queenconch

Everything under the sun!

2007-06-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

Grad walk
Wine Gals
I just don't know where the past months have gone! Since we got Libby life has been a whirlwind of goings on. Just after Bronwynne arrived home from Costa Rica I went on a week long tour of the Okanagan Valley with a group of wonderful woman (there were 6 of us all together) Two of the gals had birthdays during the week, one turning 48 the other turning 50. They had always wanted to do the wine tours so thats what we did. I'm not much of a wine drinker myself as it stuffs up my nose but I found out what wines I can drink. We had a wonderful time and experienced some fabulous meals, great laughs, incredible places, and met some far-out people. The day after I got back we moved Bronwynne to Victoria, she got herself a job the next day and is now saving up for her trip to Thailand. She has caught the travel bug and wants to get it out of her system before continuing with her schooling. All the power to her I say! She came back for her Grad the weekend of June 9th which was 3 days of none stop activities and fun ( and tears for me as another of my chicks graduates and flies the nest!) She just loves Victoria though and if they are happy so am I! Through all this the renos have been happening to the house so life has felt a bit more hectic than usual!! I just spent 2 days at the pottery studio doing what we call "pot till you drop". This is when we all get together to make as many pots, dishes and other stuff using "club clay" and then the things are sold to raise money for the Fine Arts. It's a lot of work but also fun.
Two of my (remaining) children have now finished school for the year, they just have exams left to do but Declan still has two more weeks to go! I am going as chaperon on his classes year end trip to Vancouver where we will get to sleep at the Aquarium! I'm sure this will be fun but I just can't wait for summer and some down time.

Our New Girl Libby

2007-04-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

I feel just like a new momma, as we have a new member of the family, our new puppy Libby. Declan and I went to Barbs on Sat. then on Sunday we all traveled to Vancouver where we picked up my oldest Kerian and his girlfriend. Spent about 1 1/2 hours at Metrotown Mall where we got a bunch of cloths for Declan at Old Navy as he had grown out of most of his stuff! Then it was off the the Animal Hospital to pick up Libby at 1:30. Spent about an hour there getting filled in on all her info. she is about 3 months old. It was love at first sight for me! We took her to visit Gwen and Gwen's dog Scout who is about 5 months. Along with Casper they played and raced around the yard like crazy, it was great for Libby to stretch her little legs before the drive and ferry ride. Libby just seemed to fit in with everything we did and we had no accidents in the house at Barbs I just couldn't believe it! She also slept right through until 6:15 am! Took her and Casper for a long walk on the beach before once again having a car ride and another ferry! For such a little thing she did so well and has fit into our household as if she was born here! We just love her to pieces!

New Pond

2007-04-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

I spent last weekend at my sisters as it was her 60th birthday. Caitlin and I went down on Sat, Em and Aethan were already there and Barb picked up Gwen and her new dog Scout from the ferry an hour later. Aethan was so good with being surrounded by all the women! It's like he sees us every day! We had such a fun day, walking the beach with the dogs, looking at photos (Gwens from England and mine from Costa Rica), and just having a really great gab session! We all went out to the Japanese Restaurant for supper and Barb had got us each a goodie bag, what fun! Sunday saw more walks on the beach. Em and Aethan had to fly home at noon and I put Caitlin on the bus to Vancouver to visit her big brother Kieran for a few days(they are going to take in a concert together). All in all it was a much needed gathering of the women in the family!(we were just missing Bronwynne and our mom)
I spent all week working on my pond. Some big dog got into it just after Christmas and tore a hole in the old pool liner that I used, he knocked over all the plants, fountains, and killed all the fish. I did find 3 little baby fish in the muck at the very bottom! A friend had given me a new (real) pond liner but it was a lot of work to put it in as I had to move all the rocks, plants and stuff away from the edge of the pond to install the new liner. I finished up yesterday and am very pleased with the results!

COSTA RICA

2007-03-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

What an adventure I have had! I landed at the top of Costa Rica in a place called Liberia and had to spend the night there before I caught a little plane down to San Jose and then another one down to Puerto Jimenez. The little planes fly quite low so I got to see a lot of the country side, the whole top half of Costa Rica has suffered from a drought these past two years, the only green spots where the resorts along the coast! I then had to take a passenger ferry(more like a dug-out canoe, the more people that got on the lower the boat sank! until I could just put my hand over the edge and it was in ocean!) from Puerto Jimenez to Golfito which took about 45 minutes. Bron met me there and we wandered around until our bus at 3:00. BUS! Ok it's an old school bus that they have somehow kept running despite the fact that you can see the ground through the bottom of the bus and it seems like it's going to rattle apart! It's a 3 hour journey from Golfito to Pavones on roads that are not really roads,( if the scenery hadn't been so beautiful my hair would be white with fright!) and you are sharing the bus with everyone and their mothers and chickens! It was almost dark when we arrived at her house (sun sets at 6pm and rises at 5am) so I didn't get to the beach right away. I was up at 5 every morning walking the beach with my camera and collecting shells. We spent most days lazing around, walking the beach, swimming in the river(at least 5 times a day), watching the surfers, lizards, macaws, taking photos of all and the plant life. We did swim in the ocean one day but the under tow is so strong that you can swim with all your might and still go backwards! I took a yoga class that I will never forget as you looked out at the waves crashing onto the beach while you did yoga, it was really quite a beautiful experience! Had to do the same journey back up to Liberia but stayed in Puerto Jimenez overnight before catching the little planes up the coast. It was a most relaxing and wonderful time. If I was to go to Costa Rica again I would want to go for at least a month to see more of the sights! The one thing I couldn't get over was the amount of garbage I saw. They seem to have no infer structure for that sort of thing and people seem to burn all(plastics included!) their garbage in their yards in the smaller communities! There is no recycling what so ever! I was really shocked by this! They need to do something about it and fast!! But I found Bron and her friend Carly and Carly's brother Charlie in fine form and just loving it there. I'm so glad I took the opportunity to have this great adventure!

Oldest Daughter flies the coop

2007-02-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

Bronwynne is my oldest daughter and has worked hard at everything she has done her whole life! She has accomplished more in her 17 (almost 18) years than any teen I know, from swimming (she has her lifeguard and instructor certs), to winning the part in a pilot series for TV (that was filmed right here in our town), to holding down 3 jobs all at once(washing dishes in a restaurant, pumping gas and doing propane at a gas station, and teaching swimming lessons!), to taking on a heavy work load at school so that she could graduate 5 months early from school! But it has all paid off, she left (with her best friend Carly and Carly's brother Charlie) 2 weeks ago to spend 3 months traveling in Costa Rica! She bought herself a top of the line digital camera and my oldest son Kieran helped her find a lap top computer so that she could keep in touch ( she has become addicted to Flickr.com just like her mom!) Her and her friends have rented a little beach shack for the month of March and has invited me down for a week! I can't wait, not only will the mother get to make sure that the daughter is really ok, but I will get to warm my bones! Don't worry, I'm taking my camera!

Pirates

2007-01-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

I just spent the weekend with a group of gals that I have known since 1998 when I joined the Powell River Chorus. We were asked to sing as a small group which for some unknown reason was named "The Pirates" (and the name has stuck with us ever after!)and got to know each other during extra practices. The times together were full of laughter and fun. We started getting together for each others birthdays and Christmas parties then it went on to holidays together in the summer(We would go for 4 days to Savory Island and rent a cabin) We have been to Tofino, Mt. Washington, Texada Is., Victoria, Comox(the Alders) Vancouver. We get up to great highjinx together, have sunbathed in the nude, made snow angles (again in the nude!) have gotten a boat stuck high and dry due to the tide(but it meant we had to spend another night!).We even won the "YaYa's" contest from the Vancouver Sun and got a trip to Vancouver, a night in the Vancouver Hotel, champagne, goodies and to see the premier of the YaYa movie. With our photo appearing in the next paper! We have sung at Festivals, Chorfest, and even had a gig at the Sunshine Folkfest one summer. Judy has moved away but somehow we still get together, not as much as we use to or as much as we'd like, 4 of us have children and 2 of us have stopped going to choir(I took up pottery instead) But this weekend showed us that friendships like this last a lifetime. It was our belated Christmas party as well as Judy's Birthday and it was my turn to make the desert, we opened presents, ate too much food and drink, and played our favorite card game called "Asshole" (we know there is another name for it but just can't remember!) The photo shows from left to right-Judy, Patricia, Alex with Nancy(standing)(they own the bed and breakfast where we stayed and Nancy was our choir conductor for years), Wendy and Julie.I came away from this weekend feeling extremely lucky to know these woman and be able to spend some quality time with them.

LINCOLN

2007-01-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

It is with a sad heart that I say goodbye to Lincoln, the one and only Muddy yellow dog who past away yesterday. He always greeted me as a long lost friend whenever I would visit Gwen's. I will never forget the way he would make a funny face and sneeze upon smelling my "morning breath" as we said our good mornings or how he loved it when I would give him a good scratching behind the ears. Go now and join our beloved Molly, chase sticks and run free in the waves together. Goodbye dear kind soul.

Bag Lady!

2007-01-20T09:28:00.000-08:00

I just don't know what it is but I have this thing with making bags lately! I have found so many wonderful canvas type fabric with great patterns on it over the past year that I just have the need to sew it all into hand bags or totes! And I just hate to be interrupted while in the middle of creating them! But life goes on! Bronwynne only has one more week of school left then we have two weeks to get her room packed up and her stuff stored away and her big backpack ready for her 3 months in Costa Rica. I am just thrilled for her, this is a much need and much earned holiday. She managed to rent a place right on the beach (with mango and avocado trees right in the yard) for the month of March for $400. She and Carly will have such a great time. Now onto Gwen tagging me for the 6 weird things about my self!
1. I collect skulls (and have done since I found my first skull(sheep) when I was 8!)
2. I am obsessed with my new/old kitchen!(vintage 1940's)
3. Have a great need to buy mugs, and teapots!
4. Will poke and prod anything dead that I find at the beach(or anywhere) to see if I can get the above mentioned skulls.
5. Just love to do laundry, sort in neat piles, and iron(thank you Gwen for finding the "shells" ironing board cover, it makes me so happy!)
6. Love nothing better than an afternoon scrounging at the dump with my sister Barb
7. Just love poking around old graveyards
I could go on and on but will stop there with the thought.....Be yourself, everyone else is taken!

Happy New Year

2007-01-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

We all just had the most wonderful time with my mom here, she put up with everything from power outages to backed up toilets and all that went inbetween! We just had so many great belly laughs and quality time was spent with all the family. I went to Barbs (www.greenwellies.typepad.com) on Friday then on Sat we headed to Gwens (www.muddyyellowdog.typepad.com) . Picked up Emily and Aethan from the ferry and Kieran from the seabus (Kieran hadn't seen his older cousins for so long, it was great to get them together!) Mom took all 10 of us out to dinner which was just wonderful to have that many of her family all together for one meal! Then it was back to Gwens for dessert and a game of Cranium. Sunday was spent shopping and laughing and after supper Mom, Barb, Gwen and I sat down to watch Calender Girls. It was a very fitting movie for my moms last night with us, lots of laughs and tears! Just right for us goddess gals to watch!. Monday morning saw tears as mom went off to the airport. She said that we had rejuvenated her but she did the same with us! Barb and I too said our goodbyes and after we dropped Gwen off at the doctors we picked up Kieran for a trip to Ikea! We got some great finds and Kieran found most of what he had wanted to get so all were happy. Barb and I were trying for the 3:20 ferry but missed that so stopped at Old Navy for one last shop! Got back to Barbs safely and unpacked then put her Ikea chair together. The next day saw me traveling up the coast to my home but unlike the day before it was a pretty rough ferry ride and we all had to remain in our seats! The wind picked up as we landed and trees were coming down on the road left, right, and center! Then the rain turned to hugh snow and the road was covered in minutes! I have never been so glad to get home in one piece!

Holidays

2006-12-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

How time flies! We have had a most wonderful Christmas. My Mom arrived from Toronto on the 18th and she just mucked right in with whatever was going on. I took her shopping, to pottery class, to a "yoga girls" lunch, got her swimming at the pool, and back to pottery to pick up things that had been fired.(We even got her to mass on the 24th!) And all with lots of laughter! Kieran and his girlfriend Ashley arrived by plane on the 23rd and Barb arrived at about 2:30 that same day ( after not getting on the ferry by 7 cars and then the next sailing was 1/2 an hour late!) The wind picked up and we lost power for about 3 hours, it came back on just in time for dinner!Christmas eve saw us doing our traditional chocolate fondue and decorating the gingerbread cookies then the reading (by me) of the book The Polar Express. I have been reading it every Christmas eve since Gwen gave it to my children in 1993 and now that the children are much older they watch me to see when I will start to cry! Well this year it was hard to get the last page read through the tears! Christmas Day saw Fred making waffles(he's a master!) and Barb and I whipped up a fruit salad. Presents were open with leisure and once the turkey was in Barb, Mom and I (and Casper) went for a walk to the beach. It turned out to be a rather cool, blustery walk but we saw the seals and an eagle flying with a fish so it was worth it. Christmas dinner was a great success with 14 of us sitting around the table. Barbs stuffing was a hit with everyone, and the turkey was tender.(we had a little trouble with the brussel sprouts not wanting to cook but we ate them anyway and nobody else seemed to notice!) I got Barb turn on to a game call Bazzar(while Fred and my Mom played scrabble) and we had some good laughs over it! Kieran and Ashley flew out on the 26th and Caitlin and Bronwynne caught a ride to Victoria with friends. The rest of us did the usual Boxing day shopping. Barb and Mom left for Barbs on the 27th. It was truly a wonderful time had by all but we did feel our losses, my Dad and Molly were close to our hearts this season.

Molly

2006-12-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

We lost a truely great member of our family yesterday to cancer. Molly was apart of everything we did for the last 8 1/2 years, she was a constant, always there for each of us. She would rush to meet the children when they got home off the bus from school, swimming across Haslem Lake with us, to the beach so eager to fetch sticks(her great passion), catch tennis balls until your arm was too sore to throw anymore, or just sit beside you with her head on your lap while you were reading. She would bark when the phone rang as if to say "hurry up and answer it for heavens sake!" At times she would make a sound not unlike Chewbacca from Star Wars as if she was talking to us and wanting to be part of the conversation. She would tilt her head as you talked to her and we had to start spelling the word "beach" because she would get so excited upon hearing that word! She is what got me there almost every day! My youngest child Declan asked if she was now with Granddad(my father who past away in July) and I told him that yes indeed she is and that they were walking the beaches up there together. We love you Molly, you will be greatly missed.

Molly dog

2006-12-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

Our dog Molly has been sick and not eating. She has been at the vets for 3 days and had alot of tests but they still don't seem to know what is wrong with her. The vet has put her on some medicine for her intestines and she gets to come home today but if she doesn't eat soon.... she is drinking water but thats all! With all the snow we've had I couldn't even visit her as I got the van stuck sideways on our steep and icey driveway! Fred managed to get it unstuck but I have been house bound and I'm starting to get antsy! The snow was fun for a while but enough all ready!

Winter has come to the Coast

2006-11-26T09:23:00.000-08:00

I just can't believe what we woke up to this morning....snow! It did snow abit yesterday but nothing stuck. I just love how everything seems to be so quiet with a blanket of snow. The craft fair went amazingly well and all the sock monkeys found new homes, and I only have 2 mermaids left. Alot of the mermaids were sold to woman who bought them for themselves! A few of them call the mermaids sea goddesses, we are all goddesses after all! I am going to force myself to take a brake from sewing this week and do some things around the house that I have neglected while making mermaids and monkeys (although I have some really cool socks that are just itching to be turned into monkeys). I just can't wait to decorate for Christmas this year, maybe it's the fact that Barb and my mom will be here or maybe the snow has just made it seem more Christmas like! Must get bundled up and take a walk to the beach with the camera!

More Monkeys!

2006-11-24T14:40:00.000-08:00

This week has just zoomed by! I have managed to sew up 12 more mermaids, 3 more Good Dog blankets and a whole arm load of monkeys! I just love some of these ones as they are so soft and are made from angora socks. I must admit that I had little Aethan in mind when I made the camo monkey, I think thats what I'll make him for Christmas. This is a taste of what will be in my new shop "raincoast crafts" coming in January. Thats all for now as I have to pack the van for tomorrows craft fair.

Craft Fairs and Good Dogs

2006-11-21T06:27:00.000-08:00

Well the first craft fair of the season is over with record breaking sales! All my mermaids sold but one and I had to kiss all the sock monkeys good bye as well! The "GOOD DOG" blankets just flew out the window! My sister Barb has been talking about good dogs and mentioned my dog Molly who came to us 8 years ago from the SPCA. Molly was my inspiration for making these blankets in the first place, we thank our lucky stars for her every day. Now to get back to the craft fair... I will have to spend the next week sewing more of the above as we have another sale this coming weekend. It looks like it's the year of the mermaids! Doreen (my craft fair partner) and I will be taking over the two day craft fair (the one we just did) next year as the family that has done it for the last 10 years doesn't want to anymore (some of them have moved and find it just too hard to get back to town) We are very excited about it and with 32 years of fairs between us I think we will manage quite well. We have always wanted to run one ourselves and now we seem to have inherited the fair that was deemed last years best of the coast! The mermaids, sock monkeys, dog blankets and more will be for sale in my new shop "raincoast crafts" coming in January 2007.

I'm Back!

2006-11-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that its been about 5 months since I last posted! I just couldn't seem to do much of anything on the computer after my dad died. I know it hit me harder than I thought it would and on top of that this summer delt me some problems in my marriage that have been thankfully sorted out. But I haven't let the grass grow under my feet! I still found time this summer to take the kids down to spend 4 wonderful days with their older brother Kieran in Vancouver and took Bron, her friend Carly, Caitlin, and Declan to Tofino for 5 fun filled days of surfing, bike riding, beach combing, and lazing about in Aug. The house too has undergone some changes as we have ripped out the old carpeting in Declans room, Caitlins room, and the living room and put down the "clip down" wooden flooring and it has made all the difference to making the house a brighter and more airy place! I have done a few trips to see Barb, Em, and Aethan(what a little sweet heart!) and Barb and I did a day trip to Ikea, her for a bed and me for a dresser(plus a few other things!).Laughing till our sides were sore! Now it's craft fair time again (I just don't know where the months have gone) and have been busy sewing, glueing, nailing etc. to get ready for next weekend which it a 2 day event. I think that I'm about done! My mom and Barb are coming up for Christmas. I think it will be good for my mom to be around the horde that comes to my house during the holidays, it might make being without my dad a little easier. I must just add that I am still taking yoga twice a week and am now doing a thing call Nia twice a week aswell which is yoga, dance and martial arts combined! I just love it as its alot like Jazz dance to me with abit of the goddess thing thrown in! I also joined the Fine Arts society and am currently taking pottery classes every Wed night. Its like being a kid again and playing in the mud!

Spread your wings dearest Dad

2006-07-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

My dad passed away peacefully yesterday at 4:30 in the morning with my mother at his side. He was such a kind and gentle man whose love of nature and all that went with it was passed on to his children and grandchildren. He was the type of father that brought me home a snake as a pet ( I had that snake for 3 years) , took me on long mushroom hunting walks and fiddlehead collecting excursions, made little crosses for the small critters I tried to save. I remember a camping trip when I forgot to bring any toys ( I was about 8 years old) and after the tent was set up he sat down and carved me some figures to play with and they became some of my most prized possesions (I still have a couple of them today!) I worked beside him during the building of our cottage, he was a true artist and took such pride in all that he undertook. He has passed on the joy of planting a seed, nurturing it, and having pleasure in its bloom. He loved me with such great warmth and openness, never making me feel like the "after thought" I was arriving 13 and 14 years after my brother and sister, instead that I was a gift. Well dearest Dad, spread your wings and fly, the greatest gift you gave us was you.

Busy, busy, busy!

2006-07-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

Where do I begin, the last week of school was a hetic one! On the Tue. I drove part of Declan's class to their end of the year trip at Palm beach and we got to see the RCMP and the Natives launching their (really big) canoes, they were paddling all the way to Vancouver. It was quite a sight. Wed. was Caitlin's grad(from elementary school to middle school) and she had to say the farewell speach for the two classes. I'm proud to say she did a great job. Then on Thurs it was off to Savory Island with her class and the other grade 7 class for their end of the year party. It was a beautiful day and there was lots to eat(all the food left over from the grad was boated over) On the Friday it was up early for Caitlin, Stefan and I to catch the first ferry down to Barbs with a van full of goodies for her and Em and, of course, Aethan! It seems like so long since we had seen them but it has only been two months! That night we put Stefan on the bus to Van. to visit with his Big Bro Kieran for the weekend. Then it was off to Van. for all of us the next morning. We got to Gwens by about 10:30am and got right into her party preparations. Went shopping for food, made veggies and dip, helped Sean put together a BBQ(which we did foolishly in the blazing hot sun!!) At 4:30 the guests started to arrive, I think there were about 40 in all, little babys right up to older folk. After all the eating was done we were all paired up and played bocce ball and what a blast that was. I was paired with Sarah(who has the blog fredandtoots.com) and it was so much fun meeting (face to face) someone that I have left comments for on flickr, her little girl is priceless! Sunday we spent shopping (Old Navy, Michelles, Whole foods etc.) and relaxing in the garden. Monday it was the trip up to Barbs , getting Stefan from the bus then the drive home. Thurs we had a family from California come to visit and had a wonderful time showing them the town and going to the beach(Fred met the woman while chatting and playing scrabble on line) They left Friday afternoon. So I'd say the summer is off to a busy start!

2006-06-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

What a lovely surprise yesterday to get a parcel pick-up in the mail! When I went to the post office I got not just one parcel but two! One was from my "tea swap" partner Judy and was full of such wonderful goodies such as a beautiful tea cup and a funky spoon(I just love it!), some wonderful teas( earl gray is my favorite!) some potpurri with, again my favorite, a lavender scent, some wonderfully yummy chocolate hazelnut biscuits, a mini tea book, a beautiful hand embroidered tea towel, a hand made card and much more. It was such a joy to open and I made myself a pot of the tea, sat down with it and the biscuits and the little book, what a great excuse for a break in my day! Thank you so much Judy! Now on to the other parcel! It was my new runners that I got from Hanna Andersons, they were on sale for $14 us so just couldn't resist! and they are pink! Congratulations goes out to Jessica (www.sweetpeas.motime.com) for her new store Junque Revival ( www.junquerevival.com) it's got some wonderful things and she has had a few sales already(don't forget to sign up for the contest!) I may as well put a plug in for my etsy store(speaking of stores) so go visit at www.queenconch.etsy.com . Have a fun week everyone.

2006-06-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

Had a great week doing alot of pottering in the garden when the weather permitted! Went to the awards ceremony at Bronwynne's school on Thurs night and one of her "Flash" presentations was shown. She was on the principals honor roll and was given the highest award for her digital media and film class. Needless to say we are very proud of her! Had two of the yoga gals over for lunch on Friday(potluck) and spent a wonderful 3 hours eating and walking the garden(the sun even came out of hiding for a while!) One brought meatless meatloaf and meatless gravy and locally made goat cheese, one brought an Athenian Artichoke Dip with crackers, I made Cauliflower cheese pie with graded potato crust and a strawberry sweet bread for dessert, it was all so yummy! Yesterday I got it into my head that I could sew up a new umberella for outside so got some vinyl tablecloths from Walmart and just got cutting and sewing, I'm pleased with the results and it was alot cheaper than buying a whole new one! There was even enough left over to cover the table!

2006-06-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

I spent the week gathering 'stuff' up for the big garage sale I held on Sat. and set most of it up on Friday night. Thank goodness it didn't rain! I was up and ready early on Sat. morning just incase there were early birds and sure enough the first one arrived at 8:00! Bronwynne was a great help just by bringing me tea, making my lunch, and filling in when I needed a pee break! The last person arrived at 2:00 and stayed for almost an hour! Needless to say she went home with a car load! Bron and I boxed up what was left and will take it all to the thrift store. It seemed like a long day! Also last week Fred and I worked on getting a 'natural' filter set up for my pond with a wire stand that has 3 shelves which we filled with moss and ferns. The water is pumped to the top shelf and gets filtered down through the rest, plus it looks nice. The moss will grow and fill in the shelves, the ferns will grow and hang over the edges and all will hide the stand(we went to a garden that had one set up and it was really quite beautiful). This week I want to tackle some of the bedroom floors as they have old rotten carpets and I want to replace them with the click down "wood" flooring that we put in our kitchen( I have been really happy with it and it brightens up the whole place!) If I get just one room done I will be happy!

2006-06-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

I seem to be spending all my spare time painting lately which is not a bad thing as the house is looking so clean and fresh! It's a good thing the weather has been rainy otherwise I would have wanted to be in the garden! I got my new clogs in the mail this week and I just love the colour! PINK! Just another pair to add to my collection! Took the boys for haircuts this week and what a difference! They both had long hair, well past their shoulders and now it's short! I can see their necks for the first time in years and it makes them look so much older! Found a step stool that was like one from my youth(my Dad use to cut my hair while I sat on one like this and I even sat on it when I was little if there was a crowd over for dinner) I have given mine a modern twist with the pink paint and seat cover and it has already been put to good use during my painting frenzy! While I have been painting I have also been sorting out and now can hardly get into my sewing/craft room for all the stuff that I have piled up so think I will have a garage sale next weekend and what doesn't go at the sale I will lug to the thrift store

2006-05-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

This past week was a rainy one here on the coast, a good time to get some inside projects done. I was sitting watching Debbie Travis on Monday night and was bored! Glancing around the living room I realized I needed a change so right then and there(10:00pm.) I started moving the furniture away from the walls and filling any holes or nicks with filler, washing the walls and doing prep work for painting! I was just going to paint out the red that I had on the bottom half of the walls(its wood) but when I got it all painted white the next day I realized that the walls also looked dull!(they were an off white) So checked our stash of paint that Fred finds at the recycle depoit. I found 1 1/2 cans of tropical blue( a light blue) and thought to myself 'go for it, it's only paint and one can alway paint over!!' So once again washed and filled! I just love it! It has brightened up the room so much and made it seem less cluttered( perhaps it looks less cluttered as I moved the love seat into Stefans room for when his friends come over. He has his own TV in there) But it didn't stop with just the paint, the old bamboo blind had to go too! So dug around in my fabric stash and found some white and some white with blue starfish but not enough of either for drapes so combined the two and got a new rod....presto, new draps for that cottage-by-the-sea look. Can't believe what a bit of paint and fabric will do to lift ones spirits!

2006-05-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

I have been abit preoccupied with other stuff lately that blogging was put on hold! Got all the veggie garden planted and everything else is filling in nicely, just had to be out there while we had a stretch of sunshine.(it looks like we are in for another rainy week ahead) Have also been doing some painting of deck chairs and, the biggest paint job, painting Stefans' room! It went from a cowboy theme of blue and white check with red stars to plain white(that's what he wanted!) and Fred is now painting Stefans desk gloss black! I found 2 white fabric shower curtains at the thrift store that I don't think were ever used (they were still in their packages), they had big silver gromits so I strung them up as his window curtains and they fit perfectly in width I just had to shorten them abit. Also it was Caitlins 13th birthday and she had about 13 girls for a sleepover at the beach with a fire. It was great for us(Fred and I) as we didn't have much to do and all the noise was away from the house! I am so looking forward to summer and the kids all out of school, just to be able to hang out and go to the beach and the lakes...I can't wait!

2006-05-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

It has been another busy week for us here at the Fogarty household! Fred took the van to Vancouver(a 5 hour drive because of the two ferries) for two days and helped our oldest son, Kieran, move into his new appartment and they did a shop at Ikea(a first for Fred!) So I was carless for 2 days! He left the van on the peninsula and got a ride home so that Caitlin and I could go to Barbs for 2 days and help her daughter Emily(with young Aethan) move into her new place. We(Barb, Em, Em's friend, Caitlin(who looked after Aethan) and I got the U-haul unloaded in an hour then proceded to unpack, put away, put together beds, and move furniture around(which is something Barb and I seem to do everytime we are visiting each other so we've had alot of practice!!) Even with all that going on we still managed to get a trip in to the thrift store and I found some great treasures(to me anyway!) Caitlin and I caught the last ferry home last night and got in around 11:30pm. Needless to say we were both tired today. It was a sunny warm day and so just pottered around outside and finially got to use my newly painted watering can!

2006-04-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by Jessica , so here it goes!

Five minutes to yourself: I would sit with my feet up, a cup of Earl Gray tea in hand and be leafing through the latest Coastal Living Magazine.
Five bucks to spend right now: It would have to be at the thrift store(I could find alot for five bucks!)
Five items in your house you could part with right now: The carpets(I would rather have wood!), the big old tub(it's falling apart!), The couch(the cat ripped it to shreds!), Freds truck(it's falling apart), a bedside lamp I made years ago.
Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house: The DISHWASHER!!!!, my sewing mashine, my shell collection, my kitchen, and of course, the computer!
Words you love: Vintage, ocean, beach, summer, thrift. My sister tells me I'm always making up words and I will use them repeatedly but can never remember them when asked(yes I get some funny looks) Oh, just remembered one- 'faffy' which refers to anything that take too much time and isn't really worth the effort!

Ok that does it, I think! I'm really not very 'Martha' myself but I do live for sewing, crafting, time with my kids, thrifting and laughing with my sister, working in the garden, and dinners alone with Hubby, also holidays with the girls in Tofino, and I can swear with the best of them!

2006-04-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

Had a great Easter long weekend although each child got hurt somehow! Declan sprained his wrist at a party, Stefan's glasses broke in the middle and sliced his nose, Caitlin got pushed off a couch at a friends and got rug burns on her face, and Bronwynne got sick with a bad ear infection while spending 6 hours at the pool for her Life guarding course and had to get antibiotics but went again to the pool the next day for another 6 hours determined to finish the course! Which she did with flying colours and passed, sick or not! Sunday night saw all the kidlets at friends houses for sleep-overs (we had our Easter dinner on Monday) so Fred made waffles and I made a fruit salad, yummy, just the two of us! We did manage to get some heavy duty gardening done and burned two piles of blackberries and debris, but the cold, rainy weather seems to be back!

2006-04-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, I just had to add another post today as I finished painting the old sewing cabnet and wanted to share. It always feels good to get a project finished!

2006-04-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a while I know but I have been so busy! We are dog sitting a 3 month old puppy for the week and it's like having a 2 year old child that you have to watch all the time! Only he doesn't wear a diaper!(wish he did!). Have been doing some major work to our retaining wall that was about to fall due to all the heavy rains we have had this winter. Of course more is involved that you think, like transplanting all the plants that were in the beds by the wall, digging holes for new posts, first removing all the blackberries etc. I had such a wonderful time with Barb for 4 days, that's right, 4 days because her car wouldn't start to take me to the bus so we got an extra day! Every day we walked the beach with Casper, did the thrift store rounds, house hunted for my niece and set up a new group on flickr call 'The Unpretentious Garden' as we found no other group to put photos of our funky gardens in. We now have 48 members so I guess there are others that felt the same. It was all a blast and lots of laughs! Here's Barb on her beach having a laugh!

2006-03-29T18:08:00.000-08:00

OK, OK, I just have to talk a little bit more about yesterday! It was just such a perfect day. I already said it started with yoga, then it was a trip to Safeway where they were throwing out some primroses that looked dead(but I knew they just needed some water), so I got 4 for free! Soaked them in water then put them right in the ground. Today they have perked right up and are looking happy! Then, of course, I got my seasonal swap (which you have already heard all about) and I'm still smiling about that! But I also got another parcel...the wellies I had bought off of ebay, they make my feet so happy! It was all so exciting! It was sunny here on the coast today so got out once more to do some gardening. Fred and I marked off where I want my greenhouse, I have been collecting old wooden window of different sizes and styles to make it with and now have enough. This is something else to get excited about as I have wanted my own vintage looking greenhouse for years!

2006-03-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to arrive home from yoga and find my seasonal swap parcel had arrived from Mindy . It felt just like a birthday as I opened it and found so many wonderful goodies. New garden gloves(and boy did I need those!) and a beautiful garden sign. Some chocolate tea(which I made right away and it's delicious), blueberry shortbread cookies(of which I indulged myself with two), some fabulous smelling lavender soap and body scrub(can't wait for a bath), a bar of swiss milk chocolate(my favorite) and three cute white ribbon roses on clips(I clipped one to my coat!) I must say this has been a wonderfull experience and another special thank you goes out to Ms*Robyn for setting this one up.

2006-03-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

Got to work in the garden yesterday as we had surprise sunshine(it called for rain!) and it felt so good to be out there again! Have made a contact, through Flickr, called Redwork in Germany. She does beautiful redwork and I posted a photo of a quilt that my Grandmother did for my father in 1925 for her to see. She has asked if she can reproduce the quilt! I have been sending her photos of each block on the quilt and my sister and I are just thrilled that she is recreating a bit of our history!
The rain is back today so its inside chores for me today!

2006-03-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a busy couple of days. Sun. and Mon. saw very spring like weather, lots of much needed sunshine. So out to the garden I went! Not just to potter but to pick axe an area that I would like to develop which ment getting rid of the blackberries and moving dirt! Thinking the whole 2 days that a backhoe could do this in seconds! With muscles aching I went to my first yoga class in months yesterday! Boy, am I feeling it today! Actually glad the rain has come back for a bit of a rest. Have been working on some cute little lavender filled mice and they will be for sale in my etsy store soon. Have been getting emails from my daughter in Vancouver and she is having a great time at the Art Institute of Vancouver studing Advanced Film Editing for the week and she has already had supper with my oldest son, Kieran who works for EA Games. Fred leaves Thurs for Vancouver for a Forest Workers Convention, always wonder how he does at these things as he is not a "big crowd lover" and hates to leave the "nest"!

2006-03-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

It's the March Break here in my neck of the woods which means the kidlets are all home from school. This is the time of year I usually get them to sort through their cloths, the two girls have already done it but I had to talk the boys into it! Once their's were done I decided it was high time I did the same for Fred and I! Went and bought a closet organizer(which took me about a day to put together!)(Fred cutting the very heavy-duty metal rods only for me to tell him I had miss measured and he had to cut them again!) Managed to get everything sorted and even got a good sized bag for the thrift store. But in the process I realized a few thing: 1. I must do this more often(Fred had cloths that he didn't know he had!) 2. I have a "thing" for nice coats and sweaters. 3. Oh yeah, I also have a thing for shoes(even though I seem to only wear clogs!) It felt really good when it was all done and I feel lighter!

2006-03-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

Have been itching to get the striped wellies on and do some serious gardening but our weather has been so funny this year(too much rain and now snow and frost mixed in!). One of the problems is that I did so much work out there in the fall that there is not even any "clean-up" stuff to do! Worked myself out of a job so to speak! When it finially warmed up alittle yesterday afternoon I noticed that all my fishies in the pond seem to have survived the winter. I started out with 5 two years ago and now have 27! The little things have been busy!

2006-03-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

Every year at this time our town holds the annual Festival of the Preforming Arts for 2 weeks. At the end there is a grand concert and the handing out of the trophies. For the past 6 years I get to be one of the "trophy hander outers". I call it my "Vanna White" moment, you know, just smile and look pretty in an evening gown. It actually ends up being a fun way to spend a Wed. evening!

2006-03-10T15:27:00.000-08:00

Had so much fun and laughter with my sister for 3 whole days. We got in one walk to the beach(inbetween storms) and found 3 large pieces of blue beach glass, went to Walmart(she doesn't have one in her neck of the woods), thrift store shopped, re-arranged my mantel and a shelf(I posted those photos on Flickr), and did a couple of faffy crafts(these are crafts that are, at times, fiddly), one was sooooo faffy that we will probably never do it again. Some of the crafts however have turned out so well that they have been made over and over and some are even for sale in my etsy store! Posted is the photo of Barb doing one such faffy craft.
Thanks for all the good times sis.

2006-03-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

I'm soooooo excited, talked to my sister yesterday and she is coming for a 3 day visit starting today! I have so much to give her as it is her birthday month and I found the perfect sister card! We had both left a comment on Jonnyteardrop's photo of the Vespa(on Flickr) and found out that we both secretly want one to ride around on! Then I went shopping and was looking at the Birthday cards for a card for my daughter to give her friend when I looked up and there was this card! The inside reads "Laughter was one thing Mom never had to tell us to share"!!! So it's two sisters on a Vespa ready to hit all the Thrift stores and laugh for the next 3 days!

2006-03-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

Was so excited about the swap that I spent the afternoon gathering things I have already made and making some new things to put into my parcel which will get mailed tomorrow to Peggy . Hope she likes homemade things as I think they are much more fun than store bought! Thought I would post a photo of my Holey soles as they are a type of clog and they felt left out of yesterdays photo!
Have just finished recovering the chairs that I got from Barb's dump but must wait to spray paint them as the weather has been rainy and windy...not the best for spray painting. Can't wait for some good weather as I have a number of things to paint and I hate waiting to finish a project because of the weather!
March starts a very busy month for my oldest daughter Bronwynne(16), She is taking assistant swimming instructer, then a standard first aid, then its the NLS(National Lifeguard) program during the March Break, then after the break its down to Vancouver for a week with her Digital Media/Fine Art class, all this on top of starting a new job! It means a busy month for me as she doesn't have her drivers licence yet so mom gets to play taxi driver!

2006-03-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

Jessica mentioned that she thought my sister and I have an addiction to wellies! Well, thats not my true addiction. Here is a photo of some of my addiction...REAL WOODEN CLOGGS!!!!!!!!. Some are so worn that they have been delegated to painting or gardening cloggs. I'm hoping to find a pink pair for this summer! A big thanks goes out to Robyn for letting me get in under the wire with the seasonal swap, can't wait to start getting my parcel together! Am finding all this(flickr, blogging) so much fun. Have been working hard making stuff for my etsy store which I have had up and running for the last 2 weeks. Its nice to have an outlet other than the same old Christmas Craft Fairs and it costs less to list than ebay.(although I have still been selling stuff there too)

2006-02-27T10:20:00.000-08:00

My sister, Barb is always talking about her wellies so I thought I would post a photo of my favorite wellies, I love them, they have great treds on the bottom to grip the rocks at the beach.
Have had a couple of fun filled days, on Friday it was pot luck lunch with 4 of the yoga girls(one is 74!) . We ate till we couldn't move, butternut squash soup, fresh salad from Joanne's garden, jumbo shrimp in a spicy sauce, a tray with almonds, dates, smoked cheese(a new favorite of mine) and fruit plus(my contrabution) an apple galette! Our discussion was about setting up a non-profit group to create a wellness centre for yoga, Nia, workshops and the like. We all got homework and will meet again next Fri for another lunchean meeting.
Then on Sat our towns Festival of the Performing Arts got under way. I went to watch the Broadway Show Tunes. Great fun and a friend of mine won the gold in the adult category. Then it was off to a "Pirate party" where there was more great food(brie cheese, stawberries, grapes, pinapple, baguette, etc.) I ended up sleeping over as we got an unexpected snow fall and didn't want to chance the drive so late at night. Instead we all went outside at 1:00 in the morning and had a snowball fight!

2006-02-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

So now I would like to tag some ladies and they are plump-pudding , posy , and Kristen . Hope this all works as its a great way to know a little bit more about each other. I just love this connecting "thing" with all these like minded gals. Here is one of my many inspiration boards, saw some fab ones on Jessica's blog, thanks for the inspiration.

2006-02-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

My sister, Barb has just "tagged" me so I will get on the band wagon and write my list:

Four jobs I've had

secretary for a Travel agent
Ballet and Jazz teacher
Summer counselor for a special needs camp
Mom

Four movies I could watch over and over

Bridges of Madison County
Chocolat
Field of Dreams
Amelie

Four places I've lived

Don Mills, Ontario
Head Lake, Ontario
Townsite, Powell River, BC
South of Powell River, BC

Four albums I could listen to all the time

Inside the Dreaming by The Wyrd Sisters (favorite)
Any John Denver
Any Art Garfunkle
Any Chris De Burgh

Four TV shows I love

House
Bones
CSI, any of them
What not to wear

Four places I have vacationed

Doaktown, New Brunswick
Nassau, Bahamas
Tarpon Springs, Florida
Whitby, England
And of course Tofino

Four favorite dishes

Homemade veggie pizza
Prawns
Bassa fish
Cauliflower Cheese Pie with Grated Potato Crust (Moosewood)

Four sites I visit daily

My queenconch etsy store
ebay
Flickr
All the girls blogs

Four places I'd rather be right now

Tofino
Hawaii
Marthas Vineyard
any warm beach

Four favorite books

Gift from the sea
The Notebook
The Secret Life of Bees
The mermaids chair

2006-02-21T19:09:00.000-08:00

Just had to share what came in the mail for me today. A surprise and a pick-me-up from Gwen , a beautiful little card and a mermaid bookmark from Tofino, you know my heart! Thank you so much Gwen.

2006-02-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

Fred went out yesterday to help a friend of ours that owns an oyster lease and he came home with these, a whole sink full of live prawns. Guess what our supper was?! A little butter in the fry pan, a little rice, and a salad...boy what a meal!!
Its great to keep the crafting up even though the Xmas fairs are over. For years now I have wanted an outlet for my crafts after the fairs have finished and now I have one with etsy. Still finding it so much fun and just want to come up with something to make every day!!! www.queenconch.etsy.com

2006-02-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

Just had to post this pic of my Amaryllis. I thought they only flowered once in a season but this one decided to be different and has given us 6 more beautiful flowers. Have been busy with ebay and my etsy store, having fun sewing up a lot of different stuff. I like to make up my own patterns so it can be a bit of trial and error. Got Stefan off on the bus to Vancouver this morning at 7 am, he is on his way to spend the weekend with his older bro Kieran and go to work with him on Mon which is "Take your kids to work day" in BC. Kieran works at EA GAMES and has a bunch of fun things lined up to do with him what 14 year old wouldn't love that!

2006-02-15T07:51:00.000-08:00

I have coveted this large life preserver that hung at a house down the beach for about 6 years. I even tried to buy it off the woman that owns the land but she told me it belonged to her tenant! As it turned out, the other day, that same tenant asked my husband if he could buy some firewood off of us. My husband cut some for him and traded it for the life preserver which became my Valentines present! I am so happy, and Fred got lots of hugs and kisses! Know the only question is do I hang it inside or outside?

2006-02-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

Have been so busy lately getting my etsy store up and running, they lost a bunch of data on Thurs and Fri, and guess who lost her whole store! ME!!!!! so I had to start all over again, but it is now up and running. It's all very exciting, I just hope things sell. Went to a fashion show yesterday with Bronwynne ( we went to support some of her friends that were in it) put on by the Miss Powell River Youth Ambassadors. Even though Bron and I aren't the fashion show type we still had a lot of fun! Finially got some of my recipes sorted and put on file cards for my new recipe card holder. I just love it, it's so retro and matches the colour of my kitchen!

2006-02-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the painting in the bathroom, what with trips to my sisters and an obsession with making sock monkeys, I had put it on hold. It feels good to have that make-over done! I was inspired by weewonderfulls job in her craft room enough to get one of the last things sorted in mine. The button box!!! It took all evening to sort out the colours into different jars but it was well worth the trouble.

2006-02-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Have had a busy few days. This is exam week for 2 of my children so it means doing some extra driving as the exams are at odd times (not the times of the school bus of course!) Then Caitlin and I set to work in her room cleaning and rearranging the furniture to make room for her new computer. A friend of mine got a new one so gave Caitlin her old one. Now we have 4 computers in the house, seems abit extreme but with 4 children still at home (2 in high school) we do use them! Picked up a pair of argyle socks at Barbs but when I tried to put them on the weave was sooooooo tight I couldn't get them over my heel! Couldn't take them back so when I got home I did the next best thing, made a sock monkey out of them!

2006-02-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a bonus visit with my sister. Had to drive my mother-in-law home (down the coast) on Tue night ( big storm night, had to deal with a big tree across the road-missed the ferry but caught the later one, branches all over the road but finially made it to Barbs by just after midnight! Got to stay with her for 4 days, it was like a holiday! We, of course, did the thrift stores, even found a new one! Got some great finds, a robe, t-shirts, frames, a cool basket, material, a BIG ceramic oyster shell that looks real! Thats just a few of the things!! Then there was the dump trips to the "share shed". Watched as about 50 wooden resturant chairs were unloaded! Of course we went back the next day to get 3 of those plus a big wooden frame, a funky wooden stool, some plates, an old typewriter (that still worked) some long planters and more! We laughted till we cried, stayed up late watching movies and talking, had great walks on the beach with Casper (her dog), found tons of beach glass because of the storms, we even walked the beach one night at 10:15 just to see what the storm had done! This trip put us both on top of the world!

2006-01-31T09:23:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share the further improvements to the sewing room. Will be off to my sisters house tonight as I have to drive my motherinlaw to Roberts Creek. What a good excuse to visit sissy!

2006-01-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Had to wait until I gave my sister Barb her mermaid glass decoration before I could post this picture of mine. As I live by the beach, I thought we should have "beach theme" decorations even at Christmas. Found these hand-blown glass ones on ebay. Have still been busy doing the final trimings in the sewing room, got the chair recovered and the drapes up yesterday. I feel its all coming together nicely. Attended a Nia workshop yesterday (its a combination of dance, yoga, and some martial arts) and had so much fun that I signed up for the 6 week course!! It felt good to be doing something like what I have done all my life! Dance!

2006-01-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

Have still been doing more work on the sewing room and painting the bathroom. It is taking more time than I thought but I'm pleased with the results. Got the wallpaper up in the sewing room, it covers a green painted wall so I feel it really brightens the room up. Going to lunch today with the women from yoga, one, Maureen, is 74 and so "with it", I can only hope that I'm like that at 74!

2006-01-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

Have still been working on the sewing room ! Painted it white and have some fantastic shell wallpaper and matching fabric that I'm going to use. It was dark green before but even with all the windows it seemed dark and now with the white it seems so bright and twice the size! I came across a pair of vintage clip-on earrings that I wanted to make into a hair clip so just sat down and did it! Am really pleased with the results.

2006-01-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

While cleaning up the sewing room I came across these two cloths peg people that I made when I was about 13 years old. They have hung on the Christmas tree ever since but have lost some of there arms. They were put in the sewing room a few years ago to repair but I never got around to it. In reading Sarah's blog it inspired me to find them and fix them up, maybe even make them some more friends. These two are from the Nutcracker Ballet.

2006-01-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

Continued to sort out things in the sewing room. Got my tools organized so that I can actually close my tool box and likewise with the bead box. I feel so clean!!! Ok, so here are the baby dolls that my sister and I spent 2 faffy crafty evenings on. The one on the far left is the origonal one from 30 years ago( she is very yellowed) , beside her are my first two, then I went even simpler by just doing the heads out of wooden beads. They are about 3 inches tall.

2006-01-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

Have always wanted to use an old sweater for a hotwater bottle cover. Found this one(so soft) at the thrift store about a year ago and each time it has been washed the body has gotten a little bit shorter. Just perfect for the cover and it was a breaze to make, only one line of stitching!

2006-01-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

Had a fantastic 3 days with my sister. Walks on the beach to find mermaid's tears(beach glass) with the dogs, thrift store shoping, dollar store and even Walmart to get some lace. The lace was for these little dolls that she had first showed me how to make about 30 years ago. We thought it would be a snap to whip up a few but we spent 2 evenings trying to copy the original and ended up with the funniest little dolls you have ever seen. It was good for a laugh! She also helped me figure out how to put links into my blog and helped me organize my photos on Flickr, she is the best teacher in the world!
The biggest task that Barb helped me with was the disaster of my sewing, craft, ebay room. I just didn't know where to begin! After much sifting, sorting, tossing, organizing, and even dusting we got most of it done. Even after she left I continued (not as much fun without her) to clean and even got the furniture rearranged. Even every basket is labled thanks to her! Thank you magic sissy!

2006-01-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

My sister arrived about noon and we have already been into town, down to the beach, where barb found a great piece of blue mermaid tears.

2006-01-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

Had a great day yesterday because, for once the sun was shining! It has been such a rainy, windy, winter this year. Got some clean-up done in the garden then went to the beach to feed the sea gulls our stale bread. Decided to just see how much mermaids tears (beach glass) I could find in 5 minutes and was amazed with my finds! My sister Barb is arriving today for 3 days of fun and adventures, (faffy crafts and thrift stores) I can't wait! P.S. there is a quarter in with the mermaids tears to compare size

2006-01-14T08:50:00.000-08:00

Have made another apron for Tie one on! It's just so much fun. This is the one I thought my sister was going to do but it was my first one( just a half apron) that was her idea. I must have had a dream about this one! I think it could be a nice Christmas one but will submit it for this month as well. It has been a busy few days with fixing up the bathroom (which really needs to be gutted!) Fred just covered up the rot with some plywood and we used a can of paint he got a the recycle depot but as it turned out there wasn't enough to do the whole bathroom! It is also a mat finish which isn't good for a bathroom so we will just think of it as the primer! I do like the colour though, its the palest pink I have ever seen.

2006-01-11T09:12:00.000-08:00

After a few things going wrong I think we have all the kinks worked out. Had a lovely long walk on the beach yesterday with my yoga friend Joanne and beleive it or not she has never found beach glass( or as some call it mermaids tears) before! I found that such a shock! Well we were in for a treat and the storms have uncovered a mutitude of the stuff! We found white, 3 different greens, some of the usual brown, 2 beautiful turquoise ones, and I even found sizable mouve one.
Am pleased to say that my three Amaryllis bulbs have bloomed and are really quite stunning. I was about 3 weeks late in planting them for Christmas but will know for next year.

2006-01-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

So my husband just helped me transfer all my old Xanga blog entries to this new blog site. There are a few things we can't figure out. 1. how to edit the entries. 2. how to get the personal info and links to the top.

2006-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Just had to add that my two daughters, Bronwynne and Caitlin, did the annual Polar Bear swim again this year. Bron has been doing it since she was 7 and now she is 16 and Caitlin has been doing it for the past 4 years, she is 12. I am so proud of them for keeping this tradition of theirs alive although I promised them that I would join them when I turn 45 which is next year. What have I got myself into?!?!?!?! I must mention that they were the first to go in and the last to get out!

Had a wonderful Christmas and it was so good to have my oldest, Kieran, home. There was much laughter and late night gab sessions with all. Had 15 in total for the big turkey but with everyone bringing something it wasn't alot of work. The new year has come in with me still thinking about mermaids so just had to make one out of wood. It seems that everywhere I look or what ever I read there is something about mermaids.

Am going for a "Pirate" sleepover out at Herondale bed and breakfast tonight for Judys birthday and all our Christmas celabrations. We haven't had one of these get togethers in what seems like a long time. I'm looking forward to it.

2006-01-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

Friday, December 23, 2005

We got the gingerbread lighthouse done yesterday. With my two daughters help, I think we have created a masterpiece. It was so much fun but took us about 3 hours to build and thats with all the pieces baked the day before. Got all the presants wraped last night so now its just waiting for my oldest to come home for the holidays. He arrives tomorrow. I can't wait!!!!

2006-01-07T11:26:00.000-08:00

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Had so much fun making the first snowglobe that I just want to make more and more and more. So this is the second in the series. I realized that for the next one I must add abit more water. Going down to my sister Barbs tomorrow and can't wait, the bags are packed already. I need some sissy fun before the kids get out of school! Sold $200.oo worth of Christmas trees yesterday with my daughter Caitlin for the Junoir Forrest Wardens, got free hotchocolate to drink and just had fun

2006-01-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Well this is it, I'm really pleased with the results, infact I'm going to the thrift store today to try and find some more rose bowls to make more. I think I put too much glycerin into it as the "snow" floats to the top after a while, either that or the glitter I got is too light

2006-01-07T11:23:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Today was overcast but no rain so hiked to the beach and cut myself a little Xmas tree for outside on the front deck. Got it all decorated with beachglass and shells, topping it with a moonsnail shell. Beach theme ofcourse. Then when I went to town I picked up all the supplies to make my own snow globe that I saw made on TV last night. I'm really excited about it (with all the talk about snow globes lately) and have always wanted one but never found one that I liked!

2006-01-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Just got done the gingerbread cookies and will have to make another patch as we started a tradition last year of making a gingerbread lighthouse with a catwalk and everything! Made the new Xmas ovenmit covers last week.

2:51 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it

Also found these snowmen while set up Xmas stuff. The big guy has been around since I was a wee little girl and the small one my sister found for me last year. They are made out of the same type of plastic. They also make me smile!

12:56 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it

Have been so busy this last week doing the Christmas thing. It has alway been my favorite holiday but last year I just wasn't into it and was worried about how I'd feel this year. Need not have worried!!! The house is totally decorated (except for the tree which we get from the Forest Wardens) and I am ahead with my Christmas baking. Have made brownies, lemon squares, jam filled creamcheese cookies and the dough for Ginger bread cookies which I am going to bake this morning. Through all this was the sock monkey thing happening all around me (or so it seemed) so when I found a childs pair of work socks I just had to sit down and make one. He makes me smile

2006-01-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 25, 2005

Haven't written in a long time but have been busy sewing more mermaids as they sold quite well at the last craft fair and have one more fair to do this Sunday then its over for another year. At this stage I just want them to be over so I can start thinking about Christmas myself. I love that time of year!

I want to talk abit about my kitchen as I have mentioned it in passing a few times. The kitchen I had before had one drawer, a very small counter and some old dark bottom cupboards. With 4 children still at home I needed more space but we couldn't afford to buy a new kitchen. What we got was even better, in my opinion, a full origonal 1940's kitchen with origonal paint (light green, I call it old hospital green) and beautiful crome hardware. We now have 18 drawers and 9 lower cupboards and 9 upper cupboards, I feel like I have died and gone to heaven!!!!! It really fits in with the feel of the whole house that was built in the early forty's as a beach cabin.

2006-01-07T11:16:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 18, 2005

Have been going kind of crazy with the mermaid, seahorse thing! Can't seem to sew enough of them and each of the mermaids seems to have their own personality. Both stand a foot tall and are stuffed to the gills so to speak. Must stop sewing now though as the craft fair is tomorrow. It has been a great way to use up the fabric that I didn't know what to do with but couldn't part with.

2006-01-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

As if I don't have enough to do I decided to stencil a saying on my wall. I have seen the idea before but when my sister Barb did it I thought it was time to do it too! Of course the stencil wouldn't lay flat, and I only have two hands, so I had to pencil the letters in first then paint them by hand. When all was said and done, I was happy with the results.

2006-01-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Well I finally got all the "Good Dog" blankets sewn up for the craft fair and decided to sew a few ideas that have been rolling around in my head. The first one was a seahorse and the second was a mermaid. I had some difficulty sewing her hair on as I was sewing her up, I'll have to think up a different way. They were fun to make and really took no time at all once I had drawn out my idea on paper.

2006-01-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 11, 2005

Don't know where the days are going. Trying to get everything done for the craft fair next weekend inbetween doing the laundry, shopping and feeding the mases time just slips by. Also thinking of moving furniture around in the house ( this is a favorite passtime of mine). These shell candles are a big seller at the fairs and I think they look nice as a grouping. My sister and I taught ourselves all we know about "groupings"

2006-01-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Well, it was quite the day yesterday! I was up at 6:30 to get my oldest daughter to the dentist to have her wisdom teeth taken out. While she was under the knife I did a Safeway shopping then picked up some supplies for the next craft fair(I have to make some more GOOD DOG blankets). She was done by 10:00 and looked like a chipmunk with bloody gause sticking out of her mouth! We had to wait 45 minutes for her pain killers as Safeways computers were down. I phoned Fred to come and get her as I had a doctor appointment at 11:00 which was just the whole once-a-year thing. I phoned mom and dad and talked to them for about an hour then it felt like the day was gone before I knew it. I did get some rune bags sewn up after sup. out of some shell fabric which, I thought, goes with Seaside Runes.

2006-01-07T11:06:00.001-08:00

Monday, November 07, 2005

Had a great 2 day craft fair, it was a real buying year. The things that sold the most were the "GOOD DOG" blankets, the bags of runes with their booklets, shell candles, and the plaster shells, the one-of-a-kind gift tags, and my photo cards with the beach snowman. You never know just what will sell in any given year. Doreen did great as always with her different jams and jellies and syrups. Here is a photo of our booth held in the beautiful old Hall

2006-01-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

Saturday, November 05, 2005

The day dawned a rainy, windy one here on the coast. Went into town to mail some ebay things and to look for an old suitcase dolly to get all my craft stuff from the car into the fair. Have faith I said and "put it out there" and, naturally there was a great one proped up outside the thrift store for $2.00! It is wider than normal and holds 3 baskets full at once. It only took Doreen(my partner in craft fair crime) and I an hour to set up our table, we have it down to a fine art. When I got home my daughter decided to do a little

2006-01-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 04, 2005

Found another silk, rolled hemmed scarf at the thrift store, plus a nice sweater and a brand new cookie sheet for Fred (he's my husband and chief cookie maker in the house), a cool chinese jacket, and salt and pepper shakers in the shape of a lighthouse with Peggy's Cove on them. A little something of everything! Went and worked out with my daughter again this evening and felt better about the whole tech rowing, tredmill, bike thing, guess Tue was a trial run on how to work these machines! Its probably a good thing that I have the craft fair this weekend as I will need the rest although my cheek muscles will get a good workout with all the smiling I seem to do at them! Just want to include a photo of a cool vintage apron I picked up at the thrift store the other day, it really goes well with my new vintage kitchen

2006-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Wed. Had a day filled with taking photos and listing everything on ebay. Then just as I was preparing dinner at 4:00 the power went out! So much for dinner! Some parts of town still had power so it was off to A&W for the gang(I just thought I would mention here that I have 5 children, my oldest son now lives in Vancouver but 4 children in a home still makes for a lively household!) Anyway my oldest daughter is a vegetarian so we stopped at a pizza place to get her a slice of veggie pizza only to get to A&W and find out they now sell veggie burgers. Shows you how long its been since we all went out for dinner! The power was still out when we got home so the candles were lit, a log was put on the fire and we all settled in to have a good old gab session. I finished the book "The Mermaids Chair", great book, I cried! Power came back on at 8:30

2006-01-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Waited for the mail to come then went into town to do the usual, banking and to Safeway, then on to the thrift store. Found a beautiful silk scarf in my colors of pink and light green. Also found a white glazed pot for my Amaryllis bulb that I want to bloom for Christmas. My yoga teacher had to close her studio last week as she didn't have enough students so my daughter got me to come along with her to the Rec Complex . We, along with my other daughter had a great workout and I'm feeling it this morning, aching arms, legs, actually, my whole body is sore!!!

2006-01-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

Monday, October 31, 2005

Just finished another "Camp Blanket" for the craft fairs. I find these so much fun to make as every one is different. This ones for the beach girl but I also do them with titles like "CAMP FIREWOOD, BEACH HUT, CAMP PINEWOOD, and childrens names on them.

2006-01-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

Sunday, October 30, 2005

I would like to just add a quote from a magazine that pretty well sums me up

"I like undervalued things. I like the thrill of the search, the big kick of finding something. I'm a bit of a scrounger"

I'm new to this blog thing but here it goes. My sister told me all about them and she just started one herself. Had a good day sorting out my sewing-come craft and ebay room which I was having to swim through before. The craft fairs all start next weekend and I think I'm ready. People always ask me what I make and I can only reply "A little of everything and its always changing"!

2005-12-12T19:51:00.000-08:00

Picked up this little guy for my sister...a wooden version of her little dog Casper.

2005-12-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

Everyone was having a hard time commenting on my old blog site and I wanted to be able to link with other bloggers with ease. So welcome to my new queen conch blog!