home sweet home

After almost 6 weeks on the road, we're happy to be settling back into life at home. We enjoyed a wonderful trip - we drove down the Oregon Coast and the California Coast until we arrived in Santa Maria, just north of Santa Barbara. We stayed with John's family there for about a week and half before heading off to Puerto Vallarta for 10 days. When we got back to California, we spent more time with friends and family before heading home. The kids did pretty well, especially while travelling in the motorhome, but they missed our "yellow house" and asked about it daily. "Me miss the yellow house mummy". I heard that nearly every day. Overall it was a wonderful trip and we will definitely be doing it again next year!

On the Oregan Coast

Saying hello to Paul Bunyon at Klamath, CA. Seeing this was one of my first memories as a child!

Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, CA

This beach was the site of the town dump years ago. They cleaned it up in the 60's, but the glass remains.....gorgeous!

We all enjoyed exploring.

Pismo Beach, CA

We enjoyed so many beautiful sunsets in Puerto Vallarta.

Having fun on the rope swing at Rio Mismaloya, where the movie Predator was filmed. A gorgeous freshwater swimming hole.

This was the highlight of our Mexico trip for Zara and I!

My sweet little girl in her ballerina swimsuit.

We all loved the iguanas.

Neat dragonflies at the Santa Barbara Zoo

Palm trees in Santa Barbara .... I LOVE palm trees!

Elephant Seals on the Big Sur coast

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium

On the beach in Capitola, near Santa Cruz

Capitola Beach, CA

I made 6 of these little felt pouches before we left, then embellished them with felt appliques while the kids napped in the motorhome! Some had birds, owls, hearts, etc. A fun way to pass the time!

bartering makes me happy!

A few weeks ago a very talented friend approached me with an idea. She asked if I'd be interested in making her some little fabric bags to put her finished jewellery pieces in, in trade for a piece of jewellery. Of course I jumped at the opportunity! I've been coveting her creations for some time!

So I made her a bunch of these....

and she made me this stunning silver pendant with a blue topaz on one side and a cubic zirconia on the other side. It hangs from a really cool aqua colored cable. I love it!

i love thrifting!

I had an hour to myself today so I used it wisely...I went thrifting! I came home with some lovely treasures!

Won't these jeans be cute on little B?

I love the detail on these mugs - handpainted and silkscreened in Norway.

Miss Z has an October birthday so this plate is for her. And check out the green mugs! I LOVE them!

Does anyone remember this Fisher Price cash register? We played with this as kids. We used to borrow the money from my mom's purse, iron it so it was nice and crisp, then play "store" for hours! There were two there, so I bought them both! One for me, and one for my sister! (for our kids, of course!)

Hope you're having a lovely fall day!

a trip to the ocean

We just spent 5 days enjoying Vancouver and the surrounding areas. We visited the Aquarium, Science World, did a bit of shopping of MEC, spent time with family and friends, enjoyed the new Sea to Sky highway and the gorgeous little town of Squamish, spent an afternoon on a beautiful sailboat with friends, and hung out with the animals at Maplewood farms. I LOVE being near the ocean. It fills me up, feeds my soul and refreshes my spirit. Here are a few photos of our fun trip.

settling in

We are getting settled into our new place - still unpacking boxes and hanging pictures but it's feeling like home!

Zara is loving her princess bed!

We stopped by a thrift store today and Zara found the sweetest little owl family! How could we leave them in the store?  I've wanted a "cookie jar" for quite some time and I'm quite sure all of the pieces will get used and well loved. I found 3 lovely wool blankets too - something I've been on the lookout for!

Hoot Hoot

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

~Jacq

on the move!

Sorry for the long absence! We've been busy moving!

This is the just part of the amazing view from our new digs.

The day we moved we harvested our garden at the old house ~ amazing!

My favorite summer food! Fresh bread with pesto and tomatoes!