A Little Bit of Colour in Winter

 I have an orchid plant that was gifted to me for Christmas in 2012 and I haven't managed to kill it yet. I love it. When it flowers, it is such a pretty, happy sight. Especially in winter, when everything is cold, white and dead.
It is that little bit of colour in the winter.

That little bit of life in death.

 That monumental struggle to break free.

That monumental struggle to just be.

A Wonderful Gift

A quick apology: I am sorry I am not blogging much right now, I am getting ready for my wedding and though it is a small wedding, it is amazing how much of my time it is taking up with all of the preparations. I will get back to more regular blogging (God willing) as soon as possible :)
Arwen Sniffs the Large, Mysterious Package
A few months ago, I purchased some beautiful vintage pins from my good friend Jen at Epic Farms (http://www.epicfarms.etsy.com). While purchasing them I mentioned that Brennan and I are getting married in September. Well, she then said that she had a little something in mind and that, as I wasn't in a rush to get the pins (I'm using them in my wedding, details below and to come), she wanted to do a little something to go with them. Now, I was thinking a little something to be just that, but I wasn't thinking it would be this wonderful something. I want to share with you one of the most wonderful gifts I have ever received. Upon getting the package from the post office, I noticed it was rather large. When I opened it I found...
The "Bliss Box", and its Beautiful Poem
...An absolutely beautiful box! On the outside it was decorated with beautiful paper, reminiscent of Italy, and the front had a label saying "Bliss Box" and on top was a poem:
"The Bliss Box
In this box when you are joined together,
place joyous memories to cherish forever.
Your wedding announcement, a special note,
a flower, some ribbon, a thoughtful quote.
And on the papers of pink and blue,
write a loving word or two.
Then set it aside in a special place,
secure it with ribbon or tie it with lace.
When you are down and feeling blue,
pull out this box and look it through.
In times of struggle, it times of trial,
inside this box you'll find a smile.
Remember why your love is true,
encourage each other and find joy anew.
Keep God as your center, your focus heavenly,
for marriage does not take two but three.
Jen Crowe, Feb. 2010"
Isn't that beautiful?? I've already said that she should make more, similar ones to sell in her delightful Etsy shops (epicfarms.etsy.com and wysiwigs.etsy.com), as I am sure more people would want them. I thought that would be all, and to find my little pins inside, but I was wrong...
A Handful of Envelopes
...A pack of envelopes! I wasn't sure which ones to open first, but fortunately I opened the orange envelope first and found...
Some Envelopes
...a delightful card from Jen. I then opened the pink envelopes and found...
Gorgeous Scrapbook Die Cuts From Jen
...Some incredible die cuts for my wedding scrapbook! I just went out today and got a scrapbook for our wedding photos (okay, okay, I like to be prepared, lol), and thse are going to be perfect! There is a little couple, gold hearts (the gold doesn't show in the photos, sorry), gold interlace rings, doves and hearts and heart labels and so much more, including a set that reads "Our Wedding". They are gorgeous, you need to see Jen's shop for these and more.

A Jumble of Letters Makes...
The next envelope contained a jumble of letters...what did they make? I will admit, it took me a while to figure it out (yeah, brain wasn't working well, the envelope said it all, lol). Brennan and Meghann in beautiful opalescent paper, with a beautiful green tree with matching green crystals attached to it.
The Final Two Envelopes
The final two envelopes had more stunning cuts, including a little car and sign that says, "Just Married" and letters in a little plastic envelope that say Just married as well ( I didn't take them out as they are delicate). The final cut is a beautiful cake with gorgeous pink flowers and a small pink crystal on the top. Okay, I admit it, I cried happy tears when I saw the cake cut. I don't know why, but for some reason that one made me realize I'm finally going to marry the man I've loved for almost 9 years. But STILL the package wasn't done!
Vintage Bits and Bobs
Jen also included some beautiful vintage pieces of jewelry for me to play with. I've already got some great ideas for these, let me tell you!
The Vintage Pins for My Wedding
Finally I got to the package I had ordered (seems funny, doesn't it? LOL!). These are the vintage pins I'm using in my wedding. They are silver plate with faux pearl and rhinestones on the left, and the flower one has rhinestones and some sort of mother of pearl in the petals. Here is what I'm doing with them:

Handmade Ribbon Bouquets
I ordered a bunch of ribbon from a great Etsy seller a few months ago in blue, pink and white, the colors of our wedding. I then made bouquets of ribbon roses - one for my bouquet to hold, and a small one to put in my hair (I'm wearing my hair half up and half down, so it will go where the elastics/pins will go). But where is the flower pin?

The Bouquet with Pin, and the Bliss Box
Why, the pin went on the bottom front of the bouquet I'm going to hold. It sits just below my hands, so it will add some beautiful sparkle - plus, as the bouquet will never die, it will eventually become an ornament in my bedroom! I now have filled the Bliss Box with my bouquets, as well as the jewelry I'm wearing (I'll show you that later!), and the jewelry I'm giving to my mom, soon to be mother-in-law, and friend doing my photos. After the wedding, I am looking forward to filling it with things from our marriage!
Oh, and the second pin? I'm wearing it on my dress, I'll post photos when I get married ;-)
The big day is September 10, my birthday (Brennan chose it, not me, as he says he'll never be able to forget it, lol). I'll keep you up to date with other things that are going on as I'm able to...some things I'm giving away and I want them to be a surprise, so I'll photograph them and post them after the wedding :)
Thank you for sharing in my Wonderful Gift, I hope you have a wonderful gift of your own soon!

Tuesday's Treasures: Another Great Day at the Cottage

~Misty Morning from Our Neighbor's Dock~

I awoke one morning to find Arwen eager to do her business and when I went out to our dock I found a beautiful misty morning! After running inside to grab the camera (and make myself decent!) I found this photo waiting to be taken - it is a view from the neighbor's dock. They were truly delightful people and after I gave them a few of my birthday cupcakes, they reciprocated by giving us a HUGE jar of delicious homemade maple syrup! They have some massive maple trees on their property and each year they tap them to make the most amazing maple syrup I've ever tasted. (Thank you again if you are reading this!).

~BOO!~

I heard a noise while taking photos (sort of a screech followed by a splash) and looked down to find this big guy staring at me. I had no idea bullfrogs can scream, but then again, if they get that big, I suppose anything is possible!

~Our Boat~

This was the view from the boat that we got with the cottage. You can really see all of the beautiful lily pads and a bit of the fog. By this time the fog had started to burn away as the sun was really rising.

~Waterlily~

When I went back onto the deck to enjoy the view, I looked down and found this beautiful little lady waiting for her own closeup. I love these waterlilies and was so very fortunate to capture one open - they close completely as soon as there is too much shade, which happens fairly often as there are many beautiful, mature trees on the shore, waiting to be admired.

~Brennan and a Friend Fishing~

Later on in the day, Brennan had a friend over for fishing and steaks. I also gave him some of my birthday cupcakes and I was delighted to see that he loved them as much as Brennan and I do. He even asked for the recipe - score one for Meghann and my gluten free, Vegan chocolate cupcakes!

I'll have more photos tomorrow....here is another happy one of Arwen - I actually got her with her ears up!!
and Arwen

Melodious Monday: Charity Update and Some Photos

I wanted to update you all on the charity of the month, as we are halfway through July already - where has the time gone? As the summer months are usually slow, and as I have had a few sales in the last few days, I have decided to continue last month's charity over to this one to try and donate as much as possible to the Lanark Animal Welfare Society.
I also thought I would share my pansies with you - they are the "Sand 'n Sky" mix and I love them :)

Remember to enter my monthly contest by adding your name and email to my monthly newsletter (You have to sign up for the newsletter first to be eligible to win!!), see the full contest details here.

Tuesday's Treasures - A Wee Garden Visit

I know I promised you a new bracelet inspired by Queen Victoria and I am working on it, I promise, but it is a new stitch and is taking a very long time to finish as I want to get it perfect the first time.
However, never wanting to disappoint, I bring you photos of my cotton candy colored lilies. They went from tiny buds to full-fledged open blooms in the space of about 24 hours and I love it! They also have very little smell, which is great if you have allergies. The bottom photo shows Arwen smelling the flowers before we took our walk :)
I will try to have the new bracelet up next Tuesday so please check back for that. Also, see tomorrow's post for a new segment I am doing, with the help of my wonderful grown-up puppy Arwen, called Wednesday's Walks with Arwen.

Remember to enter my monthly contest by adding your name and email to my monthly newsletter (You have to sign up for the newsletter first to be eligible to win!!), see the full contest details here.

Magnificent Monday - The First Iris of the Year!

**UPDATE** When driving my dog to the vet today, I saw not one, not two, but THREE other houses with the same irises! I guess they aren't as rare as I thought, LOL!!
Years ago, when we first bought our house, there was nothing. Well, not nothing. To be precise, there was crappy back fill and weeds - 8 foot high weeds to be precise. But there weren't any flowers, and once the weeds were hacked down (we went through 2 industrial weed whackers before getting a house-duty one), there was just dirt and the carcasses of weeds. No color, no pretty things, just death.
Then a friend of mine came over with a feed sack full of dirt and stone-like things. She plopped it down, told me to get a few bags of topsoil, plant the little stone-like things with a sprinkling of soil over them and wait until next year. Next year! Yeesh, I thought, these had better be worth it! It was. Since then, I have eagerly awaited summer's arrival to see these giant irises, the color of which I seem to have a hard time finding in other places.
I believe these are German 'giant' bearded irises. They only bloom in late spring/the beginning of summer, but their size and beauty makes up for that. I hope you enjoy them :)

Tuesday's Treasures - My mom is Here!

~Red Trillium in My Forest~

I'm sorry for the absence the last few days - my mom is staying over with me while Brennan is away and we have been busy visiting! Last night we played Monopoly for 4 hours and it only ended in a draw when we were too tired to continue. I will hopefully get us out in the garden today as it will be sunny and breezy - warm enough to work outside without the bugs that are plaguing my every move! I'll try to be more conscientious in my posts, however, and let you know what we are doing :)
Off to work out, and maybe get some jewelry done,

Sweet Saturday: In My Yard

~Bouquet of Red Tulips~

Here are some photos from my gardens! I really needed to get out of the house and take some pictures, it's been a stressful few days: in the middle of the spring thaw, with a stream and pond in our backyard and goodness only knows how many gallons per hour of water floating under our house, our sump pump quit. Thankfully I noticed it just before it started to leak into our basement - the water was at the rim of the sump hole!
Hubby went outside and fixed a weird blockage in the discharge pipe, which seemed to be the problem initially (later on, I went outside in the pitch black, now mosquito infested rain to re-dig the hole that the water drains into, after the pump seemed to be struggling to empty the water). Then, after taking the pump out and putting it back in the sump hole, the pump turned on and stayed on, pumping water out of the sump hole (and from underneath our house) for 20 minutes STRAIGHT. After that it was switching on about every 30 seconds to deal with the water rushing in....Problem was, it wasn't switching on by itself....apparently our sump pump is a little temperamental and needs to be in 'just the right spot' for the float to activate the switch to turn the pump on and off. I, being the only member of our house who is able to stay awake (read: not able to sleep anyway), I was the one who went down into the chilly (but thankfully still dry) basement and pulled the stupid thing, every 30 seconds for about an hour. Then, it slowed down to about once every 6 minutes and remained that way for another 6 hours (I made myself a nest from a bean bag chair, quilt and yoga mat on the chilly basement floor and watched almost the entire extended trilogy of the Lord of the Rings to stay awake and switch on the sump pump every 6 minutes for 6 whole hours). Yes, you heard me, 6 hours, until at about 4AM, after pulling the pump on, jiggling it into another spot, and waiting for the next time it had to go on, praying it would switch on all by itself....it finally did! WA-Hoo!

~Little Sparrow (I think it's a sparrow anyway)~

Hubby then went into town the next day and got a new sump pump to replace the now (mostly) working old one. We took out the old pump, took off the discharge pipe (which created a wonderful puddle on the concrete floor, despite the towels thoughtfully laid down prior), and set to work replacing the sump pump....only to find out that the adaptor we had was the wrong size to fit into the new sump pump! Great. So we then had to reattach the old sump pump and place it back into the sump hole, where it (again) had to be placed into it's 'just right spot' - though this time it only took about 2 hours before I had it right.

~Closeup of Red Tulip~

Thus, today we will be getting (hopefully) the correct adaptor for the new sump pump so that I can sleep again, and not worry that our basement will flood.
I hope you like my stress-relieving photos!
I am also working on designing a new jewellry collection, so stay tuned!
Have a great day!

Thankful Thursday - Some Spring in My House and a Very Happy Cat

~Raff and his hand-crocheted toys~

~My Vegetable and Flower Seeds!~

I popped on my friend Louise of Fireseed's blog and found some truly adorable pictures of her cat, Raff, enjoying his new toys, Octothello and Beary and had to show you! I posted about crocheting the little amigurumi doll last week (Click Here for the post), and I was so excited to see him play with the toys and enjoying them :)
I also started some of my vegetable and flower seeds yesterday and though I still have to put my lights on the shelves to help them, I couldn't wait to show you that I now have a bit of spring in my house :D
I started my hot peppers, block peppers, cherry tomatoes, Brandywine (like beefsteak) tomatoes, asparagus (that will take 3 years to produce spears, but it will be worth it to have asparagus!!), Daisy Fleabane (so pretty despite it's name), pansies (the ones covered in foil so they germinate), and Canterbury bells (they attract the biggest, slowest, fattest bumble bees you've ever seen!).
I still have many seeds to start, as I have to time them with my plant out dates, so I'll keep you posted as I plant and as they grow....At least I don't have to worry about cats getting into the soil this year - Gandalf LOVED to ruin my seed starting by dumping the soil and rolling in it, and though I miss him, I will NOT miss coming home to a filthy cat and no plants! :s
I hope you have a wonderful day, and I will try to continue posting through the Easter weekend, though it may get a little crazy.
Until next time!