tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66130497415214822072024-03-13T15:53:03.509-04:00May December HomeBarb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.comBlogger460125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-42367372008770546722009-08-23T13:52:00.001-04:002009-08-23T13:52:46.450-04:00Lazy Sunday Links - Final Edition It's been over two years since I started this blog.  And what an adventure it's been!  I've met some great people, learned a little HTML, made a ton of mistakes and, I hope, shared some cool ideas with you. 460 posts on and it's time for some changes.  My shop is gone, I'm not going to auctions and thrift stores as often and my interests have changed. I'm not giving up on Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-28254603995013098032009-08-21T21:42:00.001-04:002009-08-21T21:42:50.766-04:00Celebration Fridays - Celebrating the Imposition of New Opportunities  My parents had a friend who, for reasons I failed to document, regularly found himself out of work.  And whenever that happened, there would be a party, with much drinking and hilarity and, I'm sure, occasional tears and bouts of hyperventilating. I lost my job  today.  The celebrations have begun and will continue throughout the weekend. Because sometimes Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-4701694413140053542009-08-16T12:54:00.001-04:002009-08-16T12:54:01.858-04:00Lazy Sunday Links  Quark expeditions is sponsoring a "Blog Your Way to Antarctica" contest.  And, fool that I am, I've entered.  So, if you could take a moment to head over and vote for me, I'd be really, really grateful. You'll have to register before you can vote (one vote per valid email address), but it's really easy and they don't seem to be contacting anyone who's voted so far.&#Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-14820055853506925472009-08-12T18:24:00.001-04:002009-08-12T18:24:53.712-04:00A Summer Puzzle Why is it: cotton + clothes dryer = meh but:  cotton + clothes line = bliss In the same vein: fresh air + outdoors = well, perfectly lovely, actually while: fresh air + indoors = open all the windows it smells so good!!!! Just a little something I puzzle over as I inhale.   Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-20954060961588269832009-08-03T15:51:00.001-04:002009-08-03T15:51:28.425-04:00Etsy Mondays - lunarloungedesignPure gold this week my friends! Lunarloungedesign.com "is a very hip, Internet based furniture design company that specializes in handcrafted mid century inspired furnishings."  Their pieces "are fun, modern styles dedicated to the mid century modern oriented consumer." I'll say. And this sofa?  Packs flat for easy shipping! They also have a website.&#Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-29503067051967372332009-08-02T12:30:00.001-04:002009-08-02T12:40:03.782-04:00Lazy Sunday Links It's a lovely long weekend here in Canada.  I was nearly too lazy to do this.  But there are links!  And they must be shared! First up is another frugality site called Not Spending Money, subtitled Finding Joy without Buying Stuff, which is a sentiment I heartily support.  The post Small Spaces: Articles From the Pros has links to several articles about people living well Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-63673422404420301742009-07-30T07:38:00.001-04:002009-07-30T07:38:49.769-04:00Really Versatile Furniture I think the key to successful small-space living is having a couple of pieces of furniture that do more than their share of the workload. This buffet is just such a piece.  Alan and I bought it at an antique shop over twenty years ago for our first B&B.  Then when we moved out of town, it lived in my parents' dining room for many years. My mother decided to clear out some Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-44498788091578171642009-07-27T19:06:00.001-04:002009-07-27T19:06:14.593-04:00Etsy Mondays - Cheap TreatsI searched Etsy for the term "cheap" in case anyone's feeling the pinch. I love these little emoticon push-pins (you can also get them as magnets).  Because not everything can be digitized. EMOTICON These mini thank you cards are lovely.  Never let saving money get in the way of good manners. JPBphotography And this one's a real coup!  A cheap clothespin bag Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-61976486028317757532009-07-26T11:14:00.001-04:002009-07-26T11:14:53.366-04:00Lazy Sunday Links - Cool Frugal Blogs  I don't talk much about frugality on this site.  I don't talk about it much in my daily life, either.  But it's there, in the background, as a sort of underlying theme to all this cool reuse of junk and making your home work for you. There are a lot of sites out there that have saving money at the forefront.  And, I hate to bring this up, but they can be a bit grim, many Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-85248516773637885552009-07-19T11:54:00.001-04:002009-07-19T11:54:25.507-04:00Lazy Sunday Links Hello! I found a couple of really cool things this week, in the spirit of "when life hands you lemons..." First up, an art installation made from garbage that is strangely, wonderfully beautiful. And a great use of all those nasty posters that pile up on telephone poles.  Very cool! And a little bit of blog business to report, for those of you who love social media.  Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-63623363622573986132009-07-17T06:48:00.001-04:002009-07-17T06:48:41.561-04:00Celebration Fridays - Celebrating GenerosityBarb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-1776489077037230902009-07-14T07:24:00.001-04:002009-07-14T07:24:35.085-04:00Charity Tuesday - HopePhones Pediatric AIDS Canada I found this great charity last week - HopePhones.  They take donations of old cellphones (who doesn't have one or more of those lying around), recycle them and then give health workers in developing countries basic model cellphones to take with them as they make their rounds. It may not sound like much, but I made rounds in Kenya and Uganda when I was there and Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-65923621590448265942009-07-13T18:02:00.001-04:002009-07-13T18:02:15.261-04:00Etsy Mondays - Let's Go to the Beach!I don't know about the rest of you, but I could definitely use a vacation.  Of course, I'm not actually entitled to one until sometime next January. This windchime from Etsy seller Swooziestuff definitely has that away from home vibe. Speaking of doggies, as I so often do... Jenny Armitage does lovely watercolours of dogs and other beach scenes. And then there's this mobile!  Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-60021297414137415582009-07-10T18:48:00.001-04:002009-07-10T18:48:41.932-04:00Celebration Fridays - Let's Celebrate and Get Really, Really Tired! The benefit of running two blogs simultaneously has to be that, once in awhile, you can borrow a post from one or the other.  Today is one of those days. Please go and read "My Favourite Mantra".  It's a celebration of friendship and being really, really tired. Be sure to read the comment from Mr. Nuggets, too.  Dude's brilliant.  And if you'd like to leave a Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-32455092111340865822009-07-06T20:11:00.001-04:002009-07-06T20:11:55.049-04:00Etsy MondaysAfter a ridiculously cold May and June, we're finally getting some warm weather around here.  That and the new deck that we're getting built this week has me thinking, PICNIC!!! Now, admittedly walking three steps from the kitchen to the back deck isn't likely to put me in danger of having my food go off, but with a picnic bag as pretty as this, why not be extra careful! JulieMeyer NotBarb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-3641694664389793662009-07-03T17:47:00.001-04:002009-07-03T17:47:17.996-04:00Celebration Fridays - Same Old Same Old  You may not have noticed, but Alan and I live a life of constant change, if not outright chaos.  In the last year alone, we've moved twice and held five jobs between us.  And that is so not unusual. Lately, though, things have been pretty settled.  Calm.  Peaceful even. And it feels mighty strange, I can tell you! It's at about this point, historically (and after Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-75625139697409487872009-06-28T11:51:00.001-04:002009-06-28T11:51:16.487-04:00Lazy Sunday Links - The Uniform Project riot jane I love this one! To raise money for The Akanksha Foundation, which is devoted to bringing education to slum children, Sheena Matheiken has  vowed to wear the same dress every day for a year.  Actually, she has seven identical dresses, designed by Eliza Starbuck, that she's wearing day after day, with different vintage and handmade accessories.  Full details and Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-2616239108847623712009-06-27T11:23:00.001-04:002009-06-27T11:23:16.375-04:00Celebration Saturday - Getting Really Excited About SomethingI came home from work on Tuesday to find that my husband had dug a fire pit in the backyard.  He's never been a frat boy, but he found a recipe and "Iwannamakepaella!"  We had friends coming for dinner Thursday night, so, cool. Wednesday, we went to Ikea (we were headed there anyway) and bought a pan, stopping for mussels on the way home. When I got home Thursday, he Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-25585112665356628122009-06-21T11:14:00.001-04:002009-06-21T11:14:33.216-04:00Lazy Sunday Links *yasuhiro I was very pleased to see that Corine of Hidden in France is on Twitter.  She also has a Flickr stream.  Looking into all of that, well, one thing led to another and I found inspire*inspire - a truly lovely blog of design inspiration that's been doing good things since December.  I can see I have some reading to catch up on! Finding Corine on Twitter led me to findBarb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-49071500951547475392009-06-19T07:26:00.001-04:002009-06-19T07:26:07.360-04:00Celebration Fridays - Celebrating Friendship  I don't know how it is where you live, but my social life goes a bit dormant in the cold weather. The roads are impassable and most of our friends go Away during the winter.  It's when I catch up on my sleep.  But once the flowers start to bloom, so do the invitations to dinners and parties.  And all of our friends from Away come here. There's been a lovely flurry of Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-87559707204127012152009-06-17T18:08:00.001-04:002009-06-17T18:08:04.725-04:00Show and Tell: Erin's Invisible Floating Shelves I had a lovely email from May December Home reader Erin, who wanted to tell me about the invisible floating shelves she built after reading about mine. AND she included pictures, which makes my job so easy today.  I mean, look how great her place is! Which is good, because my job at work is morphing from Director of Communications of Pediatric AIDS Canada to Queen of the Internet. Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-28848653328610826892009-06-15T18:33:00.001-04:002009-06-15T18:33:35.372-04:00Etsy Mondays - Tompkins  Sometimes it's the little details that make all the difference.  Having a place to put all the bits and pieces can make a room feel so much tidier. These tins from Etsy shop Tompkins should help. Tonya Tompkins is an art teacher who travels and works on her art during the summer. I hope her students appreciate her talent!   Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-40974978570320898222009-06-11T07:05:00.001-04:002009-06-11T07:05:26.292-04:00The Stuff Folks Leave Behind Some of my favourite pieces are things that I've found discarded by previous inhabitants of the houses we've lived in. I'm usually excited to find these treasures. The merits of this piece were not so immediately apparent. For one thing, our bad tenants bought this instead of paying the rent.  For another, we found it lying in pieces in our backyard.  We stacked the pieces neatly Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-54092174903176538622009-06-08T07:06:00.001-04:002009-06-08T07:06:57.200-04:00Etsy Mondays - Janet Hill StudioI went to one of my local independent bookstores this week (here in Stratford, we're lucky enough to have four) because Pia's book was in (and it's wonderful!).  The man behind the counter and I chatted a bit while he was ringing up my purchase.  He didn't know who Pia is (the man obviously spends way too much time off-line) but said that he'd mentioned it to his wife, and of Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6613049741521482207.post-54798956370932532302009-06-04T07:47:00.001-04:002009-06-04T07:47:03.228-04:00Book Review - easy Cottage style In the six seconds of free time I have every day I've been reading easy Cottage style by Liz Bauwens and Alexandra Campbell.  And, aside from loving the pictures, which are seriously gorgeous pics of the kinds of places I'd like to live, I'm really liking the copy.  It's just so learn-to-enjoy-what-you've-got-and-quit-stressing. It's actually enticed me to cross a few items off my Barb McMahon and Alan Maillouxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05395936716793077391noreply@blogger.com0