Where, oh where....

has this week gone?  We have been blessed for the last eight or more days with glorious sunshine and blue skies!  For that reason I have achieved very little in the grand scheme of things!  After all who can bear to stay inside when the universe is being so kind to us?  Actually, to be fair, we have not been resting on our laurels.  No indeed, the garden is tidy ready for winter.  The clothes post now stands erect in a place where I can actually reach it without hurting my back or falling headfirst down into next door's garden!  The decking has been repaired and we have a trailer full of rubbish to take to the landfill!  No.  when I say I haven't achieved much, I actually mean I haven't made a single bag, keepsake book or painted a single canvas!  

In the evenings I have sketched.  A new pastime for me, sketching people,  namely Kelly who is a lovely blogger I 'met' recently and she does this weekly sketching challenge.  I have also been writing my column pieces and saving them, just in case I get writers block one week! I think this week though I am especially proud of my first attempt at drawing a caricature, so much so that I couldn't resist popping it in here (just in-case your not familiar with my arty blog!!!).  So I suppose, upon reflection, I have achieved quite a lot, in the grand scheme of things, just not the things on my list!!  Have a great week guys!

A Beautiful Fall

Today I was awake real early. I had the fidgets. Do you ever wake up and it's like someone turns a switch on in your brain? Then all these little ideas and thoughts start to whizz around making it totally impossible to get back to sleep? Yup! Nothing for it than to get up and make a pot of tea. I peeked outside, just after 6 a.m. Still Dark. What looks like a smattering of snow outside. So the neighbors weren't pulling my leg then! I put the little lights on in the kitchen window, I like my lights they give the kitchen a nice warm glow. Yes people I have fairy lights in my kitchen window! I bought them in Walmart, they are little bunches of grapes that light up. Lovely Man would have them down in an instant given half a chance! I glanced at the thermometer - zero degrees. So here I am blogging, browsing through my photo gallery, all wrapped up in my pj's, woolly socks and a fake fur throw!

Last night I did my second sketch of Kelly. In-fact I did two on account of not quite being able to get her arm right the first time! So I'm feeling all artsy-fartsy and I can sense another 'creative day' coming on! Anyway I'm sat here, now witnessing the most beautiful sunrise, browsing through my piccies and I find these two of Chippie taken a couple of days ago when I very quietly followed him to his home! Turns out he lives in a burrow just outside my back fence! I guess the days of seeing him preening in the sunshine will be a little less soon. Although I am assured that even tho it gets real cold we do get some bright sunny days up here! I like these pictures. Makes me feel warm just looking at them. The locals cannot believe we don't have our heating on yet, they think we're mad or something. I do picture myself as Renee Zellweger in "New in Town" very soon! Do you think Lovely Man will turn into Harry Connick Jnr? Ooh just the thought......

So yes umm....Chippie second picture....here it is.....I'm off to make tapioca pudding!

The colors of Fall

This morning we ditched the morning run in favor of a light breakfast followed by a three hour walk around the lakes, the town and beyond.  I needed to take some photo's of local landmarks for a project I'm doing and we needed shopping so it seemed an all round sensible idea!  It has been an absolutely glorious day here, the sun has shone and there hasn't been one cloud in the sky!  Although we started out in sweatshirts it wasn't long before they came off and we were in our vest tops!  The colors around us right now are becoming quite spectacular.  The leaves on the shrubs outside the post office are the color of a good claret, and some of the other leaves have turned the color of cinder toffee.

And the lake is a beautiful bright blue.

Lunch, again, was taken on the deck.  With rain forecast for tomorrow we thought we just needed to make the very most of this wonderful sunshine.  Looking out over the gardens it just confirmed how lucky we are to have this opportunity to live in such a beautiful setting.

Hopefully on Saturday, if the forecast is correct, the sun will shine again and we will go on an adventure into the bush at the back....there is a trail leading to yet another lake which is just begging to be found!

Well!...Would you believe it.....

This morning Lovely Man and I were up at 8.30 - AGAIN!  And what's more we went out and did the jogging/power walking thing - AGAIN!  Well how about that?  It was distinctly chillier this morning but still pleasant and this time we didn't collapse in a heap on the bed when we got back!

We actually got a bit more done today.  A work bench was constructed for the workshop.  More pictures, in fact all the pictures, were hung.  Malcolm the moose has found his spot in the family room flanked on either side by a wood carved portrait of one of his relatives and a photograph of our local black bear!  I have made my own little art gallery on the stairway and displayed all Lovely Man's Army & Naval momentos in the family room and dining area.

The Fall is certainly well underway.  The trees at the back are turning quite golden now. The chipmunks are rarely seen, I quite miss them but they'll be back in Spring.  

Yesterday evening we had a double rainbow arched over the street.  It was the biggest, brightest rainbow I have ever seen.  It seemed so close too I felt that I could almost reach out and touch it!

 And just to round off a perfect day our neighbour, Jim, came across with some homemade cabbage rolls for us.  They were absolutely yummy, and saved me from having to cook too.  I have already searched out a recipe and will be experimenting in the very near future.  Once tried and tested I will post the recipe on here. Talking of cooking, you remember I made strawberry and raspberry jam?  Well recently I had a bash at grape jelly which was really good too.  My next project has to be Christmas Chutney though or Lovely Man will go into a sulk.