And Suddenly the World Was Greener

Before

After

Now how did that grass magically appear in place of that dusty, dismal gravel? It was backbreaking labour, let me tell you! 

First I had to remove the stones: one shovelful, one wheelbarrow full at a time

Then the hard ground had to be tilled and raked, and the sod picked up

Then came the fun part of laying the sod!

Isn't it such a greener, warmer space now? I look forward to expanding the garden next year :)

Feathering My Nest

Friends and family from afar, welcome to my new home! Since you are not able to pop by for a visit in person at this time, let's take a virtual tour of my nest as it is being feathered:

Lucky #13

My purple front door sets it apart from the others!

To the right is the front entrance that leads up and into the kitchen, a bright sunshiny place to be in the mornings

Looking back towards the living room, but first we'll slip downstairs through that doorway in the left of the picture...

...to the basement, which has a small rec-room, bathroom and entrance to the garage

High ceilings and a good size window don't make it feel too dark or dingy. Still need to move my exercise equipment in too

Books and toys for the many nieces and nephews to enjoy when they visit

Back upstairs again and moving on to the living room

And through the patio doors...

To my small backyard

Heading upstairs we come to:

My bedroom which needs some work yet to make it look right and eventually a new paint colour

Upstairs Bath

Room #2: home to my sewing machine & craft supplies - shelves need to be hung and things organized. Also want to purchase a spare bed for guests!

Hope you enjoyed the tour and please do drop in for a coffee when you are in the area! :)

Tea Party

Maggie, dressed and ready for the company

The table is prepared and ready

The guests have arrived!

Pouring tea for the guests

Some milk...

...and a lot of sugar!

Enjoying the cupcakes and tea

Pinky is crooked to perfection!

Trying on the bonnets and doll dresses that Nana sewed for each of them!

Here they all are! 

We also decorated shoe-boxes to make doll beds for our baby dolls/stuffed animals

I forgot to take pictures of the girls' creations, but here is my finished product

Heritage Spring Retreat

I went to the Heritage Spring Retreat a few weekends ago and it was a real blessing! The grounds were really beautiful and I enjoyed meeting new people. Here are a few snapshots from the weekend.

Entrance to our campsite

The cabins were stayed in - just a room full of bunkbeds! Bathroom was communal

The 6 girls from my cabin

Writing on everyone's "wall"

The food was plenteous and delicious!

The closing topic by Pastor Lipsy

We were also divided into groups and had to take pictures for a "photo scavenger hunt." Here are some of the pictures we came up with: 

"A nature walk"

"Sporting the same style"

"With something big and the colour of your group" (we were white)

"A different point of view"

"In the air"

"In a maple grove"