Unmistakable signs

Despite the still warm weather, there are signs that fall is right around the corner.


Ripening fruit.


Ready-to-pick apples.


Reddening leaves.


Rapid nightfall.


Return of thick, squishy goodness on the needles...

What changes have you noticed?

(oh and a big thank you for all the photo love!)

A whole new way of seeing

This weekend, I've been seeing things in a different light.




You see, Christmas came early around here.


We took the plunge and invested in a DSLR.


I headed out to one of my favourite places, Mer Bleue bog.


I had so much fun discovering all the things my new camera can do.


I feel like I have bionic eyes.


It's almost as if I can now see into the heart of nature.


Sweeeet macro lens....


Do not fear though, I didn't set aside my beloved knitting.


My needles have been flitting furiously, as I have an exciting project that is keeping me very busy. I will tell you more about it in a couple of weeks.


Hope you all have a sweet week filled with beautiful sights. Night night...

(Edit: for those who asked, we bought a Nikon 5100. What a fantastic camera!)

Glorious Geninne

I had the good fortune recently of attending a wonderful workshop with the very talented and inspiring Geninne D. Zlatkis. The focus of the workshop was making hand-carved stamps.


(photo by Margie Oomen)




(photo by Margie Oomen)



We also picked up some valuable watercolour tips from the master.


(photo by Margie Oomen)


The highlight of the workshop was of course, the people.


Geninne was an encouraging and inspiring teacher with a warm, open spirit. It was such a pleasure learning from her, and working alongside a roomful of beautiful, creative women. And I also got to see Margie and Arounna again, and meet the incredibly sweet Sonia all the way from France. What a treat!


The centre tag with the ginko leaf design is one of my favourites. The beautiful crocheted-covered stones are by Margie. Wouldn't a crocheted stone workshop with Margie be AMAZING? (hint hint)



The workshop itself was held at Bookhou, a beautiful store on Queen street in Toronto.


(photo by Margie Oomen)
As you can see, the workspace was all decked out with beautiful flowers, and inspiring art from the Winged Migration show. We were also treated to a gourmet lunch (had the BEST butter tarts EVER). Hard not to be inspired in such a place! If you get a chance, I highly recommend a Bookhou workshop, or just pop by the shop for a gander. It's well worth the trip!

The woman with the 5 elephants

One of the highlights of our NYC trip was seeing "The woman with the 5 elephants". If you get a chance, please do yourself a favour and see this beautiful documentary.



Swetlana Geier is such an inspiration. I loved her intelligence, humour, courage and beauty.

Some of what I've been up to

It's been rather quiet here, I know. But life has been anything but quiet. We hit the road in July. For a totally impromtu, unplanned, but invigorating holiday.

Mainly to see this,


(photos from the Savage Beauty catalog, Solve Sundsbo)


sit here,


and eat these.

It was great. We weren't planning on going this year, but I guess traditions are hard to break.

More of what I've been up to (including some knitting) soon...

Leaving the nest

A mama robin decided to make her nest on the windowsill of one of my colleagues at work. He installed a camera to capture the nestlings' progress and made a time lapse montage. It's amazing to watch.


The adult birds never stop caring for their young, much like all you hard-working parents out there.

The Tree of Life

Have you seen this stunning movie? I was astounded.