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.

Lime Time...

Love love love the colour green!
I adore the taste of limes...
have a "green thumb" and am often "green with envy."

I gravitate toward greens of all shades...

I love to use limes in a gin and tonic cocktail...
(My WW friendly G and T's are made using mostly Perrier with just a splash of tonic)
the wedge of lime is squeezed into the cocktail and then popped into the glass.

Avocado's are a WW high point but healthy splurge...avocado on toast or eaten straight from the skin with a splash of worchestershire sauce and a sprinkling of Sea salt...yum.

Green salads, green beans, green apples, green peas, green smoothie drinks...
so many healthy foods are green.

Our Humble Bungalow front porch is where we often sit after a hard day of working.

I found most of our vintage wicker porch furniture free on the boulevards...

after dragging the chairs and tables home I painted them black.

It's a cozy place to sit and chat.

It's located close to the street so it gives us an opportunity to greet the neighbours 

as they stroll by on the sidewalk.

We have a few dull planters that are going to be transformed by a coat of black paint...

I am not sure why I like black pots in the garden, but I do.

I'm not sure why I love green either but I do...

Does anyone know why we have colour favourites?

Ah but I digress...

 I need to get myself off to the paint store...

and I'm sitting here writing a blog post when I could be painting!

(my excuse is that it's really hot outside ~ I am keeping cool inside)

Do you "feel the heat?"

I do.

 I hydrate with sparkling water all day long so it is rather frustrating...

I garden in the mornings or later in the afternoon when the sun is not so intense.

I cannot remember if I mentioned that Mr. HB has been busy redoing our front porch and stairs.

They were in dire need of restoration.

When I went off to France my darling husband ripped them out and began a long and tedious project.

He improved the look as well as the stability and function of the stairs.

He rebuilt the area in front of the door by ripping out and replacing all the wood. 

Then he extended the treads of the stairs so they were deeper and reconfigured the detail of the sides by using the beveled siding as seen on the original house.

The beveled wood wraps around as you can see and it all needed to be level...

it was a big job but he is finished all the hard work and is ready to prime and paint.

I like the improved functionality and think it looks much better.

We need to decide on the style of the wood railings before the job is complete.

Railings would not have been part of the original design.

 With Mother popping by, 

(and we are aging ourselves!) 

we need to have something sturdy to hang onto.

Hermes scarf

Which I wear with this lime cardigan that I bought last summer from Target.

Cheap and cheerful.

  (I am still lamenting the loss of Target stores in Canada.)

I'm excited to report the wee lizard that we saw awhile ago in our Humble Bungalow Garden has been sighted several more times!

The Limelight hydrangeas are getting ready to flower so there will be lime bouquets in abundance.

That's all to report for now...

what's new with you?

Anything exciting happening in your neck of the woods?