experimenting ....

I like the natural/rustic look - burlap, jute, etc. - I tried crocheting with jute twine - here's what I came up with - I like these .....

Did you know that jute has different dye lots - I didn't expect that - the upper pot took an entire ball of jute - it was supposed to be bigger - the second ball of jute was a very poor match and not a good contrast.  The bottom pot has the possibility of being turned into a hanging planter - I haven't decided if that's what I want to do with it - meanwhile I like it as it is.  The coaster started out as a placemat. 
The poinsettia is looking quite ratty but I've been nursing it along so that it can be planted at the cabin.  The geranium is one of five that wintered as stems only - once they were planted in soil and given some water they burst forth in leaf - they are awesome plants.

We've been going to the cabin a couple of times a week - this photo was taken a couple of days ago ...

 see how clear the water is  - it's always clear .....

she believed she could -

so she did

can't think of a good title ....

This is the Easter card that I made for our sweet neighbour, K - she really liked it - denim blue is her favourite colour - I did remove the marks at the bottom before giving it to her - wasn't bright enough to do so before taking the photo.

We were at the cabin again this week and this shows you how much ice has disappeared - we were able to drive right in ....

The first butterfly of the season posed for the camera .....

It was a balmy 15C (59F)!  On the drive home a blue heron came up out of the ditch and flew alongside us for a short distance - it was quite exciting to see it flying so close.

I also played at 'Suzy Homemaker' this week .....

look at the size of these frog legs - it would be a hoot to show these to kiddies - they look like bare bottoms - and this is how they looked when they were cooked - they are delicious btw ....

 

and I made some 'Boursin' and tortilla chips/crackers - both are delicious
 

 

be kind whenever possible -

it's always possible 

out and about .....

On Wednesday my fella suggested we take a drive and a picnic lunch to Riding Mountain National Park which is about 60 kms. from here - it was a beautiful sunny day.   This year Canada is celebrating her 150th birthday on Canada Day, July 1; for the entire year there is free admission to all of the National Parks in the country!  This park is commonly referred to as Clear Lake with Clear Lake being the largest lake in the park and the coldest - it's spring fed and ice cold even at the height of summer - the townsite, Wasagaming, is on the shore of Clear Lake.  The park has several beautiful lakes and hiking trails, good fishing and lots of wildlife including bison and moose - it's truly a beautiful place.  I grew up about 150 kms south of the park - visited  a lot while growing up  -  it's where I went to summer camp - I have a lot of good memories of this park.  Interestingly, folks who live on the north side of the park refer to it as the mountain - the escarpment is a well defined rise when seen from the north - from the south it's a very gradual climb and the escarpment is not noticeable - the folks from the south side commonly refer to the park as Clear Lake.  These photos were taken in the townsite ....

The townsite is at the south end of the park and when we got to that point we decided to continue south and have a short visit with my aunt who lives in my hometown of Rivers.  Aunt Lou is petite - she's shoulder height to me - lives on her own - does her own cleaning - still wears make up - she is my late mom's only sister.  She's a hoot .... she mentioned while we were there, "I never thought I'd have anything wrong with me at this age"  - she'll be 85 in June.  lol

On Thursday we went to the cabin again - we wanted to see the open river - the white that you see is ice and not snow.

Recently I decided to dress-up my favourite old denim shirt with some flowers .....

he who laughs last, thinks slowest 

the cabin

We made two trips to the cabin this past weekend - it's so nice to be only an hour's drive away.  The snow is quickly disappearing - the wind that blew for 2 days in early March left behind some hefty snowbanks that have disappeared to the point that we had no problem walking in. We were hoping to see the ice go out but that happened overnight last night. 

Nigel the resident squirrel was on the deck to welcome us.....

We had a visit with cottage neighbour and good friend E - 

 discovered some pussy willows that were alongside the road that didn't require rubber boots to access them - 

 made me a happy camper ......

I've been sampling daffodil patterns ....

I like the size of the bottom one and the design of the one on the right -

 I'm working with the yarn that I have on hand.

i've seen it all done -

can't remember most of it