The Tin Room

Sorry for the delay in posting this pic. This is our World Famous Tin Room. 688 tins of various sizes, shapes, ages, etc.

A couple people deserve to be recognized right off the bat: first my "honorary sister" Ann who gave me the seeds of this collection. She rocks! Secondly, my beloved wife MrsE for her infinite patience and assistance in getting this collection set up as beautifully as we have.

The Tin Collection never fails to revive my spirits. Whenever a day has been tiring (mentally, emotionally or physically) a visit to the Tin Room always makes me smile.

Hopefully this picture puts a bit of that happy spirit into your day today! Enjoy.

More House Pics

 The "Sold Sign" (a VERY important part of the house)

 The gas fireplace and mantle in the upper living room

 Upper living room with fireplace on the left and the front windows on the right.

 Upper bathroom and our lovely tour guide/

 Upper bathroom tub/shower

 Kitchen cupboards. Note on the right the door on the back side of the cupboards towards the dining area.

 The opening for the (May 3) dishwasher.

 The Upper Master Bedroom and the view out it's window. Below is the the master closet and the looking out of the Upper Master Bedroom into the Guest Bedroom.

 The wall in the Guest Bedroom.

 The "Side Wall" in the Lower Living Room

 Part of the Storage Room under the stairs/entry.

 The front end of the Lower Living Room

 The Lower Bath

 Sink and counter top in the lower bath.

 The wall sconce in the lower bath (has 3 lights)

 The window in the Lower Master Bedroom

 Looking towards the front door and into the Upper Living Room

Looking out the back door - our railing below and the Nick Smith Centre (pool, 2-pad arena, gym, etc) just beyond.

We Bought A House!

Well, after MUCH discussion, we (MrsE (my beloved wife), my Mom and me bought a house. It's a brand-new house about 350' (as the crow flies) from our current apartment.

It's a beautiful semi-detached (what used to be called a "duplex" when I was young). For the first time in our lives the 3 of us will be in a home with a fireplace and central air-conditioning. Nice.

New Blog

Welcome to my "new and improved" blog. Most of the content from the "old blog" has been moved over. More content will follow (hopefully on a far more regular basis).

Bronners = The Happiest Place On Earth

On our vacation we went to Bronner's. We've been there every year since MrsE and I have been together. Every year we go and buy a ball with the current year on it (this year's ball says "2010"). The store is open 361 days a year (they do take Christmas off) so they are always counting down the days to Christmas as this clock on the outside of the store attests.

 Inside the lobby they have a rather large tree-house (you can see the scale of it from the height of the railing near it's base).

 Some of their decorations are rather large like this pine-cone.

 The store is the size of 1.5 regulation-sized football fields.

 The "tree department" is overwhelming (as if the rest of the store isn't). Most "Christmas stores" aren't the size of this one department in Bronners).

 Loved the tree with the train going around (see the white stripe part way up the tree?).

 Here's a closeup of the train and track itself.

 I loved the 16' tree - unfortunately it wouldn't fit in our living room haha. They sell trees in sizes up to 50' in height. I was amazed to discover that the tree only takes 2 boxes to be shipped (but like my current 7.5' tree I'm sure it would never fit back into it's original packaging once you've taken it out).

 Gotta love GIANT wreaths on the ceiling.

 Lots of "themed trees" all through the store. There are about 350 trees on display in the store at any one moment.

 One of my favorite departments is the Department 56 Lighted Buildings.

 Some of the decorations are so detailed. This Thomas Kinkade snowman was immensely detailed.

 When you get to the far southeast corner they have a large collection of Hummel figurines. In these 3 LARGE display cases Bronners has accumulated a collection of EVERY Hummel figurine ever made.

 Here's a closeup of a FEW of the figures in the cabinets.

 Here's a better view of ONE of the three cabinets.

  If Christmas is the "happiest season of all" then Bronners is the happiest place I've ever been. Well worth a drive if you are in the neighborhood.