Finally finished ......

I've been stitching this for .... well, let's just say for a very long time.  Is anyone adventurous enough to take a guess at how long I've been working on it?  I was determined to finish it this summer before I started on anything else - what a relief to finally say, "I'm done!"   In case you're wondering what it is  - my maiden name is McLaren and this is our family crest and motto; the scarf around it is the McLaren tartan.

I caught these little sweeties sunning themselves on a rock at the river's edge .... is this what happens when "froggie goes a courting"?

 

It's been awhile .....

We've been spending the summer at our cabin by the river and have been rather lazy .... reminds me of that old tune 'those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer'.  I think we have finally learned how to be retired.  The weather has been strange and that means some things are growing well and others aren't - we certainly will not have a bountiful crop but are enjoying the veggies that are being produced.  There are no saskatoons or chokecherries this year, which I miss but so will the wildlife.   Here are some pix from around the cabin yard.

 There are actually cucumbers being produced here - hooray; I love these poppies - their edges are shaggy. 

My husband rescued and restored this antique wheel barrow - all the wood parts are cedar.

We found this old galvanized mop bucket at the dump.  This year it's home to cornflowers, borage, pansies, and  calendula.

Here's a close-up of the poppies.

This is Paco or perhaps Paca.  In cottage country there is a large flock of pelicans that's fondly referred to as 'the Waterhen Airforce'.

These are the potatoes that grew in the compost pile.  We'd had too many to plant in the garden and put  the leftovers in the compost where they grew strong and tall and much to our surprise produced all of these.

There are lots of frogs around this summer and the majority of them are quite large and a myriad of colours - this fine fella is a blue-green.