March 31 - April 6, 2013

What a beautiful weekend Easter was. I took my bike downtown for a tune-up, what a great bike shop that is. Now, I just have to attach my wicker basket and I'm ready to roll. You've been warned. 
I'm rotten at phonetics, always have been, always will be. As I was a-lying in bed a-reading I realized I wrote "sniffle" in my last posting, which to me at the time "sounded" correct. I wasn't meaning the result of sobbing but I was meaning "to steal, to purloin". So today I was going to correct it with "sniffel" but my husband explained why that's not correct either. So on his advice, I will spell the word "snifle", which rhymes with Eiffel. Enough of the blather - here's the next 7.

I like it when Easter is early and the weather is unpredictable. People were dressed in a variety of ways - from shorts and t-shirts to winter coats, hats and boots - all on the same day. I find amusement in it. I also remember Easter Sunday as a kid. There we all are in the photos to mark the occasion with our Easter bonnets and coats. Sometimes with big smiles and sometimes huddling together for warmth. I don't know why but I thought this palm tree was appropriate for the day.

Another metal exotic bird pin. It has Japan printed along the bottom. Never having been to Japan maybe they are as common as our ubiquitous   English Sparrow.

This dinosaur is actually 4 times larger than the bird pin above. It has a wonderfully spongy interior so it has some play value which I enjoy. Surprisingly I get few comments on this brooch. I like it muchly.

I bought this brooch for my Mom from a shop in The Colonnade in Toronto many moons ago.  The Colonnade had a spiral staircase in front of it, which was an unusual feature, and maybe that's why I remember it (hopefully correctly). This brooch is a funky mosaic of flowers and bits of green glass or stone. I was trying for a more restrained brooch for her.

I saw a wonderful show on David Suzuki about the beaver and how important they are to the environment. Hooray! And I was liking them because they're as cute as can be (even if they're called a rodent). This is another one of my tourist store brooches with Canada

imprinted on the back. It's a very teeny leather brooch.

Not really sure what this pewter duck is. Perused the duck section of my Peterson Field Guide - Bufflehead? Goldeneye? Chubby Cheeked? Upswept Do? Your guess is as good as mine.

I was given this lion because I was mistaken for a Leo. I happily kept it anyway. The silver and abalone combination is lovely and the lion is in full stride - hopefully running to greet his friends rather than shopping for dins.