Forest Walk

Evening Eagle

So glad my camera was handy when I looked up to see this eagle in the arbutus/madrona limbs ......

It was just about dusk but I was hopeful the photos would turn out as I did have my new camera and I just set it at automatic. The next couple photos I lightened up so I could see the eagle better. 

 Then I caught him (or her?) just as she flew off for the evening......

 Ahhhhhh.... it feels so awesome to see these incredible birds spread their wings and fly ......

Summer Holdiays .... Oh Canada!

Summer vacation! The last weekend in June my husband and I flew up to Victoria, Canada and the weather was gorgeous for our week together on Vancouver Island. I took a few photos the morning we wandered about downtown Victoria near the harbour .....

 The Empress Hotel .... love that ivy and old architecture.....

Next to our hotel was a little plaza area with fountain and the emblems of Canada and its 10 provinces and 3 territories. The last one on the right is of the newest territory, Nunavut. Doris from True Blue Canadian told me how she pronounces this, "Noo-na-vut". I was living in the US when Nunavut was created and didn't hear the news as it happened back in 1999. Here is a bit of basics from Wikipedia "Nunavut /ˈnuːnəˌvʊt/ (from Inuktitut) is the largest, northernmost and newest territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999 via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the boundaries had been contemplatively drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map since the incorporation of the new province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949."

I couldn't resist catching a couple bird photos .....

 Hope you're enjoying a wonderful July where ever you are!

Paper Exchange

Yesterday the OT group got together to do some Gelli printing, always fun! We had a goal to accomplish, create three pages each to send off to Karen for the Painted Papers Swap. Of course you can't stop at just three pages when Gelli printing so here are my favorite three and they are now waiting in my postbox for their flight north.

I did a bit of practicing before out get together yesterday but using regular paper that had already been printed on one side, sometimes on both. I keep a box of junk mail and paperwork that I no longer need, for painting on. It is light weight but I can stitch two back to back and have some 'green' pages for a journal or other projects.

 Below is one done on fabric.

 And back to paper....

Hope you're having a fun, creative week!

This Week in the Yard and Shop

This year I have neglected our garden so I finally got out there and did some weeding and thinning and stacked some of it on the patio for Ken to bundle. Yes, some of it, there was more and there's still more to be done. Fortunately it's a wild flower garden so 'wild' it can be!

I occasionally find a dead fish on the lawn as a creek runs behind us. This frog discovered a great feast in this poor fish. He was waiting for the flies to emerge! (click on him to get a better view)

 In my shop I added a few new listings this week .....

My pre-summer closing sale continues through Sunday. 

French Open Couch Pooches ....

We enjoyed watching some fabulous matches from this year's French Open but not everyone in our household had their eyes glued to the tv.....

 Most of the time Nicolas was like this ....

 Occasionally he woke up to see if the match was still going .....

 Cleo kept her eyes open but they were glued on us waiting for treats or a walk....

Fun New Vase and Annual Before Holiday Etsy Sale

I had fun making this vase. I was thinking of a glass vase my mother had when I was child. I loved arranging the flowers in it for her as it had a lid with holes that held the stems in place. So I did the same with this one only this one is made of stoneware clay. It's now in my Etsy shop.

Another new vase in my shop is a classic petal vase. Click on the photo to blow it up or click here to see it in my shop.

A few other new items ......  

All of these plus everything in my shop is now 15% off if you use the coupon code THANKYOU15 when you check out. This is good through June 23, then my shop will close for the summer later that week. I'm hoping to make a little room on my shelves for when I start unloading the kiln again in the fall!