Love this - so very true :)

From Brave Girls Club....and perfect timing as always....I find it soooo funny that certain people try and tell me how to live my life STILL - and yet they really dont know me any more or have any effect on my life, choices or decisions.  They need to get over themselves....move on....and give up because they don't control me any more :)  

Art journals :)

Oh how I LOVE pictures of art journals - their yummy wrinkled and paint stained pages, the crispy look of the edges...how fat they are - filled with memories, feelings and thoughts :)  

These are just three of my art journals but I have sooooo many now - and I love them all :)

This is one of the pages I have created for this weeks 'Summer of Colour' challenge.  It is based on the ice cream flavour 'Mint Choc Chip'.  I'm not happy with this page though, so plan to create another before the week is done:

Tuesday snapshots...

Sam wanted to go to Dollarama today and look for Mighty Beans.  After that, we bought lunch and took it to Silverberry Playground for a picnic.  Sam and Abby had endless fun playing games with the other children there.  They didn't want to leave.  

I had a really yum curried chicken wrap:

Abby was glugging water but loving the heat!!  :)  She was having a really fun time with a group of girls:

Thunderstorms have been going on around us off and on today but we didn't actually have one here :(  At one point it was pouring with rain by the pond but NO rain at the house!  Even Laurence and Susannah thought it was strange:

We saw a few rainbows this evening:

Sam at the playground:

This rabbit was hopping about the place....it was disappearing and appearing and we were laughing and saying how much like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland it was:

Saw this sign in a store window at South Ed Common tonight:

I had to run into Ardenes tonight to get something for a friend, and couldn't resist snapping a picture of the rainbow of shoes:  

Laurence, Susannah and I went to Marble slab tonight - had my favourite Amaretto ice cream with coconut and almond mix-ins.  Totally yummy:

This little thief sits on the bird table and steals all the sunflower seeds - I wondered why the birds were suddenly shedding the seeds and leaving the shells on the table!!!  It's this little guy!  He lives in the bus shelter at the end of the driveway and is very cute - and very HUNGRY!!  :)

For today....

Outside My Window... today were blue skies and soft white fluffy clouds.  It was a gorgeous day.  24c and a light breeze!  Well needed after two full days of heavy rain!

I am thinking...about beginnings....focusing on the word and how it relates to my life - as part of a class I'm currently taking.  I will do a separate blog post about it :)  Our first (of seven) weeks is about how we are always at a beginning - of something.  Always. Also thinking of so many friends...so many people hurting right...illness, deaths, break-ups....just so many people I know are having a hard time.  Thinking of you all xxx

I am thankful for...my children, all of them.  And for having my firstborn back in my life :)  I miss him!!

From the kitchen...lots of prep of foods to go on the bbq - asparagus is popular with everyone right now.  Chamomile tea too :)  Oh and we swapped coffee tables and put the black one in the kitchen and the white one in the front craft room - and it looks fab!!!  Love the black one in its new place :)

I am wearing...a teal silk nighty.  I'm sat in bed.  It's 12:30am.

I am creating...coursework for several online classes, art journal pages based on Tarot cards picked by the creator of one of the classes, summer fun plans :)

I am going...to the park tomorrow for a picnic, then to a homeschool group in town.  Sam also wants to go to Dollarama as he has an urge to collect jumping beans and he says they sell them.  I suggested Michaels as I KNOW they do - but he insists on Dollarama - and I LOVE an excuse to go there :)  
I am reading...nothing right now...a few non fiction books, but there are a few books I really want to get!!

I am hoping...for good news about something important to me - tomorrow please!!!

I am hearing... frogs outside, coyotes, Rosie sounds thirsty....Laurence walking about downstairs - I love these noises - and they remind me how free I feel these days and how much less stress I have - and how we are free to enjoy our home without fear of upsetting anyone.  It is after midnight, and it doesn't matter that I am awake and tapping away on my keyboard - or that the light is on - or that the window is open with the noise from outside - or that Laurence may go up and down the stairs to get a drink or use the bathroom.  No one is moaning or snapping at me about being disturbed  - I am free to be me in my own home :)  I love it - I have a HUGE appreciation for freedom.  :)  I love that my kids can feel free and comfortable in their home.  No stress :)  9 years of having to tiptoe around someone is long enough :)

Around the house...we are all loving the deck, porch, barbecue....appreciating the views and quiet for our last Summer in this house.  We are decluttering the house.  The floors are constantly dirty and sticky because of children coming in and out barefoot from the yard - and wet dog prints....and dirty dog prints...and juice spills...and watermelon being dropped.  BUT - these are all signs of children having fun...of life, of Summer :)

One of my favorite things...eating supper outside on the deck. An almost daily occurence now whenever we are all at home.  I have always loved eating outside - and yet lived with someone for 9 years who HATED to eat outside!!  The kids LOVE it and we have had some lovely relaxed suppers out there - and lunches - and brunches...and sooo many cups of tea :)  I don't understand people who don't like to enjoy patios and decks in the Summer...One of the joys of living here is eating outside :)

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...heading to South Ed Common to pick something up for a friend.  Tie-dying t-shirts.  Making pirate maps.  Catching frogs and tadpoles.  Park day with friends.  We have a few weekend plans too :)  Watch this space ;p 

Instagram addiction :)

481 followers currently.  Well over 3000 pictures.  Yes, I'm just a tad addicted to Instagram :)

If you're on Instagram then check out my pictures on there:

Janemma1234

You can also follow this incredibly GORGEOUS guy:

Monday....

Hello, hello, how are you all today?  It was sooo good to have endless sunshine and 24c temps again today after all of that rain we had this past weekend!  We spent the day outside making the most of it - as much of the week is supposed to be wet again!  

We gave Rosie a MUCH needed bath - and she was all fluffy and sweet smelling - for all of about 30 minutes, and then she headed back to the pond and to play in the mud...sigh.....she just loves it!  Sam also enjoyed playing with the hose in the mud pile - so I left him to it because I used to LOVE making mud pies as a child and I think it is sooooo GOOD for him :)  He will miss all this space and freedom here when we move - he does so love to play outsie.  he asked today if he could get his dad to build him a SIMPLE treehouse in the woods at the side of us - but I don't think it is worth doing if we are moving.  

Rosie didn't seem too happy about her bath today:

I was barefoot and the ground was all wet and soapy from the buckets of water and the hose - so I played about in it :

Rosie was soooo soft and fluffy afterwards - I recovered with a cup of chamomile tea:

She didnt stay clean very long - but was happy about that - and it didn't stop her getting lots of love from Abby:

Abby practiced juggling for a while:

I cooked supper on the bbq again and it was sooooo good - spicy seasoned new potatoes with vegetables and burgers:

Blue skies and fluffy clouds all day.  Laurence and I headed to Safeway for groceries tonight:

Abby is such a hat girl :)  I think she looks sooo much like my Nan!!

What else did we do today??  Abigail painted some ceramic horses from a craft kit she got for Christmas!!  we all did art journaling this morning - they had fun with the Dylusions sprays - Sam is enjoying doing lettering on his pages.  His art journaling techniques are fabulous!  I love that he knows things like Gesso, inks, stamping, decorative lettering etc etc

I cut the grass, I watched the videos from three of the classes I am taking right now.  Cleaned my bedroom floor, dyed my hair....Sam watched a dinosaur documentary, Abigail read and watched a movie - she finished her current book - off to the library tomorrow!!

So that was Monday :)  

Hope yours was a good one

xxx