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...a glimpse into life on Vancouver Island, needle felting, photography, food, gardening, etcetera...etcetera
"Happiness always looks small when you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and at once you learn how big and precious it is."
Maxim Gorky

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Staying Power...

I love toys.
I don't mean the plastic encased, fad driven, advertisement based products
or that really out of proportion girls doll...
Or the million pieced robot alien things...
I'm talking about the ones that seem to last throughout the years that have charm and character...
I have a big basket full of things in the studio for kids that come and play and I try to keep things in there that I think take a bit of imagination to play with....although they may not look exciting to start with, I've never had any kids get bored with the toy basket.
Some things I have are not old but destined to become classics...
This little wooden carved fox...
...or these beautifully made figures. They are made from a really durable hard plastic and you name it...you can usually find it amongst the vast collection this company produces.
How about this little band of finger puppets? One of these days my nieces and nephews and I will make a grand stage and props for these fellows.
Then there's the old timeless ones like Leo...an old favorite of my husbands boyhood.
(I added the felted crown...he just seemed like he deserved one after 40+ years of being played with!)
This old toy train, complete with tracks AND a tunnel came from a rescue operation in my great Aunt Thoras' basement...it was headed for the junk pile...
Along with this hundred year old doll carriage...
The wheels are a bit rough but the kids are allowed to play with it gently and indoors.
 I got this one in a grab bag at the Sally Ann when my daughter was a little girl...
it's one of those toys that has a little button on the bottom that you push in to make it 'dance'.
It's travelled with us to many different houses and always seemed to find its way to a windowsill where it sits and reminds me of innocent times...
These two dolls came from my childhood. My father brought them back from the Far East when he was in the navy and were only brought out once in a while.
We had what was called a 'rainy day box' which contained a collection of special toys which we were allowed to play with on days when school was cancelled or it was too dangerous to go out because of thunder and lightening storms. 
We would sit at the kitchen table and examine all of these exotic things from far away places.
It seemed to make them that much more precious when we only took them out 5 or 6 times a year...
So cherish those things that are well made or have a special story to them...
because they may just be in the hands of the next generation one day and they'll say...
"I remember when I was a kid and this toy........."

Friday, March 26, 2010

Song for Friday....East bound!

(thanks to... chuckmanothercollectionvolume2.blogspot.com/ for this image)

When I was about 10 years old, my Aunt Ellen took me downtown, Toronto, to see 'Bedknobs and 'Broomsticks'.
It was dark and rainy and the neon lights were everywhere.
It was the first time in which I got a real sense of what 'downtown' was all about.
The sounds, the excitement, the store windows, the crowds...
"Stay close to me" she said "Or you'll get lost in the crowd".
I was so mesmerized by it all and still to this day love the thrill of a big city!
On Monday I'm off to The Big Smoke...Hogtown...Toronto...
For Christmas, Tom wrapped up a plane ticket for me to go see my daughter, Aja.
She was here with her lad, Robert for a few weeks last June and before that we had a great visit while she was living in Dublin...
I miss her like crazy and I'm pretty excited to hang out in the city with them for 12 days...
Go and visit a few old haunts, shop on Queen Street...take LOTS of pictures...see a few shows...definitely go the the Shoe museum...maybe a train ride to Ottawa for the day...see  family
like the song says...
"Downtown...
Everything's waiting for you..."

Monday, March 22, 2010

Good News!

Today is a great day for a tiny creature the size of your thumbnail!
This photo thanks to sitting knitting's blog
Here is a quote from NBCLA to explain...
  "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began releasing rare Palos Verdes blue butterflies Friday morning, more than a decade after they were thought to be extinct.
The little butterfly is native to Southern California but was considered extinct by 1987. Ten years later, a small patch of them was discovered in San Pedro.
Since then, wildlife workers in several agencies have been breeding the blue butterflies in captivity and restoring the butterfly's natural habitat -- leading up to Friday's release, which also happens to be the first day of spring"

This photo was taken form nestbox's blog here
This is the kind of good news I like to hear. Even though it was the humans who almost destroyed the habitat of this creature, we are making good by bringing them back.
Sometimes we DO know how to do the right thing!

I read this book several years ago and it has some sad stories in it about extinction, but also has some very uplifting news of things coming back from the brink.
One very elusive bird with a sad story is the Ivory Billed Woodpecker who is believed to be extinct but recently there have been a handful of stories of people who have heard its distinct call and seen glimpses of it's distinctive white bill.
here

Let's keep the faith!
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/gallery/ivorybilled_woodpecker/ivory-bill3.jpg

Sunday, March 21, 2010

On their way...

What do you do with...
1 braying donkey...
an old howling dog...
 
a yowling scraggly cat...
and a skinny old rooster?
Stack them up...
...to support each other...
...and send them off to seek their fame and fortune!!