Motherwell

I have to show off our newest home improvement.  When we took out some of the shelving, it left an awkward space above the dishwasher.  We had to put a frame around it to hide the ugly gaps left when the upper cabinets were taken out, then I painted it white to cover the marks.  But very quickly, new marks appeared and it was impossible to wipe crumbs out of the sunken space... Enter tile solution.  I love tile.  I think it's so fun and I love adding unique touches to weird spaces.  Brian and I had some discussion at the store.  He wanted all white tile and I wanted to create something more interesting, so we compromised with cheap white tile and a cheap brown one.  My thought was that he could cut the brown tile and we'd create a pattern, but without the right tools, it was going to get crazy because the tiles would have had 3 sections on some sides and 2 on the other.  Then Brian remembered he had some pieces left from the basement and he let me design this!  I love it, even more than the more expensive tiles I was leaning toward.

Here it is with the rest of the kitchen...

So, I few days ago, I mentioned us going out to Motherwell.  The plan this day was to go to the beach (sometimes I have a one track mind).  We were going to snag Arwen who also would love to go to the beach everyday.  But she was going with her big sister's to Motherwell, so we asked if we could join in.  What great teens (and adult) who would let our crazy crew come along!  Victoria and her boyfriend Tyler, Arwen, Moira and us.

Motherwell is a national park site not far from us.  I'd never gone and they have people dressed up in area costume to tell us about the home and farm life of the early 1900s.  It was all so interesting, but I think everyone's very favorite part was to play the old games with the cousins.

Tyler found these laying up against a tree and off we went with races galore.

We toured a farm shed with tools, the old barn (with pigs, chickens and horse stables), the house and estate that also included a garden, lover's lane, dugout, welcome center and play area.  We got to ride in the horse drawn wagon while the interpreter told us about how they farmed with man and horse power.

There are lots more pics, so to be continued...