What a lovely surprise yesterday to get a parcel pick-up in the mail! When I went to the post office I got not just one parcel but two! One was from my "tea swap" partner Judy and was full of such wonderful goodies such as a beautiful tea cup and a funky spoon(I just love it!), some wonderful teas( earl gray is my favorite!) some potpurri with, again my favorite, a lavender scent, some wonderfully yummy chocolate hazelnut biscuits, a mini tea book, a beautiful hand embroidered tea towel, a hand made card and much more. It was such a joy to open and I made myself a pot of the tea, sat down with it and the biscuits and the little book, what a great excuse for a break in my day! Thank you so much Judy! Now on to the other parcel! It was my new runners that I got from Hanna Andersons, they were on sale for $14 us so just couldn't resist! and they are pink! Congratulations goes out to Jessica (www.sweetpeas.motime.com) for her new store Junque Revival ( www.junquerevival.com) it's got some wonderful things and she has had a few sales already(don't forget to sign up for the contest!) I may as well put a plug in for my etsy store(speaking of stores) so go visit at www.queenconch.etsy.com . Have a fun week everyone.

Had a great week doing alot of pottering in the garden when the weather permitted! Went to the awards ceremony at Bronwynne's school on Thurs night and one of her "Flash" presentations was shown. She was on the principals honor roll and was given the highest award for her digital media and film class. Needless to say we are very proud of her! Had two of the yoga gals over for lunch on Friday(potluck) and spent a wonderful 3 hours eating and walking the garden(the sun even came out of hiding for a while!) One brought meatless meatloaf and meatless gravy and locally made goat cheese, one brought an Athenian Artichoke Dip with crackers, I made Cauliflower cheese pie with graded potato crust and a strawberry sweet bread for dessert, it was all so yummy! Yesterday I got it into my head that I could sew up a new umberella for outside so got some vinyl tablecloths from Walmart and just got cutting and sewing, I'm pleased with the results and it was alot cheaper than buying a whole new one! There was even enough left over to cover the table!

I spent the week gathering 'stuff' up for the big garage sale I held on Sat. and set most of it up on Friday night. Thank goodness it didn't rain! I was up and ready early on Sat. morning just incase there were early birds and sure enough the first one arrived at 8:00! Bronwynne was a great help just by bringing me tea, making my lunch, and filling in when I needed a pee break! The last person arrived at 2:00 and stayed for almost an hour! Needless to say she went home with a car load! Bron and I boxed up what was left and will take it all to the thrift store. It seemed like a long day! Also last week Fred and I worked on getting a 'natural' filter set up for my pond with a wire stand that has 3 shelves which we filled with moss and ferns. The water is pumped to the top shelf and gets filtered down through the rest, plus it looks nice. The moss will grow and fill in the shelves, the ferns will grow and hang over the edges and all will hide the stand(we went to a garden that had one set up and it was really quite beautiful). This week I want to tackle some of the bedroom floors as they have old rotten carpets and I want to replace them with the click down "wood" flooring that we put in our kitchen( I have been really happy with it and it brightens up the whole place!) If I get just one room done I will be happy!

I seem to be spending all my spare time painting lately which is not a bad thing as the house is looking so clean and fresh! It's a good thing the weather has been rainy otherwise I would have wanted to be in the garden! I got my new clogs in the mail this week and I just love the colour! PINK! Just another pair to add to my collection! Took the boys for haircuts this week and what a difference! They both had long hair, well past their shoulders and now it's short! I can see their necks for the first time in years and it makes them look so much older! Found a step stool that was like one from my youth(my Dad use to cut my hair while I sat on one like this and I even sat on it when I was little if there was a crowd over for dinner) I have given mine a modern twist with the pink paint and seat cover and it has already been put to good use during my painting frenzy! While I have been painting I have also been sorting out and now can hardly get into my sewing/craft room for all the stuff that I have piled up so think I will have a garage sale next weekend and what doesn't go at the sale I will lug to the thrift store