August 13, 2008 I just finished this piece for the upcoming group show "Made in Canada". It is at the bear and bird gallery in Florida. I have been really enjoying this book. I am slightly obsessed with bread... I can't decide which bread to make, they all look so good. I think I will start with the easiest one, though this book makes all the recipes seem so easy. I have been making more and more food from scratch lately. I had forgotten how good it makes me feel to feed my family good food. Sosi has been eating better than ever. Speaking of food.... While at the farmer's market last week, I found a local CSA. I was so excited, I signed up right away for next year. I love the thought of knowing the farm and people who grow our food. They even have a blog . They seem so enthusiastic about what they are doing. It is so nice to see some happy and successful farmers. Most of the news about farming on P.E.I is not so happy. On a totally unrelated note.... my favourite blog at the moment has to be this one. I met Martina when she ordered a custom fabric piece from me back in Vancouver. I have been hooked on her writing ever since. There is something about getting a glimpse into a doctor's world that I find so fascinating. She often makes me laugh out loud, it is hard to choose a favourite entry, but this is definitely at the top of my list. It is still cool and rainy here. I am missing the beach, but am enjoying the time at home. I am feeling the need to start thinking about getting ready for the baby. After last winter, I thought something wooly would be a good place to start. | August 5, 2008 The weather is turning cold, it feels like summer might be over. I really hope it isn't. The cold weather combined with being full of pregnancy hormones has resulted in much domesticity. All I want to do is knit, bake, sew and spend time with my daughter. I feel like I am running at a different pace than in Vancouver, but it feels right. | July 31, 2008 I love sharing this island with our friends. Our most recent visitors were our friends Patty, Justin and little Nate from Vancouver. There were pony rides, lazy days at the beach, afternoons hanging out in the backyard, kids in the pool, amazing food and happy times. I like to think we had a small hand in their decision to possibly move from Vancouver to Halifax, where Patty is originally from. My master plan is to eventually get all our friends from Vancouver out here! *(photo taken by Nate's super talented dad, Justin.) | July 24, 2008 Sosi needed a backpack for her summer camp, which we call "Camp Lavern", after her teacher, Miss. Lavern. They go out walking a lot and she needed to be able to carry her bag herself. Instead of having to face the horrible selection of Dora the Explorer and Barbie backpacks in the stores, that I knew she would want, I asked Paul's mom to make a backpack for her. She was more than happy to, but asked for a picture to work from. I did some searching and found this Maki Squarepatch backpack. It is the cutest thing ever, everything they make makes me want to stop everything and start sewing! It arrived yesterday and Sosi and I designed and sewed on the face together. I love how it turned out. Oh, some of my illustrations were in last month's Chirp magazine . I forgot to post about it. You can see them better in my portfolio section. | July 23, 2008 I have been enjoying the company of these 2 lovely ladies for the past week, it has been great having them here. Sosi really missed my dad this visit, he chose to stay at home and tend to his garden. That gave her a chance to bond with my mom a bit more than usual, and that was nice to see. This was my grandmother's first visit to P.E.I., she loved everything about it. She was even talking about moving here! I can't get over how positive she is about everything. I guess that is the secret to living to 82 and looking that good. | July 8, 2008 For the past couple of mornings I have been working away in my studio on this special little piece for a friend. It has been a nice break from the contract work I have been up to my neck in for the past bit. I am loving the illustration work, but I have missed puttering around in my studio. This summer Sosi is getting babysat in the mornings at her school by one of her teachers. There are a few other kids there too, and she has been loving it. It is so nice to have the mornings to work and then to have the afternoons with Sosi. We have been having a great time together. I was nervous at first about not having the full day to work, but, it has been such a treat to have the afternoons off to relax with my little girl. I think being pregnant this time is really mellowing me out... and I like it. | July 4, 2008 I posted a picture of this custom painting a while back, and was mortified when someone brought it to my attention that the bee had no wings! I had already packed it up and sent it off to its happy new home. I am chalking this absentmindedness up to pregnancy brain. I've never had to have a painting sent back to me before. He arrived back last week and now is a happy owner of a fine pair of wings. Other than being a little flighty, this pregnancy is going really good so far. I am feeling much more accepting of all the changes this time around. My husband has even told me that he has never seen me so mellow (or maybe I am finally adjusting to "Island time"). One thing that is the same as last time though, is my total obsession with food. My mother-in-law (she has her own blog now, so cute!) sent me a link to a no knead bread making video yesterday ( I love bread). You can see it here. I instantly fell in love with Mark Bitten, the Minimalist cook at the NY times. I watched about 15 of his segments back to back . Everything looked so delicious (the asparagus risotto almost killed me...). I love his lazy yet very direct and no nonsense way of cooking. I sat there totally enthralled. My mouth began watering and my heart began to flutter at that thought of a man who could cook so effortlessly. It is not that I am hungry all the time, I just am SO INTO FOOD. It is all I really think about. O.K, now I gotta go eat something... pronto. subito. | June 24, 2008 Paul and I had an amazing night out Saturday night. We dropped Sosi off at her Auntie's and Uncle's for the evening. As soon as she was out of the car she ran off into the bushes to join her cousins and a gaggle of kids and never looked back. When we picked her up later that night, at 10:00, she was still going strong. She looked like she had the time of her life. We had the times of our lives too. We had a nice meal in town, then drove out to Georgetown for a taping of the Vinyl Café. I don't know how to explain my love for the CBC, I don't even understand it. It is just too strong and too deep. Maybe it comes from years of working with it playing it the background, or maybe from growing up with it always on in the kitchen. It has just always been there. CBC personalities are like celebrities to me. When we drove up to the King's Playhouse and I saw the CBC truck out front I think I actually giggled. And...the show did not disappoint! It was one of those rare moments in life where your excitement and anticipation about something are overshadowed by the real thing (it almost never happens). Stuart Maclean was amazing. It was mesmerizing to watch him spastically sway around the stage, words pouring out of him. The Dave and Morely story made me laugh so hard I cried, and then I really did cry when the lovely Catherine MacLellan took the stage and sang a song written about her late father. It was so great to see the workings behind that magical thing called radio. Sadly, we had to leave after the first show. As much as I wished we could have stayed, the most perfect moment of the whole night was the drive home. Through the amazing P.E.I countryside as the sun was setting, alone in the car with my sweetie, sharing a chocolate bar. It was one of those moments you remember forever. | June 16, 2008 I was trying to get a nice father/daughter picture for Father's Day, but when her hands on her hips like that you can't get her to do anything. So we got this, which I think it is actually better. | June 11, 2008 Some paintings I just finished for a shop here in Charlottetown called Luna. It is located on the lovely Victoria Row. | Blog Archives Copyright Lori Joy Smith 2003-2008. Please don't steal my stuff!