Lost Nation

The Review

2011-12-24T15:07:00.030-05:00

Well well well well well well well well. Well. 2011, you were one helluva year. As far as relationships go you should have probably been jailed for spousal abuse. Never ever in my entire life has one measly collection of days beat me down so badly. But you wanna know something old two-oh-one-one? You are practically done and I am still standing. So *PHTOUPH* 2011-I spit on you. *PHTOUPH* I spit on you twice.

Alrighty as far as things go in the old calendar business, a year is a year and it doesn’t quite matter how badly it beats you down. The days continue to go on and this is why I like to give a good old fashioned review of the days gone by. So this here my friends is a Review of 2011.

Music Awards this year I review my records 1. Kenny Rogers The Absinthe Award
In 2004 I went to Prague for a romantic holiday with my beloved Harry. One night we drank absinthe. That was a strange night. In fact, I think it was the strangest night of my life. I don’t quite remember all that went down, and for that I am kinda glad. We both decided to let what happens in Prague under the influence of Absinthe stay in Prague.

Well would you believe it that when you drink loads of red wine, listen exclusively to Kenny Rogers for about 6 hours with of your 3 loveliest friends the effects of absinthe start creeping back into the old blood stream? Neither did I. But I am not here to lie to you dearly beloveds. At first I thought it was the wine that was making our shadows cuddle. Then I thought it was because I was with my favourite friends that the 4 of us sleeping in my bed was a fabulous idea. But I finally realised that it was Kenny’s buttery voice and songs of heartache and love and love and heartache and a little more heartache and a little more love that had us all weirdly intoxicated.

2. Simon and Garfunkel So nice I just gots to listen to you twice
I am proud to say that I can eat just one Lays potato chip. I don’t like doing it but I can. I have never ever been able to listen to The Only Living Boy in New York once. I have to play it twice, which is kind of annoying when it’s a record but shmaah. It’s such a beautiful song and it moves me deeply every time I hear it and when it ends I feel sad so I have to play it again.

3. The Captain and Tenille Worst Instrumental Solo in the History of Sound
How is it possible when you grow up listening to shit on the radio like Lovers and Other Strangers and Dahlila and your first job is at the Thornhill Fabricland you somehow through some bizarre circumstance never hear the song Muskrat Love by The Captain and Tenille? Well if you are me then it’s just one of those things. But my innocence had to be stolen from me at some point. So at the tender age of 28 my ears got taken advantage of by the most bizarre, most out of place and most awful sounding keyboard solo I have ever heard. I don’t really know what else to say. I am damaged goods now.

Woodpecker

When I was having a cross country ski love affair with the forest last winter I had one constant companion, the Woodpecker. Winter was a very hard time for me because my dad’s health was rapidly declining but the forest became my savior. I noticed on one ski in early February that no matter how far I went into the forest I always had a spotted woodpecker nearby. It was comforting. Then I started to notice my little friend around the farm. I would look out the window in the morning and the noble little woodpecker would be climbing the elm tree in the garden. I felt like it was always there. After my dad passed I coped alright for the first month but then things started to get harder. I remember sitting on the deck at the farm one evening looking into the woods just wishing that I could see him again and knowing that I wouldn’t and then the hollow sound of a woodpecker tapping came out of the trees. Now 6 months on when I am having a rough day I always seem to cross paths with the little spotted woodpecker. And you wannna know something? I like to believe that the woodpecker is my dad.

Deer friend, Deer heart

This year I celebrated the big one-oh with my best friend Alison. That's right, we celebrated our 10th anniversary. We met on the first day of university where I do believe I walked up to her (because I thought she was so pretty) and said “I am bored of not talking to anyone”. Good thing it doesn’t take much to impress her because we have been partners in crime ever since. Alison is the world to me. I am so happy that I know her because she makes my life better. I used to cry when I lived in England because I missed her so much. She’ll tell me when my hair is bad and if I’m having a crappy day she always says cute shit like ‘at least your pretty’. She has dropped everything and come to my rescue so many times. She is wonderful. I count my lucky stars every single day because having her in my life is a real gift.

Best 8 Words

Losing my Dad this year destroyed me. I am slowly getting better but I know that this type of healing just takes time. Old Al was gruff and grouchy most of the time and he was a man of few words, but he was a gold mine for one-liners. There is something he said to me years ago that sticks with me to this goddamn day. I was going through a very painful breakup and me and my old dad were sitting on the beach at my cottage and I was telling him about my woes and he sat back and looked at me and said “Kate. A man never forgets a good woman.” Those words were the elixir that I needed. For the first time in months I felt ok. Knowing that my dad considered me to be a good woman meant so much. And that boyfriend that I was mourning is now a dear friend who I can confidently say also considers me to be a good woman.

Wasted Youth
In 11 months I am joining a large demographic. I am turning thirty. I can’t even write the numbers down because it makes me want to throw up. I am beginning to miss my twenties and they aren’t even over. I, Katrine Barnstaple, blissfully coasted through my twenties. I peaked at 26, which is something I have been coming to terms with ever since, but peaking aside this has been one helluva decade. I have had epic love, freedom, adventures and all sorts of trouble. For the first ¾ of my twenties I felt like I owned the world. But something has happened as I geared down towards my thirties...I think I spent too much time having fun in the early years and now I am not nearly as advanced career-wise/life-wise as I anticipated I would be. And now I am approaching the big three-oh and I feel like I am some sort of statistical failure. Piss.

The Yes Please Equation

I was driving around a little while back and I was thinking about my good old fashioned point system I use to rate men. My scale is out of 10. If you have a beard you automatically get 5 points. It’s not fair to the beardless men in the world but I don’t give a shit. Grow a beard and you`ll get 5 points. Now as I was driving around thinking about my 5 point gift to the Beardies I realised that there is one specific beard out there that just kills me and gets 8 automatic points and that is the lesser spotted Ginger Beard. I. LOVE. GINGER. BEARDS. Now....if you look like Kris Kristofferson and have a Ginger Beard then all bets are off and You Sir, are a goddamn Adonis to which I raise my glass and say YES PLEASE.

Rosewood: School of Woodness Goodness
In January I am packing my bags and heading to Perth for three months to study the art and craft of fine woodworking. It’s a pretty bold manoeuvre which will be taking me to a land far far away from here. I am giving up work and leaving myself pretty tight on the old funds for a chunk of time but these are just minor things that I really need not to worry about. To be a student for again and to be taught by some of the finest craftsmen in North America is an incredible opportunity. Watch out world, this girl is about to become a secret woodworking weapon.

High Five

2011-06-17T09:37:00.003-04:00

Okay okay okay okay. I can barely contain myself because I feel like I have been holding a secret for a very long time. I am going to be doing a Public Space Installation for the 2012 Come Up To My Room event at the Gladstone Hotel. I think I told 3.5 people that I was applying for it. Truth be told I have never wanted to do anything so badly in my life so I had to keep quiet because I was scared I would curse my chances in getting selected. I am so bad at keeping quiet about things I am excited about...so F-ing bad at it... but my tight lips seemed to pay off. The event doesn't take place until January which is miles away. I have an idea of what I will do...but I kind of enjoy this Tight-Lipped Barnstaple thing I got going. High Five to Me!

Father

2011-06-15T18:20:00.003-04:00

My Dad passed away on Sunday after a year-long battle with cancer. He was one of my very best buds and over the last decade we created a very lovely bond with each other. I feel very lucky to have had such a great man in my life. He taught me so much and always encouraged me to do what I love. And although this is a sad time and my heart feels heavy I am glad that I was able to have such a lovely friendship with such an awesome guy. His earthy spirit is everywhere and that fills me with comfort. I am embarrassed to admit it but I will miss having him always tell me to "Brush my hair" because I "look like shit".

Outsourcing

2011-05-23T12:12:00.003-04:00

For a while now I have been feeling like sometimes I could use a helping hand when it comes to production. In the winter I stumbled on an advertisement in my Betty and Veronica Double Digest for Moustache Making Pigs. I hoarded my pennies all winter and when I had saved enough I sent away for them. They arrived a few days ago and I put them to work right away. I have to admit I had some reservations...I thought this might have been some Sea Monkeys scheme but I gotta say this actually was the best 4.95 + 9.95 S&H I have ever spent. So from this day forward I have 3 oinkers that will be making my moustaches.

Studio Tour

2011-05-22T14:06:00.006-04:00

A little look see into my studio for the Tour this weekend. I wanted to set up a little shop inside my shop and i am happy with how it all turned out. Also I want to thank Rob for waiting a bit longer for his bed so I could use it for this tour. Tomorrow is the last day of the tour so come on by and say hello and have a look at what I make.

into the woods

2011-05-15T15:02:00.007-04:00

The Bedroom in the Forest. It was hard not to curl up out there and spend the night with the Owl. Twiggy chandelier, oak bed and side tables by Lost Nation. GREGORY!! C'est Magique

Behind the Trees

2011-05-13T18:40:00.005-04:00

My lovely friend Gregory and I have been kinda-loosely-ish talking about him doing some photography for Lost Nation for what seems like forever. 2 weeks ago we met up for some beer and a much needed catch-up and we talked the talk again but this time something happened. 10 days after that fateful evening of brewskis, Greg arrived at the farm with all his gear and we embarked on a weekend long photo-shoot adventure. Gregory had the amazing idea of setting up a room in the forest...it just so happened that I was in the midst of finishing off a bed...so I think you know where I am going with this....we set up a bedroom in the forest. Here is a ‘making of’ shot of the magical room we created in the woods.

There are many more photos to come but I just wanted to give you a taster.

Also I wanted to say thank you to Greg for a truly wicked weekend (even though we worked it just felt like fun). Thanks to Mother Nature for the most magnificent weather. Thanks to beer for letting great ideas flow. AND. Thanks to my hands for their continued hard work.

The Great Spirit: Pat LePoidevin

2011-05-10T11:00:00.004-04:00

On Friday I went to see Pat LePoidevin. I knew that his show was going to be magic but I wasn’t prepared for how deeply I would be moved by his incredible sound. Pat Lepoidevin is a truly gifted musician. His beautiful voice ranges between an eerie falsetto that lingers in the air to a deep low pulse. His songs are all lovely tales that seem to have an ancient memory attached to them, like old recipes that have been handed down through generations. I feel like the Spirit of this Great Land has chosen him to channel its stories.

Watching his hand work on his guitar and how effortlessly his fingers move as they change notes is like watching a beautifully choreographed dance. His live show is phenomenal because you see how he builds his songs from the bare bones using a just looper pedal. He records a verse and builds upon it-I feel like he weaves with his voice. The sound grows and expands like a fire. His harmonies are stunning and they stirred something so deep inside me I actually had to fight back tears when he sang Mary.

He had the entire crowd transfixed. We were silent. Never have I been to a show where you could hear a pin drop. I am still recovering from the experience. This man has an incredible gift and more people need to know. Please just take a second out of your day to go check him out. You will be blown away. I promise.

http://www.patlepoidevin.com/

http://www.myspace.com/patlepoidevin

http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Pat-LePoidevin

I have your next 5 months planned

2011-04-21T18:01:00.005-04:00

Folks. I am opening the dusty, cobwebbed doors of my studio to the public on May 21-22-23. I am participating in the Blue Mountain Tour of the Arts and I think if anyone is itchy to get out of the city and have a wicked day trip then why don't you make this your destination. My studio is not usually an open door kind of place...and I am not always that friendly when people just swing by (this is a well-known fact up here) so please by all means take this rare opportunity to come into my work space and be welcomed with open arms and delicious local baking!

Here is more info on the tour: http://www.tourofthearts.ca/

Next up. Who doesn't like Muskoka? Well I most certainly do. It is a very beautiful region of this glorious province. I am pleased to announce that Lost Nation will be at the 49th Annual Muskoka Arts and Crafts Summer Show. This show takes place July 15-16-17. I believe that this is when Toronto usually has its annual garbage strike so why not skip town and spend a lovely weekend in cottage country?

Info time! http://www.muskokaartsandcrafts.com/

And Last...If you are just going to be a homebody and not leave the city then I dare you to go east of Yonge Street. I cross my heart and swear to you that the East end of Toronto is one Helluva place. My next show doesn't happen until September so that gives you loads of time to train going eastbound. I promise you won't get a nosebleed. Lost Nation will be at the Cabbagetown Festival. Art Around the Park is where 32 Artisans set up booths around the park in Riverdale. LOVELY or What?! It's free, it's a great excuse to get out enjoy the sunshine, have a picnic and come and say 'Hello Katie Barnstaple' to which I hope I will say...."are you stalking me?" (but don't actually start stalking me...that would be weird)

For you: http://cabbagetowner.com/events/art-around-the-park/

I hope to see you soon.

The Review: Winter Edition

2011-03-04T00:16:00.017-05:00

Well, well, well. It is with the heaviest heart that I am bidding farewell to wonderful winter. I fell madly in love with the cold and snow this year and I have been dreading having to say my goodbyes since early February. Winter, my little time lover, I will pine for you until we meet again. This here is a review of the white season on some of the lovely things that we discovered and shared.

Music Awards

1. Fleet Foxes: Best Winter Soundtrack
I am pretty sure that these guys were cut from the fabric of the noble icicle and the tender snowflake. All winter they have enchanted me over and over again. They make the cold seem so far away even though it isn't. They keep me warm.

2. Pat LePoidevin: So nice. So so so so nice. Perhaps the nicest nice around
I think I have fallen in love. If I disappear in the near future it is probably because I have gone to New Brunswick to live happily ever after with this fellow.

3. The Head and the Heart: Best songs to get stuck in your head (and heart)

In highschool I always had ABBA stuck in my head. It was on a loop for close to 3 years. I hated it. In the last few weeks these guys have been bumping around in the Ol' Think Can and I gotta say I find them beyond delightful. They are welcome to remain stuck in my head throughout the springtime.

Gimme your eyes

Some of the winter-scapes I have come across this year have been so stunning that I wish that everyone I love could be able to see them. It makes me want to borrow their eyes. I have spent countless hours on Grey Road 2 this winter driving between home and work. This old road knows how to showcase winter. I have almost driven off the road, done U-turns and even stopped the car trying to take everything in. I think what makes the road so incredibly special is it goes up 1000ft from Georgian Bay to the top of the Blue Mountain Ridge. You can see for miles and miles over sprawling farmland, forests, valleys and way way out across the Bay. It seems like at every bend in the road or at the top or bottom of a hill there is endless beauty. Words will never do it justice. Over and over again this winter Grey Road 2 has made me feel very lucky to be alive.

The Free Spirit The free spirit belongs to my neighbour’s dog Sophie. I call her wolf-child because that is what she is to me. She has the eyes of a wolf and the body of a dog and I think that she is a mixture of both on the inside. She is a wild and independent soul. She always sneaks up on me, whether I am walking the dogs or going on a cross country ski. She literally emerges from the forest and does her beautiful wolf-child work for a while before she disappears into the trees again. I love watching how she runs and observes the world. She is so different to my dog. She is free and nothing ties her down. I want to have her spirit. Spending time with her always brightens my day and enriches my soul. She is an incredible lady.

End of an Era

Underneath that there snow lies a truck. That trucks name is Big Blue. She was the first vehicle I ever drove. I was 15 and barefoot. I started off in the parking lot of the Home Hardware in Combermere and when I got onto the main road I almost ran over a chipmunk.

Big Blue is just about as nice as they come...honest. She has been around since I was a little angel faced girly. I have so many wonderful memories of lovely times with Blue. She is just like the family pet. She has been part of my childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. I think she feels so precious to me because I when I began to stake out my independence from my family I feel like Big Blue was there with me, kinda like my partner in crime. She even moved me into my first apartment. Old Blue hasn't run for 2 years but the whole family has been in denial. She is so special to everyone. We have just let her rust away in the driveway at the farm. Sadly, there is only so much rusting away a beautiful truck can do. This week Big Blue got taken away for scrap. I cried when I said my good-byes. It seriously feels like the end of an era. I can't deny that it sort of feels like I have lost an dear old friend. I will always keep the memories I have with Blue close to my heart. Bon Voyage Big Blue

The Forehead Equation

It is hard to believe when you look at this complicated equation that I got 36% in grade 11 math. Allow me to break this puppy down for those of you who didn't have to repeat math 4 times. I have a forehead, my forehead has eyebrows and I have a sister. Years ago my sister compares my eyebrows to Burt Reynolds because I tell her she hasn't got eyebrows (we were young jerks-what can I say?) I develop an eyebrow complex. I get bangs cut and I hide my forehead for 9.5 years. Seriously, I haven't worn my hair off my forehead for 9.5 years because I think that I have Burt Reynolds' F-ing eyebrows!

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo long story short. I was having an epically bad hair day a few days ago and I just swooped my bangs off my face and went about my business. I realised at some point during the day that my forehead hasn't seen daylight for damn near a decade. I also realise that I don't have Burt's eyebrows and now I am happy that I can wear my hair in a new way. Truth be told I am getting kinda sick of looking like a mop-top with just a mouth and nose. I will admit that it does feels a bit scary to show so much skin but i think I am getting used to it.

My Mistress

Okay so I kind of fell in love with cross country skiing this winter. I was ambushed by my friends Greg and Oksana with the fine plan to go for a little ski in the Kolapore on the most frigid day this January. I was excited about the activity but quickly realised -10 minutes into the ski- that I wasn't a nimble as I thought. In fact when we finished our ski I could barely move. I was actually floored at how bad a shape I was in. At the end of our ski I thought "thank God that is over, never again shall I do such a torturous activity" but within a few hours I was craving it. The next day I wasn't even sore! I can't even believe this but I go almost every morning for a ski. I love it. It feels like meditation and fitness and relaxation all rolled into one. It is because of skiing that I don't want winter to be over. I think I have the whole world against me on this. I just am so in love.

The Original Gangster

2011-02-23T13:47:00.003-05:00

Well I have said it before but I am actually shit for never photographing my work. So now I am scouring my computer for neat images of my work because I just decided to apply for a craft show that's deadline is in 2 days. Anyways throughout this semi-manic process I stumbled across this photo and it made me smile. This little mud barn is where Lost Nation began. I used to find the concept embarrassing like...oh lets just say when I was working out of there but now I just think it is glorious. My little mud barn. My little 11` x 14` space. It is funny that when you are hell-bent on doing something you will always make it work. Even it means working in a building that was 500 years old and made of mud, gravel and horsehair without windows and heat. I am thankful that England doesn`t have Canadian winters. I am even more thankful that I don`t have to work out of there anymore but more than anything I am thankful that I had that space to get me started.

2011-02-17T17:58:00.000-05:00

The (M)antler

2011-02-05T13:44:00.017-05:00

Did anyone ever watch Rocket Robinhood as a young thing? I did. It was usually because I was utterly bored and there wasn't anything else on TV. I actually really hated the show and I never EVER wanted anyone at school to find out because they would make fun of me. Looking back now I bet they were all closet watchers too, secretly hating themselves for tuning into such a bad cartoon.

Okay okay okay okay okay, back on track. There is only one thing I remember about Rocket Robinhood. It took place during the opening sequence when the theme song was going and all the characters were being introduced. For Friar Tuck's introduction he was sitting at this huge table that was covered in food and he had a plate of chicken drumsticks in front of him. All I remember is this big beefy cartoon hand grabbing a drumstick and pulling it up towards his mouth, he then took one huge bite and threw the drumstick over his shoulder. And this just went on and on. Drumstick. Mouth. Toss. Drumstick. Mouth. Toss. Drumstick. Mouth. Toss. I remember thinking to myself that was how a Real Man ate. A Real Man has a 3 step approach to food: Drumstick. Mouth. Toss. I remember trying to eat pork chops like a Real Man when I was 7 or 8 and I just couldn't swing it. I needed to chew and swallow. I also couldn't just throw semi-eaten food over my shoulder. My mother would've hurt me for being so wasteful.

Now... I think what I am trying to say here is that I have got a new Antler that is so big and manly that I call it the (M)antler. The Humane Antler is smaller and much more delicate. The Humane Antler also chews it's food and would never ever toss away anything edible. The (M)antler on the other hand is big and strong and you know what it's table manners are like...Drumstick, Mouth, Toss.

New Chandelier

2011-01-31T17:57:00.008-05:00

I am the worst for not photographing my work. I don't know why. It's just one of those annoying habits I have developed over time. Anyways, I want to try and change that. This is my photography effort for this fine day, the 31st of January Two Thousand and Eleven. Here is an Antler Chandelier I finished last week. Bon Appetit!

Yes Please

2011-01-20T09:47:00.003-05:00

My friend Lisa has a folder on her computer that she has titled "Yes Please". It is filled with pictures of handsome men that our mothers once swooned over. I think we all need something nice to look at sometimes. My beloved one is my Yes Please pick for today .

Happy Thursday.

Retirement? Reshmirement

2011-01-11T17:51:00.007-05:00

Last year I was forced to retire my favourite jeans. It truly was a heart breaker. This fall I took them out of retirement because I needed to have them in my life again. The reason is simple: I spend most of my life in work clothes looking a little on the asexual side. In November I was in my local coffee shop and some old fart actually thought I was a boy. I can't really blame him. I really do look boyish in my work clothes. But it hurt my feelings. Anyways, I decided to go home and put on the holy jeans. There is no way I can be mistaken for a boy in those jeans. As soon as I had them on I swear birds started singing, the clouds parted and the sun came out. Those jeans are magical and I am pretty sure they have super powers. I am going to continue wearing those jeans until they are just fibers hanging from my body.

Needless to say I have a few pieces of clothing in my repertoire (like the holy jeans) that I fall in love with and get bizarrely attached to. I have had a few plaid shirts that have had the same effect on me. In 2008 I realised I had the big 3. I gave them all names and in my mind they have reached Legendary Status.

Plaid Shirt 1: Paolo Nutini
Plaid Shirt 2: Ben Bruneau
Plaid Shirt 3: Jason Collett

Last year I gave Paolo to Hazzy because he looked sooooooooooooooooooooooo much hotter in it than I did (that was a hard pill to swallow but it was a fact). Ben Bruneau's still in England with half of my belongings. And I have to admit I really do miss those 2 foxes from time to time but they can't hold a candle to Plaid Shirt 3, Jason Collett. Jason Collett is by far the most beautiful and sexual shirt that I have ever seen. 70% of photo's of me I am wearing him. He is a light weight combed cotton with the traditional red and black lumber jack weave. My dad wore him in the 70's. My mom wore him in the 80's. He had a 10+ year holiday in the cupboard throughout the 90's and he has been my old reliable since 2007. I hate to admit it but he's getting old. I know the right thing to do is retire him. He is threadbare and every time I put him on now he rips a little bit. Mr. Collett is beginning to decline the same way my holy jeans did but retirement isn't an option. I don't even think I can swing a part-time position for him. I find it hard to not wear clothes when they make you feel so good, so powerful. So a Toast! To my wonderful threadbare clothes that rip and tear when I think about wearing them. I will never stop wearing you (unless I get arrested for public indecency) TCHIN TCHIN

Double Sixes

2011-01-03T11:39:00.003-05:00

RISK. Hands down it is the best board game ever. I woke up this morning strategizing the best possible way I could manage world domination. I haven't played this game for almost a year. Now I am so itchy for it.

Hands

2011-01-02T11:14:00.002-05:00

Dear My Hands,

Best of luck in the new year. You guys are really nice and I appreciate all your hard work. Stay safe on the job, bundle up in the cold, easy on flipping the bird at pervy strangers, fabulous work on getting coffee into my mouth in the mornings. You two are a great team and I am really excited about another great year working with you.

Several X's

The Review

2010-12-24T19:57:00.029-05:00

Well well well, 2010. I cannot believe you are almost finished. I no longer have to stress about whether or not I should say 2010 or Twenty-Ten. I always opted for 2010 because Twenty-Ten was a bit too left field. In the spirit of being totally clichè I have decided to do a mini review of a few things that had an impact on me this year. So here you go, Two Thousand and Ten in a nutshell.

Music Awards

1. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (Best Live Show)
Honestly if you are only going to one more thing in your life...this should be it
2. Local Natives (Percussion and Harmonies)

They hurt my heart in a way that makes sore hearts feel really really good

3. Dan Mangan (Best Legs on the Canadian Music Scene)

I can't stop thinking about them. It is kind of becoming a problem

My Lover

I would like to thank my lova (the wood shop) for being the such a good boyfriend. In fact old boy-I gotta say you gave Toronto a good run for it's money this year in the boyfriend department and you know what wood shop- you came out numero uno. If only I could somehow combine you and Toronto into one magical-lover-super-entity....I may break my cardinal rule and perhaps even consider one day getting married (to you, of course).

Best Place on Earth

I have an abnormal obsession with my cottage. I always have. I still cry when I have to leave it. My roots are there and so is my heart and soul. My dad built this place with a handsaw and chainsaw when he was my age and I know I have probably said that close to 1000 times but I like to repeat myself. My cottage is the greatest place on earth and everyone who comes up there falls in love. My main goal in life is to make enough money so I can take the summer off and live there.

HMS Toronto Friendship

I love these people. They make me happy. I don't know what else to say. I have some very very incredible friends and I think I finally got it this year...I am so lucky to have these awesome shakers in my life. Yay! Knotty Buoys and Co. I HEART YOU

The Kolapore

When I was being a hermit in the spring and summer and living up at the farm I spent a lot of time hiking the Kolapore. I have very strong feeling for these trails. To me they are magic. I honestly think this is a place that needs to be visited by everyone. I would recommend in the early spring or late fall because every 100 meters you enter a new ecosystem and it is very evident when the trees are beginning to bud and when they are just about to drop their leaves. It really is one of the loveliest places I have ever been. Oh, and if you can, do it solo. The forest really opens it's self to soloists.

My Guardian There is no way to say this without sounding a little odd. But I think anyone who has shared even a brief sentence with me knows I am slightly odd. The Kestrel is my guardian. In the last year this little bird has kept a pretty close eye on me. I would like to thank this bird for choosing me to look after.

Allen Gordon

I am who I am because of this guy. Thank you sir for exposing me to the forest when I was tiny. Thank you for teaching me to respect nature. Thank you for showing me how to build things. Thank you for always giving me sound advice. 2010 actually knocked the wind out of my families sail when my dad was diagnosed with a very rare type of cancer. Cancer is a real bastard when you have no real options to fight it. I just want to tip my hat to my daddy for being incredibly strong and being a very fierce fighter. I Love You

Thanks Friends

2010-12-09T18:40:00.008-05:00

Well after months of hard work, little sleep and the errr....occasional cry...the One of a Kind Show has been and gone. I just want to thank all my fantastic friends for helping me out leading up to, during and after the show. I am a really lucky girl to have so many fantastic people in my life. I don't even think there are words for this-I met a lot of incredible people at the show and I just gotta thank them for rejuvenating my spirits.

I arrived back to Thornbury to a very happy dog and an insane amount of snow. At the moment it's waist high (the snow, not the Boat, he's still knee high). I've spent the last 2 days on the computer trying to get on top of work that's kinda fallen by the wayside. I hate computers. I actually hate them. Today my laptop decide to shift all the windows 90degrees clockwise. I got vertigo trying to figure out how to fix the problem. Tomorrow I will be reunited with my lover, the wood shop, where production will begin after a 2.5 week hiatus.

Okay. Now. I. Am. Boring. Myself. So I think that means I need to sign off. I think this is what the computer does to me. It makes me boring.

Twiggy Chandelier

2010-11-27T22:39:00.003-05:00

It's hard to blog when there is a little kitten trying to make a little bed for herself on the keyboard. But when the little kitten is practically a Genetically Modified Angel....I'll let it pass. Anyways, here is a kind of wicked a photo that someone took of my Twiggy Chandelier. I heart the rough edges. Ahh! The cats back!

Bits of my Booth

2010-11-27T22:20:00.005-05:00

Hi friendly-bar moustaches. Here are some neato photos my friend Ryan took of of my booth at the One of a Kind show. I just thought I'd share them so you can see my little set-up. Hearts, KT

Christina and Robert

2010-11-16T00:14:00.003-05:00

First of all, I would like to thank Christina Remenyi of Fortnight Lingerie for getting this awesome photo taken of my Humane Antlers. Fortnight Lingerie is also gonna be at One of a Kind so be sure to check out all their beautiful designs. Secondly, I would like to thank Robert Charlebois for getting me through the last 2 hours in the wood shop. Third, I would like to thank my best sister Annika for burning a Robert Charlebois CD back in 2002. And forth....I would like to sincerely apologize to my wrist for forcing it to carve over 100 eggs today.

Surrealist Movement

2010-11-12T23:44:00.004-05:00

So if you ever told me that my picture would be on a Toronto Bus Shelter, I would have thought it would be in a missing persons poster. But this is not the case friends! The One of a Kind Show has been very very kind to me. Apparently I am on a streetcar too! To me this whole thing is surreal as hell. Anyways. If you can make it to Toronto between November 25 and December 5 please come and visit me at the show, which is at the Direct Energy Center, and say hello. Oh yeah, this is thee best part....my booth is G8....how can anyone forget that?!

Guys...this is the MOST CAREFREE moment of our lives.

2010-08-12T16:20:00.016-04:00

It's only taken 2 months to get organized....but that's just me, the poke-iest slow poke I know. Anyways, our trip down to Tennessee for Bonnaroo was AMAZING! It was a total whirlwind and now looking back on it I feel like it was some kind of sweaty dream. It was hot and humid and when I got home I've never wanted a shower so badly in my life. Next year we are doing it again. Here are some picture-roo's of our time at Bonnaroo.

I just realised there aren't any photo's of the bands we saw. The reason for this is we were too busy dancing most of the time. And for those of you wondering about Kris Kristofferson...let me just tell you something, HE IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SEXY and BEAUTIFUL. He could be 95 and he'd still do it for me. mmmmmmmmmmmmmkristoffersonmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Purdy Long-Light

2010-07-21T18:55:00.004-04:00

Looking across to the Beaver Valley from the lovely town Ravenna

I wish that there were days as long as these summer days all year round. Everything looks better when the light is long and warm and for some reason it makes me very reminiscent of my childhood.

Assembly Line

2010-06-25T10:32:00.005-04:00

Bases for Jewellery Trees and Moustaches

Lately I feel like I am turning into an assembly line in anticipation for the One of a Kind Show. At first I hated it but now I am finding it rather satisfying seeing all my creations lined up row on row like little wooden armies.

Girls Gone Wild: Health and Safety

2010-06-15T17:55:00.006-04:00

I have been looking for safety goggles that do up in the middle for about 2.5 years (because I have a strange desire to become a wood shop teacher from 1973) anyways I can't find them anywhere so I've finally admitted defeat. A few weeks ago however, I found these awesome thick rimmed nerd safety glasses in a drawer up at the farm. I instantly fell in love and they now live on my face. For a few years Alison and I have been putting on thick rimmed glasses and taking photo's of ourselves with our shirts buttoned up to our chins looking very sweet and naive. We call ourselves Girls Gone Wild and needless to say these have become my Girls Gone Wild Safety Glasses. I gotta say....I kind of have a face crush on myself when I am wearing them.

2010-05-19T17:12:00.007-04:00

A is for Alan. My mother says it might be more suitable as A is for A**hole but I don't think that's a very nice thing to say about her little grand-dogger

Good News. I've been accepted into the Christmas One of a Kind Show! I found out yesterday morning and felt totally elated for about 20 seconds and then all I could think was Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I have so much stuff to make! 6 months is far away but it also isn't really that far away (if you know what I mean). Anyways, I'm really pumped but I am also feeling very overwhelmed by the whole thing. Right now I feel like A is for Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

That's BS (and V)

2010-05-10T21:17:00.007-04:00

I'm finding it super hard to blog at the moment and I keep forgetting to take my camera with me so I miss photographing nice things I also don't have much chat at the moment. I always thought when I ran out of things to say I would talk about my favourite 2 cleaning products. Nothing neat-o to say...except...I am a firm believer in Baking Soda and Vinegar. They are a cleaning match made in heaven. I love to clean the house with these 2. I have used them religiously for the past 3 years and I gotta say it makes me feel slightly euphoric to not use chemical cleaners anymore. They are the only things I keep under the sink, I can confidently say I don't have a creepy bald man living under there anymore...can you?

Here is a great recipe if you have a little clog in your sink (It's truly magical)

MAGIC SINK DE-CLOGGER ELIXIR

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan

Add 1 cup Vinegar and 1 cup Baking Soda

Slowly pour liquid down clogged drain then flush with hot water

Depending on how bad the clog is this may need to be repeated once or twice

(also use large saucepan because the BS & V like to bubble up)

I've never been to Austria

2010-04-09T13:58:00.010-04:00

I moved to London a few years ago with Lindsay, one of my friends from Fashion School. Let me just take a minute to describe Lindsay. Lindsay is organized. I have never met anyone in my life who is as organized as she is. She has a system for everything, if she sees you doing something that can be done more efficiently she will let you know. I now know how to eat a muffin without making crumbs thanks to Lindsay. When I had friends over to our flat I would take them on a tour of Lindsay's make-up drawer and her closets. Why would I do this? The level of organization was so incredible I just needed to show everyone.

London was getting us down and so we decided to treat ourselves to a little holiday in Spain and Lindsay was in charge of booking our airplane tickets. We were flying from London to a city in Spain that I can't recall, taking a bus to Tarifa (where we would spend a week) and we were flying back from Granada. We were flying RyanAir and we were in search of the cheapest option and that was it. So after a week of partying and making some fab little time friends we took a bus to Granada and had a quiet night. We were flying out the next day around lunch time and we didn't want to miss our plane. We got to the Airport with about 3 hours to spare and our flight wasn't up on the departure board yet so we went outside and laid in the sun. Granada is quite a sleepy airport and it was midday and we were in the south so it didn't strike us odd that our flight wasn't listed. After about 40 minutes we went back inside to check the board. Still no flight to Stansted...but there was one to Liverpool 2 hours after ours. This was fishy. I saw a RyanAir info desk and the guy was closing for lunch (!SPAIN! you know what I mean?) I ran over and asked him where our flight was. He was kind of annoyed because we were interrupting his 3 hour lunch break but he helped. He looked at our tickets, looked at us and said "You are flying from Graz" and I was like "I know, where is our flight?" (Our ticket said Graz on it but I thought it was the Airport Code like LHR or YYZ I guess I assumed that Granada was special so it got an extra letter). The guy said "Graz is in Austria." Oh Shit. Because of how my brain works the first thought that went through my head was "Quick, how do we get to Austria in 2 hours?!"

Lindsay-goddess of organization/booker of the tickets-just went silent. There was a flight to London later that night but it cost $800. We didn't have that money. There was one the next day for $400 (who has ever paid that much money for a RyanAir flight?) I was swearing all over the place and Miss Lindsay Walsh was mute. I was still holding out hope that maybe we could teleport to Austria. After about 5 minutes of utter shock it was decided that we would take the less expensive flight the next day. Silently, we went back into the city and found an Internet cafe, transferred money around, booked the flight, found a hostel, dropped off our bags, phoned our work to say we wouldn't be in the next day and after all that we just bummed around Granada for the day. Amazingly it turned out to be a really nice day. I'm so glad that I didn't book the tickets because...well...I'm Katie...and that type of mistake would be more likely to happen by my hand. For Lindsay to do the mistake was so out of character I found it shocking. I am still shocked. My theory is that if it makes a good story then it was worth it. To me this was worth it because it's makes a pretty good story.

Now, what doesn't make a good story is the Viagra spam my email keeps sending everyone on my hotmail contact list. I am sorry about this. I think I've fixed the problem. I am sorry if I have offended anyone.

Katie

if this old barn could talk

2010-03-27T17:54:00.006-04:00

Lovers, I'm having trouble with this blog as of late. You see The Boat and I have moved up to the family farm (sans family) and there isn't any internet. I'm working on getting this changed but for the time being my blog updates will be fewer.

One of the reasons I love Ontario is for the old rural barns. To me they help define this glorious landscape. More and more I am seeing these barns in various states of collapse and I'm afraid to say that I think that the old wooden barn is becoming an endangered species. It's getting harder to see an old wooden barn standing straight and strong. I always think when I drive past a real good looker "please stay like that forever" but I know it won't.

This picture is of the barn at my farm. About 6 years ago the roof caved in and ever since then the seasons have been slowly grinding her down. It's a real heartbreaker watching this happen but I haven't the time or the resources to stop it.

You're a real Do-Goodnik

2010-03-20T17:00:00.005-04:00

Banksy makes nice statements

Do-Goodniking is a true form of art. I'm convinced that not enough people do it and I really feel if everyone every now and then took a few spare moments to do-some-good...well...I don't know...maybe we'd all feel a bit warmer inside. The thing about doing-good is that it's contagious and if you've just been do-gooded (I know that isn't a word but I was a tree climber) all you want to do is share the feeling. Which brings me to my next point, I am very lucky to know the ultimate Do-Goodnik. I swear this woman takes the prize because she really is one of a kind. She's the mother of my beloved Alison and she is a force to be reckoned with. She does good wherever she goes and if you're not near her she'll even take the time to send some kindness to you. Every so often when the post comes I'll get a little package with something handmade by her that I know has been made with all her heart or she'll send me a note filled with kind words. What makes it special is it comes out of the blue when I don't expect it and it warms me up so much inside I just want to spread the feeling. So I am making an Award for the Ultimate Do-Goodnik and I am giving it to Alison's mama Mary Ann for setting the standard for Do-Goodniking.

The downside of dandelion wine

2010-03-12T12:15:00.006-05:00

The Elkadee has been extinct for many many years. In fact, most people don't even know that such a bird ever existed but it did.

The Elkadee was given antlers as a punishment for being greedy. It had a beak so hard and strong that it could remove bark from trees with little effort. Under the bark it would eat and eat and eat, more insects than it ever needed. It was a very chubby bird and didn't like to fly so it would spend most of its day drinking dandelion wine, burping and rolling about the branches gorging on insects.

The Mothers of the Forest had enough of this bird and softened the Elkadee's beak and gave it antlers to teach it that you had to work hard in life. But the Elkadee was lazy and found the antlers to be cumbersome and heavy. Instead of learning to use the antlers to break away bark the Elkadee pouted and starved. Within 17 seasons the Elkadee was no more, only the wind in the woods remembers it’s story. I think that if you listen carefully when you are next in the woods and the wind blows you may hear an Elkadee burp.

Hello. My name is also The Boat

2010-03-10T18:03:00.007-05:00

About a year ago I blogged about trying to give Alan less of a dorky name. We tried to change it to Paddy but it didn't stick. For about 7 months we tested different names but nothing ever caught on. I used to be embarrassed to call him in public places because people would laugh when they found out that his name was Alan. They'd say "Well that's the first time I've ever heard of a dog named Alan!" then they'd call their dog "Come on Rover!" and walk away. Once I called him and a man answered me - turns out his name was Alan too. Guess what my dad's name is? A few days ago I accidentally called my dog "father".

I've now accepted that Alan is stuck with a human name that, when used for a dog, is 100% nerdy. I know he will never really be the cool kid in class and I'm pretty sure that cool dogs with cool dog names make fun of him behind his tail. But Alan has a cool nickname that the other cool dogs don't even know about. I use it on him about 70% of the time. He’s called Alan when we are being formal or when he is being very naughty but the rest of the time I call him The Boat or Boaty. It’s a very suitable name for him for reasons I will never know.

Toronto, My Love

2010-03-01T22:22:00.010-05:00

There is a little game I like to play in my head where cities are my lovers and I give them a lover-type-status. Here are a few examples

New York star crossed lovers in a previous life

Paris nice..... perhaps a bit too nice
Montreal so cute but a little on the short side
London never returns my phone calls

And on it goes.

I don't think it is any secret that Toronto is my kindred spirit-my true love. It's the city that shaped me and gave me my stride. I have experienced so many wondrous things on those streets. I can't even begin to list the reasons for loving Toronto the way I do but I feel like it loves me back. It always gives me a hug when I need it and it supplies me with endless magical moments. It's the boyfriend of all cities and it just knows how to press the right buttons. So stay sweet Toronto - keep those big beautiful arms open for me next time I visit. Oh! and one more thing, please take care of my Buoyfriends and all of my other dearhearts because they are the ones that make it a magical place.

Katie

Carrot Sticks

2010-02-24T19:09:00.004-05:00

C is for Carrot Stick-Now available on Etsy

Dearest Dear Hearts,

I am sorry if sometimes I misspell words, throw punctuation in odd places or (gasp) forget to finish the odd thought. This is because climbing trees in my youth was far more important than doing homework. So please bear with me. I am giving myself a Carrot for the effort and a Stick for the flawed execution...so I suppose that means I am giving myself a Carrot Stick. I think I might have to get a case of Carrot Sticks for Alan because he's sooo nice and sooooooo naughty. Chocolate gets a Carrot Stick for tasting so good but always tempting me to eat it right before I hit the hay. Which is what I'm about to do right now, hit the hay...not eat chocolate...mmmmmm chocolate.... just give me a Carrot.

Kick the Bucket

2010-02-19T20:42:00.008-05:00

Annika took hundreds of photographs when she came to visit me in Knowstone. I haven't been able to look at them for months because...well...they would upset me. But a few days ago I bit the bullet and I had a look. I was right, most of the photos made me feel melancholy but this one of me in my retired jeans melted my heart. I loved those jeans may they rest in peace and this pic is awesome because it's taken pre-hind-quarters-rotting on an incredible June evening with the beautiful rolling hills of Devon at my back.

The Walnut Moustache

2010-02-19T10:30:00.005-05:00

M is for Moustache

When I worked for the furniture maker in Etobicoke I used to spend 2.5 hours commuting each day. It didn't bother me because I just loved what I was doing. I would always get the odd look on the subway because I guess you don't often see a girl wearing steel-toe boots and covered head to toe in saw-dust. These looks weren't check-outs (believe me) they were more little double takes. Anyways, this one particular day I don't recall exactly what we were working on but I do know that I was sanding walnut. Walnut and it's beautiful fine brown sawdust. On my ride home that night I noticed that people were looking at me for a bit longer. Men, women, children. I thought to myself "Damn Girl! You must be looking fine today!" So I sat I bit more upright and did my crossword with confidence. When I got off at my station I noticed people on the platform were looking at me too! By now my ego was bursting through the roof. When I finally got home Alison paused when I came through the door and kind of looked at me funny but I was rushing upstairs to have a shower. When I looked in the bathroom mirror I almost died. I had this really dark upper lip. It looked like I had a moustache. I looked closely in the mirror and I realised that my upper lip was coated in Walnut dust. My ego popped. I burst out laughing because I was so confident that all the riders of the TTC thought I was some sort of steel-toed vision. But really the entire time they were wondering whether or not they were sharing a train with Tom Selleck.

The Lonely Hearts Club

2010-02-14T06:35:00.010-05:00

Happy Valentines Day

Well I've got to say that I have always been a little wary of this day. It started when I was in grade 2 and the boy I liked had a crush on my friend and she got a really nice valentine and I got nada...it hurt...it really really hurt.

So here's the deal. For all you Lovers, have a good one but don't flaunt your nice home-made-doily-construction-paper valentines. For the Lonely Hearts Club...eat lots of chocolate and watch A Star Is Born. And if you have someone who has your heart but lives 3000 miles away just remember all the wonderful together times you've shared. Eee

Tennessee

2010-02-12T17:29:00.011-05:00

N is for NEST-Now available on Etsy

Oh Gosh! I said goodbye to $300 this morning. I didn't even have time to hug it or kiss it or make sure it had it's lunchbox. I was completely reckless and spontaneous...then I got a sore stomach and felt kinda sick because gals like me don't just drop money likety-split like that . But sometimes you got a spend a little to gain a little. And gain I will. I will have to wait until June but it will be so worth it because that is when me and my girl wonder Alison are going to roadtrip down to Tennessee for the Bonnaroo Festival. It is going to be such an amazing trip, I am so excited. My mid-winter blues have completely vanished and now all I can think about is long days, sunshine, dirty feet and tan lines. Now I know I am beginning to sound like a stalker but Kris Kristofferson will be performing there, he's not the reason I'm going...but he definitely made it easier to part with the money.

xo Katie

Motivated

2010-02-09T08:44:00.006-05:00

Well hi there,

I'm very excited to announce that my Humane Antlers are now going to be available through Interior Motives in Thornbury. Ohhhhh Lordy, I'm so happy because I just love that shop! So next time you are in the Thornbury area I suggest you go in and have a little goosey gander.

Interior Motives

40 Bruce Street South

Thornbury

519 599 5013

Freedom's Just Another Word...

2010-02-05T07:18:00.009-05:00

White Thoated Sparrow, how I do love your song dear sweet Canada

I'm about to be a CBC Geek again but I don't care because this is big. Guess who was on Q on Thursday? My beloved Kris Kristofferson! I actually stopped everything I was doing, sat down and was frightened to even breath just in case I missed a syllable of what he said. And let me tell you something, he did not disappoint! When the interview was done I felt so incredibly inspired. Please listen to it, I swear he will inspire you. Especially if your career path has changed and you are now following your heart.

Also I have to thank my fellow CBC Geek Alison for going on and on about Radio 2's Drive with Rich Terfry. I've started tuning in and I've decided that it's the best show on the airwaves. I love it! On yesterdays show a very precious Rich Terfry asked all the listeners to tell their friends about the show so that is what I am doing. If you want to hear the best selection of incredible Canadian Music you need to listen to Drive. CBC Radio 2 weekdays 3:30-7

http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/qpodcast_20100204_27011.mp3 (20minutes and 45 seconds into the podcast is when the Kristofferson interview starts)

Long Winter's Night

2010-01-30T20:06:00.004-05:00

Kris Kristofferson: I heart you

I don't know what to say other than a vintage 1976 Kristofferson with a hint of rock n' roll and slight undertones of toplessness is a wonderful vision that is keeping me warm this winter.

I think it was a Thursday

2010-01-28T18:10:00.006-05:00

what day did God say "let there be light"?

please say it was a Thursday

I said a few weeks ago that I was going to start branching off into lighting...well here it is. The Antler Chandelier. This one will not be for sale on etsy but I will be making some more in the coming weeks. I just wanted to share with you the final product after a few too many prototypes.

Don't Stop Believing

2010-01-19T21:33:00.004-05:00

top to bottom: Me, Alison and Natalie. Our last day together at the Knotty Buoy

photo taken by the fabulous Norman Wong

The last summer I had living in Toronto before I moved to England was totally magical. Every day was exciting and fresh. Me and my beloved Alison were working together and we’d get up super early and set out for work. We were both about to move away from the city and we really really really savoured every waking moment of our lives. We worked a lot in the beaches and we usually biked but sometimes we had a car so we’d drive from our house at College and Spadina. This came in very handy one day because we’d left something really important at home and we had to drive from the beaches and get it. We got a tad grumpy because it was a total waste of time-not to mention the traffic was awful and we were barely moving trying to get onto the Gardiner Expressway. So we turned on the radio but we couldn’t find any station that wasn’t playing Nickleback. So we just sat in silence. Then this guy pulls up beside us in a black BMW and he’s blasting Journey Don’t Stop Believing. I yelled out the window “Hey, what radio station are you listening to?” He says to me “It’s not radio it’s a CD.” And Alison and I were like “Oooooohhhhh NOOOOOOOO!”

The traffic moved forward a bit and stopped again and we continued to sit in our silent brood. Next thing we see is this guy running towards our car and he throws this thing through the window and it plonks on Alison’s lap. It was the guy from the BMW! He threw us the CD! He just says to us “You ladies can have it!”. Then he runs back to his car and the traffic starts to move and he just takes off. He overtakes us, speeds up the ramp onto the Gardiner and disappears. All we had time to take in was his black BMW and the license plate TURBOFLM. We put on the CD and it was all Journey. Don’t Stop Believing was on the CD 4 times! Needless to say our moods were transformed. It was just so magical.

So, why am I telling this story? Well, other than the fact that it’s a fun story to tell... I really think that Journey is right. Don’t Stop Believing. Even when life feels tough you just gotta believe in what you do. Magical things will always happen when you believe.

A Pat on the Back

2010-01-18T16:41:00.007-05:00

I'm kind of pumped right now because I've just been featured in the Etsy Storque. I love all the selections and I'm totally proud of my Humane Antlers for being there with so many inspiring creations.

http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-culture-club-6783/

a b c d e f g

2010-01-13T07:46:00.004-05:00

T is for Tree....of course

In addition to adding Light Fixtures to my Etsy site I'm pleased to debut the Alphabet Series. Each letter of the alphabet represents something from nature that I really love. Over the next few months the entire alphabet will be revealed. You'll just have to stay tuned to see what each letter brings.

New Years Resolution

2010-01-04T08:11:00.010-05:00

Shotgun Chapel Birdhouse: Inspired by rural Ontario churches

The roof is driftwood hand sewn with fishing line collected from the Beaver River

So winters set in. It's c-c-cold and windy and there is so much snow. Alan has been here for 1 month and he just loves the snow. It's so deep on him but he just plows through it and where he can't plow he swims or hops like a deer. He's a very cute doggy when he's up to his little ears in the snow.

I just thought I would share my new years resolution with you because when I say something out loud I have to commit to it (except that Kite I said I was going make in 2003-that didn't happen and it probably never will...ooops). I'm branching off and I'm going to start making lighting fixtures and I will be adding them to Etsy in a few weeks. This is something I've wanted to do for a few years and figure I might as well start now.

Happy New Year

xo Katie

4 more sleeps...

2009-12-01T19:55:00.007-05:00

Red Wing Blackbird: You are too much for my heart

My two most beloveds (Hazzy and Alan) are coming on saturday and I am tooooo excited to sleep...or write anything else...eeeee

The Sky is Falling

2009-11-22T16:37:00.006-05:00

I don't want to sound like a complete dinkus but how did I forget that Chicken Licken gets eaten by foxes? And also how did I forget that 6 of his friends got eaten too? Are children's stories still jerky like this? I don't know why it's upset me so much but I don't think it's fair to have a hero taken out like that, plus I don't think that the fox and his family could eat a chick, a hen, a rooster, 2 ducks, a goose and a turkey at one sitting it's unrealistic and a bit indulgent. Piss. I'm really irked by all this. I wish I never found this book and read it today.

I think this is what would really happen if this was real life and not some stupid jerk story. The turkey and and goose would have fought back and scared the foxes. The ducks would have flown away immediately, in fact they wouldn't have been able to walk all that way to the foxes den because ducks aren't good at long distance over land. The rooster would have done some serious damage trying to protect his beloved Henny Penny but it would be in vain because she died trying to protect Chicken Licken. And Chicken Licken would have got eaten too but not before he escaped and managed to alert the King that the sky was falling. On his way back from alerting the King our noble Chicken is running to help save his friends and he gets ambushed by one of the mean fox cubs (what a flipping hero). And who even is this King? I'll tell you. In my revised version the King is Isaac Newton. After the funeral Isaac sits under the tree where Chicken Licken first felt the sky fall (to reflect) and he feels it fall again but then he realises it's an apple falling to the ground and thus he discovers gravity. So I mean it's quite obvious that Chicken Licken led Newton to discover gravity. What a stand-up chap. THE END

Retirement

2009-11-08T15:50:00.003-05:00

Farewell to my faithful jeans. It's with a heavy heart that I must retire them...but we've had a good run. These were the first jeans I got wood glue on. They have been my constant companion for the last 3 years. And now they have rotted. I would continue to wear them still because the torn knees and upper tears don't bother me but it's what's happening around the bum department that is making me lay them to rest.

I think when my sister (the one who found an abandoned house and turned it into a nudist colony with my friend Ed when they were 15) says that they are inappropriate because my bum isn't covered, perhaps I need to listen.

CBC Geek

2009-11-06T15:09:00.007-05:00

Perhaps one of the best things about being back in Canada is that I get to listen to the CBC again. I missed it so much in Engy and sometimes Hazzy and I would play Age of Persuasion online as our bed time story. But there is something about being in Canada and listening to the CBC that can't be topped. My friend Alison and I call ourselves CBC Geeks because of how much of a kick we get out of the radio. Alison nominated Cheese Magic in Kensington for the Great Canadian Songquest and one afternoon they made an announcement on the radio that you had to be 'more specific than Cheese Magic' for Songquest nominations. She was so excited to be-somewhat-mentioned on the radio.

I have also been stuck in bed with the worst flu for the last 3 days so CBC has been getting a fair slice of my undivided attention and I was looking forward to listening to Q today because a very special girl I know was the Friday Live guest.

Her name is Luanda Jones and I worked with her 2 years ago and her voice is so wonderful and clean that it makes me feel like I am listening to water. She has only been in Canada for 4ish years and she's learnt english in that short time. She always wanted people at work to correct her when she mispronounced words...and we would except when she said pier instead of pear because that was tooo cute. In fact up until about 8 months ago I said pier too because it was fun. So here is a link to her website http://www.luandajones.com/ p.s. be prepared to fall in love because she is so bew-dee-ful. Oh, and go to http://www.cbc.ca/q/ to download the podcast.

Canada

2009-09-20T20:14:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note to say that Lost Nation has moved to Canada. I don't feel like going into the details at the moment but when I start blogging about maple trees and snow and lakes and all things Canadian it's because I am back on Canadian soil.

xoxo
Katie

being a big kid

2009-08-08T07:34:00.003-04:00

Well I think I can finally say I am becoming a big kid. I've set up in the new wood shop 3 weeks ago and it's taken a lot of paint and a little tlc but I finally have a really amazing workspace. This is a little picture of where I spend very long periods of time. There is so much natural light in this place that I can work well into the evening without ever turning on a light bulb!

Other news. I arrived in Toronto for a month reunion tour on Friday after spending what seemed like 27 years in transit. We had a medical emergency on the plane and we had to stop in Quebec City for 2 hours. I don't quite know what was happening but it think it was all under control. I was met at the airport by some Knotty Buoys and my bestest friend Ed. Showers of hugs and kisses and cuddles have been taking place ever since. I'm off to visit my family in their new house in the Blue Mountains on Monday and can't wait. And in a week I will be at my beloved cottage. Eeeeeee! I am soooo excited and having soo much fun (and drinking really really nice americano's.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm)

Lost Nation Road

2009-07-10T14:53:00.010-04:00

stretching in the moonlight- the far hazy forest is Lost Nation

So we've moved. It almost killed me- never again will I move house and wood shop at the same time. I've taken some time away from the blog....but I've started feeling guilty about not writing anything, I am moving into the wood shop next Wednesday so I can start putting creations up again but in the meantime I will tell a little story. It's the story of the inspiration of the name Lost Nation.

the lake from my cottage deck

My cottage is a very sacred place. My dad built it in 1973 with a handsaw and a chainsaw. I love my cottage very very deeply and I have a deep magnetic pull to it. We used to run like wild children up there and my sister and I would always go on huge excursions that would take most of the day. When we were 15/16 we decided to take the canoe and go rock climbing at the far end of the lake and my younger cousin came along for the adventure. Of course when we got to the top of the rock face Annika and I decided to investigate the woods and we found a logging road that we just had to go down. We ended up walking for ages and to our surprise we ended up on Lost Nation Road. A road that we wanted to go up for ages but we only knew how to get to it from the main road. We were so excited to be there but quickly sobered up because we realised we were miles away from home and our canoe was tucked into the trees half-way up the lake. We also had trudged through loads of private property but only realised when we got to link roads. So we decided we couldn't go back so we went forward (we'd been adventuring for quite a few hours and my cousin was tired and he was getting really pissed at us). Anyways Annika and I swam a kilometer back to our canoe laughing all the way and my cousin walked/stomped along the road to the boat landing where we picked him up with the canoe. It was such an amazing adventure and we did it almost every year. We called it The Lost Nation Pilgrimage. Many special people have done it with us and it has always been a symbol to me of absolute freedom and beautiful, wild, pristine nature.

I got Lost Nation tattooed on my arm last year because what it means to me and calling the business Lost Nation just made sense.

of course all the knotty buoys have anchor tattoos and the birds are there because I love them

Things I am going to miss: episode 3

2009-06-26T15:51:00.006-04:00

It's pouring rain here. There is nothing quite like torrential summer rain. It hits me pretty deep inside and makes me feel very alive. The wood shop has now been taken apart and so has the entire house. I've got piles of things waiting to to be moved. It's so weird being inside a house without anything on the walls to make it pretty. Oh well, only 1.5 days left.

I realised yesterday that I am going to miss all my nice neighbours. They have been so kind to me and Hazzy. Like today, for example, my neighbour brought me fresh strawberries and a few days ago she brought me eggs. We've been invited to dinner, given cider, fresh vegetables and so many eggs (I can't keep track).

We had this book at my cottage called Orlando and his little time friends. It's about this boy who goes travelling with his parents one summer and he meets all these neat kids at each place they stop. They become his little time friends because he only knows them for a short time. I love making little time friends. Little time friends and little time neighbours, how nice!

Things I am going to miss: episode 2

2009-06-25T13:03:00.003-04:00

That's a big hole in the wall of our woodshop. I'm not going to miss working inside the barn one bit, it's drafty and damp and disgusting but I am going to miss that hole (or window as Hazzy and I like to say). When we have the machines running we put the dog outside and he runs around to the hole and poke his head through it to make sure we are still inside.

Nathanial Moonshine

2009-06-24T11:16:00.006-04:00

I sold Nathanial Moonshine about 2 weeks ago on Etsy. I know it's stupid but I kind of got attached to this old Honky Tonks fabulous handle bars moustache. I hope he's not breaking too many hearts in his new home in Russia.

M-m-m-m-m-moving

2009-06-23T08:38:00.003-04:00

hallo gorgeous, pucker up!

Hazzy and I have finally decided where we are moving to. It's most exciting because it's on the sea. Eeeeeee! I suppose that what ultimately made the decision for us was finding an affordable woodshop and we seem to have done that. But I keep pinching myself because it seems to good to be true. I still need to sign some pieces of paper and blah blah blah boring stuff...but it looks like Lost Nation is finally going to be moving into a proper woodshop.

Things I am going to miss: episode 1

2009-06-18T16:56:00.004-04:00

my heart has been stolen by this local herd of cows
(or as I like to call them cloooooks and plows)

Don't even get me started on my little girly Hildy

I may even miss Mr. Bully to her right

10 days left in Knowstone and I'm becoming extremely sentimental. I thought I'd document over the next week some of the things that are going to be hardest to say goodbye to. I have a feeling they will mostly be animal related. My sister took these 2 photo's when she was here, I love the look on the Clooks and Plows angel face.

Floorboards

2009-06-17T06:49:00.010-04:00

I made this table for my next door neighbour about a month back. It's made from old elm floorboards he pulled up from his house. Some of the boards were over 12" wide, which for me was very exciting because floorboards don't come that wide anymore.

Knotty Buoys

2009-06-12T04:53:00.005-04:00

diana: Paul Ruddering the boat, natalie: copping a feel (as per usual) , alison: looking for her lost compass, me: searching for land

I'm going to Canada for August for a little holiday and I can't wait. I got so homesick last month because I really wanted to see a few very special gals...and now I'm counting down the weeks before we are reunited. We call ourselves the Knotty Buoys, a name that stemmed from a boat I was going to buy that me and my little Natalie were going to live on (which didn't happen in the end). But everything happens for a reason and our stars aligned and through amazing circumstance we all ended up moving in together. So we called our house the Knotty Buoy in honour of the boat and we became the Knotty Buoys.

A little Tree(t)

2009-06-10T11:40:00.008-04:00

look at what I found when I was walking the dog! wild strawberries...sooooo yummy!

I went into town yesterday to get some supplies for me and some nice bones for the dog and I decided to tree(t) myself to a field guide book of European Trees. Something I've wanted since the day I moved here. It's so amazing I think it's one of the best purchases I have ever made.

Deer me, you look nice

2009-06-09T16:52:00.007-04:00

after prototyping for months these are the final humane antlers

available on my etsy page

Soggy Day

2009-06-08T13:04:00.006-04:00

At long last my Humane Antlers are finished. However, I'm working on a new set that is going to be a bit tighter looking and slightly more realistic. It's been raining all day and I've found it really hard to get motivated to do anything substantial. I'm in the mood to sketch tonight so I might go and make some soup and build a fire and get cozy for the evening. My bird of the moment is the Jackdaw. My god are they ever nice to watch. So I think that Mr. Jackdaw is going to be my evening sketching project.

I'll send you a postcard...

2009-06-07T03:16:00.002-04:00

Well I've just waved goodbye to my sister. Her and Hazzy are going to catch the train up to London. Which just leaves me and Alan. I just had a mini holiday with her and it was so nice. I'm kind of at a loss of what to do now and she's only been gone 20 minutes.

In 3 weeks we are moving away from Knowstone and going down to Totnes. A move that makes me feel so sad but I know that it's for the best. We live in a place that is far too rural and impossible to get anywhere. As I write this though, 30 sheep just ran past my window being tranferred to a new field, that's the stuff I'm going to miss most. But...I need a bigger woodshop! so we need to find reshuffle how we spend our money, because currently spending £200 a month on petrol is bordering on ridiculous.

So I'm going to start packing up this little old cottage, I'm going to try and be as organized as possible but I know that inevitably things are going to get shoved into a box and when I unpack I won't be able to find the kettle until well into 2011.

Nice 'stache Fella

2009-06-04T12:07:00.012-04:00

moustache on a stick...my newest and favouritest invention

My best sister friend Annika is visiting me this week and we've been blessed with amazing hot sunny weather. We've been creating a whole bunch of things which has been a blast, my favourite I gotta say is moustache on a stick. I'm working on more as we speak. We've been going on long walks with Alan in the evening and Annika has met all my animal friends (including Potatoes who is still an angel).

Shanty Time

2009-05-18T07:57:00.004-04:00

Shanty Town

Sad:
On Friday I almost lost my eye. It was the closest I've ever been to a woodworking accident and I hope ever will be. I was making a jig and the nail gun I was using was firing out 2 nails at a time. There was a nail jammed inside it so I removed it from the power source and cleared out the nail. I plugged it back in but it was still firing funny so I unplugged it again and emptied it of nails and removed the face of the gun. I didn't realise that there was a nail loaded into the chamber. So when I removed the face of the gun the nail just shot out at me. I just managed to pull my face back as the nail flew past my eye. It hit my hat though. I dropped the gun and kind of collapsed and then just started to cry. It was so scary. Now I'm 110% safety patrol. I was trying to do things too quickly and I think it was the wood gods reminding me to chill out a bit.

Happy:
These little houses are part of my Shanty Town. I make them from scrap wood and driftwood. They make nice storage boxes, plus they are purrty cute. Speaking of Shanty....Hazzy's Theatre Company, SHANTY THEATRE COMPANY, fundraiser is this Sunday in London at Menier Chocolat Factory. It's going to be awesome. So if anyone's free and in London on May 24... come and have a drink with us!

IMPORTANT! CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE

2009-05-14T05:35:00.004-04:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE. CLICK TO ENLARGE. CLICK TO ENLARGE. CLICK TO ENLARGE

New York, Gina and George Nakashima

2009-05-07T06:00:00.013-04:00

the conoid chair

I'm about 1 week away from the two year anniversary of a decision that changed my life and I have this glorious chair to thank.

I was in New York visiting my girlfriend Gina and she was busy with her last week of school. I did the classic touristy things (galleries, museums and shopping) during the day and we'd meet up in the evenings and hang out and chat (mainly on her fire escape with a pack of camel cigarettes-back when I used to smoke)

I remember I was in The MET and I'd been walking for hours in shoes that were really hurting my feet. I ended up in a quiet section with a huge wooden slab coffee table with some chairs around it. I sat in one of the chairs and lost all ability to move. This was the most comfortable chair I'd ever sat in. I felt deeply moved and had the urge to tell someone about it. I turned around and said to the nearest employee "this is the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in." She looked at me and said really quite dryly "it's a George Nakashima." Now of course at the time I'd never heard of George Nakashima and I had no idea what she meant by this. All I could think was whoever made this chair understood the human form. I'd never imagined sitting so low to the ground would feel so right. When I finally got up after close to 5 minutes sitting in the chair I looked at it and thought what a glorious piece of woodwork it was.

I left the museum and the chair and continued my day of New York tourism but a little seed had been planted in me. I wanted to make furniture like that too. I wanted to use my hands, work with wood and make nice honest designs. I was too scared to tell any of my family and friends that I wanted to make furniture because I thought they'd think I was being flakey but I can't keep a secret and within 2 weeks everyone knew. Within 5 weeks of that trip to visit Gina in New York I had my first job working with a furniture maker in Etobicoke. Now almost 2 years later I've got my own business. Lost Nation is my little sappling and it's slowly growing and it's thrilling and terrifying and exciting and I love it.

http://www.nakashimawoodworker.com/

Labour Swap and Links

2009-04-29T09:04:00.008-04:00

Jewelry Tree

I'm going to be getting a website in the nearish future and I am so excited. The best bit is that my lovely friend Jen is making it and she is so artistic and talented that I can hardly handle it. We are doing a labour swap so she does my website and I make her a desk (one she can sit at and make more websites!) Her company is called Little White Canvass. Go and have a visit. www.littlewhitecanvas.co.uk Sometimes she has websites that she's been working on when you go there. Right now it's of a B&B, it's very very loverly.

I'm off to go buy some wood for our next project. I'm so behind on putting furniture up here. But they are coming. It's just hard now that the days are longer to be on the computer at night. Lately I don't finish working until about 8:30 and it's still light! How exciting.

Anyways here's a picture of my favourite thing to make. It's a jewelry tree made from driftwood. I'm going to be making some humane antlers soon (when I find time). Ohhhhh yeah I never put a link through to my Etsy page. www.lostnation.etsy.com

This little piggy came home

2009-04-04T12:57:00.006-04:00

This is Jenny Wren. Wren's have such cute bums!

Well after a long wait and being told we didn't have a spot. We managed to sneak our way into Totnes market on Friday. Sooooooooooooooooooooooo..............How did it go? I think we had a really successful day. Maybe not in terms of bathing in a tub filled with shiny British Pound Sterling-but in terms of getting amazing advice, meeting really neat people (including 2 torontonians) and learning what we need to do to make our next market successful. Plus...it's a really cheap way to advertise Lost Nation.

Our next market stall is going to be filled with really exciting things. Like-oh I don't know-some gigantic garden games (remember parties at The Knotty Buoy!?)

I've been trying to write this for the last 3 days but have been soo damn tired I haven't had a chance. I honestly felt like I 'd been drugged over the weekend. Today I didn't even get out of bed until 8:20 and anyone who knows me well knows that's insane. I just blame it on the clocks changing to make me feel better. Last night I had fallen asleep by the fire around 8 and woke up at 10 and peed the dog and went up to bed. I was just about to get into bed when I noticed a spider the size of my fist at the foot of my bed. He was too big to move and I didn't want to share the room with him so I slept downstairs by the fire. I haven't seen any sign of him today but I think he's waiting until lights out before he attacks. He's soooooooooooooo SCARY! I'm not even scared of spiders but this one is more like a small eight legged dog.

This little piggy went to market

2009-03-26T17:07:00.003-04:00

Bird Buntings made from recycled envelopes

Hazzy and I have a pretty sweet life. We have a nice cozy home, friendly neighbours, beautiful countryside and loads of fresh air, a little dog, we even have a pub 100m from our doorstep. But we can't go to the pub most of the time because we don't have any spare cash. The last time we went there was about 2 months ago. We know we are lucky and we've chosen this life but man does it ever get stressful sometimes. We've decided that we don't want to change what we are doing we need to do things differently. So after listening to feedback from people we've decided to have a market stall selling stuff we make. We are having our first stall next week in Totnes and I'm really really excited. In fact that's the reason I didn't blog for a month. Every evening I do about 3 hours of market work. I call it 'market research' because I am funny....... We sell things that are made from from recycled material or vintage pieces that we've freshened up. It's going to be exciting. Hopefully it will make us some spare cash so we can afford to buy a pint or 2.

Doggy ate the Poison

2009-03-24T14:19:00.008-04:00

Look at my sweet one crushing all my plants as they sprout

Where have I been? I don't know... up to no good I suppose. I actually feel like I haven't had a chance to think about this old blog. So many things have happened and I haven't felt as though I've had a spare moment to come and talk about it.

My little doggy got into some trouble yesterday that almost killed him. On our morning walk down to the river he found a tin can filled with blue barley and tuna bits and I couldn't get it off of him. I was being all nice to him at the beginning because I didn't know what the blue barley was, I kept saying 'leave it' in a really nice voice. The rescue horses in the nearby field came to the gate to see what was happening. But after about a minute I panicked because blue barley isn't natural and he was gorging himself on this stuff and I flipped out and I screamed 'LEAVE IT YOU LITTLE SHIT!' and the can dropped out of his little mouth and he looked soooooo shocked. I got the can and looked up to see my horsey friends (Dirty and Niblets) staring at me utterly disgusted for verbally abusing my dodgey. I got home and told Hazzy and he told me it was rat poison. I learnt a little trick in 'nam that if a dog eats poison you pour salt down the back of it's throat and that induces vomit. I've done before with my old dog Cocoa and it worked but Alan is too cunning and we couldn't get enough in him. So we took him to the vet and they sorted him out. We have pet insurance though, our excess is £70 and the bill came to £71.84 so I'm not sure if we are going to take the time to make a claim for £1.84.

Lambs and Secrets

2009-02-26T16:21:00.007-05:00

this is a print from etsy shop SaintKitten

what a cute lamb lamb

Well hello there. I don't know where the time has gone but the last few weeks have just flown by. I haven't had time to do anything fun at all lately. It's all work. Doggy has barely had a proper walk this week. I can't think of anything interesting to report except there are 2 little baby sheep that were born on monday in the village and I got to pet them when they were only a few hours old. Oh My GOD! They were so small and shakey and cute. And something else that I have been keeping a secret since january because it's taken some time to come to terms with...Potatoes is a boy! I suppose this is a good time to alert everyone since I'm on the topic of sheep. Potatoes mama, the lady with all the rescues animals, told me his history and I think I was so traumatised that he was a boy I just couldn't think of an easy way to report it here.

Basically the reason that Potatoes is so tiny is that his mama had no milk when he was born and he refused to be bottle fed. And the little guy gets sick a lot too. Isn't Potatoes the nicest sheep in the world? I've barely seen Potatoes lately, he's been moved to a field full of sheep and he looks so much more happy.

Bed Time Story

2009-02-20T15:07:00.001-05:00

Sticky and Tickety Kicky
Lived in a house made of wool
With a path made of buttons and pennies
Cotton lawn, and a silk waterfall

They fished by the river at night time
Caught pebbles and threads from the sea
Collected them up in a hamper
And knitted crumpets for tea.

Sticky and Tickety Kicky
Spun things from wood in a barn
With a roof made from bits found on beaches
And walls that were woven from yarn

When it snowed on their house it grew larger
When it rained on their house it got small
And the things that they made deep inside it
Got stuck in the door to the hall

In the spring they grew porcelain cabbage
And lunched with some cousins and friends
Bunny, Fox, Rusty-Knees, Birdsong
All came every morning at ten

They looked at their bobbins and trinkets
And giggled at things made of straw
They stared at the pin-cushion bob-clouds
And wrote lymerics to Mr JackDaw

Then when the day was all finished
And nothing was left then to do
The sun got so heavy and droopy
And slept in a warm orange stew

They yawned as they reached for the light switch
And sighed as they turned off the stars
They slept in a pile by the door step
And dreamt patchwork dreams from a jar

Fridge

2009-02-17T16:37:00.005-05:00

nothing's changed wood, I still love you

I had an odd dream last night and I never got to finish it because the dog was pacing around the room and it woke me up. It was really nice and I had lots of nice t-shirts and a really awesome tan suede tool belt with lots of tassels dangling down. I don't remember why it was odd. I actually think it was more nice and stress free than anything. I think I had a bit of money because I was shopping for clothes. I had a dream when I was about 12 that I met Brian Bell from Weezer and he was staying at my neighbours house and when I woke up I was really disappointed that he wasn't there. I think when I woke up today I felt sad that I didn't have lots of spare cash.

Hazzy and I don't have a fridge. I am quite pleased not to have a fridge and never really realised how little you need one in the winter months. I occasionally miss having ice cubes and I think Haz misses ice cream but all in all our hanging bag in the barn does one hell of a job. I am worried about the weather warming up and I think we can pull off no refrigerator until April but then we'll have to go to the market and fork over some cash.

Jeremy Kestrel

2009-02-13T06:14:00.005-05:00

This is Jeremy Kestrel. He's the first thing I put up on Etsy

11:20am

I hate days like these. They always start badly because I'm to eager when I go to bed. You know when you set the alarm a bit earlier because you have a busy day but then you are too tired when you wake up and end up sleeping in for even longer then you would on an average day? I'm also stressy because I'm opening up my etsy shop today. I couldn't find my camera charger until an hour ago and I needed it badly. And I'm pretty high on fumes right now because I am finishing a table top inside the house because it's too cold to do it in the woodshop and it stinks in here. But I think I just needed to vent and I already feel a bit better. Okay! I am going to pull my socks up and report back in a little bit.

2:02pm

I've just finished getting my meager sellings up on etsy! Whooooooooo! One day before my final deadline. I feel soooo good now. Although I'm sure it's because I'm high from the oil fumes. Oh well. Alan and I are going for a long walk and that will sort me out. Wheeeeeeeee!

Matilda and the Bunny

2009-02-12T17:59:00.003-05:00

thanks for saving my life Matilda!

Bloomers

2009-02-09T11:31:00.007-05:00

are you that nice?

half of my kitchen window

Hazzy gave me £10 in the fall so I could buy bulbs for my garden. When I brought them home I put them on the windowsill in the kitchen and thought how beautiful they looked there. That was in October. I kept on meaning to plant them but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I loved seeing my pretty bags of bulbs on the sill. Before I knew what was happening it was January and I still hadn't planted my bulbs. Then I felt sad because I wasn't going to have any pretty flowers around because I'd enjoyed the company of bulbs too much. But I thought 'why not grow a little garden in jars?' So I got all the glass bottle and jars and egg cups I could find and I filled them with water and stuck a bulb (sometimes 2 or 3 and in one case 4) in each. My bulbs began to root and grow and I'd watch their progress. My first one bloomed today and I think 4 more are going to bloom tomorrow. Ohhhhhh I love flowers growing.

Box of Goodies

2009-02-08T04:37:00.011-05:00

look at these two! what a bunch of sweet peas

I can't even talk about this one (single tear leaking from my eye)

I think that's Mussolini on the stamp. Don't tell me if I'm wrong
(I like to pretend I have a postcard with a dic...tator on it)

She made me sad so I adopted her

James came over yesterday and read us the first 21 chapters of his book. It isn't finished yet and the publishers haven't even looked at it so it felt like a real treat. We had the fire going and the house was all cozy and warm. Ahhhhhhh it was so nice. He'd been at an auction before he came to our house and he bought (amongst other things) a box of 1000 vintage postcards and photos. He took a handful but left the rest with us. Now the house is covered in old black and white photos and amazing postcards with sweet notes on them. They all have that amazing musty paper smell that makes me high. There are really too many gems to show here, soooo if anyone wants an old postcard in the mail...email me your address and I'll send you one. These are my favourite ones and I already have a sentimental attachment so don't expect to receive them. But that's my only clause.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Snow Day

2009-02-06T04:39:00.010-05:00

tree+snow= beautious one

my snowy village

Wheeeeeeeee! We went to bed last night and big chunky snowflakes were coming down and this morning when I got up it looked like Canada. We got a proper snowfall-finally! And to make more of an adventure of our day we didn't have any power this morning and we are snowed in! We are stuck! I love snow and I really miss it being in England but it's here now and our little village looks like it was just made for heavy snowfalls. I have some lovely memories of snow and thought I'd share with you a little story about snow.

We used to go up to our farm every weekend in the winter when I was growing up and it was always so exciting when we got there. Most times we'd arrive and the snowplows would have put a huge snowbank up on our driveway so my mom and dad would get out of the truck and shovel it away. Our driveway is a very long one probably 150 meters, my dad would back up the truck into the mouth of the drive right by the road. Then out came the toboggan on went all our supplies and we'd go back and forth up the long driveway between the truck and the house. I remember Annika and I always being so excited when we got there. Our farm is in a Snowbelt and the snow would always be so deep. I felt so lucky to experience this because in Toronto the snow wasn't nearly as deep. Then my dad would light the wood stove and turn the power on in the house. For as long as I live I will never forget the feeling of getting inside a house that was the same temperature as outside. Annika and I would put two chairs in front of the stove and drink hot chocolate and warm up. Sooooo nice.

it's hard having to go so far to work in the snow

(kitchen door to wood shop)

Thanks, but you're not my type

2009-02-03T09:23:00.014-05:00

rocks love snow

bird tracks are soo nice

The most incredible thing happened to me today when I was taking dog dog for a walk. We were walking through the woods to get to these big fields on the other side. I was busy photographing animal prints in the snow. I was hoping to find some deer tracks because a huge group of Red Deer live in this wood. Anyways I found some Bambi tracks and dog was running around with a gross bone he'd found (section of a sheep rib-cage). I took some photo's and started walking again. Then out of the forest no more than 15 feet in front of me jumped this huge buck, his antlers were gigantic. The dog was on the other side of him and almost got trampled. I couldn't move because I was shocked. Then out jumps another one even closer to me. And then behind me a doe jumps out. I stood there for a long while to make sure nothing else was coming-the last thing I want is to be trampled by a 500lb deer. Dog was so excited, he was running around trying to find where they went. We continued on and got to the first field and down at the bottom end of it the 2 bucks were crossing it. They were doing a big circle to get back to the woods. They saw me and stopped moving and one turned and faced the other and they smashed their antlers together! It was so beautiful! I think they were trying to court me and I didn't have the heart to tell them that beards do it for me-not antlers.

Pauline

2009-01-31T14:54:00.007-05:00

completely unrelated to Pauline...but what a little foxy angel

Back in 2007 I had a shitty little contract job at Hatley in Toronto. I was making spec sheets and organizing pantone colours. I got the job because my friend Dee worked there. The technical designer was this awesome girl named Pauline. I worked with her for a month and then she came in one day and rather abruptly handed in her 2 weeks notice-she and her lover were moving to Vancouver. She said it was kind of unplanned and they just decided to move...but I always had my reservations (am I right Pauline? How long had you been planning your escape?) Anyways Pauline left and Hatley stopped being a fun place to work. They ran out of stuff for me to do so they let me go soon after. (Which is the best thing that ever happened to me because I had 1 month unemployment and decided to change my life and start making furniture.)

Anyways what the hell ever happened to Pauline? Well let me tell you. Pauline still lives in Vancouver has started an amazing clothing company called flora & fauna. This is the type of clothing company that I whole-heartedly support. flora & fauna clothing is produced locally, ethically and sustainably. If that isn't good enough for you Pauline is obsessed with all animals especially kitty cats, she is very good at making avocado pits sprout and she has named all her pieces in her Spring 2009 collection after animals. Cute! Go and have a goosey gander at her website and blog and see what sorts of cool and inspiring things she is doing.

http://floraandfauna.ca/index.php

http://floraandfaunablog.blogspot.com/

The Etsy Resolution

2009-01-30T04:10:00.005-05:00

Enfield

Soooooo, we have a little problem with our jointer right now. It's fixable but it requires a tool that we don't have. We are going to go into town to buy it this afternoon. I've decided that this morning is the perfect time to start making things to sell on ETSY. I have made an internal resolution that my Etsy shop is going to be opened on February 14. It's an easy day to remember and it's soon so I have to stop procrastinating. I stumbled on Etsy over christmas doing a random online search I can't believe I didn't know it existed until then. Etsy is absolutely inspired. It's an online marketplace where people can buy and sell handmade things. I think there are over 170 000 shops. There are so many frickin’ talented creative people in the world I can’t even handle it. Go and look at Etsy (www.etsy.com) and do it when you have some free time because it’s addictive.

Today's picture is what I see when I look out the study window. That thatched house is called Enfield and the big tree is just beyond our local pub.

Beach Collecting and the Shark

2009-01-27T14:06:00.015-05:00

This is the coolest thing I've ever found on a beach

Yes! I needed a new set of fabric scissors

The Good News:
I went to the best beach yesterday. I visited it back at the end of August when I first moved here and I have been wet dreaming about it ever since. It's amazing! There is one part along the shore line that apparently had a mud slide last may and it has uncovered all sorts of treasures. I think that once upon a time there must have been an old dump there because there are all types of broken crockery, old glass bottles and rusting metal. I've decided it is my duty to re home as much of this treasure as I possibly can. I love this beach, it makes my heart beat a bit faster when I think about it. I went with Alan (Paddy hasn't stuck) and I think it is fair to say we both had an amazing time.

The Bad News:
(This part of the story is a bit sad because the day began with a bit of a tragedy)

As soon as we got to the beach Alan found a dogfish that had been stranded on the beach when the tide went down. The fishy wasn't doing to well because it had been out of water for a very long time. I love all animals but am really scared of touching things without legs. I knew that I had to save him and that took a lot of pep talking. I finally managed to pick him up in my bag and I took him down to the water. I kept yelling 'Come on fishies, we can do it!' Sadly by the time we got to the water the situation had worsened and fishy was dead. It broke my heart because I kept trying to get him to swim away. I was saying ''Go on fishies, swim away'' but he didn't. I tried my hardest and I couldn't save him. It was really sad.

I told Hazzy about the dogfish tragedy and he told me that they are small sharks. So the fact that I couldn't save him meant that other little fishies live because the dogfish would have eaten them. I am glad I didn't know I was picking up a shark because I don't think I would have been able to move him if I had known he had sharp teeth.

Bird Song

2009-01-24T04:08:00.006-05:00

mind your socks of yellow...saucey fellow

Ontario has nut-hatches too but in Engy they are everywhere!

Be still my heart! Long-tailed tit. Angel

I was thinking yesterday how much I am going to miss the sound of the red-winged black bird this spring. I sound like a complete wanker saying that-I know. But I never realised until last year how much bird songs put you into the spring/summer spirit. The red-winged blackbird (my favourite bird) has an amazing little song and down along the shore line in Toronto there are hundreds of them Ogle-reeeeeeeeeeeeeeing away. England hasn't got red-winged black birds but it does have some really sweet birds that Ontario hasn't got. I find it amazing how birds can migrate around the world and yet each country have there own very special varieties. I am constantly looking up birds in my bird book because there are so many birds that I don't recognize. From my kitchen window I often count 5 different types of songbird flutting about the hedge. Here are some little birdies I've drawn in honour of them being so special...and so english!

The Barrack Table

2009-01-23T11:10:00.010-05:00

material: reclaimed pine, reclaimed fir and slate

old nail holes

I don't know what the best part about making this table was. I think the highlights for me was in the final hours trying to get it into the van for delivery in the pouring rain. What should have been a ten minute job turned out to take an hour because I was convinced it didn't fit inside. Which it did-I was just being dumb. Anyways the wood in this table is from huge old roof beams big 12"x 12" that were cut down ages ago when England still had lots of trees. The legs are douglas fir and I believe they were roof beams too. The black strip running down the middle of the table top is slate. We wanted a table where you can put hot dishes on it and not worry about burning the wood. She's a good chunky piece of work. I really think my dad needs to save those oak beams from the old farm house before they rot into the earth. Imagine how sexy one of these tables would be in oak!

Hide and Go Sheep

2009-01-21T15:23:00.005-05:00

I don't know where she went and I don't know how she got back but Potatoes is safe and sound. Fffeewph! Hazzy and I were taking the dog for his morning walk and I looked up the hill to her field and saw her little fluffy body. I couldn't believe my eyes. We walked up to see if it was really her and it was! She's playing hard to get again but I don't even care. I'm just happy she is back.

Sweet Dog

2009-01-17T14:37:00.006-05:00

so nice

Harry and I got this sweet bundle of fur at the end of November. He's 3 years old and had lived in a kennel for almost 2 years. We got him from the Blue Cross in Bickleigh (they are an amazing charity) and after meeting him a whole bunch we felt like he was a good match. His confidence is growing everyday and he is always learning new things. I am so happy I have a dog in my life. Our little cottage is so warm and cozy because of him. His name is Alan but we are transitioning it to Paddy. He's so much more a Paddy. I love him.

Where is Potatoes?

2009-01-16T16:36:00.006-05:00

missing: Potatoes

Down the road from where we live there is a field of rescue animals. 2 horses, 2 geese, 1 goat and a sheep. I've named the horses Dirty 1&2, the geese I call The Bully's because they are rather bossy.The goat is a sweet old thing and I call her Hilde-Goat and that leaves the sheep... Potatoes. God, is she ever beautiful. I often think meeting Potatoes is the equivalent to being in love with that guy in high school who has no idea you exist. For weeks and weeks I would go and visit the field and stand at the gate and see Potatoes 10 meters away. I'd yell 'POTATOES' and she would look up and go back to eating grass. All the other animals would run towards me. I'd pet them and have a little chat but all I wanted was Potatoes to notice me but she never did. It hurt a bit but I know that for a sheep grass is much nicer than a girl. But friends-do not despair! Persistance pays off. Finally after 2 months of trying and beckoning Potatoes got used to me. Just after christmas I went down to the field and saw Potatoes nearby I called her and she came to me! She nuzzled noses with my dog and I pet her. I couldn't believe it! I thanked her for making my life and we parted. After that she was so sweet and friendly, always at the gate when I came by, always around for a scratch, always sweet and friendly until 5 days ago. Potatoes was gone. I can't find her anywhere and it's breaking my heart. She is my little sweet. I've looked in all the fields around us and no sign. It so sad. As soon as we connected she disapears. Where have you gone?

Heart Wood

2009-01-14T13:10:00.008-05:00

I love you wood! Here are some pieces of heart wood i've found and thought I'd share them with you

heart wood: Heart wood

heart wood: Human heart

heart wood: Heart

Recycling Firewood

2009-01-12T14:07:00.004-05:00

Recylcing Box

Material: Pallet Wood

When Hazzy was up in Mold I had one glorious week of non-stop creativity in the wood shop. I think it seems glorious because my life was easier then. It was pre-dog. Not that the dog isn't great. I love him sooooooo much, he's a little angel...but life with a dog is a lot more work.

I think my favourite thing I made that week was this Recycling box. Originally intended for our kitchen it somehow ended up as our firewood box right beside the wood stove. Which is fine by me. I love having a punch of red by the stove. It still is recycling too. 80% of the wood we burn is recycled.

Canada Coffee Table

2009-01-12T09:55:00.005-05:00

Material: Pallet Wood

It's a very wet cloudy day so why not put some cheery photos up. Here's the coffee table we made for James and Annie back in september. Canada wasn't my idea I swear. Although I think it looks rather natural there. We made this with just hand tools and I'm very proud of that. It was also before Knowstone so didn't even have a woodshop. Just a picnic table. We kept on having to come inside when it would rain. We grab the chisels and saws and make a mad dash across the garden into the kitchen and then 3 minutes later the sun would come out and back out we'd go. We did that about 15 times one day.

2008-11-13T10:12:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Lost Nation. This blog is going to work as my web page for Lost Nation Design. I will mainly use it as an image archive so you can see the work we are doing. I will also try to include images of inspiration and if I feel I have a good story to tell...I'll try not to be too bashful.