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10 In Adventures/ Decorating

Farm Fresh Thrift Challenge

I so enjoy the thrill of the hunt.  Yard sales, antique stores, thrift shops, old houses – you name it, I want to poke around.  And a looooong time ago, we did the Macklemore Thrift Challenge with Young House Love.  And its high time we did it again!

Do you remember the song? You can listen HERE if you’d like, it never gets old, the swearing might be too much for some….I warned you, though!  I chuckle every time.  Then Young House Love threw down the challenge to spend $20 in an old blog post HERE with a follow-up post HERE.  And I took them up on the challenge, which you can read about HERE.

It’s so fun to connect over thrifting so it’s time for another round.  Every time I share my finds on Instagram, people always comment so I know I’m not alone in my love of thrifting.  And with New Year’s resolutions going strong and the Marie Kondo series on Netflix, thrifting is at its prime!

Who wants to thrift with me? Budget limit is $20.  Photograph yourself with your $$$ and send me the pictures to show you are in within the next week-ish.  Then, on February 18th, or before, send me a picture and description of the goodies you found!  It’s as simple as that!  I may even share your pictures in the blog or on Instagram down the road!

If you are into the whole social media thing, use the hashtag #thriftingwithfarmfresh to share your selfie, your hunt and/or your treasures!!  I’ve already talked two friends into it with – who else will join us!?!?!?

I’M SO EXCITED!!

Colourfully yours,

Lori

 

 

January 29, 2019 By
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In Adventures/ Life/ Make Something

Gingerbread, Candy and Fun

Building gingerbread houses with the United Way has been apart of our annual Christmas celebration for a few years now.  I’m not sure how many more years we’ll get to take the girls but we managed to squeeze in at least one more year!  I suspect the ‘bigs’ won’t want to hang with us much longer…

I look forward to this event every holiday season.  Maybe it’s the sense of community there, maybe it’s the fun the girls have, maybe it’s hanging out with friends….and maybe it’s all the candy.  The United Way does so much within our community, it’s a fun way to be able to support them, too.

I need to go back through the pictures to see just how many years we’ve been going { we think it’s 5 now } to see how little they were when we started!  HERE is a blog post I did at some point – look how little those girls were!!

Wait, wait!!!  HERE they are even smaller!!! Oh my heart!!!!

This year it was held at the Museum of Industry in Stellarton.  It’s nice to see various venues being used for this event.  I just hope the carpet recovered from it 😉 We met Angela and her girls there and got down to business.  So much yummy candy to decorate with and snack on.  And the icing may have been tested out, too….

The girls have fun and sometimes it gets a little crazy.  But the decorative freedom is theirs and so away they go.  Lena clearly is her mother’s daughter, with shutters and window boxes on her house.  Hannah is her own person so she did what it takes to make a candy cane stand upright on the roof….

I think they always start out with good intentions.  They work away with a clear game plan in place…

And when things go off the rails, then you grab life by the roof and just bite into it!!!

Do you think Hannah had a litttle too much sugar?  No, me either….

I honestly can’t recall if Santa showed up other years or not, but he did this year and I loved watching Lena and Abbie interact with him.  They know where things stand, but still couldn’t resist the chance to get a picture with Santa.  The best was when Santa informed us he knew these two well and knew they were good kids.  More than just being Santa, he happens to drive a local school bus when he isn’t too busy overseeing the production line and elves up there at the North Pole.  How can you resist that glint of mischief in his eye?

If one of your local chairties puts on this type of event, I highly recommend you take your kids, or borrow someone else’s and go.  You are supporting your community, you get to enoy watching your children create and the highlight for me?  You don’t have to make the gingerbread nor clean up the mess afterwards!!

Us? We’ll be hanging onto this tradition for as long as we can!!

To be continued,

Lori

 

December 17, 2018 By
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In Adventures/ Decorating

The Vintage Tourist Cabin

Last month the girls and I went up to visit Janice in Cape Breton and we stayed in the cutest little cabin and we’re going up one last time before winter hits! And I know you’ll love it just as much as we did so I’m sharing all the cutest here with you!

Let me start off by telling you how we ended up here and a little bit of the back story to the cabin.  Janice and I have been friends for almost 20 years now and because we visit back and forth so much, her friends have been very welcoming of me and my family and they have become my friends.  Barbara is one particular friend that shared my love of chippy red chairs and vintage finds.  And it just so happens that Barbara { and at least one sister, if not more?? } happen to have a cabin located just down the road from Janice’s.  But this cabin isn’t just any old cabin.  It is a cabin that belonged to their grandparents who had 6 or 7 of these cabins on their property and they rented them out as tourist cabins in the heart of Margaree.  So, it’s the most perfectly tiny, vintage cabin I have ever laid my eyes on.

When we were making plans to stay there the first time, Barbara told me where the key would be hid. No big deal.  Except we pull up to this adorable cabin and I start swooning over just how adorable it is with is chippy red door and blue shutters.  Then I pull out the key.  It’s a skeleton key.  Oh, be still my heart!!!!  And this was before we even stepped foot inside!!

Painted wood floors, old beds, comfy couch, vintage dishes, hand written notes, board games…I could go on and on but I’ll just show you the pictures instead…

Am I right???  Isn’t this the cutest place?  Barbara had it stocked up for us, spoiled us with treats and flowers.  We felt so welcomed and at home.  In fact, I was plotting and planning how I can possibly just move there forever…

There is something to be said for stepping back and taking things slower.  Take some walks, play some cards, sit with a warm cup of coffee and a good friend.  Or step it up a notch and play jenga… {my favourite but I don’t recommend playing with Hannah… }

As of right now, it is not listed for rental but when it does become available, I’ll be sure to let you know!! Or maybe I won’t so I can go stay there….. 😉

To be continued,

Lori

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 8, 2018 By
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In Adventures/ Meet Someone New

My Internet Friend

One of the benefits of social media is connecting with people.  It’s about keeping in touch with people from across the globe, whether it’s family or friends.  It’s about finding people who have similar interests and connecting with them.  And it can be so random.

Somehow my Instagram path crossed with a lovely gal named Terrie.  I’m not even sure how it happened.  We started following each other and commenting on each other’s posts and stories. Pretty typical, actually, right?  Terrie remembers something about the fact that we prefer our eggs in a cake or of the Cadbury variety – we bonded over our love of sugary treats.

Then I posted about a magazine I had purchased at our local Sobeys – The Farmhouse Movement.  And she just asked where I got my copy.  But not knowing which stores out in Saskatchewan carried it, I offered to grab a copy for her if there was one left at our store.  And there was one left.  Which meant I had to ask her for her address.

I think now is a good time to talk about internet safety.  Don’t ask for random people’s address.  It’s creepy.  Don’t give your address to strangers online.  It’s common sense, right? Wellll – I asked.  I had a magazine to get into her hands, right?  Here’s the conversation….

And that started what is a treasure of a friendship.  I still haven’t met Terrie.  We talk all the time.  All the time.  We have conversations happening on Instagram, Messenger and Pinterest.  { and in case you don’t get the Brad Paisley reference, HERE is the song! You’re welcome!! 😉 }

There are not too many people who offer to meet your parents on their cross-country trip if you haven’t even personally met yet!  But she did and they did and here’s the proof.  I was super jealous that Mom and Dad got to meet Terrie but not me.

I did google flight prices though.  And my friend Mary-Beth offered her Ontario home to be our meeting spot if we decide to ever do that.  What great friends I have in this life, eh?

It’s funny how one thinks that Canadian is Canadian and we eat the same things and know basically the same stuff.  Not the case as I’ve learned.  Terrie has introduced me to Puff Wheat Cake, which I had never heard of and I told her what Blundstones were.  I also blew her mind when I told her George Canyon was from here in Pictou County and that his real name is Fred Lays.  That’s what friends do for each other.

The other thing friends do for each other is support their creative endeavors so if you went over to Terrie’s FB business page and gave her a follow, that would be swell. The link is HERE and thanks in advance!!

I’m going to share her Puff Wheat Cake recipe here when I get the ingredients on hand again and remember to take pictures.  They are a tasty treat and since they have cereal in them, they cooooould be considered breakfast food 😉

Tell me, have you made any friends in an unconventional way?

To be continued,

Lori

November 7, 2018 By
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3 In Adventures/ Blogging

Pick Your Roadtrip Partner Carefully

A causal conversation via FB lead to some of the best laughs I’ve had in awile.  But I don’t think Colleen knew what she was in for when she said she’d swing by and pick me up on her way to Blogjam…

To be clear, the title of this post is not that I regret my choice to drive up to Moncton with Colleen by any stretch, it’s more so that she probably should’ve heeded this advice before taking me on board. Little did she know… 😉 😉

Friday night’s drive was filled with a lot of catching up and filling each other in on the recent events in each others lives.  As we got closer to the city of Moncton, I realized I would have to navigate.  Oh dear! So I pulled up Google Maps and gave directions…and all was ok until we got to the rotary…I knew where we had to go, I just didn’t realize we’d have so few lanes to work with….so a slight detour, no biggie!

We get onto Main Street and Google Maps marked the Delta as a spot off the road without giving me any clue as to finding the entrance!  A couple back and forths and then we found it!! Phew!! I don’t enjoy driving around a strange place in the dark, looking for where you are supposed to be!

So, the trip up wasn’t too bad, only a small hiccup at the end.  We parked and went into the hotel, ready for the weekend of blogging goodness and inspiration. Friday night, Saturday pass and we land on Sunday morning, the last day of the conference and then things got interesting….

One of the things the hardworking Blogjam team does is get sponsors for the event.  And this year’s sponsors were wonderful!  But, I’ll admit the one that intrigued me the most was Paper and Peony.  I have been following them on Instagram for years so I was excited to see what they were up to! And let me tell you, I was not disappointed!  A flower wall backdrop!!!  Eeeeekkk!!!  So beautiful!

As the conference wound down on Sunday, they announced that if you could get the flower wall home, to put your name in the draw for it!  Umm, hello!!! How could I say no???  Carpooling or not, if that was up for grabs, I was game!  Meanwhile, Colleen is sitting across the room, not putting her name in because how would she get it home – it’s the size of a single mattress!!!  You can see where this is going, right??

Well, I have to just take a minute to remind you that when it came to Blogjam draws last year, I kinda won a doozy, right??  Trip for 2 to Punta Cana!!!  { You can read about our trip HERE and HERE }  Thank you Blogjam and Sunwing!!

See how hard I’m hugging Colleen? She’s muttering under her breath at me the whole time…. 😉

 

You guessed it, they drew a name and yep, it was mine!  I hoop and holler a little…the conference ends and then I see Colleen, who has every doubt that this will fit in her car.  I’ll just say I’m a tetris kinda girl.  I can pack a load of furniture in a hatchback car, van or pick up without batting an eye.  She doubted me….BUT I WAS RIGHT!!!! Lol!!!

You know we’re going to Instastory the crap outta that, and I’d have to say the stories are good for a chuckle.  You can find them HERE  Thanks to Jennifer for doing some of the recording of that event for us!!!

We get it loaded up, we’re ready to roll….and the car battery is dead.  Dead, dead, dead.  And guess what? No booster cables.  What???  Thankfully Jennifer’s husband made sure she had a set in her rig so she pulled over, we popped some hoods and my country-roots-farm-upbringing came in handy and we { read I } got the car going….LIKE A BOSS 😉

Okay, we’re starving, ready to roll, for reals, this time.  We head out of Moncton, Colleen behind the wheel, me behind my phone, loading all the laughs of the flower wall fiasco up onto Instagram….and we missed the turn off for Nova Scotia so we’re heading for the Miramichi!!!!  Ooopps!!!!  We get turned around, she doesn’t kick me out of the car, with my flower wall, thankfully and we head to Aulac where we planned to stop to eat.

The Aulac Big Stop tends to be busy on a Sunday afternoon and so it seems quite natural to strike up a conversation with the people next to you.  The ladies were very friendly and suggested we check out Trueman’s Blueberry Farm, which they raved sold the best baked goods and ice cream.  I’m always game for ice cream so we headed there regardless of the fact we just finished a huge meal.  And boy, am I ever glad we took their advice and drove a few kilometers in the opposite direction of home!

There was a corn maze, sunflower maze, play equipment, homemade ice cream, delicious smelling baked goods and lots of honey.  It looks like a very fun place to spend some time.  Colleen and I took some pictures in the sunflower field, because that’s what one does…no matter that they were well passed their prime….  We also got some tasty ice cream – they sweeten it with honey and serve it in a waffle cone!!  I think it may be the best ice cream I ever had!  A detour well worth taking! #sunflowers

We hop back in the car and head for Truro, where we met up on Friday.  We need to transfer the flower wall from Colleen’s car to mine.  I drive a Matrix, nothing huge.  I pop the seats down and Colleen slides it in and…..IT DOESN’T FIT!!!  Serves me right, eh??  But I am bound and determined to get it home…so I flip the front seat forward and angle and wiggle and push and turn that wall until I can close the hatch.  YES!!!!  I got it in!!

Colleen and I say our good byes and head home.  Will she ever road trip with me again? Hard to say.  😉 Did we have some great laughs and even better conversation? We sure did.

Will I enter my name in the Blogjam door prizes next year? Maybe I’d better not….

To be continued,

Lori

 

 

November 5, 2018 By
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