Rural Living

Hi! Wow, I can't believe it's August 10 already. Everyone here has been talking about that inevitable shift that seems to happen, when you realize we're heading into Fall. Not that we aren't still having beautiful, hot sunny days. This is actually, I think, my favourite time of year. The days are warm, but not muggy, and the nights are cool enough to be comfortable for sleeping. The gardens are ready for eating out of, and life seems to be teeming. Crickets chirping everywhere, chickadees flying about, and bumblebees busy, busy, busy. Unfortunately there's still some of those biting insects around, but everything else is so nice that even they don't seem so bad. Plus, it's blackberry season, which might be the best part of all.

This week has been pretty full. On Friday, Jai and I packed up the car and headed down to Mahone Bay, where we met with Lynn from the Trees Gallery. She runs a very nice, higher end Gallery for Wood and handcrafted Tree-related products. And now she carries a whole lot of our stuff, as well. The more observant among you (or maybe just my Mom - thanks Mom) may have noticed that our Etsy store shrunk by half over the weekend, and that is why. Anyway, with any luck, that could be the start of a very positive and beneficial relationship.
Also, we stopped in at Windhorse Farms to pick up some lumber. They are in New Germany, and they are a woodshop that mills and sells FAS certified Eco-friendly wood. All of it is selectively logged, and some of it is even brought out by horse. PLUS (as if they even needed more in their favour!) they have beautiful wood that you don't see in a commercial lumber yard, and their prices are very reasonable. We love those guys! I picked up a couple of beautiful spalted boards to make into some new meditation benches and book covers.
Here's a sneak peek at my latest book project:
I have been having SO much fun, sourcing out old photographs with a little bit of character in them, and creating drawings from them. In addition to the whirligigs, I thought I would do a few special book covers, and that is a shot of one of them, in a partially completed stage. The cover of that one is done now, but I have to get the paper cut for the pages, so I'll post another shot when it's finished. Also, I dug out some of my favourite photos from within our family, and have started up covers using them, which I am totally loving. I don't know if I'll be able to sell those, I might be too attached, but I'm totally enjoying making them.
And we couldn't resist picking up this Zing Zong. It's an early Button Spinner, made from printed tin. It's got angled holes in it, and it sounds just like an owl when you get it going. The string needs to be replaced, but I love how it looks. Plus Zing Zong is so much fun to say :)

Last night was deliciously fun, we went to a backyard barbeque hosted by our friends Brandon and Jo. Those guys sure treated us! They made chicken fajitas, and sangria, and amazing fruit salad. I went back for thirds, it was so good. It was the perfect night for an outdoor event, and it ended with a fire under the stars, and excellent company. We even had S'mores, toasted over the open fire. We all agreed that rural living agrees with us 100% (of course, we're all ex-city livers, so I suppose we would!)