Off To Work We Go
- 3womenwhowander
- Sep 28, 2021
- 5 min read
Women Who Wander NB
Adventure Four
Some of you have wondered what the Women Who Wander NB have been up to these past couple of months. Thanks for your kind enquiries! We're sorry to have worried you but we're delighted to hear that you have missed us!
Day-to-day life has kept us off the roads for a while and we're just now getting back to our wandering ways. House moves, family hospitalizations and visits from friends and family due to relaxed Covid rules kept us busy and distracted. We're happy to report that house moves were completed, all is well on the family hospitalization front and friends and family have come and gone leaving us feeling that Summer was a blur!
With all that went on, it meant that our "together times" were reduced to coffee breaks and the odd lunch here and there. We missed those long days cooped up with each other in The Incredible Wander Wheels (the car) more than any of us like to admit.
The good news is, we're back at it and here we go again. Seat belts fastened, masks and hand sanitizers on board, proof of vaccinations at the ready and we're off!
Back to work!
Lets face it. Covid and accompanying restrictions opened up a big empty space that we could have filled with housework and gardening and cooking but, some days a body just needs to do something different.
Our new friend Danielle Kopp of Vintage 96 Country Mercantile provided just the opportunity! You might remember meeting Danielle in our 2021 Blog Episode Three, Welcome To New Brunswick. During that episode, Danielle had mentioned to us that she intended to offer workshops on repurposing old furniture and accessories with mineral paints. Soon as she scheduled the first one, we put down our dish cloths, whipped off our aprons and took off for Temperence Vale, NB, leaving those dust bunnies and dirty dishes to fend for themselves!
Truism Number One:
Work, when combined with shop, has so much more appeal than work by itself!
Setting out, it seemed only appropriate to bulk-up a bit beforehand. After all, "work" does appear before "shop" in the word "workshop" and thus implies a need for sustenance. Don't Judge! We know! Any excuse will do and, right there at 1338 Route 105 in Douglas was the Douglas Diner! We had no choice but to stop.
Now, for those of you who are not familiar with this fine dining establishment, let us just say that we are! Familiar with it that is. When the server delivers two coffees and one tea even before you order, you know you are probably a regular. The Douglas Diner has been the scene of many sanity-saving meetings of The Women Who Wander NB over the past couple of months and we thank them for being there for us!
We also thank them for serving excellent Eggs Benedict and good old fashioned classic breakfasts (not to mention endless cups of coffee). The Douglas Diner is one of our faves and we are confident in saying that you cannot go wrong with a Douglas Diner breakfast. This is probably also true of lunch items and there is always a daily special, a daily soup and, yes, fabulous homemade desserts!
They are not open for supper but we promise you, the early bird will not be disappointed! For some seriously good looking food choices, check out their Facebook page at:
If you can still waddle after all that great food, waddle next door to The Douglas Country Market where you can find tons of great gift ideas and treasures you won't want to leave behind! This is another one of our favourite haunts! Check out their Facebook page at:
Sufficiently sated, we were off to work! Like the Seven Dwarfs of Disney fame, we dug up diamonds by the score! They may have been diamonds in the rough but they were well polished gems by the time we finished with them under Danielle's excellent tutelage!
The Vintage 96 workshop space is large and has plenty of room for social distancing and for evading the paint splatters of the person painting at the table next to you!
Danielle invites all Workshop participants to bring a small piece of their own to work on during the session but, if you do not have a diamond in the rough at home to bring with you, Danielle has a great supply of items on hand from which to choose.
Vintage 96 carries a brand of mineral paint that is made in Canada called Country Chic in a generous variety of sweet colours to pick from for your Workshop project.
Country Chic is only one of many fusion, mineral and chalk paints on the market today. There are as many luscious colours available as there are projects to put them on!
Your Vintage 96 Workshop registration includes a 4 ounce (120 ml) jar of paint in the color of your choice, a paint brush, yummy refreshments and lots of one-on-one instruction! Thankfully, it also includes water and soap to clean up when you are done!
If you don't bring your own project to paint and wish to purchase a treasure from Danielle, you have a great selection to chose from in the very reasonable price range starting at about $10.00.
To say we had fun would be the understatment of the century! We met some awesome ladies including Danielle's lovely Mother-In-Law who was visiting from Alberta! The Women Who Wander NB tried to convince her to move to New Brunswick, as her Son and Daughter-In-Law had, but, she made a pretty good case for staying in Alberta being that she enjoys her two adorable Grandchildren there! Even though we think we're pretty cute, adorable is pushing it and competing against Grandchildren is a contest we probably wouldn't win!
The Workshop was fun and productive! Mineral paint dries quickly so most of us were able to bring our completed projects home with us!
Here are some before and after's. Can you guess which project belongs to who?
This poor old rust bucket started out life holding up an old-timey treadle sewing machine from many, many years ago. Mineral paint turned this clunker into a fresh new beauty as a sweet glass-top table happy to be pressed into service again!
Danielle saw nothing but possibilities when she added this poor old relic to her inventory. We grabbed it up, paired it with a cute matching flower box and, voila! An on-trend accessory table for a sunny corner in the living room!
Tired and sad was the only way to describe this little table. It was a glamour girl in its day but that day had come and gone. A couple of coats of mineral paint in a pair of soft colours and this old gal was ready for her close-up!
So, go ahead! Take a guess! Which project belongs to whom?
If you are getting tired of sitting around the house looking for excuses to avoid the dust bunnies, why not check out some workshops? It's easier than you think to create something beautiful with the help of an experienced teacher leading you.
Danielle will be offering more workshops so be sure to follow her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Vintage96CountryMercantile/
Truism Number Two:
You don't have to admit how easy it was to those who admire your work - just wipe a hand across your "weary" brow, sigh and nod your head knowingly.
We suggest that you choose a workshop a bit out of your area so you can have a wander on your way! Leave early enough to grab breakfast with your besties or, come home late and have supper on the road!
Like the Women Who Wander NB, make sure to take your friends with you - they may make fun of you if the teacher has to fix your mistakes, but, hey, what are friends for.
Truism Number Three:
All who wander are not lost. Some are just on their way to a workshop!
Until the next time...... just adventure!
Women Who Wander NB
Lynne, Barb & Gail
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