bookmarks

It has been wildly cold here - minus 30 when we get up in the morning.   I wish we had the camera with us on our walks with Lucy - we have layers and layers of clothing on.  We look like chubby toddlers.  Well, I do.  So it is nice to come home to hot chocolate in front of the wood stove.  And engage in indoor activities.
I am always ready to make bookmarks.  I cut out the shapes from my paper whenever I have time, and make the tassels while watching tv.   Every bookmark starts out with wild carrot.

It is fun going through my pressed flowers, deciding which to use and in what design to place them.  I must admit I take liberties with the leaves...

Now the really fun part - going through the laminator!

I add the tassels and the bookmarks are ready to go!

repairs continue

Repairs to our house continue, from reinforcing floor joists under the house.....

to laying floor tiles in the kitchen...

to replacing water damaged ceiling tiles

In this shot, Lucy is just off camera

making stuff

These coloured sweet peas are ready for the microwave. 

The kitchen counter is a busy place.  Ron is rolling out dough for tortillas while I am rotating microwave presses.

Back in the workshop, Ron has cut the liquid crystal sheet into squares to back the fused glass tiles. 

The squares gradually change colours with the warmth of Ron's hand.  These will become mood pendants.

grey day

After such an amazingly sunny day on Saturday, this is what we woke up to on Sunday.  There is something beautiful and eerie about the mist.

walking to the pond

Tomorrow is supposed to bring 20 centimeters of snow so we took advantage of the sun today to go for a walk with Lucy to the pond.  Ron and Lucy lead the way.

Lucy pauses to chew on a stick.

I don't know if you can tell but I am actually stuck in the snow at this point.

Lucy is heading to the pond - she isn't waiting for us.

Back home, Lucy helps Ron chip ice away from the gate.

Lucy is tired out.

busy day

When you are living in an old farmhouse you are never without a project.  Today it was the kitchen.  Ceiling tiles were on sale so that is what was happening.  More than half done and it looks so much better!

As soon as Ron started making rings using dichroic glass, customers began asking if they were mood rings.  It has been many years since I have seen mood rings, but Ron researched how to make them and where to find the materials on the internet.  We finally found a source in England for the liquid crystal sheets.  He made rings and pendants - they are so much fun.  These are fused glass tiles ready to come out of the kiln - they will become mood pendants.

I grow and press hundreds of flowers during the summer and fall.  Now, in the winter, I go through them all and decide who needs protective colouring.  Many, like rhodanthe, xeranthemum and strawflowers retain their colour.  I grate pastels to brush on those flowers that have started to fade or will fade if exposed to light.  These are pansies that definitely need some help.

I will put these back in the microwave with a little jar of water to bake in the colours.  Yes, I know one is missing!   I ripped it while brushing on the pastels.

The journey so far

This is our third winter on what we affectionately call the mountain top (its very cold!)
It has been a rocky but wonderful ride.  We very naively quit our jobs, left our friends and family and embarked on this adventure without any idea of what it entailed, or to be more specific, what the costs would be - financially and emotionally.
We joke that this was a good thing - we just deal with whatever comes along.  We are living the life we could only dream about before.  We work hard but we have the time and space to be creative.

Many good things have happened.  One of the best was Lucy, our puppy.

We have been selling at three markets in the area.   This has been so much fun -  getting to know fellow vendors and meeting local customers as well as those who are traveling through our area.

Ron has a workshop for the first time - even though it is also a laundry room and storage area.  He loves the space.  Sometimes family has to wait for promised projects - here he is making a vase for our son and daughter-in-law.

our studio

We can see our studio from our living room window - it is an old bunkhouse that we are restoring - so far the roof is on.  Still a lot of work to do, but our vision is clear.  For now, our creating takes place in the laundry room/workshop and the kitchen/dining area.