Colorful bracelets

I saw these friendship bracelets HERE as well At The PurlBee HERE.
Both sites have really well illustrated tutorials.










I never got to go to camp as a kid and because we were bus students, we had to come right home on the bus after school...Of course I missed out on a few things ( but my life was greatly enriched by many others)....and I know you are never to old to be a kid...so I learnt how to make my version of a friendship bracelet and was very proud to wear it today...it was totally fun to make..took up quite a bit if my day and sure kept my brain cells active!
Here is my take on a friendship bracelet. Some mis-steps... a few wobbly knots, but that is the joy of wearing something Handmade

Swiss Package

I received this wonderful "packli" from Margaret of Alice and Camilla. We exchanged packages and due to our Canadian postal strike.......
( that is now over )..this is what arrived in our mail box yesterday..My package for Margaret arrived in Switzerland a few days ago..Here are the treasures she included as well as my thank you note! What a wonderful thing to do...how great is blogging...all the wonderful women crafters you meet..so special!

























Hello Margaret....

omg, you spoiled me..what do you mean about your little package..it is a dream pkg for me..I love everything..delighted over every small item..the stamps, the fabric, the napkins, lace, the choc....the playing cards..the NZ item...the ballons, the little license plate of Zurich, the wrappers, the little book..the Heidi wrapper...thank you thank you so very much..the stickers are great and I am taking the postage stamps off as well...totally blog material for this week!
I am amazed how many similar things we sent each other...can you imagine if we ever get the chance to meet! Love the little fabric people..exquisite.
Thank you so much again..all the items will be treasured and used!

Yesterday...

Our neighbors' cat Peppy is getting tame enough for me to pet..he loves our front garden filled with nepatea (cat mint) as well as a large bowl of fresh water. I often find him sitting in the sunshine..thinking and scheming some sort of mischief he can get up to.






Other visitors included these 2 white tail deer walking along the fairway on the golf course..I don't think they paid any green fees and they looked rather guilty...as if they snuck on to play a round.....





The rainy day ended beautifully.....a perfectly arched rainbow. Thanks Jim for pointing it out to me so I could grab my camera! How was your day?

Little Birds..

Little pompom birds..easy peasy..summertime fun... string a few with fishing line and hang them on an embroidery hoop for a mobile...wouldn't that be cute?
Check out the first photo..it is from Lion Brand..you can get the tutorial HERE






This is my take on them.....

Meet Olive and Lucy

Olive and Lucy....






I decided to make a few softies...I have piles of felted thrifted sweaters....I have all these ideas spinning around in my head...as I am editing 12,897 photos off of Picasa to an external drive...I needed something to do that wasn't so mind boggling as " what am I going to do with all these photos".

I just started to doodle and here is what went from my paper to my sewing machine and then to my hands...

Olive might be a little dog....Lucy...well....not quite sure what she is..she just
evolved...I love, love making them...do you think they need a sausage dog as a guard dog?

Olive...made of a felted thrifted RL sweater with a special collar. This was from a Shetland sweater that was a gift from Peter..He went to the Shetland Islands and brought this back as a gift for my Mom...after my Mom passed away..I got the sweater..by then it had a few moth holes in...I felted it to save for a special project! I love the stripes and the small flower patterns..she looks quite sporting don't you think?

















Lucy...I decided to use Mom's sweater for the body..changed her body style a bit and I just kept on going thru my stash pile until I found just the right combination that suited her! I love her slightly off look..dazed I think might be the word...fully stuffed...she is very huggable!

Cindy's Birthday

Happy birthday to such a special friend..I hope everyone spoils you today with love, presents, beer, wine and special birthday wishes!.....Have fun on your birthday day adventure!







The gift.....sent up with my good friend Shannon yesterday.....filled with thrifty goodness!

Old gardening tools....

Old garden tools are like long time friends...always there when you need them....these vintage metal ones are some of the favorite ones in my collection....drying lavender is one of summers pleasures.

Claire and Caleb

Aren't these the most kissable little cheeks you have ever seen...Claire is showing off her 2 new lower teeth...and it looks like this little guy is quite smitten with her smile and darling good looks!






"I am almost sitting up on my own now Oma. "

On the back 9...

Jim loves golf...he has a group of buddies that he plays with 3 days a week @ 6:30 am....the golf and the views are the reasons that we live on this lovely course...I hardly ever golf...but this year I am trying to play a few more games with Jim..we just go out and have fun...it was a beautiful sunny day, several of the ponds were filled with ducks as well as baby quail trying to hide from the Cooper's hawks circling overhead...I hardly ever wear anything { on my feet} other than flip flops or sandals..so playing in bare feet feels good to me!

Crocheting in the sunshine....

I have had a couple of nice early mornings and late evening continuing to make my crocheted flowers that will eventually become a shawl....the joy of having this lovely yarn slip thru my fingers and become a flower...priceless!

A grandson for Shirley

Here is Shirley's new grandson...He was born on the 1st of July to Shirely's son Andre and his wife, Katie...No first name yet...but little baby Zimmerman has already captured her heart as you can see in this photo!
Update: His name will be Luca Graham...Luca being the Italian version of Luke!

The Picnic...

Flowers, cherries, boats, homes, amazing views....this was such a great way to spend the day having a picnic at the lakes edge.
All these photos were taken on the Naramata Bench..they really make outstanding wines in this part of the Okanagan Valley..it has a very hot dry climate combined with the lake's moisture which adds to the complexity of their wine...there are many wineries where you can sample a glass of this region's goodness. Sharing it with family is even better.

The "boys" on the course

While I was in Vancouver, Sue took these photos to show me how much fun the "boys" had playing here on our course..it was a beautiful day and they had a lot of fun...no holes in one...but fun never the less!
Jim driving his personal tricked out golf cart and Bob swinging at the ball...The way our house is situated, we get to see the 3rd, 4th and 5th holes...we say that while we are sitting on our deck we always have the golf channel on! :)

Sights of Summer...

Here in the Okanagan we grow lavender very successfully...the fragrance it releases when it has been freshly cut is lovely. Dried, it adds color and fragrance to your home durning the winter months...made into sachets and given as gifts....priceless.

Happy Canada Day..

Today Canada is 144 years old...we celebrated by getting some patio furniture to create a better seating area on our deck...with the new expanded patio {waiting for the glass railing}....we now have a better setting arrangement. We have moved our BBQ, table with 4 chairs as well as my new lounge chair to the new space and it is all set up waiting for the railings to arrive..approx..2weeks...Jim is just putting together the 3 new side tables.
I think it is time for a glass of wine or a tasty glass of Nelson Harvest Moon Hemp!









A big congratulations to my friend Shirley becoming a grandmother today..Baby Graham Zimmerman weighed in at 9lbs 13 oz and is doing well.....Daddy Andre and Katie are also doing very well! What a happy way to celebrate July 1st.