Barefoot Sandals + Fire!

When we had our little heat wave, I didn't feel like doing too much yard work and I certainly didn't want to be be inside anymore than I had to so I spent some time in the garden working on projects like these - are you familiar with barefoot sandals? There is a loop at one end to go around your second toe and then long straps to go around your ankles in a variety of tying patterns.


They can be worn on the beach, for a beach wedding, they can be worn to festivals (Hello BASSCOAST!!) or on stage for performances  plus worn under or over flipflop straps or other shoes.

This is the most recent pair I just finished making - they have a beautiful soft blue trim and a textured cream section in the centre. (In my shop, ready to ship if you're interested)

Currently our heat wave is over and a little rain has fallen. Hopefully more rain has fallen in the mountains - the Vancouver/Whistler area is known as one of the wettest places in Canada, and parts of the area are even considered to be a  Rain Forest, yet during this last heat spell we were on fire. Smoke filled the skies from Whistler to Chilliwack. And crews came from many places to help fight the fires. This is one time many of us are okay with seeing the rain, in fact, we welcomed it. Especially if it means that our precious forests may be spared from being destroyed by fire.

Let me tell you about...

I can't help it. I get excited when people talk to me about things I like. I think I come across as a sales man, or some sort of ambassador. Like years ago when I worked in the importing business, I spoke so passionately to my American customers about Vancouver, you'd like I had profit sharing with the Tourism board.  And readers of this blog can surely tell that I will happily talk about dogs, my dog, your dog, all dogs -  at any time and anywhere.

But I surprised myself yesterday when I was sitting in a waiting room and a man asked me if my boots were Blundstones. Why yes they were. And are they steel toe? No they aren't. He told me he wears steel toe Blundstones for work and loves them but didn't know they were sold elsewhere and had non-steel toed versions. I then proceeded to tell him that there are mens and womens and even kids sized boots available. And in nubuck and brown and suede too. As well as blue and red and other colours. And told him where in Vancouver you could find such a selection. Again, you'd think I owned the shop!

My husband would have frowned at me after about 2 minutes and encouraged me to not make a fool of myself. But I did. I just couldn't help myself.

You know you're not feeling well...

I woke up this morning feeling tired and groggy. I had a big long dream about being in the US Civil War and hiding in my attic as troops were marching past our big house (totally weird isn't it? ) My brain tried to puzzle out the dream, plus my body was achey and my throat was sore. I felt like I'm getting a cold, but I kept trying to put those thoughts out of my head and tell myself that I am not sick, I am just fine. I then proceeded with my normal morning routine - getting dressed, feeding the dog and taking her for a walk.

I was 30 minutes into my walk when my one foot felt funny (I have one pair of shoes that always pokes me in the achilles tendons)   -but only one, so I guess that registered in my brain and I look down and see this:

Geez - how groggy was I? It's a good thing I don't drive when I first get up. In my defence I will say that they were bought at the same time, they are made by the same company and they are both a walking/hiking shoe (and they are both grey) - but other than that... I have no excuse. And it took me 30 minutes to notice??? Good thing it's only 6:30am and I am not stuck wearing them for the rest of the day!

Fuzzy Runners?

Recently I bought a pair of 'runners' that said they had non marking soles, but when I turned them over they had a fuzzy/flocked bottom. "Gee that's strange", I thought, "won't that just wear off when I walk on the street?"

Turns out the fuzzy sole has nothing to do with non-marking, it has more to do with taxes and duty - read this article here. Pretty sneeky isn't it??

Q: What kind of running shoes are made from banana skins? A: Slippers. 

Hurry up and wait

Today I am crocheting some boot toppers (not exactly these ones, but you get the idea)  - which is basically an accessory  that goes around the top of your knee high boot for decoration, so you don't have to necessarily wear a heavy sock in your boot but it looks like you do - kinda like a dickie for your leg (I wonder how many people still wear dickies or for that matter how many know what one is?)

My work in progress:

But I'm in a weird place today because it seems so slow going - it can't be done quick enough. I have so many things I have to do and want to do but can't get them all done. For personal projects and for my little shop.

Perhaps this is because of some recent events -two of which are personal stories of my brother - a friend with inoperable brain tumours is suddenly not able to work and no longer able to take care of his children; my brother's closest friend and business partner just suddenly died last week; my dance instructor was re-ended by a drunk driver at a red light(severe whiplash); a co-worker who's 22 year old daughter who was a busy model and semi-professional volleyball player, lost her battle with cancer just after graduating from university; as well as other tragedies currently on the news - it seems to serve as a reminder that life is very short and we can't delay anything! And I am so far behind.

No, I'm not having a panic attack but I do feel that I need to expedite things. And then it's the holiday season so I'm torn between "hey, relax, it's Christmas" and "there are so many things to do!"
How many batches of cookies do I want to make? and how many kinds? And how many more presents can I afford to buy? And "who did I forget?" And, and, and...

Eeep, are you feeling it as well?

 Any solutions? Suggestions? 

And this song has been going through my head for the past 24 hours:



I was taught this song in elementary school, why did it pop into my head now? Is it a Christmas song as well?

I LOVE New Balance!

Yes I am very pleased with New Balance shoes. First of all they are fabulous for fit and design and many,many people will agree with me. But their customer service is absolutely amazing. A few months ago JP wrote to them (on my behalf)  telling them that my runners weren't waterproof as my feet were getting wet in the rain. New Balance said they guaranteed that the model I had was waterproof and I could come in and get a new pair! Are you kidding me?

But yes, that's exactly what they did! And let me tell you that quite some time had passed so I was completely surprised that they did a full exchange. No other company, I repeat, no other company does this - well not that I know of anyway.

I can't say enough good things about New Balance Shoes! And we are happy to make the trek to the North Delta store where they take extra good care of us!

My new shoes:

 This may not be the best picture of them, because they look pretty spanky on my feet, let me tell you!

A fashionable office

Since I have a desk job and I'm at that desk for 40+ hours a week, I might as well surround myself with things I like, right?

So first came the shoe tape dispenser (bought locally)

And then came the purse post-it dispenser (bought in Seattle)

And then came the shoe bank (bought in the Okanagan)

Here's the story: Jp was recently out of town and ended up at an airport where he saw the shoe bank in a window, but it was behind security which means you need a boarding pass to get to the store. Luckily he knew someone at the airport and asked him for some help.  From there they managed to get the shop to bring the shoe bank to another kiosk they owned in the front of the airport so he could buy it just for me. Apparently they had just put it in the window about an hour before he found it for me. Isn't it gorgeous? I absolutely love it. And what a thoughtful husband I have.

Now I shall have to fill it with loonies or toonies to support my on-going shoe habit.

Nothing is something

I got nothing. Yup, I got nothing interesting to say.

This weekend we: bought a new composter, put it together and transferred all the old compost into the new, put out the solar lights in the garden, painted  some garden ornaments, took down last year's 'false bamboo' and other miscellaneous garden activities. I also did some knitting and laundry, took the dog for a couple of walks and cooked a really good brisket.

With the help of Jp, we cleaned out my closet, this time tackling shoes and removing about 40 pair (?). I still have lots left, and now I can get to the ones I wanted to wear. I also got rid of some suits and blazers and other outdated ensembles that I haven't worn for a long time. And, we already dropped it all off at the charity - less chance to change my mind.

Lots of busy work, no time for real crafting and nothing interesting, but hey look at that - I did find something to say. Thanks for reading!

I won an award, come and look

My friend Cynthia nominated me for this award:

Thank you. I would like to thank my editor and my agent and the academy....oops sorry, I started fantasizing. 


To accept this award, here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award.
2. Paste the award on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you.
4. Tell 7 interesting things about yourself
5. Nominate 7 blogs and post links
6. Leave a comment on your nominated blogs to let them know

So now the adminstration of the award:
1. Thank you Cynthia. I am flattered and honoured!
2. Done
3. Done
4. 7 things about me:

• I have hazel eyes (brown in the centre, with a ring of green, rimmed with olive)
• My mother was going to name me Bonnie Crystal
• I always wanted to be 6' tall (I'm only 5'10). I have no idea why. When I was growing up, hardly anyone was tall and there certainly wasn't the selection of clothes for tall girls as there is today.
• I have always been a dog person. When I was 5 yrs old I thought I was a reincarnated dog. 
• It never rains on my birthday. Okay last year I heard there was a sprinkling somewhere in the city, but not where I was, so I'm not counting it!
• I used to play in a mixed ice hockey league, mainly playing goalie. I've also played on tennis teams, grass hockey and volleyball. No I never liked, nor played basketball. Today I am not a sports fan at all.
• Since I started working, I have always had lots of shoes (over 100 pairs) but I haven't counted for about 10 years.Back in the day before owning lots of shoes was common or popular. Back then I was practically treated like a freak, I'd get: 'What? You have how many shoes? Okay Imelda. Whatever..."

5/6. I nominate: I checked and the people I was going to nominate already received awards, so I'll have to skip this one for now.

New Shoes

Yesterday we took a long drive to the New Balance store in North Delta and picked up two pairs of shoes. Jp has been trying to get me to this store for about a year, but because of the distance (mainly), it's just never happened.

But my old shoes were very sad and my feet got very wet and with my young dog needed longer and longer walks and the weather getting colder and wetter, well something had to be done.

So we sat down with the expert in the store and found these two pairs of waterproof shoes. As Jp warned me, not the best looking shoe, but comfortable? Yes. I already tried the higher/hiker style ones today for our walk and I must say they are worth every penny!

I do miss the nice young man who tied all my shoes for me though. That was a lovely little luxury. I don't think any one's tied my shoes since I was a little kid!

I'm giving two thumbs up to New Balance!

PS = thank you babe for taking me there and making it easy!

Back to school clothes

This weekend, in what started out to be a shopping quest for shirts for JP, actually turned out to be a shopping trip for me! And I got some great deals - three pairs of "dress/casual" pants - for $9 each! Yup! That's right. And yoga pants for $15! Whee!! Bargoons for me! Yay!

I also got a pair of funky rain boots - they'll make splashing in puddle so much more fun!
(They weren't a bargain, but they were
on sale and they were so
cute I couldn't resist!)

And even though I'm not going to school, it sure would be fun to pick up some new pencils and binders and.... I always feel September is more of a new year than January, and I'm apt to start new things and make promises to my self in September rather than in January.

And one more thing I did - or rather, didn't do - was I didn't turn my computer on all day yesterday - no internet, no email. I took a break. It wasn't actually "a thing", it just happened that way. And when I realized about 8pm last night that I hadn't been near the computer I started to think that I should, just in case something happened, but then I realized I'd made it through the whole day-surely anything could wait until the morning and if there was any earth shattering news I'm sure I would have heard about it some how. And there wasn't - and now I'm glad I had a one day break - maybe I should try that every Sunday. What do you think?