The right stuff...

So your`re off on a perfect summer day to the river...

Check your list to make sure you`ve got all the right stuff...

swim suits? Check.
snacks? Check.
sunglasses? Check.
snorkels and masks? Check.
camera? Check.
dogs? Check.
duckling?......what?!
Yup...duckling!
Check!



Last week we hiked down to the Chemainus river, through bee buzzing fields of alfapha... 

Pastures long since abandoned by cows...

...down to the warmest swimming holes...

...and yes, with duckling in tow!

My friend Irma had been given an orphan duckling by someone who

found her all alone in a field. I supposed that something may have

plucked her up and accidently dropped her before the human found her.



Since she hasn't been accepted by Irma's other ducks, she's been following around her surrogate

mom and has a bit of separation anxiety when left alone.

So what better place to take her than for a swim in the river on a hot summers day!

Rachel was in heaven too!

We all got in on some ducky-love...



Her name is Buttercup.



Time for a little stroll up river...

We could walk for miles and miles on this lovely July afternoon...

Delicate grasses dancing on the banks...



Griff and brother Frank...double doodle dog paddle...

...later we moved over to this great, deep swimming hole to finish off our day...

Best duck day ever!!

"Today is the perfect day for a perfect day."

Where does it go?!

Time, time time...never enough of it!

Between getting ready for the Sooke Fine Arst show, the garden, my neices visiting,

and work, it's hard to find little snippets to sit and write.

One of the fun things these days is that I have a new camera!

I've been wanting to get one for a while now and just couldn't pass

up the half price sale at London Drugs...oh the dangers of compulsive shopping!!

Anyway it's going to take me a while to figure out all of the bells and whistles

but so far I'm pretty happy. It's an Olympus EP3 which has interchangeble lenses

and it's quite compact for this type of camera.

There's a lot of different art filters built in so

I'll leave you with some of my experiments and bid you adieu

until next time!

 soft focus

 grainy film

 diorama

 playing with aperature

 pin hole

 cross process

 soft focus

 pinhole

 portrait

pinhole

pinhole

(gee, do ya think pinhole is my favorite?!)



Brand new 11...

Last week one of my nieces, Hannah, turned 11.

So on our beautiful spring Sunday, after viewing pink lilies,

I took her out to St Mary's church in Metchosin to see the white lilies.

I have brought this place to blog land before and at this time of year

it's a  temptation much too hard to resist and I must show you all again...

In amongst the sleeping souls, the carpet goes on and on...

We took time to read about the ones who've gone on and talked about 'Aunt Tracy' and

how much she would love it here...

When I can, I like to spend one on one time with my nieces and nephews.

It's quite the production to have them all together and this way I can

find out what they're up to and how their lives are getting on.

We went inside the little church to have a look at a fibre arts show and

to marvel at the beauty inside...

I love sun coming through leaded glass windows!

Another wander around the lilies and then off for lunch...

I love that even though Hannah is 'getting older', she still wants to run around like a 'little kid'.

This precious time between dolls and boys.

I gave her a little box of questions for slumber parties with ones like

"who's your celebrity crush" and

"if you had one wish for the world, what would it be?"

It was a lot of fun and we learned a few things about each other while we ate our calzones.

Next it was on to another tiny present...

These little fairy slippers are sold in our shop but you can
also find them on Etsy.
Nell makes these all by hand and they are PRECIOUS!!

I figured she has plenty of time for 'grown-up' stuff and the longer she can enjoy the

magical world of pink and sparkles...all the better.
Next we wandered down to Lazy Goat Land, a little petting farm behind the cafe...

They too are were enjoying the balmy spring day, looking froward to summer naps...

And what could be better to round off the day than ice cream

and a drive through the gorgeous Metchosin country side...

So life begins for a brand new 11 year old.