Embarrassed in Toronto

May 2013 has been a tough month to be a Torontonian.  Last week, our hockey lost the first round of the playoffs with a heartbreaking goal during sudden death overtime.  This week, a news story about a video of our mayor smoking crack with drug dealers.



Yes, our mayor allegedly smokes crack.  The video has not been seen by the general public but already, it has been making news south of the border.  Jimmy Kimmel, Jay Leno and Jon Stewart all thought it was worth mentioning this week.



(my favourite line? "If you were going to alter videos, why wouldn't you start with these two?"  Jon Stewart = brilliant)

Whether or not the crack smoking story is true, I can't say this enough:  thank goodness I didn't vote for the guy!

Blooming Trees

Everything is so green now.  Spring has arrived, full speed ahead (we'll ignore the single digit overnight temperatures forecasted for later this week).  The leaves are fully fledged now.

Trees that blossom are doing so enthusiastically, everywhere you turn, in all sorts of colour combinations.  Pink, white, purple.  Lilacs, fruit trees, you name it.

Fields are already chock full of these yellow blossoms.

What are they, you might ask?  Why, dandelions, of course!

A Cottage Sketch

Thought I'd share a sketch I made at the cottage the other night, as dusk was falling.

I tried to capture the deep indigo of the colours as everything was getting darker and darker, the silhouettes of the trees against the water.  I had prepped the page beforehand with a light blue acrylic paint overall and didn't realize until afterwards that the paint had a gloss finish, which explains why it was so waxy to work over.  I used a black Stabilo aquarellable pencil to quickly sketch out the initial design, then added watercolour.

Happy Victoria Day!

Pictures of Birds

I took these photos at my friend Barb's last weekend, as we were enjoying the hot tub after walking around the antique show for several hours (what a treat for sore muscles!).

Mr. Cardinal

Mrs. Cardinal

Goldfinch

Purple finch

Anybody know what these are?
Presumably some sort of sparrow
but the tufted head is throwing me off.

There was a red squirrel too. She came by to pick up the seeds the birds had dropped from the feeder.  From the look of her, I'm guessing there's a nest of babies somewhere nearby.

I'm off to the cottage for the long weekend, time to open it up for the summer - see you in a couple of days!

The Office

The series finale is airing tonight and I'm watching.  I never watched the show regularly but I'd see it from time to time.  Sometimes I loved it, I'd laugh out loud. Other times, I'd cringe.  Just like the original British version starring Ricky Gervais, it was both enjoyable and disturbing.  I especially enjoyed the retrospective that aired first, I like seeing the behind the scenes interviews and commentary from the various actors and crew members.  Plus I've always had a major crush on Jim Krasinski.  Then again, who doesn't?



This clip made me laugh out loud:


 P.S. The rumours about Steve Carell making a cameo appearance are...wait, you don't really want me to tell you, do you?

A Little Bit More Aberfoyle

Here are a few more photos from my visit to the Aberfoyle antiques show this past weekend.

What every kilt wearer needs, a sporran with a badger on it!

I really should have picked up these glasses, I love them!

Who wouldn't want a matching set of vintage pink luggage?

My favourite overheard line of the day was, "Stop trying to make me buy dead animals!"  I'm pretty sure they were looking at this when she said that.

Don't you just love this vintage screen door with the advertising signs all over it?  So retro.

Lifesize Pez holder, anyone?

I really wanted this multi-drawered cabinet.  Too bad it was $1400!!

I really, really wanted this vintage paper trimmer even more but it was $65, which seemed a bit excessive and the blade was dull, dull, dull.  Where would I get that sharpened??  Still, if I see one at Christie next weekend, I might have to get it!

Last but not least, the lovely ladies from Robin's Cupcakery (you can find them on Facebook).  They were sold out of the maple and bacon  ones by the time we came by but I can personally recommend the key lime and the lemon, both are to die for!!!