Life

A week ago today, we received one of those much dreaded phone calls. Mark's mom had had a heart attack. She was in the hospital on the Island. She is alright, she had two stents put in and is back home, after being transferred to Sudbury. Yesterday, Marks brother was on the Island, visiting his parents, and had a heart attack after shoveling snow. He has been transferred to Sudbury, and had two stents put in last night. From what I understand, he will be kept in until Wednesday, but is doing well. I hope he is doing well. Earlier this fall, Marks eldest brother had his second heart attack, and had three stents put in. He is recovering and already back to work. Scary stuff...family history, and genetics....

It has been one hell of a week, well one hell of a year.

This morning we drove Thomas to Thunder Bay to the airport. He flew to Calgary this afternoon. He will head back to B.C. from there in a day or two. We are hoping he will be back home for Christmas. It was sure nice having him home for a month, it just flew by.

Hehe, speaking of flying by, the trees were flying by on our drive home. Mark couldn't understand why I was taking so many pictures... I love the flow and movement of the unfocused trees....

I am hoping 2009 will be a happier, less stressful year.

The End of November

Wow, time is flying! The end of November already, yikes, Christmas will be upon us before we know it.

Thomas is leaving tomorrow, we will drive him to the city to catch a flight out. Hard to believe he was here for a month. We are hoping he will be back for Christmas.

Yesterday I warped up my loom, and started to weave. I have had a custom order for a rug waiting since September. My elbow has not healed but the worst of the process is the cutting of the sweaters. Well just the cutting of anything, not a great motion for my elbow.

I was great to be back at the loom though, gets me excited. I am not halfway done and already thinking about what I can weave next, what colours I can use! Very exciting for me!

So for now until I have rugs to list, I am listing jewelry. Two new pieces listed yesterday.

silver frost

copper rose

Chained Pearl

A new listing on Etsy for me, surprise, it is copper and a freshwater pearl! Very simple, but very pretty!

Last Weeks Snow

Kinoje

Noje enjoying fresh straw in his house last week after the snow.

We brought Kinoje to the vet in the city early this morning to have a big molar extracted. They also removed two other teeth that were broken to the gum line, old war wounds.. fighting his dad and brother ...

He got home,  drank a gallon of water, ate a big dinner and cozied down in his straw lined dog house. We are all glad to be home.

Rippled Rings

Simple copper and brass rings, make earthy elegant earrings!

rippled rings

listed in my Etsy shop this morning!

Copper Ohs........

Once again I am playing with copper. I do love it! Yesterday I began to put rings together, many many rings.

It turned into a necklace. An earthy necklace.

It really is very lovely, it might not show in my photos...

Dusty Peacocks

New listing for me last night. Pretty blue and grey pearls!

dusty peacocks

Happy Birthday to Me!!

It is my birthday today! I do love my birthdays, they are a celebration of me!

I woke this morning early, to see a lake freighter passing by, all lit up like a Christmas tree, so pretty. What a treat! What a fantastic start to my day!

I had a leisurely morning, coffee and chatting to the ladies on the Canadian Etsy thread! Nice!

During a long hot soak in the tub, a cake recipe finally came to me.. chocolate sponge cake, with lemon cream and fresh raspberries. I topped it off with chocolate buttercream. It took me most of the afternoon to make the cake, big and yummy!!

Chatted on the phone to some family and friends, and then cooked dinner. We had wasabi baked rainbow trout, balsamic roasted red onion sliced thickly, and mashed potato cakes. Everything was fabulous!! Hmmm yum! I had the cake chilling out in the front porch, maybe too cold, the icing which was a little wonky to start with got a little too hard so it cracked when I cut it. I might use a softer buttercream recipe next time. I combined a few recipes to come up with this recipe. Maybe at some point I will post the recipe, I do not even have any photos.

It was a wonderful day!

Black Currant Jam

A new necklace for me today! Gorgeous faceted grey freshwater pearls, with peacock grey button pearls and gunmetal grey hematite. This necklace has the earthy colours of the rainbow sparkling through it. Very pretty, if I can say so myself!

 

black currant jam

Rainbow Fishing at the Steel River

A few more photos from our fishing trip yesterday. Proof that there was some fishing being done.

mountain ash berries after being touched by frost

Thomas warming up at the fire after fishing

Mark trying to warm up, the wind was brutal

Mark releasing the speckled trout

Thomas netted Marks rainbow!

proof I was with them, warming my toes at the fire

the first snow fall, taken out the back door, this morning

Mouth of the Steel River

Today I went rainbow fishing to the mouth of the Steel River with Mark and Thomas. I only fished for a short while and lost my lure, so I stopped fishing. I took some photos instead, and sat by the fire. It got very very cold, brrr!

Thomas lost one, Mark caught and released a speckled trout, out of season, and he caught a beauty rainbow trout. We are going to have it for my birthday dinner.

mouth of the Steel River

thumb print pebble

love these Superior pebble beaches!

pebble beach, looking towards the Slate Islands

Earth Sticks of Blue

New listing for me today, pretty freshwater pearl and copper earrings.

earth sticks of blue

Peacock gold keishi pearls, pale peacock blue pearls and elongated copper kidney wires.

Big Denim Rug

I finally finished the big denim rug I started in September. The rug that gave me tennis elbow, cutting the 42 pairs of jeans that went into it. It is 48" x 56".  Almost square!

I tried something different this time, I placed a teddy bear with my shoes in my photos, to help show size. I do get a lot of messages asking what brand my shoes are, or someone actually asked if she could buy my shoes. She didn't even say she liked my rug...

I will not be listing this rug on Etsy yet as it is heavy and I have to figure out shipping.

Artisans Northwest

We are heading to Thunder Bay later this morning, as I have my big Artisans Northwest Craft and Fine Art sale this weekend at the Valhalla Inn. Thomas has kindly offered to be my helper. I hope he is still talking to me on Sunday afternoon.. it is a long weekend...

I have taken my rugs out of my shop and am almost ready to go.

Last evening I had two different items up on the front page celebrating the North American trunk Show on Etsy.

pretty amazonite necklace

red recycled wool sweater rug

My rug and another necklace sold last night, so exciting! Wish me luck for this weekend!!

Mustard Calustard

This has been a great day on Etsy for me. One of my rugs was featured in an 

Etsy Finds

My treasury made the front page, it doesn't happen very often so it was a huge thrill. Then this evening the Etsy Finds was on the front page so my rug got a lot of exposure, as did my shop.

mustard calustard

Midnight Blue Plums

Wow, I have not posted for days.. hoping my elbow heals... still hoping...

New listing for me this morning! Gorgeous pearls! I love them!

midnight blue plums

Pretty midnight blue, peacock plum and cocoa brown freshwater pearls strung into a necklace!

Bistro 305

This morning I took my sling off. My elbow was tender, but throughout the day even though you think you are not using your arm you really do use it. It is quite sore now. It is driving me a little crazy doing nothing. I can't even cook.

After dinner I noticed my junk email icon bouncing about. I thought it was another Twitter follower notification, but it wasn't. It was an invitation to join the blog Bistro 305 hosted by my cousin Kim. It will be a place for family and friends to share cooking and craft ideas. Right up my alley!

I am excited about this great idea, and will be anxious to watch it grow into some thing wonderful! Thanks Kim, I needed this right now, perfect timing!!

Tennis Elbow

 My doctors office called very early this morning, I had an appointment in emerg at three this afternoon to have my elbow injected with cortisone. It had been over two months and it was not getting any better.

 I am home with my arm in a sling for 24 hours. No heavy lifting for three days or so... no more jewelry making for me this week. Thomas is here, and will do the chores that need to be done. 

Let's hope this works, and will allow me to start weaving again.

Encircled Copper

Good morning... on this rainy November day! 

One day closer to my birthday, the countdown is still on....

Thomas arrived home last night, finally, it will be a treat to have him here with us.

I have been working on making some new pieces for a sale I have this weekend in Schreiber. I just got some new silver and copper chain in, I am excited to play with it. I love metal!

encircled copper

Pretty copper earrings, oxidized black brown French ear wires, shiny copper chain,and rosey pink hued, oxidized rings. I think they are beautiful... love the variations in the colour.

Rustic Apple Tart

A favourite recipe I have not made for ages. I baked two yesterday, for Thomas, but he was a no show, he will be home in just over an hour...

Yummy, I had some for breakfast this morning!

Rustic Apple Tart Recipe

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp. sugar

dash of salt

7 1/2 tbsp. butter

1/4 cup ice water

2 lbs. tart apples, peeled and sliced

3 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. butter

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cloves

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in ice water until mixture holds together. Press into a ball and let rest 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 15" circle. Place dough circle in a 9" pie plate, spread out, centered.

Combine apples with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Place apple mixture on the dough in the pie plate, spread out evenly, dot with butter.

Fold the edges of the dough  over apples, pleating to make it fit. You will have an uncovered center. Moisten pastry with water or milk and sprinkle lightly with sugar, I used coarse sugar for this.

Bake at 400° F in the upper third of the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until apples are tender and partially caramelized. Rotate pan halfway through baking.

Serve warm or cold and enjoy!

Cranky Day

I am feeling a little off my game today. I think all the sadness this year has brought finally caught up with me. Of course the mill closing this week doesn't help things much, uncertainty... doesn't sit well with me at the moment.

I will adjust and get back on track.

I listed this beauty today, pale blue prettiness.

flowers of the coppery sea

silver swirls of blue

I listed these blown glass earrings yesterday. I am still loving the delicate hollow beads!

Two rustic apple tarts in the oven, I am sitting here wondering if Thomas will be home tonight.. we'll see....

Copper Buri Blues

Wow, November already.. my countdown has started to my birthday. I love my birthday..funny how I seem to need a reason to celebrate life... well this is my day to celebrate my life... and counting.. down..

I heard yesterday that the aggressive little fox was captured and will be transported out of town to the woods. He had been chasing people.. obviously someone must have been hand feeding him, as he has no fear of humans. Poor little beast. I hope he will be okay in the woods as he is a town fox. He may find his way back here.

A new listing on Etsy for me this morning. I guess most of my pieces have an earthy feel to them, even the one I think are elegant. Earthy elegant... maybe it has its place.

copper buri blues

Copper chain, with gorgeous pale blue freshwater pearls, and reddish brown buri beads. I had to do some research after I got these buri beads, as they are wood, but they sure feel like plastic .. they are made from palm tree seeds. They really are wood and not plastic.