Spring according to my iphone

The weather here in Toronto is giving us a bit of a run for our money. It's warm. It's cold. It's warm. It's cold. But alas, I guess that's what spring is supposed to be like. I got a new computer last week which means more blogging for me! I've missed it... and haven't missed it at the same time so we'll see how this goes!

I'm trying to keep the kids outside more often than not so they can get the much-needed fresh air they need after the winter. We've checked out Corktown Common--a must-visit if you're in the that area of the city. I couldn't get the kids off the giant slide!

I bought new running shoes for the 10k I'm running in June and have started a bit of training for that. I'm using Mark's Garmin watch to track my running and decided to wear it to school drop off the kids the other day and found out that we walk almost exactly 1 kilometre every day to school which  means that I'm walking 4 kilometres everyday back and forth. I was so happy to discover this! What a nice way to get some extra exercise into the daily routine without even realizing it.

We've been keeping up with the meal planning and one day the kids got all my cookbooks off the shelves to check out all the yummy things they could help to cook. We also decided to plant some veggies from seed this year and after two days we already saw something sprouting up... is that even possible??

I cleaned up the porch a couple weeks ago and I'm very excited to get moving on finally making a new cushion for our porch couch. I'm going to get some fun fabric from Tonic Living and make it myself. I've made cushions before, but never with piping so I'm determined to do it this year. I love sitting in that little nook with my book during the summer.

We also celebrated Mark's 40th birthday at Cellar Door--a local restaurant that we love. Finally Mark rode in the Paris to Ancaster race this past weekend and finished an hour sooner than he thought he would. I'm so proud of him and I'm in constant awe of his energy. We need to figure out how the can pass that on to me!

So that's a bit of our spring so far. I'm looking forward to the warmer months that's for sure.

ps: Yes Mila wants a dog after walking our neighbour's dog Oscar home from the park!

ahhh spring

It's raining right now, but earlier this week it was SO nice out. So during lunch, I popped out to the garden to see what was going on. Things are starting to happen out there!

Our little Japanese Maple is coming along!

Our grasses are little stubs now, but they'll grow nice and tall and act like a bit of a barrier to our neighbour's house (we share the driveway).

Looks like these guys could be separated a bit! Already too close together... (kind of looks like they're fighting!)

The clematis has begun its climb... It basically takes over the whole wall of the deck!

These green spikes are irises! One of my favourite flowers. They're starting to spread a bit which makes me so happy.

My poppies! My best friend C gave these to me as a wedding gift because we got married in a little town called Poppi in Tuscany. They produce a orange/red flower - love!

The other side of the garden: peonies (one of them just doesn't want to grow!), tiger lilies, crazy grasses we got from Mark's mom and some orange plant :) - oh and a nice parged wall that Mark fixed up last weekend.

There's not much going on at the back so I'll skip over that part for now...

Here's the front - we've got some random tulips I forgot were there, lavender, some hosta shoots poking their heads up and some hydrangea growth (can't wait for those!)

Hmmm maybe it's time to get rid of these?

Finally here are some pretty purple thangs. (I wish I knew the names of plants like Mark's mom!). These grow around our crab apple tree which typically produces some amazing pink flowers. Just waiting for those to show up!

Anyway - really not too much to look at yet but I just love watching the progress!

ps - I snuck a pic of my neighbour's yard - it's SO colourful already. So many purples and pinks - I love it. I can't wait to have something like this this time of the year!

What's going on in your garden these days?

chopped!

It's that time again -- time to chop. I got about 4 inches cut off today and I could not be happier. Care of my friend Kim at Willow Salon in Dundas Ontario.

Spring napkins

Spring is just around the corner so I think it's time to infuse some colour into this place. I'm thinking of making some new napkins for the dinning room and outdoor eating area and I'm loving these zinnia napkins from Anthropologie. I saw them in Lonny this month and I'm loving the colour. They're kind of similar to the napkins I made a few years ago (man time flies!) but the colour is a bit more bold which is what I'm looking for.

fleur

Isn't she cute? This is my sister Stacey who agreed to be my model for the day. Well there was something in her for her -- she wanted me to take some pics for her website.

I finally finished this tote last week. I'm calling her fleur for all the flowers and for the fact that Stacey is in Paris right now making her way to the Cannes Film Festival. I want to be in Paris right now! Actually, since it's my 1 year anniversary on Friday, I'd love to be in Italy. Man how time flies.

fleur is in the shoppe if you like her.


Until then happy traveling and spring galavanting!

hello?

Sheesh. Time has certainly flown by in the past month. I haven't really been doing much besides the regular (working, eating, drinking tea). I wouldn't say I'm in a funk 'cause that's not it. I wouldn't say I'm sick of the snow (even though I'm tired of pulling over to let others by on our streets because there's only enough room for one car to pass, and I feel like I'm in permanent 4x4 on the roads... oh and don't get me started on parking... I can't wait until spring...). I guess I can't really put my finger on it. But I haven't been doing much sewing that's for sure. I tried to do a custom order for placemats a few weeks ago and I almost threw my machine out the window. I just chose the wrong fabric for the project. It wasn't working so I didn't finish it. I'm taking it as a learning experience that I can't work with shiny fabric. That's it. Just cotton my friends.

This week I'm working on a diaper bag for a friend of a friend and I'm pretty excited about it. If it works out as well as I think it will, then I might make more for the shop. Also I have a fun little contest coming up in about a month that I can't wait to share with you. Stay tuned.

After that I'll be concentrating on the new house. We get the keys tomorrow and I can't wait!

Take care my pals and talks to you soon!
~lealou