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Tuesday, June 7th
Yikes, I've been a real slacker on updates. Let's see, what has transpired in the last week or so...
Well, I've been driving around the city ~ a lot, which I rarely do, checking out various kitchen accessories & making headway. How exciting! I've been working in the garden like a good Gardener: weeding, watering, planting, pruning, cultivating & assisting Chris with his projects too.
I've been visiting with friends that I haven't seen for awhile, going out for patio lunches, betting on horse #5 to win (& he did!), having wonderful dreams about far away places (including Greece & Israel), celebrating birthdays, enjoying the fish that are now swimming in our pond, wondering which greenhouse I haven't been to yet, looking out at the horizon in amazement that it still glows at 10:30 at night, cooking things that we won't be able to cook once the reno is underway & today, due to rainy weather, tackling emails & a massive stack of paperwork like a superhero.
But what I haven't been doing is updating here - such is the nature of this season, so fleeting & so precious that every moment away from the lilacs is one less sniff of heaven.
So, sometimes rain is a bit of a blessing, because, today, it has kept me inside to deal with my other world that needs a little attention too. Unfortunately, I have no beads to show, the torch has been cold for a little while, but I do have some photos that I would love to share with you of something cool that happened on our front porch recently:
This is the wonderful swing that Chris built last year. He tells me that he made it so he could lie down & nap on it while I weed.
I think he was kidding?
But the truth is, everyone enjoys the swing. His buddy, Mikey likes it just as much as him so he has to share:
He doesn't mind though. Somebody has to keep pushing it.
I'm kidding.
Maybe...
So anyway, Chris always had cushions in mind for the swing & we knew just the right person to help us out. We asked our friend, Skye, who also makes incredible quilts, to sew us some cushions & voila:
Now, both Chris & Mikey can watch me weed, in comfort!
And doesn't it look so inviting? |
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Thursday, June 9th
Mix a campfire, friends, music & twinkle lights for a magical evening.
Summer is so lovely. And for us, it's definitely going to be a summer of backyard barbeques & wiener roasts. I'm preparing ahead for when our kitchen is out of commission by collecting recipes for the grill & I just found this Turkey Burger recipe that looks pretty good. I never would have thought to add sausage meat to ramp up the flavor, but what a great idea. If you have any relatively simple, yet delicious recipes for the grill, I would love to get them. |
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Tuesday, June 14th
Awesome! |
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Wednesday, June 15th
Just a warning, if you are offended by swear words, you probably won't want to play this video. But for all you parents out there, Sameul L. Jackson does a pretty funny narration on the Go the F**k To Sleep book by Adam Mansbach. |
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Sunday ~ June 13th
Happy Summer to you! I'm back from Red Deer & have a bunch of photos to go through & share, but today I have to build a rock wall & make a border, weed, prune & plant so I will share this cool video that I came across, which has nothing to do with beads, but will hopefully tide you over until I'm back with photos later this week:
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Bleeding Heart ~ photo courtesy of my mom, Judy Do you remember the story of the bleeding heart? As a kid, my neighbor, Lynette would tell me the story every summer using her mom's bleeding heart flowers. I always looked forward to when the would bloom.
The Story of the Bleeding Heart
Long ago there lived a noble prince who tried in vain to win the heart of a very beautiful princess. The prince had brought her wonderful gifts from his travels far and wide. Yet she had taken no notice of him.
One day the prince returned from another long journey with more gifts to surely win the love of the princess. First he presented her with two magical pink bunnies. Peel off the two outer petals & put them on their side to display 2 pink bunnies. Peel off the two outer petals and set them on their sides to display two little pink bunnies. The princess only sighed and barely looked at the little bunnies. The hopeful prince then presented her with a beautiful pair of dangly earrings. Remove the two white, curved petals & put them next to your ear to show them as earrings. e the two long white petals and hold them next to your ears. Again, the princess didn't take any notice. The prince had one more gift for the princess, a pair of lovely, soft slippers. Pull the 2 remaining petals apart to show the slippers.
The princess scoffed at this gift & threw the slippers away. The poor prince was utterly heartbroken. He could try no more to win the heart of the princess. He rose up, pulled a dagger from his sheath and stabbed himself in the heart. Remaining is the green stamen, which signifies the dagger. Bring the two earring petals together to form a heart & plunge the dagger through it. flower is a heart shape with the stamen, appearing as a dark green line down the center. Hold the heart up, carefully remove the dagger-like line, and plunge the dagger through the heart. At that moment, the princess was overcome by the dedication of the dying prince and his unending love for her. She realized too late that she too loved him. "Alas," she cried, "I have done wrong, my own heart is now broken. I shall bleed for my prince forever more!"
And that is how the Bleeding Heart flower got it's name.
A bit of a tragedy, but we can't sugarcoat everything, right? If we could though, I would want it to look like this:
Citrus Cake ~ photo courtesy of Apollinas
It has lemon curd filling, for crying out loud! Doesn't it make you want to run through a sprinkler & dry out in the sun? It's is like sunshine therapy. It's been raining for a week now & I could use a little. The ground is nice & saturated, the spruce trees are well watered around town, the grass is thickening up, but now I'm hoping for a little sunshine so I can get out in my garden & tackle the weeds that thrive in this weather. |
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Wednesday, June 22nd
Fun. |
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Thursday, June 30th
Oh, little waterfall, have we had our share of problems. Location, leaks, lost fingernail, construction. It's been a challenge.
But you were worth it in the end...
We put the waterfall together 2 years ago. Then, last year, we decided to change the direction of it so we ripped it down & reconstructed it. Then, there was a leak because the side forms wouldn't hold so this year, Chris tore it apart again & rebuilt it.
First, he wanted to make steel frames for each section to hold the rubber underneath & the rocks above in place. We borrowed a welder & got to work. Well, Chris did, this is me pretending to weld:
I did end up trying it though. Let's just say, I'm going to leave it to the professional:
Here's a before shot, almost ready to turn it on:
And after, with plants & fish:
Walking into the backyard:
Walking towards the pond:
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