Remember me?

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post.  I think maintaining a blog is like maintaining a friendship, or a marriage....you have to put a little effort in it.


Now for the excuses.....in the past week my best friend had a death in her family, another friend welcomed her first grandchild, my kiln broke and I had to order parts and do the repair myself, I attended a graduation event, a 60th wedding anniversary and yesterday my father-in-law had a pacemaker inserted then suffered a mini-stroke.  Yikes.  


My father-in-law is stable but in hospital.  He is 86 and although his heart is giving him a lot of problems his mind is as good as ever.  My mother-in-law is 81 and in excellent health; they still live in their own home which is a large farmhouse and they somehow manage to keep the house and lawn immaculate.  The only help they have is that our son goes there once a week after his grandfather mows their 2 acre lawn with a ride-on mower Isaac uses the  weed trimmer and hand mower around the trees and flower garden.  My mother-in-law bakes every day; pies, bread, rolls and cookies are sent home to each of her "kids" every week and she has a different one of her 5 kids and/or their families for supper almost every night.  


It is so hard for her to have her husband in the hospital over an hour's drive from their home and we really wonder how much longer they can stay in their big house.  It has been their home for their entire married life (64 years) and all 5 kids were raised there.  It is so sad to see people get old and I am not a big fan of change but I guess that is life.


Ok, I didn't mean for this post to be a downer...thankfully my husband is one of 5 siblings and we have lots of family to help out.  I'll try to update a little more regularly.

Friday musings

Looks like a beautiful weekend is in store for us....hot and sunny. I just finished this book....and I have to say...I must have a very tame, boring life.   

On another note...isn't this the cutest little bunkhouse you 've ever seen?

I'm saving this picture for inspiration.  My sisters and I share a waterfront lot on a lake very close to my house.  I have this idyllic idea that we will each build a little bunkhouse someday at the lake and we will drink wine and socialize.  For now we have a retro 1960's trailer that we all share...and it's not at all photogenic.  We've nicknamed it the "Eisenhower Trailer" and we do have a lot of fun there...and we do drink wine...so I guess that's a start right?

10 on 10 June 2012

I'm joining with Rebecca today for 10 on 10.  Here is my set for this month;

#1 Spinach salad is on the menu this week

#2 Garlic goodness

#3 My shadow....never more than 10 feet away from me...best dog, ever

#4 Face in the tree

# 5 Pottery baby set I'm working on for my nephew's baby

#6 New designs I'm working on  in the studio...mugs featuring retro campers

#7 Barn reno continues...new window is in and shingles are almost complete

#8 The screen porch is getting a lot of use these days

#9 Gathering up supplies for my first attempt at homemade soap

#10 I'm starting this book today....I wonder if all the hype is deserved or not?

Cat Envy

I snapped this picture of Charlotte napping on the windowsill this morning...while the rest of us were busy getting ready for the day.  I'm a bit jealous of her lifestyle for sure.  

This weekend leaves no time for napping, we have 2 birthday parties, a work "frolic" to replace the deck at the lake property we share with my sisters and their families and sadly a wake to attend as well.  What's your weekend look like?

Garden projects and a Viral Video

This year I have decided to limit the amount of annual flowers I plant in containers and windowboxes because I have a lot of perennial beds to look after and we expanded our vegetable gardens this year as well but I did pick up a few plants on our anniversary road trip that needed planted.....

As usual Calvin was around to lend a hand where needed......

I love this early clematis vine (Guernsey Cream), I have it climbing up a trellis in front of the kitchen windows.

This is the start of the moss basket I plant every summer, you start with a wire basket-shaped frame and line it with moss then line the moss with a dark plastic trash bag and fill the bag with  potting soil.  Then you take a knife and poke holes in the plastic and gently add plants from the outside in through the spaces in the wire basket frame, through the moss and finally through the hole you cut in the plastic liner so that the plant roots are in the middle of the basket where the soil is....

I keep adding plants and filling the basket layer by layer building up the sides with  more moss and soil and plants (the basket is a bit hard to see hanging in the maple tree with the hedge behind it...everything is green...

Here is a closer look, I covered the plastic that was showing with another handful of moss and kept on building upwards.....

Herb plants to put in a little "kitchen garden" clay pot that I am going to put outside my kitchen door..hopefully it will inspire some meals this summer...

Final picture of the moss basket...over the summer these plants should keep growing until the basket looks like a giant ball of blossoms.

Herb garden planter consisting of; basil, oregano, dill, rosemary sage and lavender.

I'm including a link to a very funny video made by some students from Sussex, New Brunswick...a farming community not far from here.  It has gone viral and I think the boys are going to be on the "Ellen Degeneres" show....it takes a minute for the video to start...but it's worth it, here it is:

From Sussex and I Know it

Anniversary weekend

We celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary this weekend.  Saturday morning we left early and stopped at the farmer's market, had breakfast and picked up a few things for a picnic.

We drove along the St. John River and stopped to take a look at anything we found interesting.

This abandoned church was not far from a farmhouse that people were living in....they must mow the church lawn when they mow their lawn because it was obvious that no one has used this church for years.

Along the St. John river there are at least 4 of these cable ferries/barges that are free to use. The cars line up on either side of the river and the ferries constantly transport cars, people and motorcycles across the river.  The ferries are attached to a heavy steel cable that runs under the water and attaches securely to the land on either side of the river.  We went on 3 different ferries during our little anniversary roadtrip.

We stopped and had lunch at a little picnic area....this was the view across the road from the picnic table....this new house under construction will have such a beautiful view of the river...I wanted to move into it.

Love these cupcakes from the farmer's market....yum

Love our strange expressions....I don't know why but setting the self timer on the camera and then running into the picture always cracks me up.

I had to jump out of the car and take a picture of these cows...don't you love the puzzled expression on the guy in the the lower part of the picture?

Waiting in line to board our 3rd ferry of the day

Wild lupines by the river.

We had a great day driving around and since we stopped at a couple garden centers I bought a few more plants but I'll do a gardening post later in the week.