summer garden life

I have pretty much killed every single plant that I have ever owned. When Erin gave me a beautiful orchid earlier this year, it went straight to my friend's boyfriend, aka the orchid whisperer, where it is living a happy life. Trust me. It was for the best.

This is our third year with the community garden. We have a plot over on West 16th Avenue and Oak Street. Last year was kind of a bomb. With summer wedding and event season, Rob and I seem to struggle to find enough energy to go and pick weeds and harvest our work. This year, we made a conserted effort to revive our little garden plot. Although, it's not exactly something that I would write to Canadian Gardening Magazine about, it is an improvement from the last. Check out our strawberries above and the potato plants below from earlier in the year.

summer times

Even though Fall hasn't officially arrived, it feels like it's time to kiss the warm days of sunshine goodbye. Summer went by super fast for us this year. We were expecting it to though. With a super packed schedule and knowing that it would be our last Vancouver summer for a year or two, we knew that we had to cherish as much as we could.

Yes, we did work a lot the last few months. Um.. remember July? Summer hiatus on the blog due to 8-12 hour work days for the entire month. So crazy good with an emphasis on crazy. I remember wrapping up my last day finishing up a contract and realizing "Woah, I don't have to put pants on today" - hehe.

Armed with flip flops, slushy drinks galore, we spent the last summer BBQing... becomine an aunt and uncle... gardening... getting bitten by mosquitoes... meeting new friends... road tripping... eating berries... enjoying an annual cotton candy feast...

We visited two fairs this year, the Oregon State Fair (pictured above) and the Pacific National Exhibition. Not to be a cotton candy snob or anything, but US and Canadian cotton candy seem to have a different taste. Just saying ... Oh, and that's the fair lift pictured above. For a small price, you can ride it from one end of the fair grounds to the next and back. It's a pretty length ride and yes, I did take my flip flops off. No way was I going to be the person to lose their shoes on the ride. Eek.

It's currently raining outside and I can't sleep. Looks like tomorrow will start with a nice lie in, a hot cup of coffee and maybe a bit of work. Need to get some organizing done before the zany starts again!

What do YOU have planned? Are you getting ready for the first day of school Enjoying the last of the long weekend?

summer

photo credit / source: unknown (please comment if you know where this is from)

Summer has finally arrived and with it, brings change. Two blogs (lotus + got craft), plus my feature on Granville Online, Facebook and Twitter (@lotusevents), can take up a lot of one's time. So to streamline things, I have been going back and forth deciding to whether or not whip this one into shape or just to move the two blogs into one.

Not to mention that Robert reminded me the other day that I only have 4 mere months before the holiday craft fairs start up and I just received a rather large wholesale order that I need to start making.

With weddings in full force, blogging, summer events and making, this picture represents the hundreds of different ideas and items on our to do list that are escaping. Not necessarily out of control, but we are working hard to rein them in and grow each thought before they fly away and disappear.

So yes, I will be taking a short hiatus while I gather my thoughts and will return when I have something to say.

The Fair at the PNE

The Pacific National Exhibition is a family tradition. We go every year. I can't remember spending a summer in Vancouver and not going. When I was small, I thought I was so brave when I rode on the roller coaster (kiddie version!) all by myself.

In 2006 and 2007, Rob and I even worked at the PNE as part of their entertainment department which meant spending 17 continuous, and long, days at the Fair! Trust me, Superdogs is fun the first time, but not so much on day 17 :)

The Fair has definitely changed throughout the years. Long gone is the giant map of British Columbia and the home arts exhibits, but some traditions still carry on such as my yearly stick of cotton candy and cinnamon sugar mini donuts.






A giant sized Scrabble game.


You can see how each letter is handmade by wrapping a piece of paper around a box.


Deep fried Oreos and Jelly Belly jellybeans... not my cup of tea... but interesting.


Quad racing and car vs. car battles.



Angora bunnies and baby ducks in the animal farm.

PS. Some great bands (in my opinion) are playing this year including Chris Isaak, En Vogue (tonight!), Hit Men and Famous Players

summer

Some summer snapshots from our past few weeks in and around town....


It's all about the pancakes at Deacon's!


We stumbled upon Krause Berry Farm by accident....


... by following these strawberry welcome signs!


Our haul plus a raspberry shortcake.


On my to do list: Homemade baked onion rings with fresh walla walla onions - yum!