Social Saturday | June 10

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Happy Saturday, dear Readers. I haven’t done a Social Saturday post for ages, so these photos are from the past couple of months. Lately I’ve been…

Loving– Flowers, flowers and more flowers! First tulips, then lilacs, irises, roses and soon peonies…it’s such a pretty time of year.

Reading – I just finished David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and enjoyed it immensely. I listened to this version here. My favourite quote from the book is this one, which is such a great example of Dickens’ wonderfully wordy descriptions that I had to share.

“The pigeon-pie was not bad, but it was a delusive pie: the crust being like a disappointing head, phrenologically speaking: full of lumps and bumps, with nothing particular underneath.”

Making– While I’ve been listening to David Copperfield, I’ve been busy sewing up a storm. Some projects have turned out well, others not so well. It’s all learning experience. And soon I’ll have a few new pieces for my summer capsule wardrobe.

ps- my mom’s snake plant bloomed! Apparently, it’s pretty rare for them to do so. 

Watching– I was reminded of the Peter Rabbit show we watched when I was a kid and so I searched out a clip of the introduction song. I love absolutely everything about it so much- this is my childhood in one short clip.

Finding– Thrifted treasures! My sister and I went to a bunch of garage sales and thrift shops and found so many goodies, including a Beatrix Potter calendar from 1979 (This one was a gift from my sister. I could actually use the calendar next year since it will fall on the correct days!), some vintage books, bamboo purse handles, a Jadeite mug, some blue and white transferware dishes, wooden rulers (I can’t pass up a good wooden ruler!), and (not pictured) some wooden crates.

Thankful For– Tea parties! This picture is from one earlier this spring. It’s nice to have an occasion to pull out all the teacups and linens.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ve been up to my ears lately in renovations, so I’ll probably be working away at that this weekend. I hope you are doing well and that you have a wonderful day, whatever you have planned.  ❤︎

Social Saturday | February 18

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Welcome weekend (and long weekend to my fellow Albertans)!

Lately I’ve been…

Reading this cookbook, Traditional Meals for the Frugal Family by Shannon Stonger. I tried a few of the recipes (her beet and sweet potato soup is amazing!) when I got it from the library, and then liked it so much that I bought it. All of the recipes are gluten free, and can be made to accomodate other dietary restrictions as well.

Oh, and while we’re on the topic of books, Jenni Haikonen, one of my favourite artists, recently compiled this lovely list of her favourite botanical books.  

One other book related thing you may find interesting is this site Anne Manuscript. They scanned every page of the original Anne Of Green Gables manuscript in L.L.Montgomery’s handwriting, and it’s so interesting to peruse.

Loving lighting a candle in the evenings when I read. It adds such a nice atmosphere. I never used to remember to light my candles, but then I put my matches right beside the candle, so now it’s so easy to light it…who knew that something that simple would remind me to use it so much more often!

I also tried out my new wax seal kit. The wick in the wax didn’t want to light, but I managed to melt enough to make a couple of seals, and the stamp is so pretty! It really makes the mail so much more elegant.

Making a few little projects here and there. Firstly, the bookstand (in the first picture) for my bedside table. It perfectly holds my few “current” reads for easy access, and is so much tidier than the haphazard stack I inevitably end up knocking askew.

I also created these little 4×4 scripture memory cards to put out on my shelf. I stop often throughout the day to read the current verse and I hope to be able to memorize them all!

Watching YouTube, as always. I pretty much don’t watch movies anymore, but one of my favourite YouTube channels, Crows Eye Productions, released this great fashion history video featuring a scene from Pride and Prejudice which I really enjoyed! They plan to make more!

Eating these tasty Protein Truffles by Joyous Health (I decreased the cinnamon to 1 tsp.) I’ve been enjoying them in the afternoon, paired with a delicious cup of Genuine Tea’s Cream of Earl Grey.

Thankful For the Family Day long weekend. I have no plans, but it’s kind of nice to not have plans and just go wherever my projects take me!

I hope you have a lovely weekend, dear Reader!

ps. here’s my latest calligraphy practice sheet- don’t look too closely at the ovals!

Social Saturday | January 14

Nicole social saturday

Happy Saturday, Dear Reader.

Here we are, well into the New Year by now…have you gotten used to writing “twenty twenty-three” yet? It always takes me a while! Here are some of the things I’ve been up to lately.

Do you make goals or resolutions for the New Year? While of course we can create resolutions at any time, there is something nice about turning the page and starting fresh, isn’t there? I drew some illustrations of my goals this year and hung them above my desk so I am more likely to look at them…. and hopefully remember them!

One of the biggest goals I have for this year is to create routines. I finally, after many years, created a good morning routine in 2022, so I’d like to extend that to other areas in my life. Things such as intentionally stopping in the afternoon and having “teatime” rather than always having a cup at my desk as I work, or unplugging an hour before bed and using that time to read and journal. I want to create simple, but flexible, routines that have a big impact when done consistently.

Another plan for this year, is reading all of the books on my list!  I always have a never ending TBR list, but then never actually get around to reading those books… so I have pulled all of the unread ones off my bookshelf and sat them on my nightstand, compiled a list of 16 books that have been on my list for a while, purchased the ones that are not available at the library, and finally put in a few requests through the library. I hope to read more than 16 books this year, so once I get through that list I will add more, but at least this way, I won’t have any 1/2 finished ones taunting me, and as soon as I finish one book, I can dive straight into another.

Another project I’ve been working on lately, is my hard drive. I have mentioned this “to-do” in past years, but this truly is the year! I’ve made some good progress already organizing my photos and folders. My goal is to finally get some photo books printed, so I’ve been busy organizing and sorting. I love to organize physical spaces, but the digital realm is another story altogether….

Here are a few projects (in the physical realm) that I’ve made. I recovered this sketchbook using a tutorial by Miss Mustard Seed. (I used Mod Podge) I haven’t ever really liked this sketchbook, so I hope that recovering it will inspire me to use it more often. We’ll see…if not, then I will pass it on and use the recovering techniques I learned from this one for another journal or sketchbook.

I also made a tiny embroidered necklace over Christmas…I made my sister one last Christmas and it took me an entire year to get around to making one for myself. I’ve got a couple more frames left; hopefully it doesn’t take me an entire year to make another!

Though tools are supposed to be utile, isn’t it so much nicer when you have pretty ones? I received these lovely iron scissors and a wax seal kit for Christmas. I haven’t used the wax seals yet, so I think it’s time I wrote some letters. And the scissors are so cute; I’ve always loved this style and shape. They are from Wicker and White Co. on Etsy.

Well, that’s pretty much all for this week. Oh, and I took this photo below one morning as the sun was coming up and tinting the frosty trees pink. Paired with the blue shadows, it was a stunning pastel ombre effect. I’m so glad to live in a world where there are beautiful scenes like this.

Hope your week was excellent and that your weekend is even better ❤︎