A Camping We Will Go!!

Yay, it's summer!!! Too bad it's forecasting rain again...This Nova Scotia weather is downright rotten. And to think I put up ceiling fans in the bedrooms when I could have installed chandeliers and funky lighting instead. Grrr!!

Well, the house building process was last year...and (ahem) maybe the past few summers prior. No more! We are done building for a long while and we are determined to go camping again! Oh yes, this is going to be the summer for doing all we can and should and making lots of great memories (which should be easier now that we don't have to travel around together in my little car...hubby got himself a BIG truck!!).

Yes, we are definitely packing up the (sigh) tent, air matresses, and camping chairs and heading over to Marco Polo Land to do some "urban camping". They call Marco Polo the spot for urban campers because they are very accomodating to those of us who like our creature comforts in the great outdoors. They have two large pools, nice bathrooms (for a campground), a little convenience store for those forgetful campers...who moi?..., a youth drop-in center, ice-cream stand and even a fast-food take-out! It does sound a bit pathetic doesn't it?? Oh well, it is the place for me as it is also nice and safe with lots of security, nightly bonfires, and the kids can roam around on their bikes and feel quite independent.

My family often teases me when I say I want to go camping. The first time we took our kids was a family trip with my siblings, when I was 5 months pregnant with my third child. My bladder was on high alert, I was nauseous and my youngest boy had the remnants of a bad chest cold. Our tent said it was a four-man tent, and we were a four-man family (soon to be five...) but it sure didn't feel like it. I spent much of the night in pain trying to delay my frequent trips to the "bathroom" ( we were not at Marco Polo), and alternated that with worrying about my little guy whose cough seemed to be returning with a vengeance. The real kicker was that we were in a tent not a camper. You see, when we pulled up to our spot earlier in the day, full of good intentions, I was met with the sight of my brother and his family puttering about in their camper. They were cooking spaghetti (spaghetti??!!), had the radio going and were sitting at their table with a little fan blowing a cool breeze their way. I instantly felt sick...with envy!

Did I sulk for the remainder of the trip...you bet!! Pregnant, hormonal, nauseous and jealous! Yep, I was a prize...perhaps even acted a little child-like. Well, no more! No siree!! That was not the end of me as a camper. No way were my kids going to be able to say that their childhood was rotten because they never got to go camping. In fact, I treated my next camping trip like a really important "mission". That meant research, lists, lots of trips to the dollar store...you name it. By the time we left, we were sooo prepared! All my work paid off as it turned out to be a great time and I was a born-again camper!! No more sulking for me!!!

Since I'm now an "expert", I'll leave you with a few of my favorite tips: 1. If you want to be sure you always have clean hands (I'm a bit obsessive about this), take a bottle of liquid soap. a small handtowel and wrap a bungie cord around them and the tree near your water source. Perfect!! 2. Bring along a cheap vinyl tablecloth and a staplegun to secure it to your picnic table 3. Bring some of those dollar store "necklaces" that you snap and they light up. They make great night lights. 4. Don't have a portable toilet, but you do have a toddler? Bring along a potty for those inevitable middle of the night bathroom wake-up calls. This is a good one..trust me! 5. Precook your bacon so you can impress everyone with how fast you (or even better, your hubby) can get breakfast served. 6. Don't go camping pregnant...and whatever you do, don't go camping with a tent when the other parties in your group have a camper...unless you're really mature!! Happy camping!!!

Out to sea...cottage style

I have long had a fascination with the ocean. I am partly afraid of it and on the flip side I am totally enchanted by it. One of my first memories is of the water and it is one that I think helped shape my fear. It was in Ireland (my birthplace) and I was a little girl probably not much more than 3 or 4 years of age. I was being coaxed to climb aboard a small fishing boat by my Dad and brothers and I'm not sure who else. I remember looking down between the dock and the boat at the deep, dark, murky water and being terrified that, as I made the leap, I would fall into that scary crevice and disappear. Now, whether this memory is totally accurate I'm not sure (as you know, my memory is very bad...), but it was and is very real to me, and to this day I am nervous when I am on a wharf or dock.

So, I guess I would have to say that I have a love of the seaside, a fear of the ocean, and a phobia of sharks (because of the movie JAWS). I am one of those people who sits on a beach chair, shielding my eyes from the sun, scanning for sharks!! I know I'm a bit odd, but somebody has to do it!!!

Back to the topic at hand - decorating with nautical treasures... I am dabbling with them myself. My home has a predominantly light colour scheme that lends itself well to this scheme. Watery blues, linen fabric, lots of white...I am finding it quite easy to add these beachy accessories and I think I have not yet overdone it. I place white starfish in my windows, scatter some of the sand dollars we have found at the beach on table tops, and decorate my mantel with nautical decor. Again, not too much...I don't want to get "themey" and I figure if I want to go "over the top" with it, I'll just head outside to my pool deck. Hey, I'm not making any promises of restraint there.

These pictures show my front window with starfish (I usually have stars), the framed picture is of some of the girls in my family baring our toes, and the rope ball used as a doorstop is just brilliant (just not my brilliant). The mantel above is mine...all decked out for summer!

**Sorry for the goofy way some of the writing is appearing...I have fiddled with it over and over and can't make it look like it should!! Aagh!!

Swing to their heart's content...

I love to swing and my daughter Sophie has certainly inherited that from me. Building a small swingset is on our list of things to do this summer. I thought I'd show you what is out there to entertain our kids when they play outside. Do you think they'd actually entertain themselves for more than five minutes if they had some of these objects of indulgence? I don't know, but they sure are beautiful and expensive!!! I

have to laugh at how swingsets have grown exponentially from the one to the left to the ones above. No tippy swings there...!!!

These playhouses are pricey too. The Victorian style is listed at $23,692, while the built-in tree house goes for the bargain basement price of $10,999 (and not a penny more!!!). Aren't they amazing? Too bad they are nicer than most real homes...but doesn't your little darling deserve one??!! Maybe you should get two, kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it? I'd rather pack up a nice picnic lunch and take my kids to the park...you could do a lot of good with that much money instead. Again, how times have changed...

Outdoor water features

Another (yes another) thing on my outdoor wish list is a little garden pond. You know the type...small, encircled with lots of stone, goldfish swimming within, a little fountain giving it just the right amount of authenticity...so pretty. My friend Janet has one, and although I have yet to sit and enjoy it, I certainly plan to!! I can just picture us...blissfully sipping our diet Cokes while the kids play in her pool and then...SPLASH...yeah, yeah, I'm daydreaming again!! Anyway, because I can't find the room in my yard to have one (and with town bylaws I'd probably need a 5 ft fence around it!!), I will just have to enjoy other people's.

Determined to incorporate a water feature of my own, I purchased a wall fountain for my deck. It is just the right size and after plugging it in...voila...perfectly trickling water. Well, maybe a little too strong a trickle. I get the feeling it will be triggering too many trips to the bathroom if we're sitting out with friends drinking some summer cocktails... Oh well, that's better than seeing one of my cats with a poor little goldfish hanging from its mouth! See how life gets in the way of decorating perfection? A perfect example of reality vs. fantasy!! I say, if you want a low maintenance/low-cost water feature, try a nice birdbath. Not only will you be adding some interest to your garden, but you will also be providing a lovely spot for the birds in your yard to cool off.

I will leave you with some wonderful examples of outdoor water features you can aspire to, or like me, just continue to dream of. Besides, living just 15 minutes from one of the most beautiful beaches in Atlantic Canada, I have absolutely nothing to complain about!!!

Unfinished Business...

Well, here are some before photos of all the outdoor projects we have under way. The only problem is...there are no after photos yet. We still have lots to do before those can be taken and the weather and our schedules are not cooperating. Paul has made more progress than this photo shows - the floor of the deck is now complete and he is starting on the walls. I want the pool area to be good and private so we can pretend we are not within spitting distance of our neighbours!! The kids decided they could wait no longer and decided to have their very own "polar dip"...the water temperature was about 60 degrees, so needless to say, their dip was very brief!!

Sophie and I are tackling the flower beds but that, too, is slow going. I want to plant with the future in mind and I want it to look "cottagey"...I don't want anything looking too perfectly planned or cookie-cutter. I'll post some pictures of the progress we have made as soon as I get my mulch.

I hope you all are enjoying better weather than we are. It is still basically quite cold and rainy here. There haven't been too many occasions where the kids have had to wear shorts. It's looking like another short Maritime summer...Happy landscaping!!

Blowing in the breeze...

I have had this post "on hold" until I was ready to finish writing it and find some good clothesline pictures. Then, the strangest occurrence happened. One of my favorite magazines (and I have many) arrived today, and the editor had written about clotheslines and how much she loves them, too! What's that about great minds?...just kidding!!

I have always loved clotheslines. I know that sounds strange, especially to those who hate laundry, but I really have! As a little girl, I would watch my mum hang out clothes and think, "I could do that better"... I thought she needed to have more of a plan and I didn't like that she didn't hang them in a pretty line. Her line was haphazard (sorry Mum!) but considering she was hanging out clothes for eight people, I was wise enough to keep my lips zipped! She wasn't a big fan of me helping her, as I took too long and used up the clothespins too quickly.

My very first grown-up clothesline was hung from the very first home my husband and I built. The line was was huge, and for some reason kept coming off the pulley and/or clothes kept getting wrapped up in it. I think the post even fell over a few times as we were too cheap, or dumb, to sink it into some cement! My second clothesline was one that was pre-existing from (and I'm guessing) the 50's . It was at our old farmhouse in our old town and it was not pulley style, but rather the type you prop in the middle with an old, tall stick. I think this one was my favorite one because it was low enough for my kids to play peekaboo with me in it and I have a funny memory about it. One day, I came outside to hear my then four-year old son crying...wailing actually. I flew towards him, convinced he was hurt somehow. Instead, I found him pointing up at the clothesline, crying. Confused, I looked in that direction only to see his teddy bear, "Bear" hanging from the line where I had pinned him that morning. I said to him, "Why are you crying? Do you want to play with him?" His mournful response was," NO, but get him down, his ears are in pain!!!" I realized how pathetic poor Bear must have looked to my little boy, hanging as it was with its ears pinned to the line!! That is one of my favorite memories, and I could not believe my luck when I stumbled upon this picture of a bear on a clothesline.

Fast forward to now, and I am actually stumped as to where I am going to put a clothesline on our little, meager lot. The pool deck is taking up most of the yard and just when I need it the most, my clothesline is likely going to be puny!! It will no doubt always be full of beachtowels, so I will get little opportunity to hang that perfect line of clothes...



We all have our quirks when it comes to what and how we hang out our clothes. I personally am not a big fan of hanging out (ahem) undergarments on a clothesline. Not only is that too much information, but it takes up too much time and too much line. I tend to hang the clothes out by owner. Sophie's pretty clothes get hung out with extra care because they look so pretty hanging just so. Nothing, to me, looks prettier on a line than pretty sheets and teatowels and/or aprons. Once I get my clothesline up, I will post a picture of my vintage apron collection, which, by the way, I never wear (although I am a slob when I cook, I don't want to dirty them!!).

Until that time, I will continue to overstuff my dryer and watch my electric meter spin round and round... Happy drying!!!

Take it outside...

In my opinion, food always tastes better when you eat it outside. My kids start the daily chant, "Can we eat outside?" as soon as the warm winds blow and we roll out the BBQ from the garage. For me, the warm spring air inspires me to start creating (or recreating... if we didn't move so often) a pretty outside space to dine; sit out with friends and enjoy a glass of wine or beer on a hot night; and a place to light up the outdoor firepit and roast marshmallows with the kids. Sounds idyllic doesn't it? Except you have to add in mosquitoes, husbands re-telling the same old "funny"stories, and me harping at the kids to "stop poking the fire", "be careful with that hot marshmallow", and "stop bugging your brother", etc., etc. All that aside, I still strive to create this outdoor oasis that, in a perfect world, would be, well, perfect!!

My husband and I don't see eye to eye on the need to have all the right outdoor accessories. To him, all you need is one of those plastic tables, a few chairs, and, as he did last year before we (I) bought the firepit, some tree stumps and a dirt patch to light a good fire that he thought was perfectly fine in our suburban neighbourhood ( where our kids were among the only five kids on our street). I'm sure the neighbours loved our outdoor cookouts...they probably had their fingers poised at 911 on their phones...Poor Paul, he is really meant to be in the "country" where we did live for six years and raised chickens and planted Christmas trees. That's another story and I digress...

I have now begun the outdoor decorating process as I have vowed this year to squeeze every last bit out of this summer. We are landscaping, building our pool deck, aiming for a swingset and playhouse for our daughter, and still have some odd jobs left to complete this house which we built last summer. I want our yard and deck to be a place where we can enjoy good friends, good food, roasted marshmallows and the sound of the frogs and pheasants behind our house. I probably (hubby would say definitely) won't be getting my outdoor shower this summer, but I will have lots of fun creating my backyard "beach" with a rustic bar area (that I bought last weekend at a yard sale), hanging my new hammock style swing, painting the kids a checkerboard on an outdoor table, and enjoying my new fountain which I hung last night. I will post pictures as soon as there is something to photograph, but for now I will leave you with some great outdoor spaces for you to drool over.

What does your outdoor haven look like? Even if it's only a dream at the moment, start taking babysteps towards achieving it. Plant beautiful, fragrant flowers in a pretty urn for your patio, buy some fun seat cushions for your outdoor chairs, string up some mini-lights in a tree or along the deck, or paint your picnic table or plastic table with a bright, fun colour. A little imagination and elbow grease can go a long way! Most importantly, gear up for lots of fun, relaxation and time spent with family and friends just enjoying a good, hot summer!!! That's what it is all about and what I am truly thankful for...

***this picnic table shot is for a good friend who dreams of the good old-fashioned, classic picnic table of her childhood... I love the outdoor lockers in the pool photo (from Pottery Barn, left). I think they might be next years project...

Backyard Showers

I have never taken a shower outdoors, but I can only imagine how great it would be! The first outdoor shower I ever saw was on television, in an Irish Spring commercial, and aside from the big, dopey guy in the ad (with the bad fake accent) , I thought that shower was the most amazing thing ever! I still dream of having one, but my reasons have changed.

We are in the process of putting in a backyard (above-ground) pool and in my wish list of pool accessories is a great outdoor shower. I picture it on my deck, with a door that has that proverbial outhouse symbol, the crescent moon, carved in it (above peeking level of course!!) I would hang nautical themed towels from fun hooks and wire baskets would hold a nice bottle of shampoo, shower gel, and a sea sponge. Visiting kids (and my own) could rinse the chlorine out of their hair and dirty feet making tracks on my hardwood would be no more. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

Then reality throws just enough water in my face. My "middle child" has an issue with water... He is usually in the shower for up to 20 minutes (to wash a small body, no less) before we notice that the water coming from the taps is unusually cold and he is not in his room getting settled for bed as we had presumed. This is our obstacle to a poolside shower. We can just picture him (and to be fair, his little sister) hopping in and out of the pool to "warm up" under the hot shower. We are purposely not getting a pool heater due to the high cost of it, so the amount of hot water we'd go through in a day with a shower would defeat this cost saving measure!

My only hope is that my husband will come through on his promise to come up with a creative solution to heat the water naturally (think modified rain barrell) and rig something up so that I can achieve my girlhood fantasy of standing under a shower in the great outdoors while the birds chirp and the kids splash in the pool nearby. On second thought, maybe I had better rethink that moon-shaped cut-out...I don't want any little pranksters traumatizing me (and themselves) while I'm trying to fulfill a dream!!!