End of summer

My son starts school today and my daughter the day after, and the nights are getting cooler.  This is exciting to me because I am by nature an 'any season but summer' kind of person.  Probably due to the reduced guilt about staying inside and working cosily in my studio in cooler weather.  Not that summer isn't beautiful, but it was a hot one as many of you can attest....ready for fall, is all I can say!

I just had a few wonderful pictures from the summer to post and somehow never got around to it.  They will work well as a summary of what this particular summer offered.  Currently, my favourite blog for enjoying seasons, moods, atmosphere and a big peek into someones life is Kerry Bogert's blog.  I never miss a post!  Her photography is fun, free and thoughtful and evokes a mood so well and her commentary is at one with my thinking lately. I like the fact that it is life presented with its attendant joys and  frustrations. The sneaking away to work (or the wanting to sneak away ), oh, I know that one well, the mother/artist dilemma!

Swimming at our lake, a piece of land with nothing but a deck and some stairs....

A perfectly  preserved and dried out insect exoskeleton...

The trailer ( on our land) which now has the happy name 'Mouse Palace'...no longer usable after our sojourn of  4 years in Nova Scotia.  Nature will have it's way!

Sneaking through the bush from the lake to the trailer...such a beautiful path!

This beautiful but sinister thing was inside the trailer when my husband opened the door - fortunately no sign of the skin's former occupant inside the trailer.... I have never before seen one whole and intact, it was about 5 feet long in total!

Lovely echinacea plants with butterflies at a friend's cottage...

Our girls are becoming lovely young women...(one mine, one the daughter of a friend made in prenatal class)

And finally, the rainbow after the torrential rains on the 24th of June (St Jean Baptiste Day in Quebec, a provincial holiday), which caused terrrible flooding through the region.  The camera doesn't even begin to capture it.....

A few moments from my summer.  Happy autumn!

A quick word

Summer is upon us and while I love it all, it's not conducive to all out working time for me.  Or any working time, really.  Lots of bike riding in the Gatineau hills (small mountains to my out of shape physique, but I'm slowly improving....) and swimming with the kids.  We aren't planning any major trips, just hanging out and enjoying each others company.  I should just learn to let go and not worry. 

Thank you for the lovely responses to my last post.  I will be working on the tutorials for the next while and I will post here when they are ready for purchase in my shop!  A worthy summer project....

And also in my last post, I said I would return with a finished bead to show you - it hasn't changed that much - but has been darkened and enhanced with different colours in certain areas.

The unfinished bead:

The finished bead:

As a final note, I just wanted to show you a picture of something someone made with one of my beads.  Someone I admire very much....a glass artist with huge talent!  I'm sure you all know Lori Lochner, but if you don't, you should go and look at her work.  Here are a few samples:

She sent me a picture of a little talisman she made using one of my beads.  She combined it with a most wonderful electroformed glass pod.  I do love it when people send me pictures of what they've done with something I've made because it enlarges my view of the possibilities.  Shakes off the tunnel vision, so refreshing!  Thanks, Lori....

 Go forth and summer....can I make that a verb?