hoping for spring

phew! the last few weeks have been a bit busy. and i thought January was crazy...

i had agreed to either volunteer or set up meetings for last week back at the start of the month. my thinking was that i would have been caught up on other work and it would not have been a problem. i was completely wrong! ha! funny how that happens sometimes. it kind of felt like i crammed two weeks into one. anyways i survived, albeit slightly exhausted. i have a number of good friends who thrive on weeks like the one i just had. i really wish i knew their secret...or had their energy level...how do they do it?!

i've noticed that i take fewer photos these days. i think part of it is my lack of subject matter. my subjects being my children. when they were at home 24/7, i had ample photo opportunities! i'm working on figuring out a way to get my camera out of the bag more often and building up my photo library. not that it needs help. i just want more variety! if these winter clouds would roll away, that would help as well.



we went on an little adventure walk a few weeks ago. one of the things i love about our community is the number of unknown trails nearby. they are not paved or traveled. often you see evidence of people being nearby...but never actually see people. (unless you brought someone with you.) this is one of those trails.



you can see what i mean by winter clouds. it has been rare when we have actually seen the sun this winter. i don't like that. the snow and cold is much more bearable when the sun makes a regular appearance.
this natural area is sandwiched between about 4 communities. we haven't explored the full distance yet. but i think a day hike would connect to another trail area that is more populated.



we came down here for the first time last year. at that time there was a little creek that was racing down here. some of our neighbours have cross country skied along the frozen creek bed. the hills along here are steep and filled with loose soil and dangerous to walk along. i have a feeling the little creek is actually quite deep when it isn't frozen.



from what we understand, part of the land was used for a coal mine...back in the day. there is definitely still some coal seams remaining along the walls of the creek bed. there are some old shacks too at another point along the trail. this freaked me out when we first saw it. it is some kind of old foundation. it is fairly shallow and has several old trees growing up through the floor. it's hard to tell if it was used for the coal mining or for living at some point. it sure looks out of place.



there are a lot of fallen trees. many areas to observe the cycle of life in vegetation.



i love this moss peaking out from under the snow. just one of those signs that spring can't be too far off.

last year the kids and i made plans to do some hiking trips and bike rides around the area. those plans got cancelled due to my health and we were all disappointed. we are all anxious to make good on those original plans once again! i've never done a backpack lunch and spent a day out exploring. it is out of my comfort zone. but looking at these photos makes me think it would be fun to do some day exploring. especially if the weather is nice. between the kids and i we have no shortage of ideas on passing time together during the summer.

can you tell i'm ready to see the snow melt?!

i had a great time teaching my Feburary layout to a group of amazing ladies this past week. i really enjoyed playing with the techniques at the time when i was creating the layout. it was awesome to have the ladies enjoy them as well in class. i think it took us just over two hours to complete the techniques and gave us almost the last hour to actually cut the paper and assemble the layout. i totally underestimate the time it takes to create! i know i get lost in the time on my own...and it appears i drag the rest of the group down my little rabbit hole too!! none of the techniques were super difficult, so i hope the ladies will find opportunities to try them on their own layouts and projects.

given the length of time since most of us have seen green in the outdoors....i decided to have the March class all about green.



here is a sneak peek!

the majority of the techinques centre around using the trendy Faber-Castell Gelatos! mixed media artists have used these for awhile now, but i wanted to see if they would work on a regular scrapbook layout. now i'm hooked! i'm thinking i'll pick up all of the colours though.

you can order them in a set like this. love it.

but then i saw this....

...a  fabulous desk storage caddy and assortment of their products...i'm tempted...i know my daughter would also enjoy using them too. i'm just trying to decide if we would use all of those products. i love that they are all water-based and safe for her to use at this age. or would it be better to purchase them in separate packs of each type of product? 

     anyone have an opinion? 

oh, decisions! ha!!