August 11 - August 17, 2013

I have to admit I covet my neighbours' Butterfly Bush. We have planted it in a few places in our garden over the years only to see them struggle and then disappear. They have a huge bush covered in blossoms and therefore butterflies and moths and bees. My favourite "critter" that frequents it is the Sphinx Moth (or also known as the Hummingbird Moth). If you don't have a Butterfly Bush, befriend a neighbour who does, it is a wonder to behold, and a hive of glorious activity.

This is the last of the little painted kitty brooches that I collected years ago. 
Calico cats are known to be crazed - we can attest to that - wonderfully crazed. Our Ivy was a tri-coloured bundle of leaps and flips, zooms, and love.

Mary was a firecracker, full of energy, ideas and creativity. There are those who wander into your life and leave an indelible mark as they pass through and your life is that much fuller because of it. Such was Mary. She made this brooch for me in 1990. I don't know whether it's a nickel or a quarter that she cut the Queen's head from but it made me laugh. I'm wearing this on Mary's birth day in remembrance. Da Goils miss you Mary!

I love getting surprise brooches and such is this one. I do so love frogs and toads.

I don't recall whether I sent away for this or whether I found it in my cereal box. My favourite cereal when I was a kid was Post's Grape-Nuts Flakes and I watched Roy Rogers with Trigger on our little B&W T.V. So this pin was perfect for the kid.This is from 1958. It is strange what one keeps from your childhood and what gets tossed. I love this pin.

A delicate pin, given to me likely because I like my tea. Earl Grey is my fave.

This was part of a necklace that I was given but wasn't wearing. I took it apart and voila, a new brooch. I like the beads on leather, think of the possibilities.

Isn't this a pretty brooch. Twinkly and shiny and lots of colour.

August 4 - August 10, 2013

Although I've loved this cooler somewhat cloudier summer, my Morning Glories haven't. Every day I search the arbour for those swirled flower cones, poised on the brink of blooming,  but none to be seen - lots of  heart shaped leaves though. These Morning Glory seeds hale from my old neighbourhood alleyway in Toronto off Roncesvalles. When we moved we brought them with us, and I've been harvesting the seeds and planting them for 22 years. I'm hoping for many more years of these small, dark, white-throated blossoms. I'm rooting for them. Come on, bloom, pretty pretty please!

Don't know if Macbeth Colour charts are used anymore for colour printing photographs - not likely. I used to print custom colour photographs and the occasional Black and White. Someone, back in my old workplace BGM days, made this. Wish I also had a Kodak "Shirley" pin.

A brooch that has seen better days, but I like the flowing upward design and that little bit of twinkly flowers. I'm a sucker for a little bit of twink.

I love paying 50 cents for a brooch. A friend thought the centre image had fallen out of the disc. I see a modification coming. The brain cogs are in motion.

Num, num, num. Doesn't this look like a delish slice of pie. Ate a wonderful strawberry rhubarb piece of pie - I had been waiting to wear this brooch as it's a favourite so the time was now ripe. By the way, this pin was made in 1978 but the artist's name is partially obscured by the pin back.

I love elephants. This one looks a bit demented with those googly eyes but I like how the elephant is walking out to greet you. Do you shake an elephant leg in greeting or its trunk? - what a social dilemma.

Toulon brooch number 4. I bought them all at the same place but in different years. I guess I was the only admirer of these lovely maritime tourist brooches. I will have to go to France and look for Toulon (and croissant, and wine, and cafe, and brioche, and cheese, and berets, and .........).

This little owl with the huge feet looks like he's stretching up to take a good boo at you. The detailing continues on the back - I like that.

July 28 - August 3, 2013

This is the second posting today.

A most unusual thing has occurred, I haven't a thing to say other than I am shocked that it's already August. 

The next 7.

I'm a bird watcher - I hear the stifled yawns. I love to watch the swallows and chimney swifts swirling and diving overhead and it's a sad day when I realize that they have already headed south. So look up and enjoy these beautiful birds while they're still in the warm sky. I just wish they would eat Japanese Beetles (those dratted shrub/flower/vine-devouring pests). And by the way, isn't this a pretty brooch.

I didn't go to Vancouver Expo '86, but someone did and brought this back for me. No doubt it was a fab time, especially with a backdrop of ocean and mountains.

Funky purse brooch - too bad it can't hold my wallet and other purse paraphernalia. I love wool felt and have used it for various things. I can't remember which long ago member of Kindred Spirits made this, but I'm glad she did.

A friend received a bag of jewellery which contained some brooches, rings etc. Some of the brooches were hunky dory and some very much not. I love cats, angels are a good thing to have on your side, but there is a limit. I accepted this one as the last of these. The other winged kitty gets moved around the office/dept and pops up in unsuspected spots.

Yes these are jelly beans, shellacked ones. When I was a young woman, I was walking up the subway stairs when a man stopped me to say that I had candy stuck to my top. I laughed merrily and told him that they're brooches. He likely thought I was a looper.

Love that Lenny! He can bring in my groceries anytime. I don't have a "bucket" list but I do have a "not very likely" list. I would love to be one of his back-up singers on an European Tour. OK, I really should rename that list the "dream on" list.

I have now lost count of how many pins I bought in the London Underground kiosk back in the eighties. 

July 21 - July 27, 2013

This is the first of 2 postings today. 
The 21st was the last day of Le Tour de France - it was a wonderful 21 days of cycling with the final stage of racing ending on the Champs Elysees in Paris. I'd record it and then see it at night, with my favourite cycling commentators Paul and Phil who I've been watching/listening to for many years. I love it! The fans standing along the road on the mountain stages are getting odder each year. More and more people are wearing costumes - superheroes, nuns, devils, various funny animals and for some bizarre reason, there were a lot of men wearing tutus. Yikers!
Voila, les prochain sept broches !

For the last day of Le Tour de France I wore my yellow <<Tour>
 t-shirt. I thought this pin was appropriate not only because it was yellow but also you sometimes have to be sneaky and clever to win a stage of this race.

I made this brooch from my pencil ends from work (I'm a proofreader). For over 20 years a group of friends (we call ourselves 
Da Goils) get together and have a summer picnic. A contest is held each year with a theme. We've made banners, shoes, t-shirts, rings, fascinators, miniatures, big hair-dos, bras........and this year it was brooches. Next year it's sock monkeys.

This brooch creeps me out. It looks like a piece of material was podged on the eggshell - yes, I said eggshell and the sparkly glitter has not helped it one iota.

I have a collection of small Paris tourist brooches that have dangly bits (you will see them in a later posting). A friend couldn't find the little ones but brought me home this substantial one. I love tourist brooches.

An old pin, a bit bedraggled, but lovely nevertheless. The only problem is that I can't decide which way is up. The more I look at it the more I think it might be a sidelong brooch. Wish  I could find a little "diamond" to replace the lost one.

The bee is the symbol for a small rug hooking group that I'm part of. It's an inside joke. The group of us had a rug hooking weekend at a friend's home on the sandy shoreline of Long Point, hence this brooch for the day.

This is a miniature rug hook. Hooks vary in size and shape. We all have our favourites that fit perfectly into the palm of your hand, move easily through the backing, or are just beautiful. The best hook is all three. 

July 14 - July 20, 2013

This is my 2nd blog for this weekend as an attempt to catch up. 
Got off the plane at the Hamilton airport to find Hot Hot Hot weather - quite a change from the low 20s Alberta. At least, the heat gave me an excuse to finish my vacation by sitting on the porch, catching the breezes and reading a book.  Here's more brooches.

When I was a kid, my Mom would cut buttons off our old clothing and put them in the button jar to reuse when needed. Nowadays, if it's clothing that has gone from wearable, to gardening or to painting attire, and sometimes then to rags, I cut the buttons off and yes, put them in a button jar (tin in my case) before they get tossed. And I do have a collection of old buttons too. I was thrilled when I saw this button brooch.

I still remember the CGIT pledge and a bit of the song. Any requests?

I like these pop can brooches and the bendy appendages. My young'un got it for me from Ten Thousand Villages in Toronto.

A friend of mine is a very talented fibre artist. Not only does she make beautiful brooches like this but also wonderful felted "paintings". Check out woolscapes.com for a boo at Jenn's work.

When I was given this brooch I wasn't sure what it was and even though I've been told what it is - the frog legs give it away - the head still looks like whiskers with eyes - scary!

The last of my little tin bird brooches. They weigh next to nothing and are perfect to put on those light summer tops.

I've seen the Eiffel Tower lit up and twinkling. If you rock this brooch back and forth it twinkles back at you.

July 7 - July 13, 2013

Thinking back to this week, I was getting revved up for a toot to Alberta. Rise and shine at 3:45 am to catch a flight at 7:00 on the Friday morn - Yikers.
Here's the  next 7. I am going to try, this long weekend, to do a few more blogs as an attempt to catch up, so this is blog#1.

I bought this at the Toronto Zoo the first time the Pandas came for a visit. We stared at them, they slept. They have come back for a second visit to Toronto - say hi for me, that is if they're up and about.

This teeny brooch reminds me of that little girl on the old Morton Salt containers - "When it rains, it pours."  I bought this brooch at the original funky store called Morningstar in Toronto. The store is long long gone.

Songs frequently pop up in my head and I can't get rid of them. The worst things about that is it's either a crappy song that is best forgotten or a wonderful song but I can only remember the chorus. A friend knows of this "malady" of mine and hence the appropriate gift of this musical note? 

I never tire of Le Tour d'Eiffel. Another one of my odd homemade brooches.

People tear this lovely plant out of their gardens. I always keep a few of them dotted around the front gardens. Call it what you like - Queen Anne's Lace, Wild Carrot, Bird's Nest - it ain't no weed to me. I waited til the plants were in bloom before wearing this brooch. The flowers are etched into the porcelain, and the "drawing" captures that airyness which I like so much about the plant.

Tower Bridge in London England. I wore this getting on the plane. It was approved by airport security as it was a small pin. I guess they thought that if I went into a frenzy on the plane I couldn't impale anyone with it. They haven't seen me blurry eyed in the morning trying to put on a brooch.

I wore this to my family do in Red Deer, Alberta. I'm a non boeuf eater and they kindly had poulet pour moi - tres nummy. And I like tofu, honest! Except in dessert - don't fool around with my dessert. And by the way, Red Deer is a lovely city, very green and treed and brimming with friendly folk.