It's been a really nice weekend. Lots of fun with lovely people, some of whom I hadn't seen for a while.

Friday night was Tyler and some of the gang from Indy who I don't see so much now that I no longer work there. I was especially stoked to see Gillian, who I hadn't seen at all since she went away to school. Everyone ended up coming back to my place for a little while to hang out and Gillian and I ended up sitting and having a great little chat. It was really nice.

Saturday I hung out with Seg, John and Dimitra. We played online for a while, but managed to get out and go tobogganing before the sun went down. We tried the hill at Grandview this time and it was soooo great! We basically went until we couldn't go anymore, and then took a few more runs anyway. We were pooched and hungry and went out for Chinese dinner, then ended up back at home where we met up online again, this time with Megan along. I had a lot of fun with those three; I have some fantastic plans in mind for us this summer if I can get everyone to go along.

Finally, today was lunch with my sister. We text here and there, but mostly I think we get caught up in our own lives, and let a lot of time pass before realizing how long it's been since we've seen one another. We went out for lunch today, which turned into a long walk and talk up and down Main Street. It was a great day for it, a little chilly, but the sun was out and things were melting and we were perfectly comfortable sitting out on the stoop in front of a store for ages (at least until a spider dangled himself down from the overhanging sign and scared us both away).

In the spirit of such a lovely weekend (and such great weather) here are some summery pictures to hold us over a bit. I'm so eager for the weather to turn warm again, so I can have many more wonderful weekends out and about with people I think are great.

The Finds Event

For the past several months, I've been selling my jewellery in The Finds in Huntsville, Ontario. They've recently gone under new ownership and it's pretty great. Krissy and Slav are really breathing new life into the store and taking a lot of new local talent along for the ride (including me!)

One of the things they've started doing is hosting events to feature local artists and their work, both performers, visual artists and craftspeople like myself. This Friday, February 19th, they have Ashley Hill. I've never heard of her before, but seeing something new is the whole point of this endeavour, I think, so I intend to check it out.

I'll be putting in my appearance on Saturday, March 6th from 1pm - 4pm. I'll be there with my sewing machine, some samples and my sketchbooks, demonstrating my technique and explaining my creative process. I've done this sort of thing in the past, and people have always seemed just as interested in the process of creation as they are in the finished piece. So I think it will be worth checking out.

If you're from the Muskoka area and think this sounds interesting, more information is going up on The Finds website as more events get booked (Under the EVENTS link at the top of the page. They also have pictures, directions and contact info if you've never been to the store before. Take a peek!

The Finds

http://www.thefinds.com/index.html

Ashley Hill's MySpace

http://www.myspace.com/ashleyhillmusic