Finally back to work!

I think I shared something I picked up a couple of weeks ago. 

 It's a storage unit of some sort

 Not sure I would call it a buffet or a cupboard or what I would call it.

It's a wonderful piece though. Solid and I absolutely love the details on it. 

It didn't take long to catch a clients eye and for the two of us to talk about how she wanted it finished off. 

It's going to be used in her home to hold games and I think a TV on top of it. 

 She wanted the top natural and the rest black and distressed.

 I took the pictures in my garage since that is where I worked on it.

 I had to add knobs since there was nothing there to open it with. Seriously there was nothing there to begin with, so I didn't have to fill any pre existing holes. Nice for me but very confusing. Who builds something with no way to open it? (shakes head)

Ah well.. now this piece with be opened a lot to get games out and put them back in. I love unique storage units..and if they look great like this one does its a huge bonus. 

Bring on family night! 

Sharing:
Savvy Southern Style
The Dedicated House 
Miss Mustard Seed 

We are home!

What a fantastic time in NYC.

I've never had a desire to go there. Honestly pictures were enough for both my husband and myself.

But if you read my last blog post, we had the opportunity to go to meet "online" friends for the very first time.

We decided to stay in New Jersey.

Bed and Breakfast is what we like to do and we lucked out and found one just a block and a half from the train station. We were told it's easy to get into the city from there.

WOW...first things first, It IS easy. So easy we were shocked.

But we didn't plan things right. For some reason everyone (aussies and canadians alike) thought it was kinda like the subway as in it was the subway.

So we agreed to meet at a location that had us walking a "few" blocks.

Fun stuff for both couples as no one had wifi to message the other.

But finally we met!

And it was fantastic!

Our first night.

 We went for dinner. I can't even remember what we ate...we spent so much time talking it was great. By great I mean awesome amazing, wonderful to talk like we had been talking online for all these years. No one was uncomfortable...it was just a continuation of our friendship.

Don't look at my smile to closely..I hate pictures and end up looking goofy.

Now Hubby and I are rather "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of travelers. Seldom do we have an agenda...we get up and just have an idea of what we might like to do or see that day. Lucky for us, Paul and Deb are exactly the same way.

So Friday we ended up ticking off a lot of things on our list of "must see" things in NYC.

We went to Ground Zero

 It was so hard to get decent pictures. So many people walking around and quite frankly, the buildings were in the way. Kudo's to those who can get the right angle etc.

 We did sooooooooo much walking. I am not kidding when I say we walked at least 40 km over the course of our visit to the city.

 We did manage to snap a few pictures of ourselves..maybe not the best pics...but who cares, we had a blast together :)

 Hint for those of you who want to go....bring your best walking shoes!

 Even managed to get a couple of great shots of my husband and myself.

 One of the most moving things I saw...lots of these roses placed in different names. My heart goes out to the families who lost someone on that terrible day. If you go to NYC, you have to go to Ground Zero!

 And what trip to NYC would be complete without a trip on the Staten Island Ferry? I think this is the best pic of Lady Liberty that I could get. It turned out to be a fairly hazy day.

 Waiting for the train to go for dinner :) 

 On the Ferry ride back into the city

 My husband being a goof.

This was all on our first full day there...went to the Empire State building and also went to Times square. We walked everywhere. Seriously. EVERYWHERE! 

I've got tons of pictures and will share more later. 

So glad we went, and glad to be home. Now our friends are on their next leg of their journey across America. Vegas. 

We get home and hit a late spring snow storm..I should have gone to Vegas with our friends!

After 17 years!

The internet has been around for a long time. 

For most of us it's just part of our daily lives. 

17 years ago, things like chat rooms and icq were the most common ways to talk to other people. Now of course there are things like twitter and facebook and google circles. 

You can get ideas, share information and look up anything from "best/worst vacation spots" to "the best chocolate cake recipe ever" And all things in between. 

We can see what is "trending" and sometimes we make new trends on our own. 

17 years ago I "met" a family in Australia. Over that time period we have watched each others families grow, cheered each other on. Shared laughter and tears. Shared the joys of watching our kids graduate and get married. Grandkids have been added into the mix. Pictures exchanged and yes at times we've used "snail" mail. 

The phone has been used and a real friendship has formed. 

Today my husband and I are heading to NYC to meet this couple in real life. 

I hate that term...real life. 

Like somehow the last 17 years "online" were not real. 

So finally this couple

Will get to meet this couple

And NYC will never be the same again :) 

And well...if we happen to hit a few junkin stores on the way there or back again...that's just a bonus :)

Help!

I've been on a real binge this year....you know, out with the old and in with something new. 

My head has been spinning with ideas.

So far I've done our kitchen at home, along with our bedroom and husbands office. 

Some updating in our master bath. 

Well now that the cottage is open.....the ideas keep coming. 

But I've hit a bit of a brick wall. 

I need help. 

Let me show you. 

 Don't mind the mess...I was in the middle of it when hubby was so kind as to remind me we need some before pictures.

All this oak is wonderful....for the 1980's!

Do you see that tile? 

Here's a better look.

Blue, white and Grey.

Here is a hint people...as much as you may like a certain colour, remember that your house is going to last longer than you are...please be kind and pick a tile that will go with anything! 

So I started...scrubbing the cabinets and painting. 

 I taped it off and started. I really shouldn't be all that worried about paint on the walls...since this colour is going as well this year. I know what colour I'm painting the great room.

I didn't bother removing the doors from the cabinets since I hated the old hinges...they look better painted. 

Now my dilemma is..........what colour to paint the walls. 

The cabinets will get a glaze..brown because we are going to replace the counter tops with barn board. 

So shoot me with wall colour ideas please. 

Opening the Cottage

This is what I dream of

Or Maybe this

Or even this....

These are things I dream of when opening the cottage. 

But right now I'm just happy the snow is melting. 
And so I went to open the cottage. 
I got there and everything was fine, or so I thought. 

We have a list that the first one there follows so everything goes smoothly. 
It consists of things like "turn on heat"
You know, important stuff like that. Well I got down to the last thing on our list, everything went smoothly till that last item. 
Isn't that always the way things goes? That last item? 
Water. Yup...finally got down to turning that water on and water everywhere! I had to call the township to come replace the gasket. 
Phew...taken care of and we have water. 
Then to have a really good look around. 
And this is what I found

 Can you tell what happened?

 Pop cans exploding!

 We have been cottaging for 10 years and have never had anything like this happen before.

 Full cases exploded.

 What a mess. Out of 5 cases of pop we ended up having a total of 12 cans that survived.

What a mess to clean up, but it's all good now and the cottage is open for another season. 

Now to let it get a bit warmer and I'll be thinking of planning those flowers. 

Ahhhh SPRING!