Texture Tuesdays...

This week's Texture Tuesday theme is centered around the colour "White".

~Gentle breath of Heaven~

Kim Klassen Texture :Aurora

***

Every now and then,

when the world sits

just right,

a gentle breath of Heaven

fills my soul

with delight

~Hazelmarie Elliott~

YUM...

Archer enjoying a homemade biscuit :-)

***

Some people have a foolish way of not minding,

or pretending not to mind,

what they eat.

For my part,

I mind my belly very carefully.

for I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly

will hardly mind anything else.

~Samuel Johnson~

***

Joining in Pink Saturday today.
***
Archer's Bone Appetite
Peanut Butter Biscuits

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp Baking powder
1 cup Organic Peanut Butter
1 cup Milk

Combine flour, baking powder, peanut butter and milk.  Mix well.  Roll out onto a lightly floured surface and knead.  Roll out to 1/4" thick and cut with bone shaped cookie cuttters.
Place on parchment lined baking sheet. 
Bake at 375F for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool and store in an airtight container.
♥Sure to please that special doggie in your ife ♥

52 Friday...

8/52

Dreaming

{Kim Klassen Texture: All my Loving}

***

Without leaps of imagination

or dreaming

we lose the excitement

of possibilities.

Dreaming, after all,

is a form

of planning

~Gloria Steinem~

Thankful {things I love} Thursday...

 It feels like Spring today.

The air is damp. Noticed the tips of tulips poking through the soil in the garden.

 We met lots of cats on our walk today...

 The birds were singing ...

 Lots of new sights & sounds for Archer...

 Who is now happily snoring at my feet :-)

It often happens

that a man

is more humanly related

to a cat or dog

than to any

human being

~Henry David Thoreau~

Getting To Know You ...

A few photos from our weekend hike

Getting to know you
Getting to feel free and easy
when I am with  you,
Haven't you noticed
suddenly I'm bright and breezy
because of all the beautiful and new things
I'm learning about you
~Oscar Hammerstein~
                  ***
Thank you for all the lovely emails and comments  Welcoming Archer ♥  My friend Kit @ dog daze wrote such a lovely post in honour of Archer (and Ben and Ernie too) which meant the world to me.  I feel blessed to have been able to make so many friendships through & because of my blog. When I first began blogging in 2006 with Posted-from-Home, I had Bentley  and the support and friendship shown when he passed is something I will never forget.  You shared your own stories of pet loss with me too.  Then we adopted our Ernie, who was 11 at the time, and once again, when he passed last May, your notes here and through email were heartwarming & so helpful.  Thank you all so much for Welcoming Archer & stopping by to see what's happening in our little corner of the world ♥

52 Friday...

7/52

~Destiny~

***

Even when you think

you have your life

all mapped out,

things happen that shape

your destiny

in ways you might have

never imagined

~Deepak Chopra~

***

Have a wonderful weekend ♥

Thankful {things I love} Thursday...

 So Thankful to have Archer "Here In This House" ♥

Here in this house...

I will never know the loneliness I hear in the barks of the other dogs 'out there'.
 I can sleep soundly, assured that when I wake my world will not have changed.
 I will never know hunger, or the fear of not knowing if I'll eat.
 I will not shiver in the cold, or grow weary from the heat.
 I will feel the sun's heat, and the rain's coolness,
 and be allowed to smell all that can reach my nose.
 My fur will shine, and never be dirty or matted.
 Here in this house...

 There will be an effort to communicate with me on my level.
 I will be talked to and, even if I don't understand,
 I can enjoy the warmth of the words.
 I will be given a name so that I may know who I am among many.
 My name will be used in joy, and I will love the sound of it!
 Here in this house...

 I will never be a substitute for anything I am not.
 I will never be used to improve peoples' images of themselves.
 I will be loved because I am who I am, not someone's idea of who I should be.
 I will never suffer for someone's anger, impatience, or stupidity.
 I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved by all.
 If I do not learn my lessons well, they will look to my teacher for blame.
 Here in this house...

 I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch...
 knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me.
 If I am ill, I will be doctored.
 If scared, I will be calmed.
 If sad, I will be cheered.
 No matter what I look like, I will be considered beautiful and thought to be of value.
 I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, too unruly, or not cute enough.
 My life is a responsibility, and not an afterthought.
 I will learn that humans can almost, sometimes, be as kind and as fair as dogs.

 Here in this house...
 I will belong.
 I will be home.

 ~Author Unknown~

Texture Tuesdays...

~Happy Valentine's Day~

♥♥♥

"Cupid draw back  your bow ..."

~Sam Cooke~

The challenge this week at The Cafe is an image centered around the theme "Happiness"

Happiness is dog-shaped,

I say

~Chapman Pincher~

Kim Klassen Texture: Felicity

***

Introducing ... Archer Stanley Dolan ♥♥

It's been Lab Love at our home
 thanks to the  adoption this past weekend of our sweet Archer.  ♥

Have a Wonderful Valentine's Day ... we're off to the park :-)

52 Friday...

6/52

Miracle

***

People usually consider walking on water

or in thin air a miracle.

But I think the real miracle is not to walk

either on water or thin air

but to walk on Earth.

Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even

recognize : a blue sky, white clouds,

green leaves,

the black, curious eyes of a child ~ our own

two eyes.

All is a miracle.

~Thich Nhat Hanh~

***

Have a wonderful weekend ...
snow is in the forecast for this evening :-)

Yarn Along...

 With Valentine's Day less than a week away, I've been thinking

red & ♥hearts♥...

 And  tiny huggable teddies small enough to tuck into gifts...

 And then it's Easter :-)

 So the hearts were crocheted in pastels ...

Reading "Simply Imperfect" .  It happened to be displayed at the Library the other day while I was there picking up a hold.  I was drawn to the simplicity of the cover and once I opened the pages I knew it was going in my book bag!

I hadn't heard of Wabi Sabi (although we've apparently been living the Wabi Sabi lifestyle).  The Wabi Sabi view is one which celebrates nature and it's cycles ~ EMBRACES imperfection. I was not surprised to find that Thoreau (whose writings I adore & fill up a good portion of my Quote books) was considered a Wabi person ♥

Texture Tuesdays...

 

The Light of Letters

Kim Klassen Texture: Revolution

***

The art of art

the glory of expression

and the sunshine of the light of letters

is simplicity

~Walt Whitman~

♥ Bundles ...

 Today was a baking day ...

 Cookies to keep

&

Cookies to give ...

Cookies are made of butter and love
~Norwegian Proverb~

 Wrapped up in Valentine ribbon ...

little bundles of love

And while I waited for the timer to go off, letting me know the next batch was ready to come out of the oven, I enjoyed a cup of tea, read, and enjoyed an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie too :-)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 large free range egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups quick cooking rolled oats

1 cup Raisins (more or less to suit your taste)

***

In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar.  Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Combine flour, b soda and salt and add to butter mixture.

Add rolled oats and raisins and mix well.

Using a tablespoon, drop on parchment covered cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.  Bake 350F for approx 10 minutes.  Cool on wire racks. 

Enjoy!

Sunday Serenity ...

 Not only did the Black Capped Chickadees fly to us this weekend on our walk ... they stayed on our hand while they ate :-)


At times there were two or three waiting in line ...



 They have made our walks so enjoyable ...

One touch of Nature

makes the whole world

kin

~William Shakespeare~

52 Friday...

5/52

UNDERSTAND

***

Look deep into nature

and you will

understand

everything

~Albert Einstein~

***

When my daughter & I were out walking a few mornings ago, we came across this gorgeous male Cardinal enjoying some seed (thought the bird house was wonderful too).

He stopped eating when I brought out the camera & struck what I thought was a lovely pose :-)

Thankful {things I love} Thursday...

 ♥ Vintage Girl at Heart ♥

~Is there anything more vintage than an apron?~

I was 11  the first time I saw my name in print.  I'd won a writing contest in our local newspaper.  Not surprisingly, it was for a story about my cat :-)

 Even though that was a long time ago ... it's still exciting to see your name beside something you have thought about and created.

 Volume 4 of Apron*ology arrived in my mailbox at the beginning of the week.  My Vintage canvas apron is there & I am honoured & so Thankful to be alongside so many talented artisans.

This apron concept was very different from my others in that I started with a canvas apron (from the Dollar store) as my blank slate. I had read on so many blogs that there was either no time to sew from scratch or people felt they were sewing challenged so never bothered .  Using a canvas like this is perfect.  Now you have all the fun of making it truly personal.  All the laces and trim used are vintage found at a garage sale a few years ago.  Hopefully I'll come across a treasure like that again as I've almost gone through  every little bit!

*A special Thankyou to all those at Apron*ology*

Yarn Along...

 

 Finished knitting  Eli the Elephant & he is all ready for gift giving February 14th.  I know my hubby will find him as cute as I do ♥  The only thing I did different to the pattern was change the tail.  Instead of knitting it, I did a simple double row SC crochet which turned into a sweet little twirl on its own .

I added a little heart shawl (for those cold Winter nights) too.

I have some teeny little gold bells that I might sew on along the edge.

 Trying to "master colour knitting" so picked up this book from the Library.

On the needles now ~ Knitting lots and lots of little Hexagons to turn into a warm wintry throw.

***

Joining in with Yarn Along today.

Happy Knitting & Happy February 1st.