Views of Lake Louise

Lake Louise's milky blue-green color comes from rock flour in the glacier melt feeding the lake. It is truly mesmerizing in person. We hiked high above the lake and laughed at the canoes, which looked like little water bugs from that height.

We're Back

We loved every minute of our trip to Banff and Yoho National Parks in Canada. We look forward to a weekend at home for a slow transition back to reality. I'll show some more photos next week! Until then, I hope your weekend is beautiful.

I'm Off

We're Off! See here. :)

All My Weeds Are Wildflowers...

...a saying on a sweatshirt my mother wore very frequently. It's been six years today. I miss you, Mom.

Hello. My name is Lola!

I live down the street from Liza. She's quite taken with me. In fact, she wants me.

G.s Gorgeous Giveaway

Oh my! Another of my favorite creators, Gillian of the beautiful blog Ticklish From A Distance and owner of Dewdrop Inc. -- a web-shop for stationery, her own leather albums and other oh-so-pretty items -- is hosting a giveaway over at her place!
Do not miss this one, because she will be giving away a truly special graphite (as in beautiful, useful writing implement) sculpture to one commenter. Here is what g. writes about these pieces of art:

Batle Graphite Sculptures are the artistic creation of San Francisco artist Agelio Batle who creates sculptured " pencils" from a graphite composition. These unique Batle graphite sculptures are functional writing utensils and elegant desk top sculptures. Each surface of the sculpture can be used as a pencil. The composition of each sculpture however will not mark your hands. And each piece is completely lead free and one of a kind. They last for years.

So, you must head over to Ticklish From a Distance to visit my e-friend, to congratulate her on her 100th post, and to enter her giveaway. You will be so glad you did. G. inspires me every day with her thoughtful, real posts, and with her sweet comments here at my place. I am so happy to have e-met her, and if you haven't yet, you must go visit her!
ps... I just want to show you how beautiful her leather albums are, too...all photos by g.

Tomorrow

We're heading out for a vacation tomorrow! This one will be for me and my husband while E goes to Grandma's. It will be our longest time away from him so far, almost a full week. I know we'll miss each other, but we'll all be fine. And, oh my, I'm excited to hike at this drop-dead-gorgeous lake! I'll post one or two more before we go, and then I'll be back the 31st!
photo of Moraine Lake from here.

Laura Brown's August Giveaway

Laura Brown is one of my favorites and her blog is an every-day read for me. I'm so happy that she recently opened an etsy shop because she is a truly talented printmaker. About her work, she writes, "in my studio, i press paper onto blocks, plates, and letters to make images and words come alive in an effort to make the world a little more beautiful." I love that. Right now, during the month of August, Laura's having a great giveaway!!
From now until the end of of the month, you can enter to win a set of fifty custom birth announcements, either the poppies or the flags (these are a $100 value!). If these are not something you need immediately, you have the option of giving the prize away or taking a gift certificate for the announcements, good for an entire year. If you pay the gift forward, Laura will also send you a set of thank you cards.
To enter the giveaway, go visit Laura here and comment! Good Luck!

By now you must know that Atlanta Bartlett has opened an online shop, Pale and Interesting (because I am usually the last to know). This woman has a knack for styling, and for finding beautiful things to sell. Beautiful. Shown here are what I'd like, please. Especially the necklaces. OMG! (and I really try never to say OMG, especially just the acronym/texting/facebook/tweet version but I had to here) What is so special, besides the fact that they are AMAZING, is that she's made them herself out of vintage pieces. Each is one-of-a-kind. all images from Pale and Interesting

Hatch

I was so excited earlier today by a visit from Becky of the funny and insightful The Bubb Report. Becky also writes for Design Republic's terrific blog Hatch, and today she created a lovely post about Postcards from Colorado! Becky has great taste, is funny, and intelligent, so I am honored. Thank you, Becky. And, if your visiting from Hatch, thank you for stopping by!
The reason Becky came over is that I commented on her recent Hatch post about the home of Douglas Coupland. I really fell in love with this home, so, with many thanks to Becky, here it is....
Coupland restored this house in an effort to preserve a type of architecture disappearing from his Vancouver neighborhood. How I love to hear that! One installation, by the wall of windows, is dice, and another is spools of thread. You see him in one photo below applying white Legos to a post in his gallery space. So cool.
Definitely read more about it at Hatch and in the The New York Times.
photos by Martin Tessler for The New York Times.

Saturday at the Ranch

We visited a local ranch Saturday for a friend's fortieth. What a beautiful place for a gathering. We had such a good time!

Lance at Leadville

Riding down Columbine. I so wish we were there! Photo from here.
ps - he's 18+ minutes ahead and, barring any mishap, will win in record time this year.
Update: He won in a record time of 6 hours, 28 minutes, 50 seconds, which breaks the record by 17 minutes. He rode the last 10 miles or so on a flat tire. He beat the second place finisher, six-time winner David Wiens, by almost 1/2 hour. Wow.

Blues for the Weekend

I've noticed so many blues lately, and they inspire me. They can also calm me. Here are some of the images I've saved in my happy pile. I hope you are having a beautiful weekend.
My own, Max Dalton via Automatism, two prints auctioned this summer (from my files with no other info - I apologize), my own, Grain Edit, my own, Feather Thoughts by Annu Vertanen via Laura Brown, photo by grijs, via follow studio, by and from saint verde digest: water part 2 via Automatism, Remodelista, Welcome Home, Swans Island Blankets via Remodelista. Thanks especially to two of my favorites, Lori and Laura, for their beautiful links.