every little thing

a dog, his sticks, high tide and water as still as pebbled glass - retriever heaven

Mama's been toolin' around in the iphoto archives once again, and thinking about my big red boy 'cause every little thing still reminds me of my dog, of that dog - my hero dog, my great big love dog. Jake. A large version of this first photo hangs on my kitchen wall. I made a calender for myself of photos of Jake and this particular photo goes with October - I love the image so much that my calender has been perpetually turned ahead to October, and has been for a very long time. I must get this image framed - it is the ultimate portrait of a retriever in paradise. Wet and dripping, his newly shorn summer I'm always in the water hair cut, happy and satisfied and just waiting patiently ... for that next stick to be launched.

This is, would be, his season - the height of summer and full on Stick Fetchin' in Deep Water Season - his Raison D'etre. My boy was a multi stick fetcher - never one stick would do, always two or three Please, he loved the challenge of gathering them all and bringing them back to me - retrieving - so I might throw them again, Please ?!? Oh and we think about our golden girl Emma Jane Louise too - we miss our pack Miss D and I, we think about Jake & Em everyday.

And speaking of Every Thing Reminds Me of My Dog - thank you to Rachel over at Raenovate who recently purchase our cut paper collage piece for her boyfriend (who also finds that Every little Thing reminds him of their dog) and she's featured my collage on her blog. I think it's so cool that the sweet Noodle dog lives on, hanging matted & framed on walls in homes in other parts of the world, making other people smile and reminding them always that dogs = love.

I love the look on his face in the next photo, the deep concentration and imploring of me Hey ! Are ya gonna throw that again ??

let's go

oh those floors ...

Monday 5:05 pm and just home from my 7 hour shift at the little gift & home decor store, I dropped my things just inside the door and readied myself for the near hysterical twirls and spins and mad sweet kisses from my girl Winnie Dixon who is beside herself with relief and gladness. Wow ! what a welcome.

I say Hey ! Missy D Let's getta goin' and she's says (always) Uh Huh ! Let's Go !!

Have already made la list for today and it's a long one. Lots of little household chores, a few errands and organization and tidying up of both my messy desk tops (teak topped and imac). My computer's desk top can get so out of control, completely filled with photos and documents that all need to be sorted through, filed or deleted and then there are my 3 email folders to go through - more sorting, filing and deleting. Both jobs often put off for far too long yet so incredibly satisfying when done.

Am planning an upcoming show and sale of my things at this fantastic shop in the city - exact date to come - tres exciting.

we heart 80's hits

joy

we call these pinks

they grow everywhere - huge expansive carpets of pink blossoms and yesterday while on a sunny July late afternoon walk with my girl Miss D, these pinks were completely covered with buzzing bees

joy and sorrow are inseparable. . .
together they come
and when one sits alone with you . . .
remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Kahlil Gibran

2 years

more oriental poppies from those abundant iphoto archives

Most people treat the present moment
as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome.
Since the present moment is Life itself,
it is an insane way to live.

Eckhart Tolle

Ache & Sadness feed on the past. Anxiety, Fret & Worry are fueled by the future. This motley gang of thugs that hang out in my head, far too much of the time are all afraid of the present. Like garlic and daylight to vampires - the present makes them disappear - in a flash. Why then, is it so hard to keep yourself there ? ...
living in the moment and in the present.

Today is the two year anniversary of this blog. Two years of my life documented in photos and words. Two years of days and moments, plenty of Ache & Sadness, Worry & Fret and plenty also of simple joy, daily treasures and the biggest love I've ever known. When I read back it seems as if someone else has been writing here ... who is that girl ? that woman ? I wonder. I often don't recognize her and then feeling surprised and pleased I realize - it is me.

I had great plans for a 2 year anniversary give away - more beach treasure packets and a grand prize (wink) of one of M. Invincible's designs - a photo frame. Stay tuned for a belated, 2 year somethin' somethin' very soon.

The big fat black velvet chiclet has just arrived here atop the teak topped desk with his mad, loud rattly purrs so I'll pause here - there is a Bleetness who must be adored. Thank you for all the sweet comments that often are a reminder to me, that I do spend at least some of my time ... living in the moments.

saturday goodness

perfect fringed purple poppies - a favourite if mine

a long early morning walk on the beach with Winnie Dixon • a quick trip to the grocery store, before all the mad busyness of Saturday summer people weekend shopping erupts. Beach cover ups and flip flops and carts laden with cottage food • bedding stripped from the nest with the most excellent help of kittens Gussie & Oliver • loads of laundry done and hung out on the line to dry • dishes done and sweeping of stunning new chocolate floors • hamburger patties made to grill later on my little red charcoal BBQ • Deb & Maggy Sue (Winnie's best girlfriend and golden retriever) arrive with belated birthday wishes, smiles and wags • we sat for a bit in my new living room and oohed and ahhed at the gorgeousness of it all • then off to the park for ice cream cones (dark chocolate shiver & peanut butter fudge crunch in a waffle cone - go big or stay home another of this girl's favourite mottos) we all sat for a spell on a bench in the sun overlooking our sparkling harbour • in the park we were introduced to a very handsome 12 year old retriever named Brody, Miss D boldly rushed up and gave him a kiss on the lips and both our hearts ached a little, he reminded us so much of our big red dog and best friend - Jake • another long walk along the harbours edge and down onto the crescent beach where Maggie Sue and Miss D splashed and played in the water • home to 29 Black and goodbyes out at the curb to our friends who are off on a 12 day camping trip • a very tiny bit of drawing (sigh) at the teak topped desk, followed by an hour laying on the bed in the guest room in a big patch of sunlight with a warm breeze blowing in over me - just laying there, thinking of nothing, nothing but summer • up again and puttering and lighting the BBQ, bringing laundry in from the line in a big wicker basket, holding each pillow case up to my face for a moment and breathing in deeply that perfect scent of sun and wind and freshness before folding and smoothing each one • later a lovely long telephone chat with my favourite nephew Michael • and finally to bed with my book, crawling into heavenly white cotton sheets crisp and clean and smelling perfectly of a summer's day.

goodness

working today at the little gift & home decor store - my summer shift is every second week I'll work a Sunday afternoon & all day Monday

morning

on the grassy path above the crescent beach ...

Missy D by my side, one early morning this week

Morning is my favourite time of day. Anything & everything is possible. Morning is hope. Morning is unfettered possibility, satisfaction and happiness. Morning, especially early morning, always feels peaceful and filled with endless promise ...

vantage

assorted blooming from our front porch

pink clouds in a fresh pale blue sky
a second cup of coffee tucked into the nest of down & flannel
cool breezes blowing in open windows
hot face cloths and scented bubbles
a newly tidied desk
anticipating our walk on the beach and the tide is low
cats curled up and sleeping on wide window sills
leaves rustle softly in the wind
crows caw in our garden
another brand new day ... is just beginning

berries

into jam ...

only love

Miss D curled up in her big look out chair in the upstairs hallway

Hello July ! • thank you so much for all the lovely birthday wishes ... • I'm trying to get myself back in a working groove once again • yesterday afternoon, I totally goofed off - I rested and relaxed Hey ! it was my birthday • a spell of sunshiny days stretches ahead of us after days and days of unsettled thunder and rain and stormy clouds racing across the harbour toward us • I've been walking around this old brick house in my bare feet because I can ... wink • the local strawberries are in season and that means shortcake with real whipped cream and I'll make a small batch of freezer jam to have spread on toast in the dead of winter.

and my fav horoscope for all you other Cancer birthday girls


love her more than words can say

singing this song while Missy D and I walked last evening down to the crescent beach. Hooray Neil !

shut up !

bonjour 50

And oh my, what a birthday it's been...

You will be inspired to go above and beyond your usual limits over the coming 12 months and the more others say you don't stand a chance the more determined you will be to prove them wrong. You'll amaze them, and yourself, by how much you achieve. If today is your Birthday - New York Post - I say bring it on !

My birthday July 7th, my big birthday was really celebrated yesterday with my favourite people in the world. The kind and loving dynamic duo of MLou & L. (and their sweet Wheaten girl Jigs) the amazing floor installing, halogen desk lamp fixin', bent old radiator beautifying, birthday cake bearing, laugh til we snort, heart and soul lifting team of two. They brought with them, in their caravan of goodness, all the tools required to make this newly turned 50 year old girl feel safe, loved, thrilled, content and comforted. A pretty amazing raft of feelings for such a large and potentially ify day. Not to mention all the slip sliding around I'll be doin' in my sock feet (Rachel) and lying down (avec les Chats) on my new gleaming, smooth gorgeous chocolatey brown floors - just 'cause I can. My new spare, spacious, clean, clutter free ... and beautiful home. Merci most excellent elves. Merci !!!

Mama's worn out and kinda tired from all the excitement and must get herself in la groove. Two big new & challenging projects begin today here at the teak topped desk. I'm off to the lands and Hey Missy D are ya ready for a walk in the park ?




more snippets of elves, Miss J, chocolate cake goodness and more chocolate

a recipe

roasted prosciutto wrapped asparagus

A recipe ... to fill in temporarily for absence of more renovation photos (yet to come) of stunning chocolate brown floors. One of those could not be simpler recipe's, and absolutely delicious. Wrap fresh asparagus spears with thinly sliced prosciutto. Place on a wire rack placed on a cookie sheet and roast in a very hot oven (450) or better still - grill on the BBQ. Turn once. Once off the heat dust with shaved parmesan reggiano, cracked black pepper and a drizzle of best olive oil.

While we're wrapping things with prosciutto - how about trying ... big fat Digby scallops, pear wedges, nectarines or peaches ... those are next up for me to try. I'm gonna see if I can't somehow make this post fit the next Dim Sum Sunday. Wink.

Day 6 of floor installation. I'm exhausted, and embarrassed and ashamed to even admit it, for I have done nothing or barely anything. My tiny job(s) continue to be nutrition provider which must be had on the fly with this dynamic duo for time's a tickin' - no time to sit for a leisurely meal. Coffee maker, ice drink provider, dog walker - Miss D & Miss J and I walk down into the park and to the crescent beach several times each day. Ooher, Aaher, Gasper and Official Felt Pad Gluer. I spent yesterday glueing fat felt pads onto the bottoms of all chair feet and furniture edges/bottoms so that my beautiful, stunning, fabulous new chocolatey brown floors will be well protected and all my stuff can and will be slip sliding around.

I feel as if I've just moved - like I'm living in a brand new place - that's what a huge difference these floors have made. Sadly, there are no before pictures as the 20-30 year old, chipped, dull and dirty linoleum floors that previously existed in my entire main floor oozed their shameful ugliness into every photo I took and thus were deleted tout suite.

But not any more. Oliver and I now have a gigantic, creamy almond coloured loft like photo studio so ...look out. Stay tuned for many more photos avec stunning floors beginning tomorrow ... which Hey ! by the way, happens to be my birthday ... and it's a tres big one. Can ya guess ? I'll confess I am a tad in denial over this number but I realize I gotta get over it. Here's a hint - Ellen DeG. (she looks pretty rockin', tres hip & young) she's become my role model for this new era. Sigh.

Check out this Tiny House book.

mo' chiclet

the black velvet chiclet

Bleet, Bleetito, Bleet-ness, Nessie, Nessie Ness ... Chiclet and of course, not to be left out, that other cat who's kinda handsome and tres photogenic - Oliver

coffee, walk with Dee, make breakfast for the LOVE elves, lots more flooring adventures, more putzing and futzing and gluing felt pads to the bottoms of furniture legs and feet. Stawberry shortcake with real cream and the fattest ripest local berries I've seen ever. It's Day 5 of the chocolatey floor extravaganza. Wow !! more photo (and lots) - to come. Promise.

cream, almond & chocolate

satellite office/dining room

just a sneak peek - it looks amazing

I hardly want to put any furniture in these rooms they look so fantastic - just walls and floors and giant big windows (9 of them) and lots of art & mirrors on the walls. I love the spacious, open, loft like feel.

We had a late lunch out at the cafe across from the post office yesterday, we sat outside on the big wide porch in a thunder storm with rain coming down in sheets. I happily got to introduce MLou & L to those much loved girls at the post office (Sue & Rhonda). Now everyone has a face to put a name to ... as names are mentioned often. I'm off now to the land of bubbles & scent and then for a long, long walk with my best and beautiful girl Miss Winnie Dixon.

merci M. Universe !

nervous nellies

delphinium

Just one large statuesque white delphinium in my back garden. I have plans to start some from seed this week, to transplant into the ground at the end of the summer. They also bloom in the most striking blues.

The flooring elves are staying, this time, at a nearby cottage - a sensible solution when visiting a houseful of Nervous Nellies. Plus they get to have some time to themselves and sleep in a bit which is what they like to do. I can get up promptly at my normal time just before 5am (yawn - it was past midnight when I finally got to sleep last night). My chocolatey brown floors look almost too good for me to grasp. Those elves (a well oiled 23 year+ duo) work diligently all day and into the evening, assuring me that it's a two man job while I sit finishing technical drawings for Customer No Uno at my satellite office set up on the main floor. I make coffee, bring glasses of water encouraging re hydration and serve finger foods. I walk Miss J and Winnie Dixon and putz and fuss and wish I could do more.

Those darn kittens, Gus & Oliver, are ensconced in the guest room from 9am til closing as Missy J (a Wheaten terrier girl) has not been fully acclimatized to cats, she can't quite tell the difference between a cat and a rodent. I visit them several times throughout the day - Oliver of course is just busting to escape and get downstairs where the action is - because don't ya realize he happens to know a lot about laminate floor installation and the team is missing out on a tres enthusiastic helper. The big, fat chiclet Nessie Ness spends the days and early evenings plodding about the jungles of 29 Black Street and sleeping nestled in a favourite den he's created under the big spirea bush in the front garden a safe distance away from the door and the evil visitors (and their dog). Miss Winnie D spends her time hiding upstairs in her bed praying for those people to leave - except when I drag her downstairs to entice her to join Jigs and I for a walk in the park. Sigh.

Rinse and repeat - a similar plan for today and tomorrow ...

I am a lucky, extremely grateful girl and I still wonder what I might have done to deserve this big incredible love & kindness.

Time to get going and begin our day. Winn and I will enjoy a long chilled out walk down into the park and along the crescent beach, then home again to whip up a cheesy breakfast strata so I can feed those workers before they begin their day.

the 1st

hooray! a creperie in our little summer village

la parade - not enough pipe & drum bands for my liking

I'm back to the nest this early morning with my coffee & Miss D
resting up for Day 2 of home reno adventures with MLou, Missy J & L.
flooring is coming along beautifully - it looks stunning - photos soon

bonjour Then

happy birthday Canada

Anxiety is the space between the "now" and the "then"

Wilhelm Stekel Austrian psychoanalyst, 1868-1940

and oh Mama can pack a lot of miles in between the now & the then. Much worry, fret, and fear- it's all about that big blank space that undetermined and seemingly endless distance. I better fill it up as best as I know how. It's all about anticipation, when then actually arrives the storm clouds have blown away, the sky becomes clear and the waters are calm and still. Exhausted from running all that distance between now and then, all while doing mental jumping jacks, hand stands and other death defying imaginary feats I feel embarrassed and confused when I finally arrive at then. I drift around on my raft of calm seas and wonder where did that monster go. I know it was here. I just saw it and trust me it was scary.

It hasn't gone away completely but that gentle gnawing feeling in my stomach, that catch in my throat, the shortness of breath - that's nothin' compared to the full on version and I know that the instant MLou & her Gang arrive these lasting remnants of anxiety will be gone - it will all magically disappear.

We're at our destination, we've arrived at then - only lots of goodness from here on in. MLou, L & Missy J (terrier gal pal of Miss D's) will arrive around noon (which gives Mama plus de hours to do the many last minute things I always have left to do). That girl likes old fashioned sugar donuts so I'll make another batch of these tres simple & easy Baked Donuts (I prepared the dough last night). I feel happy and excited now because my favourite people in the whole wide world are coming today. We'll make our flooring installation plan, we'll take in a few of the July 1st festivities, a little carnival food perhaps, we'll watch men in kilts throw big, heavy things for trophies and we'll listen to bagpipe music which always makes me cry. We'll stick little paper Canadian flags on sticks in our pockets and we'll feel proud to be Canadian 'cause we live in an amazing place - know best for our famous winters, our wide open spaces and rugged unspoiled nature but best of all - we're known for our tolerance.

It's raining this early morning - I wonder ... maybe it will rain tonight and cancel the fireworks - shhhhh - I sure hope so.

Hello Then - I'm so glad you're finally here and Hey ! Happy Canada Day !