Remember.

There is something that has been troubling me lately. When we moved to New Brunswick a few months ago, we settled in Dieppe. As I called utility companies, financial institutions, etc to update my address, I would name the city, and then spell it out for the customer service agent. Ninety percent of the time, the agent would then read the address back to me and pronounce Dieppe, as "Dippy".

Most Canadians SHOULD be familiar with the name of Dieppe, maybe not as the name of a Canadian city, but as a name with historical significance in Canadian history. For those who don't know the small town of Dieppe, France was the setting for a major yet, largely unsuccessful Allied raid on German troops in 1942. The purpose of the raid on Dieppe was to give the Allies a chance to test techniques and equipment for landing troops from the sea. The Battle of Dieppe was, unequivocally, a disaster for the Canadian troops, resulting in over one thousand Canadian deaths. Another two thousand Canadians were wounded and/or taken prisoner. Two years later in 1944, however, the lessons learned from this debacle would lead to major Allied victories on D-Day, ultimately turning the tide toward complete Allied victory in 1945.

The fact that the raid was at the time unsuccessful is not the point here. The point is that over 3000 Canadians sacrificed themselves on that one day. Over the course of both World War I and World War II, a total of 109,980 Canadians lost their lives. Hundreds of thousands more were wounded or taken as prisoners. Of the millions who enlisted in the two world wars, and who endured situations and tribulations none should ever have to bear, I think it is safe to say that none ever again found personal peace. But from this, we today continue to live in peace in one of the greatest nations in the world.

One can not say what our country, our world, would be like without the sacrifice of these men and women. I think we would never want to know. Show respect to these men and women: learn a little about what they gave, what they achieved, and how you benefit as a direct result. The lost or fractured lives of one million men and women is not something to take for granted.

As these men and women pass on and finally find their own personal peace, the memory of their sacrifice is in danger of becoming lost forever. Today, and always, remember, but also respect what was done for you.

Rest in peace. Lest we forget. And most importantly - Thank You.



This photo was taken at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Courcelette, Belgium. The cemetery is near the town of Ypres.

I am Divine

I am extremely camera shy so there is little chance that you will get an opportunity to see a photo of me posted on this blog. I don't even like people looking at me in the real world. If they look too long, I think "Oh, I must have ink or something horrible on my face" and then wait anxiously for that person to turn to someone and say, "Hey, check out that girl with ink or something horrible on her face." So, yeah, neuroses prevent me from putting up a personal photo. Therefore, let me paint you a little verbal picture instead.

Sitting atop my head is a messy mop of shoulder-length-ish curly brown hair. On a good day it is a nest. On a bad day, birds can actually get trapped in this nest, and disappear in there only to re-emerge the following spring with hatchlings in tow. It is unruly, it can be wild, it defies me at every step. I have tried every conceivable magic potion - conditioners, de-frizzing cremes, curl boosters, smoothers, tamers, glossing agents, I could go on - all to no avail.
I have pale skin, that easily flushes crimson when warm, cold, exposed to the sun for more than 30 seconds, if embarrassed (often) or flustered (more often), if I have a sip of wine (not often enough) or if it just feels like it. My pale skin is dry, and despite my tender age it is starting to crease, and despite my advanced age will still mock me with a pimple.
I have a nervous, you might say endearing (but no its not endearing, it is neurotic), habit of chewing on my bottom lip. The result of this is that my lips are often dry in these harsh Canadian winters and there is a permanent front tooth impression in the centre of lower lip.
I spend a lot of time working with my hand, and though my mother used to tell me that my hands were one of my best features, she now plies me with hand cream and tut-tuts over the state of my cuticles.

There you have it. What a pretty picture! So with all that, is there any help to be found out there? As it turns out, yes, there is. The answer lies here.

Carmelsoaps is a fellow Etsy seller, based in Alberta, Canada. My first purchase from her was a trio of lipbalms.

Like any girl, I had always carried lipbalms with me, but unlike any girl, I rarely used them. These balms, however, are so darned tasty that I can't wait for it to wear off, so that I can re-apply. My favorite is the Lemon Cheesecake. The only problem, which isn't really a problem, is that they are made with such high quality ingredients, that they don't disappear fast enough. Since I started using Carmelsoap's lipbalms though I don't suffer through dry lips and I swear the permanent toothmark I mentioned has diminished in appearance.

My next purchase was a ButterCreme Body Creme. I have since also purchased the Vanilla Creme.

If you like to smell like cupcakes, and feel like the goddess of silk, if there is such a deity, this is the product for you. Within days my skin has become soft and smooth, and although my hands benefit from just the remnants left over after applications elsewhere, my cuticles are in much better shape.

Although this lotion is quite miraculous, I did give it a bit of a head start in tackling the dry skin issue by also indulging in one of the shower-candies.

The scent matched the vanilla creme of the lotion so I was a truly tantalizing treat. The shower-candy is a solid, salty, softening, scrubbing bar that sloughs away all your troubles and leaves glowing skin and a soft fragrance in its wake. It is wonderful for the bottom of tired, sore feet as well.

With skin on its way to full repair, there was still the issue of my hair to tackle. I needed to dislodge any trapped birds before their brief, migratory window of opportunity had passed. Luckily, Carmelsoaps had recently added a line of solid shampoo and conditioner bars to her shop.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have tried these from other places before to no avail. I was pretty confident that with the quality of products that I had previously received, I might have better luck. I also knew that there was a chance that they may join my archive of unused hair products. I ripped into them straight away because I could not believe the smell seeping out of the packaging. I chose the Lemon Drops scent. On its own, it is delicious. Use it on the same day as you use the Vanilla Creme body products, and you are a perfectly delectable match to the Lemon cheesecake lipbalm. See... always thinking, I am. Would it work though, in my hair. Happily, the answer is YES! My hair was so soft. And so CLEAN. You know that wonderful "Sqquuuueeeeaaakkk" you hear as you rinse and you know at that moment that your hair is really clean and free of residues - well I rejoiced in that sound. OK, shampoo - check. The real test was in the conditioner. This is where things can, and often do, go horribly wrong for me. I rubbed the bar across my head a few times. Good, it felt like there was product on there. I ran it through my hair with my fingers and tangles came free. My fingers slid through. Sakes alive. Could this be for real? I rinsed, and it rinsed out easily. I toweled dry, and was not immediately met with a new crop of tangles. I added minimal styling product and waited for my hair to air-dry - about an hour - and then went back and though one-partially opened eye, I checked the results in the mirror. I opened that eye fully, and then the other. Could it be... a head of shiny, happy, bouncy curls.

I beamed at myself in the mirror that day. Suddenly I was divine! I'm still not going to post a photo though, so you shall just have to take my word for it.

Bunny Love

Look what I found in fellow esty sellers Heart of a Cowgirl's shop:



This chubby-bummed, sweet little bunny is the cutest button closure that I have ever seen. Coupled with pale blue lace agate and bali silver, the simple style of the bracelet allows the bunny to be the real star of the show.

HeartofaCowgirl has so many other great items in her shop, including more jewelry featuring wonderful unique silver components and some great cowgirl insired leather accessories.



This quote from her shop profile sheds light on the inspirations for the items in her shop:
"I share my life with 4 horses, 2 goats, 2 dogs, 7 bunnies, 4 chickens, 6 desert tortoises and numerous pond goldfish."

Check out her blog as well to see more of her work, and to learn more about what inspires her.

Remember to check the incredible blog giveaway below. You could have a chance to win one of HeartofaCowgirl's incredible pieces.

Too Much Awesomeness!!

To win a pair of String Me Along hairsticks, check out this great giveaway hosted by The Tiny Fig. Just click on the great big picture of fun giveaway items to find entry details.

Cassis

Being a very practical girl, I keep those little mini bottles of champagne in my fridge for emergency moments. Last night before dinner I decided steal from the emergency kit, and treat myself to a Kir Royale. A drop of Creme de Cassis and the little bottle of champagne mixed into a flute, and voila, the perfect pre-dinner apertif.

Or so one would think. Does Creme de Cassis have an expiration date? It was horrible. Instead of the pretty pinkish colour that the drink should have turned, it was more a ginger-ale golden brown. Since it did not look appetizing, I naturally decided to taste it. Hard to believe, but it did not taste appetizing either. Just another episode in the week of disappointments. This one was easier to get over though, as all I had to do was reach into the fridge and grab a bottle of Stella instead.

So with dreams of Cassis quashed, I created this etsy treasury, which today made it (very briefly) to the Front Page.

Disappointment

A little over a month ago my husband and I purchased our first house. We were beside ourselves with excitement, and during the last month certain elements of our regular life, like blogging, crafting etc, got put on hold. Sadly, last week when the house was meant to close, the deal fell apart for various reasons. It was disheartening and sad, but we have decided that all things considered it was for the best.

Moving on, the few boxes that I had packed, are now unpacked, and I am able to once again resume normal life. On a happier note, that means that I will be able to actually get to my beads and supplies without crawling over a stack of boxes. Therefore, keep an eye on my etsy shop as new items will be appearing each day.

I also did have a bit of good news. A craft show that I was late applying to, had a cancellation and they contacted me last week to see if I was still available. Yes. So, next weekend I will be at the Sackville Curling Club's 3rd Annual Craft Show and Dessert cafe, in Sackville, NB. I haven't done a craft show since last Christmas so I am very excited about this one.

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming.

Dripping

I have a new earring series in my etsy shop. Let me introduce you to ... "Dripping".

"Dripping" puts sole focus on the beauty of the beads used. I have a passion for Czech firepolished glass faceted donut beads. There's a mouthful! The beads are superior quality with wonderfully even facets, and a stunning array of colours and sizes. The variety is staggering and I get excited every time I see a new offering.

The Dripping series involves a carefully selected trio of complementary colours that are simply wire wrapped and suspended one below the other to create a (dripping) cascade of beads.

Here are the three that I have listed to date on etsy.
From left to right:
Dripping: Rainforest; Dripping: Rainbow; Dripping: Tree Trunk (sold)

Etsy Front Page

For those who don't know, the main focus of the front page of etsy is a collection of twelve carefully selected and curated items. Typically, these items are chosen by a member (either a buyer or seller) and assembled into a "treasury". It is from the treasuries that etsy admin chooses the list that graces the front page.
Sometime in the wee hours of this morning, my most recent treasury list was chosen for the front page. I, unfortunately, happened to sleep through it, but nonetheless, I was very excited to learn this morning that it happened.
Here is a copy of the treasury that I curated:



I was especially happy that my treasury was chosen as it featured two of my favorite etsy sellers, fellow Canadians, sixthandelm and wittyworkshop.

The Addiction Deepens

There is no secret that I have an addiction to both beads and handmade goodies. When, however I discovered the proliferation of handmade beads and findings on etsy, the addictions collided, creating one addiction super-nova.

I have one bead-maker in particular that I have been stalking mercilessly for close to a year, gillianbeads. Her beads are beautiful, stunning, radiant even. So wonderful are they that I had hoarded a neat little stash of them, unable to part company with the beauties. But as my bead holder runneth over, it was time to put them to use.

Here are some examples of her beads in action, made into String Me Along originals:

Migrations

It is that time of year. With a temperature of only 6 degrees this morning when I awoke, its quite evident that autumn is swiftly and surely muscling summer out of the way.
Another one of my favorite things about this time of year is watching the migrating birds, converging into their convoys, and with a chippering frenzy, preparing for the long trip south. I marvel that year after year these migrations occur on little more than instinct, whereas I with map, GPS and roadsigns still manage to get lost on a straight road.
Fly safe avian friends, and I await your return in the spring. In homage to you....

Raining Cats and... Ducks?

The rain is falling here. Really, really falling!! The remnants of Hurricane Hannah have settled over New Brunswick and overnight several millimetres of rain saturated the area. When I woke this morning over thirty ducks had gathered at the side of my building where the water has turned the lawn into a verdant marshland.

Knowing that the rains were coming and that I was facing rain for the next ten days or so, as Hannah is to be followed closely by Ike and then Josephine, I did what any level-headed catastrophist would do and I brought in the necessary provisions. Luckily, yesterday was a market day so I was able to stock up on good cheeses, seafood and fresh produce. The result - a deliciously rich dinner of seafood lasagna, followed by an autumnal dessert of apple crisp.



And as beach trips or other outdoor excursions are not likely to be in the schedule for the next several days, I needed to prepare myself for a week of indoor activities. Naturally, this led to an exploratory excursion to a local artisan wool shop - London-Wul. Discovering this shop is certainly not going to do anything for a wool habit that is teetering on the perilous edge of full-blown addiction. The shop is dangerously near to my home, through a quick and pretty, rural drive. Upon arrival the delights that await you are better than any candy store. On-site is a natural dye garden, a dying studio, and many of the wools are spun on site as well. The colours, the textures, oh, the soft squooshiness of it all! I treated myself to two exquisitely coloured bags of roving. I plan to spend the rainy days ahead felting a multitude of beads.



(PS... I don't mean to make light of the seriousness of hurricanes. For those who live in the path of destructive hurricanes - past, present or future - I wish you safety and peace of mind.)

OverHaulin' Sale

It took a long time and was a very tedious process, but finally, FINALLY, my ETSY shop overhaul is complete. Photos have been reshot, edited and uploaded (approximately 850 photos in total were taken!!); some items have been repriced (lower prices, that is!); and some of my older items which no longer seemd to fit have been removed. removing items was the hardest thing to do and I chewed over the idea for quite some time before deciding it was the best course of action.
So with a sigh of relief, and with a whoop of excitement for the future of my shop, I am announcing that starting at midnight (Atlantic Standard Time) Friday, September 5th I will be having a BOGO sale. Buy one item at regular price and the second item - of equal or lesser value - will be half price.
New items are currently being listed everyday, and the holiday season is creeping ever closer so it is a great time to shop at String Me Along.

Cozy

One day I asked my sister to go into my bag and grab my wallet. She opened my bag, looked in, looked back up at me imploringly, and cried, "Which one is it?". Sigh, is it that hard. Obviously it is the empty looking one!!

I guess to the uninitiated, it could be daunting to find the correct cute accessory within my monster bag. After all, there is the apples and pears fabric chequebook cover that I purchased on etsy from blissbyheather; there is the catch all wallet that come from the One of a Kind show in Toronto; a business card holder from rikrak, plus on any given day a digital camera, an ipod, sunglasses and various other items which demand their own protective (and stylish) covering.

One thing though that I was seriously lacking was a lip balm cozy. How could I have missed out on this essential accessory? I always end up tossing away lip balms before they are finished because I get disgusted by the grottiness that results from having them rolling around in the bottom of my bag. This lip balm cozy therefore will not only look good, while providing me with smooth, kissable lips, but it will save me money in the long run by reducing my overall lip balm expenditures.

Add to this the fact, that this lip balm cozy is benefiting a worthy cause. Etsy pal loopy4ewe is fundraising as an attempt to earn the funds needed to participate in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer in June 2009. As part of her fundraising scheme she has created this sweet little lip balm cozies.



It is made of the softest pink cotton and it has the most fantastic little closure. The teeny breast cancer ribbon buttons were supplied by another extraordinary etsy seller, gillianbeads.

To prevent my lip balm from rolling around in the bottom of my icky bag (I could clean the bag, I guess?) the cozy comes with a convenient key ring. I can never lose my lip balms now... unless I lose my keys and let us not even consider that possibility, thank you.

Here it is again, complete with lip balm. One final shout out here, for carmelsoaps who makes some very drool-worthy lipbalms. This one is cinnamint and you can see it is a little dirty... darn bag... but I couldn't find my nice fresh clean one, probably due to the fact that it does not yet have its very one easily accessible cozy!



ps... carmelsoaps Lemon Cheesecake lip balm is delish!

Return to Summer

A mere few days ago I was singing the praises of autumn. Today, however I feel the need to backpedal a bit. Summer has returned to Eastern Canada, and brought with it many, many enticing morsels.



I thought I would post a few quick and easy dishes which, in my humble opinion are perfect for enjoying the best of the season. Both of these dishes are perfect for those meat-free days which we should all try to fit at least once into our weekly meal schedule.

First, zucchini rosti. This is one of my summer favorites, and very simple to prepare.
First, grate one medium zucchini. This will serve person one as a hearty main dish, or two as a side dish. Let the grated zucchini drain in a sieve over a bowl, ideally adding weight to the top to squeeze out the excess juices. (I used a small plate with a jar of pasta sauce on top; to finish I squeezed by hand.)
Add 1/3 cup bread crumbs, and 1 egg. Mix together until combined. Season with sea-salt and freshly ground pepper. You may choose to add herbs if you wish, though I reserved mine for the sauce that I made to top the rosti.
Heat about 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. When hot, place the mix in the pan and shape into a flat round. You can complete the cooking on the stovetop, or put it into a 375 degree oven. Either way, you will want to flip it once, to get the top and bottom equally crispy. You can also finish it off in the broiler to make it extra crisp.
For the sauce I mixed 1/2 cup Balkan style plain yogurt, with 1 tbsp mayonnaise. Add fresh herbs of your choice. I used tarragon. It was delicious.



Another summer time favorite is a simple tomato tart. This is a super-fast dish, and is perfect for a light dinner or lunch. I have also served it as small individual squares as part a bridal shower buffet.
You will need one square of puff-pastry, thawed in the fridge. If you can get the pastry in sheet form, that is easiest. If you can only find blocks, roll it out to approximately 10x10 inches. Place it on a parchment paper lined sheet pan.
Next, brush with an egg wash, and prick the pastry several times at regular intervals with a fork. Place it in a pre-heated oven (follow package instructions), until it is browned and puffed. Now, remove it from the oven and let the pastry fall until it is even and has no irregular lumps and bumps. Pre-baking the pastry helps keep it crisp and flaky.
In the meantime, slice enough tomatoes to completely cover the top of the tart. I used 2 medium vine tomatoes. Chop some herbs to scatter on top. Choose your favorite. Tonight, I used a mix of basil and tarragon.
Layer the tomatoes on the now fallen pastry, scatter on your herbs, and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. You may also decide to add some cheese. Tonight, I added a wonderfully creamy, triple-cream brie. It is also wonderful with goat's cheese or feta.
Place the tart back in the oven until tomatoes are wilted and warmed, and the cheese is melted.
There are so many variations to this tart. Apart from a gamut of herbs and cheeses with which to experiment, there is now also a wonderful variety of heirloom tomatoes available. You can add your own additions as well, such as olives, or pine nuts.



Enjoy. Bon Apetit.