Our First Dinner Party.

Our daughter had a very special birthday

a couple of weeks ago. We aren't actually

allowed to reveal the number of her

birthday but I will say it was a "biggy"!!

It was fun to unpack items so

we could celebrate nicely.

We picked purple daisies from our forest.

Polished up the wine glasses and

set out the colorful napkins.

And sprinkled the table with sweet

reminders of C's special day!

Thick Fog.

The morning we left my cousin's house to come

home, this is the sight that greeted us outside.

Thick fog that made it hard to see. 

It felt spooky to walk through the trees.

Our path off the farm. Would we make it home?

The fields bathed in fog ....

And the highway was more than a nightmare ....

But finally we left the fog behind and by the end

of the day, this beautiful sight greeted us ~ home!

Morning Sun.

Love the sun in the late afternoon

but my favorite is first thing in the

morning. The promise of a new day

is even better when it starts with sun!

How is your day looking today?

Is it sunny or gloomy?

Blue Moon.

Last night, I took this shot of the last Blue Moon

that we can see until the year 2018. It was almost

completely full and shining very bright. Tonight,

it will be at it's fullest but it's going to be cloudy.

So I'm using this shot, just in case I can't get one

later tonight. Isn't it a pretty sight?

Childhood Homes.

Found these photos on my phone today. I had taken

them back in the spring when I was in the city.

We lived in this house when we first moved to 

this province ~ I was just 12 years old.

Then when I was 14, we built this house from the

ground up. Lived here until I got married at the

age of 22. Lovely house that still looks the same!

The only house my parents built from scratch.

Do you have pictures of your childhood homes?

Do you remember all the places you've lived?

Reunited.

I was recently asked to speak at a week long

workshop at the university for those who wish 

to explore or work with the bereavement

field. It was an honor to not just teach what I

know but to also be reunited with the two

creators of the program I manage. 

It was an honor because both of these

amazing individuals invested a lot in

putting this program "out there|. Then,

when they left to pursue post secondary

education and other opportunities, they

gifted the program to me. That was over

ten years ago. Since then, we've worked

hard to expand and redefine the concepts.

To present with both of them watching

was a thrill. Days like this are a dream!

Do you have a dream that has been achieved?

Do you ever have days like this day? 

Wild Garden.

Now that we've lived in our little cottage in the big woods for a couple of weeks, it was time to start exploring what's outside our front door. And what have we discovered? A jungle of wild plants, weeds, flowers & berries. Not sure what everything is & I'm hoping the book I packed last summer will soon find it's way into our hands so we can research the names of each. For now, we'll take pictures so we can remember what we've found. 

Lots of growth in the forest.

Wild raspberries ~ so good!!

Pretty sunshine filtering through the trees.

White berries. Any thoughts?

Cedar chips smell so lovely!!

Tiny pink & white flowers.

Something that is a darker shade of pink. 

Where I'd love to hang the hammock.

Rocks for our "rock garden".

And that is all for now. A bit of a sneek peak

at our little forest surrounding our big cottage.

Any ideas of what we've captured?

Feel free to send along your thoughts.

Well, that was a busy day!

Fridays are often a quiet day for me, a time to catch up, a time to meet new families, a time to reflect & a time to rejuvenate my body & my soul. I love Friday for all it can be & often is. But today was different & my body is definitely protesting from the physical work that went in to today. 

So what made it a busier than usual day? Well, to start, I was up & ready to shower at 6:40 a.m., a whole hour earlier than my usual wake up call. I had to be up early to let our cabinet guys in (the lovely Irish gentlemen) & to rearrange some of my appointments so I could be on hand while they worked to get the last few items completed. While they worked, I did the following:

* booked new times for families & answered email & calls that had come in

* while I waited for return emails & calls, I unpacked the china for our dining room

* to treat our workers, I made a couple of apple cakes ~ photos to follow

* waited for then had to re~negotiate a UPS delivery time, now set for Monday

* drove back to the old house to let the piano guys in, then drove them out to the new house

* set the piano up once the delivery was complete ~ it's so pretty!

* went & picked up the mail & the Friday local paper

* did our banking & sent a few personal & work emails

We ate dinner after everyone was gone, enjoying the warm sun & the chirping birds. So peaceful out here. Tonight, I'm tired & achy but feel so good that our house is almost complete & our belongings are almost all unpacked. A few more boxes to go! Then we can truly enjoy it all. 

How was your Friday?

Was it busy or relaxed?

Building a dollhouse from scratch.

Look what we found!! Our 4th dollhouse

to add to our little collection. To date,

we haven't done any work on any of

them. Our real house build was first.

Now that our build is done & we've

moved home, it's time to start to get

truly serious about fixing these great

structures up. Only one is brand new.

As we're new to the craft, we're learning as

we go. Laying out the pieces was the easy part.

Putting them together is a bit more challenging.

Not everything fits together perfectly. I've already

made some adjustments, like moving this brace

down a few mm to better fit with the flooring.

Now the floor that will rest there will be

lined up much better & provide an even base.

We've come across an issue that I'm not

yet sure how to fix ~ a window is crooked!

As a perfectionist, this is driving me crazy.

Fingers crossed we can figure out how to

take it apart & get it lined up. I'd hate to

always look at it if it wasn't right. 

Any projects you are working on?

Did you have a dollhouse as a child?

My Hurting Heart.

There is only one thing in this world that is truly important to me & that is family. I feel fortunate to have created an amazing family with my dh. We have incredible kids & we look forward to many years of watching them grow, individually & as they formulate their own families. Around us, we both have very large extended families. But for whatever reason, we are often left out of family events. I'm not sure if we have done something over the years, or if our parents, with good intention possibly, would often comment on how "busy" we both were, perhaps giving the impression that we were too "busy" for outside of our own little family events. Whatever it is, we are left out & although my dh lets it roll off his back, my heart is constantly aching with the notion that we are not wanted. Tonight, as I took a few moments to scroll through Facebook, I was astonished & taken back to come across some wonderful pictures of my dh's great auntie, who just turned 100 years old this month. And the entire family was surrounding her at her celebration. The entire family was invited to spend time with her, to honor her life & her special day. Everyone, but us ....

And the suckiest part? Seeing it splashed all over FB, without a care that we would see the beautiful family shots. Sisters & brothers, aunties & uncles, son & daughters. All of them. Smiling with love for the camera. Big happy family.

My dh is always the brave one, the voice of reason, the one who doesn't worry about such acts. I am the one who wants to curl up in a corner & weep. Rejection is not my strong asset! We'll weather this, as we have all the other times we were left out. We'll wonder what we did (or didn't) do. We'll wish we could post something awful on FB, but we won't. We'll smile & pretend it doesn't hurt. But in reality, it's harsh, unfair & so thoughtless. A hurt I promise to never inflict on anyone. I couldn't do this to someone else.

What do you do when you are incredibly hurt?

Do you let it go? Or speak your heart?

Even on a rainy day ....

.... we can look at any window in our house

& see the beautiful trees that surround us.

We'll have been in our home officially an

entire 3 weeks tomorrow. But it feels like

we've lived here all our lives. I can even

walk through the house in the dark at night.

What do you see out your windows in the rain?

Are you surrounded by trees & nature?

Many Firsts.

We've had many firsts over the last two

weeks that we've lived in our little house.

Here's a first that we recorded: our very 

first load of dirty laundry to wash up!

Beach Memories.

We grew up spending our summers at the beach.

Our grandparents had a family cabin that we visited.

My parents would bring us out after school ended in

June & we'd stay until the end of August. Bliss!

My dh & I had a few hours before our show on

Friday, so we took a trek out to the beach.

A brush fire had just started & later in the day,

made the evening news. Very scary!

Right by the train tracks. Maybe a train spark?

Driving away from the fire.

The beach emerges from the tiny town.

My favorite spot where the waves crash together.

The big pier, on a quiet, but very hot day.

Crossing waves.

Cooling off at the pointe.

Loved the crashing waves cooling me down.

Sea weed & soft sand.

Sinking feet.

Footsteps in the sand.

The pointe, with a bit of the pier showing. An hour

after taking this shot, the beach was crowded.

Sailboat doing a lazy dance across the water.

A lone seagull walking along the waves.

Do you have beach memories from your childhood?