Is it really almost August ????!! YIKES!

Time sure has been flying by ... or melting & dripping by !! The last few days have been much better. But it has been a SUPER BUSY month regardless of the heat.
We have been planning some renos at home and were waiting for it to be cooler ... but that day wasn't coming so we jumped in !! My kitchen has had the old pantry counter ripped out and new stainless steel shelving added. Baskets & bins will make it all more organized. A new cookbook shelf is rapidly being filled ... yikes , another obsession ... and a baking shelf has been organized with lovely sparkling jars full of ingredients. I've filled totes with my ever expanding collection of cupcake papers, Hallowe'en candy EYEBALLS, coloured sugars, and all things yummy. It is all starting to come together ... now if only I could get the "temporary" table covered in all the odd pans, jars, ... out of the living room. Soon. Soon.
I have several boxes filled for the CAPS yardsale and more to come, I'm pretty sure. But I also had an email about 700 salt & pepper shakers ... I just put 2 sets in the yardsale box and was feeling pretty IN CONTROL OF MY LIFE .... now I feel all that absolute non hoarder control SLIPPING AWAY !!!
We went to Halifax on Saturday and scored some great new "Jack" things ... that's "Jack" from Nightmare before Christmas ... I love him and all the fab art that goes with him. We both now have great mugs to drink from and a great skeleton car antennae thingy. Pretty sweet ... might give us our skull fix until THE HESTER RIDES AGAIN !!! And, on that note, she is coming along really well. It will be a while before she can be painted but it is looking very FALL POSITIVE !!!
I picked up the new "Whoopie Pies" cookbook ... last night was sample run night ... tried out the Classic Whoopies with Marshmallow Filling ... so far so yum !!! Another flavour might be in the works as well as another batch of the originals for tomorrow's CAPS baked treat.
The other book ... okay - ONE of the other books (BOOK JUNKIES !!) was the Ultimate Guide to Root Cellars ... riveting reading I suspect ... but I am excited about having a root cellar ... I can then store all the bounty from my amazing little garden. Tonight I have to weed and then stake my tomatoes ... I have 31 tomato plants ... anyone wanting to attend a tomato festival ... ???? Anyway, I planted it 3 weeks ago and it is growing LIKE CRAZY !!! I have turnips (thousands!!), sugar peas, sunflowers, beets, black radishes, regular radishes, yellow squash/zucchini, green zucchini, 3 kinds of potatoes, basil, corn, ornamental corn, birdhouse gourds, broccoli, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, red & green cabbage, cauliflower, parsnips, WATERCRESS !!, spinach, leaf lettuce,onions, mesclun, red peppers, jalapeno, tomatoes of all colours & shapes, tomatillos, eggplant, and melons. PHEW !!! That was a lot to remember !!! I love it out there in my little patch ... patches .
I also spent a few days doing a MAJOR CLEAN-UP and ORGANIZATION of my work space ... studio ??? like they say in all the mags !! .... and I LOVE IT !!! My table is bigger and everything is all around me. I look out at the water and over at my sweet cats, all sprawled on their new bench. This is happiness !!
Next on the agenda is finishing the kitchen ... getting rid of that table in the living room ... and starting on the upstairs room that will be the laundry room after some shifting. Exciting times !! (wink wink !!) But in between all this we are planning a few big ol' BBQ parties, building some ladder ball games for the ULTIMATE TOURNAMENT, and just plain kicking back. Someone said on her blog to be sure to pause and enjoy summer and while that is a good idea ... I have to say ... PAUSE and ENJOY IT ALL !!! Everyone looks forward to summer to have fun but WE CAN HAVE FUN EVERY SEASON !!! Kick it up, plan something every month. LIVE IT LARGE !!!

Wow ... I have babbled on like a waterfall ... have a great week !!!
Pictures next week !!

Hmmm ... what's new ?

Not much new, I'm afraid ... it's been TOO HOT to be out there creating adventure & controversy. But here's a few snaps of the last few days ...
we had to take Emma to the Vet last week for a limpy leg ... now, she weighs about 20lbs and isn't keen on new places ... I had her at the store & she disappeared ... WHERE ARE YOU EMMA ????

Here I am !!!
hidden in a cupboard of plastic bags !!
Now what was DILLEE doing at home while Miss Emma LouLou was at the Vet ?

Just chillin' thanks !!!
Then our next big event was a NEW BED !!!
Emma had to check it out ...

Hmmm ... stomp around, check it all out ...

Yep, it's good !!!
How about a second opinion ...

Earl says "TWO PAWS UP !"
By now they have all had a turn on it and I see more of the Cleopatra beds in our future !!
And, on a totally different note, this is my funnel ... I love it !!!

I just realized the other night how much I like it so I snapped a photo. I bought it in Toronto several years ago and it is just like Bob Blummer's when he had the Toastermobile. Cool huh ?!!
And here's our latest adventure ... a new travel trailer !!!

No, a DUMPSTER !!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a dumpster ... very therapeutic ... a big ol' clean up is coming and I am pumped !!! It just needs to get a bit cooler ... and my ANNOYING COLD needs to disappear !!
And lastly ... look what I saw from my front step last night ... I LOVE WHERE I LIVE !!!

Have a great weekend !!!

CRABBY !!!

I gotta tell ya ... I'm crabby . No actually - CRABBY. There , BIG letters seem to express it better. I am really crabby. My cameras are not working to do my blog post for the store - I've wasted the last hour & half with them. I am HOT ... and not in a Paris Hilton kind of way. I hate summer ....... wow, there I said it. I do. I really do. It's not popular to hate summer but I don't care - I do. I LOVE fall and I LOVE winter . But summer ... I fail to see the beauty. HOT, sticky, thunder & lightening (terrified) , frizzy hair, maggots in my green cart, stink from the green cart, fruit flies, sinus headaches from the weather, coolers for groceries, sleepless nights, ... what is there to love ??? Where are the sweaters, cozy blankets, non-stinky green carts, apples, cool breezes, pretty snow ... ???
I am a NON SUMMER PERSON. So I am trying to convince myself that summer is not as bad as I think ... here goes .... ummmm .... I do have one BIG thing ...I have my garden. That is all I can think of ... but it does mean a lot to me. But you know, I could build a greenhouse and garden all year. Wipes that one out.
Do you have any great reasons why summer is good ??? Please share !!!

Yep, REALLY up to my ...

Well ... I haven't blogged for a few days because LIFE was in the way !!! My, it's been a week . I can really only give it a 5 out of 10. That's low for me.
On the PLUS side, we did get the garden planted and added a book shelf to the kitchen. I did enjoy a piece of my niece's FAB cake . I saw people I love and enjoyed that. I watched my Queen. I snuggled cats. I spent time with Charlie. All PLUSES.
BUT we did get our car ( our beloved Hester car) smashed up to the point that it is pretty bad , had the skull that we loved explode into a million pieces, get mixed up for a birthday party only to arrive at the end instead of the beginning, spent the last few days in insurance matters and giving police statements , watched the horrific riots in the city I love, and my chest is green and yellow from bruising ... and the bruises are only starting. SO the week LACKED a bit ...
BUT ... again ... that's all over and we are facing a DAY OFF and it is CANADA DAY ... one of the best days ... so , I think I am feeling a definite improvement in the future !!
HAPPY CANADA DAY !!!

Are they KIDDING ????!!!

Oh my ... a new low in advertising. Last night I saw a diaper commercial ... unbelievable. I find most of the diaper commercials quite weird ... the kids look to be ready for school and the diapers change colours, have magic pictures, whatever ...
But last night was way beyond that. Way beyond ... anything . A little boy struts confidently into a cafe and all the women stop to stare ... like they were staring at a movie star ... a movie star their OWN AGE. Then I heard the background chatter ... or did I ? Did they really say that ??!!! "I pooped in my pants. It's a number 2 but it only looks like a number 1. I poo in the blue." WHAT????!!! By this point I am sure that I am hearing things. That can't be.
Then these words pop up along the bottom of the screen.
"The coolest you'll ever look pooping your pants. "

Get outta town !!! EWWWWWWWWW !!



******************
On a totally different note - sure is !! - we celebrated our 25th anniversary on Tuesday. Hee hee ... I say celebrated but that is a bit of an exaggeration - I'm not sure you could call what we did a "celebration" !!! We got up at 4;30am and drove to Port Williams to pick up boxes of day old turkeys. We did stop at MacDonalds for a quick breakfast on the way to work !! Then we spent the day at work. By the day's end we were both SUPER tired and HOT. So hot and so tired that we decided to just go home ... and eat Kraft Dinner. So that is how we celebrated 25 years of wedded bliss. Pretty freakin' fancy huh ?!!
( I was going to buy the Extra Creamy KD but decided that we would save that kind of decadence for our 50th !!)
But actually, it was fine ! We had a day like many of our days together have been - sort of crazy, mixed up, unscheduled ... doing what has to get done ... but doing it together. And we found great joy in the day ... we were proud and happy to have been married for 25 years, 25 years of pretty smooth sailing. It is hard to plan a 'special day' because most days are already quite special - we laugh, we share, and we enjoy the day. We are not lacking anything really in our lives so we have no great wishes. So the day seemed appropriate and just the first on another string of many more. A day of great joy & love no matter what we did !!

THIS. IS. BLISS.

IS this real life or fiction ? You decide ...
SATURDAY :
* great day at work. Fun wonderful customers.
* a beautiful present - a ring made for me by a sweet customer.
* Charlie gets a present too from a customer - lobster.
* a visit from both nieces at work.
* lunch at Pearl's on a sunny beautiful day. Ice cream too !
* a lovely afternoon at home on the shore.
* BBQ t-bones & corn for dinner out on the back porch.
* after dark ... sitting up in the secret garden , listening to Hal Bruce play at the hall, beside a crackling bonfire, roasting wieners, drinking tea, checking out all the moon craters with our new telescope, watching the stars.

real life or fiction ??? REAL FREAKIN' LIFE !!! And I am so happy to say that it is mine !!! How lucky can I be ? sigh ... one happy gal !!!

( oh and I bet the cats were pretty happy too - they also scored lobster & a bit of T-bone steak ...)

Sometimes things just suck ...

Sometimes things really just do suck.
We got the news that the little tortoise shell kitten from under the floor ( I think 2 eyes) had died. I was heartbroken. Everyone did everything that they could for her but she was a "failure to thrive" kitten. But it is so heartbreaking. I know that's nature and life and whatever but I live in a head space of sugarplums and happy endings. I always think things will work out. Naive I guess.
It was a bad ending to a LOOOONNNG day. We had started at work 2 hours earlier than normal and ended an hour later than usual. In between we had sold 2500 chicks and all the things that go with them. It was a loooong day. Then the sad news. I just sat and sobbed. But then we went to Anna's (C.A.P.S.) and snuggled kittens and it helped put a much better perspective on the day.
I don't think you can be sad at CAPS ... all those lovely cats, sweet kittens, and big hearted people. It is really the best of humanity. I love it.

So ... in other news... not much. Work, chickens, cats, work ... all part of the circle of days. Gearing up for our 25th anniversary ... that's pretty exciting ! And a 5th birthday next week ... probably just as exciting for the little girl as our anniversary is to us. Father's Day falls in the midst of all this as well. I have new shoes, our garden is almost all plowed, I have a box of blueberries and a bag of cherries, and I have read a few good books lately. What more can I ask for ?
Have a great week !