want to know.

I took over 100 pictures and have whittled them down to just a few.
I hope that you enjoy your virtual tour!

look at the details in this downspout!

Granite is used extensively in the construction.

The grounds are beautiful.

Views of the ocean beyond the terrace.

The Italian Garden

Formal plantings and a traditional layout.

A very gnarled old wisteria.

a massive trunk!

I have seen the mauve wisteria blooming in the summer 

not only is it stunningly beautiful

the scent is intoxicating!

The garden is showing off her great "bones" 

when the flowers and trees are in bloom it is a riot of colour, scent and breathtaking in it's beauty.

Weddings are very popular here and you can see that the architecture and grounds are perfect for staging photos.

I can visualize and bride and groom standing in this spot.

The terrace is to the left of this figure, the croquet lawn below

ocean beyond in the distance.

Witch Hazel

The Japanese Garden is exquisite...

The water features play a big role in this part of the garden.

Lush green grass rims the wee path that snakes along the water's edge.

A pair of Mallard ducks are visible to the right of the bronze heron sculpture.

These are fish ladders that allow fish to go from the lake to the large pond.

You can see how the ladder works here

the fish can swim up and rest above the slat until they get enough energy to make another burst to the next slat.

The moss is such a lovely shade of green.

These smaller water channels were full and the sound of the rushing water was melodic.

Charming bridge one walks over the rivulet of water to the other side.

The arching details are all in keeping with the other Japanese themed structures.

Around the pond the path was made of large stepping stones.

Imagine how peaceful it would be to sit here and relax.

The sun was warm and the pond flat calm.

Mallard ducks were the only things stirring...

The Japanese Garden is heavily planted with rhododendrons and flowering cherry and plum trees.

A future visit will be planned for April or May so that we can see the garden in all it's glory.

Lime Hellebores blooming near the castle foundation.

A view taken from the terrace

the croquet lawn is below the terrace.

I can just imagine an afternoon tea on the terrace!

I will post more Hatley Castle photos soon.

The greenhouse and walled garden among others.

This is as close to Downton Abbey that I have found in our neck of the woods.

What did you think about that season finale?

I wonder what the next season will bring for Lady Mary?

Be Well

until next time...

Hostess

Books and Bricks...

I'm passionate about cooking and naturally great cookbooks help to keep me inspired and challenged in the Humble Bungalow kitchen.
Often I am fortunate enough to receive them as gifts...
this Christmas I was given one of the new Barefoot Contessa cookbooks and have been reading, browsing and planning what I'll cook first. Ina has such a wonderful assortment of basic staple recipes and none of them look too challenging, nor do they require exotic spices or ingredients that might make preparations a bit daunting.

She's really quite pretty

I'd love to be able to watch her cooking shows again

but they are not available on our current channels

and we have many!

Do you read the smitten kitchen blog?

Well Deb has a cookbook!

This is a vast volume with an wide array of interesting and tempting recipes

I cannot decide what I'll make 

but I'm thinking I should invite my son, DIL and Isla to dine with us 

when I do decide as they gave me this gift.

Merci!

I found this cookbook while browsing the aisles at Home Sense.

Williams Sonoma Weeknight Fresh and Fast 

which is often what I need on a busy weeknight after work.

Fresh, healthy and tasty meals that don't take hours to put together.

Williams Sonoma has not set up shop in our town

so 

whenever we go anywhere that has one 

Mr. HB knows he'll be exploring their wares with me

and it's difficult harnessing my desire to buy when surrounded with so many great tools.

This book has been out for quite sometime and I was eyeing it at the local book seller 

but I resisted until it went on sale at a price that I could not resist.

Bunny's writing is easy ~ yet pleasant

the pictures are lovely

and the pages are full of great ideas 

 suggestions on what supplies are necessary for entertaining

and home keeping basics that one might need to have on hand.

I'm in my element reading her thoughts.

One of my prized "possessions" is a Sidney Island brick

mostly prized as there are very few whole ones left plus it was discovered on one of my most memorable dates!

Mr. HB and I found it on the beach at Sidney Spit when we were teenagers.

He used to take me over there in his speed boat and we'd hold hands and walk along the sand barefoot.

I'd hazard a guess that we found it about 45 years ago...

There was a brick factory over there for awhile in the early 1900's.

The Empress Hotel was built with these bricks.

Many broken bricks still litter the high tide mark near the public campsites.

There is a bomb shelter there too which is narrow dark and I used to be brave and run through it until I spied several spider webs blocking the entrance.

It's rather silly being afraid of something like spiders but I will avoid them at any cost.

The Marine park is one of my favourite spots to cruise to 

and spend the day beach combing

then if the winds are light stay the night.

The sunsets are beautiful and in the summertime you can glimpse the highest fireworks at Butchart Gardens.

~ ~ ~

Besides books and bricks...

I've been using the IPAD mini quite a bit and was rather concerned that it did not get scratched or walked on by the cats so I found a simple sleeve which also works as a stand made by Hipstreet.

my manicure is holding up rather well

I dressed it with a top coat of fresh colour and am thinking 

 maybe I could try to emulate Faux Fuchsia 

she has the prettiest nails on the blogosphere

and her blog has a bit of something for everyone...

flowers, friends, food, fashion and family.

Recipes are easy to find online but one never knows how good the recipes are...

I learned this the hard way when I made Boston Baked Beans

that bombed!

Speaking of bricks we had to have our 100 year old chimney rebuilt as the mortar was crumbling

a stainless steel liner was inserted down the chimney to prevent us from getting carbon monoxide poisoning

we have purchased a simple CO2 detector and had no knowledge that this might pose a risk to our health so mention this to heritage home owners just in case you had not heard...

Take care

Hope that your New Year is off to a great start.

If you haven't already heard Downton Abbey starts tomorrow!

Mr. HB and I watched season 3 online thanks to our clever son who showed us how to download it.

Not going to spoil any of the story line...

I'm just saying it's a season not to be missed.

Hostess

Signs of the Season

Decorating The Humble Bungalow...
is rather simple.

We never have gone overboard and I often wonder why.
I suppose keeping things simple and stress free is what's behind our minimalist philosophy.
I love seeing beautifully decorated homes at Christmas and often go on the annual Art Gallery fundraiser which showcases homes dressed to the nines.

We will have a live tree in the "Charlie Brown Style" and decorate it with vintage ornaments that we have collected over the past 40 years but that happens very close to Christmas Eve.

We tend to opt for natural flourishes rather than the artificial.

I will be purchasing some red twigs with red berries or rose hips to add to the greenery...

maybe some variegated holly but I haven't found an abundance of it in my travels yet.

My BFF told me of a new shop that has opened up and I am planning to pay them a visit this weekend.

Cones collected from the heritage trees in the cemetery after a gale force storm.

Poinsettia

Arts and Crafts Weller jardinere

The traditional wreath

hanging on the newly crafted door which is in the same style as the 100 year old one which delaminated.

As we are a designated heritage home we need to maintain in the original style all the exterior details.

I have used a plastic suction cup on the glass to hang it from as Mr. HB did not want to put any holes in the wood.

Chester broke off a stem from the poinsettia (!)

so I added it with some dusty miller and made a bathroom posy.

They don't look too naughty right now...

when we have the tree decorating I am sure that they will be up to their usual tricks!

Hope that your week is off to a great start.

Be Well, Be Kind and Be Lovely!

Hostess

XO