A Day of Inspiration

Today rocked. You wouldn't have thunk it by the way the day started -- the youngest was up at 6 a.m. and it was my morning to be up with the kids (the hubster's turn to 'sleep in' -- 'til 8:30 ish).  I thought I could buy a few more minutes of sleep by dumping a bunch of books in the baby's crib (don't judge me, I know y'all have done it! ;) ). It didn't work. All children were up by 6:30 a.m. Sigh! I was still buzzing from finishing the top of my Castle Peeps quilt last night though so wasn't too cranky about it. :)

The first sign that today was going to be a little different though was when my now-seven-year-old said, "I'll take them downstairs," implying that he would take care of his younger brothers while I went back to bed. Say what?! I think I heard angels singing (okay, that's an exaggeration). Oh, how I wish I could have taken him up on that offer!  But no.

Once they were finally playing nicely, I relaxed with my tea, perused my favourite blogs and a few other sites. I was mulling over some quilt projects when I came up with a fantastic Christmas decor/gift idea. Have you ever had that happen? I felt like a woman possessed. I had to try it out or at least part of it out. The kids were still more or less playing nicely; there may have been some Beyblade show in the background, I'll admit. I snuck up to my studio and tried it out. It worked. It's fast. It's going to be awesome. For me anyway, and maybe for others. Yay!

No more time to play though, because we had a busy day ahead. Besides swimming and hockey, our wonderful neighbour, at his late wife's request, bought me and the other young moms on our street a ticket to Maycourt Hospice's Homes for the Holidays House Tour. I knew of the tour, but had never been. No kids allowed and well, I rarely do things these days that don't include kids. Especially on the weekends. Maycourt Hospice is a wonderful place for patients who need palliative care. Our neighbour's wife spent her last days there in September. She was a very cool lady and we miss her tremendously. We were all very touched that they did this for us.

As you can imagine, weekends with young kids are busy, but we made the time to visit the homes. It was wonderful to go and experience it together. And wow, what a treat it was! We talked about making it a tradition as a way to honour an amazing woman.

The homes were gorgeous. Two of the homes were the residences of European ambassadors (Ireland and Germany) and two were on the Rideau Canal. Very different architectural and design styles. All were beautiful. There were so many interesting and inspiring decorating ideas. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, but I'll do my best to describe a few of my favourites for you:

• Silver teapot lamp with an gorgeous rectangle lamp shade
• Metal clarinet lamp
• Birch bark vases and placemats
• Watermarked tablecloths (same idea as watermarked stationery, but on a white tablecloth)
• Bark Christmas trees
• Roses submerged in glass vases surrounded by crumpled plastic wrap and water
• Fireplace logs painted white (kind of like birch bark)
• Stunning Irish Newbridge silverware
• A cool way to hang wreaths with a ribbon but without a bow (I'll take a photo when I decorate for the holidays)
• Cranberry garlands
• Flower arrangements that included logs, green apples, cut pomegranates and limes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and woven balls, to name just a few
• Hanging an ornament from a ribbon under an arrangement on a window ledge

There was much, much more, but those were the highlights for me. What a day to inspire the senses! If you are in the area, this is definitely worth a visit. The tour ends tomorrow. 

Now I've got to go work on the backing for my Castle Peeps quilt...or the new Christmas project. 

Cheers,

M-R