Beans & Burns

It really does amaze me that you stick a seed in the ground and in no time at all you've got dinner!

I think that I've mentioned before that we aren't so much into ritual, preferring to quietly celebrate our mish mash of pagan ways, so these wee pickings right around Lammas were a perfect reminder of the arrival of the harvests. Can you believe that these were planted less than 3 months ago?

We made a trip over to Presquile Provincial Park for a hike along their new wetland boardwalk. I was disappointed that I didn't see any frogs but there were some fantastic dragon flies with striped wings that dashed about everywhere. The trail also leads through some woods which are of the frightening storybook variety and filled with inspiring things like this fallen tree which I am certain is actually a portal into another realm :)

Another day trip over to Sandbanks Provincial park rounded out the weekend. We picnicked on the beach an swam in the lake and had a pretty nice day. On the way home however I realized I had enjoyed the sun a bit too much and have turned a lovely shade of magenta. I think it will have to be an inside day today.

Fairy Magic

While wandering up and down the aisles at my local grocery store I saw a stock boy cleaning up a smashed apple sauce container. I thought about how lowly that job is, admiring how he went about his work with quiet diligence, and quickly hid a fairy journal on one of the shelves behind him. I never imagined that he'd actually be the one to find it, or that he would care much if he did. And then...

"Hey! Look what I found!" I heard a boy exclaim. And there they were, three aisles away, two 16 year old stock boys huddled together looking very intently at something very little :)

How lovely is that and how lucky am I to have witnessed it?

Mr & Mrs Creepy Pants

I got a nice chunky stack of photos in the mail today. Some of them are absolutely lovely and will make outstanding leprechauns and fairy godmothers. Some of the people are absolutely stunning though I usually avoid buying photos of people who are too pretty. I prefer people who look like high school weirdos living 100 years ago. I like people with a bit of something extraordinarily ordinary about them.

Here are two characters in the lot that sort of give me the creeps. Although I'm not entirely certain why, I'm thinking it's the direct 'look into the camera' eyes. Usually people will be looking dreamily into the distance not giving a hypnotic stare.

I'm probably wrong but I can't help but think that they must have been kinda pervy or murderous... I'm sure I'm wrong ;)

Well, click on the images for a nice fat full res version you can use in your own making. I don't think I'll be using these folks myself. Hmmm, unless I do a Victorian murder series... which actually doesn't sound like such an awful idea.

Apparently Blueberries Need Fairy Godmothers

This morning while mowing the lawn I saw the most perfect mushroom (which I mowed around much to my husband's dismay), a teeny weeny frog prince escaping the blades of my mighty mower, a beautiful golden feather and several loverly, fluttery butterflies. Then I heard a *clunk* and the mowing ceased.

The rest of the day was 'one of those days' until after dinner when I went to do some making. It seemed as though the planets aligned, the gods smiled and everything just fit into place for a short while. It's nice when that happens.

I'm so proud of this gal. I really and truly love her. I spent ages on her but she was worth it. I'm so pleased with the finishing touches that happened tonight.

She is a fairy godmother to blueberries. I don't know exactly why blueberries need fairy godmothers but there are loads of things I don't understand so I'll just go with it. Anyway, she comes out at night and shoos away critters that eat more than their fair share from the bushes... as critters often do. I understand that she also likes to chat with fireflies. Who doesn't?

The Clurichaun

One of the things I've been working on over the past day or so is this fellow. I've had it in my mind to make something for the wine cellar... a clurichaun!

The clurichaun is a cousin of the leprechaun. They are well dressed, always in green and red, and are never without drink. If you are very lucky, and treat them well, a clurichaun might just move in and take care of your wine cellar. Mistreat them however and you will find your wine spoiled and havoc run amok!

Butterfly wings and bees wax

Our house guests are gone and we now have a couple of weeks all to ourselves. The pull out bed has been tucked away and my craft room is now mine once more! Time to get on to the making.

I had about a dozen mini canvases laying about and it was about time to put them to use. The result are these sort of dreamy mini collages covered in beeswax. They have lovely things like lavender buds and four leaf clovers stuck in them. A couple even have real butterfly wings embedded in the wax.

Don't worry, I didn't go butterfly hunting for this project. The wings have been sitting in my stash for ages after finding them along a beach years ago.

Please don't let it be a dead cat!

It's a lovely drizzly day here today. A fog is hanging over the tree tops and everything looks dreamy and out of focus. Hang on a second. What's that down there? A black spot on the laneway at the bottom of the hill. It's not moving. Can't be an animal can it? Oh please don't let it be the neighbours cat!

We're expecting a full house this weekend so I've been cleaning, scrubbing, washing, and mopping all morning long. After a few hours of glimpsing the black spot on the laneway my curiosity got the better of me and I strolled down to investigate.

Thank the gods, it's a hive! Must have fallen out of that old maple tree. No bees or wasps flying about(though the mosquitos are out in full force). I was just thinking about hives last night and so I carefully gather it up and take it back to the house so I can dry it out and have my way with it.

What a beautiful thing.