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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

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Song for Friday...secret crush...

This one's for a friend of mine who loves Mark Knopfler.
What's not to love!?
I remember the first time I heard Dire Straits...
High school...lunch hour...
a friend had just bought a Japanese pressing LP of  'Sultans Of  Swing'...
He had this unbelievable sound system and, well, 
it was one of the best albums I'd ever heard...
still on my list of desert island music.
Do you have one of those lists of music you couldn't live without?
Anyway, have a great weekend all....

What the?!

AAHHH SPRING!!
Birds singing, cherry blossoms fluttering on the warm breeze,
Buds poking out of the warm, rich soil, daffodils and tulips in bloom......
But wait...
(cue: car- screeching- to- a- halt sound)
WHATS THAT?!
Yeah, that's right...SNOW.
Seems like Mother Nature was up all night playing a prank on us here 
in the Pacific Southwest of Canada.
You see, we here like to boast of living in the banana belt and being able to
walk around in shorts for most of the year.
O.K, I don't but SOME people DO!
So this morning this was the scene out to the hen house.
Any other day prior to April 1st I would be more than happy to see a bit of the white stuff.
But not on my chives and tulips...
This is my garden first thing this morning...
I know two goats who are flabbergasted by the whole business...
And then there's my poor little pansies who are having to endure all kinds of weather surprises...
Do I detect a tear on that little face?
I guess this is what it's like in the REAL world of Canada.
But just the other day I talked to my daughter in Toronto and the weather was gorgeous there.
Just goes to show you...when you think everything is grand, Mother Nature throws a curve ball your way.
Or should I say 'snow ball'?

Monday, April 11, 2011

The Project: Part 1...

A few months back, my friend Norene, mosaic artist extraordinaire ,
volunteered her time and talent (and LOTS of broken dishes) to the
local grade 5 students of Poirer Primary school in Sooke.
This class will leave the school this June to go on to Middle School in September.
Their teacher Charmaine and Norene thought it would be a great idea to leave a mark
of their years as students here.
Charmaine, explaining about the project...
The class is french immersion, so I'm scraping together some of my broken french as I listen to
the class conversing.
Ideas!!
 The piece will be a five panel depiction of the school and surrounding community.
It will go here, at the front entrance to the school...
It'll add some colour and fun to the space!
I'm helping a bit with it so I thought I would document it as well as cutting dishes and refilling glue trays.
The first thing we did was to go into the class and get them to draw one picture
each about the school, the village or whatever else the kids thought would show
a story of where they live and what they see around them.
 Norene and I took the pictures home and with the help of her son, Quinn,
we 'interpeted' them 
onto the plywood panels.
Norene and I organized the dish pieces into bags and labeled them so it wouldn't get too
crazy with all the sections and colours of the panels.
This past Thursday we went into the school and continued from last week
gluing, cutting...
The kids are really excited about this project and are doing a terrific job...
Soon we'll be at the grouting stage which should prove to be really fun and messy!
In the meantime, the mosaic is taking shape...
Stay tuned for the next chapter!!