New Cushions from Rekindle Home

Well the new year is hear and Relish has lots of great new inventory to brighten up your winter. For starters, we've just received a ton of beautiful new handmade cushions from Rekindle Home, based right here in Hamilton.

We all know first-hand how long and dark winter is, and these cushions are the perfect way to introduce a hit of colour to your home. This is especially great if you're like me and your favourite winter activity is hibernating. And don't worry, there are multiples of most of these cushions, so you can even get ones that match. Phew!  :-)

And stay tuned, because there is also some beautiful new furniture pieces I'll be posting soon!

Waking Up in Winter

The other day I discovered a foolproof plan to be happy when waking up - even when it's dark and absolutly frigid outside. Here's my recipe:

1 hot beverage (I cannot live without my morning tea, but whatever floats your boat)
1 record player (or any other music-playing device, but a record playing has an extra yummy factor)
great music (selection will vary, but it HAS to be upbeat)

So, hot beverage - check. Like I said, for me it's tea - but I'm British, so that goes without saying. Preferably English Breakfast Tea. If it's actually from Britain it tastes infinately better. But whatever does it for you - coffee, espresso, latte, herbal tea...

As for the record player, this is something I bought as a gift to Ilya and me for the holidays. I got a great little portable suitcase-style one from Sears of all places!! It's amazing and works perfectly. Now after lugging around boxes of records for the last 6 years, we can finally actually listen to them!

Now for the music. What really made me happy the other morning (and has initiated this whole routine) was this amazing Ray Charles record that I didn't even know we owned. SO, SO, SO GOOD!

Really, what more can I say except this combo put a great big smile on my face?

Art Wall

As I've mentioned, this past weekend was a pretty quiet affair. The absolutely frigid temperatures made it very difficult for my boyfriend and I to go outside at all. The good news here is that we FINALLY got around to hanging the most recent additions to our "Hamilton Art Wall".

A very humble beginning, I know, but these things take time...

We have a couple of other pieces that still have no frames, but so far this wall includes artwork from some of our favourite, incredible local artists including Paul Elia (from his Hamilton Strip series), Amy Kenny, and Matt McInnes.

Our somewhat ambitious goal is to eventually cover all the walls of our living room in Hamilton art - I'll keep you posted on our progress!

The Inside Joys of Winter

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I am not a cold-weather person. Especially with this weekend's very much sub-zero temperatures. I only leave the house when absolutely required - to walk my dog. But once I'm outside even I have to admit that, despite the temperature, the snow does make everything look lovely...

Snow-covered seed heads on tall grasses in our garden.

Snow-covered candleholder that I never remember to bring indoors for the winter.

However, my favourite winter activities still involve snuggling up indoors to enjoy the weather......

Beautiful frost crawling across our house's old drafty windows (doesn't this look like trees?).

And the perfect excuse to make comfort food & snacks like my nana's recipe for Nuts & Bolts. A total old-school snack, not health food, and not really good for you at all, but damn delicious!