Spring Tulip Bouquet

Flowers always make me happy.
They add that little bit of colour to your table and a pop to your room.
I just can’t wait for spring and had to buy a few bunches of bright tulips from the flower market.

If I had a spring wedding, I’d make a tulip bouquet and use every bulb plant and flower imaginable to decorate.

Happy Weekend!

 

Snowy Morning

A warm winter breakfast. Complete with Canadian maple syrup.
Warm and cozy inside…

…Cold and chilly outside. The view from our window on Saturday morning.

Fanciful Fall

Just a few shots from the absolutely gorgeous Thanksgiving weekend we had here. The weather was so warm and sunny and just wonderfully marvelous!

 

Fall Prints on Etsy

I'm not one for seasonal art, but I thought that these prints were versatile and pretty for any season, or if you do like switching up what is in your frames, they do emit nice fall feeling. Click on the links below to see the sellers shops.

 

Oladesign

 Is Photography 

Donna Geissler Photography

Abby Blaine

*~A secret in the Barn~*

As we arrived at my parents for Father's day on the weekend, my brother was super excited to show us something. . . .

Brand new baby birds!

And a new batch!
Sadly, my dad and brother were insulating the
roof and had to remove this nest.
It's under a heat lamp. We don't know if Mama
bird will come back.
I just love robins egg blue!

Thanks David for the pictures!

Country Storm

Sunday afternoon, on the farm in the Holland Marsh, a dark and stormy sky passes in the distance, over the fields. Doesn't the green look fantastic!? I love it here in the summer.

My dad's pride and joy, this beloved rock garden
that he tenderly cares for.
Isn't it beautiful!?
My mom's uncle made the adorable bird house.

Alas, an eternal sign of God's love.

¹² And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: ¹³ I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Genesis 9:12-15

You can see it ever so faintly spanning across the field.

*Photo's courtesy of my brother, Ryan

Sweet Garden Scent

Who doesn't love when the flowers in your backyard fill the air with wonderful, amazing smells!? Some snapshots from the evening.

My Oh So favorite, Lily of the Valley!
Such a stunning shape, so delicate.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Getaway

There are a plethora of activities to do in the Niagara region, especially when the weather is as beautiful as it was this May long weekend. We were graciously granted with sunny sky's for two beautiful days as we walked and galloped through Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Me riding Winston

Niagara Riding Stables offers 50 minute trail rides through the
beautiful Niagara Escarpment which skirts gorgeous vineyards.
The horses were mild mannered and the staff very friendly
toward first time riders like me!

The wonderful Harbour House Hotel.

Some lovely houses and their gardens!

Pink Lilac

~*Oh the beauty of Spring*~

We went on a wine tour @ the grand Peller Estates.
I'm not a wine drinker at all, but it was interesting to see the cellar and now I can say I've done a wine tasting...not all that exciting folks!

We had a steak dinner at Zee's on a heat warmed porch and a I had a manicure at the Shaw Spa! (thanks hunny!) Sadly on our way home, Mr. GPS took us back to the highway a different way then we came and therefore we missed the antique shops we had hoped to peek and poke around in. :( I guess it was someones way of saying you already spent enough money.

Garden Hunting and "Free Range Parenting"

"Mom, I found a four leaf clover! Look, it's got four leaves, see!?"
We did some garden hunting this weekend in between the rain and hail that fell.
I love the outdoors and believe it's so very important to teach your kids to see the beauty and wonder in the natural creation. It can be so inspiring for a creative mind to look closely at those pieces of nature that we usually just pass by and ignore. I also like to kick get Tayson outside for at least an hour or more on a beautiful day. Kids need to be away from TV, computers, video games and all their other fancy toys and learn how to enjoy all the interesting natural "entertainment" around them.

In the article "Why free-range kids are on the rise"Andrea Gordon looks at parents who choose not to 'hover' parent or 'helicopter' parent: "those obsessive, overprotective mothers and fathers who do their kids' projects on endangered species, harangue their soccer coaches for more playing time and accompany their teens to job interviews." I tend to think of my childhood as"Free range." My sister and I were allowed to bike up and down our road with the other neighborhood kids, play on the skirts of the canal, wander around the farm, chase stray cats, climb pallet boxes to a dangerous height, play on the stagnant farm machinery...yes people would say the country is a 'safe' place for kids to roam freely. But my parents didn't over involve us in things, we were allowed to do as we pleased for the most part.

So how can these parents in this article feel so safe raising 'free range' kids in the city? I don't by any means want to be that parent who, as author Michael Ungar* says, "bubble-wraps" my kids. But I also feel like I do need to offer some sort of protective orb over my son. I know that his dependence on me will not last forever and one day he'll want to walk to the corner store with his friends, alone. {Gulp!} But in the meantime, I do try to allow him his freedom from me...even if it's in our fenced in back yard.
*Author of "To safe for their own good."

Enjoy our Garden Hunt pictures.

Trees in bloom

Tay and I went for a walk around our neighborhood
and saw these amazing trees in bloom. Had to snap some shots.

Click on the image of the tree to see the full effect of those lovely blooms!

Elora Getaway

On the river

Elora Ontario is a beautiful petite historic town located about 1 hr from Toronto. Well known for the Old Mill Inn, which sits atop the roaring Gorge, Elora has a lot to offer in terms of sights, both for the nature lover and shopper. There are also plenty of yummy places to eat, friendly folks to chat with and wonderful old architecture around the town. Everything is walkable and can be soaked up in one good day to enjoy!

Some lovely shops in the historic buildings

An beautiful boarded up church


Stone Angel

Delicious Fresh Grapefruit Juice and
a homemade Peacan Buttertart
@ the Dragonfly Cafe

A flower dusted yard