Bedroom renovations are done!

The renovation took several months 

due to our summer holidays 

and 

the schedules and work load of the construction crew.

Here's what the bedroom looks like today.

Built in drawers and doors replaced a very small closet space.

We have so much more room for our clothes and its much better organized.

I purchased:

new pillows

memory foam mattress protector

cotton sheets

bed skirt

throw

Chester seems to approve!

We are leaving the distressed floor as it is...

I am not planning on buying antique rugs which originally thought I would.

Not sure about art work on the white walls...

they look so peaceful and serene.

All white bedding is my favourite.

Claire Austin Rose

I am working on my list

"3 weeks in a carry on" 

 for my upcoming trip to Italy and France.

More about that next time!

Thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow Blog.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Sleep Patterns...

I've been wearing several loose tunic tops with black capri length leggings

to keep cool these past few weeks.

The leggings provide a wee bit of coverage for my legs.

My legs are muscular and strong from walking.

I feel self conscious about the various scars

veins 

and

blotchy marks

that I have accumulated over 64 years of being on this Earth.

Living in an aging body

 is

something that I have not accepted...

I think of myself as a much younger person

with ample energy to perform many tasks each day.

So when I do feel tired...

I am kind of surprised and taken aback.

Limiting my "To do list" might be of some help.

Lowering my expectations of what I am reasonably capable of accomplishing on any given day might be something to work on.

Perhaps my level of energy has waned 

because my sleep has not been that restful since we moved into the guest room double bed?

I've started going to bed before 10 usually around 9:30

and I wake around 6 something in the morning.

I wear my FITBIT to bed so I can check on my sleep patterns.

 I wake several times each night.

My sleep is mostly "light" with limited REM and Deep sleep.

We will soon be back in our Queen bed as the renovations are almost finished...

This is something I am so looking forward to!

It's taken quite a while to get this project completed...

due to our holidays and a long delay getting started.

The trades here in Victoria are so busy!

There is a building boom on and there are not enough people to do all the jobs.

We are so fortunate to have a reliable contractor and skilled trades people.

I will be posting a few photos as soon as the furniture is back in place.

What are your sleep patterns like?

Do you feel that your sleep could be improved?

Have you any sleep tricks up your sleeve that you care to share?

Thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow Blog.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

September snippets...

Jude the Obscure 

still putting on a marvelous show ~ blooming non-stop since May.

Gosh I so love a hardy and reliable rose that encourages me to keep dead heading long after my early spring enthusiasm and energy has waned.

Hand watering is a daily job here in The Humble Bungalow Garden.

We don't have an automatic system so we use old fashioned watering cans, nozzles and sprinklers.

People walk by when I am gardening out front and they always stop to comment on the roses.

Some I invite in for an impromptu garden tour 

 they occasionally leave with a wee bouquet.

The Climbing Royal Sunset Rose is a challenge to dead head 

as it grows up the side of the deck so ladders are required.

I am not a fan of climbing up high on ladders 

so I dead head what I can reach from the ground below and from the deck itself.

Gertrude Jekyll

Prickly thorns can be a hazard when dead heading this rose.

Such a beautiful shade of pink with a seriously heady fragrance.

She blooms all summer long.

School starts this week which traditionally has signalled the end of summer.

I love the warm sunshine and hope it continues through towards Autumn.

The bedroom renovations are almost complete.

I have purchased a bed skirt, new sheets, and velvet slim hangers.

Am excited to get the closet organized and the rest of our bungalow 

"back to normal."

I am tired of sleeping in the double bed in our guest room.

It's a comfy mattress and very quiet downstairs 

but its too small a bed for the two of us to get a restful night of sleep.

Last night I actually fell out of bed.

I was sound asleep and it woke me up with a start!

Today 

Feeling achy and stiff, glad I didn't break any bones.

So I am slowly moving about my day...

doing only what really needs doing.

Am totally immersed in Louise Penny's newest book 

A Better Man.

I try not to read her books too fast.

It is difficult slowing down once you are gripped by the plot

they are such wonderful mysteries.

Must go pop the kettle on and make a cuppa

then open my book for an hour or so...

Hope your September is off to a great start.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Slow start to Sunday morning...

Romneya Coulteri

the paper like petals are so thin and wispy

almost like butterfly wings

they flutter in the gentle breeze

The renovations are still underway...

I am staying at home while the crews are on site.

I am missing my walks and the freedom to come and go as I please.

The painters have finished priming the woodwork.

 The drywall crew will be here on Tuesday.

When we are finished and I have purchased the bedding and we have set it all up I will share the pictures with you but it may be toward the end of August before that happens.

In the meantime,

I am keeping busy by reading, gardening, knitting and cooking.

Cleaning out a drawer here and there, doing laundry, and blogging.

We helped our son move this weekend.

His new house is an older home in good condition with a beautiful garden.

It is on a dead end street with a park at the end.

Families with young children as neighbours.

Hope that our grandchildren will meet some playmates on the street.

The back yard is fenced and very private.

Trees line the perimeter and there are some roses, hostas and day lilies.

A lovely patio is right off the kitchen.

William Shakespeare Rose

by

David Austin

Soft velvety petals set in deep frilly cups.

Fragrant and a hardy repeat bloomer.

One bloom can float in a clear glass bowl and make a bold statement.

I finished reading

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout.

She has a genuine gift

a keen eye for detail

like a talented artist she paints her story and characters with incredible depth.

This is a haunting novel, about a family who grew up in poverty

in a small rural town in America.

The children who

endured a childhood filled with fear and disappointment

due partly because of their dysfunctional parents 

are adults now and looking back.

 This book follows the characters from 

My Name is Lucy Barton. 

I am almost finished it and am having difficulty putting it down!

Knitted cotton dish cloths are a quick project.

I can easily make one in a day...

if I wanted to sit more 

I could make two.

Its a beautiful sunny morning here and quite warm.

Think I will go out and hand water the garden before it gets too hot.

Until next time,

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Chatting about roses...and a look back at the Humble Bungalow "before pictures"

Rose Constance Spry and Paul's Lemon Pillar together on the arbour

 in front of The Humble Bungalow.

People often stop to chat when they see me out in the front garden.

I frequently invite them in

so that they can smell the fragrance of these beautiful blooms.

We get many compliments from passers by 

about the roses and plants in our small lot garden.

I have often wondered what it would be like to have an acre...

I know that we would need many many more rose bushes.

Currently we grow about 30 roses

 an acre would require hundreds perhaps thousands!

I would need to hire a full time gardener.

Jude the Obscure rose

a David Austin variety that has had me smitten as soon as we were introduced!

LOVE at first sight...

the apricot colour of those frothy petals

( the scent is amazing)

This bloom is about to open up fully.

David Austin roses

Jude the Obscure and Abraham Darby

both very fragrant 

mixed with lacy fronds of the chartreuse green Lady's Mantle

Set atop the The Humble Bungalow bathroom sink.

Graham Thomas is a bright yellow David Austin rose.

This one is planted in our "work area" of the garden.

It is growing up a black trellis in the corner where we keep our compost bins, extra pots, wheelbarrow and stakes.

Gardeners NEED a work and storage area...

we've tried to hide ours by installing a latticework screen.

When we moved into The Humble Bungalow Garden almost 38 years ago 

it was in shambles...

it was overrun with prickly blackberry bushes and invasive morning glory.

The clean up took months as we did it all ourselves.

The children were young, 

Jennifer was 3 and Stewart was 15 months.

We worked together most weekends when the weather was decent.

The design has changed over the years 

it has morphed into a cottage garden style 

which features mostly on David Austin roses.

I pick a few roses when they are at their peak and bring them indoors to enjoy.

William Shakespeare and Jude the Obscure roses.

Constance Spry and Paul's Lemon Pillar roses.

This is Iceberg and prolific blooming climber.

This is what The Humble Bungalow Garden looked like when we moved in.

We knew that there was a lot of work required to fix this bungalow.

It had great "bones" and the location was good.

Mr HB designed and built the deck and arbour.

This picture is about 5 years old...

the rose you can see growing up the lattice is Climbing Royal Sunset.

The bed below has been completely changed...

 it has 4 black pergolas with white Claire Austin roses and a boxwood hedge at the front.

Here is The Humble Bungalow before we moved in...

the transformation is unbelievable even to me!

The house next door has been torn down and a new one built in its place.

The benefits of gardening are many...

fresh air

exercise

a creative outlet

and a 

calming refuge from life's struggles and stressors.

I hope you've enjoyed the rose parade today!

I'll be back again soon...

thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow Blog.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Spring Beauty

The Humble Bungalow Garden is showing some signs of life as the bulbs are starting to poke their heads up through the soil...
I have seen some snowdrops up in neighbouring gardens and I love their pure white blooms, so fresh and new.
I found a few images from the Humble Bungalow Garden archives to share with you today.

I feel energized and hopeful when I see these wee flowers...
Spring cannot be too far off when the snowdrops are blooming.
One cannot help but feel encouraged when the garden emerges
from its winter slumber.

Hellebores are hardy plants and they are stalwarts in January

 bursting forth with colour.

Daffodils are soon to follow...

the flower vendors have oodles for sale and I am tempted to buy a few bunches.

I adore this black Hellebore with a spot of sunny yellow in the centre.

Isn't yellow the most cheery of all the colours?

When it comes to spring time flowers yellow blooms are a ray of sunshine.

The Magnolia will be flowering in a bit too...

the buds are plumping up.

One day I hope our Humble Bungalow will have masses of these snowdrops.

We have planted clumps of them and each year they multiply.

For those of you who were curious 

here are a few more snapshots from the archives of the renovated laundry room...

Hope that you have some fun planned for the weekend.

There is a dinner party to prepare, some errands and chores...

and

 we will be spending some time with the grandchildren 

which always makes me happy and my heart full.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

The Humble Bungalow Below the stairs...

Greetings from The Humble Bungalow.
I took a very short blog break and I'm back...

In a recent post on wall treatments I showed pictures of the original dark wood interior of our arts and crafts home.
Stephen Andrew mentioned that he'd be tempted to paint the interior of our Humble Bungalow white and I have to admit that if it were up to just me I'd be wielding a white paintbrush.

Architect, Milo S Farwell designed our small home over 100 years ago...
it is a modest, small and very humble abode.
There is a historic value in these wee arts and crafts bungalows and many are being demolished in favour of larger homes. So restoration and preservation, with a nod to the integrity of the period seems appropriate...we updated the kitchen and bathrooms in the style but with new fixtures and appliances.
Our home is on the Heritage Registry which means that it can never be demolished.

We must take care to maintain the home and can apply for grants to help with big projects...
we did this with our roof and plan to apply for a grant to help pay for the painting that it so badly needs.

The interior of the living, and dining rooms of our home have also been designated heritage...
so I would not be permitted to paint them white!
In our basement it's a different matter, we went with white white and more white!!!

The quartz counter top in the laundry area.

Vintage enamel bread tin and colander.

The tools are black and white too...

this duo sports a touch of lime.

The bench by the door with an oar...

The LG washer and dryer are pewter grey and the floor tile is a mottled black.

(my goodness! I spy tan lines from my flip flops)

A basic black bamboo dress hangs to dry.

This hall would be very dark if it was not for the white walls.

You can see the guest room at the end of the hall.

The bathroom has a white tiled floor with black accents.

The bathroom shelf which I purchased at HomeSense.

Vintage mirror that I found on the boulevard...

Someones trash is someones treasure!

I threw in this picture of a black and white pillow that we have on our linen slip covered sofa in the family room.

I bought a new Cut Loose white top at Roche Harbour Resort .

We recently cruised to San Juan Island in Washington State, for a few days aboard our Sea Ray.

(Isla, our darling grand daughter is the artist behind the picture)

BTW grand baby number 3 is due any day now...

I am excited to meet the new little girl.

I'll be putting together a pictorial post of Roche Harbour sometime soon...

it's such a pretty spot and I'd like to share it with you.

In case you didn't know it's a destination for weddings.

Apparently there are over 120 weddings held in the garden every year.

While we were there for 5 days we noted 3 weddings were held in the gardens.

Loved the dreamy white gowns that the brides wore...

one wedding had 4 brides maids and they all wore white gowns and carried bouquets of white roses they looked so elegant...

It's time to relax and brew a pot of tea.

Until next time...

thank you for stopping by.