our final port of call.

Published on by Quandie2 Comments

The final port of call on our Québec intensive cruise back in September was Trois-Rivières, which apparently, among other things, is known for its black squirrel population.

Well, in fact, all of Québec has a significant population of black squirrels.

We have them here in Minnesota too, so they aren’t new to me, but I was wondering if I’d see any on our trip.  Sure enough, as soon as we walked off the ship in Trois-Rivières we saw one.

He wasn’t exactly posing for photos, but I managed to get a shot of the back of him.  He held some of the other cruise passengers enthralled as they’d never see a black squirrel before.

There was more to see in Trois-Rivières than black squirrels though, well … sort of.

Unfortunately, we were there on a Monday to find that the one museum that I really wanted to visit was closed.  That was Le Musée québécois de culture populaire, or Le Musée POP for short.

My Lonely Planet guidebook said that this museum included quirky exhibits featuring pop culture.  At one time they even had an exhibit on “the social significance of garage sales”.  Would that have been right up my alley or what?

Clearly I should have read the fine print and realized that the museum would be closed when we were there so that we had a back up plan.  Instead we just spent a couple of hours walking along the riverfront promenade  and through the oldest section of town along the Rue des Ursulines.

Trois-Rivières was founded in 1634, however, it was mostly destroyed by a fire in 1908, so the oldest section of town doesn’t date back any further than that.

The preponderance of wrought iron railings reminded me quite a bit of Charleston.

Some of them were quite elaborate.  I loved this next one with its weeping tree design.

I had to give this next house some demerits for not planting anything in that fantastic stone wall planter.

Wouldn’t that be spectacular filled with something?  Something as simple as an ivy, some impatiens (it was in shade), or even just some creeping jenny would be perfect.

I enjoyed checking out some of the interesting old houses in this area.

That’s kinda my jam.

But there were really only a block or two of those.

We eventually came upon a little crepe place called Le Sacristain and decided to stop and get something to eat.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that the food on our cruise was not very good.  Of course, I realize that since I had Covid for the last half of the trip, my opinion on the food should be taken with a grain of salt.  Also, most of my meals came from room service at that point too, so that made them even worse.  But Mr. Q wasn’t impressed with the food on the ship either.  The simple ham and cheese sandwich I had at Le Sacristain was absolutely delicious, and Mr. Q also really enjoyed his crepe.  So that tells me that you can’t blame the bad cruise food entirely on Covid.

In previous posts I’ve mentioned that we had spectacularly glorious weather nearly every day of our trip, but on this final day it started to rain shortly after noon and it continued for the rest of the day.  But that was OK, we needed to get our bags packed anyway.  Plus, I was still feeling pretty wiped out from the Covid.  So we headed back to the ship after our lunch ashore.

I can’t really give you an unbiased review of our overall experience on an Azamara cruise.  My experience was definitely sub-par having had covid for around half of our journey.  However, I can say that although we didn’t enjoy the food, we did enjoy sailing in this part of the world.

It was pretty magical to be floating along on calm waterways just enjoying the views.

But would I do it again?  Probably not.  That area of Canada was lovely, and I’d certainly recommend visiting.  But the cruise itself was rather expensive, and I’m not sure it was worth it.  In fact, Mr. Q and I may be avoiding cruises overall for a while (not including a cruise that I have already booked with my sister in February, but more on that in a future post).  We have realized that we definitely enjoyed our trip to the Brandywine Valley in May much more than this cruise, so we’re planning to do something similar to that next spring.  Fly to a major city, rent a car, stay in hotel suite with a little more space and just explore the surrounding area at our leisure.

We’re thinking about Chattanooga, Tennessee.  After all, it was named the friendliest city in the U.S. by Conde Nast last year.  Have any of you been?  If so, be sure to leave a comment with any recommendations for that area!

déjà vu.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

You might get a bit of déjà vu with today’s post.

Sometimes I just like to go with what has worked for me in the past (OK, maybe a lot of the time), and such is the case with both of today’s toolboxes.

Well, technically this first one is a tackle box.

My friend Jackie gave me this one last summer, and I actually began work on it right away while the weather was still warm enough to clean it up with the garden hose, and also to spray paint.

After my usual prep of cleaning, scuff sanding and a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss, I gave the inside a few coats of Rust-Oleum spray paint in Leafy Green.

Those tacklebox trays can be a bit putzy to paint with a brush, so I have two methods of dealing with them.  I either spray paint them while it’s warm enough to do that outside, or I have my neighbor/handyman Ken remove them entirely.  He does this by drilling out the rivets that hold them in place.

I think I sprayed this one back in August and it’s been waiting in the wings for the rest of its makeover.

I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago and gave the outside a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s Chantilly, which is one of the new Silk colors.  It’s a bit brighter of a white than my usual Drop Cloth or Ecru, without being so bright that it stands out.  After the paint dried, I sanded to distress the details and then wiped away any dust.

Then I basically copied a look I’ve done twice before.

I used two Dixie Belle transfers.  All of the black typography is from their Vintage Post transfer, and the red and green florals are from their Evergreen and Holly transfer.  You won’t find either of these on their website because, sadly, I think they are both retired.  But you can still find them online, try Etsy or just simply google them.

I thought the address of ’41 Winter Street’ was a fun little detail for a Christmas tackle box that probably no one will notice except me.

As per usual, I finished off the tackle box with a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

My 2nd repeat for today is another red toolbox (why are so many of them red?).

This one goes way back to the windfall of toolboxes that I got from my friend Kathy back in 2024.  It had gotten tucked away upstairs in the carriage house and I forgot all about it until I was cleaning up for my recent sale.

After my usual cleaning, sanding and Bonding Boss, I gave this one a coat of Dixie Belle’s Barn Red on the inside.

I also added a bird transfer from the I.O.D. Winter Botanist set inside the cover.

I painted the outside in Dixie Belle’s Ecru, and then repeated a design I’ve used twice before.

The wording is from the I.O.D. Cosette transfer, and those florals are from the Dixie Belle Evergreen and Holly transfer.

As many of you already know, I like this design so much that I have one I’ve kept for myself.

I fill it with my non-collection (‘non’ because I’m in denial that I collect anything) of vintage glass tree toppers.

Both of these ‘repeats’ went in to Reclaiming Beautiful before I left for Florida.  When I get back this week, I’ll have to head in there to see whether or not they have sold.

this year’s sleds.

Published on by Quandie11 Comments

I briefly shared the vintage sleds that I’ve painted up this year in my post about my Carriage House Sale back in early October.

But today I thought I’d give a little more detail, starting with a ‘before’ photo.

That is my stash of sleds that either I picked up a various garage sales throughout the summer, or that a friend found for me.

It seems that I always manage to come up with 3 or 4 sleds each year.

I only buy them when I find them cheap … like $10 or less.  Once in a blue moon I will splurge and pay up to $15, but not often.  So I actually pass up a lot of sleds that are priced much higher.  The thing is, I have to buy them cheap, because I like to keep my final price low too.

This year I painted 4 of them, starting with this one.

It’s pretty similar to one I did last year when I discovered that I really prefer using Dixie Belle’s Barn Red rather than the Honky Tonk Red that I used to use for Christmas items.

Never underestimate how much definition a shadow will add to your stencil.

In this case, I stenciled the top two lines of text using Dixie Belle’s Caviar (black), then moved my stencil slightly up and over and stenciled again using DB’s Drop Cloth.  You’d barely notice it if I didn’t point it out, but it gives the lettering an almost three dimensional feel.  I do find that it’s more difficult to do on smaller fonts like that bottom line of text, so I usually skip the shadow on those.

The 2nd red sled has a bit of a space age feel with all of its chrome.

If atomic ranch is your jam, this is the perfect sled for you.

Once again I used Dixie Belle’s Barn Red, Caviar and Drop Cloth on that one.

I decided to go a little less red on sled no. 3.

This one is painted in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth with just a little of their Barn Red in the wording.  I really liked the patina on the wood that I left unpainted.  I gave it a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax to breathe a little new life into it and to add some protection going forward.  In fact, I gave all of these sleds a final coat of clear wax, including the metal runners.

I hung the sled sideways on the potting shed to show you how that looks.

With all of these sleds you could either hang them horizontally, or lean them somewhere vertically.

Sled no. 4 goes even more neutral with Dixie Belle’s Dried Sage as the background color and stenciling in Caviar and Drop Cloth.

Although I almost always paint the sleds that I find, this year I did leave one untouched.

I felt like that original chippy red paint was perfect ‘as is’.  I still haven’t decided whether I’ll sell this one, or keep it myself.  I’ll probably take it to the shop and if it sells, great, and if it doesn’t it can come home to live with me.

Sleds make fantastic Christmas decor both inside and out.

I sometimes lean one next to a small bench on the deck …

and sometimes I hang one on the potting shed.

My personal favorite is the one I painted up last year that I hang inside over my bed bench.

I paid a little extra for that sled because its solid seat made it perfect for adding a stencil.

What would you do with one of these sleds?  And do you have a favorite from this year’s sleds?  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know.

I brought all of these in to Reclaiming Beautiful before I left for Florida, so if you’re local and would like to add a sled to your holiday decor be sure to head to Stillwater to see if there are any left.

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for all of their products used on my sled makeovers.

covid, crowds and caramel corn.

Published on by Quandie6 Comments

If you’ve been following along with my posts about our Azamara cruise in Canada, we’ve reached the point in the trip where I came down with Covid.

Just in case any of you are wondering what happens when you get Covid on a cruise ship these days, I thought I’d share some of those details.  First of all, some fellow passengers that Mr. Q befriended while getting me some hot tea offered us some Covid tests because we hadn’t thought to bring any.  We both did a test, Mr. Q was negative, but I was definitely positive.

Because I am one of those rule following sort of people, and because you’re supposed to report any highly contagious illness to the ship’s medical center, I called them from our cabin.  They sent a nurse to our cabin and he administered another Covid test, still positive.  However, I did not have a fever.  The Azamara policy was to quarantine me to our cabin for 24 hours, and if I still did not have a fever after 24 hours, I could leave the cabin wearing a mask.  Mr. Q, being negative, was free to do as he pleased.

The nurse returned the following day to take my temperature, and I still didn’t have a fever, so I could leave the cabin.

Getting Covid on vacation was definitely a major bummer, but I will say that the timing was better than it could have been.  The first day that I felt really poorly was a port day in the Magdalen Islands, and I was in no condition to go ashore.  The 2nd day, which was the day I reported my illness and was quarantined, was a day at sea.  Honestly, I would have stayed in bed all day regardless.  So ultimately I only missed one port of call.

The day that I was released from quarantine was the port that I was most looking forward to, Québec City.  Although I still didn’t feel great, I put on a mask and got off the ship.  Then Mr. Q and I spent a couple of hours wandering around.

As you can see in my photos, it was another absolutely spectacular day weather-wise.

And as you also might be able to see, Québec City is very hilly.  There were lots of stairs to tackle.

Which isn’t exactly ideal when you have Covid.

They do have a funicular though, if you want to skip some of those stairs.

Having been on a few funiculars before like the one in Bergen, Norway and the one in Santorini, I was expecting something a little more elaborate.  This was more like a small elevator that traveled on an angle rather than straight up and down.

Another thing I have to note about Québec City, it was very crowded.  I should have expected that, but since we were there in the shoulder season (September), I thought the crowds wouldn’t be as bad.

I was wrong.

But it was a beautiful day, and it also was a Sunday and there seemed to be quite a few locals out with their dogs in addition to all of the tourists.  So it was definitely busy.

We walked around for a bit checking out some of the things I wanted to see, like the umbrella street …

and Place Royale, which is where where Samuel de Champlain founded the City of Québec in 1608.

We checked out a couple of really cool murals on the sides of buildings.

We found a bench near this next one …

and I have to admit that I found it very amusing to sit for a bit and watch people setting up their very elaborate selfies in front of it.

There was one thing I enjoyed seeing lots of in Québec City.  Can you guess what is was from this picture?

Verbena bonariensis!  You know I love it, and for those of you not in the know, it’s the tall purple flower shown above.  It was everywhere!

We eventually ended up in Mary’s Popcorn Shop where we purchased the most delicious maple syrup and pecan caramel corn.

Quite honestly, this was probably the tastiest thing I had on the entire trip.  And really, if you go to Canada and don’t have maple caramel corn, have you really gone to Canada?

FYI, sidebar, you can also go to fake-Canada in Disney’s Epcot and get maple caramel corn …

In fact, I might even stop in there today and get some (I’m at DisneyWorld with my niece and sister this week).  I wonder if their maple caramel corn is as good as the stuff from Mary’s Popcorn?

I enjoyed seeing Québec City, but I’d definitely love to go back and explore it more in depth one day.  We just barely skimmed the surface before I ran out of energy.  By they way, in case you’re wondering, despite sharing a very small cabin and an even smaller bathroom, Mr. Q never did get Covid.  He has an immune system of steel.

Have you been to Québec City?  Or maybe you’ve tried that amazing caramel corn in either real Canada, or fake Epcot Canada?  If so, leave a comment and let me know.

an unmatched pair.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

A short while ago my friend Jackie gave me some toolboxes.

I’m not sure what those two shallow red boxes in the front were meant for, maybe just to hold a few screwdrivers and a hammer or two?

Regardless, I decided to give them both a makeover for Christmas.  I started by removing the labels and then giving each one a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss inside and out.

Next I gave the inside of the first one a quick coat of DB’s Barn Red.  It really just required one careful coat since I was painting red over red.

The outside, however, required two coats of DB’s Ecru to cover up the red.

Before the final coat was dry, I added one of I.O.D.’s Twelfth Night paint inlays to the top.

After spraying that with some matte spray sealer to keep it from smudging, I applied some holly from Dixie Belle’s Evergreen and Holly transfer on either side of the inlay.

The little bit of holly just under the handle is from one of the I.O.D. Christmas transfers.

Now it’s perfectly Christmas-y.

The 2nd toolbox got a coat of Dixie Belle’s Rusty Nail on the inside.

As the name implies, this is more of a rusty or brick red.

I chose it because it worked beautifully with this row of sweet little birds from the I.O.D. Yuletide transfers.

I believe the Yuletide transfer was from the 2024 holiday collection and was then retired, but you can still find it online.

And by the way, I did paint the outside of this toolbox in Ecru as well.

I went back to my old favorite I.O.D. Label Ephemera for some of the wording on the front and top.

Then I also added some numbers and more wording from the Tim Holtz Eccentric Remnant Rubs transfer.

As for the handle, it was a rather pitted chrome so I gave it a new golden glow using Dixie Belle’s Gilding Wax in Antique Gold.

After adding a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax over the paint and transfers for protection, I decided to add a little more depth using a product that is new to me, DIY’s Decrepit Dust in Warm.

This is very similar to Dixie Belle’s Dixie Dirt …

except the Dixie Dirt doesn’t come in a rusty color.

I used a small artist’s brush to apply some of the dust around the latch immediately after adding the clear wax.  The dust will stick to the wax, and I just use the brush to blend it in a little.

It’s a subtle detail, but I think it adds a lot more depth and helps ‘age’ a newly painted item.

I have to confess that I personally prefer the toolbox with the birds on it, but the first one is a bit more Christmas-y.

Which one do you like best?  And what would you keep inside it?  Leave a comment and let me know.

Meanwhile, I brought both of these toolboxes in to Reclaiming Beautiful along with many more holiday items.  They are hosting their Holiday Open House this Thursday, November 6, 2025 from noon to 7 p.m. (while I’m away in Florida).  If you’re local, be sure to stop in!

american farmhouse style.

Published on by Quandie34 Comments

A while back the editor of American Farmhouse Style magazine, Kelly McMaster, reached out to me via Instagram to ask if I’d be willing to let them use a photo of my ‘barn’ in an upcoming issue of their magazine.

She specifically asked for a snowy photo, so I sent in this one.

The carriage house always looks its best when it’s blanketed with snow.

I guess I just sort of assumed they were doing a feature on pretty barns in the snow for a winter issue and our carriage house would get a brief mention.  I have to confess, it never even occurred to me to ask exactly what she was going to do with the photo.

I sent it in, and gave her some background on it.  Namely that it’s actually a carriage house and not a barn, that our house was originally a dairy farm built in 1904, etc., etc.

Then I went off to Canada and mostly forgot about it.

But the other day I got a package in the mail, opened it up and pulled out this …

Wait, what?!

Our carriage house is on the cover!

It was really rather surreal.  As I stood there looking at the magazine in my hand it took a couple of seconds for me to go ‘hey, wait a minute, that’s my photo on the cover!’

Not only that, there is also a very nice article inside written by Kelly telling all about the carriage house, what I use it for, and with a mention of q is for quandie too!

In addition to the American Farmhouse cover, I was also included in a story in Flea Market Decor magazine’s 2025 Christmas issue.

This one is actually a reprint of an article about my non-collection of vintage glass Christmas ornaments that was originally published in Vintage Holiday back in 2017 …

If you’d like to order your own copy of American Farmhouse Style to read the article about our carriage house, you can order it online here.  You can also order the Flea Market Decor magazine online here.  Or you can check your local Barnes & Noble.  They should be on the shelves there starting around November 4.

In other news, my sister, niece and I are headed off to Orlando today.  But not to worry, I have plenty of blog posts scheduled to keep you entertained while I’m gone.  I may be slow to respond to comments though, so you’ll have to cut me some slack on that.

Oh, and one last thing, Happy Halloween!

a little bit of France.

Published on by Quandie3 Comments

Lately one topic that has been getting a lot of press is over-tourism.  So many of the most popular tourist destinations have become overrun with visitors; places like Venice, Barcelona or Amsterdam.

Perhaps you’ve seen news footage of locals spraying tourists with water pistols in Barcelona.

There is so much to unpack in any conversation about this situation and I don’t want to get into that here other than to say that I’m not keen on the idea of going somewhere where I’m not welcomed.  Although that being said, I have been to all three of those cities and had a perfectly wonderful time.

But today’s post is about a little known place that has precisely the opposite attitude towards tourists called Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon is an archipelago of eight islands off the coast of Newfoundland.  However, it’s not part of Canada.  While France gave up most of its territories in North America after the French and Indian war, it held onto this one because its fishing industry was so important for keeping French citizens fed.  To this day, Saint Pierre and Miquelon is still a French territory, or more correctly, a ‘French overseas collectivity’.  The official language is French, and the official currency is the Euro.

In other words, it’s a little bit of France in North America.

Unfortunately, the economy of this small collectivity suffered greatly with the decline of the fishing industry and the 1992 Canadian cod moratorium.  As a result, there is now an ongoing push to promote tourism in an effort to boost their economy.

We took a guided walking tour on our visit, and although there wasn’t a whole lot to see, it was very interesting and informative.

We learned about the fishing industry that remains, and the Saint Pierre working dory.

These are flat-bottomed fishing boats that are unique to Saint Pierre.

We also learned quite a bit about what it means to be a French overseas collectivity.  They are semi-autonomous, having their own local government, while the French government retains authority over areas such as justice, defense, and university education.  Our guide told us that many of the college age residents go to university in France.

What I really wanted to know more about though was the Île aux Marins, or Sailor’s Island.

Doesn’t that look like the perfect spot to film a murder mystery?

Actually, there is a Canadian crime drama called Saint-Pierre, and it is filmed on location, but I’m not sure if any of it has been filmed on Sailor’s Island.  It airs on the Canadian network CBC.  I may have to figure out if I can stream it somewhere online.

But back to Sailor’s Island itself, it is a small island just a few hundred yards off the coast of St. Pierre that was once a fishing village.  However, it was abandoned completely in 1963.  It has now been turned into an open air museum (and you know I love a good open air museum).

Unfortunately, as I mentioned when I returned from this trip, I came down with Covid about mid-trip and this particular day was when I first started feeling unwell.  So I just didn’t have it in me to get up early, figure out how to get over there, and visit it, all before our previously scheduled 1 pm walking tour.

I have to say, I really regret not making more of an effort to visit it.  Although I’m not entirely sure it would have even been possible.  I never saw any boats heading over that way, so I do wonder if it was closed for the season.

We sailed away from Saint Pierre at 3 pm, so once our walking tour concluded we had to get right back to the ship and weren’t able to do any additional exploring.

It was a beautiful afternoon, perfect for heading back out to sea.

Have any of you been to Saint Pierre and Miquelon?  Did you even know that there was a little bit of France still located just off the coast of Canada (I didn’t)?  Leave a comment and let me know.

finest in the world.

Published on by Quandie28 Comments

As soon as my sale was over back on October 4, I jumped right in to Christmas mode.  So I’ve been busy creating Christmas decor for the shop for a few weeks now.  My main goal when creating for Christmas is to give typical vintage items a unique twist.

At the end of this post, you can let me know whether or not you think I’ve succeeded with these ice skates.

And what could be more Christmas-y than vintage ice skates?

Earlier this summer I came across an estate sale where they had an entire storage closet full of old ice skates.  I came home with three pair (and a few other finds).

They were all in pretty rough shape, and looked to be quite old.  I wasn’t entirely sure I could work with them (spoiler alert:  I could, and probably should have bought more!).

I didn’t do much with the men’s skates.  I cleaned them with a damp rag and then gave them a coat of wax.

I also replaced the laces with some brown velvet ribbon and then tucked some old book pages inside.

The addition of that velvet ribbon really elevates the look, don’t you think?

These would be fantastic in a dark academia sort of setting, or a room with that men’s sporting club sort of vibe.

As for the ladies skates, after cleaning them all, I decided that one pair of them needed a coat of Bonding Boss.

This particular pair had some sort of weird pink staining that I thought might bleed thru my coat of paint.

After the Bonding Boss was dry, I painted all of the white skates in Dixie Belle’s Ecru, which I think is the perfect ‘aged’ white.

Then came the fun part, pulling out all of my various transfers and deciding what to use on each pair.

I started with adding some of the I.O.D. Clementine transfers to the first pair.

The Clementine transfers aren’t overtly Christmas-y,

But with the addition of some pinecones and sprigs of holly from a couple of other I.O.D. transfers, they definitely look the part.

I swapped out the laces for some red velvet ribbon, and I tucked some faux greenery into the top of each skate.

This next pair were in the worst shape of them all.

I wondered if I would be able to give them enough of a spruce up to appeal to a future buyer.

The Ecru paint job went a long way towards breathing some new life into them.  Then I used some segments from the Dixie Belle Vintage Post transfer to create a black and white background.  Next I layered some bits of holly here and there over the Vintage Post.

The “Factory No 1896” wording is from the Tim Holtz Eccentric Remnant Rubs transfer.

I think my photos make the ribbon look a bit more orange than it is in real life.  It’s more of an orangey-red, and it works perfectly with the berries on the holly.

For my 4th pair of skates, I decided to push the envelope a little on what qualifies as Christmas-y with some of the I.O.D. Saint Germain transfer.  I think we’ve established that florals are in season all year ’round.

I also added some bling with the I.O.D. Figgy & Flourish transfer, which is one of their gilded transfers.

I used some gold velvet ribbon for the laces on this pair.

And finally I tucked some off-white faux evergreen into the top of each one.

This pair doesn’t scream Christmas, but instead they would work well all winter long.

Secretly, they might be my favorite pair.

For the last pair, I decided to go with some birds and butterflies from the Winter Botanist transfer from I.O.D.  Again, not overtly Christmas, but a bit wintery with the holly and red berries.

I also added in a few small snippets of typography from that Tim Holtz Eccentric Remnant Rub, including the “Finest in the World” wording shown below.

I have to admit to a little inside joke with that choice.  You see, when I went to clean up this particular pair of skates I found a handwritten note tucked inside one of them.  It was addressed to Mary Alice and basically said that this pair of skates were worn by a competitive ice skater and the blades alone cost $100 (and who knows how long ago that was).  It went on to say that “If some child wants them – fine, but someone may want to check at a skate exchange and see if they are worth some money”.

Clearly that never happened, and instead the skates went into the skate closet to die a slow death.

Until I rescued them that is.  Now, perhaps once again they could be considered the ‘finest in the world’ 😉

Now tell me, which is your favorite pair?  The one with the red laces, orange laces, green laces or gold laces?

Oh wait, I didn’t even include the men’s skates in that collage … and maybe they were your favorite?

Leave a comment and let me know.

I will be taking the skates in to the shop later this week (Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater, MN), just before I head off to Florida with my sister and niece on Friday.  The Reclaiming Beautiful Holiday Open House will be taking place while I’m out of town, so I want to get a bunch of my holiday merch in before I leave.

So if you’re looking for some gorgeous ice skates to use as winter decor, be sure to head in to the shop soon!

the odds and ends toolbox.

Published on by Quandie3 Comments

A while back my friend opK found a toolbox for me at an estate sale.

Apparently it was ‘The Odds and Ends Toolbox’ for someone.

And to keep track of what was inside, that previous owner liked to add labels.

It had a little bit of rust, plenty of dirt, and A LOT of labels.  I started by using some Goof Off to remove the labels, and they actually came off quite easily.  Then I gave it a good scrub with dish soap.  After it dried, I sanded it to remove any flaking paint or rust and then gave it a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss inside and out.

Next I painted the inside in Dixie Belle’s Highlands.

I followed that up with two coats of Dixie Belle’s Ecru on the outside.  Once dry, I scuff sanded to distress the edges and after wiping away any dust, I was ready to add some transfers.

For that I pulled out a retired I.O.D. transfer called The Botanist.

I used this transfer in its entirety back in 2023 on this headboard.

But I’d also used just the typography section from the middle on a box top back in January 2024.

FYI, the florals on that box are from a different I.O.D. transfer called Floral Anthology.

A while back I noticed that The Painted Heirloom has a sale price of only $22.05 on The Botanist, so I ordered another one.  For that price I felt like I could choose to just use the typography portion on a smaller item again rather than using the entire transfer.

But then I studied those swags of flowers and decided that maybe I could modify them to work on this toolbox.

Keep in mind, the full design comes on four 12″ x 16″ sheets.  So it’s quite a bit larger than my toolbox.  But after a lot of cutting, trimming and rearranging the swags, I came up with a pretty good layout.  I’m so glad I took the time to try this.

The florals are so pretty, so it was nice to find a way to use them other than on a full sized piece of furniture.

And of course the typography is a perfect fit for a toolbox.

I finished everything off with a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

Now, if you’re wondering what you would do with a toolbox like this, well … obviously … you would just keep your odds and ends in it.  Right?

This toolbox is for sale locally (check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details).

the fortress of louisbourg.

Published on by Quandie7 Comments

If you’ve followed me for long, you know that I love a good living history museum.

Probably my all-time favorite is The Beamish in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Another favorite is the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo.

But when Mr. Q suggested we visit the Fortress of Louisbourg on our recent trip to Canada, I wasn’t terribly excited.  I figured it would be another military history/battlefield sort of place.  As I may have mentioned in the past, Mr. Q is a war game fan, and he had played a game that featured a battle that took place here.  Thus, his wish to see it.

The Fortress of Louisbourg is a partial reconstruction of an 18th-century French fortress on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.  And as it turns out, I was pretty delighted to discover that it is also a fantastic living history museum staffed with costumed interpreters.

The original settlement in the area dates back to 1713, but the fortress itself was built by the French in the mid-1700’s to defend against the British.  Unfortunately, it was built in a poor location for defense and it was captured by British forces twice.  The British then demolished the fort beginning in 1760 to prevent the French from recapturing it again.  The site was then abandoned by 1785.  So, considering it was the largest and most expensive European fortification in North America, it didn’t last very long.

The reconstruction was begun in 1961 and is the largest reconstruction project in North America.

We were able to catch a demonstration about hot chocolate in one building.

This costumed enactor was a wealthy merchant who imported chocolate.  He explained how expensive the chocolate was, and how they used it to make a hot chocolate drink.  It was slightly more complicated than adding 4 tablespoons of Swiss Miss to a mug of hot water.  Next we all got to try a cup.  Delicious, and educational.

We also saw a demonstration of how to fire a musket …

along with an explanation of what life in the fortress was like for the common soldier, which was not great.  Apparently many promises were made when they were recruited in France, but they didn’t really come to fruition once they got to Louisbourg.  Then they were stuck there thousands of miles from home.

We also enjoyed a demonstration of the entertainment of the time at the Inn.

The fortress had four gates that led inside including the Frederic Gate that was on the waterfront.

I thought that was an unusual design.

There are over 50 buildings to explore over 6 acres.

You are able to wander around through fully furnished buildings at your own pace, or you can opt for a guided tour.

Many of the buildings were manned by costumed interpreters.  We spoke with the housekeeper in this kitchen for quite some time as she explained what her day to day life was like.

My only complaint about visiting the Fortress of Louisbourg is that we didn’t have enough time there.  This is definitely one of the downsides of traveling on a cruise ship, you have limited time in each port of call.  There was so much more to see here if we’d only been able to spend all day, we really just skimmed the surface of what was available.  I’d love to return some day to see more, but I’m not optimistic about the chances that I’ll ever make it back to Cape Breton Island.

How about you?  Have you been to this part of Nova Scotia?  Or would you like to add it to your bucket list?  Leave a comment and let me know.