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Thursday ~ April 1st
Puffin on Shiant Islands (Scotland), photo courtesy of National Geographic
I love this shot... primarily because of the Puffin flying in, just coasting towards the rock with his comical, little feet sticking out. I guess I never really think of puffins as flyers, probably because they're related to penguins, but they do fly & it turns out there's also a colony of penguins that fly too! Check it out:
More incredible puffin facts & photos here. |
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Saturday ~ April 3rd
The Easter Bunny came late last night & hid some treats for me! Look at all the stuff I found this morning. I found some new drinking glasses, 3 different hummingbird feeders, some chocolate, seeds, a new garden book, a rope for our canoeing adventures, a mosquito hat (?), tree pruners, cheery beer & "Lost", season 1 & 2. What a score!
Look, the Easter Bunny is all tuckered out now.
We are having the families over for brunch tomorrow so I better get cracking on getting this house organized & ready for 23 people! Hope you have a wonderful Easter. |
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Monday ~ April 5th
The auction to raise funds for Michelle Goldstein is now up!
Here's the link for my set of beads.
Michelle is a fabulous beadmaker going through a tough time. You can read more about her story here.
By the way, there are a lot of other beautiful things up for grabs from other artists so please take a look.
Thanks. |
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Tuesday ~ April 6th
Puppy Love?
I don't know about that, but they sure were cute playing together at Easter. The dog doing the swatting is my brother's dog, Sheila. I posted photos of her before back in March.
Grandma Mabel was a wee bit smitten with her. Sheila sat nicely for Grandma & just stared out looking cute & loving the attention.
Just so you know, if Grandma Mabel ever found out that I put a picture of her up here, she would have my head, so don't say a word.
This is my brother Bruce, who owns Sheila. You can tell he's really happy with her by the smile. Now I'm not sure if Bruce would have my head if I mentioned that he's single & available incase you know someone, but he might.
The other sweet puppy looking off to the left is Abbey & she's Chris' sister Pam's new dog & her ears smell really good.
And just to be fair, since I showed a picture of Bruce, here's Pam... getting her drink on. Actually, Pam almost never drinks, this photo was taken 2 summers ago at her birthday party. Unfortunately, it's the most current photo I have of her as she's always on the run (not from the law, just really busy).
Pam is not single, incase the guys out there were wondering. She has a husband, Wes, 4 children named Jamie, Jonny, Jeffy & Sunshine, 1 puppy (that would be Abbey), 1 Weimeraner dog named Poppy, 1 calico cat named Penny, I think a couple of rabbits whose names I don't know, a big ol' tank full of fish, including the 6 she adopted from us, all named Al & obviously her hands full! Now you get why she's always on the run, right? But she manages just fine because she's kind of AMAZING! So is my brother, by the way.
This is Wes, Pam's husband, who is also amazing & providing the entertainment on Easter by playing his new keyboard in our yard. That was a lot of fun & I'm thinking about hiring him for different occasions.
Here's Jamie, the eldest son of Pam & Wes, who is smart & pretty cool. He's got a green ball in his hand & he's just asked me if he could chuck it up on the roof. What is it with boys & chucking things up on roofs? His younger brother Jonny, below, asked the same question last Easter about a football.
Jonny has that classic mischievous look about him, but he's really a sweetie with a great sense of humor.
This is Jeffy, the third son. Now he doesn't look mischievous, but he is. No, just kidding, he's a good kid & he also might have been one of the cutest little toddler ever ~ see for yourself:
This just cracks me up. He's so darn cute!
And then there's little Miss Sunshine, Pam & Wes' youngest. She's just full of personality which is a good thing when you have 3 older brothers on you. She's a really neat kid & it's fun watching her grow. I have to admit though, this picture is from Easter 2 years ago as she's a bit tricky to get a clear photo of... she's always zipping around, just like her mom.
I could go on with more Easter photos, but I didn't get anyone else' permission & I would hate to get in trouble. |
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Wednesday ~ April 7th
Outstanding photo courtesy of my mom, Judy
I saw 4 robins outside our yard yesterday & I could hear several in the distance singing. For me, that has to be one of the sweetest sights & sounds in the world. How excellent that they are back!
I just entered the "So You Think You Can Garden" contest with Canadian Gardening. It's a chance to blog about gardening for them through this summer. If you have the time, please visit my entry here & if you make a comment, that would be swell! |
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Thursday ~ April 8th
I so want one of these Disco Globes, have you seen any around?
Groovy things:
A Jam Jar that says it like it is |
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Saturday ~ April 10th
Mom & I went for our first spring walk in the woods on Wednesday. It was a beautiful & calm morning & I have to tell you, it's just so darn good for the soul to get out into the woods after a long winter & to see how everything is coming alive. Buds were starting to swell, you could hear the trickle of water moving downstream in the creek & I saw a chickadee grab at some fur left in the brush from a shedding hare, on it's way to build a nest, I'm sure.
All photos for this post, courtesy of my mom, Judy
At one point, we were on a ridge overlooking a valley. We could see across the way, all the poplars, fuzzy with catkins. Sure, they'll reek havoc on the allergies in a couple weeks, but right now, don't they look so sweet & soft?
A cautious red squirrel paused for just a second before tearing up the tree.
The birch trees were still bare, but the silvery bark stood out in the sunshine. It was a beautiful morning. |
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Sunday ~ April 11th
Easy Sunday Morning...
Sunrise at Elk Island National Park
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Monday ~ April 12th
New Silk Neck ties! Wonderful to wear around your neck as an alternative to a chain. These hand dyed silks have little crystal & silver charms & a handmade glass bead on each one. Aren't they pretty & just right for the season?
Crocus ~ $75 (email me if you're interested at carrie@beadtree.net)
Doesn't this remind you of crocuses?
A welcoming sight in spring!
Brunnera ~ $75 (email me if you're interested at carrie@beadtree.net)
And this silk tie above reminds me of the wonderful Jack Frost Brunnera:
Jack Frosts flower in the spring & are absolutely charming. Do you have any in your yard? I loved my jack frost brunnera so much that I went out last year & bought 5 more. They really are wonderful plants (pictures don't do them justice) & if you put them in front of perennial that blooms later on (like hydrangeas), you'll have a continuous show throughout the season!
Hyacinth ~ $75 (email me if you're interested at carrie@beadtree.net)
It's hard to match this silk neck tie's color with a flower. It's more like the colors you see when looking through icicles as they melt against a blue sky, but since we're going with spring flowers, lets just say that it's reminiscent of Hyacinths.
Iris ~ $75 (email me if you're interested at carrie@beadtree.net)
And a stellar purple & faded blue necktie that reminds me of the lovely hues of irises:
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Tuesday ~ April 13th
We are off to Vegas next week & I would love to hear any recommendations of places to go or things to do & see if you've been. We've visited a couple times before so we kind of know what to expect, but it's a big place, I'm sure we'll discover new things, like did you know there is a Speak Easy there? And that in order to get in you have to find the hidden door? Cool ~ we'll definitely be in search for that. We also heard about this pinball museum that has hundreds of pinball machines from several decades. And we made reservations at Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay's restaurant), which I'm pretty excited about as we tried last time to eat there but couldn't get seated in time before a show we were going to. We will be going to the Cirque du Soleil show, Love, & I'm really hoping this show too:
I mean, who doesn't want to see dog on a scooter or a kitty walking a tight rope? Awesome!
If you know of other things that shouldn't be missed, please email me at carrie@beadtree.net. |
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Thursday ~ April 15th
Things are busy around here, busy, busy, busy...
Getting ready for the trip which has me all over town buying clothes, getting a haircut, a pedicure & picking up travel toiletries. I'm still working on my taxes & I have to get my car back from the shop, finish several bead orders & the list goes one.
Add to that, 2 tap rehearsals & 2 tap shows this weekend & a few trips out to the mushroom farm for compost for the garden, well by the time we take off, I think I'm going to be really ready for this little vacation.
Thank you for the suggestions on things to do in Vegas, keep them coming. I haven't had time to go through all the emails yet, but Chris & I will go through them this weekend & see what grabs us.
If you have any suggestions on awesome CDs you've listened to recently, I would love to hear which ones as well. I'm in need of some new music for the trip. |
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Saturday ~ April 17th
They picked a winner in the Canadian Gardening contest, and sadly, it wasn't me, but it is a zone 3b gardener, which is exciting! She'll definitely have things to say that relate to our challenges up here in Edmonton & I will definitely be following her blog once it's up.
You can read her fantastic entry here.
Shade plants on our deck
I do have some great gardening information to share with you though.
My mom & I went to a container gardening demonstration on Tuesday evening at a local greenhouse. We received some excellent tips on how to improve our containers this year.
Here's a quick run down on making your containers the best they can be:
These tips ensure an excellent base for your plants to grow in & great drainage.
Another key thing mentioned was to "think outside the box". Add a little bird bath to your pot or an interesting sculpture. Put moss around the rim to cover up the soil. Plant perennials or even dwarf shrubs & small trees to change it up & consider using vegetables (lettuce, chard, cucumbers...) & tropicals to add interest to your pots. |
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Monday ~ April 19th
Off to Vegas ~ be back in a week with stories to tell. |
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Monday ~ April 26th
The ceiling at the Parasol Down Cafe at the Wynn
I'm back from Vegas and I wanted to do an update earlier, but I've spent half the day going through our files in search of an RRSP slip for the tax office that is missing in action.
I still haven't found the slip but the files are very organized now.
*Sigh*
As for Vegas, we had a great time! We drove in a limo that fit 18 of us; went to the fabulous Cirque du Soleil show, Love; had dinner at Bobby Flay's restaurant, Mesa Grill:
Drank tequila mixed with beer at Margaritaville (one was more than enough); saw the wonderful Mac King Magic Show; swam in the hotel pool:
Played pool at the famous punk bar, The Double Down Saloon, where the motto there is, "Shut up & drink!"; visited with 18 other members from Edmonton; took Chris' parents on a couple walking tours where we stopped often for pictures:
Chris' parents, Pat & Ken by a fountain
Won at the roulette table; checked out Freemont street, & stopped in at my very favorite cafe for an afternoon drink at the Wynn hotel to enjoy this waterfall:
Thanks to all for your suggestions. There were plenty of things we didn't manage to do because it was hard to fit much more in, but I kept all the recommendations for next time. |
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Tuesday ~ April 27th
Grandpa & Grandma last month
My dear Grandpa, Happy 97th Birthday! |
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Wednesday ~ April 28th
Have you been down to the McMullen Art Gallery at the University of Alberta hospital yet?
See all those cabinets? They're full of interesting beads & jewelry by local artists. There are hundreds & hundreds of pieces to look at!
The Bead Tree has it's own cabinet & some shadow boxes packed with goodies that are up for sale too. |
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Friday ~ April 30th
Tiptoe through the...
Wild Hyacinths? Very sweet photos courtesy of my Uncle Bill.
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