Our ties to 9/11

Wow — who knew you could squeeze so much stuff into one day?! We left Ottawa at 8:20 this morning, and 14 hours later I'm sitting in our B&B in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia after a day filled with scenic drives, hilly walks, yummy food, walking on the Bluenose II, seeing the Picton Castle (TOTALLY cool!!), and all-around good times :-) Oh, and purple houses too!!

I'll be writing more about our trip next week, but I have to commemorate today — 9/11.

Our wedding day was September 14th, 2001 — three days after 9/11. We woke up on the morning of our wedding to news that the Prime Minister of Canada had proclaimed September 14, 2001 a National Day of Mourning. Our Master of Ceremonies was in Germany and unable to fly back to Canada for our wedding. My brother and his wife had planned to fly up from Pittsburgh, but had to drive up instead. We had two tickets to fly to Halifax for our honeymoon in NS and PEI the day after our wedding. But I was too scared to fly, especially because of the association between 9/11 and the airport in Halifax.

Flash forward 8 years — today, September 11, 2009, hubby and I were flying to Halifax to celebrate our anniversary at the same time the two planes hit the World Trade Center back in 2001. Things eerily coming full circle, in a way.

We originally planned to go to Peggy's Cove on Sunday on our way from Lunenburg to Halifax, but we decided to go today instead. About 1.5kms from Peggy's Cove, we saw a sign for the Swissair Flight 111 Memorial. Another eery coincidence that on the 8th anniversary of 9/11, we were at the scene of another tragic plane crash.

Here are a few pictures I took at the memorial. The first explains the memorial, and the rest are pictures of the memorial and the Atlantic Ocean. It's too bad the sound of crashing waves can't come through the computer screen — they really add to the drama of the memorial site and  remind you of the power of the ocean...

  Click the picture to enlarge the image

After much thought, hubby came to the realization that the three slots in the stone are the number of the flight — 111.

The clouds couldn’t have been more perfect…

I’m still feeling a bit goosebumpy from the seeing the memorial and the coincidences between September 11, 2001 and September 11, 2009. Both tragic events that we’ll never forget, both because of the impact they had on the world and because of the ties my hubby and I have to 9/11.

Hooked on Leaded Glass!

I LOVE our little 70 year old working-man’s bungalow, but let’s face it… most of the character found in the place has been added in the last year of our renovations! That’s why I call it a “working-man’s bungalow” – it wasn’t built to be a showcase, it was built to house a family. Okay… a house for a SMALL family!

One of the almost-charming original features of my house? Piano windows. Well… three of them to be exact.

 

No… this photo isn’t my living room and no… these aren’t my piano windows.

But they’re lovely aren’t they?

Charming!

 

 

THESE are my piano windows – dining room, living room and bedroom.

Sure… they’re cute… like I said, they’re almost-charming!

But… If we had the extra money I’d hire someone to create and install beautiful stained, leaded glass windows. But with 3 piano windows needing to be replaced, that could cost a LOT of money!

Yep… I’m cheap!

So instead of hiring an expert stained glass craftsman to create the perfect windows, I’m going to attempt a faux leaded glass project… but that’s a post for Monday and Susan’s Metamorphosis Monday blogparty!!

Besides… today is FRIDAY, the day when Julia from Hooked on Houses hosts her Hooked on Fridays blogparty… and this post is supposed to be all about something I’m hooked on!

Since I’m about to dive into a project with an unknown end-result, I thought I’d share some of the beautiful leaded glass windows I’ve discovered in my pattern research. I’ll even show you the pattern I decided on! Because I’m Hooked on Leaded Glass!

Then – on Monday - you’ll have to come back to see if I pulled it off!

 

Even when left to crumble, leaded glass windows are beautiful!

This diamond pattern was one I was considering for our windows… but the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was too busy for my simple little house.

 

 

Lined up neatly in a local antiques shop… I had so much fun exploring the windows this shop had on display! Finding 3 that would perfectly fit my windows would be next to impossible… so I moved on.

 

 

I loved the Victorian patterns in these windows, but I’ll be working with a leaded “tape” so making these curved lines just can’t be done.

Besides… I live in a working-man’s bungalow… not a classic Victorian manor house!

So this pattern wasn’t for me.

 

 

 

THIS pattern was a strong contender… but still too Victorian, perhaps.

But definitely something I could duplicate with my lead tape. Well… I at least think I could!

 

 

 

 

 

Now THIS is a pattern and style that could work in my little house!

 But alas… because I’m using a faux product, I don’t want to use colour… I’m worried about it looking cheap and fake :-(

 

Here’s a fantastic pattern that would definitely work!! In fact it so perfect that I’m tempted to change my mind…

But you see… I’ve already found the perfect pattern… but I’ll share that in a minute!!

 

First… let me share a few beautiful leaded glass windows I discovered!!!

And then I found myself thinking about this window…

It’s the original leaded glass window at the front of our house – our dining room window – the first feature I saw as we climbed the stairs of this soon-to-be-ours little bungalow 2 years ago. “How wonderful and charming!” I thought to myself at the time. Unfortunately it was cracked, single paned, painted shut and had to be replaced.

This window got me thinking about…

Wait a minute!!

Leaded glass in my little house… I had the perfect pattern!! Perfect because it CAME from my house… it was ORIGINAL to my bungalow!!

And were was it?

My back yard!!

There I was searching the internet and local antique stores for the perfect leaded glass pattern and I had it all along… in my back yard!

The photos above are of my old front door (on the left) and of the single French door that used to lead to the dining room. The patterns are identical. 70 year old leaded glass.. original to my house! Don’t worry… I’m salvaging this original glass to use in the house somewhere!!!

So I start this project on Saturday. I don’t know how many of my 3 windows I’ll finish this weekend, but now you know what my piano windows are supposed to look like!!

Wish me luck… and come back on Monday to see if I got it right!!

P.S. One of our readers – Greet – wanted to know why these windows were called “piano windows”. I thought a photo would provide the best explanation…

 

These windows are all about ensuring that there’s room along the wall for a large piece of furniture, a book case (like the living room I shared above)… or a piano!!

Thanks for the comments… keep them coming!

Rewind Wednesday gets Beany

In honour of starting my Colour in Decor class tonight and my trip to the East Coast this coming weekend, today’s Rewind Wednesday is a return trip to Jelly Bean Row. In case you missed it the first time, Jelly Bean Row is an area in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador where the houses are painted bright & beautiful colours – just like jelly beans :-) Let’s go take another look around…

My hubby and I are addicted to Gourmet Sour Jelly Beans from WalMart. We could polish off a bag of them in one sitting — actually, I think we have!! Seriously, these are the best jelly beans EVER!! Hubby says they remind him of Rockets. Mmmm, Rockets!!

I have a little sour jelly bean ritual that I follow: I take a handful of sour jelly beans. I eat the orange & purple ones first, then the red & yellow ones, and then the blue & green ones. And I have to eat them two at a time. Preferably not two of the same colour. I think I have a mild case of jelly bean OCD!! ;-)

These particular Gourmet Sour Jelly Beans are made in Mississauga, Ontario and seem to only be sold at WalMart in Canada. We’ve never seen them at WalMart in the US. Imagine that, exclusive Canadian jelly beans!! Gourmet ones, even!! (Well guess what—no more Gourmet Sour Jelly Beans at WalMart. Booooo!!! The company that made them doesn’t make them anymore. They just make Jelly Belly knock-offs that are gross. I mean, what flavour is algae green supposed to be?? Ick!!!)

And that’s my clever (or not-so-clever!!) segue to another exclusive Canadian jelly bean…

Jelly Bean Row

Jelly Bean Row is in downtown St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s an area with wonderfully colourful houses — colourful like a bag of jelly beans :-) Many of the homes in Jelly Bean Row are Victorian heritage homes.

Let’s go for a little tour of Jelly Bean Row… as you can see, the architecture on this street isn’t fancy. Really, this is just a line of row houses. But don’t the bright colours give them great character?? :-)

Same houses from the other end of the street… the red car fits into the neighbourhood nicely :-)

Hard work walking up these hills!!

There’s a green house next to a yellow house…

And a green house between a yellow house and a blue house…

A bright red house beside a bright orange house…

And a bright blue house with orange trim… (photo by Geoff Meeker)

There’s the blue & orange house again, along with its colourful neighbours…

There’s a bright blue house with white trim and pretty window detailing…

Check out the cool Jelly Bean Row mailbox on this blue house :-) (Photo by Geoff Meeker)

One more street to walk down before the sun sets…

And that’s the end of our tour of Jelly Bean Row. Hope these colourful homes in St. John’s brighten up your day :-)

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I’m heading to the East Coast on Friday. Not to St. John’s, but to Halifax and Lunenburg in Nova Scotia. It’s our 7th anniversary on September 14th, so hubby and I decided to celebrate with a weekend trip :-) I’ll be bringing my new camera, so hopefully I’ll have some good pictures to share with you next week :-)

For more information on Jelly Bean Row and to see more photos by Geoff Meeker, check out:

JELLY BEAN ROW

To learn more about St. John’s, check out the city’s web site:

CITY OF ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

To see more of Kim Goodyear’s beautiful photography, check out her blog:

KIM GOODYEAR — NEWFOUNDLAND PHOTOGRAPHER