Live Art

We had a great day this past Friday.  Danielle, Lois and I hung out with Danielle's Mom and Dad for the day doing crafty stuff.

First we had to decide which willow branches to use to make our easels.

Too many to choose from!

Once we had our branches we got to work sawing off the extra pieces

Not as easy as it looks!

How many people does it take to cut some wood? :)

While we were busy crafting the kids were in the sandbox, looking for pet worms.  The rest of the day was spent with Danielle's Dad - who kept our kids well fed and made the day quite enjoyable for them :)

Teagan was feeling a bit left out :(  But managed to happy for the most part!

After our pieces were cut to size, it was time to get them into the easel shape.

 It was good to have help to see what looked best!

Looking good Lois!!

Next was getting some ideas on the frame that would be displayed on the easel.

Chicken wire to hold it all together

Oasis was put on the back of the frame to keep the artwork moist and "alive"

Old political signs for the backing (talk about being resourceful!)

Now it was time for us to go searching thru the garden to look for live plants of all sorts to put in our frames.

So much to choose from!

Searching here, there and everywhere!

Back to the table with our treasures from the garden

 A variety of pine cones, bark, twigs...you name it, we used it!

Cara looking on, watching her Mom carefully

One of Lois' favourite tools

 My pre-finished work of art

 Danielle's pre-finished work of art

Lois' almost completed work of art

 Lois is done!  Nice work....loving it!

 Danielle tightening her wires

 Danielle and I show off our work (between the three of us, we didn't finish our artworks at the same time...so unfortunately we couldn't get a final picture together :(

My artwork displayed in our backyard.

What a fantastic day!  Thanks so much to the Danielle's parents for allowing us to get together and use your gardens for our artwork!!  Now I have a "live" piece of artwork in the backyard - I actually have to remember to water it so it keeps growing - how cool is that!!

Very Awesome

 

Willow branches, baba ganoush, chicken wire, picture frames, moss, broken mirrors, worms, hens & chicks, and lots of beautiful sunshine!

I'm a tad too tired to post about the entire day - so I'll leave my blog with just one picture, and the above obscure list of things pertaining to the day.  I had a great day spent at a great house with some great people (not all of them are pictured here!).  I'll post about the day tomorrow I hope....for now...I'm going to bed!

Detail

I am realizing that I like taking pictures real close up.  Especially flowers lately...just cause it's spring ;)  I love the detail and beauty of the flowers popping up in my garden....something new almost everyday now. What a blessing it is to see God's creation thru the small intricacies of a little flower.

Annuals

Danielle and I took a trip to Connon's Flowers where we finally used our wagjag deals to get some annuals for the garden on Monday - the front garden was looking rather boring, so it was about time! 

Even though I've waited a bit long to plant, I'm now glad I waited till today to plant them because of last night's storm - I'm fairly certain the flowers would have floated down the street with all the rain and wind we had (weather people are investigating to see whether a tornado or two touched down here in Hamilton)!

 I'm a sucker for buying what I'm used to - so impatients it is again.  We'll see how they do - it really depends how hot and sunny the summer is, I'll just have to wait and see!

At least for now there's a bit more colour in the front yard!

Mom, Mom! Come Take My Picture!

Anna came tearing in the house today saying that I needed to grab the camera as quick as I could and take her picture right away...

I guess Sara was WILLINGLY giving Anna some hugs this afternoon

 Anna had this totally content, happy (and maybe even a "finally") look on her face while Sara was giving her hugs (Sara typically doesn't quite appreciate Anna's enthusiasm for physical contact!)

Ahhh....feel the love :)

Clematis

Time to Say Good-Bye

We said good-bye to our hot tub friend today

The kids got their last splashes in the water 

 We sold it on kijiji - the guy came with a few buddies to take it out

 Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate very well.  In the hour they were here we had a pretty big thunderstorm roll thru - lightening, thunder, wind and heavy rain accompanied the move

 After much lifting, dragging and pulling they got the tub out of the backyard and onto his truck

 What a big job!!!

And now we are left with a nice little area for "something" - we have to work that out yet what that will be - but we are glad to be done and have the space!

Play Day

Timothy School enjoyed their annual Play Day today - and what a beautiful day they had!  It was perfect weather to be out, not too hot and not too cold - and NO rain!!  I enjoyed watching the kids compete this morning at various events...

 Dress up relay for Caleb

 Esther over-flowing with clothes

 Too much to handle Esther?

 Frisbee Toss

 Hmmm....is flag holding an event Caleb?

 Potato sack race - or hide-in-the-sack event for Caleb - I think he spent the most time IN the potato sack

And here's Anna - she actually wasn't bored (didn't complain about walking around anyway) - but I think she's certainly looking forward to enjoying this day herself next year!

Alvar the Hun

I think in most marriages "pet names" are fairly common.  I rotate between a few for Alvar - "Hun" being the one I use the most (note the spelling).  Yesterday during an "MSN" conversation, Alvar made mention that I was writing the wrong one.  I suppose that being associated with a Hun is not the nicest thing (Alvar isn't a barbarian, doesn't shepherd cattle or sheep, isn't into wearing animal skins and he's not nomadic) - oops, I guess that it happens more often that we innocently use (or write) words that don't really have the meaning we thought they did!

So, I will change my writing to accommodate the proper pet name, "Hon" (short for Honey).

Creepy Crawlies

Since we've moved I've enjoyed a fairly "creepy crawly" free house.  Or so I thought...lately there's been a few unwanted guests wondering thru the house (I guess no house is bug free, right?).

Esther discovered this guy sitting at the top of our stairs today - looks like he was guarding his post or something.  Ew - gross, gross, gross.

I snapped his picture and then sucked him up with the little vacuum.  I couldn't bare the thought of just letting him roam around the house and somehow ending up in my bed at night while I'm sleeping (yes, this is a phobia for me for sure - I have sleepless nights if there's some sort of bug in the room before I go to sleep that hasn't been disposed of!).  Well, this guy is now in the outside garbage...hopefully revenge is not in his blood and he doesn't make his way back inside!!