Fun Friday

I made you a tiny Inuksuk.... although when it has a shape resembling a human...it is called Innunguaq....

The inuksuk is still a bit of a  mystery ...  it seems the information is sketchy on the actual meaning and use.. although it is thought they may have been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for hunting grounds or as a food cache.

Here is Wik's explanation...."The word inuksuk means "something which acts for or performs the function of a person." The word comes from the morphemes inuk ("person") and -suk ("ersatz" or "substitute"). It is pronounced inutsuk in Nunavik and the southern part of Baffin Island (see Inuit phonology for the linguistic reasons). In many of the central Nunavut dialects, it has the etymologically related name inuksugaq (plural: inuksugait).

Despite the predominant English spelling as inukshuk, both the Government of Nunavut and the Government of Canada through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada are promoting the Inuit preferred spelling inuksuk."

Anyway..... I made you my version as a fun part of the Olympic week because it is the official logo of the games.... 

He was just a tiny gaffer.... but, wow...did my bare fingers get cold trying to shape him!  and... because he was little ...and the sun is shining...... sadly...he is no longer...........

Have a good Friday!

Photo a Week

Finally..... here she is.  I originally was hoping to have her done for Valentine's Day... to post her on the Cloth and Clay doll site.... but... she missed her date.  So...I did away with any idea of making her too, too Valentine-y.  Then, she was also late for her date on Monday as Photo of the Week.... a gal with a mind of her own I guess.

I think I will name her Tina... short for Valentina ....

Her face is paperclay over cloth.... painted with acrylics.   Her "ruffle" was the excess I cut off after attaching the waist band to her skirt.  Not that I am short of a stash of fabric to use...but, it just popped into my head to use it as soon as it dropped to the floor after cutting it off.   I added a bit of trim to cover the white stitching line.  I always find it strange how ideas just happen....  .. 

Paperclay on bodice painted... arms are just fabric gessoed and painted...  the trim is some selvedge from a lovely piece of burgundy velvet.   I didn't have any ribbon or trim that I liked and then I spied this bit of lovely...it's perfect to my eye.... love the three little copper threads running through it....

Here....a little experiment in how the search for a background fabric is so important to the photo..  ...

The fabric for her skirt was so snowy white that I dipped it in weak tea to tone it down ever so slightly....

These dollies are such fun to do ... it could be addictive, because unlike most of my other projects... they really could be done in a week... and just to have fun playing with colours and making up little costumes is great.

Here they are ... the two little friends....

Bookcase Tour Tuesday

Second day of my barrister/"bearister" bookcase tour.... begun by Melanie 

here is the top shelf with the door open... bears, ( hmmm...  some of them have expressions like they have been up to no good .... )...  a miniature version of a Julie McCullough jester doll...  and oh,... a baggie full of dolls heads... sitting on a few embroidery books.  That white bear on the second shelf is embroidered with bullion stitch roses, so I had to learn how to do those stitches....  I want to try some ribbon embroidery some day too if you notice a book on that.

A barrister case works by sliding the door up and over the top of the shelf...quite neat.   When the doors of my case are closed they look like the shelf below...  little window panes.

Chocoholic noticed How to Massage your Cat last Tuesday.  This fun little book is hilarious.  I laughed so hard when I first saw it that I just had to have it. Now...I take it out every so often... and still laugh.  It's great to look at the expressions on the cat's face.

The inside cover says it is by the real Alice of Alice's Restaurant...the song.

Click on pic to "biggify".....

I think the rest of her cats ran away!! lol.....

It's just simple little sentences on each page with a funny picture like this.... but, it's great for a laugh...  along with my Calvin and Hobbs books.  Perfect for those days when you don't want to take anything seriously.

I'm working on it !!....

... my "thing" ..... for the photo a week theme......"I made this".  What a perfect theme for someone who does some crafty stuff.  But, I want to photo the latest ...and I've been so glued to the Olympics for the week that I have done almost nothing else except some working out..... treadmilling, crunches and free weights etc... ...which only gets done because there is a tv hanging on the wall in my exercise room.   Whew...thank goodness there is that.  Today I forced myself not to turn it on til I finish something.  And.... I even have laundry on the go... and some bathroom cleaning....

I'm fascinated by things that require such dedication, determination and motivation and in some cases, just downright stubborn-ness and refusal to quit...  I cry at the stories about some of the athletes... am shocked at the extent of the injuries and surgeries they have had to endure...and cheer on the underdogs at every turn.  I am amazed at the cross country skier who, despite a punctured and collapsed lung and 5 broken ribs still continued to compete in several more races after her injuries... she fell into a gully .. why wasn't there some fencing to prevent anyone from doing that? Where is the common sense in safety procedures and protection?  And, the poor poor Georgian luger and his family.  Just should never happen.

My only effort at competition was many years ago...  all my young life I had wanted to be an archer.  Finally I got up enough nerve to join a small archery club in Kelowna.  There was only one other girl in the club.  The guys were a strange, mixed bunch.... who delighted in teasing and ribbing us two girls.  My first shot with a bow almost took my left breast because they did NOT instruct me not to pull back the string past my breast.  The asses.  Anyway....  not to be deterred... with bruises on my arm and my tit I showed up for my second night.  They knew I meant business when I assured them I would be learning to shoot in spite of their childish antics and they definitely would be in trouble if anybody tried something that stupid again.  Diane took me under her wing and after a few attempts to kill the already dead and stuffed moose head hanging on the clubhouse wall.... I was getting close to the bullseye on the targets.

A few months later....I was in city finals....and two months after that .... provincial finals... and then... Summer Games...   How did that happen? .... sheeesh....

The girls I shot against at the event were a bit ticked that an upstart they had never heard of managed to outshoot them and take the gold medal.  Some of them had been shooting for 15 years.  The following year...I shot over 200 points better and only managed a silver.  Goes to show that some new blood in a sport sometimes gives the older competitors a shot in the arm.  They really picked up their game.

The best thing about the archery club?...it's where I met Mr. BV....

My hair still had colour.... now it's white....

The category is called Barebow, which means it is a simple bow with no sights, no wheels, pulleys or weights.  My theory was that it would be simpler to tell if it was me or the equipment when a shot went astray.  With sights, etc... there was just too  much that could go wrong and I wanted to get the basics down pat first.

This is Greg's bow... called a Compound.  You can see the difference.  The weight to pull it back is more than mine initially..but, once this bow reaches a certain point in the draw... the weight lets off to about half...and you can hold it longer and easier to aim.  The arrows also go faster and in a straighter line than my barebow...sometimes at long distances with the barebow, I was aiming at clouds to hit the target.  And..if there was a wind?.... it was a guessing game where the arrows would end up.   Take cover!

Mr. BV in the early days...even before we were an "item"....  look at all that hair!!

For years I wanted a medal or a trophy of some sort...for anything I suppose.  My sister had some...my brother had some... and I darn well wanted one!  Yay me...finally I had one.  Now... where is that bow?  hmmm... the two of us shot for one more year after this...and then... school, work, motorcycles, and life got in the way.  We haven't had our bows out of their cases for a lot of years.  It's like golf... one of those things that you can do til you are ancient.  If you've ever wanted to try it... check if there is an archery club near you.  It's great fun.   Remember not to pull the string back too far... there is a technique!


Okay...gotta go watch men's X country finals...!! back at ya later..... or...tomowwow.......

NB:::  have to clarify.... it was Summer Games.... not the Olympics.  I did wonder when I saw that in the comments.  I must have been thinking Olympics so intently that's what I wrote.  Didn't mean to mislead....

Bookcase Tour Tuesday

....on a Wednesday.

I'm being very cheeky and beginning mine today.  This is one I want to play.  But...yesterday, I was glued to the Olympics and then it was suppertime..and then...well, you know how it goes.  Time just slipped away ... my eyes became too blurry to look at the computer.

Melanie at Kimono Reincarnate has created a bookcase tour...how perfect for me!!  The opportunity to show you why my barrister bookcase had to become the "bearister bookcase"...it is not just a mispronunciation!!  Honest.  When it became the home for many of my bears... and we had been referring to it as the "bearister" bookcase for over a year... and Mr. BV referred to me as the "bearister" ... that's what I decided to call my blog.  I don't think a lot of folks really "got it" ... maybe some still don't "get it".   Actually, if people don't know what a barrister bookcase is...  or don't hear a difference in the way it is pronounced... I suppose it's not even funny.  Oh, well, that's me.... sort of a weird sense of humour I guess.

"Hi Guys" .... I talk to them too.  Told ya I was weird. There they are...peering out from behind the glass on the top shelf.  Click on the pic to biggify their little faces.

"Relax little Fergus.... it's just friendly bloggy buddies"...

Definitely not the only shelf they sit on... but, I'll show some more of them next Tuesday....

Onward with my little tour.

I don't read much anymore.  It's strange, because, as a kid, I used to take home piles of books from our local public library.  Little Mrs. Bolney was a special friend.  She spent hours helping me choose just the right books.  If I do read ... can't be bothered with anything deep or analytical.  I'm more a hands on type of person.. just fix it.  Or just do it.  Or... don't bother with it if it gets too involved or trying.  Give me a good fiction any day... or just some pretty pictures and fun stuff to look at, thanks.

Mostly I leaf through bear, doll and other crafting type mags and books.  These are the only books squeezed into my bookcase right now.

Only fun books in here..... .

This beauty is Dreamscapes by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.  I saw it and just had to have it.  Some day...I might give painting a try...

It begins with plenty of info on materials and techniques ... pencils, papers, paints... goes through the drawing of hands, feet, wings, clothing.... carries on with how to emphasize distance and size .... how to do forest and garden detail.... how to capture movement.... hair and styles...  on to mermaids and undersea worlds.  There are also wings and feathers...a section on angels.  It shows how to put it all together ..from the beginning sketches and drawing to the finished painted work. The whole book is filled with such beautiful images.  There are copywrite laws though...and it does say about reproducing details in any way...so I am a bit loathe to show images.  Suffice to say... if you are interested in watercolour painting.... check this book out wherever you can find it.  Mine came from Michael's...before they changed their rules on buying books with the 40% off coupon.  Original price on this book in Canada... $29.99 .... I got it 40% off.  A bargain!!

Photo a Week

The theme for Monday's Photo of the Week..... "Clouds" ....

and, seeing as the Olympics is in Canada right now.... also a perfect time to wave our flag don'tcha think?

I took my camera with me last week when I ran a few errands.  I tried not to spend too much time looking up while actually driving.  But... when I hopped out of the van at Safeway....I looked up and immediately spotted this.  Perfect.  Got out my camera and walked closer.. got a few stares of course, taking pics of the flag and a tree.  However, I've also discovered that all you have to say is ..."for my blog" ... and you get grins and heads shaking....

Onward.... to my next destination...and when I returned to the van ... glanced up and began to laugh .. right out loud.   This just screamed "clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee"....la la la la la.......  remember that song?  Hmmm... who sang that one anyway?.... and ... what was the real title?...   Okay... I'm back after a quick Google.  Carly Simon and it was called "You're so Vain"...

And, no... I'm definitely not advertising for this particular coffee emporium ...  can't even drink their horrible java if the truth be told.  Also, that is not a UFO in the sky...nope, it's just that damn spot...yet again.  I got home and took some special cleaner to the lens... I hope we won't be seeing it in any future shots.  Finally...

Wispy, winter-sky clouds ... on a lovely crisp, hoary frost day.... just heavy frost on those branches .... not snow.

Back home; looked up and the clouds were taking over.  Took this shot directly into the sun ... it almost looks like there are two of them.  Ignore the aliens... what camera hogs !! They just insisted on being in every single shot !!   I suppose the little sun at the bottom is a tiny reflection of the real and much larger sun, which, if you look closely, is actually further up... can't say for sure ....

and this....

This is from a beautiful summer day....

A tornado had touched down not many miles from here a few days prior.  When we noticed this...we wondered if something monumental was building yet again... ominous, and yet it was so beautiful to see... ...

Nothing did develop....it just meandered its way along the NE and disappeared...... and WTF? .... that spot has been on there since summer? .... how could I not have noticed?  Arrrggghhhhh!!

Hearts to you.....

An exercise in time consumption to say the least.....  because ....

I forgot that I had given away my heart shaped cookie cutters and obviously forgot to buy another set.  Sooooo........ too late once I had the dough mixed wasn't it?  Nothing for it but to cut out some heart shapes from paper ... and then cut out around each with a little knife.  By the time I was done....I WAS done..... phew..... who makes more work for ourselves than us?

I made several different sizes and had fun icing and  stacking ..

Making a cup of tea in my special mug was much easier.... hahahha....

This little doggie has intrigued me since I got this mug several years ago... must make one just like him some day.....

Hope you are all having a great day...

.... ranting......

Artisan bread is exactly what its name suggests: bread that is crafted, rather than mass produced.  Why do people insist on calling it Artisian Bread?  Or, in the case of cashiers at the supermarket... any baked goods that they can't find on their cheat sheet when they ring up a purchase.  Black Forest strudel.... Artisian bun ... huh? ... .   Are they confusing it with the word Artesian> ? ... 'having to do with water and wells"?  I've looked it up ... can't find it in reference to baking... AT all.  Must be something new.... not yet in the dictionary...but, will be soon if they have their way. 


Then... there is pundit..... why do even the educated continue to refer to it as pundint..or are they perhaps saying pundant? ...never heard of either myself... but, what do I know for sure?  Maybe they have access to dictionaries I've not seen.  Either way it has no bearing on the sentence in which they use it...nor does it refer to the dictionary meaning I know....    "A Pundit is someone who offers to mass-media his or her opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically political analysis, the social sciences or sport) on which they are knowledgeable. The term has been increasingly applied to popular media personalities. In certain cases, it may be used in a derogatory manner as well."


And the always annoying .... real "a" tor... even if they are one!  good grief... it has already been reduced from real estate broker or estate agent, or whatever they are called in various countries... to realtor.  Why do they make it worse than ever by tossing in the extra "a" before the "t" .... there isn't one!


There you have it.... my little rant on mispronunciation of words..... I love words.... that's probably why it makes me crazy.  I could cheerfully grab them by the throat and throttle them.  If I could only get at them through the television screen.  A perfect reason not to bother watching the stupid tube.  If they can't pronounce it... why don't they use a symanym.. a sinamyn .. a sinnamon... a well, you know what I mean..... Any favs that make you want to strangle the person uttering such profanity?


That does it.... I'm off to play with dolls...... 

Photo a Week

Another warp speed week and here it is again.  Monday! time for the second of Mary's choices.... "Hearts and Flowers".

I definitely don't have flowers outside to photograph.... I'm a bit envious of the girls down under... even some of the girls in the UK have snowdrops visible.  We have had several days of thick frost and the last two even more weird...they are calling it "freezing fog".  It is so thick on the trees now it looks like snow...and yet it hasn't snowed for weeks... no sun the last two days either...so strange for us here.  We usually get lots of sunshine...  all through the winters.

But, I found some indoor flowers...

... and a few hearts.....

A new scrunchie...I'm still boycotting hairdressers... it's getting long...


Working on my second dolly .... hoping to get something Valentine looking... the Cloth and Clay Doll site where I found the tutorial for the Gritty Jane doll has a page for Queen of Hearts dolls this week.   Today she got hair.  I'm still trying to decide if I want to paint her black under the skin colour...maybe she won't be grungy this time.........

that'll be the frosty Friday...

...and it was !!  But, it also was on Thursday and now again today!  It began a blue sky day...then some fog rolled in.  We don't get fog regularly...so it's always fun to dart from window to window and check what we can or can't see "from our house" ... we're worse than little kids.  "Oh, look...you can't even see Luisa's house'...  "aren't there big trees behind the 4 X 4 guys' house?"  "Is that old Mrs. Nick waddling along the sidewalk?'  ... What am I saying...we are kids, and sometimes rude kids too, from the sounds of it... except for the stupid chronological factor.  I'm only a few years younger than "old Mrs. Nick".

Some teensy, tiny ice crystals are floating in the air...and now..the sun is trying to poke through... it so looks like diamonds sparkling as they float.  They don't seem to just be falling from anywhere... more like floating around in circles...

The moisture content is waaay up at 86% and temperatures are down..at -13C... so even more frost is forming on the dead twigs and old unfallen flower and seed heads... even on the gas lanterns ...

This time I upped my resolution for a few shots out in the garden... and I got some great crystals ...

Remember...this is not snow..there is no snow on any of the branches ... that's been gone for several days after the sunshine.... just the deep stuff on the ground is still here... this is all just heavy frost.  Look at the delicate shapely crystals.  Amazing.

okay.... click to biggify.... this one for sure ... look at the crystals !!! amazing....such detail and such shapes....  I'm so surprised to have been able to capture them...  I have to keep going back myself..just to look at it.  It is some dried out flower bunches on a spirea.

This leaf has what looks like a microscopic snowflake on the middle of the leaf.

PS::  a few minutes after writing this...I went upstairs, the sun is now brilliant..sky blue..and a slight breeze is wafting the frost off the trees like so many tiny feathers....

I began a second doll with the proper "stuff" .... and I'm having to stitch up a second body already... blew out a neck seam.  I stuff too firmly for muslin I guess.... maybe I'll try stuffing a little leg instead....

Beeeeyoootiful day!!!

It's an absolutely gorgeous blue sky day now that the sun broke through the fog and crystals.  There is such a heavy hoary frost!  I quickly slurped a bit of coffee and dashed out without even brushing teeth or putting on eyes... a quick drive to the nearby golf course.

The snow is pretty deep in spots over there...so I was up to my knees in it most of the time.  Some cross country skiers have laid a few trails...but, I didn't want to put my boot tracks into the perfect ski sized lines... so walked beside them.  It was silent except for the happy chirping of the little sparrows and chickadees. Nobody there today but me.  Lovely.  I crunched along on a crust of snow covered with the latest soft inch of new stuff ... breaking through about every third step or so.. snowshoes would have been helpful.

Any time of year, this, ...  my favourite golf course  ... is beautiful... ...

Come along on my walk.... click on any photo to "biggify" as Daisy the Curly Cat says.... I love that word.  It gives a much better idea of the size and scope of things....

looking down the 7th....

long needles of a young pine

Walking up the 8th fairway..

an annoying spot on my lens ..  seemed to appear in several shots.... arrgghhhh...!! if I knew how to photoshop... ....or.. something.....

lots of little critters...and some fairly large ones too... call this home.  Deer and coyotes as well as plenty of bunnies and squirrels... a regular thoroughfare from the look of it.  I was the only human footprint...

I'm betting this is Cerulean Blue.... love the frosty branches against the sky...

Fence around some maintenance buildings..

amazing how the frost crystals form on anything and everything......

Standing on the tee box of the 1st fairway.... love it.  Out, out damn spot!!  I'll have to pretend it's my golf ball in flight....straight down the center...yeh...that's what I'll do....

This looks like beach grass ... it's where I got a wet bum...crouching down in snow over a foot deep ..

Honestly, snow shoes would have been good... ..the drifts got up to 2 feet deep on some hillside areas... 

..still desperately clinging by a thread..

standing near the 4th green.... it's in a bowl...

heading back up the hill from the 4th .... puff..upfh..... whew! See ...golfing is a workout if you pick the right course.  It was cool enough at -8C... but, by then.. even my hands had warmed up a bit in the lovely sun and from working at slogging through deep snow.  Although it was kind of wet and cool on my legs.  To me it is colder at -8C with dampness than it is at a dry -21C.  Today the humidity is 87%. Brrrrr....

Green ash seed pods.... lots of them never seem to fall off before winter.

Back at the parking lot... look at the 7th fairway...

Home and warm...out of the soggy things....