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

Midnite Dawn

My Mr. Man has started up his photography blog again, and is currently posting an image a day. I may be biased, but I think you'll agree he does nice stuff, and it's worth checking out. Here's a link to the blog in question as well as his current 'photo of the day.' I hope he keeps it up for a while, he's got a number of great photographs waiting to be shared.

http://www.midnitedawn.blogspot.com/

A Few Favourites from 2009

A lovely little guy was born.

Time with Mom and Bro.

A day of fun with the roomies.

Another lovely little guy turned two.

A summer's adventure with friends.

A trip to Niagara Falls with Seg and his family.

Precious Penelope grew up.

Two trips to the Dorset fire tower, one with Mom, one with pals.

A walk to work on a chilly Autumn morning.

A few photos at work.

I Think it Might Have Snowed Last Night.

I awoke this morning at twenty after six, to Seguin standing at the window, making an exclamation I won't repeat here. When I got up and looked out, this is what I saw.
There was something about this unexpected, super blanket of snow that made me want to rush out and snap a few pictures.

When I got outside at around six thirty, it was still snowing, but that hadn't stopped a few of my neighbours from going out to scope out the weather or walk their dogs.

The dogs loved it.

Shortly before eight, the snow stopped and the guys decided to go outside to see if they could get the truck unburied.

A number of others from the building were outside as well, shovelling and joking and trading news and stories about the snow; which roads were open, which weren't, whose vehicles were stuck where, what the weather forcast had to say about it all. Apparently, our mayor was on breakfast television this morning, and has declared a 'snow emergency.' Seems a little dramatic to me, but I haven't tried to drive anywhere, so what do I know?

After a while, a few people started a walk to the main road, to see if it had been plowed or not. I went along to take some more pictures.

This is where I want to be today. Inside. But it sounds like people are already starting to dig out of the mess. The plow has been by and the boys made it into work successfully. I might even make it into work myself by the afternoon. But it's been interesting. There's nothing like a snow day to bring everyone together a bit, be it the common joy at the beauty of it, or the shared drudgery of digging out or just a collective sense of awe at what mother nature can hit us with when she feels like it.