Smokin' Cute

Cute new dress, pretty brooch, and hip specs + one cute kitty = a decent outfit for a sweltering heatwave.

And just for fun: a Louisiana Pine Snake! A really beautiful creature with a ticklish tongue and a body like silk. I wanted to take it with me but my bag was too small.   :(

One day, I will have a slightly more exotic pet, well, WE will. Have slightly more exotic pets.  ;)

No Boys Allowed

It was a no-boys-allowed day trip to Jasper to check out places and such for the upcoming nuptials. It was a chilly and successful day. I don't want to spoil any surprises for some people so I won't be posting anything of the venue stuff (even though I really want to).  Here's a little teaser (or two):

All in due time! Very exciting! And time is flying by like a concord jet, so I better get my butt in gear!

The following day, I went to lunch with the ever glowing Jenny Babe to Gracious Goods. Delightful little cafe with the most delicious raspberry sorbet milkshake and the most flavourful turkey sandwich. It goes without saying that I'll be back there as soon as I can to indulge in another milkshake.....and turkey sandwich. :)

P.S.: thanks to Jenny Babe and Mr. Babe for letting us use their Park Pass to go to Jasper! 

After our lunch, we went to the bookshop next door. What an amazing collection of literature and knick knacks! I purchased two books (at an amazing deal!): Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood and Dressing Up For The Carnival by Carol Shields. I'm really looking forward to reading these but I'm committed to finishing my current novel of choice: The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie by Alan Bradley. So far it's really good. It seems to be taking me extra long to get that one done because I'm continually getting distracted. Silly blog. Jokes!

Onwards! Once we said our goodbyes and managed to fight off the tears, I took the alley out due to an uproar of minor construction and came across one of my favourite things about urban life: graffiti. I'm not talking about the big colourful hip hop type graffiti, I mean the small and simple graffiti that you catch a glimpse of out of the corner of your eye.

I just smile whenever I find one of these.

I can't explain why that makes so happy but it does. And now a couple more snapshots because I can't help myself anymore, I'm a photo addict I think.

A misty drive into the Park and the only wildlife we saw was a bloated moose on the side of the highway.  :(

He's just so adorable.

Australia?

Yes please! That seems to be where all the action is. My musical hero was recently one of the many performers in the Whole Lotta Love Led Zeppelin Celebration. How I wish I was there myself, but alas, I must live vicariously through those that were lucky enough to attend. I must send out a huge thank you to those that were there and managed to video a good portion of the show. The one that I can't take my ears away from is "Since I've Been Loving You". Holy phuck. Spectacular! Watching Sir Martin work his magic is always a treat. I love it when I come across an artist that I haven't heard before, it's invigorating! The one I am referring to is the lovely woman on vocals in that particular performance. Her name is Zkye (pronounced Sky). She has a voice that makes my soul speechless. Very bluesy and very strong. New fan here for Zkye! Alright, enough of this chatter, please watch and I don't blame you if you fall madly in love with this! Catch your breath now.....

Au Naturelle

Couldn't help myself.

Discipline

I need to keep on top of this here blog, I'm quickly falling behind again! Plus! I have once again forgotten about other events that I had some photos of, but can I find those photos? Noooo.....I'm mostly referring to one particularly "large" event too. A family reunion of sorts that was filled with birthdays and milestones, beer and a trampoline, and a bonfire that ended up with those at the fire being sprayed with the hose by the fire-ban-means-NO-FIRE cousin Debbie. Q and Julie were a little shocked but loved that that's the sort of thing that happens in me familia. If you don't listen the first time, you're gonna get the hose. :)........AH! The photos! I just had a brainwave, I believe they are on my Momma's camera. So Momma and Seestor, please email me those or you will not make an appearance here and you will be depriving the rest of the family of fame. Tsk tsk. Moving on.....

Cute outfit for a day off!

hat: anthropologie, dress: american eagle outfitters, clown brooch: childhood

Took that baby while going to check the mail and to get a blueberry muffin. A delightful little walk in the morning. *sigh* I wish I could do that everyday. In time.....

The fair rolled through town not too long ago, and it was a searing hot day. The aptly named Whoop Up Days, is identical to Klondike (I mean "Capital Ex" - insert eye roll here) Days, just on a bit of a smaller scale. Lots of rides, lots of food to indulge in that will leave your guts feeling wretched afterwards. Not to mention all the games and strange looking stuffed animals for prizes. My favourite prize that I spotted at the water gun game, was a framed photo of a poorly sketched red rose that was surrounded by the words in plain block letters "I Love You". What a prize hey?! Can't say I've seen that before. I wanted Q to play that game, kick it's ass, win the photo, then hand it to me with a "Here ya go doll" followed by a wink and a 1940s wartime smooch.


We didn't play the game. :(

After nearly melting into the pavement, we were all in agreement that it was time to blow that corn dog stand and head for shade and/or air conditioning and some refreshments. Here's a little looksie:

Pay no heed to the running tween.

Cal and J-Roc. New friendos in Bridgetown.

Cute outfit #2!
 dress: forever XXI

I had to make an attempt to be one of the best dressed at the fair and conscious of the heat. If I was going to end up as a Bradley Bee puddle, it better be pretty cool looking.

We also had some guests stop for a dinner visit on their way back home from a golfing vacation in the States a few days after. Can you guess who? 

Give up?!

OK! It was Aimee & Casey! 

How we've missed you two! It was wonderful to see you and thank you so much for making a detour to hang out for a while! xoxo! This is the second time these two kats are on the blog. The first time was my first endeavour into the home photog realm.

A few days after our Hazeldean neighbours departed for home, so did we. A weekend to relax and visit. Q was more about the relaxing and I was more about the visiting and out-&-aboutness of home. My first stop was to Mikay's house, my second home, my Fort home, where my second family and I discussed all things wedding and Halloween. Wedding being the number one this year, as Halloween had to relinquish it's place for this one time and settle for topic number two. Topic number three (aka two) is always Christmasy. That will come, it's a ways off for now. Fort Aunt joined Fort Ma and Fort Pa for a night of canning. A Friday night of canning......hahaha they will never be out of pickled carrots and other veggies. They sealed so many yellow beans that it will last them until this time next year! 

Doesn't that look tasty?!

Canning is a sign that fall is nearly upon us. And thank goodness for that! My #1 season is finally here (almost)! The colours! The sweaters, scarves, and boots! The crisp wind and hot apple cider and pumpkin spice muffins! There is nothing better than all of that (until the winter wonderland).    ;)   Exciting! Then I can start collecting twigs for........well I'll wait to share that one. Last year it was pinecones for my wreath, and boy oh boy did that take a while. Collecting AND creating.

Well, I'd say it's been a pretty decent summer so far. What do you say Q?

That's what I thought. 

Fall's on it's way! Breathe in the last of the warm air!

A View Through My Lenses: Mechanical & Biological

I've been trying my hand at simple flower arrangements. I love flowers and dream of being a florist in the future. Let the journey begin.....


.....with a blast from the past! Below is an arrangement that a florist friend of mine let me do to help her out as she was swamped with orders. Little scary looking but beautiful. Every florist who sees this might shudder but I was proud of it and Cindy really liked it. Our tastes are similar.  She's a hip lady with the wackiest blingy accessories you'd ever seen. Her style is eclectic and fun. Cindy is a two-thumbs-up.

And now for a more refined style. I've come to find my style and tastes, not just in florals but in many other aspects of everyday life. It's all a shmoz still but it's becoming refined through time and editing. Eventually I will be caught up to ladies such as these Edmonton beauties: Janis and Marie. And I can't leave out my lovely friend, Erinn. Note: I have never met J or M, but I follow their blogs because it keeps me in the loop of the changing trends back home. They have their fingers on the pulse of Edmonton's fashion and hip culture. Perhaps I'll be lucky enough to meet them one day. Until then, blog on ladies! Blog on!

Anyways, back to the main idea behind this post: fleurs! And such......

Gerber daisies and button mums

Delicate green and pink/white lisianthus

The most beautiful irises I have ever seen with a punch
of green dianthus

Ivory hydrangea and hypericum berries

In the deep south of Alberta, we have some cool structures; some are functional, some are thought-provoking art, some are just historical chunks. What do these do for you?

One day, I'll climb these stairs and enjoy a cool drink in the lookout.

These are a personal favourite: wind farms.

I heart the iPhone camera. Eet ees sooo goooood!

My goal is to get reeeeeeeal close and get some better photos. I just hope I don't get swept away! Take a deep Breath!.....

Quelle surprise!

As the end of the fabulous wedding drew near, I got my crew in gear, grabbed our goodies, gave our well-wishes, then headed for home. We made all the stops, got our peeps to their beds, and when we arrived in Spruce to get to our bed, I was shocked to see a tiny pair of shoes near the dog dishes on the floor. A tiny flash of excitement welled over me and I knew that Q would be so happy in the morning to see who was there. Q is an uncle you see and a damn good one: he loads computer games and transforms Transformers, hangs out and engages in chases around the house that are followed with little screams and giggles (by nephew, not Q haha). Nephew, was soooo happy to see his uncle! And Q was soooo happy to see Nephew.

Uncles make excellent jungle gyms.

Now Q is a lil bit of a techie, Mac/Apple has a strong hold on him. And thankfully he brought me away from the PC. Slower than molasses in January, they is! So Q has an iPad - which is great for little people and not-so-good-with-computers people - and he put some fun kid games on there for Nephew and he played them, one right after another. But Angry Birds has been a favourite on the iPhone for Nephew. But playing it on a bigger screen?! With better sound!?! Who needs any other games, those are a waste of time. For at least an hour, all we would hear is:

Nephew: "Can you get this game for me?"

Q: "Sure. You're going to play it?"

N: "Yeah."

Q: "Ok."

(new game downloads.....new game theme tune.....new game noises.....ANGRY BIRDS THEME TUNE! ANGRY BIRDS NOISES!)

Q: "I thought you wanted the other game."

N: "No, I like Angry Birds."

(ANGRY BIRDS NOISES)

:) Hahaha it was funny and now we all cringe a little bit when we hear Angry Birds. 

Here's a lil peek into our afternoon, a completely wonderful time chillin' out with Nephew (soon I'll be his aunt.....pretty coooooool!):

Two uncles, Nephew, and an iPad.

Nanan got into it too. My soon to be new mum-in-law.
She knows the Angry Birds theme tune all too well now...hahaha!

One of my new brothers.

The perfect Sunday afternoon.

Speaking of awesome uncles, my uncle is a photog master and has his own blog and flickr page (bigfootmedia). Although it's been dormant for a while, he's got some sweet shots and great stories to go with it. You see, my uncle works in the media, and with that he gets some pretty awesome assignments: trips to the States for hockey game coverage, getting photos from stage front of Billy Idol (Billy gave him a personal snarl!), and biggest of all.....Olympic coverage! He was sent to Vancouver and to Whistler to check out the Athlete's Village. Anyways, see it for yourself and be jealous like me. Also, photog master uncle gave his approval for my photos on this here lil blog. How awesome is that?! I felt so happy when he said that I just about cried in his kitchen. His newly modern kitchen. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a shot of the new backsplash because it is aaamaaaazing! I love it, I promise to get a shot of it in the next little while. Well.....I promise to try to get a shot..... :) .

Breathe deep, falls a'comin'! Exciiiiiitiiiiiing!