Ever been to Banff, Canada?

I love
Banff & Lake Louise

we've been there several times

it's only a few hours

(five)

from our Montana home..
how lucky are we...

it is truly one of my favorite places on earth

I don't know why...

but it speaks to me

could it be the huge mountains

all around

or the world travelers speaking all different languages

Canada is french speaking in some areas

I thought these two pictures I took

could make a good ad for

~Banff Adventure~

or is it the fun shopping....

or is it......

~Evelyn's coffee house~

a coffee shop that has the best

hot cocoa and pies in the world..

it's the first place we head when we get there

~every time~
I remember the first year we went 3 times a day
they shave chocolate bars for the topping
yummmm

I can't believe I forgot my camera on the kitchen counter

not like me

so the I-phone pictures will have to do

We spent a couple of days with friends in Okatoks

just south of Calgary

before driving over to Banff

we saw lots of

canola fields

bright yellows patches everywhere

very beautiful drive
see the Canadian Rockies in the distance
it took us 2 hours

then drove back home the same day through

Banff National Park

the entire day I never looked at a

magazine

couldn't take my eyes off the

beautiful drive

I wanted to stay the night

the Hubs wanted to get back to the farm
but he said maybe this winter

(a milestone anniversary)

we could come and see Banff in the winter

take the train up....

doesn't that sound romantic?

I'm not going to get my hopes up

but wouldn't it be nice to stay here...

The Fairmont at Banff

with the famous hot springs

Have you ever been to Banff & Lac Louise?
did you notice I picked up a little french
while I was there..tee hee

Chalk Paint Giveaway

I have heard so much about this stuff

that I can no longer stand it

I have to try it

remember I have some sisters

that need plastic surgery

and I've heard

this is the stuff to do it with

so I am entering another giveaway..

this one is over at

Coastal Charm

Linda has a beautiful blog

and is doing a great job of

spreading the news about

Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint

wish me luck

Slipcover Giveaway

Ok..

 I found a giveaway today that I

 really, really, really

want

so I am mentioning it to get another

chance to win...

Kristin at

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

love her site..

is hooking up with

Ugly Sofa.com

to giveaway a

~slipcover~

As there is just too much to do around this house

to make every room the way I want it the

~apartment~

has been on the bottom of the list

now

if the Hubs gave me an unlimited budget

I know how I would like it

but that's not the case....

This is where the kids stay when they come for the

~weekend~

or the month,

 as in Annie's case

above the garage in the

~apartment~

when we first moved in I had it painted to this

soft beachy green

it was pink

I wish I would have done it white

but oh well I love this color that came from the

tile in the bathroom

this is Matthews room made out of a

closet

painted by his Mom

this is the old pink closet

before she painted it blue

and added his favorite book characters from

~Bears in the Night~

all around the room

check out the whole process on this

post

she did a fabulous job

Matthew LOVES his room

the furniture in the living room

 was left by the previous owners

Ethan Allen good stuff

I have 5 yards of the floral fabric...

can't decide what to do with that...

my mom loves it..

oh and the blue couch is a sofa sleeper given to me by the

neighbors

everyone loves to lounge on the chaise

especially in the middle of the night

with early waking babies

I have found my son here asleep with

Matthew many times

last year the coffee table got painted

and we moved the furniture around

This room is perfect for the kids when they come

so I have been reluctant to do anything else..

that way what ever the grandkids do to the furniture

~I don't care~

But I hear slipcovers are so easy to take care of

just wash away all spills

and what a difference it would make

So I have been looking at slips

but they are so expensive

 This site seems to be very reasonable

and if I win and likey

I think I will do all the pieces

wish me luck

my little apartment

could quite possibly look like this

~someday~

maybe I will have to paint those walls white

because I love this look

I have high hopes for our cute little

~apartment~

Montana

"I am in love with

 Montana

for with other states I have

admiration, respect, recognition,

even some affection,

but with Montana

 it is love" 

~John Steinbeck~

&

my Hubs

This is a manly man state alright

the big rugged mountains

the big sky

those men get hooked 

&

that's it! 

We've been there for 13 years now

but we're softies

we've only spent one full winter..

This last trip was just a quickie

a ten day vacation from the

puppy

they have no idea they are headed to

Grandmas..

The drive over was such a beautiful day

it needed to be because we were hauling over

a car

we took our time so I could get some pictures

The Hubs always calls Montana

~paradise~

We stopped so I could get out and crawl into the bed of the pickup

and get a good shot of this valley

and perfect timing a train came through

and I didn't know at the time a helicopter was taking water from river

to put out a fire

can you see it?

We get there to our beautiful

little home all mowed and weeded

I cried

we were expecting to spend a week

~weeding~

and Brother Bill & Linda

did it for us this year

she fell down those stairs and broke her ankle

a few weeks ago and is in a

~wheelchair~

some people will do anything to get out of work...

we don't think we have ever had anything nicer done for us

like I said

I cried when we got there

It was the greenest it has ever been

so much rain in the NW this year

usually the left side is brown as we don't have it irrigated

This one I took from my friends house across the lake

of course

~Doris the Doe~

was waiting to greet us

and look what they planted for us

Brother Bill made this for me

after I mentioned last year how cool it would be

to have clematis climbing up the post

I couldn't have dreamed it up any better

We quickly un-hitched the trailer and

went down to give them both big hugs

and I cried again...

what a perfect way to start off our

~honeymoon like~

vacation

no work..

no pups...

and no,

you can't have the in laws!

more to follow

ever heard of

Banff?