Calico Tea

                                                                       Hello everyone,

                                                          I hope you had a lovely weekend.
                                                         
                                                          We are in the process of closing up
                                                           our Ocean Song cottage for the winter
                                                           so before we leave I want to enjoy a
                                                           cup of tea using my calico tea set that
                                                           I bought a few months ago. I know I
                                                           didn't need another teapot but how
                                                           could I resist ? It suits well with the
                                                           blue and white theme at the cottage.

                                                        I love the mugs too that were also a
                                                        thrift find.

                                                                               

                                                                  We will still be popping in to the
                                                                   cottage but won't be staying at
                                                                   night again until spring.

                                                          My calico tea set sits happily on
                                                                     the table waiting until our next
                                                                     tea time.

                                                                        I had my last house and garden tour
                                                                     on Thursday and we have decided not
                                                                     to do the tours next year. I really enjoyed
                                                                     my visitors over the last several years but
                                                                      relaxing more at our little seaside cottage
                                                                      doesn't seem like a good thing at this time
                                                                      in our lives.
                                                                           So, with milder weather this week we
                                                                        will get our garden cleaned up for winter
                                                                      and then soon start decorating for the Christmas
                                                                      season that will be here before we know it!

                                                                                              Thank you for popping in!

                                                                                                                 Carolyn

Autumn in the Isle d' Orleans

                                                                        Hello everyone,

                                                   I hope you are enjoying your week. We
                                                   drove up to Quebec, a week or so ago and
                                                   enjoyed all the beautiful fall colors on our
                                                   nine hour drive each way. I love seeing all
                                                   the farms on the drive through Quebec.

                                         

Although we spent quite a bit

of time touring Lower Town Quebec

  we actually stayed on the Isle D'

  Orleans this time in a cosy little

rustic cottage.

              I enjoyed seeing the French Canadian

colorful homes .

                                                                The Isle D' Orleans is only a
                                                                 short drive from Quebec City
                                                                 and it takes a little over an hour
                                                                 to drive around the whole island.

                                                                   It is very charming and
                                                                   a slower pace then the city.
                                                                   Kind of like our own little
                                                                   Island (PEI).

We have been to Quebec in winter

a couple of times recently but it

is 7 years since we went there in

autumn.

Above, A pretty fall display in front

of a cafe.

As always we enjoyed going for daily walks

in the fresh air and taking in all the beauty of

the colors of autumn.

There are a few of these tiny church like

buildings on the drive around the island.

                                                                   The mustard yellow of this field
                                                                    looked so pretty with the foliage
                                                                    colors.

                                                               They have a lot of beautiful old
                                                                barns that have so much character.

                                            A little village on the south side of the
                                                       island.
                                                          I have more photos to share of both
                                                        the Island and of course Old Quebec as well.

                                                           I just have one more garden tour here at
                                                         home and then it is  major clean up time
                                                         in our garden before it turns cold and
                                                         winter sets in.

                                                                       Thank you for coming along
                                                           with me today.

                                                                                  Take care,

                                                                                            Carolyn

Cottage Kitchen Makeover

                                                                             Hello everyone,

                                                 
                                                   I know I am late sharing our cottage kitchen makeover
                                                   but better late then never....I hope!

                                                     I love this big window that we put in this spring
                                                   as it lets in so much more light and gives a nice view of
                                                   the garden and hills beyond.

                                                           The cast iron sink was one I found on Kijiji, the cupboard
                                                     with the glass doors came from the Restore and got a couple
                                                   of coats of white paint.The cupboard below it was a gift from
                                                   a friend of my daughters.We realigned the cupboards and added
                                                   the new countertop.We painted everthing in the whole cottage
                                                   white as you can see from the photo below there was a lot of
                                                   brown before.

                                                         I made the curtains from a bedsheet. As you probably have
                                                     noticed our theme is blue and white so the cupboard here holds
                                                    my pretty blue and white china.
                                                 

     

This is the before photo of our

little summer cottage .

                                                               

                                                   We put in this island that was also a gift
                                                   from my daughters friend complete with
                                                   a Jenn Air propane stovetop.
                                                          The stools came from the 70 mile
                                                   coastal yard sale a couple of years ago and I
                                                  painted them a grey blue as well as the island.
                                                     We also installed the greyish hardwood click
                                                   floor which made a huge difference as you can see
                                                   from above it only had a subfloor.

                                                           We have a very open floor plan so
                                                            this little shelf from the thrift
                                                           store holds more of my china.

                                                    We just built this cupboard a couple
                                                     of weeks ago using an old french door
                                                     from a yard sale and of course everything
                                                     got a fresh coat of white paint.

                                             Looking toward the kitchen cupboard
                                                        I put the handmade lighthouse cross stitch
                                                        pictures on the side of our new cupboard with
                                                       the french door. I was excited to find those at
                                                       a local thrift shop as well.
                                                            Just realized I should have shared the pantry
                                                        cupboards on the other side of the kitchen so
                                                        I will do that another day.
                                                            I love that our little cottage has lots of storage
                                                        space and lots of work surface too.

Relax and enjoy yourself !

We are still having fun putting our mark

on our little seaside cottage but our

work comes in little waves as we want

to enjoy some relaxation too!

I must admit I will be a little sad when

we have to close up our cottage for the winter

with just an occasional visit to check on

things and enjoy a thermos of tea.

Thanks for visiting!

Carolyn

Afternoon Tea at Prince Edward Island Preserve Company

                                                                            Hello everyone,

                                                               In late summer my friend Heather
                                                               and I went for afternoon tea at
                                                               Prince Edward Island Preserve
                                                               Company. It was their first week
                                                               for afternoon tea...something new
                                                               they were trying out this year.
                                                               This beautiful room is the perfect
                                                               setting for tea with it's beautiful
                                                               stained glass and crisp white linens.
                                                               There is also a beautiful view of the
                                                                gardens and the River Clyde.

                                                               
                                                               
                                                                 
                                                               

Shortly after we were seated they came

with our delicious treats on a tiered

platter and of course the tea of our

choice.

We had a lovely afternoon there and

enjoyed being pampered.

My friend Heather above.

Fortunately there was 2 of everything

so we didn't have to fight!

                                                                 
                                                                    Heather is patiently waiting for me
                                                                    to put my camera down so we can
                                                                   enjoy all those goodies.



                                            This is a much better photo of our tea taken
                                             by a photographer for Bruce's Blog .Pop over
                                             and visit~ I know you will enjoy it!

                                              We took our time and enjoyed visiting
                                                          over the last of our tea.
                                                         If hope you get the opportunity to go
                                                         next summer and enjoy this special
                                                         afternoon tea.

                                                                  This is Thanksgiving weekend
                                                         here in Canada and we are having
                                                         our family for our traditional turkey
                                                         dinner.plus we have a couple of tours from
                                                         Japan on Saturday so I probably won't
                                                         be back for a few days.

                                                                        Happy Thanksgiving to
                                                                         my Canadian friends!

                                                                                 Carolyn

An Autumn Tea

Hello everyone,

With the arrival of  October , I am

finally getting in the mood for

some warm and cosy autumn .

I have a small collection of this

china that reminded me of Holland

but it is actually made in Japan.

It has a cosy fall look to it that

I love.

Pears are a healthy snack with

my tea today.

While driving down a street in town these

pretty doors caught my eye with all

the planters clustered on the porch.

I love those corbels and trim.

The fall asters are blooming in

our garden now. These grow to

over 3 ft. tall.

                                                              The sweet autumn clematis is one
                                                               of my favorite autumn blooming
                                                               plants. It gets cut back every year
                                                               to the bottom and springs back up
                                                               again to put on a great autumn show.
                                                               It is perfect for arbors.
                                                                               Thank you for visiting,

                                                                                            Carolyn

Farm Day in the City

Hello everyone,

Sunday was a perfect day for our

annual Farm Day in the City and

thousands of people participated

in it this year.

We enjoyed a stroll down the

streets of Charlottetown.

A lovely fall display.

Victoria Row in downtown Charlottetown ,

Prince Edward Island

                                                                    It was hard to get a shot of
                                                                     all the wares as there were so
                                                                     many people. There was lots
                                                                    of local food and crafts.

I love that our city has lots of flowerbeds

on every street and many of them are still

blooming.

There was something for everyone

to enjoy on such a beautiful sunny

day.

Thanks for coming along!

Carolyn