Summer Days

I hope you enjoyed the video from yesterday. I just couldn't resist.

For this weeks post I am inspired by the good weather we had today. It's a balmy 27 degrees here on PEI with lots of sunshine.

It's so nice when I meet people while travelling or on the road and tell them I live on PEI, I am always met with a such positive responses. I can't tell you how many times people tell me "Oh yeah PEI, we were there when we were kids and I always wanted to go back" or " I'd love to go there someday it looks so pretty". I've even had a couple of emails from fellow bloggers who've been here and want to come back. And much of my clientelle are people with second homes here.

The summers here are absolutely sensational. The scenery is breaktaking. I never tire of seeing the rolling vibrant green fields, the wildflowers, the sand dunes and the ocean. I thought I'd share of few of the images I've taken of PEI in the last few days and then share with you an update of progress on the project in Summerside.


Summerside has it's own beach on Greens Shore. I drive by it on my way downtown everyday to and from work. It's directly adjacent to the downtown core.



This is our lighthouse called Indian Head and it is located at the mouth of Sumerside Harbour. I took this while walking along The Boardwalk at Greens Shore. The boardwalk is 5km long and wanders along the beach, through downtown, to the harbour, marina and then a little further east. Of note: The Canada Summer Games are being held here and across the island in August.


The Summerside Yacht Club and Marina. This view looks toward Spinakers Landing with its shops, lighthouse, theatre and restaurants.



PEI is known for its potatoes and rows of plantings are a typical sight. This potato field overlooks the Gulf of St Lawrence on North Shore.


Rolling fields with freshly baled hay.


This picture is French River an often photographed and picturesque fishing harbour.


Sand dunes at Greenwich National Park. They rise up to 60 feet and the beach is amazing!



Inspired by the sea... This table decoration is put together with items from the store and a piece of driftwood from a local beach.



The family room is pretty much complete and looking very inviting.

The breakfast seating area.

An update from last weeks master bedroom photo. The capiz chandelier is now hung and looks simply perfect. What's missing? The upholstered headboard ... it finally came in late last week but it won't be delivered until tomorrow. This is going to be a busy week for us. Our homeowners are due to arrive back on Friday.

And just in case you wondered what the room looked like before. Here is a shot the first time I visited the house. The same angle with the previous owners furnishings. A complete change.

Another view looking toward the desk area.

This is one of the guest rooms. Almost done here just some artwork to hang and some accessoring. We're still working on completing the queen guest room and the twin guest room so I decided not to post any pictures today.

And lastly here is a peek at the unfinished diningroom. The table is in our warehouse and the chairs are coming Tuesday. Nothing like cutting close. We've got the rods hung and ready for the silk drapery panels which our seamstress is hemming to proper length.

Have a great week. Thanks for reading!

Susan

Working Away

Today I thought I would post on home offices and small spaces carved out to meet our ever growing need to work from home. I hope I can inspire you with a look at some functional and pretty home office spaces.

A home office space need not be large to get your work done, but it should be a place where you can feel comfortable and organized whether it's paying bills, surfing the internet or bringing home paperwork or files. All you really need is an area with counterspace preferably a desk or console, a great chair and storage space and/or filing cabinets.

Today I am inspired by this pretty office space. I love the cheerful colour palette of red and white, the abundance of storage, the fresh graphic wallpaper, the clean modern lines of the desk and chair and of course the pretty orchid.




Another pretty office space in red and white with lots of room to get work done. Clearly this a glam yet comfy living space with space carved out to accomodate a work area. Who wouldn't want to work from here? Or live here? It's very pretty and very organized!




A home office can also be as simple as a desk and hutch unit tucked into a sunny corner.




Let's look at some spaces with built-ins. These are fantastic ideas for any area of your home.

An office space can be as simple as a beautiful desk for your laptop!

This space overlooks Central Park in New York. Oh, what a view! Might be hard to get work done here but then again with this view it would make work seem like a joy!

A view from all angles. Now this is cool.

Why not turn a closet into a cozy office nook? These little spaces are near perfect.

A double duty office area for 2.

And lastly but certainly not least a small garden shed converted into a great space to work in.

Have a nice week! Thanks for reading.

Susan

My Fascination with Tulips

Spring is finally here on our doorstep. We've been patiently waiting or rather impatiently for the weather to turn. We had a great week of balmy weather and I am happy to report the mounds of snow are retreating daily.

One of my favorite things about spring has to be tulips. They arrived in our flower stores and supermarkets a couple of months ago from a local greenhouse grower. Each week when I buy my groceries I pick up a few bouquets for my house, as well as, for the store. They are such a cheery flower. The biggest decision is usually what colour to get so each week I get a different colour.

I didn't realize my fascination/obsession with tulips until I started reviewing saved images on my hard drive. Apparently, I've been photographing them for years. So, I decided for this weeks blog to share some great images of these beautiful little gems of the season. Enjoy all things spring!

Before I get started with the tulips I thought I would post this picture. I left work around 7:30 tonight. The furniture for the river home, hurray hurray, arrived today so I was late getting back to the shop. Sorry. I digress... Everyday I drive by our harbour on my way to work (most days at least 4 times) and for the past 6 months it's been nothing but solid ice. A very bleak sight. This week the ice in the harbour has melted with the exception of a few little icebergs. This image was too perfect and luckily I had my camera with me so I snapped the beautiful sunset on the water at the boardwalk on Green's Shore. Notice the small iceberg to the left. Bye bye winter!!!

Pots of fresh tulips ready for market. So fresh, so pretty.

Tulips reaching for the sun. Sometimes you just have to point the lens up and fantastic things happen.

A lovely close up.

I took this image off the web from a florist site. Stunning, inspiring.

Buckets of the lovelies.

Beautiful pale orange tulips.

I hosted a post Mexican vacation party a couple of years ago and this was my cheery table setting. This picture really illustrates how long the stems grow and how they tend to bend and twist.

A snapshot of my mantle. I know this was at least 5 years ago because of the wall colour.

Playing with my camera settings I managed to get this cool image.


Again experimenting, I captured this floating shot.

I loved the colour on these little gems. Bright and cheery, the perfect spring accessory. Outside in my garden they are just beginning to pop out of the ground. Hopefully in another 3 weeks they will be ready to cut. Some people plant tulips for landscaping purposes, myself, I plant flowers I can cut and enjoy inside.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.

Susan