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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Blessed

We had two deer grace our court the other night.
We sat and watched them for awhile but then left them alone to munch on the cedars in peace.
 
Such Magnificent Creatures make me Giddy to be ALIVE.
 
 
In the morning we could track their path by the beautiful footprints.
I was practically shaking with excitement just knowing that they walked right by my studio windows and knowing that our trees gave them a much needed snack.
 
 I feel like our house has been blessed. Ahhhh LOVE!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Life In The Yard: A Tour By Rabbits

So the rabbits are taking over today...they are going to be your tour guides for this post.
Game???
Here we go...

Teela says "Hi There.
Can you believe that us 4 shelter bunnies have been here almost a year now.
When mom and dad brought each of us home, they whispered to us grand tales of not only a safe home that would be ours forever but they talked of a beautiful yard...that was ours now too.
Turns out they weren't telling tales...
We spent so much time running free outside with mom and dad keeping us all safe and sound.  Making sure we all got pretty equal turns in the yard probably wasn't always easy.
People think rabbits are cute and easy but truth is that we're very complicated & often difficult.

Our first summer here was so awesome...so much space, so much yummy grass to eat...

 
...SOOO many nice smells & trees to prune...
 
 
...Look, look...this is our gazebo...I never thought I'd have my own gazebo, even though I always truthfully felt like I did indeed deserve one. Being the super awesome bun that I am...
can you believe my first so called 'family' dumped me off at the shelter cause they couldn't be bothered bringing me with them in a move...
ANYHOW I am glad they did cause this is where I am meant to be, with my new mom & dad.
 
 
Oh hold on...I am hogging the show...Yuuji says he wants to show you the inside."
 
 
Yuuji says "Oh come in come in and see....me and Teela love it in here...
so many hidey spots with colourful flowers that danced above our heads....
Dad keeps the grass at just the perfect height...
too low gives us little to munch on, too high makes it harder to zoom and play.
I am even allowed a burrow.  I dig and dig and dig and when I get too deep, mom & dad fill it in so I can start all over again, what bun wouldn't want that.  You should see me dig, I am a pro, like Jinny!
 
 
That's where my mom and dad ate dinner many evenings and where my mom drew during the day...
She says she loves how the heat of the summer warms up the wax in her pencils
and that in the background is my dad's workshop...
he never sits still, he putters in there all summer long.
We got used to all of the sounds of the tools but it took us awhile to do so...me abit longer than Teela.
Dad calls Teela, his 'carpenters bunny'...something about her liking the tools & noise like Ella did?!
 
 
and here's where my mom liked to sit with her green teas that she shares with Teela.

 
...Unfortunately we HAVE to be nice and share the yard with Flynn, even though he's a jerk to us...
 
 
...and that pesky squirrel named 'Almond' whose always bugging my mom for nuts!
Apparently she's going to hang around being a beggar for the whole winter too, ugh!

 
...oh boy, wait...that little thug is coming...
 
 
...he wants his turn to show you something too...
we'll let him show you the hammock."
 
 
Flynn says "Hi Hi Hi Hi....come this way, to the other side of the house....
This is where my mom takes naps when she has a sore head OR a good book to enjoy...
 
 
...sometimes I get to play on this side, but mostly it's Jinny and Jaks yard.
Mom and Dad say that Jinny and Jaks are the oldest in the house & get dibs...NOT fair I say.
Look, there's Jinny running under the hammock like she owns the place or something...jeez!
 
...Oh there's Jaks...he's such a knob...we try to fight a lot but we're not allowed...
I am outta here...he's giving me the stink eye."

 
 
Teela says "Hey you guys....come back over to this side....hurry hurry..."
 
 
Frenwyck says "YEAHHHHH come on you GUYYSSSS...there's more to see on our side...
 
 
...check this out.  I have my own bench...I can gaze down into the pond to my hearts content.
The others are all too chicken to jump up here...that's cause I am so tall and big my mama says...
 
 
...come on come on you guys...
 
 
WOHOO....WOOOHOOOOO...there's more....
 
 
...UP here...UP the stairs..."

 
Teela says "Come on Yuuji...we gotta show these people our deck.
Did you all know that Jinny and Jaks and Flynn share one deck but Fren, Yuuji & I get the BIG one...
 
 
...that's it...come on already...up here...I don't have all day, my mom's gonna bring a snack soon...
 
 
...yuck there's Almond again...I don't like her hanging around with my mama so much...argh...
 
 
...anyhow, look at this...we have SOOO much space to stretch out...AHHHH....

 
....SOOOO many things to jump up on...

 
....and it all smelled so good cause of all the flowers...
The chickadees zoom in and out of here all day long...my mama just LOVES it...

 
...Frenwyck doesn't know how to share the deck nicely yet though....

 
...my mama says maybe next year he'll be best friends with us...we hope so...

 
...my heart belongs to Yuuji, he's my soul-mate BUT I gotta admit, that Fren is one handsome bun...

 
...Anyhow...yeah...look at all our flowers we had.
My mama and daddy had lunch at that white table whiles I zoomed or napped...I am so fast....
 
 
...ha ha...Yuuji says that he could often smell the soy dogs dad cooked on the firepit...
We all love being out under the twinkling stars...summer or winter, it's great.
 
 
...and that there is the corner my mom likes to sit in when it's raining...
she sat here with a book and hot chocolate during many rain storms this past season...
 
 
...We had sooo many nice snacks here on the deck this past summer too, grass & clover & yarrow....
 
 
...well, that's it...
the 4 of us feel so lucky that this is our yard...
and atleast mom and dad made themselves nice spots to hang out in since we stop
them from going anywhere far in the summers...
But they are always saying to us
"we wouldn't trade you guys for a trip around the world".
 
 
...Don't ya think it's the best,
we don't like fall so far so much but playing on the slippery snow is kinda fun...
we dream at night of next summer, we dream of digging & munching & zooming....ahhh.
Okay see ya...BYE from all 6 of us, but especially the 4 shelter buns who were your tour guides"
 
The bunnies just really wanted to show you our yard set up this past season, ha ha.
Everything is put away and covered in ice and snow now...we're already dreaming of next year!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Table ReMake

We've been up to our eyeballs with house renos...most of it hasn't been fun!
But some of it has been, like the re-make of our living room coffee table.
 
It used to look like this...after I picked it up for $10 and gave it a coat of water blue paint...
 
 
But now it looks like this...
 
 
The design is my own of course.  All hand-painted. I had such fun coming up with the pattern.

 
We're going on 2 months now with this chaotic house stuff which all started with the need to install
new floors and rabbit-chew-proof ceramic baseboards and which lead into a 100 other projects!
 
Atleast I can gaze upon my newly finished table happily and check it off the mile long list!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

36

I am turning 36 today!
Holy Smokes!
I don't feel 36.
I like to think I don't look 36, ha ha!
But ya know, this was the first birthday where I was feeling this nagging feeling like
'Ugh, I don't want to turn a year older', let's ignore it...maybe it'll go away, ha ha ha!
 
I wouldn't want to go back to my 20's.
I've loved my 30's
but now I am past the mid-point on the way to the 40's and that's feeling stressful!
 
Stressful I think because I've just been feeling really behind on things!
When we're younger we set these huge and long do-to lists for ourselves.
We not only have to live up to our self-appointed life plans
but we naively set a time schedule to them too...
and I just think that's where the stress can start to creep in!
When you remember your plans and realize that your a decade or so behind...
it's a scary and a huge YIKES moment!!!
 
It's all like this heavy piece of luggage we tote around with us
but very rarely open up to see if what's inside is still needed, still wanted or still valid!!!
 
So I need to open up my luggage...
take a really good long inside, gently toss out what's not needed & fold in the new stuff that is!
To do so is to continue on my path to be super kind to myself.
To let go of some stress...
to smartly live in the present & to continue to grow into who I want to be.
To continue working hard for the future plans I need now...not the future planned so very long ago!
 
 
Cause ya know I've learnt this so far in my 35 years...
 
Plans need room to change & grow in order to be fulfilled.
Our needs change with life and that's more than normal & right...it means we're growing.
Sometimes beautiful sacrifices must be made in order to pursue a dream...and that's okay too.
And, we must NOT compare our journey to anyone else's because we all walk our own unique path.
BUT, we shouldn't be afraid to check in with ourselves often
because new dreams might be sitting there unrealized
and those new dreams may totally outshine & outweigh old dreams.
 
 I also started thinking about all of the loved ones no longer on this earth...
the souls who weren't lucky enough to see their 20's or 30's or 40's etc
and I am filled with this hugely warming and immense sense of gratitude & luck that I am here.
I am here to learn & live & grow and indeed turn a year older.
It's a blessing, plain & simple.
And those who know me well, know that I love celebrating my birthday, ha ha.
I want to celebrate it, I want to dance, I want to laugh
and yes, I want oodles of presents to open, ha ha ha.
 
So come on year 36.
Bring on all of your ABUNDANCE & LUCK
& GOODNESS & Sweetness &
LOVE LOVE LOVE & of course LEARNING!
I am ready.

Friday, November 8, 2013

A Gift From Lori Portka

I had to show you this beautiful painting I received in surprise a few weeks back.
Lovingly made by the sweet and lovely Lori Portka.
 
Lori was one of the very first people I met in the blogosphere a few years back
and we connected instantly because of our colour loving, sensitive and animal loving souls.
 
Lori did this super awesome & huge project called "A Hundred Thank-You's"
(you can read all about it right here on her blog).
She wrote down 100 people that she felt grateful & thankful towards and
then she set out to make every single one of those people an original painting!
 
 
I was so shocked and honored when Lori told me I was one of the people she made a painting for.
This was the sweet note that accompanied the painting in the exhibition &
that was sweetly tucked into the back of the painting.
 
 
Awwwww.
It really made me teary with gratitude towards this inspiring fellow artist I am lucky to call a friend.
 
I am so in love with it.  It hangs in a spot in my dining room where I get to see it every day.
It truly fills my heart with joy (Art is amazing that way, isn't it!)
and is such a beautiful reminder of the sweet & kind people out there.
 
 
Thanks my dear sweet friend....
your so awesome and your painting will be forever cherished.
 
 
XXOO the bunnies & I.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Peek

Want to take a peek at what's currently on my desk?
 
A new image called 'The Honey Tongued Hostess"

 
Another dapper little critter whose name is "Wolowitcz"

 
And a sweet gal who just wants to be a safe haven for bunnies...
 
 
I am hoping to finish up all 3 pieces this week, but we'll see.
 
What are you working on this week, in your studios or elsewhere???  Do Share.


Friday, November 1, 2013

Happy Weekend

Flynn says "Heh There"
 

Frenwyck says "Why Hello Good Sirs & Madams"


 Teela says "Hi...got any honey tea for me???"
 

Jaks and Jin say 'Nice to see you...but don't touch us, just admire"


And Yuuji says  "Why Hello There, need some yard pruning done? $10 a tree"


We all say "Thanks For Hopping In This Week & Have A GREAT Weekend"  XXOO