Friday is here! The dame’s rocket has been blooming like crazy this week on the banks of the creek. I look forward to this so much every year so I can see just how much it has spread. I’m happy to report we have quite a few new patches of it that popped up along the creek that runs next to our property. I’m hoping it will eventually fill the whole creek bank at this time of year the way I see it’s done along some other creeks around here. So simple and unassuming, but so magical at the same time.
Jack is growing like a weed right now! He’ll put on a pair of shorts and I’ll see them and think “Those look nice, they should be good for this year.” and then two weeks later he’s outgrown them. As a super small person, I love seeing my kids go through these growth spurts, but it’s pretty funny when I organize his summer clothes and think we’re pretty well set for summer and then realize “Oops. Nope. Time to start from scratch.” Some favorites that I restocked his drawers with: I keep ordering these henley t-shirts. They’re soft, always come in great colors, and just look a little nicer than a plain t shirt. These uniform pants are my favorite for Jack for every day wear, so I ordered the shorts versions as well. I will keep buying him chambray shorts every year until he won’t let me anymore. I’m lucky that Jack doesn’t love anything with loud graphics or branding on it, so if I buy quality, simple pieces, they’ll usually last us quite awhile during non-growth-spurt times. He’s had the same rain jacket since he was 5 and it’s still in like-new condition and still fits! Mom win!
Our summer plans are so up in the air right now and I’m really getting nervous and wanting to get some solid dates and activities nailed down. One thing I know about myself is that no matter how much we have planned, I always feel like it’s not enough and I kind of feel guilty for any open, unplanned days while also feeling like I desperately need more open, unplanned days. I want to make the most of the summer for the kids, but at the same time I also want us to have all that high-quality lazy summer time. So basically I’ve set myself up to never win. 🙂 This year, Kennedy’s supposed to possibly be doing a summer co-op for school so we’ve just been waiting to hear about that for the last six months or so, and then schedule around it. And we still haven’t heard anything so now it’s almost summer and we don’t know what we’re doing at all. We have a big camping trip booked with our neighbours, Jack has a little basketball camp, and we have some loose ideas of things that would be fun to do, but I’m starting to get a little worried that if we don’t map out some dates soon, the summer will just fly by and we’ll feel like we did nothing. Does anyone else do this to themselves ever year in one way or another?
I think this is probably totally pandemic-related, but I find myself making the most boring clothing choices. Well, maybe more simple and straightforward, but I went downstairs to my bins last week to start pulling out a few things for my project 333 summer items and I found so many things where I was like “Wow! I forgot about this! This is such a nice top! This is such a nice color on this dress! I’m totally not going to wear that this year so I’m just going to leave it right here in this bin.” I swear, I used to be fun. 🙂 I’m seeing this quite a bit where people are wanting to just keep things simple and there seem to be a lot of really practical clothing choices being made with fewer really fun, festive pieces just because they spark joy. Last year at this time, my area was actually still in lockdown so this will be our first summer in a few years where we’re completely open and out living life. I’m interested to see if I find myself loosening up and feeling more festive by the end of the season, or if I’m still just wanting to stick to the basics.
I’m so proud of us for doing fun things when the opportunity arises lately. When Chris and I have been out of town for shoots, we’ve been getting really good at taking the opportunity to explore whatever little town we’re nearby, even if just for a little bit and it’s been so fun. We’ve always been so bad for just going straight home whenever and event was done, whether it was for work, or for when we used to travel a lot for Kennedy’s soccer. I always regretted it afterward thinking “We were right there! We should have gone to the thing!” But in the moment it has always seemed like the best thing to do was just to get home as soon as humanly possible. We’re learning and I’m enjoying it. This is from a recent shoot where we stopped in for dinner and walk in downtown Oakville. Just the prettiest little town.
Pictured above: Sweater | Pants | Similar (but nicer) jacket | Shoes | Sunglasses | Wallet | Delicious leftovers from Dar Nabati, which we highly recommend!
I ordered new side tables for the living room! I loooove side tables (See this post for proof). I just feel like they’re kind of the jewellery of a room a lot of the time and there were a couple that I had my eye on for a few months, I was just waiting for them to come back in stock and also just kind of checking back and looking at them every once in awhile to make sure that they were the ones that made my heart skip a beat. 🙂 They’re both so pretty and they compliment each other so well. I chose this slightly larger one for the gap between our two sofas. It definitely has a strong traditional look, just like the little marble side table I already have in the room. This one here is just the perfect tiny table for the other side of the sofa. It’s just a touch more modern looking, which is important in a more traditional house like ours so that things don’t start feeling too stuffy or outdated. The littlest one has already arrived and I’m smitten. It came a bit early so I’m hopefully that the other one (which should be here in a few weeks) might be a bit early too. So fun! And as you can see we still haven’t rolled out our new Ruggable. 🙂
NEWS AND FINDS
-Rhubarb season is coming to a close here! Here are some past favorites to use up the rest of what you have growing in the garden or what you picked up at the farmer’s market: Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp | Apple Rhubarb Bread | How to Freeze Leftover Rhubarb | When to Harvest Rhubarb and How to Tell When Rhubarb is Ripe
-I’ve been struggling to find the perfect planters to round out my collection for the porch, but I came across these Wayfair Cara planters last week and I think they’re the ones! A good size without being too big, nice finish, all-weather construction, classic styling, I think we have some winners!
-I came across this pillow from Pottery Barn recently and I thought it was beautiful. I love the pattern and I feel like it’s a great low-cost solution if you love the look and feel of traditional rugs and want to inject a little bit of that into a room, but don’t want to actually replace your existing rug. Pottery Barn Zayden Printed Velvet pillow cover
-This is not a drill! The all-weather Adirondack chairs that we have on our porch are back in stock in a few colors, including black! The white and the sand color, which have been really well-loved should be back in stock in the next few days! These are so popular for good reason and sell out super quickly, so now’s the time to pounce if you need affordable, high-quality porch chairs. These are a classic and I had to watch them like a hawk last spring when I ordered mine. Will probably be getting more as we clean up more areas of our property. 🙂
-You can see all of this week’s reader favorite products here!
-Follow me on Instagram for all the little day-to-day updates on life around here in between blog posts.
MORE RECENT POSTS
- Our New Bedroom Light Fixture – A Little More About it
- Homemade Turmeric Latte Recipe
- Five Things on a Friday 5/27/22
- 24 Hours in Toronto
- Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Loaf Recipe
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.