AJC 2011 Adventure Quest: February: Adjectives: Week 4 - S-Z

Sophie was rather sulky knowing that this would be the last trip (for a while at least!) to the little Cottage At The Edge of the Forest.
She had become quite fond of the Wise Woman Who Was Never Wrong and her spongecake too!
But the Caravan was moving on and so we must as well.
And so it was one last lay of the cards on her hand quilted tablecloth, one cup of tea, one more spongecake (this time it was raspberry with chocolate icing!) then we said our fond goodbyes.
Knowing we were sad to leave her, she said to us, “Perhaps it will help if you read the sign above the door on your way out.”
(I swear it wasn’t there last week)
The sign said: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward. “
(Soren Kierkegaard)
How wise.

Credits: S. Kierkegaard quote: Thanks to a fellow caravaner who inspired me to add this to my spread this week..please let me know who you are so I can give credit - I Cant Find You..sorry)

Kit Credits as always to Tangie Baxter for her AJC11 Parcels and the new QOC4 kit papers, and her Tribalations Mad Hatter Font!
Bolded: Apple Boy BTN
Photos: mine
Sophie’s comments; Her own as always.

19S – The SECRETIVE heart of the Shell lay open, brought in, caressed and then left by the SALTY hand of the Sea.
Sophie: I had great fun at the beach!

20T – These simply TREMENDOUS and very TASTEFUL LadyBug Boots worn by a little girl, made me wish I had a pair!
Sophie: I see 2 New Pair in my Future!

21U - After a very cold snow-threatening day (UNUSUAL for us!) A totally UNEXPECTED gift – a Glorious Sunset!
Sophie: Never mind the Sunset, Where’s Dinner?

22V – VIOLET is her colour and VIOLET is her name. VIGOUROUS despite the fractious Spring, her subtle scent is enchanting.
Sophie: I Know , I KnOw! I mustn’t eat these!

23W – Today WHITE has overtaken Green! Staying WARM during this WEIRD and WACKY weather is Priority Number One!
Sophie: Where are my Winter Woolies?

24 X - This XANTRIC slime mold is very XYLOPHILOUS (subsists on rotting logs) and is a highly valued member of our eco-system.
Sophie: Yuck! This is something I will NoT EaT!

25Y – While on this YEAR-LONG Journey, Sophie
was told by another Caravaner that “ YODELING keeps you YOUTHFUL.”
Thanks to whoever – I feel it is going to be a Looooonnng Year!
Sophie: (trying her best to yodel) YO Day Lay HEE HOOoooo!

26Z – Despite the ZANY weather (Snow in Victoria?) Ms P, Mr Bear and I had a great time visiting the Scrapbookers Con and Fabric Craft Show! We were ZONKED when we got home, but what a ZIPPY way to end a month of Weeks That Were!
Sophie: That was fun, what’s next? Another Spongecake?

AJC 2011 Week 9 - Itinerary: Simply Started: I AM....an ARTIST

....who REFUSES to SURRENDER HER CRAYONS!
(in the words of the Incomparable Jimmy Buffett

"I am growing older but NOT UP!"

Sophie and I are running away to join La Cirque Des Crayones this weekend.
(She was getting tired of the snow and cold temperatures, so she was packed and ready to go by the time Friday rolled around!)
*
Credits and Kits Used:
Circus Tent: B.Kerr Circus Tent Assemble
Background Paper: Journal Anth. 05
Is Coming sign: Journal Anth. 05
Sun: AJC11 Parcel 09
Fence: AJC11 Parcel 09
Typewriter: Tangie Photostamp (ty)
Typewriter paper: AJC11 Parcel 01
Pink Ticket: Tangie & Rebecca: AJC11 Parcel 01
Basketweave: c/r free the net
Crayons: c/r free the net
Chet the Dancing Juggler: Tangie’s Tribalations Element
Splatter graphic: Tangie AJC11 Parcel 01
Fonts: Tangie’s Mock Turtle
As well as Problem Secretary and Crazy Loot

AJC 2011 Week 8 - Itinerary: Simply Started: I PLAN

…(when we arrive in Italy) to practice ‘l’arte di non fare niente’ or the Sweet Art of Doing Nothing.
I once read somewhere that Joseph Campbell was giving a talk and at the end of it, a lady came up to him and after shaking his hand, told him rather worriedly that she was going traveling and was hoping that everything would go ‘according to Plan.’
Whereupon Mr Campbell took her hand, and said to her,
”My dear lady, I do hope for your sake, that things do NOT go Exactly as Planned.”

Kits Used:
B.Kerr’s Traveler World elements - clock face,hands, travel journal
Tangie Baxter: AJC Parcel 35 background paper, old books,
Tangie Baxer: Photochrome picture of Roman Coliseum
Coffee Ring: c/r free the net
FONTS: Tangie’s Mock Turtle and my own handwriting

AJC 2011 Week 8 - Itinerary: Verb of the Week: Reinforce-ments

or GLAZED, not GUMMED.

From Sophie's Notebook of Peculiar Suggestions:
For some strange reason, using glazed donuts Does Not work well as reinforcements.
*
Kit used: Tangie Baxter: AJC11 Beginning Parcel - notebook and background paper.
Font: Tangie's wonderful Mock Turtle
Glazed donuts: local Timmys
Sophie's Spring Outfit: Her own design

AJC 2011 Adventure Quest: February: Adjective Week 3 - M-R

There Goes That Valentine Week That Was.
I am still finding chocolate wrappers scattered about in Sophie’s room and an empty heart shaped chocolate box. Hmm..so that’s where they went.
Sophie once more took me to see that Wise Woman who is Never Wrong ( I think she just wanted to show off her new Spring Outfit, especially the Tilley Hat!) and wouldn’t you know it! She had baked a heart shaped chocolate angel food cake for us.
I had one cup of tea and that was how long it took Sophie to skoffle it down..

Here are the Cards for the Week
Credits as always to Tangie Baxte for her AJC Parcels and the new QOC4 kit papers, and her Tribalations Mad Hatter Font!
Background photos: mine

13M - I am MARRIED to a MARVELLOUS man who makes a dozen red roses MAGIC-ally appear the Day Before Valentines!

14N – Ms D our Neighbour-Cousin rang our doorbell and dropped off these Valentine Brownies! What a NICE and NEIGHBOURLY thing to do !

15O – Despite the rain and storm outside the window, my pink tulip remains OPEN so that we may enjoy her colour and scent.

16P – 21st C. PARENTING
1 - Laptop (check)
2 – Able to type with the right hand (check)
3 – Rock baby with left hand (check)
4 – Starbucks coffee and cell within reach. (check)

17Q- This QUIRKY Bluejay loves to feed my QUIZZICAL Quail who
are QUICK to take advantage of his largesse!

18R – ROMANTIC and REFLECTIVE vintage roses.
Memories of a Love Lost and Found.

AJC 2011 Week 7 - Itinerary: Verb of the Week: Wonder

"We need a renaissance of wonder.
We need to renew, in our hearts and in our souls, the eternal poetry,
the perennial sense that life is miracle and magic."
~E. Merrill Root
This quote really resonated with my love for anything Renaissance - Medieval! It also echoes my word for the Year: Break Through.
I had wanted to use the Universum woodcut for a page on here and I felt this was the perfect fit.
*
Coloured woodcut: Universum - C. Flammarion, Holzschnitt, Paris 1888,
Kolorit : Heikenwaelder Hugo, Wien 1998 - (Wikipedia: Common Licence)
Mirror: AJC11 Tangie & Holliwood Parcel 07 Frame 1
Northern Lights photo background: Flikr c/r free
Font: Franciso Luis Briosa

AJC 2011 Week 7 - Itinerary: Simply Started: I KNOW

I KNOW..(what you are thinking...)

"How could she possibly give up 25 years of Corporate Life, go live on an Island, rescue earthworms from rain puddles, wear yellow Gumbers with a skirt to go DownTown shopping and also to garden in, as well as travel with a Sassy Camel named Sophie who Insisted that I buy her 2 pairs of yellow Gumbers as well?”
Answer: Quite Easily.
Credits:
Background paper: Tangie Baxter: AJC11 Beginning Parcel 01
Photos: me in my Gumbers and Skirt taken by Mr Bear
(Nameless) Corporate Building where I served My Time (I'm actually perched on the
16th floor where I spent 10 years: Image: c/r free the net)
Sophie's yellow Gumbers: c/r free the net
Sophie’s Silhouette (now dressed by me): Tangie Baxter

AJC 2011 Adventure Quest: February: Adjectives Week 2 - G-L

or There Went Another Week That Was..in which our intrepid Heroine turned the page on yet another year and bravely faced the mirror in the morning BEFORE BEAN! (gasp)
Since she was 100 % accurate on the Week That Was and Sophie wanted to try her Spongecake with Marmalade this time, we went back to that cottage at the Edge of the Forest, to have a visit with that Wise Woman and her unique deck of cards.
*
7G – I am so GRATEFUL for Mr Bear’s Crochet Skills – he made me this nifty Turtle Hat for my birthday. Of course, Sophie had to make sure it fit!

8H – I was very HAPPY for today at my local nursery, HELPFUL Cathy had discovered another HARD-TO-FIND “Diane” Witch Hazel! Sophie:”If I can’t EAT IT, what GOOD is it?”

9I – Today was an INCANDESCENT Day! Holly and John braved the INFAMOUS BC Ferries and traveled here to take me out for my Pre-Birthday Lunch.
Sophie: “OK, ..where did the Black Forest Cake you bought go?”

10J – Today I was JAZZED and JOYOUS! I got to celebrate my birthday with Mr Bear and my good friend Dayle in Victoria – always a Special Treat! Sophie: “Ooo..My Favourite – Peach and Blackberry Crumble with ice cream!

11K – KIND does not even begin to describe my good friend Ms P! She has painted and planted alongside me and today made me special Birthday cupcakes. Sophie: “Never mind the cupcakes, those Tulips look delicious.!”

12L – On a LOVELY Blustery day like today, Spring Tulips bring their LONGING for the Sun to my table. Sophie: “This is simply Not Fair – A gorgeous tulip and I can’t Eat It?”

*

Credits and Kits:
Tangie Baxter Tribalations Font and Papers
Queen of Cupcakes Paper
Parcel 01 AJC 11
Photos: mine
Sophie's comments: her own (trust me)
Additional Fonts: Apple Boy BTN

AJC 2011 Adventure Quest: February: Adjectives: Week 1 - A-F

(or There Goes the Week That Was...)
Off the beaten track, In a little cottage on the edge of the Forest, lives a very Wise Woman who is Never Wrong! Her unique deck of cards tell only your Past - never your Future; hence she is always right and gifted with 20/20 hindsight.
(Sophie liked her spongecake which is why I think we went there in the first place.)

Here is my First Week laid out on top of the Wise Woman's Multi-hued quilted table cloth.
*
(Since I realize that those cards are tiny: I made them ATC size: here are the words so you don't have to hunt for your specs.)
1A -AMAZING - how things work out when Acceptance is allowed to happen. (we tried to arrange to meet up with cousins - 'nuf said)
2B - BRIGHTLY glowed the candles lit at Brighid's Well Ireland (My friend Carmel and friends trudged through the Rath Lugh Forest and lit tea lights in the trees and around the well head to honour Brighid and Her Day)
3C - Today I am CREATIVE, CRABBY, CRANKY and CONFUSED photo linking SBG Threads.
4D - I am DETERMINED to conquer SBG photo linking threads. DIZZY with excitement, I think I did it!
5E - Today I feel EARTHY and EXULTANT! My seeds and beans successfully sprouted and have 'bean' green housed.
6F - My cousins and I were FESTIVE at our FLAKY Un-Birthday Party!
*
Credits and Kits used:
Tangie Baxter: Parcel AJC11 Beginning, Parcel 48, Parcel 51, Tribalations elements.
Background: Quickity Split paper and border
Fonts: Tangie's Mad Hatter from Tribalations and Apple Boy BTN
Photos: mine except for Brighid's Day (Brighid's Well candle lit taken by Carmel Diviney (Ireland)

AJC 2011 Week 6 - Itinerary: Simple Starts: I Decided...to Become a Defiant Seed Saver!

I Decided ..to become a Defiant Seed Saver
(Charlene would be so proud!)

It all started innocently enough (don't they always?) with last year's Seedy Saturday at a local community hall and once inside the door..well it was a slippery slope..So many wonderful heirloom seeds to choose from and all GMO FREE. I came home with 17th Century Italian Heirloom Fava Beans, Blue Jay Snap Beans (rare Canadian variety) and a brown paper bag containing 8 Mason Bee cocoons (which promptly went into the fridge).
While wandering around from table to table, I came across Seeds of Diversity Canda and joined up. Today I have successfully put out into that tiny greenhouse (the one in the corner guarded by the broken shovel) last summer's harvest of fava beans, blue jay beans and sunflowers. The Mason bee population increased and I have close to around 30 cocoons asleep in my fridge awaiting spring bloom.
The background is today's macro shot of my blooming Diane Witch Hazel. I had purchased it last Fall immediately upon hearing that it bloomed in February (my birthday month).

*
Credits:
Kits used: Tangie Baxter: AJC11 Parcel 01, Spring Field Notes Paper 3, Paper 6, Elements 3, Dictionary Cuts Parcel 06 Tape.
Font: Courier new and Candy Buzz BTN
Photos: greenhouse, witch hazel, seed packets, blue jay feather - mine.

AJC 2011 Week 6 - Itinerary: Verb : Live! She Certainly Did!

"In the End, All That Really Matters Is:
How Well did I Live?
How Well did I Love?
How Well did I Learn to Let go?
*
This is my friend Charlene, Master Gardener and dear dear wise friend.
I say 'is' even though she left us last November 2010.
I still feel her around, especially when I have dirt under my fingernails from grubbing in the garden. It was through her that we were introduced to our first Apple Tasting and they were Heirloom Russets - hence the basket in the corner. When she was diagnosed Non Hodgkins Lymphoma and realizing that she had a shorter time than most, she filled that Unforgiving Minute with 60 Seconds Worth of Distance Run.
She immediatly quit the corporate world (at that time she was my manager when we both worked at BCTel)
She ran a 1/2 Marathon in Arizona,
Skydived,
Got her Batchelor of Science Degree

Went to Africa for a semester,
Taught University students (Her most memorable course? The Sex Life of A Barnacle!),
Mountain Climbed,
Skied fearlessly attacking the steepest and wildest trails,
and most precious of all, spent a day and night with us April 20-21 2010.
Her thank you gift which arrived in the mail a few days later (true to form) contained a Gardening catalogue (with 2 seed packets inserted between the pages - Love in the Mist and Night Scented Stock) and 3 large foolscap pages of her hand-written and sketched out Garden Design for our property.
We have already started putting some of her ideas into practice.
Blessings to all Gardeners out there.
*
Credits:
Kits used: Background papers and elements:
Tangie Baxter: KMF, & Dictionary Cuts
Butterflies, Hydrangea: Dover Publications c/r free
Photo: Charlene and basket of apples - mine

AJC 2011 Week 5 - Intinerary: Simply Started: I Often