Will Back the Sunshine

It was a gorgeous day yesterday and I spent it with family, hosting a yard sale in the morning and afternoon, then spending the evening at an aunt and uncle's having a few drinks and laughs. It really feels good to be here near them again. Unfortunately today it's cool and rainy again, so I'm posting this late-April outfit to try and will back the sunshine!

Sweater - Thrifted from Value Village

Tunic - Purchased from Mr. Idahos Vintage on Etsy

Jeggings - Hue

Moccasins - Sears

I'd been hoping to go do a little fishing today, but I'm not dedicated enough to go out in the rain. I'll wait for the weather to improve first! At least it's nice enough that the seeds in my garden have begun to sprout. Unfortunately the frost seems to have killed my green pepper plants, even though I'd covered them. I have slim hope that the roots survived and they'll grow up again, but we'll see.

I took these photos a few weeks back when it finally started warming up again and everything started growing in full force. Our spring has been odd this year; late and halting. At least the rain now is good for my garden. I hope you are all having a great weekend. Cheers!

Love All The Trees

Earlier this month I went for a walk through the Arboretum by Dow's Lake to take some photos of the changing trees. I was still a bit early in the season to really catch the trees in their full splendor, but it was a lovely sight nonetheless. And as much as I dislike winter, there's nothing like a crisp fall afternoon with the sun shining down!

Neck warmer - Gift from Anne

Jacket - Thrifted from Value Village

Jeggings - Fancy Sox

Moccassins - Sears, Hush Puppies

I didn't feel like carting my tripod with me all the way there so that explains why my outfit photos are still being taken on my boring old terrace. At least the maple tree behind me is sort of starting to change over! I've had this jacket a little over a year now, and I'm still so happy to have thrifted it. It's perfect for the nippier days and the cooler nights.

I'm going to head out for a little evening stroll with my good friend Tina soon - it's great now that she's living nearby again - to enjoy another lovely clear night. There's barely a breeze and the sky is void of clouds so the moon - even less than full - is shining its light down on everything. The yellow and orange leaves look so otherworldly in their moon-glow. I hope you're all having a lovely week so far! Cheers!

Morning Hatchlings

I was already having an absolutely wonderful Saturday when I got an extra little gift. Two more crested gecko eggs hatched this morning, and out popped more adorable little crestie babies. The last two that hatched out have already found homes - with my father and a cousin - so I wonder if any more of my friends will fall under the crested gecko spell and want to adopt these little guys too. I snapped a few quick photos before settling them into their new home.



Aren't they the cutest little things? I really hope the left one keeps some of its orange colouring, that would be fantastic. I thought it would be difficult getting rid of them - I can't keep them all - but it's actually neat this way because I get to enjoy them while they're itty bitty teency weency before anybody else. Then I see them off before enjoying more itty bitty teency weencies. I've finally seperated my male from the female though, so depending on when they last got busy, she'll be done laying in the next one to eight months. Anyway, I should be getting ready for my women's social. I hope you're all having a really great weekend. Cheers!

Meli-Melo Montréal

Here are some slightly-more-random photos from my time in Montreal. We did a lot of exploring in little shops, and I am easily amused by the smallest of details, which explains some of the stranger things I decided to photograph. You'll see...



We stopped to enjoy tasty crepes - so tasty I started eating before photographing - because clearly a day of wandering around the Old Port requires chocolate sauce and whipped cream and bananas, amirite?! We popped into the Christmas Store (where black bear ornaments caught my eye) and a few kitschy tourist shops I can't help but explore. I also really liked the banjo-playing busker with his boat and fishy...



We then wandered through Chinatown but I'll keep those for the last post. This is probably only really interesting to me anyway but I'll thank myself for putting these posts up years from now when my memory is too foggy to remember all the awesomeness on its own!



Happiest street light ever! If more street lights smiled at the world, maybe the world would be a little happier? I hope your week is treating you well so far! Cheers!

Montreal avec Nicole

So ages and ages ago now it seems, I made an overnight trip out to Montreal to visit my super duper awesome fantastic friend Nicole. (How did June go by so quickly?!) Since being off work - as of the 11th this month - has thrown my sense of time for a loop, blogging and outfits has fallen a bit by the wayside. Until I get back into the swing of things, here are some photos of my Montreal visit last month on the 16th and 17th. Let's start with what I wore before anything else...

Tee - Custom printed and modified

Skirt - Thrifted from Value Village

Sandals - Sears

Fedora - Ardene's

You may notice how my skirt is very crooked. This is because it was melting off my body! Seriously! It kept getting progressively bigger and bigger as the day went by and the only thing that saved me was that Nicole had a safety pin. I spent the rest of the day pinning my skirt tighter and tighter to avoid it slipping off.

Since these photos were taken, I've cut off the sleeves and a chunk of the neckline, as well as a bit of the bottom on this shirt. It's a work in progress! I just refuse to stop wearing some of my old favourites just because they're several sizes too large now. Modification is the answer!



 "I will make you be a tourist in your own city!" I remember clearly declaring this, but it's always fun to explore your home like a tourist every once in a while. It's easy to overlook things when you live someplace and start taking it for granted. We stumbled upon the greatest vintage and thrift store just ambling about! The Rocky Horror sign drew us into Eva-B.




There was so much awesome stuff in this place it wasn't even funny. We could have spent the whole day just working our way through the racks and stacks and shelves filled with vintage goodies and thrifted clothes of all kinds.

 

There's a bunch more photos but I'll save those for another post. Have any of you ever been to Montreal? Did you like it? I've been quite a few times, but never to actually see the city. You don't experience much when you zip in late at night and nip out early the next morning, so it was nice to be there in daylight for once. I hope you're all having a good July! Cheers!

How did that happen?

I only just realized that I never got around to posting the second half of my Reptile Expo photos. You're all probably cringing now and wishing I'd have left it forgotten, but I must share the reptile goodness!







One woman had the most amazing collection of adult tarantulas I've seen so far. It's a bummer the cover had so much glare, they really were amazing creatures.

I've told myself no more pets while in my apartment. The ones I've got now have a lot of growing to do, which will require their taking up more space in the very-near future. Eventually I'd love to get more snakes, they're amazing pets, but money and space constraints stop me. I hope you enjoyed these photos, even though I know most of you aren't big on reptiles and whatnot.

I hope all you Americans are having a Happy Thanksgiving and a good week for everybody else! Cheers!

Obscured

Sometimes life leads us places we don't expect. Things happen. Things change. And then you wake up one morning and realize that everything is shrouded in a thick fog and you don't know what's going on or where you are or when you'll be able to just see clearly again. I think the fog in my life is finally dissipating, burning away with the morning sun's heat.

I took this photo on Sunday morning, a little after 8:30AM, when I was visiting my parents in Cache Bay this past weekend. The fog was still thick when my father drove me to North Bay, to catch the Greyhound bus and go home, over an hour later. Funnily enough, it just ended abruptly as we were driving along the highway. You could see it behind us in the rear view mirror but once we were around a bend, you'd have never known it was there.

I'm out of that fog now. No more bumping into things, wondering where I am or where I'm going. It's clear skies and smooth sailing from now on. I refuse to get lost in the fog again.

Chelsea asked if my birthday really is on Halloween... Yup, it is! It was sorta fun as a kid, in that my mom would make me Halloween themed cakes and such, but most people are busy celebrating somehow or other already. It makes it hard to do anything specifically for my birthday. I even tried hosting a Halloween party for my 21st, but it was a flop. I still adore Halloween anyway though, it's my favourite Holiday. I hope you all have a groovy Friday and a great weekend. Cheers!

Whakadoo

I took two extra days off at the end of this long weekend, and now it's thrown off my internal calendar. I keep thinking it's Monday, but it's quite clearly Thursday. I guess I can't complain too much, I'm going from "Monday" to Friday in two days this week.

I had a good time up visiting my parents, and there will be a post about that in the future. For now though (while I catch up on reading 5 days worth of accumulated blogs) here are some photos from a little daytrip I took back in mid-August.

 

I went to the Waba Cottage Museum and Gardens, out near White Lake. It's nothing fancy, just a few buildings, but the grounds were immaculately kept with adorable little themed gardens. I wished upon seeing the place that I'd brought my tripod, it would have been great for photos, but ah well!

 

The old school was filled with the usual desks and classroom accoutrements, but there were all sorts of odds and ends too. There was a giant whale bone in a display case in the back for instance, something that had been found in the area. 

 

I wasn't particularly in outfit-mode or even dressed for such, but I figured I'd need to make an appearance at least once. This little dress I bought from Heather ages ago was perfect for this hot summer day. It was comfortable, breezy, and great for exploring old buildings and getting dusty.

I'm definitely not what anyone would call religious, but old religious texts can be interesting, just in the difference in beliefs and customs over time etc. These next two photos appear to be of just regular portraits, but you'll notice it says "Her bright smile haunts me still" beneath one, and "Good Bye" beneath the young girl. These are death-portraits, before photography was common enough to be used for such.

 

These next items I wanted to share in particular, because they had an accompanying photo of the man to whom they'd belonged once upon a time. I can just picture him slipping into the vest, pulling his gloves on, clapping his hat smartly on his head and setting out the door.

I hope you've all been having a good week. It might feel like Monday but I am still very glad tomorrow is Friday. Cheers!