It's a Monster!

Hello! Things are still a little crazy around here. After next week, I think they will settle down a little, although we will be having company coming for that week, so maybe the one after that. It seems to be one of those times, though, where the "To Do" list gets added to faster than I can check things off. So once again, I have a Monster Post, with a long list of stuff that we did manage to check off.

Outside, we have been getting things ready for our new deck. Our back steps have been a total hazard for a few years now, with crumbly concrete bits galore. There have been a couple of spectacular stumbles, and it was well past time to do something about it. Friends of ours have a great deck, all enclosed for the kiddies to run around on, so that is what we are going for. Unfortunately, it is on the South-West side, and doesn't get any sun until late in the afternoon. I had Big Dreams of moving the shop away from the house (and making it bigger in the process) and extending the deck right across the back of the house to get that Southern Sun. Jai had to remind me that buildings aren't made out of Lego! But I tried, I really tried. Anyway, thank heaven for tax returns and birthday monies because I can not WAIT to have a new outdoor space.

Other things are happening outside too. The quince blossoms are open, and the tulips are out! It must be time for Griffin's birthday!

If you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago, I would have told you we were going to have a big party for Griffin, and invite all his friends. Today, my plans have boiled down to: I am pretty sure I'll be able to get a cake together. Pretty sure.

On the way back from one of our meetings with horrible bank-y type people, I stopped in at the Nursery and picked up some beautiful seedlings. It's way too early to actually plant them in the garden, but last year I waited, and then I missed out. Roma tomatoes, here I come!

Inside, we've been busy too. Griffin's been busy finding things to put in his mouth (a partial list includes remote controls, dirt, cat hair, tree bark, various papers, and random bits of food he put there for later.) And I've been busy running after a very mobile little boy, and sneaking out into the shop during naptimes and bedtimes to get a couple more pieces done. Here is the wall piece:

With a close-up,

And the largest piece yet. Will anyone like them? I really never know, but I can say 100% that I have had a fabulous time making them, from start to finish, and that isn't something I can say all that often.

And if you read all the way to the bottom of all that blabbing, then I wish you all the best in the week to come!

Rushing Around

Hello again! What a busy time of year this is for all of us. It seems like every which way we turn, a deadline of some sort is looming. The positive side of this is that I am a person who works better to deadlines. (Hooray for the zen of the last minute rush!) We've been all over the place, doing all sorts of things. My Mom came down for a visit on her day off yesterday so she could watch Griffin, and I could get some work done. Thanks Mom! I'm hoping it will be a semi-regular, once a month type thing. Here's some of what I've been working on:

Another jointed lady,

Another Beach Bum,

And a wall piece. There is another, bigger piece on my bench now, and a second wall piece just waiting for paint. It's all coming along, and it's nice to feel like I can get some stuff done, once in a while. It makes me even happier to be doing everything else.

Griffin has been busy working on his locomotion skills - finally realizing that crawling is more efficient that rolling and squirming. I've seen this view a whole lot this past week:

What a sweet little wiggly bum it is, too. In less than two weeks he will be ONE YEAR OLD!!!! It seems like no time, and all time, and it's a hard thing to wrap my head around. What a crazy ride this life is.

Anyway, before I get all quasi-philosophical, here is another "garbage" treasure I just salvaged.

I'm going to take the junky plywood top off, and use a gorgeous maple slab I've been saving for just the right thing, instead. Today we found a whole bunch of glass juice cups, and a round picnic table for the garden. Have I mentioned how much I love Spring Clean-Up? Jai is probably rolling his eyes right now. I love you, honey!

A Day at the Beach

So I finished another little piece today, and thought I should share it. More beach people. And this is the photo it's based on:

Isn't it great? I'm just loving these old photos! Pretty fun for me!

And it gives me a great excuse for an excursion to the beach, which I took full advantage of this morning. I found some really fabulous pieces of driftwood, so I have enough for a couple more pieces, too. Fingers crossed I can finish another one this weekend!

What do you think?

More soon!

Another Treasure

Hello! Well, last post was a little light on the Griffin photos, so I'll be catching up on this one!

The County Spring Clean-up is over now, so we have to wait till next week for the town Clean-Up to start. In the meantime, here is another treasure we found at the end of someone's driveway:

A giant car! Griffin's a little small for it (his feet don't touch the ground yet) but he really likes sitting in it and getting pushed around. Who wouldn't?

He's changing so fast these days. He's starting to crawl instead of dragging and rolling. He's pulling himself up on anything and everything. He's paying way more attention. The downside of all this, is that he gets bored much more easily. Gotta go!

Spring Round-Up, and a New Piece (Plus Gnomes!)

Hello again! I can't believe it's been over a week since I sat down at the computer and wrote anything. Time has flown - I can't even think of why we've been so busy, although I suspect it will come to me as I sit here. Let's see...

Well, I got some boring stuff done like getting a year's worth of receipts organized, but you don't want to hear about all that, and neither do I. This is what the sky looked like the other morning:

Griffin's big accomplishment this week has been to grow two front teeth. No more big toothless grin - I will miss it - now he has four whole teeth shining out. That was a small rough patch, but since they broke through he has been back to his usual cheery self (of course, as I typed that, he started complaining!)

Griffin and Jai hung out long enough for me to get some Shop Time this past weekend. I have sketchbooks (yes, plural) full of ideas that are waiting to be made. One of them is a series of people, mostly in beach wear, with driftwood accents.

And I got the first of them made, finally! I should apologize for the quality of the photos, there was just no way I was going to be able to dig out and set up my background, and give Griffin breakfast at the same time.

While it can sit on any surface, I envision a line of them hanging on a gallery wall...

And finally, we are once again in the midst of Spring Clean-up. Hooray! This is the month when people all over Nova Scotia put twenty things they don't want any more at the end of their driveways, and people like me drive around and root through their things. It just started, and already I got a bunch of gardening tools, some great toys, and THREE awesome garden gnomes! I'll post more pictures of fabulous finds soon :)

Spring Photos

Wow, what a beautiful weekend we just had!!!! I think it might have been the best one ever.

We had a great time in Halifax - Griffin had a blast with his Grandparents, and Jai and I snuck out to see a movie - just the two of us! Plus Griffin picked up a new pair of shades:

So now he is just like his Daddy.

And today is unbelievably gorgeous. We really couldn't ask for better weather. The rest of the week is forecasted to rain, but I don't even care. It's ridiculous. Anyway, the three of us have spent as much time as possible outside this weekend.

Playing in the yard,

Standing at the fence,

Exploring,

And discovering.

We went down to the bridge behind our house for a mini photo shoot.

Griffin loves looking through the slats at the water below.

I can't wait until he is old enough to play "Pooh Sticks" (dropping twigs over one side of the bridge, and racing over to watch them float down the other side - as read in Winnie the Pooh.)

The water is very clear right now,

And the peepers have come out already! For those who don't know (like me, before I moved here) Peepers are little frogs that come out in the Spring around creeks and riverbeds. They make the most fabulous noise, starting at dusk. It's a huge chorus of tiny, nocturnal frogs, and it's positively magical. It even made the front page of the Bridgetown paper (a weekly two-page spread.) Yeah, I didn't take this photo, but this is what they look like. Of course, they're nocturnal, so I've never actually seen one, but that's beside the point.

The other signs that warm weather has arrived:

Tulips, and trains:

This is a massive, yet tiny, train set that takes up the entire front yard of the fellow who built it. This is the first time I have seen the trains running, and it was very cool.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed your long weekends immensely too! Coming up, I finally have a new piece to show you!

Griffin waves to Grandma

Happy Easter!!!

Hello! This is my latest needle felting project - a little Spring gnome for our Spring wreath.

So Spring has sprung officially here. We've had some gorgeous weather, and this weekend has a high of 22 degrees! What!?!?

The quince blossoms I brought inside a couple of weeks ago are starting to blossom, and they look so pretty! The ones outside aren't too far behind, either.

And now we have a long weekend. We always have these long lists of things that we want to get done for the weekend. For instance, this weekend the list includes:

-visiting my parents in Halifax

-seeing Alice in Wonderland

-priming the bay window

-building a bunny hutch for outside

-bottling the cider Jai's been brewing in the spare bedroom

-finishing an art piece for the show I am doing next week

-cleaning the house (or at least vacuuming the living room)

-celebrating Easter

No doubt many of those things will still be on the list when next weekend rolls around, but that's never really the point. Number one priority is always Have Fun Together, and it's the only one that gets checked off every weekend.