I Have A Dream

Hello my dear friends,

I am sure everyone of you has one of these ~ a dream. Mine is a little store just off a main shopping street in our town. It is nothing special, believe me!! I am sure there is no electricity or heating in it. Looking at it, it seems that the back of it has been bricked off some time ago and where the new wall is there is a long crack in the corner all the way down to the floor. I drove down last month again to look at it and it is in a bad state. There isn't even a washroom or a storage room  ~  it really is just one room!

The shop has a front door and a wonderful large window and it's just around the corner of a street called Richmond Row with all neat stores and coffee shops. Right now an old lady uses it to sell over- priced antique and vintage things. You can't even get into the room because everything is just stuffed into it and everything is so dirty and grubby. It makes me sad to see old things just tossed into cardboard boxes and then thrown into a room.

I have a picture in my mind of this shop and how it could look ... I wish I could let you look into my head to see it!! I would have it painted a pale cream color and the floor would be wood. I would have antique furniture to display my creations. I think my favourite part would be the window. I would have the name of my store painted onto a sign and hang it in the window and a small table would display a few items. There would be flowers boxes outside and everything would be bright and pleasant with little pieces of loveliness would be displayed every where inside. (Next time I go there, I will try and take a few pictures of the place.)

Well that's my dream! Reality is that I don't even know if it could be rented in the state it is in. Maybe I will make some inquiries about it, find out who the owner is and maybe even talk to them. You never know, something might come out of it. Maybe if I believe in it my dream might come true one day.

Never stop dreaming my dear friends!!!

Please leave me a comment and tell me what your dreams are!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

New Babyshoe Pincushions

Hello my dear friends,

isn't it lovely what you can do with an old pair of baby shoes? These were my latest find  a few weeks ago. Needless to say I already knew they would become pincushions. What can I say ~ I am addicted to making them!

This time I used the pansies and violets that I had crochet and tea stained a few weeks ago to embellish the shoes. I also added some cotton ribbon that I had thrown into the stain before it finally had to go down the drain and it came out in two colors ~ blue and purple ~ how neat! I hope you enjoy!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

A Specail Memory As An Army Wife

Hello my dear friends,

today I would like to share a special memory from my days as an army wife. My husband served in the British army for 24 years since he was 16 years old, in which time he served in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and the Falkland Islands and he was also called out to the first Gulf war (to which he didn't have to go in the end) where there was always the possibility of him not returning but thankfully he always did come back home!

One morning which seemed to be a normal everyday morning, close to the end of his military career, we received very special mail.

I looked at the envelope and my first thought was that somebody was playing a joke on us. Asking my neighbor Dave to take a look, he told me that the letter was real!! I was speechless, well almost because I have never called my husband so fast at work to tell him about it.

 The letter we received in the mail was none other than ...

... an invitation from the Queen to join her at Buckingham Palace with other military members and their wives for tea!!!!!!!  Can you believe it?!! It took me some time. I didn't even know that you could be invited to Buckingham Palace but I was told that every year the Queen invites military personnel and their wives and civilians to have tea in her gardens.

And this is the invitation!

I bought a new dress ~ it was black with red roses ~ and shoes, and all I was just missing a new hat but then unfortunately we decided not to go due to all the bomb threats and the recent bombing in the city of London which killed several people. It was very sad in more than one way. It was a once in a lifetime thing to receive an opportunity like this but the thought that something could happen and my children being possibly without parents was too much for me. I was broken hearted for a while, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

We are renovating our basement this year and my husband is going to have a new office built. Once finished I will have the invitation framed and I will hang it in there for us to remember the day we were being asked to have tea with the Queen of England.

I hope you are all well and happy.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

What A Great Find And Yet Sad

Hello my dear friends,

my girls and I love to go for evening walks like the one we did on last Wednesday evening. We park our car in a parking-lot and always walk the same way.  After about an hour and when heading for the way home I noticed something on the side of the road. Looking closer it turned out to be an antique Singer sewing machine in an old cupboard with 6, yes 6, drawers and the most amazing hardware! So when we arrived back at the car there was no question about me going back to take a good look and hopefully I could save this old beauty (unfortunately I have no pictures of the entire cupboard and sewing machine because it was too dark and almost 11 pm and I didn't want to make a fuss).

The closer I got to this antique the more something became obvious to me ~ the horrible smell of the wood!!!
It had this intense yucky musty smell of damp old wood that I have smelt many times before in antique furniture and there is no way that I know of to get rid of it ~ what a shame! This meant I wouldn't be taking the entire cupboard with me and since I couldn't salvage even the drawers for reuse I decided to still take them because of the wonderful hardware that was on them.

This is the beautiful hardware still attached to the drawers and doors I took alone. Isn't it just so pretty?!

So many neat drawers and all for the trash! I could have made some really nice things from them.

I did find more amazing things in one of the drawers. It is a little box full of attachments and parts for the sewing machine and the booklet that tells you what everything is for.

This is the little box!! This is how I found it still dirty and messy. It is so neat the way it is constructed but unfortunately it and the book have the same bad smell as the rest of the wood ~ so sad!! I am not sure what I am going to do with it. I am thinking about selling it maybe on EBay. I am sure somebody might have the matching sewing machine to go with all these little bits and pieces.

And these are some other little treasures that were in the drawers.

Aren't these drawer pulls just beautiful?? They are over 100 years old. I have 9 of them all together and for now I will find them a little box where they can wait until I come up with an idea of what to do or make with them.

It is true what they say, what is one person's trash is another person's treasure!!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

I Am So Fortunate!!

Hello my dear friends,

this is what was waiting of me yesterday morning when I came downstairs. My girls got up before 7am and decorated the cake they had baked the evening before and then they set up the table with so many wonderful gifts for me.

All this was for me ~ how wonderful!!

I was so excited!! My birthday cake looks amazing!!

My girls baked me a Swiss chocolate cake (to look like soil) with mint green icing (to look like grass).

They had decorated it with chocolate hedgehogs, one of my favourite animals, and real flowers from my garden. It looked so pretty and it tasted fantastic!!

This is one of my gifts my older daughter Ashleigh made me. It is a bird feeder she made from a glass cup and saucer. The vintage bottle is filled with birdseed.

My baby girl Caylagh B. made me this little birdhouse, well fairy house complete with fairy dust and a new fairy named Chante.

Chante is an Iron Fairy and she comes from Australia. She is my fourth iron fairy that now lives in our home.

This is my new muffin recipe book. I really enjoy baking muffins these days and I can't wait to start using this book!

My older daughter Ashleigh also gave me these lovely gifts. She made me a bottle with fairy dust and  a beautiful sun catcher made from a vintage crystal and pretty glass beads. The little read book is a very special gift. It holds poems written by her about me and other things in her life. So far I have not been able to read any of it because I tend to cry at things like this and I didn't want to cry yesterday ( I am a big softy).

Another one of my great gifts is another pair of old baby shoes!!! Yay!!!

My hubby gave me a new leather wallet which I love.

And this is my last gift which is so beautiful and gorgeous.

It is a garden fairy. 

I called him Peter just like Peter Pan.

He will find a new home in my backyard under a bush just in view from my dinning room window so I can see him every time I look outside. I even went to Walmart and bought a new set of solar garden lights which I am going to drape around the bush so even in the dark I will be able to see little Peter.

Another lovely surprise was all the birthday wishes I received from my friends all the way from England, Germany, the US and Australia and of course here in Canada. The day ended with us going bowling and on returning home my daughter Ashleigh cooked dinner for all of us which was such a nice treat for me.

I am so fortunate that I have so many wonderful people in my life!!! That is the best gift of all!!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

And The Winner Is......

Hello my dear friends,

at last it is time to announce who won my first 'wee' giveaway!  I am so thrilled about this, so I won't let you wait any longer!!!

This is what one of you lovely bloggers will be gifted with!!

All the names are in my lovely old chipped stoneware bowl ...

and the winner is...

Lori 

from
"Katie's Rose Cottage"

Dear sweet Lori, please drop me an e-mail with your mailing address so I can get this in the mail soon. 

Thank you for all for all your sweet comments and lovely words and thank you for making my day special!!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Please Meet Evelyn

Hello my dear friends,

I hope you don't mind,but this is just a very short post today in which I would like to share a few old photographs with you from my collection.

I would like you to meet Evelyn Casey.

I love this photo of this young girl simply because of her natural beauty and when you look at her it's like she is looking inside you, almost like she knows you.

Evelyn is 16 years old in 1900 and she is from Irish decent.

These pictures were taken of her while she was trying to get a job in a factory in the U S.

She was one of the many working children of those days.

I hope you are all well.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.