Growing

Another little bean will be joining our family in March 2011. I can't believe my little Logan is moving up the ranks to big brother status. He's pretty excited about this news and is already preparing for his new role. Man, I'm one lucky Mama!

Summer Highlights

Well, September is upon us, the days are still sunny but with a definite crispness in the air and I'm looking forward to welcoming a new season. Funny, I know January is the beginning of the new year, but for some reason, September always seems more about fresh starts to me than the winter.

As I do every summer, I start to regret that I didn't do enough with Logan. Not enough beach visits, not enough walks, not enough swimming...and that is certainly true for this year. Not by choice, however, Logan has just really become a little home body and can get lost for hours in his own little imaginary world, playing with his dinosaurs (being a dinosaur) playing with is animals, cars etc. I've tried moving all these toys outside to show him how he can make them hide in the garden, the grass, behind big rocks...but slowly he moves them all back inside and continues his play.

So, to help ease my guiltiness that I've let this summer slip by without doing as much as I had hoped, I have picked out just a couple of my favourite highlights from the past two months (I guess is it is only eight weeks) and realize that we did pack quite a bit in. phew.

I never did make it to the market - too many other commitments, full days, and a broken sewing machine got in my way. I've decided to switch my focus this fall, to drumming up more design business and creating a series of Christmas cards to sell. But most of all, just focus on my family...it's been a busy year!

Lovely Sparkles

So apparently summer has taken over here and my posts are getting few and far between again...sorry. We just got back from a short road trip to Alberta to take Logan to Drumheller and the Calgary Zoo to see the dinosaur exhibits. He was totally in awe of the 86ft T-Rex that looms over Drumheller's main hub and the prehistoric exhibit at the Calgary Zoo was the icing on the cake. I'll post some pictures soon.

In the meantime, I have started making some little earrings and came up with a fun way to display them. I've taken double sided scrapbooking paper, rounded the corners and sewn a thin band of brown kraft paper, which I ran through my printer with my logo, and a brief description on the back. What do you think?

Our Island

Sometimes living on an island can be great and sometimes a burden. On Friday, I had a dentist appointment in town, and as usual, tried to accomplish a million and one things in a short time frame. My husband called at 5:00 to let me know that the ferries were crazy - ahhhhh welcome summer! And of course, the question that seems to run through my head every now and again..."Why do I live on a big rock surrounded by water?!?" ARGH!!

Feeling this angst linger all day Saturday and again Sunday morning, we decided to get out of the house and go for a drive to Mt Gardener Dock and look what we stumbled upon.

Every year, a local diver named Adam, dives off the shores of our island, and brings to the surface many beautiful creatures for us to learn about, touch, hold and study. Watching Logan carefully pick up each starfish, feel the slimy texture of the sea cucumber and being adamant that we stay until the very end, to make sure all the creatures got back to their families safely, was a gentle reminder as to why we have chosen to raise our son in this environment.

Garden + Gnome pt.2

Well, it looks as though the Gnome , which Logan has named 'Rock' has finished moving in. Over the last couple weeks, little tools, a table and plants have been appearing in his garden. We were waiting for his door to go in, and this morning there it was. He has finished moving. Welcome Rock!

We have also continued bringing up wheelbarrows of dirt and slowly building our garden. So far so good. AND we finally have grass - YAY! Everything is starting to take shape and fill in. Maybe that's why I'm popping Robaxacet like it's going out of style...

Mid-June!

When did mid-June get here?!? I wish I could say we've been too busy outside enjoying the sunshine, but unfortunately, the summer has gotten off to a cool start. It seems we have sun one day and freezing cold rain the next. Well, hopefully things will stabilize in both the weather and my posting! So here's a little overview in photos of what we've been up to...

Logan visited the dentist for the first time. He was so excited and took the entire experience very seriously. He was a little nervous to be by himself on 'the Chair' so he lied on top of me. When the dentist came in, however, he decided to be a really brave boy and sat by himself. Even daddy dinosaur got his teeth checked!

Next up was a little day trip to Squamish. We looked for eagles in Brackendale but were unsuccessful. The highlight of the trip for Logan was the bear proof garbage cans. He was so impressed that they had special handles and was scared that at any minute a bear was going to come by with something to throw away. Cutie! We ended our visit at Shannon Falls and then found ourselves in a three hour ferry wait to get home. Why do we live on an island again?!?

Hooray the Coho Salmon Release! This is our second time attending this annual event. What a wonderful experience for Logan. This year they had a little 'fishing pool' for the kids to catch salmon. On the backside of the fish it let you know the lifespan of your catch.

This month has also been filled with a lot of gardening, allergies (me), a stiff neck (me) and a cold (me)!! Also, a lot of sewing, designing and a brand new HUGE project on my plate which I will talk about soon. Stay tuned...

Garden + Gnome

We have been working non-stop this spring on our outdoor space. We've been building rock gardens, fencing, bringing up wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of dirt, and clearing away the HUGE amount of fallen trees from when we cleared the property. Geoff just finished hauling out the last of the logs last weekend and, as a result, we have uncovered a lovely, somewhat flat, sunny space. How exciting!!

I noticed the other day, that at the base of one of our old cedars, there was the perfect little hidden spot for a gnome garden. Logan's imagination is amazing, and his fascination with little tiny 'things' (the baby from a stacking doll, tiny travel size toothpaste, little bottles of hand cream...) gave me the idea to create a little tiny gnome garden. I showed him the spot and told him if we cleaned it up a bit, maybe a garden gnome would find it, and start to set up house. We spent the rest of the afternoon on Wednesday, pulling weeds and clearing an area for the gnome. First thing yesterday morning he checked to see if the gnome had moved in...nothing yet. So well he was napping, I started to build the gnome garden. Take a look:

There's a little pond (a Becel container with gravel in the bottom) that has a lovely deck (tree bark) a little stone pathway to the front door, rock gardens and plants from around our property (mostly, we did buy a couple special ones as a housewarming gift). When Logan woke up, we went outside to play, and the first thing he wanted to check on was the gnome. All I can say is I wish I had my video camera...he FREAKED OUT! It was so cute!! I hadn't quite finished everything yet, so he helped me put together the finishing touches like adding larger rocks (because the gnome couldn't lift them) and we also gave him a little fence (popsicle sticks) to help keep out the Bowen Bear (yes, a bear has made it's way over here this week). I have ordered a lovely door for the gnome and little miniature table and chairs, wheelbarrow, gardening equipment and watering can. I'm going to put that all together when Logan is not around and can't wait for his reaction!! Here's what's happening on the rest of the property.

This is the area that was filled with fallen trees (I think there was about eight or nine that Geoff bucked up and hauled out). It's quite large and gets tons of sun.

This is one side of it (gnome garden on right) that we're going to make a nice little seating area. I'm thinking old bricks, with moss inbetween and maybe a brick fire pit.

And this is the other side where it starts to get a bit steep again. We're going to leave in the two large logs on the left, as they have created a nice retaining wall. We're thinking of putting in a little stream that cascades down into a pond as it's fairly level and an interesting shape. Pretty exciting!!

We're growing herbs. Apparently I'm really good at growing oregano.

Rock gardens, rock gardens and more rock gardens. Plus there's four more on the other side of the pathway. Then there's the entire backyard to do.

And a little memorial garden for Lucy (where I'm constantly finding sticks, feathers, seashells and rocks that Logan collects for her).

Well, there you have it. We still want to start some decking this summer, build a play structure for Logan, make some pathways....but it's a start!