"People take pictures of the summer, 

just in case someone thought they had missed it, 

and to prove that it really existed." 

My first peony bloomed on Saturday :)

Tuesday Greetings! Can you believe it's July already? 

I turned the page on my Inuit art calendar :)

This lithograph and stencil is entitled Blue Bird by Kavavaow Mannomee

It seems like forever since I last posted; except for Thursday's little extra which doesn't really count.  I've been busy mentally filing away jewels throughout the week to share with you; hopefully you will feel it was worth the wait :) While I still stand by my decision to post only once a week throughout the summer, I'll let you in on a secret: I really had to force myself not to sign in everyday and pop up something... anything!

This weekend we kept entertained (!) by cleaning out our garden shed and garage - not sure how it happens, but every year we accumulate so much stuff - mostly junk we should have dealt with at the time, but instead chose to either throw it in the garage (our catch-all all winter) or move it from the garage (before the snow flies) to the garden shed and then back to the garage in the spring! Sheer laziness which we always pay for later. At least we had gorgeous weather to work in and the occasional beer to help break up the monotony, lol.

In gardening news, my Ninebark is positively laden with lovely blooms.

This is it's 7th season and it stands just over 5 feet tall. 

Strangely enough, I don't recall it ever flowering before...
It was kind of sickly looking the first 4 years,
and it's really only begun to flourish these last 3 seasons.

A faithful reader sent along this pic to me - it's a great shot if you enlarge it.
This little guy was spotted in Huntsville Ontario.
He was kindly assisted across the road to safety -
and then proceeded to reward his rescuer by snapping at him!
I had no idea that turtles this big even lived so far north...

Here is a little friend I made at the Winnipeg Zoo when I was there last week :)

There are so many of these cuties all over the grounds,

they're practically tame and come right up to you looking for handouts.

Just look at those nails!

 My favorite exhibit was the butterfly house.

The zoo is undergoing a complete transformation, 

(something we found out only after paying our entry fee)

and a lot of the exhibits were closed as a result.
Nonetheless, we still had a great time.

Enquiring minds want to know lol!

I think it's safe to say that pretty much all of us consider ourselves to be animal lovers. Now that it's summer a lot more people will be bringing their pets along with them as they run errands or on vacation. This past week I read a very informative article which outlined the safest way to transport our furry friends. 

Just as we buckle in our babies and children, we should also be securing our pets in a harness, pet-carrier or behind a cargo screen in a SUV or minivan. An unrestrained animal can be severely hurt and in turn become a projectile injuring other occupants in the event of a quick stop or accident. Seeing dogs (& the occasional cat) traveling loose in a car has been a pet-peeve of mine for years. Personally, we always buckle our puppy Emma in the center back seat in her carrier (which I found out is the optimum spot). I'm also considering a pet seat which you buckle in and then in turn buckle her harness into - that way she can look around a bit too! 

The most important thing I learned from the article was that any animal in a seat facing an airbag (& this includes side airbags) can be severely injured or killed should the airbag deploy - scary! - that's why the center back seat is more often the safest location or, if you want your pet in the front passenger seat, disable the airbag if you have that feature. Here's a link to the article.

That's all for now,

I leave you with a few pics of my Bellflowers,

(another look at my Ninebark behind)

I have loads of these and love them.

These pics do not begin to capture their delicate beauty.
They literally require no care whatsoever,
and will flower non-stop until fall :)

Hoping you have a great day!