More Simple Pleasures

We've had another mini vacation over the weekend: this time to a lovely sandy beach on Georgian Bay.  I didn't think it wise to take my camera to the beach to get filled up with sand, but the water was lovely and I bobbed about in the waves for a good hour.  After getting on the freeway and seeing how slowly it was moving, we got off again just as quickly and wound our way up to our destination on secondary highways.  It took twice as long, but I am so glad we did.  We had lovely views of the rolling hills that ripple through our region, and passed through sweet Victorian main streets that are so prevalent in small Ontario towns.

This was as good of a shot as I could get out of a moving car window, but it sure was purdy.

I mentioned before that we have had a birthday at our house.  Our Favorite Boy turned six on Monday and had a lovely time building all his new Lego.
I made this birthday banner out of card stock on Sunday night: it's really too bad it's in shadow because the colors are nice and bright.  I would ultimately like to make a longer lasting one out of fabric, but it's going to take some time to get just the right birthday-ish fabric.  I hung it up before I went to bed so the birthday boy could see it first thing in the morning.

I received my latest Cross Stitch and Needlwork magazine in the mail yesterday and read it by the pool as the kids took their swimming lessons.

There is a pumpkin ABC in it I would like to stitch, the only problem is I never feel like stitching fall themed things in the summer.  By the time fall comes around it will be too late unless I plan on hanging it up next year!

I am trying to get back to doing a bit of stitching everyday, and for the last week or so have been working on it outside.  It's always lovely to do that because the light is so much better.  I especially need it for projects like this that are stitched over one on 40 count fabric using a magnifying glass.

This is a gift I am working on that has been too long in the making; I am really hoping to make some serious progress on it by the end of the summer.  

Yesterday I purchased two new cookbooks by two of my favorite TV chefs: Laura Calder and Michael Smith.  Thank goodness for Costco for having affordable kitchen inspiration.

I also like Costco for their inexpensive growers  bunches of flowers.  I saw these sweet little tea roses and had to bring them home.  An added bonus is that once they were out of the chilly cooler I noticed they are sweetly fragrant.  The scent reminds me a little of the wild roses from my childhood, and as such puts me in a profoundly happy state of mind.

Have a great day!