Organizing A Breakfast Station...

You didn't really think I would go on vacation for a whole month and NOT find some organizational project to tackle, did you?

I can't help it....it's just the way my brain works!

So while eating breakfast in my parent's kitchen one morning...it came upon me that I could tweak the 'breakfast station' to make it more functional & organized.

Here is the breakfast area before...

Take note there is no toaster or coffee maker.

BEFORE:

Now this is better...the toaster & coffee maker can finally attend the breakfast meeting.

AFTER:

 Observe the cereal cupboard. There are no bowls or spoons for cereal located here.

Or bread plates or butter for toast. Or bread for that matter.

BEFORE:

We added a  second shelf to the cupboard on the left which made room for cereal bowls, bread plates, egg cups, fruit nappies, toppings for oatmeal and toast. The butter dish is on the counter for easy access; and the bread now lives in a drawer below too. Much better!

AFTER:

Before the toaster oven and a catch-all drawer took up valuable real estate.

BEFORE:

Now behold the coffee area with mugs above and pods for the Tassimo coffee maker organized in a newly installed cutlery/coffee drawer below.

AFTER:

Now this breakfast area works beautifully.

One visit here can bring you a bowl of cereal, a plate of toast and a mug of coffee.

And for the amount of overnight guests that my parents host on a regular basis,

this re-organization of the breakfast station makes perfect sense!

This post is linked to these great parties:

Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff

Sundae Scoop @ I {heart} Naptime

Summer Project: Strawberry Jam

For many years, my Mom made strawberry jam in the summer.

I adore this jam....for me it is the perfect compliment to a toasted english muffin with butter.

So, making freezer strawberry jam has become a summer ritual for me now too.

Here are the kids and I as we picked strawberries for jam in 2006.

But now that they have aged to a teenager and an adolescent, I couldn't convince either of them to come pick berries with me!

Jeepers!

What's a mom to do?

You get over it and you buy the berries! That's what you do!

I have to say that I am extremely biased when it comes to strawberries.

To me, there is nothing that tastes better than a Nova Scotian strawberry.

I am not fond of those ping pong balls called strawberries in the grocery store during the off season.

And did you know that the #1 importer of Nova Scotia strawberry plants is Florida?

Our berries taste that good!

So here is Mr. Rascal helping to spin the berries dry after a good washing.

 My Mom....my mentor and best friend.

 Mr. Rascal helping to slice the berries.

 If you have never made freezer strawberry jam before....it is the easiest jam project ever.

This is the perfect BEGINNER project.

If you can mash potatoes and stir....you can make this jam!

It consists of washing berries, mashing berries, adding sugar, stirring, adding certo and lemon juice, more stirring and then throwing it into jars.
Just follow the easy directions on the Certo package!

 You are done!

That's all.

 Look...I made 4 batches of jam and 8 bags of berries for my mother's freezer in 3 hours.

And yes, these are coming with me back home to Alberta!

So I can have my toasted-english-muffin-with-butter-and-Nova Scotia-strawberry-jam treat

when it's -40 outside in January!

This post is linked to these terrific parties:



Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff

Sundae Scoop @ I {heart} Naptime








 

A Summer Birthday Party For A Special Lady....

So a few days after I arrived home in Nova Scotia, I had a special birthday party to attend to.

My sweet Auntie Z. was celebrating her 65th birthday and her family had organized a party for her at the local community center. The party was a fully catered meal for about 70 guests, and my job was to lend my hand to the decorating.

Because I had only arrived in the province 4 days before, my plan was to keep the decorations simple....white tablecloths, a cheery, happy yellow accent colour & fresh flowers.
I shopped for white tablecloths & the yellow napkins for a total of $30.

On the morning of the party, I went to the local grocery store & purchased $70 in fresh flowers to make

11 flower arrangements....9 for the guest tables, with 1 for the guest book table and 1 for the drinks table.

It took 2 hours to design the 11 arrangements and I think it added just the right amount of pretty to an otherwise boring community hall.

 I borrowed 11 mismatched clear vases from my mother, added some smooth rocks for weight and interest, and each arrangement had a single stem of a bright yellow gerbera daisy with surrounding flowers of white, green and lavendar.

Here's how it all looked:

Simple & pretty, right?

And on budget at $100.

Here is the birthday girl.

She has been the most wonderful aunt to me over the years. I was so happy to do this for her!

Here is the birthday girl's eldest son with his lovely wife and adorable son.

Here is the birthday girl's youngest son and my son.

And the birthday girl's husband {my uncle}and my son.

 I was so thrilled that I was able to be home for such a special party!

We have just finished our 2nd week in Nova Scotia and I haven't been in blogland much these days.

I really want to make the most of every minute here in my home province visiting and spending time with family & friends....building memories to take away with me back to Edmonton to comfort me all year long.

So please forgive me as I haven't visited much lately.

I promise when I get back to Edmonton, I will catch up with everyone!

xo

This post is linked to these great parties:




Sundae Scoop @ I {heart} Naptime

















Tips & Tuturials Tuesday at Stories of A to Z

Our Seaside Vacation in Nova Scotia: Week 1

So last week the children & I boarded a plane and left for a month long vacation in my home province of Nova Scotia.We have been here a week already and it still feels like we got here yesterday!

Here is a peek through the first week of our vacation.

I just cannot get enough of my Mom's cooking! Here are her homemade seafood crepes & salad:

 We celebrated Canada Day on July 1st:

 We met up with some dear friends at a local Farmers' Market:

 Visited my 78 year old Grandmother at her apartment. We haven't seen her in 2 years:

 Celebrated my Aunt's 65th Birthday with a special party with 70 guests & strawberry shortcake: 

My brother took Tyler for an afternoon of dirt biking with my niece & nephew:

And visit with my Aunt & Uncle who are visiting from Alberta too! Ha! We live over 6 hours apart in Alberta!

And these are just but a few of things we did!

We sure are loving having no schedule!

We just wake up and see what the day brings!

I really want to say a special thank you to all my blog readers. I am so very grateful to all of you and thank you so much for blessing me with you time & attention!