Five on Friday

Joining up with Amy of Love Made My Home and her Five on Friday!

I hope all my Canadian friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! The weather here in southern Ontario was gorgeous! More like summertime than fall. We were even considering having our turkey dinner out on the patio with the high temperatures of 20C! We decided against it since we'd be using the good wedding china and some antique bowls and platters. I'm always afraid of something falling and smashing on the patio bricks.

Thank you all so much for your positive comments on my tea cup coasters! I was overwhelmed with the number of comments, and have had to admit defeat in replying to everyone. I will instead pop by all your blogs to visit you. I think I may have to adopt this more and more in future as my spare time is dwindling, and I have many Christmas crafting obligations lined up. I'd rather be sewing and knitting in my spare time than stuck to the computer screen ... I know many of you are in the same boat, so I hope you'll understand.

Right! On to the five! Five things that have made me happy lately ...

One:  I picked up this little hummingbird figurine a few weeks ago at the thrift store. I did put him back on the shelf at first as I thought it was maybe overpriced at $12. But after I had browsed through the store, I decided, what the heck, I liked it! It was the only thing I bought that day. Sometimes I justify a small expense like this by saying everyone in my family buys their lunch once or twice through the week, and I never do. So why not treat myself to something like this (about the price of a lunch out) once in a while. The rays of sunshine coming into this shot were a bonus, and not noticed until I downloaded the photo.

It's actually a musical figurine, although the musical part doesn't work. It goes well with a couple of other bird figurines I have picked up over the years ...

Two:  Another figurine (for outdoors) my husband bought for me one day in the summertime from our favourite gardening store. They had all kinds of these figurines in birds and animals, but I liked this little saw-whet owl the best. He sat on my patio table all summer long, staring into the kitchen every time I looked outside. Now he's going to spend the winter on my dry sink in the kitchen. Love his golden stare! There was a great grey owl in the garden store later in the summer, but my husband wasn't interested in buying him for me. Great greys are one owl I would love to see in the wild one day!

Three:  This lovely soft scarf arrived in my mail box last week. Isn't it pretty! I love the combination of brown and pink together! This came all the way across the Atlantic Ocean from my good friend Amy. I just love it, and I think today I might, just might, finally be able to wear it. It was only 5C this morning, and I have (gulp!) switched on the furnace. Thank you Amy :)

Four:  This next "five" is for my friend Jemma! Jemma read a while ago that I was saddened that I thought my Mom's amaryllis was no longer blooming. She encouraged me to not give up hope and passed along a website that gave instructions for their care. I set the bulb in a smaller pot and put it aside throughout the summer, but honestly, I thought it was hopeless. That is up until just two weeks ago when I decided to admit defeat and pull the poor bulb from the pot. That's when I saw the tiniest hint of bright green snuggled way down in the bulb. This is how much it has grown since then ...

Unbelievable to me!! Thank you so much Jemma for your encouragement and the link, it seems this flower will bloom again for me afterall ... such a beautiful reminder of my Mom ;)

Five:  A couple of art pieces. This first one is a metal sculpture I picked up at my favourite gift store in Whitney, Ontario, this past summer. The metal is from old oil drums that have been cut and decorated with metal punches by artists in Africa. I really like the patina of the metal, and the sculptures in the store have been one thing I always look for when we visit. I have another sculpture of birds flying. When I saw this frog in the summertime, I decided it would be my one alloted purchase this year.

This next painting is one I did myself when in high school.

And that's my five!

But, hey, don't you love the way the sun shines through

these golden grasses lining my patio right now?

And the fall colours are finally reaching my area ... 

these were taken on our drive home from dropping my daughter back at university town.

Be sure to drop by Amy's to see what others have to share today (link button below).

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

Wendy