Big breakfast Sunday...on Monday!

Monday morning....

a HOLIDAY monday morning!!

My hubby has two weeks off work now 

so it really feels like another Sunday to me.

Every Sunday we do what we call

"Big Breakfast Sunday"

and I often whip up our family favorite called:

Apple Pfannekuchen

2 TBSP butter

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

6 TBSP flour

6 TBSP milk

1 medium apple, peeled and sliced

2 TBSP sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Place butter in a 9-inch pie plate and place in oven.

Heat oven to 400 F

2. In a medium bowl beat eggs, flour, and salt together until smooth. 

Whisk in milk.

3. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Remove pan from oven when butter is melted. 

4. Place apples in pan and sprinkle with sugar mixture. 

Pour egg mixture over top.

5. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until puffed and brown.

**I doubled the recipe and made ours in two big 9 x 13

pans as this is a favorite and there are 6 of us!!

We like to top ours with fresh fruit and maple syrup 

so this morning I went out and picked some ripe

raspberries and strawberries from the garden.

And as usual my faithful sidekick was 

with me "supervising" the activity!!

Today we are going to the Edmonton Heritage Festival 

and see what trouble we can get into

with all the international food to be tried.

Hopefully it means we will eat so much 

I won't have to cook supper!!

Blessings,

Karen

Not keeping up with the Jones'

Last weekend we had our house-warming party

(sorry...the battery died so I have NO photos!!)

but we had a great big aluminum wash tub

full of ice and Jones soda for everyone.

Green apple is my favorite ;O)

Anyways, I still had not gotten to the return-it 

place with all the empties, so I stole some 

out of the bin for today's photo shoot.

I am not feeling terribly wordy today as I have 

a tonne to do before my step daughter, Hannah,

arrives later this afternoon for a two week family vacation.

Oh...did I mention she is turning 16 while she is here?

Don't worry....we get along great and I always 

enjoy it when she comes because then I am not the 

only girl in the house for a change.

Let's just hope our "cycles" don't collide!! LOL

Have a blessed Sunday!

Karen

Fabulous Friday thrift finds

Today was a great day!

We (as in me and my boys) woke up early, 

had some breakfast, and then went off

 to pick up my friend Jocelyn to go for a bit-o-thrifting!!

I am in love with this sweet porcelain 

flower frog & bowl set I found for just 99 cents!

I also found a wooden mantel clock,

 the coolest old curtains 

(made out of what feels like bark cloth)

and an old wooden doll crib

(which will definitely get a new paint job)

that I see holding a collection of old quilts to display, 

or maybe flowers, 

or.....

an adorable cat??

I also picked up a few lace doilies

and this towel holder which has 3 removable

dowels so you can hang lots of pretties to display.

I have so many ideas 

whizzing around in my head as 

I am thinking of holding an antique/barn sale 

here at the farm next spring.

Now I just need to get working on this stuff! 

Mind you...that's what our long

 Alberta winter will be good for as 

I tackle all the projects waiting out in my barn!!

Blessings!

Karen

Foggy summer mornings

It is so weird when it gets foggy here....

especially in the middle of summer!!

This morning when I woke up it looked so

strange to see...well....nothing!! lol

I had to go grab my camera and take a few photos

to share with you today.

Here is the view down the driveway

and here is looking into the fields??

and here is a cool old 

church pew we found in the pioneer barn

after we moved in

I have no idea how sturdy it is,

 but it looks like it may have been here a while!

This poor barn lost its roof a few years back 

and all the chinking between the logs has fallen out.

Plants grow out of the old straw in the "loft".

We are trying to decide if it will be 

worth it to rebuild it....I think it would be cool

but it might be a lot more work than 

the hubby wants to do!! lol

I also spent all day working on this area of the living room, 

which is proving to be a challenging room 

due to its shape but I do love the vaulted ceilings, 

the beams, and the open-ness of it

(you can't tell it is a massive room from this photo!)

I would like to:

1. repaint the wall....I HATE the peach colored walls!!

2. possibly paint the dresser? 

(it doesn't look very cottagey in the dark wood)

3. re-cover the big chair or make a slip cover

(this is a "chair and a half" which is

so comfy for reading or cuddles with the kids)

4. Possibly paint out the wood if hubby will let me

(there is tons of it and one whole 16 foot high wall 

of it near the kitchen and it just sucks the light out the room!)

5. Put down new wood floors...we had to rip out all the 

dog-peed shag carpet (harvest gold...mmmmm!!)

Anyways....this is just one corner of the room 

and I will share more as I unpack more stuff.

I was going to wait until everything was fixed up, 

but yesterday I was so grumpy and I want to see

 my treasures to make me feel more at home. 

Good news...it worked!!

Blessings,

Karen

What's your hang up??

My big project this week 

was to strip the old wall paper 

(4 layers worth!!)

 off this wall in the hallway. 

After all that scraping and peeling 

I decided to go for a new print instead of paint 

due to the condition of the wall 

after all was said and done.

I found this sweet red and cream 

print by Waverly 

and went right to work hanging it on 

the upper portion of this wall.

Because I have 3 boys who frequent

 this hall on a regular basis 

(it leads to the bedrooms and the bathroom!) 

I decided to add tongue and grove pine 

like the stuff that is on the wall in the kitchen

 (but this time I had to buy it so I had enough boards!!)

I also purchased my first big power tool:

a compound miter saw

(the female cashier at Home Depot was 

thrilled to see a lady buying power tools!! LOL)

This stuff is so easy to use and I had 

a blast using my new saw!! lol

I bought a trim piece to fit over the top 

edge and it finished it off very nicely.

I then used painter's caulk to fill in the gaps 

between the wood and the trim.

Don't worry...switching out that black switch plate

 is on my list but am a bit nervous

about doing electrical stuff!!

I might get over it...but I might just 

ask my hubby to do that part!

And here is the finished wall.

I painted the peg shelf with apple green spray paint

a few days ago but now I am thinking 

I should have made it red.

What do you think??

I added a sweet ruffled apron and some 

new tea towels to the pegs,

and then added a few of my stoneware pitchers,

a sweet vintage print (in an unexpected yellow frame),

and one of my own paintings.

Do you have a peg shelf in your house?? 

I would love to see what you have displayed on yours!!



I am sharing this here:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

Just to make me smile....

I woke up way too early this morning 

with a project in my head the moment 

I put my feet on the floor!!

Sometimes I like waking up inspired to create....

and sometimes I would just rather sleep in!!

Today I would have liked to sleep in.

LOL

Anyways, I have had this little project

 in the back of my mind for some time now 

and it seemed like a great time to do it.

 It is just a little something completely for my

 own viewing pleasure...it is not practical, 

or functional, or even all that stunning....

it is just something that makes me smile inside.

I have a bunch of plain wooden skirt/pant 

hangers that needed a "little something" on them, 

so I took some pretty scrapbook paper 

 from my (embarrassing) large stash and 

cut it into 3/4" strips.

and then I used some acrylic gel medium 

(kinda like Modge Podge)

and glued it onto the outer edge of the hanger. 

I did another coat over top of the paper to seal it.

Once it was dry I trimmed the ends and 

them gave them a little sanding to distress the edges.

So there you have it....

a cute little "something" to dress up my hangers.

Nothing earth shattering...

Just something to make me smile:0)

I am sharing this here:

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com

Blessings, 

Karen

Not everything is as it seems!!

Well...I have been very busy here at our

crooked little farmhouse as 

I begin to do some minor reno's in the kitchen.

The upper kitchen cabinets 

have been driving me crazy 

(they were all hung at slightly different heights)

and none of them could be made clean

even with serious scrubbing with TSP. 

So...I ripped them off the wall only

 to reveal a NEW surprise to deal with!!

Who would put lino on the freakin' walls?? 

Not to mention...there was a huge 

hole in the middle of said lino!!

Well...luckily I happened to have a box full 

of scrap tongue and groove pine that

 filled in the gaps quite nicely.

I then painted the kitchen in Martha Stewart 's 

new paint line in a color called Lemongrass. 

I opted for a semi-gloss finish as it is the kitchen 

and it should wear well on these walls.

We also decided to go for open shelving 

and I found the brackets at Ikea...

they are super easy to hang!! 

 I wish I could have found some big old 

corbels instead, but these will do for now 

(plus they are much more budget-friendly!!)

And yes...I know I need to finish painting 

the raw end of the shelf boards!!

My hand painted GROCERY sign

and a small collection of mixing bowls look great

with my red enamelware colander!

A cool vintage looking sign with 

an old ceramic canister that lost it's lid 

before I claimed it to corral my utensils.

My collection of vintage graphic

coffee mugs I found for just

$2 each at Surplus Herby's

(a rather odd surplus store in my old town)

ANd even some of my own artwork 

found a spot to rest next so the sugar...

isn't it sweet?? 

(sorry... stupid puns this early in the morning 

should not be permitted!! lol)

And look who found a nifty

place to hide from the kittens!!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Hopefully I will finish another 

project to share soon!

I am sharing this here:

http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/

http://www.remodelaholic.com/

http://www.inthefunlane.com/

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

http://www.romantichome.blogspot.com/