Charleston Lake

Sorry for bloglessness this week, I suppose there was nothing to blog, what's the point in blogging tripe, dear reader, you want something meaty, interesting.  Well, this is as good as it gets...........


Hattie has auditioned for Les Miserables at school, and did very well out of 92 auditionees to be accepted into the chorus, it's an age thing, she's only Grade 9 so she has to start at the bottom, so she tells me that she has the part of "Second Woman" s that's better than nothing.  Good for her!!  Hooray, for our side.  So rehearsals are after school three out of five days a week, so she has to catch the "late bus", which is ridiculously late and terminates in Gananoque, or we have to fetch her, not the best option!!!  Mum and Dad's taxis running nightly.  Meh!!!

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3 Years Today

How about this then, today we have been in Canada exactly three years, we flew out on 11 September, 2006 - so quite a momentous day in more ways than one!!

Farmers market was good today, unexpectedly good as I sold one or two things that have been hanging around for a while, and nobody had been interested and then all of a sudden I sell three, odd how it goes, ay?  Today we went back to our original hours from 1pm to 5pm, as the pace of the market slows with the return to school and the exodus of the "cottagers" from the lake, fnar fnar. 

There was then a hiaitus at the fairground for the preparation of the Harvest Day meal, so I went to the kitchen to help out there.  What, dear reader I hear you say, Angie in a kitchen, I don't think so!!  But yes there are some things that I can do, and washing and chopping potatoes and slicing carrots are among the few!!  So two hours later and a shed load of potatoes chopped and 3 miles of carrots sliced, bosh, done, pah! Gordon Ramsey watch out, here I come........

Made some cards today too, I have been a busy bee.  That's what comes of getting up at some ungodly hour to bundle teenage hormone machine off to school, you get stuff done!  So here are one or five of them for you to peruse.

I hope you like them........

OK, OK, OK I know, no blog for three days, soz!!!!!  Anyway things have been busy and Hattie is back at school and we are back to that thing of having to get up at the crack of sparrow fart, so blogging is the last thing on my mind quite frankly.  So I think you should just be grateful for once in 3 days. 

Enough wallowing in self pity, we had a splendid night on Tuesday night when Don and Marnie Ross, two very dear Canadians who live in a tiny bit of paradise on Hill Island in the St Lawrence river, invited us over to theirs for a moonlight cruise.  It was a full moon and they thought it would be fun to go out in their boat in the pitch black to watch the moon come up over the Thousand Islands.  Ha!  not for the feint hearted this.  The river is very dark as you would imagine, and it really doesn't help your night vision, when some stupid idiot is trying (and failing) to take photographs, see this beautiful shot of the Thousand Island bridge with the moon (the larger yellow dot just below the other yellow dots in the coal black, very atmospheric, rest of the photo).  Luckily Don and Marnie know the river like the back of their proverbials, and we weren't the slightest bit worried when Marnie suddenly reached for the torch and started sweeping the beam across the river "looking for some rocks".   We had a wonderful time out on the river in the pitch black (did I mention that it was pitch black?) 

I did get a great shot of Hattie looking like a deer caught in the headlights.  You may notice that she has her silly hat on and is all wrapped up.  This is because I went on and on about her wearing sensible clothes to go out on the river at night (like parents do)as it would be cold and it was not a fashion show - it was actually very warm, around 20 degrees, so didn't we look like pillocks in our warm clothes. 

I wanted to show you a picture of dear little Henry the Oneth in his snow suit that Hattie bought for him - doesn't he look cute?  Pillock Cat!!!!

Grass mowed!!!!  I have to lie down..............

Long Weekend

Saturday.......   mmm lovely lie in, 'til 9.30am fandabidozi.  Thank goodness for long weekends.  This seems to be the most days on the trot that Hattie hasn't been doing anything.  The summer holidays have just been a long round of activities, what with High School Musical and Fame Forever, building the set for said musicals and ferrying child, it's been crazy, so we are at the end of the summer and at last more than two days with no reason to get up at 6am.  Woot, woot.

Today is my big girl's birthday, she's 28.  I know, I know dear reader that you are thinking that I don't look old enough to have a daughter that age!!!!  But believe it or not I have. Just move on, get over it.  I have just spoken to her and William and they seem to be having a great time.

Good news, I still haven't mowed the lawn.  Someone, who shall remain nameless said that "if I didn't get it done the Weed Police would be round" well ha ha, let them come, see if I'm scared.

My work is published this week in the form of "Cards for Christmas", my card is on the cover, top left corner, check it out.... 

Farmer's Market went well yesterday, surprising as I nearly didn't go as I had "twung" my back somehow and was finding it hard to walk and bend.  But my wonderful husband said that he would do the set up, and Hattie helped with striking too, and it went well (with the help of some very strong painkillers).  The first thing I sold was one of my stationery sets, and a small album, so that was a good start to the afternoon.  The Farmer's Marketeers are a wonderful band of folks who get together on a Friday afternoon at the fairgrounds in Lansdowne, which just happens to be across the road from my house.  There are wonderful wares to be purchased from the market, including veggies colourful, organic, seasonal, baked goods, jewellery, pickles, jams, jellies, maple syrup and of course my cards and papercrafts.  I wouldn't miss it for the world.  It is such fun when we all get together, and the afternoon flies by, helped of course when my wonderful husband brings us a lovely cup of tea.

Oops, missed a day!!  Well to tell you the truth, dear reader, I was too knackered!!!  I was in bed by 9.30.  This getting up at 6 lark is going to be the death of me.  Oh, well as a very dear friend said "Suck it up, Goddess".  We'll see............

But my first card making workshop was a joy, 4 extremely lovely ladies came to Lyndhurst library and we delved into the darkest recesses of their creative minds and came up with some lovely work.  I get a real kick out of showing someone a technique and then letting them run with it and seeing what happens.  There was stunning stuff as you can

see from the photograph taken at the end of the session.  For the observant among you, you may notice that I said four lovely ladies, and there are actually 5 lovely ladies - Cathy (in the middle) one of the original group of crafters arrived after her work, to see what was "going down".  It was lovely to see her, and we look forward to seeing Shirl back next time.  I would also like to welcome Margaret, Celine (apologies for spelling) and Diane, and of course Carol. 

Today will be taken up with another workshop up in Newboro, a lovely part of the world, and I can't wait to see the girls up there later today.

Here are some of my baby cards featuring a lovely set of acrylic stamps by Sandylion.  The little lamb and bunny are stamped in permanent black ink and then coloured with Marvey markers and watercoloured using an aquabrush.  Then cut out, glittered and mounted onto a handstamped mat.  The recessed card is one scraplifted from fabulous Splitcoast Stampers (a Wednesday Tuturial) by Beatte.  I am very pleased with the results and they have proved to be quite popular at the Farmer's Market. Cute, cute, cute.

First day of high school duly completed.  Up at 6am, caught aforementioned yellow bus - bosh, done!!!!  Arrived home from school to barage of questions from curious, concerned, old parents,  "Good" was the reply - extracting any more information like getting blood from a stone....  let's leave it there, if there's a problem we'll soon find out.  We are now in the process of getting adreniline fuelled teenager to bed at a reasonable hour!  Each day will be like army maneouvres, out flanking, out witting and surrounding the enemy (said teenager), fat chance - I give it about a week, and we'll be quivering wrecks (that's the parents , not the child). Oh well only another four years (sound of hysterical laughter coming from David's room).


Still managed to avoid mowing the lawn though - result.  George (our neighbour) has done his side so now mine is about 6inches longer, Oh God - I fear I am going to have to mount my trusty steed, Larry the Lawnmower, and get the bloody thing mowed sometime this millenium.  Woe, woe and thrice that thing.

Managed to prepare for card workshops tomorrow and Thursday.  The theme for this month is dry embossing, so you will see the two cards that we will be making.  Very simple, but with some quite nifty embossing and stencilling.  I have used some beautiful Dreamweaver brass stencils, which are really for using with paste, to make a 3D relief image, but I thought I would try them with a light box and an embossing stylus.  I then stencilled the colour onto the image using chalks for the poinsettia, and metallic ink for the Season's Greetings.  The poinsettia was then sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist while the stencil was still in situ resulting in a lovely shiny, shimmery finish.  The edges are buffed with gold (which you can't see so well on the photo) and matted onto red card.  Simple but effective.  I think my ladies will enjoy this new challenge and technique.  We shall see...........

I thought I would post a picture of my cat Henry the Oneth beating out the z's on my bed this evening - honestly he's rushed off his feet.