My Everything Corner

That is a pretty little quote, but I only chose it because I would like to live with that belief.  I spend far too much time hating on the weather.     Actually, I really love the rain, and when it's not a torrential downpour, I love to go out in it.  Of course I love the sun, and really, who doesn't?  But the wind and the snow, no matter how much I try to see the beauty in them, I just want to go back inside and wait until that weather passes.  Which in Canada is about 5 months of the year.  Not healthy.   Don't get me wrong, I love a gentle breeze on a warm day.  But I live on a Canadian prairie where a 'breeze' is 40km/hr strong.  It's not going to be the sun that ages my skin prematurely, it will be that drying prairie wind causing my face to resemble old leather.   Anyway, in an effort to more love where I live, I try to make it out whenever the weather is not too severe.  I get some fr...

If you are looking for the 'Grow Your Blog', and you may want to, as it contains a giveaway, you will find it here .   It has been cold outside, and although Bear finds the interior of our house more than boring, that is where we have been doing the majority of our visiting during this nip off your nose weather.     It is very hard to get this gorgeous animal to sit still long enough outdoors to get a set of nice snapshots of him.  Especially close-ups, because if you are at his level outdoors, that means it is serious playtime.  You are going to get licked and pawed and maybe even turned over if you allow it.   He is 120 pounds big, and in my tiny house, Bear has learned that he has to be calm.  He is a 2 year old, and calm equals dull or an opportunity for a nap.  For me, it means I can sit next to him, lay my head on his chest, pet him calmly, or grab the camera and play around.   ...

If you are looking for the 'Grow Your Blog', and you may want to, as it contains a giveaway, you will find it here .         "The shortest day has passed, and whatever nastiness of weather we may look forward to in January and February, at least we notice that the days are getting longer.  Minute by minute they lengthen out.  It takes some weeks before we become aware of the change.  It is imperceptible even as the growth of a child, as you watch it day by day, until the moment comes when with a start of delighted surprise we realize that we can stay out of doors in a twilight lasting for another quarter of a precious hour." -  Vita Sackville-West     Before today, we had some tolerable weather.  'Today' is featured in the photograph above'.  It is -26C with a wind chill of -40C.  The wind is swirling the snow around, stripping it down to the grass in places and building it up sever...

Hi everyone!  I'm Andrea and I live in Saskatchewan, Canada.  I'm surrounded by farmland and we are in the dead of winter, so with the outdoors being so completely asleep, here I am in blogland, whittling down the coldest days of the year. I'm so excited to be a part of this! Vicki over at '2 Bags Full... ' is generously hosting this event, and I'm sure it's an understatement to say it has been no small amount of work on her part to make this event happen.  So first and foremost, a big thank-you goes out to Vicki for making this fun, (not so little) event possible. The reason I'm bothering to enter my blog in at all is because it is so much fun discovering other thought-provoking and creative blogs and to have others find my blog interesting as well.  I enjoy visiting the blogs I follow, especially the 'daily-life' blogs and gradually but surely building pen-pal type relationships around the world.  I like writing and hearing ab...

I went through my photos and selected my favorite sky shots.  I can rarely resist grabbing my camera when the sky is producing a magnificent scene.  However, I rarely come out with photos that I am satisfied with.  Too bright, too dark, not enough detail and blurriness are common problems for me.  This past week, my husband was going through his computer stuff, a sizeable feat, and he came across an instructional disc that came with our camera.  I plan on watching it soon, and learning more about how to operate this wee beast.  I'm sure it holds lots of hidden secrets that will improve my photography.         

We've all completed projects that we're not too proud of.  But hopefully, after the frustration passes, we can have a good laugh at ourselves.  That is what happened this morning when my little sister called me up and confessed that the sheep she had started knitting a while ago was now complete.    Now, first let me say how brave I think my little sister is.  She began with no pattern, she has very little experience knitting, and she absolutely knows how to laugh at herself with the right audience.    When I asked her how it turned out, she said, "I'm really not too happy with it."  So, I got her to send me a photo, and that is when the giggles ensued.   I said, "Well, the body looks good."  And then I asked, "Are those white blobs supposed to be his eyes?"  She started laughing, and then to keep it going I added, "Instead of a grazing-in-the-field sheep, he's a run-over-by-a-car sheep."  It went on from th...

I by no means claim to know how to work well with Photoshop, but with just a few simple clicks, one can have some fun with photos.  Here are a few I've been playing with.  I've also been working on creating some graphics of botanicals that have been extracted out of photos I've taken.  If I like them maybe I'll figure out how to share them here.  I'd share all the steps I took to achieve this, but I don't remember.  I was just playing around.  In this one, I changed the tone of the sunset to better match Bear and the bale he is playing "king of the castle" on.  Photoshop really helped bring out the detail in this one of Bear's pawprint.  This one is a combination of the above two.  It was a bit of work to get the paw print to look decent.

Went for a very short walk today with the camera.  Apparently I can barely touch my toes without my gums starting to bleed from the surgery, so I have to be careful not to let my heartbeat go up.  With little to do, and a high wind, I headed for the shelter of the trees in our yard.  Here are some pretty photos from that little break outdoors.  The textures of bark can be amazingly captivating when you're bored out of your mind.  I guess I should say 'bored out of your tree' to take advantage of the pun.     I really can't figure out why they don't pay me the big bucks. My favorite.  Yep.  Captivating.  I'm sure my insight is bringing you to tears. This is a lilac bush gone to sleep for the winter.  I can't wait to welcome her blooms in the Spring. One of our Magpie friends lost his home in the windstorm day before yesterday.  The bummer is, those poor birds can't catch a break, the wind is ...

I know what you're thinking, "Oh no...", "Awe, that's too bad.", and "What was that?" are all things that come to mind.  That was my greenhouse.  I 've included a picture from early Spring last year for a 'before' comparison.   Last night, when I first noticed it, I broke into tears.  It didn't help that I was at an emotional peak after having undergone oral surgery earlier, and I was all drugged up on painkillers.   Today looks a lot better though.  My dear husband said we would be able to salvage most of the wood and rebuild the greenhouse well in time for Spring.  The pain from the surgery is far more manageable today, (thank the Gods - sorry, I've been reading the Percy Jackson series of books to my son every night now for months), and I don't have to take the narcotic today, which was seriously messing with me.  They gave me 40 pills!!!  I've used 4 and don't anticipate having to use any more, especi...

In the fall of 2013, we had local author, Deana Driver come to our school and give a presentation to our students.  She talked about her journey to becoming an author and how important it is to both read and write.  She spoke about a few of the books she wrote and/or published, and 4 of the works peaked my interest.  I just finished "Never Leave Your Wingman" by Deana, and I became not only very interested in the people she was writing about, but very attached also, as though I had made 2 new friends. The story is about a couple, and the wife's battle with cancer.  The story talks about how they met, how they worked through Dionne's first cancer, only to be faced with another, then another, and yes, then another set of cancers.  This is the story of a thriving survivor, (and her wingman/husband) who will stop at absolutely nothing to keep cancer from taking her life.  To make a long story short, and to answer th...

Do you have anything in your home that you just truly enjoy walking by everyday?  I have several of these things, and I'd like to share a few with you now. The first one is a garage sale find.  It looks like a high-end boutique item, but it is much better.  An original oil painting bought off the streets in Paris from the artist by a couple on their honeymoon over 30 years ago.  It was rolled up in their closet for so long, they decided it was time to get rid of it.  That's where I came in, handed them $5 and walked away feeling elated and a bit like a thief.  The framing was done by a friend who needed her greenhouse taken care of while she was away.  So in exchange for my services, she framed my wonderful painting.  I love it's texture, colors, content, everything.  I could decorate an entire room around this painting.   The next piece is an antique replica, very French country.  It's near the dining room table and holds ...

Of course, you never know what you're going to come across at the thrift shop.  Someone must have decided to downsize their napkin ring collection, and I was the lucky one.  The first set is wooden and so of course will casually go with just about anything.  I couldn't find a napkin or tablecloth that these clashed with.  There are 8 of them. The next set is brass, and they have that nice, vintage burnished look.  Maybe not quite as flexible as the wooden set, definitely more formal, but they go with a lot of the linens I own.  There are 6 of these. The last set is unique, wooden and a dark burgundy in color.  I originally pictured them as a Christmas table adornment, but as I was going through my stash of linens, I was surprised to find how nice they looked in an Autumn montage.  This is a set of 8 as well. I just love napkin rings, they add that touch of class to any table, and they have a way of saying, "I put some thought into this...

I spend so much of my time searching the internet, especially blogs, for creative, decorative ideas that I forget to share some of the things I've done in my home.  I always feature the holiday decorations, but rarely the everyday things.  I know it's a dark photo, but that is the only time I have this little feature lit, when the room is dim, usually during a movie. The large bowl/plate, about a foot and a half across, was a steal of a deal at $2 from our local thrift store.  It is wooden and the color is a gorgeous red.  I've collected some very interesting dried botanicals, and the lights were a Boxing week deal that set me back an entire $3.  They are battery operated LEDs inside various sizes of rattan globes and their regular price was $14.  The nicest thing about this strand is the wire, it is very thin, and translucent, virtually unnoticeable amongst the botanicals.  It even looks great during the day w...

A few of you already know about the "Grow Your Blog" event that is being hosted by a super-fantastic lady and blogger, Vicki of  '2 Bags Full... '.  For details, click on the link or the picture in the sidebar.  The idea is to meet new bloggers that talk about things that interest you, and in the process you may find some people that are interested in your blog.  In my opinion, the best scenario is when you find a person who is on the same page as you, so to speak, and you can share equally in each others blogs.  When that happens, you've made a friend.  And, it is always nice to make a new friend.  This is the second go around for this event, and although I did not take part in last year's, I did find the list of blogger's that did.  From that list I've found at least 10 blogs that I am newly in love with, (a great feeling), picked up a follower on my own blog, (yay!) and have also had several drop-in, commenting visitors...

I fell in love with milk glass years ago while browsing through a Martha Stewart magazine.  So I blame her completely for this little obsession.  I didn't get serious about collecting it until a few years ago when I realized I could get some really fantastic deals on it.  There is never a time when I don't have my eyes open for it.  I never forget to check at garage sales or thrift shops for it, and although there have been several pieces arrive broken, I still find myself looking online for unique pieces.  I love all the pieces, but I have the most fun with this collection when I find a vase or a candlestick holder that I don't already have, for only 10 cents. I have more pieces than are shown here.  I actually use everything I have for various occasions.  I have an exceptionally beautiful butter dish and covered sugar bowl, currently on my counter.  There are several vases throughout the house.  There are even several br...

It is the coldest day of the year here so far.  With a wind chill temperature of minus fifty degrees, let's hope it doesn't get any colder.  What is there do on a day when any travel is dangerous and stepping outside, even for a short walk is painful?  I've journaled and read and worked on a puzzle.  I've done some housework and watched some TV.  I've played the piano and hung out with my kids.  Of course, I've had a long, hot shower and I've been drawn to my computer several times.  I have even had a short nap.  Now, with a mocha nearby, I am keeping my spirits up by playing with some bright colors and doing some shopping on Etsy.  Looking forward to warmer weather, days when I can go outside without risking permanent scarring via frostbite, when I can get regular doses of fresh air and generally feel better about life. I put together another treasury this morning, more suited to the mood of the day.  I love the raven and all...

  There are so many varieties of pumpkins and squash that I find it very difficult to choose which few to grow.  For now, I have limited space in my two relatively large vegetable gardens.  But, pumpkins take up a lot of room and although it can be a fun experience, I try to avoid cross-pollination.  Last year, in garden number 1, I had 2 rows of corn and 6 rows of potato plants between 2 varieties of pumpkins, and I didn't notice any strange hybrids there.  It was a similar scene in the second garden.  So with room for only 4 different varieties, how do I go about choosing out of a collection of hundreds?  My first concern is carving.  We do a large display for Halloween, my husband has grown as an artist over the years, my kids will carve as many as you will throw in front of them, so I need a nice selection of reasonably easy to carve pumpkins. Color is another import...