Back from the seaside

We were in Ocean Park, Maine for a week at the end of October and I thought it was about time I posted some photos.  This is the beautiful Billow House where we stay in the Spring and Fall. I had accidentally hit some button on my camera and this setting came across on some of the photos.  I kind of like the antique look -- no idea how I did it though!!

We are literally on the beach when we stay here (just like our cottage in the summer).  We were here for hurricane Sandy last year.  Now you can see why our children were a little nervous for us!

But we were fine and weren't worried as we kept a close eye on things and thankfully we didn't see it nearly as bad as those poor folks in New Jersey and New York!

I love being near the water even though I don't actually swim and have a fear of water when I'm in it!

We love it here in the summer, but it really is a different world when we come in October.  We have the beach all to ourselves, except maybe some dog walkers now and then.  We actually prefer the Fall to be honest as everywhere is so quiet. You lucky people who live at the sea will understand what I mean.

I couldn't resist taking this photo.  This house is being raised to have a basement installed.

This was our first day there in a little place called Biddeford Pool

I love the Fall colours.

On the Tuesday we went to visit our beautiful Boston temple. The grounds are so well manicured and this plant (which I love) is called angel trumpets. Isn't it beautiful?

 Here is my BLT panini (bacon, lettuce and tomato)

Which we ate here at a picnic table while we watched the waves.

I have decided that this "little" house will do for me quite nicely thank you. Don't you think it's the perfect beach house?!

But as the little one below is on the market for $1.5 million, I can only guess what "my" beach house would sell for!!! Oh well, I can dream I guess!

My sweetie with his camera

Look what we found all the way across the Atlantic!

Right in someone's front garden!

We always hit Freeport for some shopping at our favourite store

They even had their Christmas displays up before we left.

Our little reading nook at the Billowhouse

Our summer cottage at 1 Casco Ave

We have booked a long weekend over Valentine's day at the Billowhouse next year. First time we will experience the beach in winter.  I'm going to try my hand at snow shoeing!

We love this place and feel very blessed to have found it. It takes us 7 1/2 hours to drive there and we are envious of all you folks in the UK who live close to the water (let's face it, everyone lives close to the water at home!) However, we also know we live in a very beautiful place ourselves.  We wouldn't trade it for the world. If we can't have England, then New England will suffice!

32 years and going strong!

Thirty two years ago today a young couple were sealed together for time and all eternity in Washington DC.

We could not have even begun to imagine the happiness we would share over the years.

We started out as two then three more were added

Making five

Then three more were added

Then another little one

Currently making nine!

 Love just grows as the family expands - what a beautiful plan!

Happy anniversary sweetheart - Love you forever! Your Ju XXX

New sewing room

This is what Rebekah's room looked like a few weeks before she moved out and got married. 

Everything was ready for moving.  We had already moved her double bed into our guestroom, so that they could have the queen size bed that was in there which, we bought when Andrew & Kelsi got married, so that Rebekah could take it when she got married (are you still with me?!) So as there was no longer a bed in her room, we moved her into the guestroom,

 This was actually her bedroom before Andrew got married two and a half years ago, so she felt very much at home in here.

Our plan for her bedroom was a sewing room for me so that I could move everything up from the basement where there would be so much more natural light.  Wendell wanted to put hardwood flooring down before I moved in, but I just wanted to get it moving.  Remember last year, when we were planning on painting our front porch and ended up building a totally new one, re-paving and intelrocking the drive, putting in a new front door and back shed? HERE.  Well it happened again.  We found some very well priced hardwood so ended up having all four bedrooms done, new bedroom doors, new closet doors and all freshly painted!

We are very happy with the results!

What do you think? This is my little sanctuary! One of our bedrooms is Wendell's office, as he frequently works from home. So now, when I am sewing or on my computer, we don't have to use the phone intercom to communicate - I'm just across the hall!  Love that!

See my growing fabric stash.  I have lots of projects planned.

This little lot in the basket is for the next quilt I want to make, which is for our bed.

This is my reading nook and also where I cross stitch.

When we were in Maine in the summer I found this beautiful little book about women in the US and their history of quilting.  It's the perfect bookshelf addition for my room.

I love this space and tell Wendell at least once a day!

The colours of Fall

I figured I'd better post these pictures before our front porch turns all Christmassy. (Nov 10th our tree goes up FYI!!)

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 Like a lot of people, I really do love this time of year.  I love the crispness of it.  I love the clothes.  I love wearing sweaters and boots and scarves. Winters in Ottawa are very cold and harsh, but Fall is a beautiful time, so we enjoy it while we can!

Don't you love the colours of the plants and leaves?  We have a huge maple tree in our front garden and it is always the last tree to shed its leaves on our street. This year Wendell will gather them with the blower and call Andrew & Kelsi to bring Norah over to jump in them.  That will be fun!

Yesterday they were over for lunch along with Bekah & Alex and I had Norah on the porch and she loved playing with the scarecrows.

Last week was our Thanksgiving weekend. I didn't cook a turkey this year, but did a ham instead.  However, I always make pumpkin pie - yum!  I added a sour cream apple pie as well.

Today is a very damp and cool day.  We leave for our week's vacation to the ocean in Maine on Saturday and I am getting excited!

I can't believe it's been seven months since I wrote. It's been a busy seven months though and a lot has happened. The main event, of course, was Rebekah & Alex's wedding in July.  What a beautiful day it was and we all felt the sacredness of the occasion.  Here are a few photos to share.

This is the temple in Toronto where they were married.

The bridal party

The whole family

The bride and her big brothers.

With Alex's parents

Mother & daughter (it was so hot & humid that our hair turned to frizz!)

Daddy and his little girl!

Her gown was custom made.  She knew exactly what she wanted.  A very simple and modest dress.  It did have a small train. All the flowers were fresh (the bride and bridesmaid carried clusters of Hydrangea and everyone else wore carnations.  We transported them in coolers with lots of water for the 5 hour drive the day before from Ottawa to Toronto and kept replenishing the water in the hotel rooms!)

I think this event deserves a post of its own, so I will write again tomorrow and bring everyone up to speed.