Sea Altar

Good morning, or afternoon! Or, if you are like me while I'm writing this, good middle of the night.  It happens, sleepless nights, tossing and turning, so why stay in bed and think about the day to come? I got up and started working on my blog!

They say that this is July, the calendar is telling me it's July, but it's feeling more like April or May. Cool, wet and cloudy. I decided to follow the calendar and not the weather and refresh my altar.

Now I don't know if you already have an altar set up or not, or maybe you have a shelf set up that has all your favourite treasures.   I'm guessing, if you have been here before there is a good chance you have a lot of treasures and a lot of shelves.  I'm going to share mine with you.

My Sea Altar

Working with the rain I felt the urge to go with sea shells and beach vibe. And who doesn't like the beach in the summer?

The very first thing I like to do is take everything off and give the shelf a good wash down.  Then I smudge it with sage or Palo Santo .  I love the smell of it and it is great for clearing old energies.
Then I like to lay a cloth or runner or even a bunch of small crocheted pieces down as a base.
Honestly, it changes with the seasons. This time I used an old scarf that was purchased at, you guessed it, Value Village many years ago.  It's never been worn by me but my shelves wear it all the time.  The long fringe feels boho beachy. I also layered a scrap piece of fabric over top of the scarf to give it a bit of a sandy colour and extra texture.  It's hard to see the fabric but it does the job.

After the runners are set down, I layer on feathers, pictures and figurines.  Some items didn't make it back on the shelf this time so they went into one of my altar storage boxes until next refresh.

  

It's not beachy without some shells. Some were found on the beach, crazy right?!, but most were bought at VV  or Micheals. The shell necklaces were also bought at VV.  

I am a bit of a toddler when it comes to nature walks and outdoor excursions, it seems to be a habit I can't shake, collecting and gathering.  I can't walk by a feather and not pick it up.  Or a pretty little rock, or a twig with a gnarly curl.  Needless to say I have a pretty good stash of outdoor elements to work with.

My crystals have been a gradual collection over time as well.  When visiting New Age stores I usually purchase a few I feel drawn too.  Recently I've realised I should be buying in multiples of four or more for working with crystal grids.  For this altar I pick out the crystals that work with my intentions and colour and added in some sea glass.

I always add candles and my incense holder. 

This space is used daily, so it does go through changes all the time.   

As for the rest of my craft room, I  have omitted a number of trinkets and items, just to let the room breath a bit through summer. This is as minimal as I want to go.

The beach theme runs through the rest of this room, actually my whole main floor right now, which I will share soon! It's amazing how light and playful the energy feels.

The string lights are battery operated and they have a few settings. I have them on a steady light for six hours and off for eighteen. When I heard Pier One was leaving Canada I went straight there to purchase these, I'm so glad I did, the seed glass works perfectly with the beach theme.

The rock/shell below was found by my husband.  I love the way the shells almost melted into the rock. A melding of water and earth elements!

That's my Altar.  

I hope you enjoyed the quick tour and maybe some inspiration for your altar.

Whatever it may be, a shelf or even a shoe box, but a place for pause, grounding, and  gratitude.    

May you have a day of peace and may it be contagious.
Until next time, Abby.

Wildflowers

It is July right?  I'm having a hard time remembering what time of year it is.  This morning it was so chilly in the house that I thought I would put the heat on....but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  July with the heat on!?! I peeked out the window apologised to my garden, "hang in there little plants."

Yes, my garden has been neglected as far as weeding but it loves the rain. Very green and lush.  I'll have a lot of clean up when the sun does actually make an appearance. 

This however is NOT my garden, my weeds aren't this bad. Not yet anyways.  We went for another quad ride. I bundled up in long john's and a few jackets! For real. After I was all bundled we headed out for a bit.  This time I brought my camera and I am so glad I did.  

It's so much fun to be out there, looking over the mountain tops.  Aaaahhhh, nature.  Also incredible to be surrounded by trees. Blessed.

Lot's of mud on the road, my daughter Shayla would have loved it! Everything needed a good wash after this trip.

When I decided to bring my camera I didn't realise how lucky I would get.
Can you see him or her?

Okay, how about now?

A Bald Eagle.  Big and healthy and on the hunt.  

 I think I may have broken it's social distancing parameter!

Excuse the blurry zoom in, I wanted to show you it's talons.

And thank-you Mr. Eagle, you made a sweet ending to an already amazing day.

Hope you have a great day!
Until next time, Abby.

Second Flower Afghan Completed!

Hello!

Today is actually starting to feel like we may get a bit of summer.  Not too hot yet, but I have the whole house wide open.  Just letting the breeze refresh the house.  Up until today I have been trying to keep the heat in and just like that, the sun is out and it feels good.  Which is kind of ironic because I just finished my second flower afghan. That's right, a nice cozy blanket.   Good timing, right?

A few months ago I finished this afghan, I loved the bright playful colours and thought I would like it in our living room. 

 Well, true to my nature I just jumped right in to that project and  upon completion, I realised these really aren't my colours.  Maybe one at a time, but not all at once.  Hmmmm, I hate it when I do that.  I think I like bold and colourful, but really I just like a little at a time.  Oh well, I did enjoy making it, but it doesn't work in here for me. Thankfully my youngest daughter loves it, so off it went to her space!

 I knew I wanted to make the same pattern, just change out some of the colours. Turquoise, terra cotta, coral, baby pink, cream, and navy blue, leaving the background grey.  Everything works about it. Colour, size and softness. This colour combination will work right through Halloween. 

This is the fun part, piecing the squares together and then assembling the rows.  It usually ends up being a day or two of binge watching something.  Which totally worked because up until today all we had was rain. A lot of rain.

 Now you may look at this and think what the heck is the difference, and with everything she has going on did that little afghan really make a difference?  Yes.  Yes it really did.  I love a lot of things, and I have a lot of different styles I enjoy.  I love meshing the styles together for something you can't really fit into a box.  It's a bit of a personal challenge that I enjoy completely.  It keeps shifting and changing and morphing until I'm satisfied.  So, yes that afghan had to be changed out.

I guess my message with this post is that if there is something in your home that isn't working for you or just doesn't make you happy, change it.  I encourage you to play in your home. 

I took more colour out of the dining room for a lighter summer vibe as well.  I think they are considered neutrals, the brass, terra cotta and wood.

Also, I wanted to share with you our rhubarb patch.  Sorry about the weeds, but look at this rhubarb! 

I picked a ton after this photo, ending up with two large ziplock bags in the freezer and one large rhubarb crumble! Right now I am just glad I only have one patch of rhubarb. One is enough when it grows like this!

I hope this finds you healthy and safe,

until next time, Abby

Showing my Crazy Side

Oh boy.  Boy oh boy.  I just want to say that I truly believe that Covid is pouring light into all that is disfunctional.  My heart hurts from all the pain humans are enduring right now.  This blog isn't about politics or anything of any weight,  it's a place to just share and I hope inspire, but I would like to say that we are all humans, we all need to treat each other like the brothers and sisters we are.  In the end you are me, I am you and so on.  I will continue to lite my candles for humanity, fairness and healing.

And,  I am encouraging you to send out positive healing energy to Mother Earth and all that inhabits her.  Blessed Be.

I wasn't sure if I was going to do a post today, then I thought maybe sharing something that brings me happiness might brighten your day too! 

The garden is my happy place so let's start there.
When I took my camera around the garden yesterday, I heard this loud humming and I knew I was in the proximity of a HUMMINGBIRD.  I have tried previously to catch her photo but she is usually too fast. Even this photo she is blurry from her speed! 

Thank you Hummingbird for showing up!

A full view of our Horse Chestnut Tree, the hummingbird magnet!

So quickly a garden seems to leaf out.  It seems like almost over night everything buds and blooms.  It's amazing to me that it sits dormant through a treacherous winter and then ...wow!
Well that happened in my garden.  Everywhere, well almost everywhere except for this poor little Maple.  The winter and spring refreezing must have been too much.  Sorry little tree.

I had to remove her and heaven forbid I have an empty corner!! So I transplanted some Lilac shoots that were travelling through the back fence.  I'm hoping that they fill this corner and if they travel out a bit I'll try contain them.  No worries, I'd rather have to tame an over grown corner then have an empty corner.  One gardener I follow said " find what thrives and plant lots of it"  So I have.  Fingers crossed these guys survive this spot.  Third times the charm...right?  I also had some Hostas growing in behind a tree in another corner. Hidden, so out they came and I think they should be happy here until I find a better spot.

This is the mother Lilac the shoots came from, smells so good.

I have grass pathways and it's fairly easy to keep them mowed and contained, but due to my over planting I can imagine this becoming a grass-less garden one day.

Now for the CrAzY part.

A few posts ago I shared with you the afghan that I was making.  I loved it.  Still love it, buttttttt, the colours are just too loud for me.  I actually don't even know what it is, but it just didn't work in our front room.  My youngest daughter loved it and wanted me to make her one too. Sooo, I decided to give her this one and make another one with a different colour scheme for me.

These colours looked great together, but as I started the patches I realised the light blue wasn't working and it needed a bit more depth.  I didn't take a picture, but I added a burnt pumpkin and a turquoise colour to the mix.  LOVE IT.

I swore I wasn't going to make this until the winter because it becomes my focus, my only focus, and that's my crazy side. Once I decide I want to change something it has to happen now. Right now.  I started it the Saturday before last, almost two weeks ago I have three more rows of nine left to crochet and I can start pulling it together. 

I think Yzerman likes them...

I hope you stay safe, and healthy.

Until next time, Abby.