10 things that make me happy

i have been tagged by the adorable mathyld over at encore petite to tell you about ten things that make me happy. so here we go........

one my little family which consists of my husband & my two fur children, cheyenne and alfie.



two visiting my inlaw's beach house. i love going in the off season when we have the whole beach to ourselves.



three blue eggs. i don't even eat eggs but when we are on our travels & find blue eggs i have to buy them.




four sheep. i will one day have one of my own. until then i have to visit the farm to get my sheep petting time!.




five the sunsets on the lake in front of our house. they are incredible.




six seeing in the new year twice every year. being a relatively new transplant to the united states i celebrate the new year at 7pm EST & midnight. it's always fun to call home before i am tipsy & wish all my friends and family a happy new year!.




seven cooking. i love to make soups & bake bread so autumn is my favourite time of year. i am so happy in the kitchen chopping & prepping. and of course i really enjoy the eating!.




eight alfie. or alfie elvis darling if we are going to use his full name. i love this little dog & he makes me happy every single day. when i was in the hospital last year i was beside myself without him.



nine my best friend catherine. my partner in so many crimes. we have known each other forever but still maintain a fabulous friendship across the thousands of miles we spend apart.



ten well, the many friends i have made through blogging & crafting make me very happy!.

after the storm

things are getting back to normal since the storm. the tree has been tended to by the wonderful people at save-a-tree and we have a lawn again. it is still so bitterly cold so the snow is not going anywhere and the icicles are out of this world. like glittering swords. i have been spending quite a large portion of my days watching the birds visit the feeders in our garden. if this winter is anything to go by i can't wait until the spring birds visit.



i really must do some sewing this week. i have three dolls started but have been neglecting them due to all the feathered friend watching!. i do hope you are all keeping warm. pictured is my favourite recent visitor. which are your favourite garden birds?

snow

meet geneva. she adores the snow. i on the other hand have no love for snow whatsoever right now. yesterday we experienced storm number two. we already had a storm 3 days prior to this one. needless to say we are snowed in. the worst part of the storm was losing power & losing a lot of limbs off of my beloved 60ft pine tree. it is currently strewn all over our property. so i am not happy. i will be back with something more positive once i have thawed out.

't' is for tuesday and trees

where do i start?. i think it will be with the trees i have just added to my shop. little wish trees which i adore making!. trees are very special to me and when we bought the house i was so happy to have eleven trees total on my property including a huge oak tree and some twin oaks. trees are a lot of work, we discovered this upon moving here in the fall!. i have made these little trees that don't need any work at all. i was inspired by this description of a wish tree :


"A Wish Tree is an individual tree, usually distinguished by species, position or appearance, which is used as an object of wishes and offerings. Such trees are identified as possessing a special religious or spiritual value. By tradition, believers make votive offerings in order to gain from that nature spirit, saint or goddess fulfillment of a wish."



i have updated the shop this morning with the trees. there are also more dolls on the way. ones like 'polly' who is my new header star!. she is already on her way to her new home!.

i also think that bringing a little bit of colour into your home this time of year is extremely important for morale purposes, especially if you have been experiencing the weather we have been getting here!. last friday i was sitting on my chair looking outside into the back garden at one of my squirrel friends. if you know me then you know that squirrels and myself have a history as it were. i seem to find every broken squirrel and try to nurse it back to health. they really are fascinating little creatures. on friday my favourite little one was sitting enjoying the abundance of acorns in our garden.



come saturday our second major snowstorm this winter rolled on in leaving the entire neighbourhood looking like narnia...



and because old man winter is feeling especially cruel we have our third major storm on it's way this evening. another possible 25 inches of snow to cover my garden. i think i need to make a wish on one of the wish trees. possibly for less snow & a hope of not losing power!. stay safe & warm wherever you are right now.

where i work wednesday

i am a person who right now is lucky enough to craft all day every day, that is one of the bonuses of having major surgery a few months ago. probably the only bonus mind you. and i thought i would share with you a sneak peek of my craft room. i still have a long way to go with decorating & storage solutions but as soon as the weather is glorious i can open the windows & start painting!. that maybe quite a few weeks away though as we had snowfall last night & we are expecting a storm come the weekend. anyway, here is a little look at my desk which is directly under the window.



i try to keep my actual work surface as clear as possible as i find if my desk is clear i want to be in here more & doing what i like to do best - sewing!. i can't sew anywhere else, i am not one of those (lucky) people who are comfortable on the sofa in front of the tv sewing. if i did that my fingers would be riddled with pinpricks.

where do you craft?.

i have a vision

well, it's more of a lifelong ambition & that is to have a garden that produces herbs, food & very pretty flowers. now that i have all of this outdoor space i have been planning where i am going to plant various things & what i actually want to grow. it has been years since i have had a garden & every time the weather gets above freezing i have been ridding the various plots of earth around the house from unwanted plants/shrubs/weeds in preparation for the time when i can plant seedlings & seeds. i have been trying to source as many heirloom seeds as possible & found a lovely etsy shop which i ordered from. the seeds arrived very quickly & came in very precious little envelopes with handwritten planting instructions. i don't know about you but i love the personal touch when i order something from etsy. i am sad to say that i am finding etsy a little depressing now. i purchased a few things over the holidays & really did not feel i got that personal touch that i yearn for when buying handmade. anyway, enough rambling, back to the garden!. here is 'plot one', situated directly under the craft room window & the front of the den. this will be home to the herbs. i want to grow everything from chives to lovage & pretty much anything i can will to grow for me!.



the first batch of seeds i ordered were actually not herbs ( apart from the chives ) but they are for 'plot 2' which is under the lounge window & 'plot 3' which is the side of the house. the seeds were purchased from http://www.etsy.com/shop/myvictorygarden and i highly recommend this seller!.




so that only leaves me with one more thing. a question. what are you excited about growing this year?

ruby & lula and my disappearing days.

my husband has been away on business so i have been busying myself in the craft room. it's amazing how one can forget to do simple yet important things like eat dinner when left home alone with a huge pile of vintage fabric!. for the past few days i have been sewing so much that i start to get thirsty, look out of the window & realise it is dark outside!. anyway, enough of my rambling - meet ruby & lula.



ruby is a very talented banjo player & an avid chicken fancier. lula ran away to become a juggler in a circus troupe.

tomorrow the husband arrives home so i will be putting down my needle & thread to spend some quality time with him. i will hopefully manage to squeeze in a trip to the goodwill at some point. i really need to update the shop soon too. i am planning a new venture so it's going to take many cups of tea & a lot of concentration.....maybe it's something i will leave until monday unless i get a large amount of inspiration before then.....or if we get our promised snowfall that will render me stuck home!.

saturdays finds

ever since moving out of the big city & into the sleepy wilds, the charity shops have turned into the best places in the world. finding a bargain in the city never happened but now i squeal like a child every saturday morning knowing i am bound to find something fabulous for not much money at all!. last week it was the plank table which is featured in the photograph - yesterdays finds are sitting on it. this week somebody who had a penchant for pink kitchen things had cleared out their unwanted wee things & for that i thank you!. i was not leaving the shop without the large printed framed 'immaculate heart of mary' much to my husbands upset as he does not like it at all. i also found a 1909 copy of 'cranford' with beautiful illustration plates for 49 cents. i love old book smell & this is like having a mini bottle of it to inhale whenever i want!. all in all a good little trip to the goodwill!.




quite a lot of running around was done yesterday but i guess it's all part of having a new house. it is supposed to rain today but that is a good thing as i have three dolls that need limbs & clothing. i'm off to do some sewing!.

a new year & a new direction

well hello there 2010!. i can already feel the magic that is going to happen this year. i am going to be using this is my main blog from now on, so please check back here for all the updates i will be making to my shop!. i am in love with making dolls right now. there will be many more & a shop update very soon but until then i here is.........i have no name for her yet!.