Settled in the Maritimes of Canada, surrounded by the forest and Acadian Mountain Chain, I live a simple life of gratitude. This blog is a journal of my art, food, furkids, garden, home, my life and my thoughts. Thanks for reading!
I have been meaning to post a garden update but honestly there isn't much to report sadly. Arun over at Jaipur Garden Blog has a weekly link party called Garden Affair. That motivated me to post something today! I'm also linking up with Angie's Mosaic Mondays link party. I'm really having fun blogging lately! Please check out those links if it interests you or if you want to join in! 😊
Bad news first? When Alex and I realized our well was dry at the end of June, we had to have a new well drilled. I'd already put in all of my raised beds and the well had to be drilled very close to half of them. All of those beds that were near the new well got covered in rock dust. All of the plants in those beds either died or have stunted growth. My Buttercrunch lettuce (that normally thrives) is the same size it was at the beginning of July and hasn't grown an inch. I lost all of my herbs, strawberries, spinach, Iceberg lettuce, beets and green onions to the rock dust contamination, sigh...okay onto some good news:
Butternut Squash: one little lady is growing! Because of our move, I couldn't start my seeds indoors like I normally do, I had to plant seeds directly into the raised beds in June, so I'm not too sure what kind of harvest I'll have this year!
Spaghetti Squash: there are two of these growing, I love this squash! So far the deer haven't found my garden, and I'm hoping it stays that way!
Tomatoes: they are finally starting to pop up on all of the plants! I'm so excited about this! My potato bed is filled too, I'm looking forward to a great potato harvest!
I love the skies here in New Brunswick, I'm so blessed!
This is the trunk of a huge Douglas Fir tree by the river. I thought the colours were fantastic so I wanted to share that with you!
Marlene, Charlie and Jack
Do you think Jack is fed up of me stopping to take photos? 😊 See you all on Thursday for our art date! The theme is Night Scene.
🎅🎅🎅 I will be adding this to my posts for a few weeks: Please contact me via my contact form on the right side bar of my blog if you want to be on my Christmas card list! And also please contact me if you have been previously so I can give you my new address! 🎅🎅🎅
I hope you are all happy, healthy and living life to its fullest! We are! We spent a lot of time in Nature the last week and it was a much needed break. I mentioned on my last post that we followed a very dirty sandy road for miles that led to a bog and protected wildlife area. Along the way we found this secluded little spot by the river. We had to climb down quite a ways, but it was worth it. We spent a few hours here enjoying a picnic lunch that Alex made for us. 💚
We were lucky to see lots of wildlife on those excursions like this bullfrog.
Look at this beautiful turtle. We saw it on the road and had to stop to bring it over to its pond.
There are some BIG birds in this area, we saw some eagles, falcons and herons.
In this area of the bog, we heard a buck deer rut call. I tried to capture this with my silly little cell phone microphone but all I could capture was the wind and the occasional "did you hear that Alex?" LOL...
This is the sound we heard. It was coming from the trees in the back of the logged woodlot, every minute or two. (For some reason this video doesn't always play but you can click on the "watch on You Tube" link, the sound is at 1:15.)
We were fascinated by these sounds, we stood on these logged tree trunks for nearly an hour just listening and enjoying what we were hearing!
We decided to head home when the sun started to set. I personally don't like driving at night, but we specifically came out to see wildlife and the best time to see/hear them is at dawn and dusk.
Some of you have seen this photo, I posted it last week. On the drive home, we saw a black bear cub running across the road, his mamma was waiting for him in the ditch. Our first bear sighting!
We had to drive very slowly because every few hundred yards, these little brown rabbits would shoot across the road.
When we got home, we sat outside to watch the Perseid meteor showers. This was the second night we sat outside. I was fooling around with my camera and yes Monica, I pulled out the tripod this time 😊! I got a nice photo of the Big Dipper.
I can't be sure, but this could possibly be part of the Milky Way. I still need to learn more about night photography, but this is pretty darn cool!
The days have been so hot and humid! Here I am with Marlene, swimming in the stream. Our Marlene is getting older and she feels more confident when I hold her in the water. By the way, no bathing suits here! I was in there in my shorts, t-shirt and hiking boots!!!
I was SO PROUD OF MY JACK!!! With Alex's encouragement, he actually went for a swim, but we had to throw the ball in to entice him! Although...we discovered that a leech was heading right for him. If you look at the tall green weeds to the right-bottom of this gif I made, you can see a black worm-like thing snaking through the water, that's the leech. I can't believe I got it on camera. I was kind of freaked out a little, but I do realize there are leeches in so many waterways, we just have to be careful and check ourselves and the pets when we jump in the drink!
Not so good pet news...as many of you know, I post a few times a year about Charlie's allergic reactions to (what we think are) spider bites. Well, it happened again. Poor girl, her face balloons up and her eyes swell shut. The telltale sign is that she scratches her snout mercilessly just before she starts to swell. When we see that, we have only a few minutes to pump her full of Benadryl while she can still swallow. It's FREAKING SCARY...but the Benadryl works and as I type this she's completely back to normal. Oi.
Oscar is such a sweet cat...he's so affectionate and easy. Whenever he purrs, he REALLY vocalizes...it always makes me smile to hear him so happy! I was cleaning the bathroom when he decided to join me and show me some love! 💓
I haven't only been frolicking by the river lol...I spent three days taking down the old curtains that were left here, washing windows and installing our sheers and curtains. The house will take a while to become our own, but we are slowly getting things installed, repaired and organized!
My Sunday post wouldn't be complete without some food photos! Every month on the 14th, Alex and I have a fondue dinner - we celebrate our monthly "anniversary" that way. It's been 7 years and 5 months now, and we had our favourite Smoked Cheddar and Apple Cider Fondue. We had it with a nice wine from the Puglia region of Italy. (See Linda? We don't follow any rules for "pairing" wine either!! 😊)
After one of our Nature days out, we wanted something hardy and comforting...pasta it is with lovely and delicious fresh shredded and "petaled" Parmesan!
Thanks for stopping by my Friends! See you on Thursday for our art date, the theme is Night Scene! PS: I wanted to let my Friends know that I'm back to responding to all of my comments! During the move, I couldn't find the time, but now I do because I love it so much, so check back for a response. Sometimes it takes me a week, but I will always reply!!
🎅🎅🎅 I will be adding this to my posts for a few weeks: Please contact me via my contact form on the right side bar of my blog if you want to be on my Christmas card list! And also please contact me if you have been previously so I can give you my new address! 🎅🎅🎅
Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Swipe! I had a lot of trouble with this theme...and I was the one who came up with it lol...but Bugs Bunny said he'd work extra hard at his facial expression to inspire me! I imagined his face being digitally swiped and with some tasty encouragement (fresh carrot juice), he posed for this drawing! 😊
For this piece, I swiped a bit of Van Gogh's style from his famous Starry Night. I had no clue what would come of this, I just pulled out my pencils and pens and sketched away. I started with the sailboat then went from there. I honestly sat in my studio staring at the word "swipe" for a long time and nearly gave up! I hope next week's theme will be a little less challenging!!
Andrea asked me about the 3D art "key" drawing I did last week. Here is the link to the You Tube Tutorial. I suggest that you watch the whole video before starting. I didn't and when it came time to fold the paper for the 3D effect, it failed, so I had to do it again. Where you will be folding your paper is key <--- "pun" 😊, to where you will draw the parts of the key and where you will place the key hole plate! (Sorry it took me so long to respond Andrea!!!)
Friends, I am stunningly, prodigiously and uncommonly busy (not too busy to consult the thesaurus though lol!). Alex and I are trying to balance fixing up the house with taking some time to be out in nature. We explored the area just north of us - a dirt/sand road that leads to a protected wildlife area and bog. We saw lots of wildlife and had a picnic by the river. Look at our dirty car! It's a front-wheel drive SUV and definitely a "city" car...not really made for these kinds of excursions...our next car will be a 4-wheel drive Jeep or some kind of pickup truck, that's for sure!
Speaking of Starry Nights, we sat outside on Tuesday night to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower and we saw a dozen meteors. I held my camera up to the sky on "shutter" mode and just clicked away. I'm so happy I was able to capture a photo of the sky I see every night to share with you! I wish one of the photos had the meteors showing though! Oh my neck is aching still from looking up for an hour, but I feel so blessed to have seen the meteors and to be living in this area! I'll write more about our days out on Sunday's post!
That's all for now folks! Please check out the link gadget below to see more Swipe! art! And join me on Sunday for my food, pets and home post! 😊
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On our drive home Tuesday night, we slowed down when we thought we saw something in the road; we realized the black shape we saw crossing the road was a black bear cub. The mamma was in the ditch waiting for her baby.
August 20th: Next Thursday's theme is Night Scene. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨
Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes.
Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! The link gadget expires Sunday at noon (EST).
How is everyone doing? Have you noticed new features on Blogger? One that I really like is that the default photo is now "Extra Large" so I don't have to go each time to re-size it. One that I really DON'T like is the automatic double spacing when you press enter. If you don't want a double space, instead of "enter", you can click "shift" and "enter". As I type this, the "left", "center" and "right" align buttons when clicking on the photo don't work anymore. I had to highlight the photo and use the buttons up on the toolbar to center them. I sent feedback, I hope they fix it.
Someone asked me how I got my Blueberry Pancakes so even in size...here's my secret in the photo above! 😊
I decided to walk across the stream the other day. I didn't get a photo of it, but to the left, there is a bit of a rock dam to access the Crown land on the other side.
I'm the not first person to have crossed the stream, there was a trail right on the other side. I decided to check it out.
I walked for about five minutes until the trail opened up to the other side of the stream. This side is quite shallow, very beautiful and serene though!
The girls went into the water, but of course, Jack just pulled back and observed! Looks like a deep conversation going on in the canine world doesn't it?
Wet dogs - I love this photo! 😊 After a long walk and a swim, the dogs needed a rest! They joined the cats for an afternoon of lounging.
Charlie
Dana
Jack
Leo
Marlene
Oscar
The monthly shopping was brutal. I have to get used to new stores and what variety of food they offer - also the pricing. New Brunswick food prices are much higher than Quebec. I decided to join Costco to see if I could save money that way - and I will - but the amount of people there (without masks too) is very surprising. I'll have to travel 90 minutes each way once a month in order to save money. It's worth it, even with the extra gas expense. Living in a rural area is like paradise to me so I don't mind the once-a-month drive!
I made some easy dinners last week. We are so busy with the house that I don't have the time I used to for making dinners. One night, we had leftover pancakes with Toasettes and Iced Coffees.
And just before shopping day, I emptied the fridge as much as I could. I made a pasta dish with basil, olives, Feta, Mozzarella and Parm for me; and a Linguine Puttanesca for Alex. Comfort food. 😋
Thanks for stopping by! See you on Thursday for our art date, the theme is Swipe!
