Photo a week...

Late again.... I have excuses.... oh, you don't want to know? 'kay....

I'll just post my lovely photos then.... Here are a few beautiful pics of my pastel lilac coloured iris. It is one of two plants...one has no flowers at all this year.......and sadly, this one only has two stems of flowers. But... they are amazing.














...so fragile and delicate looking ... this particular shot looks like a watercolour painting....














Susan mentioned last summer about using a "white board" behind flowers to get some great photos... and I like to try it now. I don't really know what the heck a white board is...but, I use a large white poster paper or my watercolour paper.... whichever is easier on the day. Sometimes it is a bit awkward to balance a larger piece...and sometimes I need a large paper to hide other garden "stuff"....














The first pic was taken on a cloudy bright day...the last 3 in a late part of another day... with rather dim light...... no flash used....














I love the look of all of them....

you're a daisy.....

I wasn't sure if this guy was dead, or overcome, (if you ever smell a daisy you will know what I mean!) or maybe he just loved the daisy. I got really close with the camera and he didn't even move a feeler ..... and he was still there when I left......

The lilacs are now in full bloom.... see? I told you I would be enjoying ours much later than the rest of the world. And... promised that you would be forced to look at mine when the time came....so.... heeeeere they are!!















They have done exactly as we planned when we planted them...grown up over the wall so that we can enjoy them from the patio.... ...















I had some fun with an ancient silver tea pot....

Totally stole the idea from Susan's blog ...I remember she picci'd her lilacs in a silver vase of some sort....














I love the blues of the unpolished silver....
























I took about 20 shots... ...I won't force you to see them all.....

suffice to say, I am now thoroughly enjoying my lilacs....

the green fairy......

Her little shoes are finally trimmed...but, not without mishap. Even though I glazed them with a protective lacquer.... the Scotch tape I held on the decor with while the glue set...peeled off some paint....sigh. Well, I say a mere sigh now...but, that isn't what I said at the time, believe me@! I've been mixing paint to try to get the exact match...and so far so good...but, need another coat on one spot.... then I paint a tougher glaze on top....















....a glass of Absinthe was in order.... hahhaha....

nawww....it's just my cute little liqueur glass of dipping water...but, it does look a bit like Absinthe, slightly louched....
on it's way to the "perfect opalescent milkiness".....


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Yes.... that is Mickey Maria! My sister's beautiful quarter horse. I hope to be petting him one day soon when I make my annual trip to her little farm in B.C. Click on each of the "Mickeys" to hear some of his story.... he is a great horse. A stoic as Vikki calls him.. and right now she is working overtime to help heal a deep gash that he got on one leg months ago... something scared or chased him and he injured his leg on something.... it is healing, but slowly... and she is playing vet as most folks do with animals. The vet comes a few times...shows her what to do and ...then, she just does it. At the moment, that includes cleaning and cutting away the remnants of unhealed flesh or crustiness... applying salves, dressings.... etc..... what a gal...and what a trooper Mickey is to let her do it.... it has been a long road on this one... and not his first leg/foot injury...















Mickey last year...

Wordless Wednesday

the reason the hair goes on last!

I'd like to put on her head nearer the end too.... cuz it must take a bit of a beating being wrestled all over the table......but, I need it on for other reasons before the end stitching.... just a minute...why do you need it on before this?... I forget now.... but, there must have been a reason or I certainly would have waited.... wouldn't I? Man...now, I'm scratching my noggin..... maybe it'll come to me about 4 a.m....

By the time I had all the inside lining of her skirts stitched into position...more gluing done... .. had her legs and feet pointing in very direction and balanced on every thing within reach,...and had used her bum as a pincushion several times...I did apologize....
























she seemed
unfazed......











....good thing......

Photo a week...

Maggi gave me this little chair..... She found it in her travels and was thinking it might be about the right size for my present dollying project. Turns out it's the perfect size.

So.... .....














.... I waved my magic glue wand... wielded my trusty scissors and, stuffed, tucked and cursed a few times..okay...several times....and, finally managed to make it into this......
















Today I'm wielding my gun again...glue tube that is... .... with some of the draping of the dress... .... and... wondering how to make her hair behave. I've half a mind not to send her now... but, as Abi says...after all the work I've done..I'd better send her. I just hate the thought of her hair being all messy and spoiling the overall look. I will try some hair spray...but, even then....I don't know. This mohair is so fine and fly-away.... don't think I'll be sending many ... or...the next one will have a hat or a helmet.

Wordless Wednesday

got my painter's hat on....

hey.... aren't we amazing creatures? ... we have dozens of hats ... and, I ain't saying in the closet either as I first intended... ... or somebody will make some wise crack.....










...painting some shoes for my gal..... .....














...the bleeding heart plant is just dripping with them.....

The weather has turned pretty warm now and they keep forecasting thundershowers daily...nothing so far. We do need some rain.... Oh, I know.... tomorrow for sure. It's my golf day with the old guys.

UPDATE:::... it got dark...I had to put lights on to see my upholstering..oh, yeh... now I'm upholstering ,,,a chair for her to sit in.........and yikes! lightning..!! I'm shutting windows and turning off computers...it's raining...thundering and there's lightning. Gone..............................

Photo a week...

speaking of wearing many hats.....

In one of our other adventures in renovations and refurbishings we decided to try our hand at sprinkler installation when we also did the rock and brick work several years ago. Mostly it is just a lot of digging, planting pipes and adding a few sprinkler heads. We got all the info from a very friendly guy at the irrigation and sprinkler supply store... bought two special little narrow shovels so we didn't dig up any more grass and dirt than needed... organized and drew our plans of where and how we wanted heads so they overlapped by 20 feet...and planted them. Then, we put back the foot wide roll of sod we cut up prior to the digging...and you couldn't even tell we had been there. We were very good little moles.......

Every time we turn them on... or they come automatically... we organized the wall panel so we can do it either way..... we cheer, look at each other... and grin like Cheshire cats. It cost a tiny fraction of the initial quote for us to do it ourselves..... just buy the parts and get dirty ...... and... at the risk of jinxing our system...... it's the only one in the immediate neighbourhood still working. The others were professionally installed.

forget musical chairs......

Around here it is musical hats some days.... and there isn't even music! Just changing hats at the drop of one if you know what I mean.

Turn around and you are the short order cook. One of my favourite lines in Shrek is Donkey getting all comfy on the furniture; ready for a good night's sleep and saying... "and in the morning, I'm making waffles!" ... right before he gets kicked out onto the front porch. Every so often it pops into my head ... and then, I want waffles. Everybody has the cute little waffle maker right? .. ....and we hardly ever use them. I bet I only use mine once or twice a year.












Today I finally made some. Oh, and .... you absolutely have to have real Canadian Maple Syrup with them!











....just finish cleaning up and all of a sudden you shift gears to become ...a hairdresser! Yup... today I was doing a bit of wiggery... which, may I just say.... is much tougher than it looks in the tutorials.... there will be more made and more practice heads (avec hair) sitting patiently waiting for bodies and other adornments.











... then I moved on to hand stitching... attaching fancy trim to her gown.... yes, she is still ongoing....












but, ..... remembered I wanted to try the Kaiser Bun recipe again... today! After snow last weekend...today it was a lovely +25C. which signifies the perfect time for BBQ usage. Back on went the chef's hat... mixed up the dough. Then.. made the colossal mistake of going out to see what Mr. BV was up to. All of a sudden I became an electrician's helper....to somebody wearing an electrician's hat. Holding things at arm's length because I couldn't get close enough to it ... my mid back was killing me after about 45 minutes of him wrestling with the plugs and switches he is organizing for the little fountain.












This all began so innocently. But, all of a sudden this little fountain purchase has taken on monumental proportions as the latest "hi-tech design and construct" patio feature. Instead of just plugging in an extension cord as we have done for years with different patio additions... now we will have the latest and greatest gizmo that will have little switches ...and they are attached to a backboard...which will eventually have a cute backless birdhouse covering and hiding the whole thing... it will be a work of art... because Mr. BumbleVee got a bee in his bonnet...(er, hat)












whoops... run back in to punch down dough.. back out to hold something... back to shape buns... back out to..... by then... help hold a huge garden stone so somebody could play stonecutter with the water cooled tile saw... ...and get the stone ledging completed. One stone has been sitting there..uncut...for years...... .... then back to take out the buns... oh, man...lucky for me I kept remembering they were in here, (mostly making themselves), whilst I was racing back and forth.











This dough has the loveliest feel to it. So soft, cool, and silky. There must be a way to make it keep the design...but, so far it eludes me. It softens up and disappears...I think a bit more flour on top after shaping might help..but, seeing as this is only the second attempt... I need to practice a bit more to say exactly. However, design aside... they taste wonderful and have the great Kaiser crust while being soft yet strong enough to hold together with all the goodies crammed inside.














I sure don't do this very often...but, when I do...I want a REAL burger!! Lettuce, tomato, pickle, two relishes, mayo, mustard, a bit of ketchup .. what else? ..oh, that's it. I want the juices dripping off my elbows. The buns better hold up. These buns held up beautifully. A real keeper. Finally ... the perfect Kaiser.










Definitely not one to waste the heat in a super hot oven like the 450 this one takes... I quickly made a batch of chocolate chip banana muffins to toss in right away. The freezer is empty of goodies for lunches...











Then I had to vacuum.... well, there was flour and cornmeal bits...and crumbs..and ... well.... bits and pieces of thread and stuff all over.... I just had to...... couldn't stand it.

Whew.... then it was time for wine on the patio .... hatless ... sitting in a chair!!

..well, I do know this one.... ...

they always look like they are sticking out a big hairy tongue....laaahhhhhhkkkk........

an old fashioned but always beautiful fav ...oh, but...I saw a lovely soft pink pastel one on a blog.... somebody thought Beverly Sills...named for the opera singer. It could certainly become a new favourite.










oh, look I found a pic of one !! ...aren't they beautiful? ... I definitely want to try one of these...even if it is a bit out of it's zone around here. I have two huge shrubs of Carol Mackie Daphne...and they are not supposed to do well here at all. Mine are almost 4 feet tall and the two of them have spread to over 8 feet in the front garden. The scent they have is unbelievable...it floats into the patio and into the kitchen windows...mmmmm..... almost like day lilies... and some petunias...it truly is amazing. Perhaps they are a bit protected against the north winds by a huge blue spruce near them. I could try Beverly right in front of the Carol Mackies.....I bet she'd bloom and sing there.. ..










hahah....sometimes there is snow on them... sometimes just sun...but, you will be subjected to my flowers all the same. Especially now that it is nice again and lots of different blooms are happening... Snowdrop anemones in the background...and some pale lilac creeping phlox...

Wordless Wednesday

Photo a week...

Whew! made it..... almost down to the wire with my photo of the week! But....ahm heeeer!

Remember the shoveling? This is why. I got a new little fountain. With birdies on it. It was so cute I just kept going back to the store and finally.... well, here it is. It is so heavy we had to get a neighbour to help lift it out of the van...although I did help get it in there... but, to get it out...well, I just couldn't hold up my end... that sucker is heavy!











All set up now and some nice new rock.... still need a bit more here and a few other spots in the yard.

It has tiny LED lights in the little opening and it is quite brilliant at night... the little fountain part can go from a tiny burble to a full geyser...I like burbling..it is so relaxing. I did actually have a few lovely warm days in which to sit out there and enjoy it...before this disastrous climate change.











I'll go back to the rock pile when it warms up.
Although...I did notice a certain golden orb in the sky today. I felt kind of like the groundhog.... .. ... I saw my shadow! Does that mean only 6 more weeks of winter? ..ouch! ...I sincerely hope not! we've already had some great days and even weeks... surely this is just a horrible glitch.

I moved all the tomato and pepper plants (except the poor little guy that got snowed upon) into the garage... so hopefully they will be okay...and I ain't puttin' 'em out for another day either becuz they are calling for more snow/rain showers yet again tomorrow. Hopefully we get the sun and 16C and 20C they are predicting for Wednesday and Thursday.

I have to be able to golf with my guys on Wednesday! It's important. .. an absolute must. Somehow I must redeem myself....Howard (our 90 year old) showed me who was boss last week....oh.... the shame of it. He beat me by a whopping 10 strokes! I noticed he had a sly little grin for several holes too, the old bugger. I had a horrible game.. nothing went right. Even my putting and chipping... usually my forte... were failing me. Oh, well...it's only a game....... grrrrrr.....


for anybody who wants it...the recipe is up now.... for....

strawberry scones

Aptly named.......

Snowdrop Anemones...... covered in snow this morning.











The beautiful fuschia creeping phlox.... buried....











Dogwood bowed to the ground under the heavy, wet, stuff......












hot peppers.....hmmmmm...... don't think they will be too impressed....














snowy garden pathway.....in June.....











That does it...I'm taking out the Christmas tea towels for the weekend..... I feel like putting up the tree. A few days ago it was sunny, hot days of 26C... this morning it is 0C and snowing.....sigh.....only in Calgary as we usually say. But, then so do others with the same wonderful weather dips and dives.

My brother wrote last week to say it was too hot to bake where he lives. Must check to see if he has cold and snow today too. He is at altitude as well..so, maybe the same there. Now, this is a perfect baking day! Okay..that's what I'll do. What's that saying?...when life gives you a few lemons...make lemon muffins ? or lemon loaves or well...anything lemony will do really.

where did that week go?

Okay...

Well, that was the shortest week ever... especially because I was totally convinced it was Monday yesterday! I hope nobody ever invents a 24 hour week, because I don't get enough accomplished in a 7 day week....any shorter and I may as well not even get out of bed.

Had a big push on yesterday to try to get a lot done on my doll .....but, as usual...still don't feel like I really squeezed as much out of my day as I should have. Think I only got about half the juice out of the lemon ...

I go from A to B and back again and still don't actually "do" ..... then I go to C for a bit and fold laundry or begin some bread and then .... go back to A and forget what I was doing before I left to get "something" but was instead sidetracked by the sound of the dryer still patiently tumbling every so often ... keeping things unwrinkled for as long as it takes me to remember I tossed anything in there..











I worked on her dainties yesterday.... please avert your eyes if you are under 18 ..... yeh, right.... nowadays that might be as young as ..oh, say.... 5 ?

A lot of hand stitching. Some 1/8" tea dyed silk ribbon for trim and bows...














another one for her midriff.... these gals had great bloomers....or pantaloons or pantalettes...as they are called in all the info I have seen. I saw a great page one day... but, forgot to bookmark it and voila... disappeared into the ether...never to be found again. The names seemed to indicate the length of the garment.... I'm thinking mine are between pantaloons and pantalettes, which seemed to be ankle length...














onward ..... must go play with some hair now ....