WISH Wednesday #50

I'm all about blue for fall decorating this year.  It's a bit different than the usual fall colours, but I love blue with orange and gold so it works.  I used blue in our dining room (which you can see here and here) so when I saw that someone else had used a blue tablecloth I had to feature that for my WISH Wednesday photo for this week.
Isn't mercury-glass the best - lots of sparkle, but it doesn't have to be polished and it looks a little vintage and worn.  I love mercury-glass pumpkins - not that I have any, but I love the look.  In the photo below the tablecloth looks a little folksy with a batiked or stamped pattern all over it and is a nice contrast with the sparkly mercury-glass and the more formal white china and glassware.  
Have you been smitten by the mercury-glass fad?

Earl Richardson via The Detroit News

It's the end of the month already so here is the September WISH Wednesday photo mosaic. By the way, did you notice that I didn't have an extra photo to use to even out the numbers - it is the first time that has happened all year.  I used a photo I took of some asters and goldenrod at our friend's farm a few weeks ago.

Our Fall Sideboard

I decided to go the non-traditional route this year and use the colour blue in our fall decorating.  I made a simple vignette on the sideboard using two blue sap pails filled with dried wheat,

blocks of wood with white faux bois vases on them,

white spray-painted acorns

a white ceramic pumpkin,

and nearby our blue plaid tablecloth (which you can read more about here).

Simple and a little different!

Linked to Autumn Mantels and Link Party at Centsational Girl,
Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring
Fall Decorating at The Inspired Room

Nova Scotia - Day 2

I'm finally getting my suitcase unpacked and the laundry caught up from my three weekends in a row away from home.  Recently I wrote about one of the days we spent in Nova Scotia (which you can read about here) and I wanted to tell you about the other day we had being tourists.  I love Nova Scotia and saw so many things I knew you would love.
The second day we drove down the coast from Halifax to see several of Nova Scotia's (well really Canada's) most famous sights. Our first stop was Peggy's Cove.  I remember visiting there when I was about twelve years old - I loved it then and I love it now.  

Peggy's Cove is a tiny fishing village built on the windswept rocks around a little natural harbour.  

On a point of land nearby is the famous red-and-white lighthouse. 

They were painting the lighthouse when we were there, which made it look a little ... um ... weathered, but on the other hand I got to bring back a couple of pieces of the lighthouse as souvenirs.  

We climbed all over the rocks near the lighthouse and also down the coast a bit - past the parking lot.  Climbing all over rocks is one of my favourite things to do. 

Then we drove down the coast along a scenic road, past amazing gorgeous homes to Mahone Bay and Lunenburg.  
Mahone Bay is situated on a sheltered harbour with three impressive churches at the head of the bay surrounded by pretty wooden homes.

Lunenburg's harbour is still being used as a commercial port so there are many ships moored there.  There were also several tall ships, including a training vessel there when we visited.  Sometimes the Blue Nose is in Lunenburg (the schooner that is on our dime), but unfortunately it was MIA when we were there.  

Lunenburg is built on a hill so all the roads are steeply sloped and you get your exercise going anywhere in town.  

Lunenburg was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site because it a wonderful surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America.  It was established in 1753 and many of the original clapboard buildings dating from the 18th century are still preserved.  

Kate and I walked around town taking photos of the old houses many painted in bright colours with contrasting trim. 

Then we had dinner in the award-winning diner Salt Shaker Deli . Having a really fantastic seafood chowder while I was in Nova Scotia was on my wish list, and the chowder I had here totally satisfied my desires. It was creamy, and thick, and smokey, and chock full of seafood.

My parents, Kate, and I had so much fun on our two days exploring Nova Scotia.  I've saved some of my photos of the beautiful homes to show you soon (I was going to say tomorrow, but I have a bad track record these days so I'd better stick with soon).

WISH Wednesday #49

To my mind, fall decorating is all about golds and oranges and natural woods, so this dining room seemed perfect for a WISH Wednesday photo.  I love the light wood against the gray walls with the orange chandelier and flowers.  I'm not sure I would ever buy such a daring chandelier in case I got tired of the colour, but I love it in this room.

Martha Stewart

Have you started decorating for fall yet?  

Rubbermaid Lunchblox Giveaway

I take my lunch to work every day so when I was contacted by Rubbermaid to try out their new lunchbloxes I was all for it. I'm always looking for ways to make lunchtime more interesting, easier to pack, and healthier. The magic of these lunch boxes really became apparent when I started using them.  

So let's see how good they are:
1) They are very compact because they are rectangular blocks and all the pieces snap together.  Just picture Rubbermaid and Lego getting together and having a baby.  Not only do you have lots of compartments for different parts of your lunch, but they all snap together like a set of lunchtime Lego blocks.

2) They have a specially made cooler block that snaps onto the lunch containers.  Our schools are not air conditioned so they are often very hot in June and September and food can spoil quickly in those conditions.  The cooler pack is a brilliant idea!
3)  There are two sizes of containers.  One is designed for sandwiches and the other for salads - perfect for a little lunchtime variety.

4)  I love the slew of tiny containers that come with each kit so you can bring salad dressing or pieces of cheese or yogurt for lunch as well.  I recently found out that the packaging for individual containers of yogurt are not recyclable in our area.  I have been making an effort to decant yogurt from a big container into a little one so my lunches are more environmentally-friendly and these containers are perfect for this.

Sandwich Lunchblox kit

5.  I love that there are measurement guides on the containers which help with portion control.  
6.  I love the colours - I'm a blue and green girl so these are a natural choice.

Salad Lunchblox kit

Not only was I given some Rubbermaid Lunchbloxes to try, but I have some to give away as well.  One lucky person will win the following:

• two Rubbermaid Lunchblox salad kits
• two Rubbermaid Lunchblox sandwich kits

That's a total of about a $50 value and years worth of yummy lunch toting.   Here are the giveaway details:

• The prize is only eligible if you live in Canada   
• To enter just leave a comment below (and please leave an email address so I can contact you if your name is drawn).  
• The contest ends on Tuesday, September 25th at 9:00 pm.

I can't leave you without sharing my one and only lunch packing tip.
When you make muffins or cupcakes to pack with your lunch the icing can get all over everything.  So instead of icing the top, you should split the cupcake or muffin in half and put the icing in the middle like a sandwich filling.  Brilliant, eh?  
Oh, and if these carrot cupcakes have you drooling, you can find the recipe here.  
Do you have any great lunch packing tips?