Canada Day, weekend stuff and a summer OOTD

A very grainy capture in the dark...

July 1st Canada's 150th celebration

the fireworks display watched from atop Moss Rocks.

Here's the view from on top of Moss Rocks 

a couple of blocks north of The Humble Bungalow.

The white condo building in the middle at the top was Mom's building.

I still have difficulty thinking that Mom has gone...

I see her in my daily round

and can still hear her voice...

My current book stack...

I picked up The Perfume Garden by Kate Lord Brown and sat for a few leisurely hours and have read the first 22 chapters... I do not want to stop reading!

Have you heard of the Cut Loose line of clothes?
I have tried on quite a few of their clothes over the years as I like their designs.
Many of their garments swamp my short stature...
I suppose they are designed for a taller woman.

Persistence over the years paid off and I have found a couple of Cut Loose things that I love and wear in the summer.

OOTD

A simple dress with a texture that minimizes bumps and wobbly bits.

The dress dips in the front and there is a pocket on one side.

The pocket is large enough for a wallet or a cellphone.

The back detail also dips 

I wear this with a pair of black footless capri tights and sandals.

I purchased this top in the US at Roche Harbour several summers ago.

It is long enough to wear with yoga pants or leggings.

Another favourite that gets a lot of wear.

I tend to wear looser clothing in hotter weather.

These two items get worn a lot and they wash up easily and hang to dry.

(Happy 4th of July to our neighbours to the south!)

My newest knitting project is a chunky weight white and grey mix yarn blanket.

It is a standard "dishcloth" pattern using two strands of yarn and a size 10mm circular needle with a 60 inch wire.

Constance Spry

a fragrant pink rose that continues to delight.

She is a repeat bloomer and a reliable and hardy climber.

Hope your week is off to a great start.

Hostess

Weekend Snippets...

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

The weather has been very hot and so watering has been a top priority.

With water restrictions in place, there are certain times one is permitted to use a sprinkler and the rest must be done by hand.

This has allowed me to wander about and take time to observe all the plants.

Roses love water and this white Iceberg climber is in full flush so I do not want to let it go dry.

If you look closely you can see the new obelisks beyond the iceberg rose.

These were required to help support the 4 new David Austin roses that we purchased this Spring.

Claire Austin is a fragrant white rose with climbing tendencies and the multiple blooms on each stem are heavy so she needs a little help.

Before painting...

After painting...

All four settled into their new spots.

We finished in time to sit for a bit on the deck. 

A glass of bubbly for the Hostess

and a single malt Islay scotch for Mr. HB.

Who BTW painted the obelisks most of the afternoon in the hot sun.

Thank you darling!

XO

We joined friends this weekend for a delicious BBQ dinner and sat on this gorgeous porch with expansive ocean views.

I also went to historic Point Ellice House and wandered in the garden and perused the new Secret Vintage Shoppe.

I'm working on a post to share the photos I took while I was there...

so please stay tuned and you can see what I found in the shoppe!

In the meantime 

it is laundry day and have a bunch of ironing to do.

How is your week going so far?

XO

Hostess Shopping habits...Friday post.

I try to shop locally as much as possible.
This is especially important when it comes to food.
If we want the farms to survive as acreages
and the local farmers to stay in business we need to give them our business.

I opt to shop in smaller stores where I know the owners...
the big box stores do not offer much in the way of service
and one generally does not engage in the same sort of conversation with the clerks while conducting business as these stores are usually noisy and crowded and the line ups long
which makes waiting to get through the till a rather tedious exercise.

Having said that, there are a few exceptions...

Like linens...
Our kitchen tea towels are all made of linen.
I love how soft the linen towels get after many washings.
After years of fighting with the iron I have come to terms with the job, and I love ironing...
standing back admiring the stack of freshly ironed tea towels each week on laundry day is a just reward!

I'm not sure why ironing was in the category of "domestic drudgery"...
it never occurred to me that all I needed to do was shift the way that I thought about the job in order to embrace and enjoy the process...
after all is said and done, it is repetitive and very meditative.
Calming...

Patricia Hines designed linen towels from Western Australia

found in a local second hand shop

as new ~ unused

$7.00 each

Each towel has a bit of red in the pattern which is why I bought the pair...

I have a red tea kettle and some other red accents in The Humble Bungalow Kitchen.

Coffee for my morning cafe creme comes from Italy

served in my favourite bowl

from

Emma Bridgewater Black Toast pottery from the UK

Since retiring I have been quite frugal...

especially with clothing.

I have kept a book where I record the clothes that I purchase and how much they cost.

It has been a great exercise and I plan to keep up the habit.

I love to shop vintage and peruse the charity shops.

 This is rather like a hobby as it can take up quite a bit of time.

If one is pressed for time this is not the best way to shop.

We have quite a few good consignment shops in town which are fun to browse.

One of my favourites is Good Things on Oak Bay Avenue.

I have consigned many household things with them...

recently we took some of Mom's items to them.

 I have purchased many more items from them that I could ever list!

(no book itemizing these purchases exists!)

Other shops are;

Value Village, Salvation Army, WIN thrift, St. Vincent de Paul, Super Chance and the James Bay Community Closet are located in town.

The Beacon Hospital Thrift Shop in Sidney is a 40 minute drive

but has a good selection of housewares, books, and clothing.

Like any second hand shop one needs to go with an open mind and look carefully at what is in the store.

Do you shop second hand?

Do you prefer to shop online or in person?

How was your Friday?

Mine was busy, but relaxed.

Yoga class, lunch out with a friend, and a wee bit of shopping

tried to go for a walk in the gale force winds

wrote this post while drinking a pot of tea

next up I will prepare a healthy dinner.

For those of you who may be curious about the lot next door...

and those who aren't please look away now.

This is the view from my kitchen window...

there is a huge pile of dirt waiting to be trucked away.

I wonder if we will have a weekend of peace and quiet.

Hope that you have some fun things planned for the weekend.

Hostess

XO

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 ~

Faux tree and a recipe...

Have I mentioned how our cats dictate how we live our life here in our Humble Bungalow? They do.
How they are mischievous and how every year they climb our live Christmas tree and break our vintage baubles? They do.

We have resorted to closing the doors and keeping them out of the living room unless we are there ourselves to shoo them away but I have decided that this is far too stressful...
and so
we have purchased a faux tree to keep the peace and serenity
that we far prefer to savour.

Looks ok

BUT

 it has no fresh fir scent...

no needles to vacuum up...

and the cats...

WELL

they are not at ALL interested in it

So I can say for now, 

we can relax...

PHEW!

There are so many things to do during this festive season.

Baking

Shopping

Entertaining

Being Entertained

Dressing up

Decorating

Christmas events

Writing Letters

Sending Cards

If we opt out of some of these it is not the end of the world.

I like to pace myself and really enjoy the seasonal festivities.

We would be amiss if we did not acknowledge and 

recognize  the people who help and work for and with us over the past year.

MR. HB's  firm hosted a party...

I wore a simple black dress

mesh tights

Chelsea boots

 accessorized with a diamond necklace, studs and my diamond heart bracelet.

Festive ties are a favourite of MR. HB.

He is not a fan of the tacky Christmas Sweaters.

He wore the tie on the left...with a grey shirt and black dress pants.

Very smart indeed.

Here is my diamond heart bracelet.

I am collecting diamond hearts to create a modern day "family heirloom" to pass onto one of my grandchildren. 

We have three little ones so far and so I am planning ahead.

I want to leave them with something to remember me by...
besides my cookies, story reading and home cooked meals.

Blurry image but you get the sparkly idea...

Ojibwa duck decoys, a dome with an allium inside and some copper lights...

Chester says hello from under the tree...

I bought a big bag of tomatoes from the market on sale today.

Incredibly cheap and so fresh!

So I pulled out my Soup Sisters Cook book and looked up the Heirloom tomato soup recipe...

Roast halved tomatoes sprinkled with garlic cloves, diced onions and olive oil

400 degrees for 45 minutes.

Pop into a pot and use the immersion blender to mix it into a pulp.

Add oregano, basil leaves, salt, pepper to taste.

Then add 2 cups of veggie stock and simmer for 30 minutes.

Ladle into a bowl and enjoy!

Its been a busy weekend...

I have been up late two nights in a row.

Feeling a bit like I could benefit from an early night.

Will try and catch a few extra ZZZZ'S

Hope your weekend was fun.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~