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I finally got around to taking pictures of the treasures I found in the Onslow Historic Lumber Barn back when I went with Rose.  You can see my pictures of the day at the barn HERE.  The weather is sunny and warm right now so I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures.

Now, I would like to say that of all the bits and pieces that I could’ve taken home, these are the ones that jumped out at me.  I’m telling you, that place is amazing!  I need to come up with some projects { and learn to do woodworking } so I can put some of those things in that barn to use.

So, here we go!

A spool of thread.  I felt sorry for that tiny spool in that HUGE barn.  So I’ll add it to my collection of wooden thread spools.

A hymnal holder from the back of a pew.  First,  I love the colour.  Secondly, I can see it being great to hold my array of notebooks by the computer.  Or books in the girls room.  Or canvases that they’ve painted.  I think I can find a use for it….

A drying rack.  Not just any drying rack, a collapsible one.  It is missing one arm.  And I think I’ll just put a coat of Miss Mustard Seed Tough Coat and seal in the chippy paint and exposed wood so I don’t need to worry about staining my clothes or anything….if I decide to use it in the house.  I think it would be great in the back porch.

A curved corner block.  Perfection.  It’s added to my gallery wall in the hallway.  It was just what I needed to balance the wooden shoes on the other end of my shutter chalkboard {which is still blank } and it was easily attached with 3M Velrco strips {which I love to use for hanging light-weight awkward things }.   When I was cleaning this piece up so I could hang it, I noticed a tiny little bit of wallpaper stuck on the edge.  It made me pretty happy to see that little piece of history stuck there.

I also got a board but because it is not very exciting or easy to photograph because it currently isn’t excited, I didn’t bother with a picture.  But I think it’ll make its way to the hall gallery wall for displaying the girls art work, a rotating gallery, if you will.

I hope you enjoy seeing what I found at the barn!!

I have to introduce you to Carl.  Not that Carl belongs to us, but just because Carl is so stinkin’ cute.  Carl is an adorable little kitten who is only a few weeks old.  He was born on a lawn and abandoned by his mom along with one little sibling, who didn’t make it.  How do I know Carl?  Well, my sister is a vet and so Carl came into the clinic where she works and they have been raising Carl as their own.

This kitten is being fed throughout the night, snuggled, and treated like gold!  Everyone loves Carl!!  They weigh him daily to be sure he is growing and he’s so tiny, they weigh him in grams!  And he is even starting to eat his food all by himself!  And he now uses his litter box, too!!  Such a big boy! 😀

Dawn takes Carl home with her regularly and thus we met Carl.  And Hannah fell in love.  She loves to help Aunt Dawn tend to Carl, feed him, play with him and most importantly, snuggle him.  She always asks about Carl and if she is bringing him to our house if they happen to be coming over.

Thankfully, Dawn does bring Carl over and Hannah will even be kitten-sitting Carl this week!  So expect lots of Carl pictures on Instagram, I think Carl needs his own hashtag!!  #carlthekitten

When I say Hannah loves Carl – I’m not even kidding.  I would love to get that kid a kitten or a puppy but we just aren’t there.  She does have her bunny, though, so she isn’t completely pet-less.  And, thankfully, Aunt Dawn has pets and the willingness to take Hannah home with her and let her play with them and ‘help’.  My girls absolutely love and idolize their Aunt Dawn, which is wonderful because she is pretty awesome.  Hannah wants to be a vet like her when she grows up.  And so…….

This happened!!!  We dropped Hannah off with Dawn for a few hours at the clinic and she was completely over the moon!  She wants to learn how to be a ‘clinic girl’ and this is the first step.  I can see that Hannah will spend a lot of time there with Dawn.  She got to do all sorts of neat things like weigh dogs, play with kittens, including Carl, look at blood in the microscope, look at x-rays of a pregnant dog and wear a rather large lab coat.

I’m looking forward to having Carl with us for a few days, even though I hate the smell of his cat food! Why am I excited?  Because I know the girls will love playing with Carl and tending to Carl.  And when my girls are happy, that makes me happy!

To be continued,

Lori (& Carl)

Hard to believe but just two short years ago, we packed up Hannah and took her to her first day of Preschool  { Pictures and reflections on that HERE } and now we are celebrating that she graduated and is heading to big school next year.

Ms. Kathie’s Preschool is so much more than numbers, letters and colours.  It’s about adventures, friendship, and country life.  It’s about being a part of a greater whole and taking care of our world.  It’s about being polite and mannerly, but also about imagination and play.  I love that my girls both got to go to Ms. Kathie for two years each.

The graduation is fun, wild and silly.  It is tradition that ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ gets sung and I can barely listen without getting teary.  The whole growing up thing is wonderful, sad, and amazing.

I love the spunk of this kid.  She was awarded the ‘Little Miss Mother Hen’…..she’s the only girl among a bunch of busy, active little boys!  She loved getting to be Ms. Kathie’s right hand help this year.  But it also made me happy when she posted pictures of the kids playing in the sand pile and she’s in the middle of it all, playing trucks with the boys.  I think it’s important to be able to play with other kids, regardless of what they are playing.

Every year, Ms. Kathie does t-shirts for the kids with wonderful words about who they are.  It is a highlight, to be sure.  The kids disappear into the house part way through the graduation and come out wearing their shirt.  This is a treasure that will definitely go into the treasure box to keep forever.

I’ve discovered over the years of bringing the girls to Ms. Kathie’s that it isn’t just about the kids.  She is so wonderful and caring, there have been many mornings when I’ve received a hug from her when I needed one.  The conversation by the steps while dropping off  or picking up children is heart felt and genuine and not always related to our children and for that I am thankful!

Hard to believe this is the change in one little girl from the first day of preschool to her last.  She has grown and matured in so many ways.  Yes, she’s taller, busy losing that toddler chub and continuing to grow into a wonderful girl.  I’m so proud of her, of who she is.  She has her passions, her strengths and a great sense of humour.  I love how real her faith is to her, how compassionate and tender she is with animals and how much she still loves a good snuggle.  She is ready to take on any adventure!!

Hannah, you are amazing!

To be continued,

Lori

Can you believe I used to blog daily and currently I’m lucky if I get one out a week?  Oy!!  I have so much to share and pictures to post and life events to tell you all about!  I’ll try to get to sharing a few things this week!  But first, a few pictures from a fun day of geocaching with my girls and Mom!

I love geocaching, Alena first introduced me to it last fall and I’ve been looking forward to getting back into this summer.  Today we hit the road and found a few good ones and didn’t find a few other ones.  But it’s fun, the girls like it and we get to see some neat places, places we otherwise wouldn’t be.

I usually take my camera with me when we go on a roadtrip of any sort, but I admit that my iPhone is pretty handy.  But I love taking pictures, capturing what I see, what catches my eye.  It may be random and have very little to do with the actual geocaching but…..it’s my blog and I can do what I want!!!! Muwhahahahaha!!!!!

So there you have it, a collection of what I saw today.

To be continued,

Lori

Yesterday I got to do two fun things all at the same time! I got to hang out with Rose,who is quickly becoming a great friend, AND she took me to the Barn.  Rose and her husband, Steve, own Onslow Historic Lumber and they have a barn full of goodies.  Thing from stairs to trim to tubs to ladders to hinges to windows to doors and just about anything else that comes out of an old house.  If you are looking for it, they probably have it.

There is always a selection of goodies in the store but when you see the barn!!  Here are a few things that caught my eye.  I took a lot of pictures but because it was dark in the barn, a few didn’t turn out, I guess I don’t have much of a steady hand.  One of the things that struck me and that Rose and I talked about as we dig through treasure, was all the colour.  The yellows, reds, greens, pink and dusty purples!  Makes me want to paint all my trim and doors colours instead of white!

If you are someone who likes to make things and do woodworking or make signs or whatever – I would highly recommend that you get in touch with Rose and Steve and visit the barn.  I’ll share with you what treasures I took home on another blog post.  It was so much fun, thank you Rose for taking me!!

To be continued,

Lori