Great Fishin', Good Eatin'

The first morning out was quite a success! We had quite a feast that evening. Tyrel went for the first time with Uncle Jamie and Terry. He had wide eyes the whole time he was fishing. He may find fishing a little disappointing after this great fish biting experience.

Last year the boys got the 411 on how to gut and cut up a fresh fish. They did an amazing job with no bones in the meat at all.

That evening Terry cooked up the fish. Even though there was lots of food for supper, everyone wanted a taste, and then more, of that delicious fish.

Cottage Living

There is nothing like a week enjoying quiet time on the lake. Hearing the water hitting the shore, laying in the hammock, building sandcastles, tubing, fishing, reading, smores and all that good stuff. Once a year we head out with the whole Joustra clan and take a week to soak up the sun and spend some good "famiy time" together. This year was another huge success. I will share some of our highlights and my favourite photos in the days to come.

In the meantime enjoy this Charleston Lake sunset. It makes me think again, how amazing our God is!

Wood Working with My Boys

Summer is moving along quickly and there is no time to spend posting all our fun adventures it seems.

Kaydence has begun working for her grandma one day a week which leaves me home alone with the 2 boys. So we decided to spend those days doing wood working projects together. The first hurdle of course was trying to find a project that was simple enough but also useful to them both.

We decided to build a castle!

The boys have MANY stuffed animals and they needed a place to call their own. We also found this great picture on-line of a castle that we could tweak to fit their babies.

Week1 / Day 1- We started with a pallette that dad had in the shed and learned how to take all the nails out so it was "useable" lumber. FREE

Week 2/ Day 2 - we put our frame together for the castle and find ourselves almost finished. Boy did they enjoy hammering in those nails. Tyrel got really excited and did the most to start and then Josiah finished it off with making the "King's" bedroom at the top. We have yet to finish the tower and make the "castle" embellishments to give it the whole look.

Canada Day is Coming!

Yes I LOVE Canada Day!

I think it has something to do with the fact that my mom and dad immigrated to Canada when they were teens and I am first generation Canadian, Dutch-Canadian that is. I love my country and all that it is and has to offer our familly. We always take the time to make a BIG celebration out of Canada's Birthday.

So since I was needing a break from my lockers project, I decided to try a new project that help us celebrate Canada Day.

On the site knock-off wood they have a great piece done that is so very American but I got to thinking... How can I make one of these for myself? and of course it has to be with Canadian content. The size was alos a very large piece so I cut it down to 24"x24" , a little less than half.

Here is what it looked like once I assembled the pieces.

It will beautiful hanging on my porch for our party.

Lockers, Almost There

Finally have had some time to get back to my big project. Another quick question session with my carpenter/elecrician husband and I'm off to get some more done on these lockers. Made some major adjustments to Ana's plans at knock-off wood. The bottom will be another story and certainly another day. I'm so looking forward to getting those started as well.

First things first, I need more wood because since I made the changes I was out a bit on my last shelf .... or maybe not! Amazing how I just got the smart idea that won't cost me more wood to fx my mistake. Just move my shelf board over to fit the shelves. Sometimes it is amazing how the simplest solution seems to elude you until you take a break and then think about it again once you've cleared your head or done another project. That is my next blog.

Lockers, Finally Started!

I have been wanting to get these lockers built so badly but life keeps me doing other things like laundry, groceries, meetings etc. Today I finally was able to get my hands on some wood, hammer, nails oh and some glue. Kinda forgot to wear gloves doing that part. All the cutting is finished and now it is assembly time.

This is the blank space next to our back door where the lockers are going. I have a piece of wood on the floor so I can see how much space it will take with the top and bottom pieces together.

First the top part. Then making sure that everything is sqaure. Very difficult because I just want to get it all nailed down and put up. A lot of patience and a lot of perseverance for this bigger type project. But I think they are looking pretty good. We'll see what happens when I stand them up with the shelves in.

Shopping for WOOD!

Oh I am truly excited and feeling a little like a kid in a candy shop, no wait... that is a woman in a lumber store. I could smell the saw dust when the cuts were being made and almost see the fnished project appearing before my eyes. Giddy? Absolutely. I cannot wait to start and was almost disappointed when my husband said he wanted to do this with me. Silly me. ;)  We will have tons of fun putting this one together and there are many more projects that I can do on my own. Besides having him help me on the first one will likely mean less mistakes, less wasted time and money and a beautiful project we did together.

Here is the spot where the lockers will go. The top of the locker is what you see on the ground out 24" from the wall where the base will end.

Got the fab plans from this site. I find myself having to visit ana-white at least once every other day. I have so many plans and projects that I want to start. So I will post you the before and after pics and let me know what you think. Really I can't wait to see what it will look like since I have modified them to fit my front mudroom.

Thought I could start building the lockers today but maybe I can start another project instead? I might need to do some searching for some extra wood lying around and see what I can come up with for todays "need to build" fix. Might try the distressed bench which look quite easy. Check out Ana's site and let me know what catches your eye!