She who breaks things...part 2

After our trip around the amazing house of all things broken (see previous post), we sat down for tea and goodies...

Norene informed us that these lovely dishes would have to break themselves before she uses them.

Aren't they pretty?

We then ventured out into her garden....

A hand blown glass globe greets you at the gate...

...where there were....you guessed it...

...more mosaic masterpieces....

As well as funky curly, rusted bits and bobs of creativity...

The throne of moss and old bed springs...

birds nests made of weathered wire, stuffed with moss and found egg shells...

Then we went down to the wild coast of East Sooke and one of Norene's collecting beaches...

The day was gorgeous and the view spectacular...

We poked around in the tide pools...

And discovered all kinds of creatures...

We made some collections of our own....

...a perfect summer day.

She who breaks things...part 1

My niece Meghan is visiting for a few days from the mainland, so yesterday I took her over to my friend Norene's house.

Can you guess what kind of artist she is?

As we drove up in front of her studio Meghan said with delight "So she just breaks things?!"

Yup. She just breaks things and turns them into works of art.

Norene Schumuck...dish breaker extraordinaire!

As we toured her studio, we were flaberghasted at the amount of dishes on shelves.....

...this is only a small portion...

...ready for the breaking.

Collections of beach glass and pot shards tumbled by the waves...

Everywhere you look, something is covered in beautiful mosaic...

...a desk in the workroom...

...the walls...a work in progress...

Someday these maniquins will be adorned in broken dishes like the ones she did a few years ago...

Now, that was just the studio...then we went into the house....

The main entrance way...

...look closely...it's everywhere...

the window casings...

 ...the lamps...

...the kitchen floor...

...the back splash...

So next time you drop a tea cup...think that it may have a second life over at Norene's house.

Lazy...

Summer time....

...and the livin' is easy.

And I love to live so pleasantly...

...live this life of luxury...

...lazing on a sunny afternoon...

In the summer time...

song for friday...song for a heartache

 Last Saturday night we went to watch Barney Bentall perform with Shari Ulrich and Tom Taylor.

Barney was well know back in the '80s & '90's for his work with The Legendary Hearts.

Trying to balance his life as a family man and a musician, he gave up touring and bought a cattle ranch in Alberta. I think he's the sweetest sounding cowboy I know.

 He's back in the music biz now, but as he puts it, "Only if a song won't leave me alone".

So there he is out there with his dogs, his horses, his cows, the cold, the dry and that big open sky...

...and by the sounds of it, a heartache or two.

 This song seems to tell an age old story of the fear of big love and how even no matter how much it scares you, grab on and go for the ride.