Almost June

With June right around the corner it means that ballet "season" is almost over. The grand finale is THE RECITAL. Kids are all rehearsed, costumes made, pictures taken. Next Wednesday is the dress rehearsal at old Ottawa Tech and then the big show on Saturday. Sidney's class is dancing to The Lion Sleeps Tonight and they are dressed like baby lions. So to thank Miss C. for being such a patient and kind teacher I felted her a sleeping baby lion. I love the way this one turned out!

This is the card Sid drew for Miss C. She told me, I have it in my head, I know exactly what I want to draw! She drew a dancing lion wearing a tutu!!!!

Things with the business are starting to pick up. I have been commissioned to do a FurEver Dale for a sweet 14 year old girl Airedale who passed away this morning and I am also waiting for the hair to grow on another Airedale who will be turned into a 10" tall FurEver dale. I seem to have enough work so far to keep me busy!

Now onto what I really, really wanted to write about this week. My hubby Ken! He is the most talented man I have ever met. He can sing, write songs and play any instrument thrown at him. He is a natural. I fell in love with him over 21 years ago when one night he arrived at my apartment toting his guitar. I have never looked back ;) Soooo anyways... tonight I caught him sitting in our kitchen with his guitar and asked him to play something and I grabbed our old digital camera that does video. I captured him singing Alone By The River, one of my very favorite songs written by him! Sadly the digital camera just stopped recording before the song ended so he will have to play it again some day so I can replace this video. I am so proud of him and want to share his music with the world. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoo-DdXh8PA

Below are some spring musings that have captured the beautiful weather this past week!

New Dog Breeds to make you smile!

New Dog Breeds

The following breeds are now recognized by the AKC:

Collie + Lhasa Apso
Collapso, a dog that folds up for easy transport.

Spitz + Chow Chow
Spitz-Chow, a dog that throws up a lot.

Pointer + Setter
Poinsetter, the traditional Christmas pet.

Great Pyrenees + Dachshund
Pyradachs, a puzzling breed.

Pekingese + Lhasa Apso
Peekasso, an abstract dog.

Irish Water Spaniel + English Springer Spaniel
Irish Springer, a dog fresh and clean as mountain air.

Labrador Retriever + Curly Coated Retriever
Lab Coat Retriever, the choice of research scientists.

Terrier + Bulldog
Terribull, not a good dog.

Bloodhound + Labrador
Blabador, a dog that barks incessantly.

Malamute + Pointer
Moot Point, owned by…oh, well, it doesn’t matter anyway.

Collie + Malamute
Commute, a dog that travels to work.

Deerhound + Terrier
Derriere, a dog that’s true to the end.

Bull Terrier + Shitzu
You figure this one out.

But that was not enough, so here are more:

They crossed a French Bulldog with a Bichon Frise, and, yep, they got French Frise with that.

Crossing an Akita with a Toy Poodle got them a whole Kitankaboodle.

They crossed an Afghan Hound with a Black Russian Terrier and got an Aflac, the only dog with a bark that sounds like Gilbert Godfried quacking.

When they crossed a Belgian Sheepdog with a Bearded Collie, they decided to call it a Goatee.

They crossed an Airedale Terrier with a Portuguese Water Dog… they don’t know what to call it, but it’s the first naturally carbonated dog.

When they crossed a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with a Kerry Blue Terrier, they got a B.B. King Ray Charles Blues Special and a Grammy.

They crossed a Border Collie with a Chihuahua, but before they could name it, it was deported.

Then they crossed a Silky Terrier with a Beagle, but it’s ‘Ilegal too.

Crossing a Basenji with a Bernese Mountain Dog produced a Benny Hill.

Every time they tried crossing some kind of Terrier with a Chinese Crested, they got a Terrerest. (Homeland Security was not amused)

They crossed a Brittany with a Whippet and got a bad singer who does Devo covers.

They crossed a Boxer with a Bichon Frise and got a George Foreman Grill. (I know, but I have a weakness for Bichon Frise jokes)

Have a wonderful last day of the may long weekend!

Radio Active Soccer

A new season of Soccer is upon us and this year we are Radio Active! We are the brightest team on the field, and we never have trouble locating team mates. Sid is playing two nights a week this year and is loving it. Almost every day she asks "Is it soccer night tonight?"

As a November baby, she is one of the youngest and smallest on her team, here you can see her skirt jersey. Yes there are shorts on under there and socks and shin pads! For the first half hour they play games and work on soccer skills and then they play one of 7 other teams of 5 year olds. The eight teams take up a square of 4 mini soccer pitches and it is amazing to see almost 100 5 year olds tearing around the fields. Below she is playing What Time Is It Mr. Wolf. Her coaches are parent volunteers and they are fantastic with the kids.

Sid is usually getting ready for bed by 7:00 and nothing changes on the soccer pitch. All the kids were worn out after just a few minutes of practice. They still had 45 minutes left to go.

Ten minutes to go and Sid is just hanging on. Sadly once they finish and get Popsicles they become recharged and it takes her a good hour and a half to get to bed. (which is why we adults go for beer after soccer hehehehe).
This coming Tuesday is Sid's last swimming lesson and last week she has decided she can swim and she does! Head under water and away she goes. This will be great in our pool this summer, yet another way to burn some little kid energy ;) This Tuesday I will also be starting my soccer. Darn, I should have started running, oh well I do it to myself every year. Two weeks of being unable to walk and then I will be good for the summer.
Friday Toby and his mom came over for a visit. As expected, the kids LOVED the Little Tikes inflatable bouncer. We call it the bouncy castle and above are the castle residents, Princess Sidney as she battles the friendly Toby Dragon.

Victoria Day weekend and nice weather always means pool opening time. We have had a lot of luck in the past with the pool. We pull the heavy black tarp, top up the water add chlorine do a quick vacuum and are good to go. This year was no different. You never know what the water is going to be like so it is always a surprise when we pull back the tarp. Like past years, the water was wonderful however, as we pulled the large pool cover across the lawn to let it dry, a HUGE (no exaggeration) BUG charged at us. Ken was very cool about the whole thing, me..... not so much. I held up the edge of the tarp while it ran at me and Ken grabbed a bucket. We ended up catching a 4" water bug. See pics below and you can read about them here: http://http//www.eduwebs.org/bugs/giant_water_bug.htm

Essentially the article states that these disgusting beasts, I mean bugs, bite and when they find prey they inject a chemical into them which liquefies their insides so the nasty bug can suck everything out. Honestly I could have lived a complete and happy life never knowing about these guys and I am usually ok with bugs. We released him in the ditch where he promptly crawled out and headed for the neighbours flower bed. At least when I hear Christine scream I will know why, she is afraid of cats so I can just imagine how she will feel about this guy.

This is a new farm set I have felted and sold to a woman in B.C. who is giving it as a shower gift. It will be boxed up and sent out Tuesday. The orders are really starting to come in. Right now I am working on an adorable sleeping Lion for Sidney's ballet teacher since they are dancing to the Lion Sleeps Tonight on June 5th.
That is all for now, I must get back to this beautiful SUNNY and WARM long weekend!

Catching up on the last two weeks

The last few weeks I am behind in updating the blog because I have been preoccupied with the FurEver Dales. I have finalized the packaging, the ordering process and the actual handcrafting of the dogs. I am also working on some more play sets and play food to bring to a local farm that showcases local artists and recycled or green products. I am in the process of working with a local sheep farmer to purchase wool rovings directly from her so the products will not only be made locally but will also have the wool sourced locally. Interestingly, the sheep farmer is the wife of the man who was our real estate agent and she is also the mother of Chris and Mark who were in a band with Ken 20 years ago when Ken and I were first dating. Funny how things come around full circle. More pages and pictures added to http://www.naturesplayroom.com/ to see how the venture is moving along.

Little Mousie after eating too many berries. All three pieces are independent and would work wonderfully with the book The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audry Woods. One of my favorites from back in day care days.

Last weekend I enjoyed a lovely Mother's Day. I picked up some wool for myself since Ken wanted to but didn't know what to get. I was thrilled to be able to wool shop! Also I was surprised with some wonderful chocolate that got stashed and eaten the minute Sid's head hit the pillow. YUMMY! Thanks hunny, you know me sooooo well! We also did our annual Mother's Day brunch at the golf course with Ken's family. It is so fun watching all the kids run and play together. Finally Sid is old enough to keep up with them and was having loads of fun playing leap frog with Julia and British Bulldog with all the girls (and mom and dad too ~ouch we were sore the next day!)

Here at home we were considering a trampoline for our stellar gymnast to burn some energy but Ken's point "Ugh, something else to mow around." was a very valid one! I quite accidentally stumbled upon this bouncer greatly, greatly reduced at giant Tiger. It folds up into a tent size bag and set up and tear down takes less than 5 minutes. One of the best things we have ever bought for Sid and she LOVES it!

We have big time electrons hoping around in there with Sid. Ken calls this one Madame Tesla.

This was a wonderful evening before bug season. Yipppee first campfire with marshmallows.
Campfire night again but these are my oh so very cool Bogs (rubber boots). I love them! They are made out of neoprene, 100 % waterproof and are you ready for this??? Good to -40 OHYA!

A good friend in Seattle sent us a care package and some haire for a Furever Dale an in the care package was a wonderful toy for the gurlz. Here they are super ready to catch the new squeaky elephant. So far indestructible and a favorite for both of them. Thanks Lydia!!! Oh btw, you have a package on the way but I can't post pictures yet. I want you to be surprised :0)


I am slowly working backwards in time to map out our weeks. Here we are at the Arboretum. What an incredibly wonderful secret in the heart of town. We spent hours there with our friends chasing bubbles, feeding ducks, seeing a snapping turtle and exploring nature at its finest.
This is a fav pic of mine. Sid and her friends Isabella, Elizabeth, and Sabine.
The essence of childhood
Here Sid was being a snapping bubble turtle.

I played in a hockey tournament in Montreal for the weekend and got home and laid my equipment out in the sun. An hour later this is what I found.

This video is the last entry for this blog. I managed to capture Sid on her running bike at the park this week. She is now ready for a two wheeler. Cool eh???

Introducing Nature's Playroom

After lots of discussion and ideas being thrown around, I am proud to introduce my new website and business venture.... http://www.naturesplayroom.com/

As much fun as I am having with the needle felted play sets and Airedales, I have discovered a wonderful project I call the FurEver Dales.

These are the little felted Airedales made from the fur of a beloved pet. Specially hand crafted memorials to keep FurEver.

I started by making a few of these for friends and although I have not advertised yet, I have had 4 commissioned already and I am just waiting for the fur. Once I finish the current one I am working on, I will post the website info out to prospective clients and see what happens. I suspect at this rate I might need to register my business. The price is still to be decided but I have been told ask at least 100.00. What would you pay for your pet to be memorialized?

So please poke around the website and let me know if you have any suggestions. Soon enough (once I learn how) I hope to add an e-commerce section where people can order the felted items directly from the website.