through the key-hole #2 ~ corner bookshelf view ~

Once again, inspired by the lovely Mon over at Holistic Mama...the second in a series of glimpses into *real* houses...*real* people....what I love very much about this little meme, is that the aim is authenticity and not something posed or contrived.  Which goes a long way in this den of chronic catastrophe....

It wasn't easy choosing which corner to photograph. We have numerous bookshelves scattered around the house, and more than a few baskets stuffed full in impromptu reading areas. I chose this one simply because it was closest to where I keep the camera.  :)

Our shelves hold more than books...in this case, a candle, a pen/pencil holder, a bag of postcards and the aftercare instructions from True Grit Tattoos and Piercing. Underneath that, I think are some notecards that Ducks Unlimited sent me in the ill-advised attempt to gain my financial support.

Once upon a time I had my books organized in a vague system of authors and genres.  That was two shelf-movings ago and before Sebastian became fond of taking them all off and putting them back on again.

old stuff and new projects

Yesterday was all about some retro tinkering....who doesn't just fall in love with this guy over and over?

a session on Club Penguin and then getting signed up for a new project. 

Savannah saw an ad for this on Animal Planet (?) and wanted to get involved. She's working toward a $100 fundraising goal to preserve habitat for Grizzly bears in B.C.  This is her donation page -- 

Earth Rangers 

she goes by the name -  Ranger5633521 -- lots of fun conservation/enviromentally conscious games etc. to play and ways to get involved.

dirty hippie feet at the park

bare feet in lush, green grass...and sand...you have to expect a bit of dirt.

another impromptu detour to the park -- after picking up a package at the Post Office and the purchase of snacky goodness at the drug store -- SmartFood for Sebastian and Doritos for Savannah -- which naturally taste so much better on an orange blanket under a tree.

Savannah grows weary of the paparazzi...I think she liked it better when the camera wasn't working

and the package? The fruits of our Amazon budget for the month....the audiobook version of the first Harry Potter book and a long-time wishlist resident for me by one of my fave writing gurus, Julia Cameron.

And so I ask myself for the umpteenth time, who wouldn't want to live like this?

today....

...there was planting

garden views...

there has been much activity in our little patch -- salvage efforts from the combined pillage of squirrels and Emma-dog....I think I've got it sorted.

the plants that survived the winter (and Emma-dog) were placed in pots and then the soil covered with river rocks...sort of Zen garden meets dog-proofing....

 our little evergreen seedling now has it's own pot...and was promptly dug up by a squirrel...*sigh*...but I put it back in and it seems to be none the worse for wear.

there's something about the time spent in hard labour of a garden that brings a measure of peace to everything else...

gifts in the garden

a gift of garden knick-knacketry from Grandma....

a gift of colour from M....

...and a gift of the wind from Mother Nature...a wee evergreen that sprouted on the edge of a not-doing-anything-else pot.

through the key-hole #1 ~ sink view ~

Inspired by the lovely Mon over at Holistic Mama....this is the first in the 'through the key-hole' series. 

Not a terribly inspiring view in and of itself...my fave sink-view was my old house in Guelph where I could wash dishes and look out into the garden. Any future, permanent-type homestead will be judged very seriously on it's sink view, I can assure you.  Nonetheless, this one is made interesting by how it represents *us*....drying paintbrushes, a plastic scorpion, tea-balls and reusable bags; and, taking the hideous off the speckled backsplash, on the wall to meditate upon is a verse, a mantra for life and a beloved picture taken from my Nanna's house in England after she passed. 

Memories, philosophies for life and a love of art woven into the fabric of daily life.....magic in the mundane. Kind of inspiring after all.

in which there is paint

Sometimes we have attacks of spontaneous painting......

Like sometimes I'm  in the middle of something else and then the urge overtakes someone and then we simply must paint....

It isn't usually Sebastian with this compulsion...he hasn't shown a whole lot of interest in painting and drawing in the past...so it's always interesting when the mood takes him.

He worked on a canvas, I messed around making backgrounds for my visual journal.

There was much applause and mutual admiration of our efforts.

bereft of photos

Because Sebastian is hogging the laptop where all my photos are waiting....a few random things about the last few days...

~ Our (meaning Savannah and I) official new favourite cartoon -- The Angry Beavers -- irreverent, goofy humour, most of which I'm sure goes over Savannah's head...but the deep, belly-laughs are genuine so who cares? She has evidently inherited my warped sense of humour. Add to it the fact it was initially canceled 'amidst controversy' makes it even more appealing.

~ Emma-dog got trapped in her blanket some time during the night. It's the blanket she cocoons herself up in in her crate and I have no idea how long she was stuck. I had to cut her out of it this morning. I'm torn between hilarity and terror - theoretically she could have strangled herself. Then again, maybe she shouldn't have nibbled holes in it.

~ I awoke yesterday to the gift of a dead mouse in the hallway.  I had no idea we even had mice, although B had pointed out that Snowbell has been adopting a Mighty-Stealth-Killer pose every time she comes in the laundry room. Nevertheless, I prefer mice in context,  ie. in barns and fields, and am none too happy with the idea of one in the house. I resisted the urge to photograph the rodent crime-scene...complete with the other two cats gathered around like innocent by-standers. Methinks it's time to re-anoint my peppermint sachets.

And that is how it went....

following our feet..

It started off as a trip to the bulk food store -- heavens-to-mergatroid the squirrels are out of peanuts -- plus I needed flour and cinnamon.

We battled through the casualties of the weekend storms....it's more fun to clamber OVER these things, than to walk around them....

Where once a tatty old used car dealership stood, is now this scar on the landscape. Future site of a pain management clinic [prompting the unenlightened to fly into fits over all the crackheads and heroin junkies that would surely be cluttering up the place -- someone may have inadvertently mentioned methadone] Even though the car dealership was grotty and abandoned, there were some lovely old trees to brighten it up . They're not there now. We are not amused. Savannah has issued an ultimatum which involves speedy construction and the planting of many trees and shrubs to replace those torn down.


Halfway to the bulk food store, Savannah decided she was thirsty. Thusly, we carried on to the coffee shop for refreshments and people-watching.

We eventually wandered back to the bulk food store and got in our supplies -- with a few extras, of course.  It was decided after we did our shopping that we would walk past the 'haunted house' on our way home...

Sometimes we're up for the terror, sometimes not.  Debate rages over 'haunted vs. not-haunted', 'abandoned vs. occupied'.  Hard to tell. Although the tree in the front yard is gorgeous. On this, we at least agree.

Musings over a large lollipop -- which, by Savannah's estimation will take approximately one year to finish -- brought us to the conclusion that a side-trip to the park was in order...after all, it's going to rain the rest of the week...

And so we swung and dug in the sand and watched the painting people learn how to use their ladders and made silly faces into the camera...

Such freedom this, in following our feet....

long absences...

A camera-on-strike and a not-very-exciting-winter are to blame....spring has sprung, the camera has decided to work again but beyond that, no promises.  Pure randomness is our new theme.

We've played a vast amount of computer games but been a bit light on the crafting...

Five people competing for the use of two computers has presented something of a challenge...we're working on it.

We're proud members of the Pro-Dandelion Movement (pure fiction, as far as I can tell, but one never knows these days) -- enjoying the brilliant yellow-against-green of the early bloomers and the great fun to be had in the blowing about of wishes...

These were all taken on our latest trip to the park on Picnic Tuesday...as we lay on our blanket, feasting on jam sandwiches and blackberries, we felt genuinely sad for all the kids stuck in a classroom on such a gorgeous day.  After a moments' reflection, we went back to our cloud-spotting and burying of bare toes in warm sand.

Life, as they say, is good.