Victoria Day Weekend

 So it was Victoria Day yesterday.
What started off as a rather gloomy weekend, became quite the opposite.  Even though it rained pretty steadily in the morning on Saturday, it did stop by mid afternoon. One of my friends and I had a blast garaging yhat morning, then went to see "The Dictator" around noon, and then headied out for the lake for overnight.  We stayed with some of her family at their cottage in Victoria Beach...like it WAS  the beginning of the Victoria Day Weekend, so why not match up the Day with the Place.  Our time there was very agreeable, although a walk to the actual beach was only that.  Unfortunately, the closest actual beach part was cordonned off, due to erosion and the steps leading down to the sand were boarded up.  There were a few folks walking at the water's edge, but I was not one of them; having decided that the weather wasn't that entrancing and I wasn't being "called" to walk there.  If it had been a couple of degrees warmer, and earlier in the day, I might have been lured to dip my toes in at least.  We did sit out on the porch with a morning coffee the next day, and even that small little relaxing time in the fresh air was enough to rejuvenate my spirit.  There's something to be said about being at the beach; maybe it's the air that just make one feel different and ready to take on or complete projects that previously had not been attended to or started.

For the remainder of the weekend (we came back late afternoon on Sunday), that was indeed the case.  I finished planting the few perennials that I needed to fill the front shade garden and filled several  containers with some of the larger annuals I had chosen.  The remaining perennials went into the back garden after selectively pulling out a few wandering ferns that had decided to sprout where they weren't wanted.  Now, I realize I need a couple more varieties of annuals just to fill in two or three empty spots and maybe make a bit more of a border around the back garden.

On Monday, I received an email inviting me to participate in an early June outdoor event to be held in a nearby town called Oakbank.  It's almost a suburb, but still has that 'country' feel as there are several ranches and farms surrounding it.  About fifteen hundred new homes have gone up in the area; I hope it doesn't lose its country flavour. for the Art Exposition, I think I will only take home or outdoor accent pieces to show, and not bring along any jewelry type polymer pieces.  Maybe I will take some buttons too....

On my polymer clay table, at mid morning, I began working on a fish specimen.  It'll be a keeper.  Not that big, but with trademark lips and almost-human eyes.  (I have to 'humanize' it somehow.)  Hopefully I can post a picture of it in a couple of days.

Speaking of posting a picture....On Saturday, just before we went to the movie, I stopped into my favourite book store, McNally Robinson, and came across the recent edition of Polymer Café.  I was very interested in one of the cover features...a faux dichroic pendant.  I bought the particular issue, and when I looked at the method for doing it, I just about flipped.  I know the method isn't a  trademark secret, but still was quite amazed to see the pendants written up in that magazine.  It was almost exactly what my last year's fifth Grade students did for a Mother's Day project, except for the coating of resin. (And, since that was their first experience at working with polymer, the quality of the published project was considerably more refined.) I am sorry that the pictures aren't stored on this computer, but if you look in my posts from last year's May 9th, 2011 Blog post, (Mother's Day Pendants), you will see the pendants that I am talking about.  I guess what goes around comes around.  When I saw the students and their teacher earlier today, I told them that they were a year ahead of being famous, lol.  So if anyone is interested in making one like that, go buy the current issue.