2011 already! Where did 2010 go?

Best wishes for the year ahead. 

So far we've had a fairly open winter with sun and crispness.

Last time I wrote I had a nasty cold type of thing which hung on tightly for 8 weeks and I am still coughing but life continued.

James has had a show hanging at Kingfisher Used Books since early November and it will soon be coming down.

James and I did the regular craft fairs: one in Wynndel and one sponsored by the Creston Arts Council here in town, as well as James having been asked to show his work at the Images Art Show & Sale in Nov.

On the weekends where there were sales and Farmers Markets James and I did the "divide and conquer" and drove ourselves around the bend but we did it!

The poppy painting in the upper left corner is James' and sold as soon as someone saw the invitation.

In mid-Sept the Farmers Market moved from its outside venue at Millennium Park to inside Morris Flowers Garden Center where we continued until Dec 18.

I feel like I have been baking forever, We also sold James cards made from his paintings, mine made from post cards my grand parents exchanged in the early 1900's, my knit hats, Raku fired pendants James made, lathe turned candle holders James made, and tea cozies I have begun making. By the end of the market we took 2 tables. We will surely continue to need as much space as James also plans to plant a market garden for this coming year.

Our son and his fiance plan to marry in August so we won't be lacking things to do. 

 Here are a few of the tea cozies I'm making. The body is knit and the flower is crocheted. These are for a 4 - 6 cup tea pot and sell for $25.00 + Shipping and Handling, tea pot not included.

 

January can be an enjoyably slow month but I have eliminated that opportunity and will be beginning a 12 week course at Kootenay Employment Services for people over 50 who want to start their own business.

I am thinking of new endeavors other than birdhouses and need to get on a better business footing. I also need to learn how people sell on line.

James is relishing the thought of his "12 weeks of solitude." 

He has been keeping himself busy building a 16 inch band saw from wood, a project he saw on You Tube, but rather than order the pattern he has been designing it himself, and it is quite the beauty.

James has an ongoing show of his work at the Coffee Creek Cafe here in Creston. The restaurant has been recently sold but the new owner wishes to continue showing James' work and that is good for us too. The cafe will be reopening this week with a similar menu, keeping the great Borscht we all expect, but the new owner plans to be open in the evening also.

I think it's summer!

After our ever so long cold and wet spring dare we hope it's summer!

 The world is in bloom, at least ours is here on the Hilltop. The Ocean Spray which can be seen beyond the wagon is about to pop any day now. All the roses are quite pleased with themselves and coming into bloom and we are pleased with them too. These, in the foreground, are Grootendorst, which have a small blossom with frilly edges. The bush is prickly to the point of being vicious but sometimes that is what is needed to outwit the deer.

The Mock Orange grow wild on our hill, as do the Ocean spray, and we have encouraged them to stay where we want them. The Mock Orange bloom about the 20th of June every year which was my folks wedding anniversary and my mom said she had Mock Orange in her bouquet.
The spirea we have had to plant but theyu are a hardy little bush and do well here and I see where some are self seeding themselves which is only a bonus!

This was a sunny/ shady day and I took the picture of the big pink mountain of roses and the gazebo at a shady moment, it would seem. I do not know what this rose is as I came in a box with a quite different picture of a little red splashed with white picotee hybrid tea on it. Obviously this is not that rose! It is gradually taking over the front garden and I love it so much I will just move the things it overshadows. I see my peony peeking out from it's branches. It probably needs to be moved.

 Here is the pink rose from another angle. I still would like to wrest the garden back from the grass to some extent but my grandmother's garden was one of pretty flowers among the grass and I see how that can happen.

This last red rose is a Winnipeg Parks.
The Canadian Department of Agriculture maintained a research station in Morden, MB where they developed the many Hardy Explorer and Parkland roses.
This rose blooms most prolifically in early summer but will rebloom. I try to be sure to leave lots of spent blossoms on as it has such lovely rose hips which we enjoy for the show as they slowly disappear with the deer all winter.
My red Weigela is in full bloom. Usually the Bishops Cape is in bloom at the same time with it's lacy bunches of tiny flowers and variegated leaves but it has been set back by James' filling in the pond. We were just discussing that it is finally dry enough to consider  bringing the tractor up to level things again.

 

Where did the springtime go?

Spring seems to have suffered a set back. We had a wicked wind and rain storm blow through yesterday. We were fortunate not to have damage.
I had to run out in the middle of it to turn the bird feeder so the wind didn't tear the lid off.
I see on Facebook a friend was greeted by a downed tree at her gate as she went home last night.
James had actually bolted the rafters to the uprights of the gazebo but they weren't secure and given the weather warning, thankfully he went out and took them down. There will be another day to work on the gazebo. 
We caught Skeeter perched on top of one of the gazebo uprights the other day. She surely is a little monkey.
The second picture is of my cousins and James pretending to have a tea party in the gazebo. Note the parkas and hoods and cups firmly grasped so they don't blow away.
James does not lack things to keep him busy. He is doing finishing touches on the Creston Arts Council's faces project from a couple years back. The 4' x 8' panels have been cut down to a more manageable size and he has been framing each and then "the powers that be" can find them homes. Whew! Finished with that!
I am sincerely wishing for some weather warm enough to go out and knock a little order into the yard.
Preparation for ArtWalk continues.

Going off madly in all directions

We have a friend who had a lovely old fashioned gazebo in her too small front yard so James numbered it, dismantled it, brought it home, and piled it in our yard.
Now James gets to put his puzzle back together.
These pictures are from the first day here.
We are putting the gazebo just to the NE of the house where it won't block views from the house. It is a 12 foot octagon so, once screened, it should give us lots of room to enjoy the days without wasps and evenings without mosquitoes.