MAISON JEAN LONGPRÉ

You may remember that the holiday we recently took was in two parts, the second part was in Cape Breton, and the first was a wonderful weekend stay at the Maison Jean Longpré with our great friends Claudia and Dan and their awesome daughter Alice. They were kind enough to invite us along to share this relaxing and beautifully designed country home just outside of Montreal.

As Claudia said, there is really no point in taking photos of the interior of the home as M. Jean Longpré is a professional photographer and the images on the website are much better than either of us could take—but believe me when I say it was gorgeous and extremely inspiring! So instead here are some photos of Eddie and Alice, because no one can take photos of toddlers like mamas can ;)

Have a great Tuesday!
xx Bess

Dog days of summer

I was downloading all our summer photos onto my computer last night and came across this series I took of our dog, Tyke, rolling in the grass. He'd just come out of the lake and was have the best time stinking himself up / drying himself off (who can be sure?) that I had to capture it on the camera.

He's going to be so embarrassed when he sees this ;)

Have a great Tuesday!
xo Bess

Winter Weekend

This week had me a little out of sorts. It's hard to come out of such a busy, productive and exciting time like the holidays to a month of very little activity. Well that's not true, there's lots of work to be done, just not much cash to be had. But you know what? After a couple of shaky days I'm back on track. I knew that January would be quiet, so I have decided that I will not make another penny for the rest of the month. That's cool with me. I expect no money, and it makes me feel better already. Because now I can focus on getting work done, work that will in the future pay off. Thank you, friends and family, for listening to my woes and my short lived plans of becoming a scientist.

I hope you have a stellar Winter weekend.

xx bess

ps. That's my sister's boyfriend, PB, in the bright red Canada Goose along with Big Chuck, Tyke and our family dog Macy, having fun on the ice at the cottage.

Fall Leaves

I took a few photos of the pretty Fall colours when we were up north on the weekend.



What is it about leaves that make them so beautiful?



I think it's how delicate they are. Paper thin and each one unique.

Have a wonderful Thursday,
xo bess

Thanksgiving + Birch Bark Harvesting

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, in fact, we had 3 Thanksgivings, all delicious and unique. The weather this weekend was absolutely perfect! Sunny, warm days and cool crisp nights, the perfect weather for being outside and working off some of those pumpkin pies.

On Saturday I went to visit Mjolk in Toronto and was overwhelmed, impressed and inspired by John and Juli's beautiful store. (I'll post photos on the blog later this week.) They had a gorgeous Finnish birch bark installation in their storefront and I was in love with it.

Big Chuck and I love natural wood, and the idea of using birch bark somewhere in our home was something I really liked. So, when we arrived at the cottage for thanksgiving dinner and I saw not one but two birch trees laying next to the wood shed, already sawed into perfect 16 inch logs the wheels in my brain started turning. And, before I knew it, Big Chuck and I were harvesting birch bark.

We have a big bag currently sitting in our backyard. I haven't figured out exactly what to do with it yet. I'm not sure if I want to do something on a large scale like the installation I saw at Mjolk, or something smaller and potentially sell-able. I'll keep you posted.

Have a great Wednesday!

xo bess

Small Business, Small Steps: Break Time?

I was going to write a post on the challenges of unplugging and really taking a break from work, when you are your company. How it makes me feel guilty and feel as though there are a million better things I could be doing with all this time.

But, I'm not.

Instead I'm going to use this break from English Muffin to work on other design projects and tie up some loose ends because, let's be honest, there's only so long a fair skinned girl can bask in the sunshine (and today it's raining).

Have a great Wednesday!

Bess

Cottage Finds

The sun came out, (as well as lots of flies) so I decided to take some shots of the treasures that have been both hiding and in plain sight here on Drag Lake.


The clipboard. It's now mine, I asked for it as a prize for all my spring cleaning hard work. I think it's going to look so cute hanging on the wall of my new office. I can clip on the day's to do list as well as keep important papers at my fingertips.

The Reader's Digest magazines (circa 1960) are no secret. I think I've read every one of them at some point during my summer stays. They're pretty hilarious.

Some prints from the hard cover Reader's Digest Condensed books, also from the 60's.

Three boxes which I have made my dad swear up and down he will never throw out. He uses them to store wood next to the fireplace. I've tried many times to bring one home with me, but apparently besides being beautiful they are also useful.

A pocket glossary of building terms, good to have around.

My dad's Popular Science and Hot Rod magazines. Cars were so much cooler back then. These must be worth something - not that we'd ever sell them!

That's all for now. Time to head outside to enjoy the sun :)

Happy Tuesday!

bess

Grey Skies

I made my way up north on the weekend to our family's cottage. I'm planning on spending the week here, and thanks to modern technology (like the good ol' internet) I am able to stay in touch with you lovely readers. I was going to post photos today of some fun vintage finds I discovered while doing a little spring cleaning with my dad yesterday, but armed only with my iPhone I'll have to postpone those plans until the sun comes back out.

It's a stormy day here. Windy, cloudy and on the verge of raining. I think I'll go make myself a pot of tea.

Happy Monday!

Bess

Photos from the Cottage

I'm back from my extra-long weekend at the cottage. I had a really nice time swimming and spending time with my dad, and, as you will see, enjoyed playing with my new camera lens too. I find it works great in low light conditions and for detailed close-up shots - just like it said it would!

Here are a few photos from the weekend.





My favourite subject, Macy!

Have a good day!
bess