Berg Lake...

My good friend Shirley sent me these photos of her latest hiking trip to Berg Lake....The scenery and flowers are just stunning. It is amazing to see what is remaining of such a large glacier in a high alpine lake.

I hiked this very trail more than 20 years ago, not sure if I could of made it now without some serious training...but Shirley is as fit as anyone I know as she hikes , bikes, kayaks, runs and skis all the time.

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Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.

Seneca

Up Close....

A flower's appeal is in its contradictions - so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect.

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Adabella Radici

Handmade Brooches...

These are my new items I just put on sale in my ETSY shop.

Fun to make and a lovely little gift for yourself or a friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.

Thomas La Mance

Baby News!!!

We are so excited to announce that Jim's daughter Laurie and her husband Shane are expecting their first child in Jan. 2010. They have been transferred to Sri Lanka from Australia for 3 years. They will come back to Australia to have the baby then return to Sri Lanka. We wish them a happy journey, new adventures and a healthy pregnancy.

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When babies look beyond you and giggle, maybe they're seeing angels.

Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

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Happy Birthday today my brother Werner in the Baja!!! Hope you have a great day and the fishing is good!

Happy 11th Anniversary...

Happy 11th Anniversary, Jeremy and Julie. Hope that Hawaiian sunshine is shining for the both of you.

We send our love and happiness to both of you.

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The bonds of matrimony are like any other bonds - they mature slowly.

Peter De Vries

A big 70th happy birthday to our brother-in-law Larry for yesterday!

He and some of the boys are fishing in Kodiak Alaska!!!

Summer Flowers

The Visit...

It was such a fun overnight trip to have Jeremy and Julie with us. Seeing your kids at your home just doesn't get better than this.

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.

Joyce Brothers

Paint Chips...

These lovely whimsy painting are done on paint chips from one of my favourite artists

Geninne D. Zlatkis...

(click on images to view larger)

This is her Bio on her Etsy Shop.

Hello! My name is Geninne D. Zlatkis and I live in a forest near Mexico City with my husband Manolo and our two handsome boys. I'm in love with watercolors and I couldn't be happier to share my work with all of you. Thank you so much for visiting my Etsy shop.
I keep a blog at www.geninne.com where you can keep up with my art adventures.

Geninne was kind enough to let me post these on my blog for you to see.

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Arts and Crafts keep you Sane!
Mary Engelbreit

Shadow Box..

www.marthastewart.com

I am going to make one of these this weekend. I think they make such a lovely display of things that you have around and want to keep behind glass. Or maybe re-purpose a cereal box and just cut away the front...stay tuned

Summer colors...

All these photos are from

www.amybutlerdesign.com

Lunch @ Quail's Gate

Jeremy and Julie arrived mid-morning. We got to catch up with each other and went to lunch at Old Vines restaurant @ Quail's Gate Winery. The lunch was wonderful.

Jeremy says that it always rains when he and Julie come here, but we sure needed this rain.!!

Shirley arrived for supper and it was a good evening just having different ideas discussed and debated. This morning the kids headed off to Grand Forks to see Jeremy's Dad, the they are off to Hawaii on Monday.

Jim is off to do a wine tour, Shirley and I will go do a wine tasting then off to Bliss in Peachland for lunch.

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[love and friendship should always be kept close in your heart.]

Somerset Home..

New ideas to check out from Somerset Home. You can buy these magazines

on-line if you can't find them at your Magazine Store.

www.stampington.com

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Everything that is done is the world is done by hope.

[martin luther]

Raspberry Ice Cream Cake...

Sent this recipe to Cindy as a birthday cake hint...will show and tell when she comes down in September with my cake that I always get from her...

No pressure, Cindy!!

Raspberry Ice Cream Cake

Mashing berries with sugar releases their juices and intensifies their flavor, creating a rustic puree for desserts.
Prep: 15 minutes Total: 15 minutes, plus freezing
Ingredients ~ Makes 8 servings

1 loaf pound cake, sliced horizontally into thirds
1 1/2 cups raspberries (6 ounces)
1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
Confectioners' sugar, for serving
Directions
Place bottom layer of cake on a large piece of foil or in a loaf pan of equal size. Sprinkle half the raspberries over cake, spread evenly with half the ice cream, and top with another cake layer. Repeat with remaining raspberries, ice cream, and cake.
Wrap with foil and freeze at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove cake from freezer about 30 minutes before serving. Serve dusted with confectioners' sugar.

www.marthastewart.com

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We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.

Frederick Keonig

New magazines...

Today will be a good day to look thru these new Somerset Magazines and enjoy being inspired!! I think I might make some of these today!

http://www.stampington.com/

Overcast and cooler here today, the fires nearly contained. The smoke has cleared the sky.

It is a good day.

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Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Harold Whitman

Muffin Tins...

This is what I use Vintage Muffin Tins for...

collecting little things in my craft room, easy to move around and get a project underway!

Home from the Baja..

Werner and Patricia near Fernie @ "The China Wall"

My brother Werner and his lady Patricia here for a few days back in BC from the Baja where they live.

What a lovely lady she is and she loves to craft!!! How good is that.

They have already gone back to Cabo, but we hope to see more of them over the winter.
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Some of July's banners

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Often while traveling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts.

minor white

Picnic time...

This says it all...summertime fun!

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The other thing is quality of life; if you have a place where you can go and have a picnic with your family, it doesn't matter if it's a recession or not, you can include that in your quality of life.

Jim Fowler

We need some rain....

Looks like rain, but just sprayed the rose with some water to give it a break from the heat!!

J.D.Robb books

Summertime reading at it's best.

I really am enjoying reading these detective series of J.D. Robb who is really Nora Roberts.. Each one stands one it's own for a good read, but they all connect with the main character. I get them for our library. Between crafting, working, reading, going on picnics and spending time with Jim, Cookie, family and friends, it is a great summer.

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A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it.

William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

These Hands...

I took this photo awhile back and when I saw it today, I knew that this was going to be my post.

These hands created this journal, they caress, soothe and make a home. These hands once rocked Jeremy's cradle and held him close to my heart. These hands hold hands with my husband. These hands pet our dog. These hands wear my mother's thin wedding band. These hands wear my own wedding band when I go out. These hands work in the garden, in the house and in the craft room. These hands dust, polish and turn pages as I read.These hands pick up the phone and call my family and friends.

These hands are happy, busy hands.

These are my hands.

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The hand that rock the cradle, rules the world.

unknown

Summer time fun...

Note from Cindy:

Still hot as heck here and imagine there too. Tim and Emmy Lou nailed the synchronized dive off the wharf yesterday as you can see in the photo.

We have been in the lake alot!!!

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I simply can't understand

Why swimsuits are in such demand

They're soggy and damp

Bind like a clamp,

And hold about three pounds of sand!

D.R. Benson

New banners...

I have been learning a new way to create banners on Picnik, part of Flickr.

It is going to be a whole new learining curve for me, one I am up to for the challange of it all.

New magazine...Claire Murray

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."

helen keller

Finished "Journal Of Interest"

Last pages of the on line course I was taking with Teresa McFayden's

"Journal Of Interest"

Really enjoyed learning all sorts of new techniques and looking at journalling in many different ways.

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It takes a long time to become young.

pablo picasso

Sea Glass...

The colors of Summer.....Sea Glass.

This reminds me so much of Cindy and summer at the beach.

I hope where ever you are reading this from, you are having a lovely summer!

from Country Home Magazine

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There is nothing like staying home for real comfort.

Jane Austen

These photos say it all...summer is definately here!

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Imagination grows by exercise, and contray to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.

W. Somerset Maugham