Thanks for reading and remember to check back soon!
Welcome
My name is Samantha and this blog stems from my eternal and lifelong passion for history, antiques, vintage, and collectables! I'd love to expand on what I know and I hope you will like what you see and explore the historic eras together!
Content will range from historical articles, unique finds, historical local places, wedding ideas, antique demonstration videos, holiday/seasonal décor ideas, and of course lots of pictures and some great tried and true recipes!
Look out for weekly "In The Attic" highlights which feature unique finds and either provide information researched or ask questions to the antique community. If you have a unique find and would like to be featured in In The Attic please feel free to contact me. :)
Coming soon: Weekly blog articles featuring refinished, up-cycled or re-purposed antique projects.
Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for discount coupon codes for Samantha's Lake Country Collectables Etsy store items.
Thursday, June 20, 2019
A Spring Apple Blossom Picnic...
Thanks for reading and remember to check back soon!
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Tea Cups & Tulips...The Perfect Time For a Sale!
Welcome back, Fellow Antique Lovers! Spring has finally sprung and I think that means it's time for Tea Party Season!!!!! And do you know what that means? It's tea cup SALE time!!! Until July 19th, 2019 only receive 20% off all tea cups on my Etsy Store!!! I'll be adding even more throughout the month-long sale so be sure to check back often for great savings on rare china tea cups! Royal Winton, Royal Albert (including the Regal Series!!), Crown Staffordshire- and MANY more rare and collectable tea cups on sale now!
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more sales, recipes, and blog posts!
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Happy Father's Day!!
Today, I would like to give a warm shout-out to all the fathers out there, including stepfathers and other father figures! Happy Father's Day!!!
Friday, June 14, 2019
In The Attic: Canadian Homestead/Farm Butter Press
Welcome back Fellow Antique Lovers to another "In The Attic" weekly blog where I try to showcase some unique vintage and antique items that I've come across or contributors have sent in to be featured. If you have a unique family heirloom that you have some questions about or come across something "in the attic" that you'd like to share, feel free to comment or email me at Samantha@lakecountrycollectables.com
This week, my wonderful mother in law has loaned me her family's homestead butter press and I'd love to share it with you as it is exactly the type of item I like to feature in these home-grown Canadian finds articles.
Antique Lovers, meet a roughly seventy year old Canadian homestead/farm style butter press:
This sort of wooden butter press would have been meant for homestead/farm use where the milk would have come directly from the cows in the morning, to the churn (pictured in first photo) and in a very strenuous process would then be turned into butter and the excess buttermilk would be used for baking. The paddles shown in the first picture are used to "squeeze" the buttermilk out of the formed butter after the churning process.
The freshly churned butter would then fill the press and as seen in the second picture, the formed rectangular butter is then pushed out, leaving a nice block of butter with an etched design for presentation.
So what do you think comes next? Recipes, of course!!! You won't believe how EASY homemade butter is to make with modern kitchen appliances. Stay tuned for butter-making and Irish wheaton bread recipes coming your way next!
Once again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this In The Attic article!
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Local Finds: Last Minute Father's Day and "Man"cave Ideas
This week in honour of Father's Day this coming weekend, we took a walk around Antiques on 11 North Mall located just North of Orillia on Hwy 11 (about 1.5 hours N of Toronto) to get some shots of great last-minute AND local gifts for the dad(s) in your life (and some great "mancave" décor)!
Without further ado, I present to you our Father's Day finds:
Fisher's Serving Platter |
Mancave Material: Vintage Parking Meter |
Wood Sailboat |
Vintage wood truck model |
Retro Bar and Stools |
Stools |
Brass Eagle on Globe Desk Ornament |
Rural Dinner Jacket |
Vintage hats |
Vintage Oil Cans |
Metal Signs |
Vintage Model Cars |
Old Theatre Chairs for the Mancave! |
Metal Pedal Car |
Brass King Cobra Candle Holder Set |
That's it for this week! I hope you find the perfect Father's Day gift this week! Thanks again for reading!
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Father's Day Series: The Luxurious Shaving Scuttle AND How To Use One!!!
With Father's Day coming this weekend, I thought I'd introduce you to the use of shaving scuttles. They were often a common piece in the household and make for a luxurious and warm, smooth shave that gives the feeling of a decadent barber shop shave right in your own home.
Here is a video I found on YouTube that is a great how-to for shaving scuttles!
I hope you enjoyed and be sure to check my Etsy store for the latest antique/vintage shaving scuttles being posted this week with everything from floral designs to Lord Nelson's ship!
Have a great day and thanks again for tuning in!
Thursday, June 6, 2019
A Great Company Supporting the Juno Beach Centre & Veterans
This clothing brand is an inspiration to all of us history lovers but especially to those of us who stand behind our veterans. D-Day Wear.com® not only stands behind veterans, they stand UP for veterans as well and their mission says it all:
"Our Mission as a Commemorative Military Apparel Retailer and Clothing Designer is to keep history alive, one t-shirt at a time.
D-Day Wear was designed to remind people of all ages how fortunate we are that so many gave so much for our countries in their time of need. We want people of Canada, The United States of America (USA), Great Britain / The United Kingdom (UK) and the other countries that were a part of the Allied Forces such as Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland to proudly wear these symbols of patriotism on a day to day basis.
People wearing our commemorative clothing designs will generate a year round public awareness while paying tribute to all our veterans and current soldiers of our great nations..."
They have so far donated $54,250 to Juno Beach Centre at Normandy, France, and over $63,000 in various other donations. Recently they have expanded their focus to veterans and active armed forces suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Their latest campaign is to raise funds for professionally trained service dogs for veterans with PTSD. Give their website a look and you will see what I mean.
Thank you for supporting veterans, D-Day Wear.ca!
A Thank You to all those who served during D-Day
It is difficult to put the scale of this invasion into perspective as we have nothing to compare it to today, so I will do my best to break down the invasion. Early in the morning of June 6th the Allied invasion had started with approximately 15,500 American paratroopers landing behind the beach head to secure key bridges required for the invasion. One of the largest fleets ever assembled left England consisting of 5,333 ships & landing craft; making it's way across the channel to Normandy, France. A key part of the invasion was the air assault which consisted of 3,958 Heavy Bombers, 1,234 Medium & Light Bombers & 4,709 Fighters. Having air superiority paved the way for the invasion & I find it difficult to fathom seeing even a fraction of this many aircraft in the air at once.
The Americans were the first to land at Utah & Omaha Beaches with 57,500 troops at 6:30 am. This was followed at 7:25 am by the landing of British & Free French forces on Sword Beach. At 7:35 am the British landed at Gold Beach and at Juno beach Canadian & British troops landed at 7:55 am. The British, Canadian & other allied troops consisted of 83,115 troops.
What they faced was Hitler's fortress Europe which the NAZIS had been building since taking France in 1940.
In such a short article I can't even scratch the surface of everything that happened on D-Day but I hope you take the time to thank a veteran for their service and also share the story of the D-Day invasion with the upcoming generation so that the sacrifice of the men & woman who served during WW II will never be forgotten.
Thank You
References:
Photos credits courtesy of http://historylink101.com
https://www.historyonthenet.com/d-day-statistics
https://www.military-history.org/articles/d-day-timeline.htm
https://theddaystory.com/discover/what-is-d-day/
https://www.history.com/news/d-day-casualties-deaths-allies
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
An Interesting D-Day Post to Share
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
On the Eve of the 75th Anniversary of D-Day
One of the quotes that sums it up best is from General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander "Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!
I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle.
We will accept nothing less than full victory!
Good luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."