Scary!

We woke up to our bed literally shaking this

morning. The thunder was so loud it truly

rattled us all. After several hours, the thunder

claps stopped and the rain cooled the air. And

just over 12 hours later, guess what's back!

With no end in sight, I guess we're about to

have a long and loud last night for August! If

this keeps up, it could be a very noisy fall ....

The August Break #31: August was ....

.... exhausting ....

Many good things but just as many

difficult and trying things. I'm hoping

that September will be that much better.

Rain .... Sun.

A rain storm and then the sun peaked out

before it took time to set. I love these vistas!

Bye, Bye Summer.

How can it be the end of summer already?

Kids in our community returned to school

today. The leaves are changing. The air is

cool at night. And the sun is setting earlier

every day. Why?? We haven't gotten our

grass in yet. Or finished staining our deck.

Can we please have it back? Just enough

time to finish up the last little bits. Please?

The August Break #30: Evening Light.

We've finally had some hot days and

one night, we had left the blinds down

in the music room. I loved how the trees

reflected against the evening light. Peaceful.

The August Break #29: Favorite Mug.

I love this mug right now. It's the perfect

size for a good "cuppa" and lovely too

when a cold drink is needed. The colors

make me smile. And the price was right!

The August Break #28: I am ....

.... wishing I had time to paint right now. 

Life is far too busy for my creativity!

The August Break #27: Little.

I have several "art" authors that I love.

My new collection is from Becky Kelly.

Most of her books are the size of the larger

book above. But last week, in the mail,

this tiny book landed in my lap. Love it

to pieces as anything little is a favorite.

The August Break #26: Oranges.

This is definitely not a favorite color for me so I

had a bit of a challenge trying to find something for

this prompt of oranges. I didn't even have any

fruit oranges in the house to snap! But then I came

across this pic of the sweet carrots we brought

home from a trek to the Farmer's Market. They

were incredibly delicious and now I want more!

The August Break #25: Peaceful.

A favorite spot to sit in the late afternoon.

Sun streams through the trees, the breeze

is light and all around, the landscape is

silent. A very peaceful and content spot.

The August Break #24: Three.

Our old house, now filled with a sweet

little family to love it for a while. My

favorite windows in the house were

these 3 in the dining room. This room

will now be an office for the dad and

an art room for mom. They love it too!

Another favorite shot showcasing 3. Our

guest bedroom in the new house. So bright!

The August Break #23: My Face.

I was reading through some of the posts for the

August Break challenge for "My Face" and saw

many posts that talked about the unhappiness that

some of us have with our face. I will say that I'm

not totally in favor of mine but I don't dislike it

either. I often get complicated on my skin and

my high cheek bones. A question I get asked often: 

"Do you have any Native Indian in you?" Ha!

This is a picture of myself, my auntie, my cousin

and her son. They had flown to a funeral a province

away from us and their flight on the way back had

a 3 hour layover. So I packed up my two girls and

stopped in the big city to pick up my mom and we

all headed out to the airport to meet them for a

quick but yummy lunch. We had a great time,

catching up, sharing stories and laughing. My

cousin shared her own experience of what it was

like when my auntie was diagnosed with Dementia

and how she now copes as a daily caregiver. This

is our new path as my mom was just diagnosed in

May of this year and it's quite a challenge. My

face in this shot looks skinny as I've not been

eating very well and this was the day before I

really started not feeling all that great. I can tell

my eyes are not as bright and I'm not as colorful.

It was a good day and I'm so glad we got to visit.

Here's my mom and my auntie. It was nice to

see them share some memories too. I'm not sure

they both understand their diagnosis' but for a

short time, it was comforting to see them so happy.

The August Break #22: Squares.

 A bit of a break as I was battling a

little bug. Still not feeling all that

great but I can function somewhat.

I'm writing in bed this morning, all cozy

and warm. We'll go out later today.

I had a hard time with this August Break

photo challenge prompt. Every time I'd

take pictures, because of the angle, it

wouldn't look like a perfect square. So

I went into my picture archive and came

across this shot of our old house, just 

after we had replaced the flooring in the

laundry room. Again, these are perfect

12" x 12" inch squares but my wonky

camera angle makes them look very

elongated. Hope you can see they are

square and lovely to look at. Our tenants

were very happy to see the new floor.

And so far, it's holding up very well.

4 A.M. ....

I'm snuggled in bed, comfy duvet and

pillows cocooning my weary body. A

storm is raging outside and hasn't let

up in over 2 hours. The wind is the

strongest element, making me a bit

worried for what the morning will

bring. For now, we're safe and cozy

in our little cottage, nested and warm.

The August Break #21: Today is ....

.... what would have been our tiny

daughter's 18th birthday. On this day

in 1998, Ciara~Rose Kennedi quietly,

without taking a breathe or opening

her eyes, slipped into our arms and

melted our broken hearts forever.

In her memory, and in memory of

her older brother, Bretton~Elijah Lucas,

we created our organization to help

other parents cope with this unique loss.

Ciara~Rose Kennedi did not get

the opportunity to grow beyond

the day of her birth, but our centre

has grown by leaps and bounds.

We are proud of her tiny moment

in our life and her legacy for others.

The August Break #20: Clouds.

Our summer has been a wild one for weather.

Usually we get days of sun and warmth, then a

day or two of cloud and rain, and then back to

the sun. But this year, we start out sunny in the

morning and by afternoon, the weather warnings

have begun. Everything from intense rain to

dangerous lightening to tornado's. Last year, it

was so peaceful out here but wow, this year, storm

after storm. I was in town the other day and did

manage to capture these ominous clouds over

the community. It was another weather warning

evening but thankfully, nothing too bad other

than some rain and a bit of wind. We got a little

reprieve from the lightening and thundering too.

The August Break #19: My Hands.

My hands, holding my son's teardrop,

at our recent grief camp memorial.

My hands, holding my daughter's teardrop,

at our recent grief camp memorial.

I read the prompt for this post the other 

day and it created a memory for me from

a song I used to love and played often.

The song "Hands" by Jewel has this

chorus in it and you can see why I chose it:

"My hands are small, I know

But they're not yours, they are my own

But they're not yours, they are my own

And I am never broken"

My small hands are always noticed for

being so tiny in a grown woman. I wish

sometimes they were bigger but also do

appreciate that they don't take up too much

space and I can still wear kids gloves in

the winter! Recently, I began to see how

they are changing, with lines and wrinkles.

My gramma's hands fascinated me with

the aging process and now it's my turn.

The August Break #18: 5 Years Ago.

Five years ago, our little guy was just

starting the 2nd half of his 1st year here

on Earth. And he napped hard because

when he was awake, he never stopped

moving! This is Aunty C, just 18 at the

time and the best aunty in the whole

world. The other day, he told her that he

remembers that she would look after

him and rock him to sleep. And "play

for hours", he recalls! Great memory!!

The August Break #17: Bedroom Window.

On a cool and misty "Fall is coming"
morning, this is the view out my
bedroom window. You can see the
leaves are beginning to turn already.

The August Break #16: Breathe.

Taken from my studio window above

the garage. One of the reasons we

moved to the country is for the fresh

air and the chance to truly breathe. To

not have our neighbors peering in our

dining room window. To sit on the

veranda, in peace and quiet. To grow

what we want to grow in our garden.

To walk through our house or our

property and not feel like we're being

watched. And to pull out of our little

driveway each day into the woods,

with no traffic, no line ups. Time to

 breathe. Loving every moment here!

The August Break #15: Unicorn.

Unicorns were popular when I was a teen.

I didn't collect them but was gifted this

signed copy of "In Pursuit of the Unicorn"

beautifully written by Josephine Bradley.

The August Break #14: Love Is ....

.... still getting butterflies every time the 

love of your life (short guy) is on stage ....

The August Break #13: 6 O'Clock.

The weather has begun to change.

We have fog some mornings, early

on, that burns off as the sun rises.

Out our window this morning ....

The August Break #12: A Secret.

My post today for the August Break

photo challenge is about a Secret.

The issue I've had with this post is I am

by nature, not able to keep secrets!! My

birth sign is Sagittarius and that is one of

our traits. So my family and friends know

everything! Even on my blog, I speak and

write totally from the heart, truly without

any improvising or making things perfect.

Hard to take a picture today about a Secret.

I'm using this photo of my dh's popcorn

stand in our theatre room. Now this was

a Secret! I ordered it online and it was

shipped to me within days and then I had

to figure out how and where to hide it.

My girls helped out and even put it all

together so that when he opened it, he

wouldn't have to construct it. It was

on sale for an amazing "can't believe

it price" and it wasn't red!! Those who

read my blog know that red and I do 

NOT see eye to eye. So the black color 

and the vintage look were perfect. The

biggest obstacle? To keep my giggles

at bay and not spill the beans. That was

a very hard task for this non~secretive

individual! But I did it and he loved it.

I then vowed to never, ever do it again.

Have you ever had a hard Secret to keep?

Are there things in your life you'd like to share?

The August Break #11: Green.

We took a huge gamble when we opted

to not follow any current trends in our

new home. Building a home to look

vintage took a lot of time and thought.

And colored cabinets vs. traditional

wood stain or white wrapped was a

big choice. Not everyone agreed but

once they saw our vision, it made

sense. We LOVE our sage green

cabinets and ivory contrasts and

look forward to many years of

living and loving this vintage space.

My post for The August Break #11: Green.

Do you have lovely green in your home?

The August Break #10: Yellow.

Our trip to the weekly Farmer's Market

revealed many colors, including yellow.

Yellow string beans, fresh, organic and

so crisp. We bought peas instead.

Different colors of cauliflower, including 

vibrant purple, green, orange and yellow.

For dinner, we feasted on fresh lobster tails,

organic yellow corn and herbed butter.

Do you like the color yellow?

What would you capture in a photo?

The August Break #9: Red.

Personally, I do not like the color red.

I truly believe it's because when I was

around the age of 6, we came across a

very horrific accident, in the pouring

rain. A red car, totalled, and through

the drops of rain, I could see a little

girl, my age, who had gone through

the windshield, and there was blood

everywhere. I will never forget that

sight and obviously, it's had an effect

on me all these years later. So it was

hard for me to take a picture of red.

I've avoided the color, successfully, for years.

We even have a white fire extinguisher!

But thankfully I had taken some time to make

our favorite pie in the world ~ strawberry

rhubarb. Mmmmmm, so good. So here is the 

before and after and my shot of the color red!

Do you have a color you like or hate?

What colors surround you in your life?

The August Break #8: Favorite Taste.

Food and I have a very tumultuous history.

From anorexia to extreme food allergies,

we have not always been friends. But

now that I have some avenues for relief,

I'm beginning to enjoy the process of

not just eating but also cooking. Now

I can actually make a list of foods that

not only can I tolerate, but I enjoy. Some

I even crave! All new for me. For this

photo challenge, I took a picture of the

soup we make often. A comfort, with

lots of pieces to enjoy, different flavors

and textures ~ chicken tortellini with cheese

and peas, carrots and herbs. So yummy!!

What is your favorite taste or favorite food?

Do you have tastes or foods you dislike?

The August Break #7: Beneath My Feet.

 For the photo challenge today, I chose this

blurry but accurate picture of the beautiful

floors we chose for our new home. Beneath

my feet, they are purposely created to look old,

giving us freedom to not worry about little

nicks and bumps as we truly live each day.

A soft color, they have blended in very well

with our furnishings and treasures. And the very 

best part? No footprints!! There is just enough

sheen to look smart .... without footprints!

What is beneath your feet?

Care to show us??

The August Break #6: I'm Reading ....

Reading is big in my life and for my

family. We actually collect books!

Here's the four that I'm reading right now and all are 

intriguing to me for different reasons. Backyard 

Homesteading, Romantic Country, Living the Country 

Life and the Big Book of a Miniature House.

As a dollhouse restorer, this one is new

to our personal library and I love it!

And as a new country homeowner,

this one is helping me figure out the

land outside my front door. It's a huge

task but this book is truly helping.

What are you currently reading?

Anything you can recommend?

Wildflowers.

Although we don't yet have a big

garden full of perennials, we do

have 2 acres full of these sweet

smelling and pretty wildflowers.

I know in the city, they'd call these

weeds. But out here, they grow wild ....

.... and free and are so abundant. I love

looking around and seeing great color.

We have no plans to weed wack these

down, even once our gardens are in.

They'll continue to border our property

and we'll smile when we see them sprout.

Treasure #5.

From the Boot Sale we attended last

month, here's the 5th treasure we found.

Brand new, never worn. Perfect for my little 

baby clothesline in the guest bedroom.

So soft and girly. Hmmm. A new grandbaby

really needs to come in to our life for this item!

Container Combos.

 Landscaping here at the Little House in

the Big Woods is a slow moving project.

We have paths now and dirt but grass and

perennials, bushes and our veggie patch

are still dreams. More dirt has to come,

and then the planting can begin. Exciting!

We do have some pots on our veranda and

yesterday, I bought a few petunias to add in.

I found this great article in a magazine from

the library and took pictures so I can remember

how to mix different flowers together to create

these sweet container combos. Doesn't look too hard.

My favorite is the 4th on. I didn't take a picture

of the 2nd one as the flowers weren't my style.

I will never do something just because an article

tells me to do it. I still have to have my own

take on any project to make it ours. But its

good to have a basic idea to work towards.

How's your garden in August?

Containers or beds or both?