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".....


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 on 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.

awards....

I'm so bad with these awards.... ... I do feel honoured to receive them and yet just never seem to remember to post them..or move them along..... sigh....

Here goes with a couple... this one is from Michelle

7 things I love:

lovely sunny days...
my yard and garden...
the birdies playing out there...
sitting on the patio enjoying it all.. (especially love that one...and, oh,.. don't forget a nice cold glass of "white" whilst sitting!!)...
baking and cooking...
having time to play with my dolls and bears...


...hey...this one was easy...I love it all!.........................................

Michelle's Mum passed this one on to her and then Michelle.... gave it to us all... as I give it to you.... please take this fun one home and give it away too ...









some time ago .... way back in April as a matter of fact...Linda gave me this award.... she calls it the "Fabby blog award".... better make sure I check the spelling on that and don't call it the "flabby award"..nobody wants one of those !! ... her blog is pretty fab too..check out her latest arty stuff and great sunsets pics........








" The authors say that blogs who receive this award are exceedingly charming . This blog invests in proximity in space , time and relationships . These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends .They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandisement . Our hope is that when the ribbons of these awards are cut , even more friendships will be propagated . Please give your kind attention to these writers !Deliver this award to 8 bloggers who will choose 8 more , and include this cleverly written text in to the body of the award . "







See.....this is the part where I flounder...now for this one I am supposed to choose 8 others to pass it along to and I always hate to choose..... it's kind of like the spelling bee in grade school.. or the softball team... somebody gets chosen and others don't, and.... somebody either feels bad or left out or doesn't really want to be chosen in the first place... and right now the blog world is about awarded out aren't they?... it's tricky.... Pauline of Valewood Bears passed it on to me. Check out her latest little cuties... mini elephants....

I'm gonna move it forward ... by breaking the rules on this one.... and give it to all who visit and read here regularly as we have become a fairly close and fun group. It almost seems like family more than far flung, furthest-reaches-of-the-globe, blog buddies to me.... ..






and...look.... this fun one too....and it's been so darn long that I have totally forgotten who gave it to me..... sorry..... bad me!


I thank you all for my awards..... all of them.....

have a great day! It's another beaut here.... brilliant sunshine, warm breezes...some U.S. Open happening in between gluing dolly thingies.... and running off to Michael's for more glue and to the the Sewing Room for machine needles...I hit a pin..... ooops... wrecked the only needle I could find... had to resorot to my old backup machine that a friend gave me when I began to sew.... thanks again for that Kim...see?? I still get some use out of it....at least I didn't have to run off in Friday rush hour traffic to get a needle.











chickpea/ cucumber/tomato/parsley/red onion salad for supper.....


UPDATE::::..... I knew it!! knew darn well I would forget at least one..perhaps even two.... and Abi caught me. Oh....I feel bad now.... *blush* ..... she awarded me this one...





This is how it works:
Rules of Blog Award Acceptance
1. Please accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2. Pass award to 5 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award!


I've just been too busy this past while to look for any new blogs... so, as soon as I finish this doll I promise I will "discover" some and post them for your viewing pleasure... how's that Abi? does it get me off the hook? huh?.. huh? ...
Hope I didn't forget anybody else...and please forgive me if I did.... 'kay?

stuck in......

Today I am making a chair for my gal. And... "carpeting" a stand. And... of course, a deadline is looming..... ackkkk!! My nose is to the grindstone......or, more literally, stuck in glue and velvets and tapestry bits... my fingers are fuzzy and green, purple, and gold..... ick. Doing a lot of mess making.... I'll clean it up later... maybe.
For now I am using three separate chairs around the kitchen table. Everything is everywhere...just the way I like it. I know where my stuff is. Sort of. Glue something, leave it in that spot..move to the next chair and so on... again, no music, just change chairs...hahah..... I like the silence of my workplace. Well, with the exception of the lovely birdsongs. Windows are open, sun is streaming in and the sounds of many different trillings are sailing in and out on a very gentle breeze. A perfect day. When I get the main gluing done, I'm off out to sit with a coffee and enjoy a bit of fountain burbling....















This was interesting....I focused on the little Korean Lilac just outside the patio from the kitchen window... ..then, thought..ooops...better zoom in a bit (as far as my little Sony will zoom anyway) ...but, didn't remember to change the focus and look at the interesting shot. I took another, but honestly... the adjusted shot had nothing on this one....

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...

Brown Sugar Bear

Yep.... you guessed it. The little guy was a brown sugar bear. If you soak him for about 15 minutes in water, then dry him off and put him in with brown sugar..it keeps it lovely and soft for ages. I usually leave the sugar in the plastic bag in a container and just rest him on top of the bag. This is one little kitchen thingy that actually works. If you don't have one of these...a little chunk of bread will also work. Change it every few weeks.















......don't know what this is really,....but, it has pretty leaves and some cute little fuschia blooms now.... I am trying to encourage a few new plants ... but, so far... snips have just died off... maybe I'll get lucky with the next few tries...















This dwarf yellow iris only had a few blooms this year...maybe it didn't appreciate the snow and cold, although they do seem pretty hardy.














Hey!! that's not fair! The Mommy bunny lopped off my brand new sugar pink dahlias...
I usually say I don't begrudge her a few flowers..but why did she have to choose these?

Wordless Wednesday