Wednesday, April 24, 2013

I WANNA live there Wednesday # 35


I live in a pretty incredible area - in Montreal, It's an historical neighbourhood loaded with tons and tons of charm - and 20th century architecture, just steps away from the city center, it's also a pretty expensive neighbourhood ( in which I live in servants quarters basically compared to what I'm surrounded by ) 
Because there are days I don't have furniture makeovers to show you - I've chosen Wednesdays to showcase and feature one or two homes that are for sale around here.................( or apartment - or duplex - or teepee )
Keep in mind this is in the heart of the city - so the prices reflect that  - think Manhattan - where these places would cost 3 or 4 times what they're listed for here!
On occasion I'll showcase beautiful homes in other areas - countries - continents - the one thing most of them will have have in common will be their age - because I love old homes with stories to tell, join me won't you?
________________________________________________________________________________

 Happy Wednesday All!!!!!
Ok - Tongue in Cheek Tuesday if far behind me - and the good news is that every day from here on in,
it'll be one more day ( again ) behind me................

It's no secret that I am seriously considering selling our place in the city - and getting more bang for my buck so I'm all over the map lately.  You can see the farmhouse home I fell in love with online HERE
Here's a neighbourhood and a house that are seriously under consideration ( in my mind only lol - but still - it
all starts with a mindset right? )  It's getting John on board - but he's oh so close people - Oh So Close!
And very willing to go see this place at least.

288,000
4 bedrooms
2 baths
Realtor  Tania Ellerbeck

Just the right amount of work for me - mostly outside - but it wouldn't take much to make this my very own
" Little House in the Big Woods " 
I think I'm ready to stop being Carrie Bradshaw now - really ready -
maybe I could settle into being Laura Ingalls Wilder for a little while...................


"Pa did not like a country so old and worn out that the hunting was poor. He wanted to go west. For two years he had wanted to go west and take a homestead, but Ma did not want to leave the settled country "  Laura Ingalls Wilder



"The path that went by the little house had become a road. Almost every day Laura and Mary stopped their playing and stared in surprise at a wagon slowly creaking by on that road. "  Laura Ingalls Wilder
 


"Wild animals would not stay in a country where there were so many people. Pa did not like to stay, either. He liked a country where the wild animals lived without being afraid."  Laura Ingalls Wilder



They drove a long way through the snowy woods, till they came to the town of Pepin. Mary and Laura had seen it once before, but it looked different now.


The enormous lake stretched flat and smooth and white all the way to the edge of the gray sky. Wagon tracks went away across it, so far that you could not see where they went; they ended in nothing at all. Laura Ingalls Wilder


So they all went away from the little log house. The shutters were over the windows, so the little house could not see them go. It stayed there inside the log fence, behind the two big oak trees that in the summertime had made green roofs for Mary and Laura to play under.


Everything from the little house was in the wagon, except the beds and tables and chairs. They did not need to take these, because Pa could always make new ones.
Laura Ingalls Wilder
 

But in the east the sky was pale and through the gray woods came lanterns with wagons and horses, bringing Grandpa and Grandma and aunts and uncles and cousins.  Laura Ingalls Wilder
 

“When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, "What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?"
"They are the days of a long time ago, Laura," Pa said. "Go to sleep, now."
But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa's fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods,…
She was glad that the cozy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.”   Laura Ingalls Wilder


“The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder


“We'd never get anything fixed to suit us if we waited for things to suit us before we started.”   Laura Ingalls Wilder



“Oh no, I never do much ironing, except the outside clothes. We must not iron out the fresh air and sunshine, you know. It is much more healthful not to, the doctors say.” Seriously, there is something very refreshing about sheets and pillow slips just fresh from the line, after being washed and dried in the sun and air. Just try them that way and see if your sleep is not sweeter. ” 
Laura Ingalls Wilder



There is nothing wrong with God's plan that man should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.”   Laura Ingalls Wilder



“No rich man can walk through the eye of a needle.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



The incurable optimism of the farmer who throws his seed on the ground every spring, betting it and his time against the elements, seemed inextricably to blend with the creed of her pioneer forefathers that "it is better farther on"-- only instead of farther on in space, it was farther on in time, over the horizon of the years ahead instead of the far horizon of the west.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



“These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. Railroads and telegraphs and kerosene and coal stoves -- they're good to have but the trouble is, folks get to depend on 'em.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



This earthly life is a battle,' said Ma. 'If it isn't one thing to contend with, it's another. It always has been so, and it always will be. The sooner you make up your mind to that, the better off you are, and more thankful for your pleasures.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



It can't beat us!" Pa said.
"Can't it, Pa?" Laura asked stupidly.
"No," said Pa. "It's got to quit sometime and we don't. It can't lick us. We won't give up."
Then Laura felt a warmth inside her. It was very small but it was strong. It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



Laura felt a warmth inside her. It was very small, but it was strong. It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder



The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.” Laura Ingalls Wilder



"Home is the nicest word there is."  Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wasn't she a wise lady?
All houses speak - 
Our first place screamed - " potential " and " profit "
Our current place screams - " turn of the century "  " history "  
This little house in the big woods doesn't scream at all
But it whispers loud enough for me to hear..............  " HOME "




All around the little house, in the Big Woods, there were little sounds of falling snow, and from the eaves there was the drip, drip of the melting icicles.  Laura Ingalls Wilder

I see us here...........as clearly as I can still see my first set of Little House on the Prairie books lined up on my nightstand as a little girl................

Though I loved every book from that series - isn't it just so fitting that my very favorite  was this one?



Anyway I think I'd be hard pressed to find a Plum Creek anywhere near here - ( and the Prairies are out of the question for me ) 

If enough people think of a thing and work hard enough at it, I guess it's pretty nearly bound to happen, wind and weather permitting.  Laura Ingalls Wilder

Could you all " THINK " about this " THING " for me lol
Thanks very much!
Have a wonderful Wednesday
Much love

Sharing with
Common Ground

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

TICT # 4 ( Total Couture Tuesday )



Morning all!
It's here - Total Tuesday Couture.
I want to start this post off by saying the SLOBS LADIES that are hosting this party are all complete nutcases - you have to understand that before you go further.............( we're all missing a vital blog gene it would seem )
We are in no way making fun of the fabulous " What I Wore Wednesday " series - which shows people looking their best - ALL we are doing is making fun of ourselves - because - well - that's what we do best.

I paint furniture.
A lot of furniture.
And for some reason I often paint furniture in my pj's - because:
A)  If I can't sleep at night I simply slip out of bed and grab a paintbrush
B)  Sometimes it's the first thing I do when I wake up
C) Often it's the last thing I do before I climb into bed.
D) I've grown quite fond of them

So my Total Couture Tuesday is about my pj's and John's horrified reaction to having to take photos

Suzan says - I need you to take some photos for the blog
John says - Sure - tell me when you're ready
Suzan says - I AM ready
John says - What the hell..............oh no you don't................
Suzan says - I don't want to have to go into a long story about this John - I just need you to take photos - that's all - that's it - period.
John says - What the hell is that on your head
Suzan says - It's a fancy shower cap...................
John says - WHY???????????
Suzan says - Sometimes I wear one to stop my hair from being covered in paint - YOU KNOW THAT -
we have to keep this real
John says - I've never seen you with that one on your head before - where's the other one?
Suzan says - I can't find the one I would normally put on - and this one is cuter anyway
John says - I'm not taking a photo of you like that - are you nuts?  You look absolutely ridiculous.

Suzan storms out of the bedroom - stomping her feet in fury - shower cap on my head and all -  what am I going to do?

Suzan says - do I have to call one of the kids to come take photos of me?
Suzan says - all the other husbands are just simply taking photos
John says - give me the bloody camera............
Suzan says - THANK YOU - sheesh


I have to tell you - I'm vain - you would never know it by these photos - but I'm vain - extremely so.........
AND I CANNOT BELIEVE I'M POSTING THESE - if that's not the ugliest photo.........and it's not nearly as ugly as the first " photoshoot " photos.................they were so horrific, that I couldn't look at them myself.
This is supposed to be a funny post - not something that's going to send people screaming away trying desperately to find a nice normal blog.


Suzan says - It's ugly
John says - Well you're the one that wants to put these on your blog
Suzan says - Well I wanted to look funny - not UGLY.................and OLD
Suzan says - Can you take another one?
John says - I can't make you look younger
John says - You may want to put a brassiere on ( looking straight at them )
Suzan says - You know, when it comes to being a romantic and saying all the right things - you've got them
all beat John - every last one of them

Let's hide my CANS boobies with CANS


Suzan says - My cap is on too low - you can't see my eyes - and they're my best feature
Suzan says - AND I  STILL LOOK OLD
Suzan says - it looks like I have a maternity top on
Suzan says - Can you take another one please?  I'm going to change my pajamas
John says -NO - it's not going to get much better - you'll still be in pajamas for God's sakes -
and you want to SHOW every one - I don't have time for this nonsense -
John says - I regret telling any of my customers about your blog - God - do I regret it...............

6 fun facts I learned from this post:

1) I would give anything - ANYTHING - to know how to airbrush -
2) Now I know why I never wear tights in public
3) I look like a biker chick ( from Mars )
4) John's a LOUSY photographer
5) I look like a hooker from Amsterdam (we don't age well  -  which you can read about HERE  )
6) My former life is catching up to me -

I used to be so tiny and petite - really - and " soft " looking - what's happening here?
I mean really, WTH is happening?
I look like one tough " mother " in these photos

Suzan says - You don't take good photos
John says - Well I'm doing the best with what I've got
Suzan says - Thank you - thank you very much
John says - Why don't you have that disgusting dressing gown you always have on when you paint?
Suzan says - It's my painting SMOCK..................
Suzan says - if you call it a Dressing Gown one more time - I'm going to throw up - It's called a housecoat
in North America -

The Mop is a Prop because I'm a Flop ( when it comes to housecleaning lately )
I could write my very own Dr. Seuss book......................
I look like an OLD crow in it..............but it's the best thing to wear when painting I swear to God lol
and I don't know why you can't see paint on it - because it's absolutely covered

channelling Carol Burnett - my mentor
Romance just oozes out of every part of my body..................with or without a bra, I'll have you know


John says - Once you post these, they're out there forever
Suzan says - I know - I'm terrified
But what Suzan doesn't say - is what terrifies her the most -
ANTHONY BOURDAIN may come across these one day....................
You can read about our relationship HERE

John says - who's idea was this anyways?
Suzan says - I'm not sure - had to be one of the other ladies - I can't imagine I would ever do anything like this had they not insisted on it...................

Suzan says - Should I post these photos?
John says - No - you shouldn't
John says - Please remember there's people out there that you may not want to see you like that
Suzan says - Would it embarrass you terribly if one of your customers saw this?
John says - Yes actually it would
Suzan hits publish - with a small smile on her lips..................

Have a wonderfully couture like kind of Tuesday
Please visit the other ladies and laugh AT with them too

Danni Silo Hill Farm
Mel Mellywood
Bliss Bliss Rand
Kirby Kirb Appeal

Love you Carol Burnett..........................