The Olive Sparrow

A bit of something..

There is a new hard drive on my desk. YEAH!, finally a chance to process some images from this summer. I got up at 4 am yesterday (not as planned) and started to sort and adjust. Instead of waiting for perfection, here are the first few.

How about starting off with pictures of some of our outings, wonderfully inspirational.

 

First week of summer vacation we went to Black Creek Pioneer Village.

We played games of days gone bye, talked to costumed people, ate a picnic lunch and romped around all day.

 

Huxley also started riding lessons which culimated in his riding day camp at the end of August. The barn is in Brighton, a mere 1 1/2 hr drive away from Toronto (yikes), however, it is completelty worth it as not only do his grandparents live in town, Sensei Maryann, his riding teacher is absolutely wonderful. She has an intutitive way with teaching children, and her horses are wonderful and very, very well treated.

Silver Lake Stables

More summer to come.

I have also been busy at work preparing items for the TWS Christmas Craft Fair. 

Details here.

This week I'm making pre-felt and rolling doll heads, as well as preparing holiday-inspired felting workshops (stop back soon for details. Then there are the tomatoes that need to be put by to keep the elderberry jam, the crabapple jelly and the pickles company.

 

 

 

Of Kids and Lambs and Blue Eggs

These images - the second batch of our wonderful March break week, was meant to be posted a few weeks back. Yet looking at the pix and processing them for this here blog made me realize how seasonally appropriate they are. 

Enjoy!

 

 

At the farm of my friends co-worker and friend in Mount Albert, Ontario. 

Angora Goats and kids (2 days old), sheep (sorry I forgot the exact breed), wonderful medley of different breeds of chickens and their gorgeous eggs, lambs - a bit early this year, papa-sheep before and after his shearing, Huxley and the youngest daughter of the farm with a lamb. 

I did not notice how beautifully subtle and harmounious the colours of the animals where with the landscape until I started to process the images. 

Easter is such a wonderful festival to celebrate the re-awakening of life in nature! This has been the greenest celebration I have experienced in my almost 25 years here in Toronto. It is wonderful. I hope you have a chance to go for a walk outside and fill yourself up with reawakening life.

Road trip reviews and show announcements

This past Saturday I had a booth at the TWS just north of Toronto. Here a couple of pictures of my booth (I was up the night before the show until 2:30 working on my goodies and then back up at 6 to finish setting up the day of the show) - the photos are not the best photographic work I have ever done (grin)...

I will show detailed pictures of the dolls after I have completed the show circut for the season.

 

Saturday evening we took the booth down at 6pm and at 7 we got on the highway to drive towards Ottawa for the Ottawa Waldorf School Winterfair. Ottawa is about 550 km's away from Toronto - a lengthy drive. We created a nest for Huxley in the backseat - a traveling bag propped up with a couple of pillows and a blanket - so that he was able to comfortably and safely sleep while my husband did all the driving. My friend Wendo lives along the highway, about an hour away from Ottawa and we got to crash at her place for one night.

On Sunday morning we rose early and drove to Stittsville to set up for the fair.

Some of the dolls in the picture are sold, the ones still available will be for sale at the Waldorf Academy in Toronto on December 3rd, along with a few other treasures that I am still working on. Including some nature table beauties.

If you are near Guelph Ontario, this coming Friday I will be at the Trillium Waldorf School at the Cranberry market between 7 - 11pm. I would love to see you. Please note, because there is another vendor there with the large dolls, I was asked to not show them there (instead there will be small bendable nature table fairies and mother earth dolls - never before shown.).

Okay, off to the studio to create to my hearts content. 

Soaked...

This past weekend was my birthday present  -- spending time with my family on the Bruce Peninsula, a place where I have lost part of my soul but also found it in the first place. The last time I was up there was in 2002 when Richard and I still had a very new relationship. We both remembered walking along the trail just after climbing back out of the the grotto looking at each other and saying almost simultaneously "this is why we would love to have a child - to show this to her/him". It took us only 8 years to go back. But this year we made it happen.  

The most memorable events this time was all three of us getting soaked...

 Huxley at Singing Sands

Huxley at Fathom Five Look-out

The shot just before it got Richard at Fathom Five.. he heard it coming but was not fast enough... (giggle)...

And I of course got the biggest and best one... soaked my clothes through and through.. ah, the forces of nature. 

Today, a day of celebration for me, as it is my Birthday. The plan, already partially realized: reading in bed after awakening, breakfast outside prepared by hubby, snuggles with Huxley on the couch (his request). Now, off to the market to buy peaches to put up, then to the studio to get some work done (while Huxley will work on a spear for himself), lunch with my boy, home in the afternoon and another piece of Birthday cake. Why another piece you might ask... well... having been born at 1:45am in Switzerland, we traditionally have some festivities starting at 6:45pm on the 23rd... ) nothing beats a 30 hour birthday party... Right....

July 4th...

This being our first wedding anniversary and all, we had a day on the town. Us three, family we are.

Went to see the Tall Ships in our harbour. Wondrous beauties.