His Masterpiece is Complete!

My son started this painting of his dad's tug boat and some of the other company tugs a little over a month ago and since then there has been an empty hook in our family room awaiting its arrival. Well the day has finally come and his dad is so proud of it :)

It just happened that today hubby was going to be stopping in at the wharf to refuel his tug and get supplies so K got to show him the completed painting :)



Above is the original pencil drawing he made from a photo. In a couple of weeks our town is hosting its annual Garden Tour and quite often some of the homes will display quilts or artistic works done by locals and we are going to exhibit K's paintings in my mom's garden as she is part of the tour *grin*.

He has studied Frida Kahlo, Leonardo Da vinci, Henri Matisse, & Dr. Suess so far, copying some of their most famous paintings and learning about their lives. I think it will be fun for him since he's only 10 and to be able to share some of his new found knowledge about the arts will be great. Plus you know those older ladies will just love it! LOL.

~ Rosina

Nature Outing Fun

We finally made it out to one of the weekly nature walks that we participate in and we couldn't have asked for better weather! Thoroughly coated in suntan lotion we headed down the wooded path of the Mack Laing nature park.

The trail winds along a little stream and it was so cute to see my two boys holding hands as they made their way towards the beach :)

As we came out of the woods we were greeted by the scorching 32 degree heat and the magnificent views of the mountains and ocean. There's a great little boardwalk in front of the original homestead where you can look out over the marshy area and do a little bird watching but today it was all about the beach *grin*.

The group of children combed the rocky beach in search of crabs, shells and other signs of sea life....

and what would a trip to the beach be without a little water play! I swear if there is even a trickle of water nearby they're all in it. LOL. I'll admit it was a perfect way though to keep cool in the heat and some of the children were more than slightly wet when we started to head back up the trail *grin*.

L wanted to sport her new polka dot wellies even though I warned her they would probably get wet inside and I was right. She ended up filling them to the brims with sea water as she puddled around in the shallows ;) How come no one ever wants to take moms advice?!

Can't wait for next week as we head out to another great trail :)

~Rosina

My Very First Laptop

Hee hee, I told you I might share what my very first computer looked like and I actually found a photo that looks just like it! Boy does this date me LOL.

It was a real beauty to be sure and must have weighed at least 30 pounds! The keyboard snapped right onto the front of it where the mini monitor was with clips and essentially it was one giant box with a handle. Gee, now that I think of it, it was like a stone aged laptop! LOL.

I remember lugging it from school and back home and I nearly couldn't make it because it was so darn heavy, but I was so happy to have a computer. With my big floppy disks and dot matrix printer I was totally styling back in the day *grin*.

How about you? Were you lucky enough to have a gem like this one? *wink*

~Rosina

Memories of a Typewriter

I was tidying up in my closet yesterday when I came across my old typewriter. I used to bang away on it typing up crazy stories hoping that one of them would be good enough to be published as a book *grin*. I was crazy about Judy Blume books in my pre-teen years and wanted to write just like her. Do you remember 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' ? It was one of my absolute favorites :) I find it funny that this is on the top 100 banned books list because I don't remember there being anything terribly wrong with it.

When I took off the cover I found that it was in need of some TLC. I'm not sure how the ribbon came off of the spool but luckily I remembered how to fix it up :)

Works just like I remember and the 'a' still sticks! LOL. Maybe tomorrow I'll share about my very first computer. Boy was it a real gem!!

~ Rosina

Meet Our Newest Family Member

Say hello the 'Bee' :)
The kids and I took a trip down island yesterday to pick up a couple of little calves and they are the sweetest little things. They're Ayrshires, a good hardy Scottish breed and I am so in love with this ones cute little doe eyes *grin*. Yeah, I know all babies are cute but we just love cows around here with their whiskery noses and inquisitive nature :)



The fellow we bought them from had named the above one Bee because apparently when he was born he had huge bugged out eyes that reminded him of a bee and the other little guy (don't have a photo) was named Appy because his coat looks like an Appaloosa but the kids changed his name to Bumble so now we have Bumble & Bee *grin*.

They took to the trailer really well and were quite content to spend their time peaking through the crack between the doors while they waited to be unloaded. I don't think we've had a quieter pair before either, not a peep out of them! No mooing or bawling from the change, just happy to be piglets in all of the lush green grass that has sprung up finally :)

I think we're going to make them into a nice 4H project for my oldest and he can spend time halter training them and learning how to care for them. Should be fun!

~ Rosina

Farmer's Market Find

I had a lovely Mother's Day. My husband and I, our 3 children and my mom and dad went to Painter's Lodge for their annual Mother's Day brunch buffet that is literally to die for! Anything you could wish for... it was probably there *grin*. We always joke that my 10 year old son has a bottomless pit because he nearly eats us out of house and home but even this had him licked. I wish I had a photo of him at the end of the table after he had finished his 3rd heaping plate full of food. He looked like he might have just rolled off his chair like a drum. LOL.

After brunch we had just enough time to head down to the Campbell River pier to catch the last couple minutes of the Farmer's Market. In my opinion it's not really a true farmer's market since it doesn't have much produce, artisan breads and other farmy by products, but it is loaded with lots of talented crafters! One gal had gorgeous jewelry that I had to pry myself away from but just across the way I ran into a table loaded with wool rovings. Ooooh so soft merrino in the most amazing mossy green color and more :) Darn!! I should have brought more money with me *grin*.

Where was this table when I was desperately searching for wool 6 months ago?? I just had to grab one of her little needle felting kits to come home and play with :) For five bucks I got 6 bright colors and two felting needles. Not bad at all and I can't wait to dive into it! I've got some more rovings leftover that I had found at Whipple Tree Junction last fall and I may just have to get the kids into the fun and have a little wet felting party with them and make a bunch of felt beads for necklaces :) Oh the endless possibilities of wool!

I have a copy of Julie Collings book Pretty Little Felts on the bookshelf that is just crying out to be used to so maybe I'll have to use some of my rovings to create some of her sweet little flowers :)

~ Rosina

Strawberry Bonanza

Strawberry season is upon us and everywhere I turn lately those luscious red berries are calling my name *grin*. So I finally broke down and bought a carton of them :)

Yesterday morning I had my parents down and the kids and I treated them to a strawberry pancake bonanza! It definitely wasn't a good day to be counting calories since we went through 1/2 a litre of whipped cream in the morning and then we gorged ourselves on strawberry shortcake after dinner LOL.

You know that old saying 'a minute on the lips a lifetime on the hips'? Yeah, I'm pretending I've never heard about it either *grin*. Maybe I should take a power walk around the property tomorrow..... I think my thighs will thank me :)

~ Rosina

Mother's Day Card

Mother's day is just a couple of sleeps away and it has sort of snuck up on me this year! My kids are not old enough to go out and shop alone for a sure to be loved no matter what it is gift *grin* and with daddy away for work they're definitely going to be coming up with something truly unique! LOL.

Well if you are like me this year and a little behind in the card making or perhaps the hunt for the perfect card, then this super cute squirrel card by A Cagey Bee is just perfect :) I just recently met this wonderful gal through Etsy and she happens to be not to far from me on the mainland of BC. She is offering a free download of her Mother's Day card for anyone who would like to use it and she has a really great blog to if you have time to check it out!

Thanks for sharing it with us :)

~ Rosina

The Bandage Bandit

The mischievous bandage bandit has struck again!! Poor little Hello Kitty fell victim this time to his quick fingers and ended up stuck to the counter. At least I didn't wake up with it stuck to my forehead and the smiling face of my littlest monkey grinning down at me. LOL.

Never a dull moment around here. If it were really possible to sleep with one eye open I would seriously consider doing it!

~ Rosina

A Little Love for Pippibean

A couple of weeks ago I got swept up in a 'Sneak Attack' hosted by Handmade Movement as both an attackee and an attacker and all I can say is fun!! One of the shops that was featured along with myself at the same time was pippibean and she sells some of the cutest Kawaii trinkets and the other day I finally got my little packet in the mail that I bought from her :) Inside was a great little set of 3 magnets, don't they look good enough to eat!?

Along with my little magnet set from pippibean was this super cute little box of extras!! Little stickers, another magnet & a great little pink striped resin ring all tucked inside a miniature handmade box complete with a little plastic viewing window. So fun!!

I love getting things in the mail but pippibean definitely makes ordering from her super fun :)

~ Rosina