Welcoming a new year

Welcome 2013!  Hope you had a great New Year's Eve. I jaunted out of town for a quick 30 hours in Collingwood.  So nice to get out of the core of the city, even for a brief time. Nice to relax for a second. Loved getting a bit of fresh air and watching the fluffy snow fall on a picturesque Winter wonderland. We had a wonderful evening dining, chatting and toasting the new year with friends... and a very cute puppy! Do you make New Year's resolutions? I quietly made a few to myself. And, I am resolving to actually keep my resolutions this year. Lots of exciting things are set to happen this year all around me.  Looking forward to discovering the other side of a fresh new leaf and I'm ready to work hard to make 2013 a fantastic year.  So grateful for the good people around me and work that I love. Cheers!

xo

M

Hallowe'en

We are in full-on show prep mode around these parts.  This is always a manic time of year! But we didn't forget Hallowe'en!  Here are some fun pictures taken over the lead-up to today.  Can't believe we are privileged enough to spend relaxing evenings chatting and carving pumpkins when so many, including some dear friends are without water and power in Sandy affected areas.  Hoping for a smooth recovery for everyone in those areas.

We whipped up last minute costumes, as usual. I'm still rather impressed with our super-craftiness.  The sushi costume was really easy to make and lots of fun to wear.

Happy Hallowe'en to all!

Vertigo

This week I had scary moment... and a visit to the ER... with debilitating vertigo.  I could not move a single centimetre without feeling horrendously dizzy and nauseous.  It felt as if someone had found their way inside my head and was pulling me to the ground from the inside of my ears with all their might.  It is the worse feeling I have ever experienced and rendered me entirely helpless.  Unable to move comfortably, I lowered myself to the floor to a full horizontal sprawl.  I slowly slid across the room to reach upwards from my low position in order to unlock the front door so that help could reach me.  The 12 step distance that may normally take 1.5 seconds to travel took 20 minutes by my slow-glide method.  Crawling would have been too jarring an action.  It was half comical and half pathetic.  My family was so helpful.  A huge thank you to the troops who came to my rescue.  My resourceful sister called Telehealth and conferenced me in.  After a series of questions, they recommended I call 911.  I refused such an extreme measure and decided to taxi to the hospital.  Before we left for the hospital, I felt I was on the upswing and was able to stand up again... though wobbly.  It was diagnosed as benign vertigo or BPPV.  It came out of absolutely nowhere in literally one second.  I was so relieved to eventually improve and am crossing my fingers that I never have to suffer vertigo again.

Now, the reason I am sharing this on this here jewellery blog, is to remind people to have emergency plans in place.  Have telephones and numbers handy.  Make sure someone has a key or access to your home.  In my case, I will now keep water and maybe some meds near floor level should this happen again.  It's been a few days of resting, not getting up to much and I am feeling 95% better.  Not quite ready to drive a car or ride a bike yet though. Getting a little stir crazy, so hoping to be 100% tomorrow.

How 'bout them apples!

A couple weeks ago, I went apple picking with little E, her mom SK and her baby brother who was all cozied up in his stroller.

Rough season for the apple farmers.  The warm balmy weather in the Spring, followed by a frost destroyed so much of the province's crop.  Some lost 80%.  So we were lucky that our favourite fruit picking farm still had a pick-your-own program.  Love a tasty apple fresh off the tree!

The apples were small, but they are absolutely delicious.  This is a blurry photo of the most perfect one we found, gingerly grasped from its solitary hiding spot up near the top of a tree.

Now weeks later, we are still enjoying our haul.  Looking forward to next year!  Maybe wee J will be able to pick with us too!  Thanks to SK and fam!  It was a lovely day, as always!!

An EX-cellent week

Had a great week last week and am a bit sad to see Monday here...  but this week may be just as good if not better than the last.  Here are some snapshots from last week.

  Afternoon lunch and flower shopping with Mom.

Coffee breaks and meetings.

Dining out of doors on tasty fish tacos.

Working on upcoming projects while admiring AK's living room wall installation.

Late night homemade desserts with fresh Summer peaches.

Morning bike rides by the water.

Music festing under the trees in the sunny park.

Admiring the city skyline from the west.  Strange blank billboard.

Princess gates at the CNE against a marvelous purple cotton candy sky.

Lounging at the Blue Rodeo concert while surveying the Ex.

Running around for some post-concert rides and photo-taking.

Our stomachs are not what they used to be in our youth.  Don't think whirring high speed rides sit quite as well any more!

Love the swings the best!

Not sure what it is about the supreme gaudiness of the annual fair that I enjoy so much.  Perhaps it is the many lights and colours.  Hope to go back to visit my fave buddies, the alpacas in the farm pavilion.

Was so happy to see so many different friends this past week and then finished things off with a Sunday family dinner to wind down and get ready for a busy work week!  Back to my pliers now.  Happy Monday!

Collingwood - August long weekend

I'm behind on blogging again...  It has been a whirlwind around here...  Mode Show... weddings... jewellery making... paper-work... Summer fun. Going to try to catch up in the next few days.  Here are some photos from a relaxing little Collingwood getaway with good friends, beachy days and lots of food.

Summer in the city

Much of this Summer so far has been spent shuttling up and down town to work at my temporary studio. With so many long days it was nice to enjoy the bike commute.  I was sad to miss the nice days.  Love the heat and warm sunny days, but I did sneak in a couple breaks while desperately waiting for paint to dry. Here are some photos from around town recently.