~ Some Rain...Jams..and Nature ~

Molly and Me

Rainy and Wet

South Surrey

Missing Goat Jams and Chutneys

Meeting sweet Heather at her adorable Shabby Shack and her friend Angela!

{visit her here}

Shopping at H & M

Home

Tea Time...Heather's Bird Nest Cookies {thank you Heather...so yummy}

Nature Walk

Samosas for dinner with Missing Goat Chutney

Missing my Husband who has gone Sailing for the Weekend

~ refreshed...restored...and ready to go ~

please

come for tea

and

sit with me

I have

a

"secret place"

to share

with you

today

a place

that restores my

soul

and

gives me back

my

peace

and

harmony

my favourite resting place in the whole world

Deception Pass

on Whidbey Island

where time is spent

watching the sunsets each and every night

sitting for hours upon hours on the beach

listening to the ocean waves

feeding the squirrels

collecting rocks and sea glass

counting the fishing boat

spotting the seals ....

restoring

me

where silliness is welcomed

and

laughter is required

where
mother

daughter

time

is

so

preciously

savoured

and

enjoyed

I am once again

refreshed and ready to go

thanks

to my

"secret place"

{stay tuned for part 2...my secret shopping place...."where bunnies live and give glad dreams"}

driving and snapping...

shhhhh...

don't tell anyone...i was kinda bad today...

while i was driving i snapped these images ...

i LOVE these cows...

this farm is just down the street from my home...{about 1 minute by car}

i drive by these cows everyday..

and everyday i tell myself i need to take some photos of them...

i have a favorite cow{i always look for her} but could not spot her today as i was driving and snapping...

i really need to just walk down the street one day with my camera...much...much...safer...

i also took this today{while driving} of my bag and umbrella ..

they were sitting on the seat beside me and looked so pretty with the sun shinning in on them...

are you like me?

wishing you had a permanent camera around your neck...

or better yet... one built into your head so you wouldn't miss one single moment of beauty...

do you see everything with a frame around it?

a little bit of that and this...

my weekend....

a little bit of Saturday morning cleaning...

dusting off my black and white..

{see my new painting of the stacked white mugs...a sweet daughter of one of my best friends painted it and gave it to me...a school art project..what talent}

some garden work...

new and old pots ...

wishing these new ones were as aged as my old ones...

don't you just love the cracks and the moss?

Sunday morning pancake indulgence..

we all agree that my husband makes the best pancakes in the world...

Hope your weekend was a good one...

in season......

i love the month of May for many reasons.....

a major one being...this is when our local farmer's market starts up...

which means fresh veggies....fruits.....and flowers are now available until well into September...

i made my first Saturday morning trip today.... all the first of the season's produce is so amazingly gorgeous...a beautiful bright bounty of colors...so here is a peek at what i brought home...

spring lilacs and tulips bouquet


a bunch of beautiful colored radishes....not my favorite but couldn't resist the colors...

yes...another bouquet...just couldn't say no to white lilacs (wish i had a bush}....they were dirt cheap

yummy spring rhubarb for a delicious rhubarb cake that i only make in the spring..

bunches of fresh spinach....

red and orange peppers....

i gather them all up altogether....
and
as i was leaving these were calling my name....



fresh cranberry scones.... and cinnamon bread......
it's not all about fruits and veggies in my home!!
hope you have a farmer's market in your area that you can enjoy....


{just in case you are wondering....i have decide to keep the pretty aqua lamp...most of you were so adamant on the fact that it should stay...i did take it away for a day and totally missed it so knew it was a keeper ....thanks for that idea Lottie....you all were such wonderful help..... i knew i could count on you! xoxo..... and husband still has not noticed???!}

blossom inspiration...

this was the beauty that greeted me for the past week as i was heading into my school each day....

could there be anything more beautiful?

these blooming branches are breathtaking...

my camera was ready on Friday to capture this fading spectacle of glory...

i knew if i waited very much longer i would miss my chance...

all i wanted to do was to pluck off these little pompom clusters ..take them home to fill up my house with their beauty...

BLOSSOM INSPIRATION...

look at these adorable ideas i gathered...

i have been so wanting to make these pompom twinkle lights from velvet strawberries

...they are made out of old sewing patterns or coffee filters

i also love this wall art....more coffee filters...

these pompoms are found at painted white...

don't they remind you of those bloom clusters???

sigh!...it's so sad to think that all those blossoms will end up scattered in the wind...

so this past week that is where my inspiration came from...

all the BEAUTIFUL BLOOM CLUSTERS that fill my school yard...

{wall art coffee filter photo borrowed from google images}

a weekend of dance......

this weekend i spent....
5% of my time in the garden....

95% of my time.....

at the shine dance festival....

{where my daughter syd picked up 7 golds and 2 silvers}

girls day out....

fun time with two thirds of my girls.....

in downtown Vancouver ...

some of our favorite places to visit....

True Value Vintage....a great place....hard to find because it is underground...

but worth the search...

full of fun vintage clothes and accessories.

we needed to pick up some treats from Butter but...

it was closed....boo hoo...

but snapped some photos from the window..

one of the best bakeries i know of...

next visit i will take some photos from inside....you will love it!!!!!

and yes....cherry blossoms....the streets of Vancouver are covered with them!!!!

oh...how i love this time of year ....

pretty blooms that greet me.....

Pansies are my favourite flower...

these happy little fellows where smiling at me from my garden when i left for work today..

who could not love these little guys with their perky little faces..

did you know that in Denmark, Germany and Scotland pansies are sometimes called...

Stepmothers...the larger lower petal represents the mother...

the middle petals her two daughters...

and the two smaller petals at the top....the stepdaughters

these pretty little blue fellows were waiting for me as well....

i am finding my passion for all things blue is spilling out of my house and into my garden..

our majestic maple....

i admit it....i am a tree hugging..nature loving....critter caring type of girl....

i love our huge big maple in our front yard....

the above image is a day in the life of our tree..early morning to sunset...

photos were taken this past Sunday...

this is our tree in late summer when the leaves are just starting to fall....

sydney and molly enjoying our crop of leaves last fall...
we love our tree... all of us...it really is part of the family...
we would all agree that it is one of the best things about our home....

.......well something is happening in our neighborhood that we do not want any part of...in the last two weeks three neighbors have cut down their beautiful old maples....why???? good question...but our little street looks so different and bare...it's not the same....
our tree will be the last one standing.....
we will stay cool in the summer
have leaves to jump into in the fall
have the beauty of snow clinging to it's branches in the winter
and it will be a home to all local birds in the spring
thank you tree

buds of spring....

....tulips and pussy willows ....
....buds of spring...

....saw a bush of pussy willows yesterday....stopped the car and borrowed a few....childhood memories came flooding back.... days hunting for the first signs of spring....rubbing my face with these little tufts of beauty ...while hearing my grandma sing.....tiny fur like buds are sprung...where little kittens once had clung...and that's the legend, so they claim...how pussy willows got their name.

a knock at my door...

...who could it be????...why it's old man winter coming back to visit me.....I told him he could stay for today......maybe tomorrow.... but then he must be gone .....so cover my world with your soft blanket ....let your pure white beauty be a comfort today...but please don't stay long............... miss spring is on her way.......