a perfect day...♥♥♥

September 10, 2017 Arlene Giddings

i love fridays
especially fridays off...
especially sunny fridays off...
especially fridays off
that happen to fall on your
birthday!

i met up with a friend and
she introduced me to a brand new trail
that i had never heard of
winter river trail.
it was beautiful...
runs adjacent to a river in places
(hence the name, i guess)
and was definitely a bit of a work out!
we did the orange trail above
but you can do shorter versions as well.

it was so peaceful and the moss and ferns
made the whole area seem electric
with color...

there were mushrooms and
tall, tall trees
and a little cabin by the water...

if you have not done this trail before
(and you are on the island)
you should totally check it out!

we came across a flock or a herd or a gaggle
of butterflies, too.
i think they are called painted lady butterflies...
so pretty!

i came back into town
and stopped at our local office supply store
because they had emailed to let me know
that the mildliners i have been waiting for
had come in!!!
these are made by zebra
but only recently released in canada
and i have wanted them
for
so
long
that
i think i may have been a little
scary
in my
exuberance (i'm not sure that everyone
gets that excited about high lighters)
when i walked into HMS
and saw the display...
i bought one of every package.
and a little baby bullet journal!
it's so cute!

the rest of the day
was spent with my sweet husband...
chinese food for supper,
exploring a new dirt road,
ice cream drumsticks and
movies...and so many sweet messages
on facebook and text that
it took me until today to read them all
(and i am totally not complaining...
i loved them all!)

all in all, it was a pretty perfect day...
♥ ♥ ♥

365 - robot love

September 8, 2017 Arlene Giddings

i have made a decision.

i have been toying with the idea
of doing a new 365 project
(& for the record...this will not be my first
365 project
but will hopefully
but the first 365 project
that actually makes it to 365...)

if you know me at all...
you know i kind of like robots.
and polka dots.
(but that's not really relevant...)

so
i have decided to do a doodle project
of 365 robots
starting TODAY
cause what better day to start on
then your birthday!!
(especially when you meant to
actually start on Sept 1st
but that has gone by
and you are the kind of person
that NEEDS a definitive start date...
it can't just start on the 4th or on a tuesday...
that just feels...wrong.)

so.
365-robot love it is.
and they may not all be pretty
or fancy or look at all like robots...
and some may be actually be scribbled on
a napkin (preferably not used)
or the back of an envelope...
but hopefully
this time next year,
i will have an army of 365 robots.
(insert evil maniacal laugh here)

so...obviously...i'm not going to blog post
about each of them...
that would just be crazy. :)
but see that tab up at the top of the page
that says
365 robot love
(and yes. it replaced my sadly failed
365 a day photo project
but can we just
not talk about that...
heh)

so feel free to check that out
from time to time
and leave me some
bits of encouragement
and a kick in the pants
if i start to fall behind...
(see...look...i'm already setting myself
up for possible failure...)(heh)

oh...and that guy up there...
he's robot #1.
and see...i'm already setting a precedent...
bad lighting, shot with my phone,
and doodled on the back of a bent index card....
setting the bar at the appropriate height.
:)

i have good intentions...really...i do...

September 7, 2017 Arlene Giddings

i love to read.
when i was a kid
i would read ANYTHING and literally EVERYTHING
i could get my hands on.

my summers were spent
upside down on the armchair
in our living room
eating apples and reading a book...
laying out in my pink panther
bathing suit on the roof of our porch,
slathered in baby oil listening to billy idol,
yelling at my brothers
and reading a book...
in a little grove of trees
in the field behind our house
eating wild strawberries
while hiding from my brothers
and reading a book...

my parents bought a set of encyclopedias
that came with a set of 10 books for kids...
i read them all.
repeatedly.
even the ones i hated.
i read my mother's borrowed copy of
vc andrews my sweet audrina
when i was about 10...probably too young to be reading about rape...
always careful to put the book back
exactly
where it was so i wouldn't get caught...
i read and re-read the same books hundreds of times...
and one summer
i even went through the good news bible
they gave us one year in the religion classes i detested
being forced to go to
looking for the parables.

i used to make my brothers walk 45 minutes
both ways
so i could go to the bookmobile.
they still say what a great babysitter i was.
:)

i loved books.
and i always had every intention of returning them...on time...
but
i just never could.

it started with the miscouche school library & progressed
to the TOSH high school library...where the librarian
once saw me come in and shouted
(shouted! in a LIBRARY no less! shouted!)
"YOU! OUT!"
and sadly, it progressed to the bookmobile,
the town library...the library in the city 45 minutes away...
so i gave up on borrowing books.
i just wasn't good at it.

but that was before e-books! and apps!
and being able to return a book with just the push of a button on my phone!
AND (wonder of all wonders)
they gave me a new library card and a fresh blank slate.
and have you seen this library?
oh my 10 year old heart nearly cried
when i saw the new library
(i didn't stop and look around the night they gave me my card though...
i was scared someone would realize who i was and
shout YOU! OUT! again)

but look at this place...

and this space age thing...
LETS YOU CHECK OUT BOOKS
without
HAVING TO TALK TO ANYONE.
and...sometimes...that works for me...
nothing against the lovely librarians
(especially after they gave me a shiny new library card)
but sometimes...i'm just not good with
"people-ing"
heh.

oh. and just for the record,
i have already returned physical books
ON TIME
(well...they were only on time because
i was able to extend the borrowing period
by pushing a button on my phone
but that's a minor detail)

look how proud i am
(OR look at what a geek/loser i am
taking a selfie of myself
returning my books...you decide...
just don't tell me which one you went with).

usually....

September 6, 2017 Arlene Giddings

usually...september is my month...
not just because it's my birthday
and our anniversary...
but because it's always like a
mini january for me...
a bit of a fresh start,
a reason to make lists (like i need a reason, haha)
and set {or re-set} goals...
to prepare for the hunkering
down of winter
after the go-go-go feeling of summer...

but i'm struggling a little this year.

i don't know if it's because
i have no little ones
starting first days of school
backpacks in hand,
teeth missing and new sneakers to break in...

i am out of sorts.

lately there has been too much of
saying goodbye to people before you are ready
and stupid migraines in a cluster,
news that you try to avoid
cause what can you do about it
anyway
but yet it still manages
to creep into your brain
and keep you awake at night
wondering about the warmer oceans
and global discontent...

i am out of sorts this september.

but even as i write this...
i can feel it lifting a bit.
i started thinking about fall...and boots
on trail walks...crunchy leaves...
the smell of woodsmoke heavy in the air...
candles burning...books to read...
pajama pants and big soft blankets.
chicken fricot...hot chocolate with melty marshmallows...

yeah.
i feel better already!
i have to go...i have lists to make!
:)

muddy creek market & other things i love...{warning...there might be photos}

September 3, 2017 Arlene Giddings

so i know i have talked about
muddy creek market
on here before and on facebook
but i finally remembered to take
my camera on a recent visit
out there.

i know this doesn't have to be said...but...i totally want that tractor.

but first...
meet apples
the most adorable big bunny
i have ever met.
he lives at the muddy creek market.

jenna has stocked up on tons
of beautiful items since the last time
i visited...so many talented artists
and crafts people...
it always amazes me what people create.

and i always feel this tiny shocked surprised
feeling when i see some of my own
doodles nestled in among the rest...
it's like i forget sometimes that
something is mine.
it happens every now and then
when someone posts a wedding or family photo
and i think...awwww...that's so sweet
or that's cool
and then i'm like...oh...heh.
i took that.
and it kind of surprises me
in a good way...
well...unless i'm losing my mind...
that might not be such a good surprise.

after muddy creek market
(and i am not going to lie...
i am fighting myself not to spell it crick..
i think i have always spelled it that way in my head)
i took a drive to ch'town (to buy tombow markers,
but that is too long and far too sad/pathetic a story
that only emphasizes how cheap i am, to share here)
and ate at the chip shack!!!
and got a hug from the queen of fries
(and from her mom, too!)
fries are soooooo damn good.

the prettiness on the drive...those clouds...sigh

i found some cute little shops :)

and some old favorites...

such a great day...
(well..except that i got home
and INSTANTLY regretted being
too cheap to buy the tombow markers, heh)