snickerdoodles

a taste of country life...

 

Although this looks like one of those cheesy portrait studio backdrops, let me assure you it's real. 

A friend has a lovely property and home right at the base of Mount Currie in Pemberton and this is their view.  It's actually even more dramatic but the lens I was using softened out the background.  The boys were in heaven.  It made us all so excited to get to Birch Hill, which is going to be our little piece of 'living in the country' pie.

 

I was in my glory to be back on a horse again.  Julie has the most gentle, beautiful horse and we all had a little ride.   Keeping my fingers crossed for a nearby neighbour in Lavington who might have a horse they need help with in exchange for some riding time. 

 

A new puppie named "Grace" was part of the Schaffer family.  Puppy play time was Ryan's favorite part.

 

Look at those puppy eyes...I am in love.  Luckily Rufus is the perfect mop/dog part of our family now, or I might have been tempted to buy one of Grace's sisters or brothers. 

Sending thanks to Julie and her lovely boys.  Tucked under the big shady tree, sitting at the picnic table, eating and laughing together gave me a huge sense of peace about our decision to move from town. 

Simple country life promises great bliss.

Felt Fantasia...

   

 Snickerdoodles is thrilled to introduce Felt Fantasia as a sponsor.  Not only it is a unique, creative collection, everything is made locally in British Columbia.   All of the fantasy felt designs created by Felt Fantasia are made from the highest quality felt and are perfect for giving a room a customized look.

Kiddos grow up fast as I love that Felt Fantasia allows you to easily change decor as you kid's taste change.  They are made to last and can be passed on when you are ready to alter your theme.

 

These modern Pear sets are adorable and perfect for babes of either sex. 

What little girl doesn't want a bubble gum pink tree?  It's adorable.

 

These Double Birch trees would be super in Ryan's new room at Birch Hill...

 

These soft wall hangings remind me of the cotton ones that were popular when I was young.  I used to swoon over a friend's puffy pastel balloons and her frilly yellow canopy bed. Remeber the primary coloured clowns that were common?

 It's funny how the things in your room when you are young really stay with you.  I like that. 

To see the endless design possibilities available from Felt Fantasia click on the link with the cute monkey on my sidebar and your computer will shimmy over to their webpage. 

 Elizabeth also provided Snickerdoodle readers a coupon code for free shipping! 

Simply enter the coupon code 012009 at checkout, yippee!

Happy Decorating!

these days...

These days have been filled with fitting it all in...

slip and slide fests in the yard

cleaning out the garage

long days at the beach

food and fun with friends

sorting toys, clothing, schedules

filling work orders

cuddling in the hammock

fretting over Birch Hill

saying goodbye way more than I'd like.

Dear friends, Hilarie and Grant who own Whistler Cooks catering hosted us a dinner beyond words.  Perhaps these photos will give you a wee glimpse into their wonderfulness...

 

 

 

 

 

Taking it all in trying not to think about saying farewell to so many beloved friends here.   Thank-you from the bottom of my heart to Grant and my forever friend Hilarie who went above and beyond as usual.  Gathering together all the best folks in Whistler with such grace was not an easy feat and we appreciate all your efforts.

 

a quick Canada day treat...

   Happy Canada Day to all! 

We enjoyed the festivities in Pemberton and it was a beautiful day.  Nothing is better than a good ole country parade with llamas and goats in costumes!

  Last week at  our first going away party and a good friend Kim brought these terribly tasty little treats.  She sent on the recipe and they are the perfect thing to whip up for a get-together.

 

They look good here but once you dig in they are way more exciting...

 

They were filled with a yummy cheesecake surprise with chocolate chips!

Everyone who ate one went back for at least one more...these cupcakes are addictive.

Kim's Cream Cheese Cupcakes

 

1 chocolate cake mix

 

1 8oz cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

Dash of Salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips

 

Prepare cake mix according to package directions.  (Experiment with different kinds of chocolate cake mixes, I usually use chocolate fudge but it really doesn't matter)

 

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar till fluffy.  Beat in egg and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips. 

 

Spoon cake batter into muffin cups, about 1/2-3/4 full. Then spoon a tsp of the cream cheese mixture ontop.  Make sure the filling is evenly distributed and used up before you put the yummies in the oven.  Bake at 350 for 20 min. 

 

Thanks Kim!  I'm off to start making our treats to bring to a Canada Day BBQ party.   Spinach and artichoke dip and decadently fattening ole fashioned garlic bread on fresh white bread I bought at the bakery in Pembie. 

TOMS benefit the greater good...

   TOMS Shoes are the perfect summer slip on.  It's a wonderful company on a mission to give shoes to kids in need all over the world.  For every pair TOMS sells they donate a pair to a child, it's wonderful.  Last year they donated 180. 000 pairs and this year's goal is 300,000 pairs! 

TOMS makes shoes for everyone in the family. How perfect would they be for inside shoes at school or instead of slippers at home?

 

These red ones would be so cute with a pair of boyfriend jeans and a blouse.

I like this style for hubbie...

( to see all the styles and fabrics take the link on the left )

Why shoes?

Most children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or just getting around, these children are at risk.

Walking is often the primary mode of transportation in developing countries. Children can walk for miles to get food, water, shelter and medical help. Wearing shoes literally enables them to walk distances that aren't possible barefoot.

Wearing shoes prevents feet from getting cuts and sores on unsafe roads and from contaminated soil. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected. The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. Wearing shoes can prevent this and the risk of amputation.

Many times children can't attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don't have shoes, they don't go to school. If they don't receive an education, they don't have the opportunity to realize their potential.

There is one simple solution...SHOES.

Of the planet's six billion people, four billion live in conditions inconceivable to many. Lets take a step towards a better tomorrow.  (from the Tom's web page)

Snickerdoodles is fully supportive of the TOMS mission so we added them to our Sponsors sidebar on the left.  Any purchases made via Snicks will also have the commissions donated to World Vision.  We donate all our sponsor commissions so every purchase you make from our page also does a bit of good for someone in need.  Shopping is so much more fun when it does double duty.

Happy Day friends!

stagette-a-mania...

   Wedding season is here,

Brides to be everywhere are celebrating their final days solo, one local Whistler bar actually had 17 separate Stagette reservations this past weekend. (not hard to guess which one if you live here)

I had the great privilege of celebrating with my little sister and her wonderful friends at her own Stagette.    We headed to Vancouver and had an extremely entertaining night of adventures together.  

It all started at a hotel where my sis managed to sabre a champagne bottle with a butter knife (surprisingly no one woke up with glass splinters in their butt this morning!) and we all had sparkling wine toasts while munching the very realistic penis-shaped pate appetizer on crackers. 

The off to the Pole Dance Studio  penthouse for some challenging pole and lap dancing lessons.

 

Accessories are a must when doing erotic dancing.  Janey and I started out quite mellow with our choices. 

 

I got a little sassier as we got comfortable.   A poufy wig does wonders for your ego...even when you screw up and have the bangs on the side of your head as I seem to have managed somehow!

 

My sister was quite a bit more creative with her costuming choices.  Her amazing physical fitness also made her quite a natural at all the moves as you can see.

Luckily they had a very sexy male there for us to practice our lap dancing on...

 

After our lessons we headed to Rodney's Oyster House for a yummy dinner and huge amounts of beverages.  A new find is Vincent Van Gough Espresso Vodka, it was delicious.  It would be wonderful on the rocks to sip after dinner.

Then we headed out for our final stop, a karaoke club.    When we got out of the cab it wasn't clear where to go.  I slipped in a building for directions...the bride to be started singing full blast thinking we had arrived and we raised a lot of eyebrows at the Shangri La!

Our destination wasn't far, it was called Fantacity and when we went down the stairs it was like we went to another world.  We had a private room and it was hilarious.  Everything was in Japanese, even Bon Jovi was a pretty Japanese man on the video footage.  We rocked out, beer was flying everywhere  (glad I don't like beer because I think that saved me) and there was tons of laughing and air guitar.  Most of us left with very strained voices.

On the way back to the hotel we ate terrible stinky falafels and got lots of strange looks for the tighty whitey mens gotch we were wearing over our jeans. 

It was all a whack of fun but I must say the party life is exhausting, but it was worth it to celebrate my sis!

anything is possible...

Whoo hoo Susan...you can't help but be inspired by this snazzy print.

 

Illustrator Susan Black, who lives in a Nova Scotia seaside village, sells prints and originals of her typographic paintings on Etsy, like the lovely Anything and Everything.  Sadly, I think this particular piece has sold but there are lots of other fun options for excellent prices.

Being a Momma to only boys is not quite as fun sometimes when it comes to decorating...

BUT how fabulous would this be for a boys room of any age.  Love the colours, the newsprint and the fanatastic fonts.

 

I finally added a few new pieces to my ETSY page as well...disregard the shipping prices, I send everything via Canada Post at the lowest rate possible.  Find me at  Snickerdoodle Life .  I'll also be clearing out my studio soon for the move so let me know if you want some glassware and I will gladly sell off some finished works for wholesale. 

 

 

 

 

Corn is Corny...

 

Wiggly teeth, missing teeth, sensitive teeth...they all make chomping corn on the cob rather tricky.  Nothing is better than  hot buttery fresh  corn on the cob, but sometimes it's also nice to serve it off the cob too.

Meet the Corn Zipper...

This nifty tool can be found at Delight and probably through your local kitchen store.  Kitchen gadgets are an irresistable treasure for me and I have yet to see this one in a shop but perhaps I dismissed it as a common peeler.

Here is what it said on Delight:

 The Corn Zipper "unzips" kernels from the cob! This unique tool removes rows of kernels at once and lands them neatly in a bowl. Delightful! Perfect for everything from corn chowder to corn cakes! Dishwasher safe; length: 6"

 

The price is $13.50.  What a great little summer BBQ hostess gift.  Tie it onto a bottle of wine and you are ready to go!

 

As my Dad always used to say: "Corn is Corny!"  

 

Happy Weekend friends.

gratitude is the heart's memory...

 "Gratitude is the heart's memory."

-French Proverb

   As photographs documenting the past few days download into my computer I give thanks... 

I give thanks to a teacher who goes above and beyond the expectations.

A tireless woman who makes each student a memory book of their entire school year.  She snaps individual photos of each child at every school event.   It's all in the book for parents and the student to treasure over the years.  (there is even a year end slide show DVD tucked in)

 

 

Both my boys have had the gift of being taught by Sandra Epplett and they will remember her always. Yes,  she gives them candy and assigns homework that is sometimes hard to keep up with...and you wouldn't dare make her angry because apparently a  mean little witch comes out of her shoe,

BUT...she somehow manages to keep twenty squirmy six year olds in order, and teaches them skills that will set them up for life.  Tying shoelaces, telling time, math reading and writing.  They have come so far and have so much pride in their new skills, it's absolutely amazing.  Just the idea of it makes me anxious, I would not have the energy or patience for such a huge feat. 

Mrs Epplett, you are a shining star of a teacher and always have a special place in our family memories. 

I give thanks to the parents and students and other staff at Spring Creek that work so hard to make it a lovely place for our kiddos to be. 

I give thanks for the extra efforts to teach the gifts of character program, offer music and art and daily fitness.  For the Mom's who organize weekly sushi days, and fresh fruit and veggies.  For a Sports Day with Olympic athletes, the official mascots!  What a gift you give to our families and our community.

I give thanks to Tracey and her sweetie Hailey who organized this class going away gift for Liam...

 

  

Liam was touched and has been very pensive about this whole saying "goodbye thing" over the past couple of days.  When we got home today we had a little group hug and I asked the boys how they were feeling about leaving Spring Creek. 

Noah sighed and said: "Moving is mixed up, it's a really good thing but it's really hard." 

Liam added: "Yeah, really hard." 

My teary eyes answered for me but I quickly gave them a smile and said it's all going to be just fine. 

We are so grateful and our hearts are filled with fond memories of school life here.

Hooray for summer holidays and for lazy mornings at home together.   For all the readers who don't have school age children you can sigh with relief now...Snickerdoodles will be back on track starting tomorrow. 

so touched...

   Just before I left to spend the day at school with the boys I received this email from a reader and it made me so happy.  Day after day I write, I adore it, the journey is enlightening.  Hearing from others that they are also enjoying Snickerdoodles deeply touches my heart.  Cindy wrote:

Hi Kerry,

I just had to tell you how much a part of my family you have been these last few days.  I've been tearing apart my bedroom/craft/storage closet for the past two days and one of the enjoyable parts of doing this has been the time I've had your blog pulled up on my lap top as I listened on and on to your music playlist.  Your choices make me smile and make my daunting task seem a little less miserable!!!  My 6 yr. old peeked her head in several times last night to tell me the music was beautiful, too.

 

When my 10 yr. old came inside our room to inquire as to what kind of explosion had hit her parents room, she was immediately drawn into your music list and blog.  My Emma has always had an interest in home design so I took a break and began to show her the photos of Birch Hill.  When I went back to my sorting she continued to search through your posts and oohed and ahhed over your light fixtures and others entries.  She asked me when she woke up this morning if I would alert her to further posts.

 

And finally, she and I cried together when she reached the entries about your sweet Barley.  Like her mama, Emma is connected to her pets in ways others can't quite understand.  Your final days with Barley brought back our good-byes over the last two years with our older dogs.  They were good cries because they allowed us to remember our sweet family buddies together.  The tears are welling up again so I shall sign off.  I'm off to listen to your music list again......and sort some more boxes.

 

Thank you!!

Cindy in Indiana

Writing Snicks is a pleasure, I feel so honored that you visit.  I am always grateful for feedback of any sort, it motivates me to grow as a writer, Momma and a bliss follower.

Last night I had a light bulb moment.  You know how folks say your intuition sometimes gives you a little nudge on life directions/changes to make...last night my intuition whooped my ass.

The more I cut back on work and open my schedule to unobstructed Motherhood the more I realize I regret the time I have given away in the past to growing my glass and book businesses.  This year of cutting back on spending to save for the house has not been that hard.  Soon we'll be in Birch Hill and I will keep living frugally.  Spending less saves me from having to work more...opening up more and more time to just be.  In that time I feel confident that I will find my passions.  Next year one of my goals is to spend more time at school with the boys, it makes them so happy. 

Childhood is such a short period of time,  I have regrets about some of my past choices but now it all seems so clear. 

Off to puppy training in the pouring rain, gross.  Looking forward to a hot bath and finally watching Slumdog Millionaire when I get back.

thank-you Cindy, you made my day!

kerry