Redwood Retro

 Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and cheers to a Happy and Healthy 2021 !

  Nemo Hall - Petrolia, Ontario Much of Southern Ontario experienced a good old fashioned snowstorm last week. Nice thick stuff that sticks to the trees and makes everything look all pretty and Christmasy.  Nemo Hall , built in 1878, is the only remaining building of the Second Empire Style in the town of Petrolia. I think it looks timeless in the snow. 

 I bought an 8mm/super 8 scanner/editor this week to add to my growing collection of editing tools.  This one is pretty easy to use so far although some of my reels are too big and I have already had to order smaller ones. Thank goodness I have a time machine and can travel back to the 1960s for parts! Just kidding..but I did find some on good ole eBay. Here is a sample of some of the films I've transferred so far. Both are from 1962

This isn't my car but I wish it was! A white Bug has always been my dream car but after coming across this one I think cream is now my preferred colour.

I broke down and ordered one of those Miniature room kits off of Amazon.  If you haven't seen these yet they are complete miniature kits that come with everything you need to make a little room.  The reviews were pretty mixed lol. Most people found it easy to put it together so I'm feeling pretty confident. One thing I noticed is that the kits seem to be mostly in the 1:24 scale range. I'm a little nervous about that as I haven't worked in that scale in more than 20 years. Might need to get stronger reading glasses for this project. I don't currently own a 1:12 inch scale dollhouse. For the amount of crappy junk food I ate during the pandemic I could have had one of those beautiful Greenleaf mansions to build. I would still like to get one but I think I am wise to practice on a room kit first. Have you made one of these kits? I would love to see photos and hear your opinion on them. Which ones were your favourite? There are so many and honestly, I ...

Holy heatwave!  I hope this wave is over sooner than later. I really don't function well in the humidity. Good news! I have clay on the way. It has been soooo difficult to find proper miniature quality clay since the pandemic started. I buy my clay from Germany and it was hard getting stuff shipped from countries on lockdown.  I went to my local Michaels Craft store last week and the polymer clay section seems to be undergoing a major rehaul. There was a lot of liquid Sculpey products and molds and not a lot of solid hard clay :( Canada Post seems to be shipping to more overseas locations now and counter service in my small town is slowly getting back to normal. It doesn't look like I will be doing any craft or miniature shows this year. More time to plan for next year I guess. I was really looking forward to the "Art in the Park" shows. I hope you all have a happy and healthy July!  Stay safe!

Bridgeview Park Petrolia - Photo by Redwoodretro  During the pandemic, the Town of Petrolia in Lambton County, Ontario, collected local recipes and put together this cool little online cookbook. Recipes like Easy Quarantine Pizza, dill pickle dip and lots and lots of desserts (because it seems a large percentage of us rediscovered baking during quarantine :) Check it out! Petrolia 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic cookbook

Wishing you all a very Happy Canada Day!

Miniature printables with a summer theme.      Ice Cream Truck - This site run by Parents magazine has so many sweet printables and activities for kids including this adorable Ice Cream Truck. Picnic Baskets Check out this fairy garden with a Circus theme Click here for a really cute Flag Holder

Found these notes in an old binder from when I was researching the Tobermory area. I believe these are from Manitoulin Church Records

May 18th Shop update - I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. I'm starting to list miniatures this week in my eBay store.  I'm still a little nervous about shipping delays but letter mail service seems to be improving so fingers crossed :)

Newspaper clippings from 1918 Most of these are from The Greater Toronto Region and Ontario