Oh, the Flowers

The Bride has always loved yellow roses. For her wedding she wanted rich, saturated colours of golden yellow, rich red, orange and dark wines and pinks.

This is her bouquet. She wanted a wild, loose look, which was achieved by adding berries, snapdragons, eggplant callas, and those fascinating folded flowers whose name escapes me.

Eggplant ribbon, intricately tied around each bouquet was so pretty.

Here is a bridesmaid's bouquet, a smaller version of the Bride's. They just glowed. Each bouquet was lovingly put together by either the Bride's sister-in-law (who also made the cake) or a close family friend. 

Four of us gathered the day before the wedding to prepare the flowers. Oh what a fun day it was. We met at our friend's place overlooking the water. On her deck we cut stems, stripped leaves, arranged and chatted. The Friend and the Sister-in-law did the bouquets, and corsages, while the Sister and I put together the table arrangements and other flowers.

Dahlias are just so varied - so many shapes and colours. We had big buckets of them. Some were used for the tables, others for the Bride's Flower Trees - curly willow branches placed in buckets with bunches of flowers tied on with jute.

Clustered around the old farm equipment at the Historical Site the flower trees added fresh colour to the venue.

More beautiful dahlias. 

Here is the preparation site for the flowers. Flower vases lined the deck. In keeping with the Bride's wish for casual and vintagey, the vases were purchased from thrift stores in various shades of green, pink, purple, gold and clear glass. 

And one last shot of the glowing flowers.

All of the photos in this post, except for the last two, were shot by Katie, the Sister-in-law. She volunteered to take lots of photos of the details of the wedding while the rest of us were busy with other things. I'm so glad she did.

Beautiful Day

These are a few candid shots that I took at the wedding. This first one is of the Bride at her brother and sister-in-law's home, where we dressed for the wedding.

Here is the Bride and her sister the Matron of Honour in the car to drive to the church.

On the steps of the church sanctuary with her bridal party. Her attendants were all in ivory silk dupioni dresses with different coloured sashes. The Bride sewed the dresses with just a little help with the handsewn finishing. I'm very pleased with the beading on the veil - it added just enough sparkle and complemented the sparkle in the wedding gown. 

The head table. All the flowers were so beautiful. And today my house has bouquets in every room!

Thank you to all you wonderful readers who thought of us yesterday. Blogging creates a sense of community that sometimes surprises me. 

I didn't take many photos because my daughter-in-law told me that she would be sure to record all the special details that went into the wedding. I'm sure I'll be posting more wedding photos until you are all sick of them.

 It was a beautiful, beautiful day. My heart is full of moments that I will mull over and treasure for a lifetime.

Missing Blogging

I've missed catching up on my blogging friends' activities this past week. There just hasn't been time. That little girl pictured above wearing her grandmother's heels and purse, now 20 years older, is the reason. 

She's always had a great sense of fashion. Yes, the rhinoceros beetle is alive. They are really very docile. She was born in the jungle and grew up with bugs and such. 

On Saturday, she'll be walking down the aisle, preceded by her older sister as matron of honour. It's going to be a wonderful celebration, full of beauty, God's presence, and fun!


And afterwards, I hope to get back to posting more regularly. I've missed you all.

Words to Inspire

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,

who does not change like shifting shadows."

James 1:17

Incoming Tide

On Sunday evening, driving home from Victoria, I noticed the faintest hint of yellow on some of the trees along the road. Summer is ending. A sense of urgency fills me and I want to capture as much sunshine as possible.

An hour on the beach walking barefoot in the sand, with gull's cries overhead and the rush of waves lapping over the warm sand is a perfect antidote, or complement to any mood.

Tidal pools teem with life - tiny crabs, mussels, barnacles, nutrient-providing shells. Light shimmers and dances with the wind and water. I crouch down, taking time to observe small intricacies of life.

Bits of detritus lie littered on the beach, left behind by the receding tide. Soon, the tide will return and they will once again drift, suspended.

Autumn is coming in small waves, similar to the incoming tide. Cooler nights, bluer skies, a hint of chill in the wind. This quotation expresses what I'm sensing about this season...

"When summer gathers up her robes of glory, 

and like a dream of beauty glides away."

Sarah Helen Power Whitman

A Fun Day

There were flowers...

and fruit....

and goodies galore!

Presents...

and friends and family, with plenty of love, laughter and good wishes. (Here I am with my daughters - two by birth, one by love.)

Yes, it was a bridal shower, and it was so much fun. How blessed we are to have friends. Being together with some of them today made me realize how much I miss getting together with them regularly.

We're less than 2 weeks away from the wedding. Excitement builds. Lists are written, accomplished and items ticked off. I can hardly wait!

Peaches, Blackberries, Dahlias and Deer

Finding a new blackberry patch took a little time. Our favourite one in Victoria was found on Christmas Hill. Here we spent some time driving around, stopping periodically to get out and inspect the bushes. The right spot for us is away from roads (to prevent car exhaust fouling the berries), a source of water (for juicier berries), and accessibility (utterly crucial).

We found a spot with all of the above and one more thing. Proximity to the sea. We can hear the waves rolling in on the shore as we pick and then, the buckets full and in the car, we walk a few steps to the beach, kneel at the water's edge and wash our sticky hands. Boy, does the salt water ever make those blackberry thorn scrapes sting!

Most of the berries are in the freezer, to be used in cobblers, sauces and on Tim's breakfast granola. This morning I made a batch of peach blackberry jam. Oh, so yummy on toast or scones.

Last week, with the first batch of blackberries, I made some peach blackberry turnovers. And as you can see, I forgot to take a picture until I'd taken that first bite. Ooops. I make them with phyllo pastry sheets - fast and easy.

I'm pretty sure the deer are angry with us. We've been trying to protect our shrubs and plants from being devoured by covering them with mesh. That worked for awhile, but the deer soon learned to push down on the mesh and the most tender new growth would poke through, enough for them to chomp every bit of it down. So on Saturday Tim put up bamboo poles and a serious deer mesh fence. No pushing will permit leaves through this! It's not pretty, but until we can get a fence built we would like to protect the plants.

But the very next day, my dahlia plant was missing the largest, most beautiful blossom. You can see a few scattered petals that escaped being dinner. I thought deer didn't like dahlias. I'm sure it ate it just out of spite. It left two other blossoms, and there are many buds coming. Will they survive? It might be time to expand the fencing. Sigh. Our yard is looking like Leavenworth prison - but keeping the plants IN and the deer OUT.

Ready for Visitors

When we moved last spring several people asked if we were going to downsize our home. Nope, I said, I want lots of space so our children can all come and visit, and others too. We were blessed to find this home that has three large bedrooms in the basement. They were in rough shape - lots of holes in the walls, weird paint colours, baseboard that just stopped or broke, closet doors that didn't work well and so on. Simple stuff, really. But it all takes time to fix. The plusses included good quality carpet and space. 

So here's one of the rooms mostly done. I still want to put up curtains over the window and get a red throw for the bed. Actually, I have plans to make one, but that's going to have to wait awhile. I painted the walls a greyish white called Winterwash. I blogged about the nightstand here. You'll notice it's the only painted piece of furniture in the room.

I wanted this room to be calm and fairly neutral, with hints of red for warmth. I'll definitely be adding more to it as we go along, but I'm pleased with it so far.

I'm linking this post to The Lettered Cottage's list of wonderful guest rooms to visit.

Less than three weeks until the wedding. The dress arrived - YES! - and it needs NO altering. That's a huge load off my mind. We'll be going down to Victoria for the wedding, but afterwards the guest rooms here will fill up with family and friends for a night or two. I'm looking forward to some wonderful visits!

Cool Birds

I wondered if summer would ever come. A very long, cold spring made summer hesitate. But these past few days we've had record-breaking temperatures. Wading in the ocean is the best way to cool off. The Canada Geese apparently thought so, too. And a bald eagle is perched on the rock in the very bottom photo, the same eagle seen flying off in the top photo.

I'm not minding the heat at all. I know its days are numbered and I like to soak it in while I can. Visit Mary's blog for more Mosaic Monday photos.

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait in expectation."

Psalm 5: 3

Morning reflection in Annette Inlet 2008

Night stand Makeover

Around here we're all about finely finished wood. My husband spends hours planing, sanding, jointing to create beautiful pieces of furniture. Painting his work is a BIG no-no. So my love of slightly shabby white painted furniture is "love-at-a-distance."

However, we've had this piece of furniture around for about 10 years. It's a night table our son made in shop class. Constructed mostly of plywood, with a few rough edges from hauling it from Ecuador to Canada, I thought that perhaps I could indulge my love of white paint with this small project.

I didn't remember to take a "before" photo. But here is an "in process" one taken while waiting for the paint to dry. Painting was done outside, on the deck but brought in for the night.

Then, I found an old French Harlequin romance and decoupaged the top, the drawer front, and the back of the open shelf, adding a bit of music paper for contrast. A new black handle and voilà, my first piece of shabby chic vintagey style furniture. It's gracing one of the downstairs bedrooms where I've been painting walls and trim, cleaning, and generally getting organized.

I'm linking to Frugal Fridays at The Shabby Nest. Click on over there for more fun and frugal do-it-yourself ideas.

Tomato, Tomahto

Yes, it's that time of year! Tomatoes. As a child I was never very fond of raw tomatoes, probably because I usually had to eat them as a green salad ingredient. To this day I never put tomatoes in my green salads. (unless they are whole cherry tomatoes that I can avoid and give to my husband) Tomatoes deserve a place of their own, in my opinion.

I have just a few tomato plants on my porch here, so that big platter of tomatoes is last year's photo, taken when I had a big garden. Gazpacho, roasted tomatoes, tomato, mozzarella and basil salad, and rustic tomato tart are pictured in this mosaic.

I made the tart yesterday when our daughter and her husband were up. We had a wonderful relaxing time together. After dinner on Saturday night we watched "The Young Victoria." I found it so charming. Sunday morning we visited the sand sculptures again and found them unharmed by the day of rain on Saturday. (They are sprayed with a mixture of environmentally friendly glue and water to help them withstand the elements.) A short walk on the beach, then lunch, and a game of Thurn and Taxis rounded out the afternoon before they left for home.

Finishing Things

Lately, it seems that I have so many UNfinished projects lying around the house. Not just for the wedding, although there is a stack of those. Decorating and renovating are unending, but I can let those go for awhile. Wedding stuff, not so much.

But I have finished a few things. The veil, for instance. It's beaded, all 422 inches of the perimeter and looks very nice, if I do say so myself. No photos, tradition must be preserved you know.

Today I finished the "ring book." It's not a pillow, but it will be used for carrying the rings down the aisle by a cute little ringbearer.

I saw this idea quite awhile ago (sorry I can't remember where). We wanted a meaningful book, but one we were willing to cut up. I wouldn't use a Bible. Browsing around the thrift store recently I found this old hymnal and thought it might work. It was in pretty bad shape. I inserted new end papers, gluing ribbons behind them for tying the book shut, clamped the pages together and cut out a box with a ruler and my X-acto knife. I sealed the edges of the box with PVA glue and lightly glued the pages together. The pages are very soft, hence the fuzzy look in the corners. But they are all sealed up so they won't shed.

This afternoon I stitched a couple of silk flowers for the front - colours of the wedding, and secured the binding with book repair tape. Simple writing with a gold pen and voilà, a "ring box."

That's my own ring in the box. I think it looks quite pretty there after 33 years. The Bride-and-Groom-to-be have not yet seen this, and have to give final approval, but I hope they like it. I do.

I'm linking this post to Vintage Black, at the French Cupboard, and to Show and Share Day at Just a Girl, And Made by You Monday at Skip to my Lou.

Sand Castles

On Sunday afternoon the Bride-and-Groom-to-be drove up for a short visit. That evening, after a dinner of west coast shrimp bought off the boat, we wandered through the sand sculpture displays in Parksville. They are amazing works of art.

This was my favourite - a little girl reading a book with a world of castles, a knight in shining armour and a dragon behind her. And the words "She lived in a world of her own." That was me. My brother and sister say that their only memories of me as a child involve me with my nose in a book. I think they highly exaggerate, but I did and do love to read. I can easily lose myself for an hour, an afternoon, or an entire day in a book.

Just a bit more than a month until the wedding. Don't they look happy?

And what's more romantic than a stroll along the beach at sunset? My own sweetheart and I enjoyed it just as much as the bridal couple. It's fun to construct castles in the air together, dreaming of what might be.

Queen Anne's Lace

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,

places to play in and pray in, 

where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

John Muir

Old Window Frames

Shortly after we got married the idea of using an old window frame for a mirror became popular. My husband's grandparents had lived on a farm back in the bush and the farm was still in the family. One Saturday we drove out to Willow River and poked about the old homestead and the farm. In an old shed we found this window frame and I immediately thought it would make a great mirror. We brought it home, Tim firmed up the joints, we ordered a mirror and it's hung on the wall for years.

Since moving I haven't hung too many things on the walls because we're in the midst of renovations. I sort of dusted off the mirror and propped it for this photo. Then it's back down to the basement until we get some more renos done.

I was quite tickled to find that the old window frame idea is once again (or still) popular. Here are some ideas of what I've seen lately in blogland. As the saying goes, what goes around comes around.

Single Photograph Frame

Black and White Multiple Pane Frame (scroll down through the post)

As an art piece by Teresa Sheeley

Outrageous Ideas including garden dividers, trellis, windscreen

Jewelry Holder, Drying Rack on Old House web

Our daughter and her fiancé drove up last night for an all-too-short visit to do a walk through of the wedding itinerary. It's all coming together very nicely. I made these peach and blueberry parfaits for dessert. Mmmm, cool vanilla custard, sweet juicy peaches and blueberries that pop with goodness. I used my good friend Lynn's recipe, found her on daughter's blog, here.

Why I Like the Ocean

We were a lake family when I was a child. Vacations were spent camping or fishing near one of the many, many lakes in the British Columbia interior. Visits to the ocean were rare occasions and the sea was a strange, restless unknown.

Our first beach vacation was in 1982, in Ecuador. I was entranced by the miles and miles of sandy beaches and the warm water - water I could actually swim in. As our family grew, yearly or twice yearly trips to the beach became the norm. I enjoy swimming more than Tim does and he would watch the children play in the shallow water or in the sand while I swam further out. I spent long periods of time floating on my back or gently treading water beyond the breakers. Tim kept a careful eye out, sometimes worried about the length of time I spent out there. I loved the solitude. I saw my beloved family on the shore, but I was distant, observing them, not participating in their activities. There, under the brassy blue sky, enveloped in salty brine, lulled by the motion of the waves, I thought, pondered and prayed. Then, tired physically and rested mentally, I swam into shore and joined in splashing games and building sand castles.

As my acquaintance with the sea grew, so did my attraction to it. Here, I find, life's complexities are made simple. I gain a sense of perspective at the beach. Water, rocks, sand, sky. I am awed at a God who created so much beauty. The immensity of it dwarfs my thoughts. The waves rush in, then fall back, and as they do, little pieces of my worries are dragged away with them to be lost in the vast sea. I am emptied. I am filled instead with beauty that seeps deep into my soul, restoring, healing. God shows his love to me in the solace provided by his creation.

Going to the beach is somewhat paradoxical. There is the simplicity of waves and clouds. But there is also intricate complexity and diversity. Tidal pools with sea anemones, mussels clusters, sea kelp trailing long, scurrying crabs, empty shells. It's all there for the looking. The delicate tracery of sea kelp swaying in the current and the fine prints of sea birds in the sand comfort me with order. Life sometimes seems chaotic, random. Observing the details of life along the ocean reassures me that I live in an ordered world, that chaos is of man's making, not God's. And so I turn away from the sea and return to my daily routines, refreshed and restored. The problems do not go away but I find myself better able to deal with them. And I know that the ocean is there waiting for me again.