I've created a New Blog site...

A note to my faithful readers:
I have discovered over this past year by doing the ATC's and other artworks, that I seem to be going in two or more directions at once. (not unusual at all for me - grin)
I am reminded of that wonderful line from some ancient cowboy movie

"He leaped up on his horse and galloped off in all directions!"

That's me.

My artwork in some instances has taken on a more Soulful aspect and I felt they deserved a home of their own.
So if you are looking for the Advent of the Sun - Illumine and Illumine II (my current series featuring the incomparable artwork of Georges La Tour) kindly go to the sidebar and click on 'Soul Caravan'.
I have also joined up with the Art Journal Caravan, a year long journey and those pieces will end up in the Soul Caravan gallery as well.
Bless the Road that Carries you.
Shanti

Star Crossed Artists Awake! Collage Diva's Mini Dream Journal Download Links are Here!!

Sweet mini dream journal for Sweet dreams, and Free! (as my cousin nephew Jeffrey would say..Sweeeeeeeeeeet!)

Over on the East Coast in someplace called 'New England', lives an amazingly gifted and talented lady whom I am proud to call my 'soul sister'.
Her name is Kathryn Antyr aka Collage Diva and she sits and waves her magical creative wand over her respective blogs - True North Arts being one and the Collage Diva being another.
This week in her cheery newsletter she told us that she had a Free Gift for us -T'is the Season After All!
Of course I was over there like a shot, and found she had given us her Mini Dream Journal to download and print out.

Kathryn had included some delightful photos on what to do with it -

Don't you just love that polka dot ribbon (so cute) and Woohoo..I love her colours! especially on a snowy cold day like today.

So as I was looking at her one page download with the 8 sections, I thought..TA DA! this could be an ideal candidate for an 8 page one sheet mini booklet!
With a bit of judicious cut and pasting and a photo of the draft (daft?) project, I emailed the Diva and told her what I had done.
Bless her heart.
Instead of going "ICK, what have you done to my artwork?", she has not only allowed me to post the result, but even went so far as to RE-ARRANGE the pages and add another link!
Can one ask for anything more gifty than that?
Here is her super gracious email to me:
This looks great! Hey, before you post it, I will redo the layout so the pages line up sweetly. Then I'll add a cross link to your blog with directions on how to fold it!
How is that for cross posting and sending the love back and forth?
Indeed Kathyrn, Indeed.

So without further ado:
*
The original Mini Dream Journal Free download link
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The Star-Cut Mini Dream Journal Free download link
*
Instructions on how to do the 'star-cut' 1 sheet - 8 page mini dream journal.
*
Here is my sheet already cut and ready to fold:
Here it is folded with that distinctive 'star' or 'diamond' in the centre-
With the Star Cut Mini Journal, you can also create 4 'tuck-a-ways' or hidden pockets, a perfect
size for those ATC's you've been working on while sipping a latte at your favourite coffee shop.
Of course it's also great for tucking away tickets or found treasures.
Just tape the bottom of each individual page and you have your four pockets.

Now then...
If you leave the two centre pages untaped, you have that star or diamond section which could become... TA DA!
How about a Mini Dream Journal Votive Candle Wrapper!?
Perhaps you might make it from a (ful)filled mini dream journal to help you get started on a new one when you wake?

These are just a couple of ideas Inspired by one of my favourite blogArtistes, Kathrynn Antyr.
I have taken her True North Arts Workshops and not only are they worth the bucks (and NOT as expensive like some out there I could mention, but FUN to do as well!)

Blessings of Dreams filled and fulfilled.
Shanti

Always Time For Love - The PO Box Clock

You can file this under, "Gee I wish I had thought of that, what a NEAT idea!"

On my sidebar is the Human Calendar created by Craig who is now doing, ..." another version of the clock site, but this one will consist of postcards and letters (sent by you) with the time of your choice written on them in some fashion. I will then photograph the whole works and put it online here. How long this project will take to complete is another story. (Hence I wished I had started it years ago when I first thought of it!)."

Click PO BOX CLOCK for more details and please join in the fun if you like!
****

I chose 12:02 for my po box time as that is Mr Bear's birthday month (December) and I follow in February (02).
Here is my digiart piece which was mailed off to Craig today - I had a time limit to get it to him and with the Festive Mailing season upon us, I wanted to make sure it made it there by 12.20.10, otherwise my time would be re-issued and put back in the pot so to speak.

Blessings
Shanti

ATC - November 7 - November'ing

"Here We Come Novembering, Among the Leaves so Dead - Wishing we were nice and warm inside our house instead - Of wandering in woods, sloshing through the mud and rain - Looking for ephemera, alas t'is all in vain.. Looking for ephemera, alas t'is all in vain."

Mr Bear has been going round the house since the beginning of the month, chuckling to himself as he found his favourite poem: "November by Thomas Hood".
He read it aloud to me and when he came to the final 'November' he added his favourite chorus:
NO NO NOVEMBER!

Thomas Hood wrote such an angst ridden poem, that had he been around, I would have liked to have hit him over the head with the last of my sunflower stalks and said,
"For goodness sake, CHEER UP! Go put the kettle on and write a cheerier poem about Spring and dancing daffodils and gamboling lambs..o right, that was Wordsworth wasn't it"

This worthy had a wonderful droll sense of humour about the month and here it is: perhaps to become a favourite of yours during this pre-festive season.

November

by Thomas Hood

No sun--no moon!

No morn--no noon!

No dawn--no dusk--no proper time of day--

No sky--no earthly view--

No distance looking blue--

No road--no street--

No "t'other side the way"--

No end to any Row--

No indications where the Crescents go--

No top to any steeple--

No recognitions of familiar people--

No courtesies for showing 'em--

No knowing 'em!

No mail--no post--

No news from any foreign coast--

No park--no ring--no afternoon gentility--

No company--no nobility--

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,

No comfortable feel in any member--

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,

November!

(Don't forget to add a few 'no's to the end for a resounding chorus!)

Blessings of No No November Nonsense

Shanti

ATC - October 31- Happy Hallowe'en!

Or in this case, Happy 'Cali-we'en'!
MsD's card shows my cat (or a very close copy of same) all dressed up to trick or treat.
Cali aka Kali (goddess of destruction), Cali-vicious (for her sharp claws before she learned to 'tuck her paws in' ) and VelcroKitty (for her white hairs which stuck to you like glue and never let go) had true Hallowe'en colours - Orange, White and Black.

I hope tonight she will have a good time, running around and playing tricks (she had a wicked sense of humour) with all the other animals who now live across the Rainbow Bridge.

My card in response shows our Boo Houses - one of which Mr Bear made! I actually managed to strong arm him into doing one. This involved a bit of tactful coaching on my part as he 'doesn't do crafts.' Guess which one it is?
Blessings of the Samhain Quarter, All Hallows and Hallowe'en to one and all.
Shanti.

ATC - October 24 - LadyHawke and the Knight

All in Green went my Love riding

On a great horse of gold
Into the silver dawn.
Four lean hounds crouched low and smiling
The merry deer ran before .
- e.e. cummings -
Click Here to hear it Sung by Joan Baez

One of my most priceless possessions is a green and silver Riley's Toffee Tin that features a medieval hunting scene on the top.
I got it when I was either 10 or 12, and used it to store such treasures as a pre-teen girl would possess. Since Riley's Toffee ceased production some 20 years ago (sad sigh), my tin is now considered 'a vintage collectible' -not that I would ever give it up!
What has this to do with this week's ATC you may wonder?
Here is Ms D's ATC which started me down Memory Lane.
That photo of me with the hawk Tiwari was shot by my friend Karl who had traveled all the way from Belgium to visit us last Autumn (thank you again for those wonderful 9 days!)
One of the most memorable things we did together was visit the Pacific Northwest Predator Centre and go for a 'hawk walk'.
Turn about is fair play as here is my shot of him with the hawk Anakin (later to be known in song and fable as the 'frog killer')
I had always wanted to go 'a hawking' and though we were not on horseback, for that brief time in the woods, I connected with that little girl, her precious toffee tin and her treasures.
It also brought to mind, a wonderfully shot fantasy film with a soundtrack that (sadly) as one reviewer wrote, "sucked sewage" but Never Mind, anytime you can see Rutger in armour, swinging a broad sword and on horseback holding a hawk, has got to account for something!
Blessings of Autumn woods filled with hawks -
Shanti

ATC - October 17 - Coffee Time!

This Sunday's ATC offerings:
Though I may have a very strong attachment to Starbucks (after all it was my FIRST ..)

I have come to love the quiet afternoon coffee times with Mr Bear, no matter whether it is SB's or in this case: a splendid Autumnal afternoon at Whipple Tree Junction, sitting outside in the warm sunshine.

May you 'fall' in love with Autumn!
Blessings

Happy ThanksGiving!

Thanksgiving Blessings to one and all!

ATC - October 3 - Monkeying Around

Monkeys and I go way back.
I have had both good and bad experiences with monkeys; the Best was when I was at a wildlife exhibit and an enchanting capuchin 'teacup sized' monkey decided it liked me and proceeded to cradle itself in my hands, pulling my fingers apart to make a 'nest', then pulling them back over itself so it was safely enclosed.
The Worst was being bitten (I have still have the scars) by a spider monkey named Chico who did not want to go back in his cage, after having SO MUCH FUN creating havoc in our biology 12 class. He used his tail to wrap around my wrist and then leaned over and sank his sharp teeth into my wrist as I tried to scrape him off my hands and close the cage door.

This week, in response to Ms D's, my card shows a background of a Monkey Puzzle Tree (Chilean Pine) which is grown around here primarily as a novelty and annoyance to the neighbours.
Our family tradition (which according to my neighbour-cousins I started..) is to pinch the closest person next to you and yell out 'MONKEY TREE!' when you are driving along, (Driver excluded by the way). As I was the tallest at the time and could see The Tree coming up, I would get my pinches in before my neighbour-cousins had a chance. (They are still in therapy over it, I understand).
As by way of an apology, I have since amended the Monkey Tree Pinch to "MONKEY TREE (gently pinch) MAKE A WISH!"

THOTH: the Baboon Headed Deity is the Patron of Scribes so I thought (pun) since I am a writer, I would do homage to him here.

BARREL OF MONKEYS: Life has certainly been that for me at times, never mind the 'box of chocolates' from Forrest Gump.

MONKEY MIND: In meditation, one of the descriptions that seems so apt when you are trying to still your Inner Voice so you can CONCENTRATE, is of course 'Monkey Mind' - jumping from one thought to another.

And last but not least, one of my all time favourite words of wisdom: "Thats Not My Monkey, I have my own to feed, thank you very much."
I have had to eat those words with salt on many an occasion, as Mr Bear has reminded me not to take on 'other people's monkeys' which I can do little or nothing about.

But most of all, Monkeys remind us to have let loose every once in a while and have fun.
Especially on bright Fall Days like this.
Blessings of Monkey Business!
Shanti

ATC - September 26 - Flower Presses Old & New

Welcome Autumn, my absolute Favourite Time of the Year!

Though I have yet to do it (perhaps this afternoon if I can find some 'dry' flowers to press), the microwave flower pressing technique sounds right up my alley.
I'm a kinda 'instant results' gal, and the fact that I can have pressed flowers or plants done to a turn in under 2 minutes, is a definite WOOHOO! for me.
This is Ms D's card for the week which turned my mind to thinking about the above...

..and my tribute to Flower Presses Old and New.

Blessings of an Abundant Autumn filled with leaves and flowers to press and preserve!
Shanti

ATC - September 19 - Harvest

As the leaves begin to fall and Autumn once more spends her lavish coin upon the land, my thoughts turn to Jam and most of all, What Kind Shall I Make This Year?.
My neighbour Lee has the most bountiful Bartlett pear tree and good thing too, as my Flemish pear did not do well this year - I got one pitiful pear from her.
So with Lee's blessing, I have harvested over the last couple of weeks, a great harvest-load of windfall pears.
When I was in Edmonton last year, my friend Scott treated me to his Pear Peach Ginger Lime Jam. One taste and I was in Heaven!
So this year, with a nod to Scott who will be out here in November: here is my version - Pear Lime Ginger Butter.
Bountiful Blessings of Bartletts to one and all
Shanti

One of Grandmother Teasel's curls

ATC - September 12 - A Merry Heart - Prov.17:22

Is there anything more infectious than Ms D's laugh?
Frankly I don't think there is.
Her laugh grabs your funny bone and doesn't let go.
It has real staying power, lasts through the first hug hello and is constantly refreshed throughout the evening while you enjoy her family's company.

Truly she reflects Proverbs 17:22 - "A Merry Heart Doeth Good Like A Medicine".

Blessings on all those with merry hearts and who make others just as merry.

ATC - September 5 - SPARKS!

Sparks are the pink t-shirted 5 to 6 year old girls, who are unbelievably cute at this age.
Willing to still believe in Fairies, trying their best to keep up, and with enough energy to keep a small city lit for at least a decade, Sparks are the entryway for many girls into the wonderful Sisterhood of Guiding.

That being said, my dear friend Marilyn once told me, that though she was approached many times to be a Sparks leader, would decline and say sadly, "I'm afraid I would step on them."
LOL (Marilyn was a good 6 feet tall and most Sparks came up to her knees.)

When Sparks first came into being within the GGC Movement (Girl Guides of Canada), I was approached to write a Sparks opening and closing song for the BC branch.
I did so.
Here is Ms D's card showing the Sparks Opening Song.

And here is my Closing Number (darn that Daphne!)


Blessings of Sparks to your Fire!

The Last Leaf has fallen.. Goodbye Aunt Elvie

Autumn came early to our Family Tree this year.

Yesterday morning, September 1, my Last Aunt, dear Elvie went on to join her waiting parents, brothers, sisters. husband and daughter.

Blessings on your Journey dear snowy haired one.
I will miss you.

ATC - August 29 - Fractal Fascination and the Gardener's Golden Mean

Ms D's card this week shows a wonderful Dahlia all dressed in her Early Fall colour.
Our geometry teacher who taught us in high school (though years apart I might add!) and along with his wife, is an absolute avid Captial G Gardener.
I found out recently that one of his favourite flowers is the Dahlia.
How appropriate to have this flower show up in our ATC challenge as he is presently recovering from surgery.
So this week's ATC is dedicated to our Geometry Teacher, Don Calimente.
We wish you a Speedy Recovery!

When you look deep into the heart of a flower, the myriad star patterns that present themselves have always mesmerized me.
With a nod to Don, here then is my response to her Dahlia card: Fractal Fascination with the Golden Mean added as a bonus. To my mind, they have always gone together.

Blessings of the Hidden Mystery of the Golden Mean to all who seek her.
Shanti

ATC - August 22 - Flower Faces

"Count your garden by her flowers,
not by the leaves that fall."

Blessings from the garden
Shanti

ATC - August 15 - Splash!

Bathing.
The Bath
The Swimming Hole at Quinsam
The Centennial Park Pool
The Ocean
Sprinklers.
All joys of hot weather which we are currently experiencing as I type this.
It has been so warm, that I am taking advantage of the somewhat cooler evening temp to catch up on doing my ATC for today.
Ms D's card brings back happy memories of swimming in the local pool (unheated of course) and our teeth chattering as we raced to the car and spread our towels on the hot hot seats so we wouldn't burn our legs.
SpLASH indeed!
I have been taking advantage of the downstairs Library temperature to catch up on my reading of Ancient Rome and of course, the highlight of Roman Culture: THE BATH.
Not just for getting clean, but for socializing, establishing contacts, securing political alliances, currying favour with the great and near great.
A secret fantasy of mine is to have a private bathing area built for me outside and I am so pleased that it is coming along nicely.
The tub was found (free in someone's yard, part of a bathroom reno) and the hole has been dug, rocks moved and much muttering and consultation as to how to heat the darn thing.
Here then is my card for the week:

My Bathing Space: complete with a picture of the ultimate luxury for me (right now) a foot soak with my own rose petals, crocosima blooms, lavender and japanese anemone.
Next summer I hope to have a soak in Tub Full of Flowers!
Blessings of the Bathing Ritual:
Shanti

ATC - August 8 - The Open Door

Ms D's card this week shows an invitation 'for tea and sweets'. (which I am going to take her up on as soon as the summer rush is over.. you have been warned Ms D!.)

This so reminded me of my 'Bestemor' (Grandma) who had an 'open door' to the whole neighbourhood.
I would walk by her place on the way home from school and though it played havoc with mealtimes, I would go in and gorge on chocolate fudge cookies and grape juice.
I never once found the front door locked.
Our whole neighbourhood was like that - you opened the door, stuck your head in and yelled 'Is anyone home?'

Around the time I was 10 or 11 years old, things changed.
My mom put a lock on the deep freezer and had to remind me to always lock the front door and where to hide the key after I did that.

My card this week is a homage to the Open Door policy that I grew up with and is also a special nod of thanks to Ms D's tireless work as a sign language interpreter - I was very pleased with myself when I saw the Hand Sign for 'Open Door'.

Our Open Door policy is this:
When we are home, the front door is unlocked and folks can still stick their heads in and yell 'WooHOOhoohoo' - the Official Quail Hill call.
We have also made sure that both sets of neighbour-cousins have keys to our house as well.
Our philosophy is best said on the card:
Mi Casa Es Su Casa - My House is Your House.
Welcome Guest who becomes our Friend.
Blessings
Shanti

ATC - August 1 - Spacious Skies

Ms D's Card:
When I take out the ATC to get ready to do one in response, sometimes I am fortunate in carrying its message with me.

Today was a prime example.
Mr Bear took the 'Circle Tour' through Sooke to Port Renfrew and on the way, we stopped to have lunch at Jordan River.
Could this not be a more perfect response to 'Spacious Skies - a shot of a ParaSailor offshore?

Blessings of Spacious Skies to those who can See the Wind.
Shanti

ATC - July 25 - Beauty

For the last two weeks, we have been Blessed! by incredible Summer weather with temps sometimes soaring into the 30 C range but rarely without a breeze to take the sting out of it!
Taking time out to walk the area, we are reminded daily by the forest that surrounds us and my ever burgeoning garden, just how beautiful living here is.

Truly Ms D's card for today says it all.
Here is mine in response with words from one of my favourite Persian Poets: Rumi -

Let the Beauty we love
Be what we do
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
-Rumi-

Blessings of a Glorious Summer to one and all -
Shanti

ATC - July 18 - By the Right of my Brownie Wings!

Yesterday I was trying to tidy up the living room which in recent days had seen a lot of 'crafty type' projects going on.
I had been meaning to get to that large shoebox of photos and go through them.
Which I did.
And guess what I found?
2 shots of me, one as a Brownie the night of my Flying Up ceremony (1964) and the other of me as a Land Ranger cutting my Bon Voyage cake, as I was leaving soon to go to Europe for the Summer (1967) singing with the Elgar Choir of BC.
So when Ms D's ATC was opened for today

I just had to respond with something 'girl guidey' in kind.

I really had not expected it to take me all day to do it nor to be this complex!

However once I got into it, it just grew 'like topsy'. (kindly click on it to enlarge it)

So here t'is, a brief foray into my Girl Guiding History.
It is laid out  'camp blanket style' and done in a sort of backward S curve - just follow it around.

* Brown ribbons: The Challenge and Response:
By what right etc are on two brown ribbons, representing my sixer stripes or leader for my Brownie 'six'  - the Gnomes (here we are the helpful gnomes, helping mother in our homes)
Blech! not likely. I really really wanted to be a Sprite: Brave and Helpful Like a Knight!.
Below the Brownie saluting photo is my
* Brownie pin.
* Gnome badge (no, that black thing being waved about is not some sort of weapon, but a broom)
* Brownie Singer's Badge (even then my Guiding Career was set (g),
* Golden Hand, (one of the requirements to getting your Wings)
 *Brownie Wings! which allowed me to 'Fly Up' to Guides
If you look closely on the left hand side of the photo, at my waist, is a white dangley blob.
That my dear readers is a white pearl handled jack-knife!
All of us were given one along with a Genuine Girl Guide Whistle (from England!)
I don't think giving a jack-knife to a 12 year old would be allowed now!
(Funny how times have changed - . I still have them by the way - They are among my most prized possessions.)

On to Guides:
* Guide Oriole Troop Badge
* Holly Troop (note different colour - I was a Holly in Boarding School and their badges came from England)

: Interesting Significance: Holly seems to have always been part of my Guiding History; my Sister Adult Trainer and Co Pathfinder Leader's name is Holly and if you hunt back to February 2010 posts, you can read all about her.
Guide Singer's Badge
(there are no pictures of me as a Guide as I ripped them all up. I had terrible acne as a teen and there was no way I was going to have those photos stay in my mother's photo album)

In 1966 I was invited to help form a Seniors Guide Group, soon to be known as Land Rangers.
* Red Land Ranger's Pin (when we formed our group, we chose Land Rangers as we thought the 'wedge' hats were pretty cool and there was NO WAY we were going to wear those silly Sea Ranger sailor's hats!)

 * an 18 year hiatus now ensues *

I became an Adult Guider and Trainer:
* Green Adult Pathfinder Guider pin
* First International Camp with our Pathfinder group: SOAR 2001 - Trail BC (aka SILT for the mud and dust)
*My SOARVIVOR shirt showing my subcamp: Porcupine Creek Mine. (we were all divided into sub-camps with 'cute' mine names)
* Second International Camp (Overseas): Arden, Warwickshire UK 2002: red polo shirt badge - Staff member

The two 'neckers' which lie underneath all that paraphenalia (aka neckerchiefs):
* Yellow necker: for my Girl Guide tie (take the brownie tie in photo and make it yellow, same windsor knot)
* Maple Leaf International Scarf which we were allowed to wear Only when overseas in uniform and not to be worn when you came home.
(I gave mine to a Sister UK Guide who in turn gave me hers :D )

Blessings to all my Sisters in Guiding/Scouting (that's you Ms D!)  past and present!

ATC - July 11 - Quail Hill

One of my all time Favourite Books-turned-Movie is 'Under The Tuscan Sun' by Frances Mayes.
Not only is the book well written and full of wonderful pithy statements, but her love for the Tuscan landscape echoed my love for the Provencal which is very similar in climate and flora.
Since moving here and acquiring 'Come-What-May @ Quail Hill, I have tried to recreate with paint and plants, that Provencal  'feel' that I fell so much in love with on our travels.

What are four walls, anyway?

They are what they contain.

The house protects the dreamer.

Unthinkably good things can happen, even late in the game.

It's such a surprise.

 Under the Tuscan Sun - Frances Mayes

Her villa was already named Bramasole (to yearn for the Sun), but I on the other hand, had the honour and responsibility to name the House and Property. I had already decided before we moved, that the House would carry the name 'Come-What-May' after that wonderful song in Moulin Rouge, but it was a surprising delight to discover that the Property was already a home to several courts of of California Quail.
Thus, the Property essentially named itself; Quail Hill.

Ms D's ATC this week, shows a tiny map of where Quail Hill might be physically, but mentally and heartfully, it has been located on a road that was 25 years long.

Unthinkably good things can happen, even late in the game.

So it was, on very warm July 7, that the House saw us and said, ' Here I am, Come Buy Me.'
It was a Serendipity of Sevens:
The House was the 7th Listing on the 7th Day of the 7th Month (July) in the 7th year (2007).
After we moved in, a few days later I found this incredible piece of paper caught in the juniper bushes at the bottom of the drive.
It was completely covered with 7's!
Fantastico or what?

You can see it in my ATC along with the first shots of a King Quail on our hill, our First Luncheon Guests, our OCC (Outlaw Construction Co -my in-laws David and Helen) who gave us many many 'Firsts' from back deck, to flower boxes to 3 sets of stairs;  our American Angels: Ed and Diana who celebrated their First Canadian Thanksgiving with us, our incomparable 'angel-pest' Ms P who was there from Day Dot, painting and planting and finally Ken and Felicity who were our first Vancouver Beta Guests and celebrated their First Anniversary here last week at Quail Hill!

When Frances first bought Bramasole, she wrote that she longed to cook for somebody, to have a family, to have a wedding occur on the grounds.
She got her wish.

Then we come to my wish.
One of the things that Mr Bear and I had longed for, was a 'room set aside specifically for Guests - NOT a storage space or an office, but for Guests Only.'
I honestly wondered if anyone would ever come stay at Quail Hill, as we were 'across the water'  and according to one acquaintance 'you may well as be in Africa' as that is how difficult she thought it was going to be to come here to stay. (gee what a surprise, she hasn't.)

But as you can see from this week's ATC, I got my wish fulfilled and then some.

Blessings of an abundance of Summer Guests and Fabulous Firsts for you and them!
Shanti

Happy 1st AnniBirthAry Felcity and Ken!

While most of us in Canada will be celebrating our National Holiday on July 1st,  (thank you Ms D for the wonderful iconic card! I note the moose is front and foremost as opposed to the beaver);
our stalwart friends Felicity and Ken have decided to spend their 1st Anniversary with us at Quail Hill!
Go figure.

Not only is it their 1st Wedding Anniversary,  but it is also Ms Fel's birthday as well!
Hence the Happy AnniBirthAry  (I'm so clever and to borrow a wonderful catch phrase from another blogger: Jan Tink - YILM (yes I love myself!).
So Happiness all round to those that are celebrating Canada Day and to our neighbours to the south, Have a Glorious Fourth!
Blessings of BBQ's and Fireworks!.
Shanti