Thinking Spring in the midst of Snow.

Here at The Camellia, we are trying to think     S P R I N G !!

It is somewhat difficult to think Spring, with snowfall after snowfall, with blowing winds and minus thirty -something temperatures. 

So we can dream on and think about munching on yummy Lavender Cupcakes, and sipping Lavender Lemonade. 

And of Peony Garden blooms, as big as the palm of your hand. Ruffles of Pink and Ivory. 

Washing with our Hand-made Lavender Soap, made in Canada. Lavender is sure to calm and de-stress you. 

Bright Summer Purses at the Camellia - come visit our store to see similar beauties! 

New Spring colours of Cottage Paint have arrived. Customers are taking advantage of the long and cold Winter to paint their old pieces of furniture. Of course they can do this indoors as Cottage Paint has low voc's.

Flowering dogwood in Vancouver. 

Poppy bloom. 

Out metal Butterfly, made by Elaina, metal artist.

Well, enough dreaming of Spring, it is back to Winter for a while yet. Stay warm, and phone for our current hours. The Camellia, 30 Hacquoil Rd. Thunder Bay, Slate River, Oliver Paipoonge, On.

p-807)475-3551

www.thecamellia.com

www.camelliasdreamweddings.blogspot.com

www.opaovermeersfarmgoods.blogspot.com

Valentine's Day 2014

Love is ...... what is Love? How would you finish this sentence? Those of you who are in Love and have been in love for many years will have a different answer from that of say, a person who is still looking for   L O V E....on sites like Plenty of Fish. Need I say more....

These Orchid plants have been trained to grow in the shape of a heart ...aren't they beautiful? And they will last much longer than fresh Roses. Sadly we do not have these for sale, these were seen at a Greenhouse somewhere in California.

For us in Northern Ontario, we are learning to LOVE cold weather  ( I'm still working on this). The thermometer doesn't stray too much from -20 to -39 with the wind. Which is why we need you to have a cell phone number for the person you order Flowers for  ... imagine delivering fresh flowers when it is this cold  ... brrr... for the flowers and the delivery person.

A quick way to infuse Romance into your Home ---  sprinkle silk rose petals on the bed in the shape of a heart.

As seen at Brocanterie Deja-Vu, my favourite Antique shop in Oosterhout,  Holland.

What will you give this Valentine's Day?

Why not send our Everlasting Love Bouquet? A mix of hand-rolled chintz roses, with roses, spider mum, and Calla lily with a mini chalkboard sign. Available in 3 sizes, call 807)475-3551 to order, or toll-free at 1-877-523-7444.

If you need a practical Gift, this is it. A hand-made bag, perfect for holding a tablet and other must-haves - $55.00.

Our Chocolate Truffle baskets are delish - $55.00  an up.

  

Send our luxe Spa and Chocolate package at $69.00 and up.

Visit the Camellia for unique Valentine's Day Gifts, or call to order for Delivery. Taxes(13% hst) and delivery charges will apply. Happy Valentine's Day. 

Open : Wed. 12-5, Thurs. 12-5, Fri. 11-5, Sat. 11-5, Sun. 12-4

The Camellia, 

30 Hacquoil Rd. Slate River, Oliver Paipoonge, Thunder Bay, Ontario.

p-807)475-3551

Camp Glam, The Camellia

 On this cold and snowy day, I am dreaming of Camping, Summer, and Glamping. In case you are not familiar with Glamping, it is Camping with a glamourous twist, a la Rachael Ashwell ( Ms. Shabby Chic herself)  and a la Mary Jane's Farm. To view the rooms at The Prairie By Rachael Ashwell, click here http://www.theprairiebyrachelashwell.com/rooms.html. Most of us like being in the outdoors, but  don't want to rough it, dreading having to run out in the dark to the Outhouse, imagining Bears and all kinds of creepy-crawlys out there. If you are not Miss Rough-it, then Glamping is definitely your style.

 Photo of Road with Trees.

 Photo of Morning Glories rambling on a Country fence.

 Aaahhhhh   the Joy of being out in the Summer Sunshine - these are my Sunflowers I planted really late in June, I managed to get some blooms in late August.

Check out our Camp Glam board on Pinterest.http://www.pinterest.com/thecamellia/camp-glam/

 The bees are so happy to be amongst the Flowers at Camp.

 Photo of a Camellia.

 The perfect Camping bag.. Epol bags available at The Camellia. Lots of pockets, you can toss them all around, no need to be gentle with them.

 Of course, let's not forget the immense pleasure of being by the water. I love to listen to the waves crashing onto the shore, so soothing and peaceful.

 Photo of Hand-made wooden Furniture, made by Larry, by special order at The Camellia. he also makes Lamps, and bar stools , and Tables, and more chairs, and TP holders for the Outhouse.

 Did you know that 1 million people are killed worldwide by Mosquitoes...which spread west Nile, Malaria, Dengue fever, etc. Discover the Mosquito Net - a wonderful protection, perfect for Camp. Available at The Camellia..$39.95. They are available in white, and ivory.

 Overheard..."I like Camping..as long as someone else does all the cleaning, cooking, and picks up after everyone. I want to sit around and drink wine all day." Well, organization is the key, have lots of containers ilke these cool mason jar holders I saw at Junk Bonanza, label them and no more will you hear..."Have you seen my..."

 Baskets are the key to organization ... have everyone toss their stuff in one of these, and you will have way less cleaning to do. Place them in strategic spots, label them...and maybe you will be able to enjoy that glass of wine.

 Photo of the moon coming up over the ocean.

 Outdoor Summer flags - available at The Camellia. Welcome Summer! One client told us she bought this flag last spring and hung it up, and  then it snowed.... everyone had a good laugh!

 Ah yes..every Glam Camp must have a wood-fired grill, delicious for Pizza.Yum....

The joy of walking in the wilderness ...here in Northwestern Ontario, we are hoping that our so-cold Winter will kill off the tick population. 

Here's to Glamping...and the upcoming Spring Home & Garden show 2014!!

Visit their blog at www.springhomeandgardenshow.wordpress.com

Visit us at The Camellia, 30 Hacquoil Rd. Oliver Paipoonge, Thunder Bay, On

p-807)475-3551

Toll-free 1-877-523-7444.

The Nursing Home will come soon enough.

Often there will be a group of a Mother and Daughter in the store. The mother is in a retirement home, and is usually bemoaning the fact that she now has one small room, or rooms.  Quite often , the mother will comment.. "If I only had my house still, I would be able to buy......." It's like a kid in a candy store who is told by their Mother, you can't buy any candy today.

  

Go treat yourself to some fresh Flowers today, these are oh-so-pretty Alstromeria, get them partly closed and they will last for quite a while.

To all those who are in love with clean, uncluttered lines ( a.k.a. the Prison cell look), and try to convert everyone to their way of thinking, to those of you who accuse some people of being a hoarder, the Nursing Home will come soon enough.

  Bake yourself a Cake, and eat the icing too.

 Plan on taking one of our fabulously creative classes at The Camellia.

Take time to notice the fading beauty of blossoms on the ground. 

Some of us will be lucky and have our own private space, where we can keep our pretty things.  Some of us may be in the Dementia floor, where sometimes persons keep wandering in and out of our room, taking things. 

So put photos on your walls, have nice things around you, and don't spend your very important Life suffering and waiting to die. Live every day to the fullest, treat yourself to something nice.  Maybe when your kids were younger and just growing up, you couldn't treat yourself to nice things. So now you can do it. I say, down with the prison cell look. It's not in style anymore. Not in my book, anyway!!

Here at The Camellia, we are closed now and will reopen on Feb. 1st. 2014. If you need anything during this time, call and leave a message. P -807-475-3551.We have fabulous Home decor and fabric accessories to dress up your Home. 

Cottage Paint January classes at The Camellia, Thunder Bay

January is the best time to take a class  ... by now you have probably gone through the..

• Christmas holidays have ended, and waaahh..I don't want to go back to work. 
• Cookie withdrawal, all the delicious Holiday treats and chocolates are probably all eaten and you're going through cookie withdrawal
• Why is so  ***!!! cold in this country? 
• New Year's resolutions are starting to fade...
• You've tried to escape the cold and can't because of extreme weather and flight cancellations...

Here at The Camellia, we have Cottage Paint classes coming up this Sat. Jan. 11th. and Sunday, Jan. 12th at 1-3.30ish. Same class both days. Call to register, p-807-475-3551. January is a great time to get  your painting projects done, especially given the low voc's in Cottage Paint. 

Here are some of our Cottage Paint Makeovers.

For more information, click on the link http://www.thecamellia.com/classes-at-the-camelia.html

The Camellia, 30 Hacquoil Rd. p-807-475-3551

Surviving January in a very cold place..The Camellia, Thunder Bay

It's January in Thunder Bay and we have been having such cold weather, it was a chilly -51 C with the wind the other morning, apparently the same temperature it was on Baffin Island. Even if you are an "I Love Winter" person, it's too cold to do outdoor activities, like sledding and snow shoeing. What can you do?  One of the ways to get through this is to completely ignore the weather, tell yourself it's a great time to catch up on all those tasks you put aside during the Summer. Fun stuff like cleaning out your email inbox ( mine has 6,700 to go through), cleaning your closet, sweeping the mess off your desk, filing the paperwork, and ...and...and...

One solution is to hop on the next direct flight to the Caribbean, visions of white sandy beaches and lazing under a palapa dancing in your head. Pack sandals, shorts, and race to the nearest airport, I'm lucky, our airport in Thunder Bay is 10 minutes away. Beach in above photo is in Mexico.

Palm trees, green grass, what more can a Winter-weary person want? What's that? oh, you want to stay for the next 4 months..? Hmmm..well, can you stay and teach zumba, or yoga, or....??

Well, if you can't run away to the Caribbean, you can grab a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers. Here at The Camellia, we are just working out the details of our Spring Flower designing classes. Put some loud music on, and wear bright colours, like Turquoise, lime green, sherbet orange and pink. Summer colours will go a long way to helping you feel better.

 Some of you are going to start on your Cottage Painting projects. Good plan, as Cottage Paint has low voc's, so you can use it indoors. If you want to learn more about Cottage Paint, take our Beginners Class coming up on Jan. 14th. and Jan. 15th. 2014. Call to register at (807)475-3551. Space is limited. Here's the link to more information on the class, http://www.thecamellia.com/classes-at-the-camelia.html

In the meantime, stay warm, and upbeat, and Visit us here at the Camellia! 

Open Sat. Jan. 4.th. 2014, 11-4p. and Sunday, Jan. 5th. from 12-4p. 

The Camellia, 30 Hacquoil Rd. www.thecamellia.com