More Avery and Maya

Days start early and end late here but in between there's lots of activity: changing, feeding, rocking etc etc.
Maya has a very expressive little face both awake and asleep.

A little more decorum when she is all dressed up ready to go out.

We have made a couple of trips to the local park. I forgot my camera the first time but I don't think I would have had time for pictures anyway as Avery just runs from one piece of equipment to the next, with me in hot pursuit.

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His first love is the swing

and his second is picking up dead grass and throwing it.

On the way home, past the lake, a little birding.

After a suggestion from Brit, I looked at images of Mergansers on the internet and think he is a Red Breasted.

Messy toddler food pairing - BBQ short ribs and cantaloupe.

Avery can show you where his nose is though

sometimes it takes 2 fingers to find it.

Checking out the menu at Brewsters, where Daddy works.

Avery's selection included some nachos with hot artichoke and crab dip, fries (both ordinary and sweet potato), chicken, fish, coleslaw and

he did taste test the red crayon.

Aimee and I tried the Sample Tray. I don't usually like beer but the River City Raspberry Ale was quite lovely. Aimee preferred the 52nd St Peach Ale. Avery liked the orange slice.

Avery and Maya - Spring 2016

I had promised Christine lots and lots of baby pictures but when I arrived in Edmonton Maya, Aimee and Avery were all sick with horrible coughs (Maya had actually been hospitalized for a few days because of the high fever). In addition Avery is teething and therefor pretty cranky. All in all a lot of cuddling and rocking and not much picture taking, but here's a few.

Maya and Mike, both crashed.

Maya has wild hair, dark, fine, long and out of control after a bath.

Beautiful sunny weather here but a little cool, so; all bundled up in the buggy.

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About a block away is a lake to walk around and then cut through a residential area to a Starbucks reward!

Course they don't feed Avery enough, he has to eat stones.

"Would you like one Nana? They're lovely."

"I'm not sure about all this picture taking Nana"

Supper of pasta and sauce was a bit messy, dessert of melon was delicious but really the high point is the Cheerios.

After supper we went to a small local Carnival. The only ride Avery could go one was a slide but he was fascinated by all the colours, lights and sounds.

A little worried as they walked to the top.

Aimee's looking hardcore but Avery is still not sure.

No doubt he enjoyed it!

No qualms at all about the second ride.

Right into it now "What can I do next?"

Only thing left to do is; Pick a Duck

and win a Zombie Smasher.

Now we hope everyone is so exhausted that we will all sleep well.

Backus Woods - Dogwood Trail

Last fall when I was "training" for the Inca Trail, I walked on the Backus Woods Trail. Last week I decided to try another loop of the trail as I know I wont want to do it later in the year, when its buggy!

I parked in the lot just off Hwy 24 and walked through the open field. Someone was kind enough to provide walking sticks.

The trees hadn't started to bud yet so the sun actually warmed me up.

At the edge of the woods, where there was a bit more consistent sun, some of the Trillium were open but most, in the woods, were like this - just starting.

I have no idea what these are but they were in full bloom and there were white ones too.

At this time of year, before the trees leaf, there are some small trees that are a mass of little white flowers. I have always wondered what they are and from this information board, learned that they are Flowering Dogwood and are considered an Endangered species.

Flowering Dogwood. I wonder if they would grow in sand.

The Dogwood trail has a lot of intersections and there was a clear map at each decision point. The outside of the loop is just over 2.5km and took me about 45 minutes as I stopped and took photos and listened to birdsong. It is pretty flat, well marked and an easy, short walk.

On the drive home I had to stop and take a picture of this bird who was walking so slowly across the road that I was able to drive past, reverse back, get out of the car and he still had not made it to the other side.

American Woodcock. The bird book says they are common but I certainly haven't seen a lot.

Deerhurst - 2016 OHCG AGM and Rug Show

This years OHCG AGM was held at Deerhurst, near Huntsville.

My "Scroll Sampler", a McGown pattern, was finished and in the show.

So was the Poppy cushion, a Jeannie Field pattern. Rasta was not impressed.

5 of us stayed in a spacious, 3 bedroom, condo ....

overlooking the lake and the golf course.

Although there was still a pile of dirty, melting snow in the parking lot, it was warm enough to sit on the balcony on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning I took a workshop, conducted by Carol Shewan, hooking a Van Gogh. She had a slide presentation of some of his works. The scene we were to hook, he had painted 4 times, with slight variations.

Carol had hooked it twice, also with slight variations. This freed me to do my interpretation of the painting rather than try to copy it exactly. The challenge, however, was to try for the same style; broad brush strokes, vibrant swirling colours, impressionistic.

After the workshop it was time to go and see the many rugs on show. I am just going to post, in no particular order, the pieces that caught my eye, just as I do when I go to a museum. Unfortunately the lighting in the display area was not kind to rug hooking and it all looks rather washed out.

The high point of the weekend was that Peggy Peacock's piece, "The fishing rug", took first place in the Original Category. She designed it from a compilation of photos of her father and has been working on it for as long as I have known her, 20+ years. It is magnificent. Later, she also won the Rowan Award, voted on by the membership - a great honour.

This was one of my favorites. It is called Grumpy and was hooked by someone with the last name of Martel (my photo of the names list was too blurry to make the full name out but I couldn't resist posting the picture anyway - sorry)

This also won a ribbon. Tessellated Oak Leaves hooked by Maureen McIlwain

Best Pictorial. Three Wolves, an adaptation hooked by Gina Coleman

The winner in the Oriental Category was Karen Kaiser

This is a detail from Japanese Mosaic hooked by Susan Grant

I love this. You can feel her emotion before you even read the title. "I want to go home" hooked by Debbie Harris.

Big Sheep, hooked by Rosemary Malone.

Yellow House, hooked by Isabelle Rollin

I think this is Mina Mina by Elaine Copeman (another blurry photo).

Woman Rising hooked by Sandy England.

A selection of Mug Rugs in the Port Union display.

The last rug that I am picturing from the show appealed for the subject matter and title as much as the design and craftsmanship.

Frequent Flyers hooked by Liz Edwards.

An enjoyable show, workshop, accommodation, food, but mostly a great time with friends and the joy of seeing Peggy's hard work and tenacity pay off.

After an afternoon of hooking, after the workshop, this is the current status of my Van Gogh.