epitome of summer

Happy first of September!  It's hard to believe that autumn weather is just around the corner, particularly with the heat wave we're experiencing. 

A few weekends ago Mr. Owl (my night owl boyfriend, aka Mr. Kitchen-Crafty) and I spent an idyllic summer weekend visiting family and friends. It was a weekend filled to the brim with good food, wonderful company, and some craftiness too (hurray!).

The weekend schedule was as follows:

1. A long bus ride made fun with knitting and audiobooks (the local library is a great source of roadtrip fun).

Working on my Shalom cardigan.

2. Crepes with fresh blackberry jam and maple syrup.

(photo from weheartit)

3. Picking the last of Mr. Owl's mum's basil and making pesto! It's my favourite!  Honestly so simple to make.

dill beans love posing with pesto

4. Extreme croquet (crocket as it's been nicknamed) in the woods - trees, logs and rocks made for interesting obstacles.

Scared to look. Did I make the shot?

5. Visit to the beaver pond, which turned into one of my top canadian wildlife moments ever: baby beaver hanging out only a meter or two away, chewing on a log and sticking it's tongue out at us!  I only regret not having my camera with me, but I doubt that I would have had sense enough to actually use it. That beaver was mesmerizing!

(photo from weheartit)

6. Blackberry picking from a wild patch.  Now to decide what to make: jam, pie, juice...

(picture from weheartit)

7. Handmade body butter and body bars, which we named Baby Beaver Body Butter after our fabulous encounter.

Recipes for pesto and body butter and balm coming up!  Stay tuned!

Hope you're enjoying the final days of summer!

on pause

Sorry for the blog silence.  This week has been filled with much needed quiet, as we have been coping with the loss of a dear loved one.  Thanks to all my lovely friends and family who have given nothing but love and kindness.

Not being much in the snap happy mood, I don't have much in the way of photos to share with you.  I will share however, some sweet photos sent to me by a friend who knew that the sight of my rapidly growing baby tomatoes would make me smile. 

When times are difficult, what cheers you up?

Hope springs eternal...

... for my deck garden, thanks to the kindness of a stranger.

I've been so proud of my meagre but hardy garden. This motley assortment of veggies and herbs have suffered wild winds and lack of sunshine.

Notice that pretty tomato in the right corner of the above photo (her name is Betty). Violent winds snapped her stem last night and Betty has not lived to tell the tale (see sad photo of her wilted corpse below).

I told our sad tale to a kind employee at our local garden centre. They did not have an exact replacement, as Betty was bought on sale for 99 cents. Our choice was limited to a tiny 5-inch plant or a solid flowering tomato that was more expensive than we were eager to pay. After hearing our story and taking pity on us, we were generously given this rugged and much more solid-looking beauty:

Her name is Penny, and isn't she gorgeous! Look that those sweet flowers, that will hopefully bear tasty fruit! Thank you stranger for this simple kindness and for renewing my hope for a bountiful garden.
There is so much goodness in the world and much to be thankful for. What small act of kindness have you recently given or received?