Our first sewing project

I'll have you know that I broke 3 sewing machine needles making this damn beach bag!  Why exactly am I making a beach bag in January?  I don't know.  But I'm NOT going to Mexico.

signed, the willow

Bad Day?

Then look at this

Source: stephenwildish.co.uk via Rowena on Pinterest

And your bad day is over.  Voila!

signed, the willow

Art and the Written Word

I've always been a fan of text and art together.  To me, it's how art makes sense.  Art Journaling.

Source: sarahearn.blogspot.com via Darrell N Karen on Pinterest

Source: andreajoseph24.blogspot.com via Muriel on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Rowena on Pinterest

Source: artistjournals.tumblr.com via Rowena on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Rowena on Pinterest

signed, the willow

Favourite Snack

One of my most favourite snacks is my Salmon Cracker Fight Club.


Take some crackers
 Brown Rice Crackers with Black Sesame Seeds
or
 34 degree Rosemary Crispbread

Take some cheese
 Havarti - Jalapeno!

A little spice
 Spicy Spinach Dip

No Fight Club Salmon Cracker snack would be complete without 

 Smoked Salmon

 Top it off with something sweet

 Red Pepper Jelly

This was my late night dinner on Saturday night.  For the Moms that needed booze, I needed booze too.  First I needed this food.  Then I passed out.

signed, the willow

Bridge Dreams

It's funny because *Mila* and I decided to talk about dreams.  Oddly enough we have both dreamed that Mr. Weatherbee, from Archie comics, is a serial killer.  I know it sounds hilarious.  But it's not.  Why is there something so strangely creepy about Mr. Weatherbee?

Then we started to discuss a common dream we both have:  Driving over bridges with our fathers; Driving through water with our fathers.  We want them to rescue us, but quite often we have to drive through the puddles, get a little wet, even muddy sometimes.  So, why do we both have these dreams?  I think I may have already answered this question.  We encounter "puddles" and obstacles in life.  We find bridges to cross, cars to cross the puddles in.  Sometimes we get wet.  Sometimes we make mistakes.  Sometimes we are just plain scared.  So, who better to protect us than our dads.

I'm a grown woman and yet, I still need the comfort to know that my dad will carry me through some "puddles" in life.  I also find it very comforting that my daughter finds comfort with my husband, *Steve*, her dad.

As for Mr. Weatherbee....stay tuned.

signed, the willow

A Hermitage Kind of Day

We never pass up the chance to have a hike in the Dundas Valley Conservation Area.  No hike around the loop would be complete without a stop at the Hermitage.  Supposedly haunted, it never leaves us with a bad feeling.  Rather, there's a sense of welcome and comfort there.  A woman lost her home to fire and remained in a tent on the site because she too felt the same as I do.  There is a stillness there and rarely do you hear a bird chirp, or a chipmunk chew through a nut.  In fact, it can give you a sense of unease if you pay attention to the silence.  The history associated with the ruins runs deep and tragedy surrounds it.   Not for us sassy babes.

Yesterday, there was evidence of some rituals or just kids doing random coincidental decaying wood monstrosities.  We found odd displays of decayed wood - split apart and formed into small mounds.

See?

And oddly, every photo I took of this "window" had a prismatic effect in the upper right corner.  No matter the angle, no matter the setting on my camera.  It was there.  This one seems to have an orb-like circle below it.  It is so distinct in some of the photos that I had to carefully inspect them to see if it had been painted on the stones.

Enjoy your day, whatever you choose to do, or not do.

signed, the willow

The Emancipation of Jeannie

Why I dream of Jeannie.

When I was a young girl, our TV viewing was limited to TV Ontario and CBC, but for a brief period a local TV shop offered to give you some TV channels from the US!  This was sheer genius and everyone subscribed. No one truly understood what was actually going on then.  Now, we would understand the practice to be "pirating" television from large US conglomerates.  As I understand it, he recorded tv shows on a very primitive VCR (this was the 70s), or reel-to-reel system, and rebroadcast the signal (or recorded shows) to us in chunks.  You didn't know what would be "on" or when. But you could cruise the channels (with a dial, no remote, nothing past channel 13) and you'd have a pleasant surprise when the USA network, or WTBS would appear.  This is how I came to know of "I Dream of Jeannie" and Barbara Eden.  For years, I had this idea that I might find a genie in a bottle on a beach one day too.

But, I learned something from Jeannie.

From Crackle: The Americanization of Jeannie

I learned that it was acceptable to live with a man and not be married to him first.  It was okay to go hide in your bottle (*insert tongue-in-cheek reference here*) and pout.  It was fine to cause mischief and play "dumb".  It was also okay to not do the dishes, because you could blink them clean later.  It all worked out in the end, even when Roger Healey tried to sway you over to his bachelor pad with his ascot.  


I loved Jeannie.  She was iconic and revered to me.  Some called her a sex object!  She caused men to have nasty thoughts about her and little girls to bare their midriffs later in their teen years.  But wait!  Jeannie found independence in a time when women were expected to stay home and cook and clean.  It was Jeannie who paved the way.  For me, anyhow.  She had a naivety, surely.  But she was 1000's of years old and had come from the middle east (with a robot accent) and popped out of the bottle after being trapped by the Blue Gin.  


Yes, Jeannie was a swell gal.  She shaped me in some ways.  Sad, huh?  Shaped by a Sidney Sheldon character.  Oh well, I like to think that the TV pirate of my home town also shaped a lot of the kids growing up in the 70s and 80s.  Without that pirated tv, we would have no clue about American culture. We'd still believe that the man on the Polka Dot Door has still never met the Polkaroo!  Or that Rod Coneybeare, The Friendly Giant had a chicken living in a book bag. Or Mr. Dressup let stray puppets live in the treehouse in his backyard and go to the car wash in a BMW (2:00 mark).  


{Please click through for your own benefit.  I had a tear form in my eye for The Friendly Giant and Mr. Dressup.  Oh, and couple giggles when Rusty popped out of the book bag and Casey paid for the carwash with a $2 bill!}


So, thank you Mr. Nutter for going to jail and risking it all for the sake of some entertainment in a sleepy little northern Canadian town.


signed, the willow

My Attention Span is Waning

When this blog began, I wrote.  The odd photo appeared as a novelty:  from my own collection, my family, my own imagination.  Then, something changed.  (My lifestyle, most likely.)  I began to morph into so many other blogs out there.  Post a picture and write a caption. Copy. Paste.  Repeat.

Then *Steve* came home this week with a printed copy of my blog.  It was contained in a very large 3-ring binder and *Mila* and I began to pour through.  Some memories ruffled my feathers.  How could I be so silly to worry about all the menial things I worried about.  No excuse.  Somewhere in my journey of copy and paste (and that crazy life), I became grateful.  Time was again on my side.  I met some wonderful people that were very supportive and recognized many others who had been for quite some time, and yet I had not realized this.  

So, back to the big book of blog.  Like Elaine's big salad.  (right here I was suctioned into the world of Seinfeld only to re-emerge 20 minutes later), I realized how much substance I was adding.  An expression of myself, as pathetic as that may seem to some.  It was my outlet when I wanted to scream.  It went away when I channeled my energy onto a window display, a 6 mile run, P90X, or raising my child.  Then *Steve* put it to me quite bluntly, "You used to write.  You don't do that anymore."  Why?  My attention span was waning as was the rest of the world's.  I found that one paragraph was enough to read.  So, why would someone want to read more than one paragraph?  I'm taking the time again.  For me. Maybe I can paint, or document to some degree, write a tad, photo-journalize my life, blog it, print it, and take time to read it and ENJOY IT.

And now for something completely different.

Little Red SumaDog. 

Twinkie sitting there waiting for some love or bunny crack, which would be this stuff.

You can be sure that this story doesn't have an end.  Only had a brief rest period from the prose and written jargon.  As The Terminator once said "I'll be back".  And, he did come back for Terminator 2  and Terminator 3.  That's for you *Steve* ;)

signed, the willow

Closet Space

This would be a great post on my anniversary, not my husband's birthday.

...happy birthday *Steve*....


I've dreamed of a dreamy closet for the longest time.  Haven't you?  Somewhere to put everything?  Somewhere to hide out?



This one is all too elegant.  Maybe too elegant to share with a man.  Oh well, perhaps I'll keep it to myself?

Source: None via Patti on Pinterest

O, this one he'll share.  Sophisticated closet.  What's that?  A library off the closet?  Yowza!

Source: srgambrel.com via Helena on Pinterest

This would be my ideal dream.  However, I don't have a monotone wardrobe and I'm far too messy for this beautiful closet.

Source: google.com.br via Helena on Pinterest

I think it's the space that I love the most here and perhaps the image in my head that this could actually be my real closet.

Source: stylizimo.com via Helena on Pinterest

Perhaps a bit too masculine for me.  I love the window in here with a view!

Source: closet-shelf.com via Helena on Pinterest

The sexiest of all closets by far.  

Source: home-designing.com via Helena on Pinterest

They had me at the framed bags and the tutu.  Perhaps this is a NYC apartment closet?  

Source: dirtylittlestylewhoree.tumblr.com via Kate on Pinterest

Organized and pretty.

Source: bhg.com via MissBRath on Pinterest

Do I have all these items to wear?  Yes, I probably do.  I certainly don't have all those shoes and boots.  I love my boots.  I also love the coloured rainbows of folded sweaters.  

Source: closetcouture.com via Smiley on Pinterest

Which one is your fave?

signed, the willow

Webster's & Tew's

The Falls

Websters Falls

The witch's hut

Dundas Valley

And right here our fun changed.  As we walked closer to Tew's Falls, we encountered two dogs.  Both wet and both off leash.  Suma was on leash.  So, these two moronic wet dogs (one springer spaniel, one a black lab) decided it would be fun to tease the dog on leash and get her p'd and make her tangle her leash around her kid, *mila*.  Normally I would tsk the owners and move on my way saying "Oh, don't worry.  We're okay."  Because, we were okay.  Really okay.  But what wasn't okay was that a little kid of about 2 years old was on a small narrow bridge, with no railings.  He could have been easily knocked over by the chaotic mutt and mutt that were chasing my on-leash dog.  The mother of the boy started to yell at the child, blaming him for wandering out in front of me and he could have been knocked into the creek by me.  Wait a second.  I think it's the dogs that you have to worry about.  Not the responsible mother walking with her daughter carefully across the bridge with her LEASHED dog.  So, I approached a few of these sheepish people that sat on the bridge.  Each one didn't know who owned the dog.  Weren't they together?  They all sat so intimately on this tiny bridge.  There had to be a dozen of them.  Finally, I found the owners and asked them to kindly leash their dogs as someone is going to get hurt.  

Then I felt guilty.  And then I had no more oomph.  It was time to go home.

But first, let's look at the falls....

Tew's Falls

gratuitous tree shot at Tew's Falls





signed, the willow

Autumn, Fall, Post-Summer, Season-Before-Winter

Call it what you like, but it has arrived.  It's Fall.  It's Autumn.  Summer was great.  Winter is around the corner. Fall is my favourite.  It's usually drier than Spring, cooler than summer, warmer than winter, the colours are incredible.

My favourite things to do in the Fall - shop for new clothes, shop for new decorating.  Let's play match it up.  Fashioning the body, fashioning the home.


Fall Fashion Trend for 2011:  Minimalism (Thank you!)


source:  modern fashion




source:  best interior design

Fall Fashion Trend for 2011:  Coloured Trousers = Coloured Chesterfield?

source:  gingersnaps

source:  sky architects

Fall Fashion Trend for 2011:  Polkadots = Polkadots


source:  style.com



source:  design-decor-staging






Fall Fashion Trend for 2011:  Oriental Opulence


source:  fashionising


source:  inspiration for decor




Fall Fashion Trend for 2011:  Texture

source:  polyvore


source:  chictip



What's your favourite trend for Fall 2011?

signed, the willow