Sunny walk

Yesterday was one of those truly beautiful Vancouver days...crisp and sunny all day long. Claire went on 2 walks..I took her on one first thing in the morning when it was still pretty frosty. Then all of us went out later on in the afternoon as it was still a glorious day. My time here is coming to an end for this visit, but I will be back as soon as I get back to BC. It has been such a special time to hold this little girl of mine.

Claire and Alexander

A really good day for Claire..she slept 4 hours last night between feedings..I am up with her now while she is talking to her fish. We also went to a walk in the rain in the stroller and she fell fast asleep! Amazing!


How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because some day in life you will have been all of these.

- George Washington Carver








New ones of Alexander pushing his lion..at 13 months his looks have sure
changed..I just love this wonderful smile of his..he has been out in his little play pool as well..enjoying life in Sri Lanka.

Family of three...

Happy 1st month birthday, Claire...once you start sleeping thru the night you will have passed another milestone.....hopefully today we can go out for a long walk with you in your stroller.

Bad Hair Day

Not sure who's hair looks worse..Mine I think..got caught in the downpour on the way from the house to the car...I am making some soup and heading out to get some groceries..Claire is having a really good morning and has decided to go back to sleep after her feeding. Julie is going out to meet a few of her girlfriends at Starbucks. It will be a lovely break for her.



Just hanging out with Dad...Mom having a shower getting ready to go out.


The tender touch.

Helping Out

It is my turn to help out. Julie's mom is going back to Victoria on Friday and I am helping out anyway I can..mostly it will be settling Claire down to nap after she has been fed. Time for Julie to rest and get her strength back..time for me to bond with Claire... time to take her for a stroller ride with Jeremy.
I am hopeful for more photos such as this one.

Being an Oma

My Stiff neck and all was no match for the love I felt when Jeremy handed Claire to me. What a wonderful feeling holding this little one...but she is truly fussy..she already has a fine voice and is not afraid to use it.
Julie's mom will go home to Victoria for a rest while I take over calming Claire and putting her to sleep after Julie feeds her. Sharon comes back Monday afternoon as I head back to AZ. on Tuesday. Jeremy is taking Friday off to spend the day with us. A lot of arranging to do this week.
Hopefully I will get more pictures of her in a calm and happy state.. I will take her for a ride in her buggy and tenderly try to get her to sleep when it is nap time.

Claire's Loot!

One of the good thing about having a big family is "Baby Loot". Some of these cute little outfits are from my sister Caroline and gift certificates from my sister Evelyne..I have made a few things as well as shopped for my little girl. Will take pictures of them when she has them on.
When Jeremy called me yesterday he asked me to keep my excitement to a manageable level...can you imagine that...me excited about seeing Claire?What was he thinking? Heading out in an hour..I hope to have new photos by 4:00 this afternoon.

Color in my life....

These are a few of the projects I am working on..when I get rid of this stiff neck I can start crafting again.....but my next week will be filled with all things named CLAIRE!
Leaving tomorrow for Vancouver...I know that I will have all kinds of new photos! Jimmy will be spending his time golfing and wondering what shelf he could build next...he is almost out of projects....imagine that!









Don't you just love these crochet balls of thread which are flea market finds...including some 1/2 finished doilies tucked inside the balls.

Knitting..

My first 2 attempts made little wash cloths for Claire...but this is one I am not sure of yet.

Just trying to learn the abbreviations and what to do with them. It is a soothing pastime.

Lessons with Frosso when I am in Vancouver on Wednesday.

Knitting is very conducive to thought. It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles, write a while, then take up the sock again.

Dorothy Day

Picnic at Saguaro lake

Jim and I went for a really nice long ride today. We drove north to the Usery Mountains and onto the back road called the Bush Highway.
I have always smiled at seeing this Phoenix sign on the Mtn.
Apparently before radar the pilots looked for signs such as these to know where the airport was..does that make sense to you?
Jim is 6'3"...this cactus is considerably taller than he is...we walked on the trail around the end of the lake. Guys were fly fishing, dogs were having fun in the water and the sun was shining.
There is a lovely green lichen growing high in the mountains adding to all the beauty that the desert has to offer. It was a lovely day.

The picnic spot

This is where we had our picnic yesterday..It is hard to describe how beautiful the desert looks in the right sunlight....yesterday was such a day..one of those really good days.

I had our picnic packed in my ever ready picnic basket which is totally outfitted for a day of travel.

We have a small metal table, two chairs and a cooler...blankets and coats in case the weather gets cool.

We are always ready to go when the mood strikes us.

Oh yes, a map is a must!

The beauty of Black and White..

Julie and Claire sharing a quiet moment while Claire sleeps. I got these photos from Julie and Jeremy yesterday. Whenever I get to see new photos of her, I can not believe how much she changes week to week. I am so glad that soon I will be able to take lots of pictures and see the changes with my own eyes.

Now my quest will be to get one of the 3 of them together.

An Oma's privilege, don't you think?!

We are waiting for new pictures of Alexander as he is busy walking, running or pushing his toy lion around the house in Sri Lanka...what a going concern that little guy is!

3rd cousins

This is Gianna (top photo) who is my sister Caroline's granddaughter.
She was born November 4 - 2010.
Claire was born Dec 29 - 2010.
I think Caroline and I are really lucky to have 2 such lovely little ladies as our granddaughters!

My desert notebook

Hanging laundry to dry in the sunshine is a pleasure. When you aren't allowed a laundry line in your development...you need to find new ways to get around that..here is my solution! The cloths always smell so fresh when they have been dried in the sun.







These are the dried flowers of one of my barrel cactus..the birds pick them off the cactus and discard them...they dry out and are full of seeds..going to plant some and see how many years the seeds take to germinate. I know Cindy got a cactus to grow from a seed.. It must of taken a few years. I cut the agave down after the last hard frost but they were too nice to throw away..I think I will plant them as well as see if they grow..nothing lost if they don't...that is one of the many thing I love about living here in AZ....things just grow and with a tiny bit of water they grow like they are on steroids!

Brighton Love!

I have some wonderful jewelry that is colorful and fun to wear..Here are a few of my favorite pieces from Brighton..my bracelet grows about once a month.

This month I added the "C" for Claire and the little plane for Alexander..they might go on a necklace or maybe a new bracelet.

You can check them out on-line here  and start a collection of your own.

Spoons and Dice

Found these old spoons and dice..loving the simplicity of this. Old or vintage as I like to call these things always have more appeal to me than new things do..these has a history, a past..someone used these to cook with or have some fun with....makes them much more interesting to see and hold.

Dominos

4. My moms dominos..so happy to have them and enjoy playing with them..especially with Cindy. When ever we get together she always has won...I am going to try an beat her next time..maybe we will put some Farm Chicks crafting $ money on the next game! Hope you are reading this, Cindy!

Crocheted Rocks

I have been trying to learn how to crochet..I just love these rocks..the white ones were part of a crocheted runner I found for 50 cents. I cut it apart and crocheted around the edges to hold the piece to the rock..here is a great tutorial on how to @  Purl Bee

The other 2 in the photo are ones I did myself..I love how they look and feel..now I am on the hunt for flat rocks...I ride my bike around the neighborhood looking for rocks! Funny or what?

Tablescape....

I think I can make this tablescape for our home..I have a tray, rocks, candles, moss, pot, & ferns...instead of the crow I will use a stone bird. Stay tuned for my version......this is the lovely Pottery Barn version.
Click on imagine to enlarge.

Pottery Barn....

A visit to Pottery Barn always ramps up the inspiration with such great tablescapes plus they encourage you to take photos and create some of these great groupings in your own home.

Sue, Karen and I went to a seminar @ PB yesterday on decorating a bedroom and Karen made out like a bandit.

Her bedroom always looked wonderful but now it looks positively dreamy!

Snow Ornaments..

Cindy sent me this photo the other day..

They have had lots of snow in Nelson..this is a lovely sight!

Right now there is so much snow in the back country with the highest risk of avalanches in the past 40 years.

Unfortunately, Nelson is never immune to that risk as it is surrounded with some of the best back country skiing in BC.

Jeremy's dad with Claire....

Jeremy's dad, Peter and his wife Evelyn came down to meet Claire today.

How happy he looks to see our grand daughter. She looks like a sweet little lamb, not fussy at all..or at least when these photos were taken. It really meant allot to me to have a picture of Jeremy with his Dad holding Claire. 3 generations celebrating this happy moment.

Soon I will be able to share in this joy.

Don't they just look so much alike. I don't see very much of Jeremy in me...maybe that is a good thing, EH?