Flower power

The weather has been really off and on, wet and cold, sunny but not too warm over the past couple of weeks.  I'm not holding my breath that July will be any warmer- last year it rained most of July and then got nice in August and September.  Needless to say, there are days when we just have to get out and sneak in an outing before the next shower hits.  The Park & Tilford Gardens is a public garden down the road from where we live- it's free to visit and on Father's Day we took my dad and Dean out for dinner and then went for a run around the garden with the boys.  I took some photos of some of the familiar and less familiar flowers- there are so many to see in spring!

Today is the last hour of school for the boys! I'm getting geared up for a pretty low-key summer (compared to last summer where I was having to make 450 vases for Anthropologie) with only the studio move and a few orders to concern myself with.  It will leave me lots of time to hang out with the boys.  We have a few camping trips planned in the Bowler, the boys have a couple of weeks of camp (with their first overnight camp!) and we'll be heading to the Island and to Vernon again.  I love the close-to-home kind of summers where the kids can relax and enjoy our life here in Vancouver. 

What are your summer plans? 

Oh so tropical

There are not a lot of tropical plants or flowers just blooming by the road here in Vancouver, so seeing cactus or tropical flowers on the side of the road in LA was a nice change for my West Coast eyes.  Also loved seeing all the palm trees everywhere.  It reminded me of when I was a kid and we lived in Fresno, California for a couple of years while my dad did his Master's degree.  Palm trees and pomegranates in the courtyard where we lived.  Good memories...
I hope you had a great week! For the most part I recovered from our holiday and made a huge dent in organizing my taxes while managing to glaze some new work.  I'll be in the studio most of the weekend loading a glaze kiln for a shop up-date on Monday.  In the meantime I have a little sale in my Etsy shop until the end of April:  15% off if you type in the code 'SPRINGSALE'.  Just in time for Mother's Day shopping, don't you think?

Peony Princess

The palest of pink peony in my vintage Korean celadon bud vase has even our little kitten stopping to smell the flowers...
Hope you have a great weekend.  It's Johnny's 8th birthday today so we are planning and getting ready for a slumber party complete with mini golf and movies!

Ahh spring! & the Blim Spring Market this Sunday!

OK I'm a sucker for spring- I'll be the first to admit it.  The minute all the flowers start blooming in my yard and in the neighbourhood I'm carrying my camera with me all over the place and taking pictures of flowers like a sunday painter. Sheesh!  They are just so lovely and it's so refreshing after winter!

I have another glaze firing to get into the kiln today and Friday will be a big shipping day, for those of you who have been patiently waiting for your order- thank you and it's coming!  For those of you on my tile frame wait-list, I am slowly making the rounds and am waiting to hear back before I get to the next person.  I have more coming out of the kiln friday so there should be lots to choose from by then (20 tiles!!).

Also: I am sharing a table with my former studio mate Amy (who now has a blog!!!) from down home amy at the Blim Community Market this coming Sunday.  There will be more 'little dahlhaus' bowls and plates done- with a little bird design and the owl design on them along with my regular work.  And Amy, well Amy has the cutest stuff, especially these new little bibs for wee ones that I will be buying for my nephew! How cute are they!

The detail:
where: heritage hall
main and 15th vancouver b.c
when: sunday march 28th
11-4pm
by donation
what:  50 vendors selling handmade goods,
tasty baking, unique vintage finds, hot food,
art objects and more…

In season

 

Every March I head over to my local florist to ask whether the Ranunculus are in season yet. For 3-4 weeks in spring you can get them in shades of red, peach and this lovely white with a deep purple on the tips of the blooms. These are really romantic flowers- their stems and leaves like to curve all over the place, their petals are so soft and delicate but they open up to these great dark brown or black centers that really remind me of my 'poppy' design. The red and peach ones sure look great in my poppy vases, so if you have one of these around, stop by your florist to pick out a few stems.  Mine were only about $1.50 a stem- not much for a good week of enjoyment, especially if you keep them out of direct sunlight.

It's Spring Colour Week over on Poppytalk and today is pink, tomorrow is chartruese green, wednesday is yellow, thursday is mauve/purple, and friday is robin's egg blue.  Here's looking forward to a colourful Spring Break week!

Spring chicks & baby kittens

My 'new' orange clogs that I found at the thrift store are proving to be the perfect slip-on shoe to be out in the yard with.  Our miniature daffodils are blooming and the new baby chicks have arrived at Dean's folk's place. 

 

And which kitten would you choose to take home?  Our neighbours cat had 3 kittens on February 14th and we've been patiently waiting to have a new kitty in our home since our cat of 14 years had to be put down last June.  Sasha and I are partial to the grey one, Johnny the one with the black head and Dean the one with the orange flecks.  They are so tiny and won't be able to go to new homes for a little bit yet.  Lots of time to decide...

delphinium inspiration...

My new delphinium-inspired vase is ready for late spring and summer blooms in shades of plum and deep purple. Perfect for all those pink and purple blooms from the yard or garden! For more beautiful delphinium gardens such check out the 'Delphinium Stories' website from New Zealand.