Creativity

Amidst all the craziness around here I have managed to find a little time to play with some paper and glue... I started a little mini album about Nathaniel and I. It will document our first impressions of each other, our favorite dates, our relationship timeline and lots of love letters and pictures from our dating years. When I finish it I will post some pictures. Here is a sneak peek at the cover page.



Lately I have been enjoying hand stitching on my projects.



I have also been making a lot of fabric flowers out of old sweaters and clothing I no longer wear.

Catching up

It has been far too long since I last updated this blog. I think I have a few good excuses.

1) I have had guests visiting from out of town.
2) I have been spending an inordinate amount of time outdoors.
3) I get distracted by all the other blogs I am following

Our precious friends from Kamloops came to visit us for the with their two little boys. It was good to catch up, go for walks, chat away the hours, eat delicious steak on the deck in the sun, play outdoors, and chill out.

Nathaniel's best friend. I believe they have known each other since grade six.



His amazing wife Julie....




Their oldest son Eli.....



And little Finn...



A few pictures from our weekend....

Feeding the horses:





Playing outside in the "little house"



Fresh eggs from our chickens..






Some cowboys...

What we have been up to.....

Well aside from battling snotting noses, congestion, burnt fingers, sore throats and sleep deprivation...

we have been picking dandelions....



and fist fulls of rocks...



playing "house"...



loving the sunshine....



and playing with little friends.... (I am watching this little girl two days a week).











Needless to say I have not been spending much time doing housework.... so things around here have gotten a little messy.



Thankfully Amelia had a nice long nap today and I got the place tidied up. Ahhh how I love it when everything is in its place.

I am eagerly looking forward to having some friends come and visit over the may long weekend. If the weather is good we are hoping to.... have a bonfire and roast some wieners (the only way I will eat them), a barbecue ( I can't wait to sink my teeth into a steak), take a walk in the meadow, and play board games. Hmm it will be good to see old friends.

A very western day

This morning I spent the better part of two hours brushing, saddling and riding "paddler". I even spent some time riding bareback, which was a delightful experience. I asked Nathaniel to bring Amelia over when she finished her nap so he could take some pictures and she could see me on a horse.




Nathaniel spent most of the afternoon on a friend's ranch branding, castrating and tagging calves. I was going to go along but then decided it would be better if I didn't. In any case, Nathaniel had a blast, and he was covered from head to foot in dirt and dust when he walked in the door.



I love the intensity on his face in this picture.





At the end of the day I snuck in a bit of scrap booking...... all in all a good day!

Meet my Chickens....

Here is my little flock of birds!

This is "Priscilla" and she is my favorite. I love her big fluffy head. Half the time she can't see anything and runs into things... including me. She is always trying to escape and she doesn't like to be put in her hutch. I saw her lay two eggs yesterday. Pretty exciting!





This is Piper and Penny. They are miniature chickens and they keep to themselves for the most part. The cat gave them quite a scare on their first day and they have been petty timid ever since. I don't blame them.



This is Felicity. I named her after the girl from "the Road to Avon lea" because she has these HUGE fluffy bloomers and she is VERY bossy!



The black chicken behind "Felicity" is "Alice". I let my little friend down the road name her. She is always inspecting the eggs the other chickens lay. She also likes to chase piper and penny.

My last chicken is "Stella". She has a little faux hawk going on upstairs and she is pretty feisty. This picture is pretty blurry but she would not stand still long enough to take a decent photo.



Well I had better go and tuck in my birds....

Glorious Sunshine and chickens!

I was thrilled to be able to put on a pair of shorts today. Even Amelia had her clogs and a summer skirt on.



We spent most of the day outdoors on our deck soaking in the delicious warmth of the sun. I think I may have even gotten some color. In any case Amelia was practically asleep before she hit her mattress this evening, which was great because it allowed me to do some yard work before the sun went down. Our yard and surrounding property are a bit disastrous at the moment and I would like to remedy that before we invite people over for a barbecue.



For those of you that know how much entertaining terrifies me - I invited a complete stranger over yesterday and my house was a DISASTER!!!!! In any case we had a great little visit and she didn't run away screaming or turn her nose up at me. I always have irrational fears about people thinking I am sloppy or something. I really don't know what my problem is? In any case I need to get OVER IT so I am taking baby steps.

My silly cat incubating or rather squashing the strawberries Nathaniel transplanted.



I am so excited because I get to meet my chickens tonight. My hubby has been in Vancouver and kamloops for the past four days (picking up his bonsai, getting the truck's breaks fixed, hanging out with "John", eating sushi and picking up my much anticipated flock of birds from my dear friend Loretta.



Amelia curiously looking at the chickens as they take dust baths. I love the ones with the puff heads. Loretta calls they her "show girls".

It was a good day today

I really feel like I am starting connect with my community. This morning there was a mothers day tea at at the community center and I found myself chatting easily with everyone. Chilcotin women are pretty amazing. Many of them where born in the area and grew up without power, water and electricity. They tell stories about the days when the road to Williams Lake was just a wagon trail and they rode their horses to the clinic to give birth. You would like that they would be out of touch with society, but in fact they are well articulated,friendly, and incredibly well rounded women. Unfortunately I didn't get to take any pictures of the women I just described but I did take a picture of my neighbor Audrey (gardening extraordinaire) and the RCMP secretary and her daughter.







In the afternoon we attended a birthday party for one of Amelia's friends. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and thus have no picture of the festivities. It's a funny thing spending so much time with people you hardly know. Everyone gets together fairly frequently and yet conversation can sometimes be a challenge. We all know that we will only be together for two years or less but the desire for frienship forces us together whether we have anything in common or not. In any case, this afternoon I felt a bit more comfortable and had some fun.

We have been spending a lot of time outdoors now that the weather has improved. I just want to bask in the sun for hours. Amelia enjoys picking the grass in HUGE hand fulls and picks up every rock she sees. It makes for some slow walks.



Ended the day with a delightful salad....



....and snuggles with a very happy baby girl :0)