Oh Deer!

Darren spotted this little guy in the neighbour's backyard around dinner time. Our little friend was having supper too - fallen apples from the crab apple tree. Now that I've seen him it's hard for me to be mad about all the damage he's caused in our yard because, after all, he was only looking for a little snack to keep him going until spring.

Image transfer 101

One of my pottery heroes - Cathy Terepocki - is doing a workshop in March and I've just signed up for it. I'm super excited. This woman is a genius when it comes to printing on clay - she does image transfer in a number of different ways and she's going to share her secrets in this workshop. Yay! I have the feeling this is going to change the way I do pottery. Here's a sample of her lovely work, and her web address.
www.hornofplenty.ca

Devin and Corey

I'm so excited about these plate and bowl sets I ordered from Sarah. These are my two youngest nephews and I just know they're going to love their personalized dishes! Here's a link to Sarah's company CHILDish:
http://www.childishfundraising.com/

 

Love. And pain.

This is my new tattoo. My friend Sheila recently became a tattoo artist so I thought what better time to get the tattoo that I've been wanting for the past couple of years. The first time I got a tattoo was 10 years ago and to be honest I had forgotten how much it hurts. It hurts a lot. Sheila wasn't able to finish all the shading because I had to stop - which is crummy because it means I have to go back and do it all again! But she was very kind and very patient with me and I'm confident she'll get me through the next step.

It's a happy coincidence that this tattoo (which is all about love because swans mate for life) came to me on the weekend of Valentine's Day. Love is grand.

I Heart Valentine's Day

Every Valentine's Day I think back to when I was a kid and my mom would pull out the heart-shaped cookie cutter. I loved making those cookies - cutting out the hearts, then icing them and putting the sprinkles on. I've started making them again the last few years - I bring them to a work meeting that is held in February and the cookies are always a big hit. I might have to expand my cookie-making occasions beyond Valentine's Day to satisfy the masses.

Little Walter One-Eye and the Magical Mexican Mat

I should write a series of kid's books about Little Walter One-Eye. I coined this name for him on the day he lost his right eye - he came home from the vet with a pink cone on his head and I started calling him Little Walter One-Eye. Then I thought of the name of his first book - Little Walter One-Eye and the Pink Cone of Shame. It will be a story of tragedy and triumph.

But that's a different story. The real story is about this mat that I found in a market in Bucerias. Hand-loomed, indigo-dyed sheep's wool. I knew as soon as I saw it that I had to take it home. Walter has since adopted it as his own, and spread his hair all over it as a way of marking it as his territory.

Adios Mexico

We've been back from Mexico for more than a week and I think I'm finally coming out of my depression a little. It's pretty tough to leave +30 degree weather and come back to -30 degrees (even if -30 only lasted one day.) It's also pretty tough to readjust to the low levels of sun here - I was using my sunshine lamp twice a day last week (instead of the recommended once a day) just to make it through.

Needless to say we had a fabulous trip. We left the resort only once for a quick trip to Bucerias for some shopping and lunch at our favourite restaurant. The majority of my time at the resort was spent on the beach. Endless hours reading and watching the flocks of pelicans breeze by. Sigh. Only another 12 months and I'll be back there again.

Our bus ride into Bucerias. In 5 words - sit down and hang on!