Tinkerblue

Local Artists - Gunter Loschinski, Woodspirit Carver

135 sleeps until Christmas. Woops that means I'm late starting my Christmas shopping. Normally I'm pretty much done by now.  

 

I'm back on track now. I started Christmas shopping today. Nothing major. Just some small decorations. One for me and one for you and you and you.

 

 

Anyone who has known me for a while or who has travelled with me knows that I like to buy Christmas decorations from places I visit. Some people buy t-shirts or magnets or stickers or  teaspoons (remember those?) or tea-towels. I buy Christmas decorations. Nothing like buying something that's only used once a year and is totally impractical.

 

This is the one I wanted to buy for Shaun and Kelly!

 

A friend emailed me this article on a couple of Sunshine Coast artists a while back. I filed it away and forgot about it. Once of the artists mentioned was Gunter Loschinski of Woodspirit Carver in Halfmoon Bay.  Today I had to pick up some guests from Rockwater Resort so I decided to stop in at the Woodspirit Carver on the way.

 

 

Like most legends the story of wood spirits vary. Most say that wood spirits live in the forest, and protect those with pure spirit who enter in. If you spot a wood spirit in the trees it is said to be good luck.  Carvers often depict wood spirits as old men. Wood spirits are usually hang over or near doors to prevent evil from entering a home and to bring good luck.

 

Technically these Santas are not wood spirits

 

Gunter Loschinski grew up in Germany, had a career in hospitality and then retired to Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast and learnt to carve.  He uses wood that he finds locally.

 

I really wanted to buy one of the larger ones for Shaun and Kelly for Christmas. It would look right at home near their back door. But they are too heavy to mail, and the wood is not treated so Australian customs would not particularly like the wood spirit. They wouldn't think he was good luck.

 

 

 

 

Grocery Shopping Didn't Quite Go As Planned

I went to the supermarket this afternoon to buy milk, bread, dish washing liquid, spinach, capsicums, oranges etc

Yeah, umm. Didn't get any of that. I did however buy Easter Kit Kats, a Lindt bunny with a bell around its neck, Hershey's Cookies and Cream eggs and two varieties of Peeps.

Peeps are hideous. They are 100% sugar. I had a bite of one 10 years ago and never again. Doesn't stop me from sending them half way round the world though. Perfect for giving friends kids a sugar high!

Tomorrow these will be in various envelopes winging their way to friends in Aus. They probably won't make it I time for Easter but that's okay.

Twin Necklaces Part II

Jo gifted me this necklace for Christmas. Before she gave it to me, she had to take it for a test run.

Jo liked it so much, she had to buy one for herself.

They are Venetian glass, made by Antica Murrina. Each piece is slightly different. Mine has more green and blue in it, Jo's has more red. I love the name, Millefiori, a thousand flowers.

I wear it a lot, as Jo says, it goes with everything. I'm considering ordering one to give as a gift as well. I like the tree pendant too. (Jo already has that one!) is it weird that we have matching jewelry?

http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Public/Antica-Murrina-Millefiori-Pendant-Necklace.aspx

http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Public/Antica-Murrina-Millefiori-Tree-Pendant-Necklace.aspx

Twin Necklaces

Ever heard the saying, " When you see something you like, buy multiples"?

Apparently Jo and I both subscribe to this theory.

A year or two ago I bought the silver tree necklace as a present for Jo. I also bought one as a present for Jane. Then I was jealous, so a few months later I bought one for myself. Yep, three of the exact same necklace. It's called Meghan and it's from a local Vancouver company, Sugarlime.

I have several pieces of Sugarlime jewelry that I've purchased over the years. Karen is the owner/designer. Karen's mum used to work at the same Royal Bank centre with me.

www.sugarlime.com

Kate Spade Thermos

Where was this when I was standing outside counting cars and sky train passengers for 10 hours a day?

This would have been full of hot chocolate with a lot a little bit of Baileys in it.

 

It's a lot prettier and way more fun, than the boring stainless steel one that I've had for the last 10+ years. Maybe it's time I upgraded.

Kate Spade Prize Ball Thermos $35.00

Advent Calendar Day #11 - Christmas Pyjamas

I know a lot of people who give their kids a new pair of Christmas pyjamas on Christmas Eve.

I usually sleep in a t-shirt. But I lounge around in pj's. There is nothing better than coming home from work, having a bath, putting on clean jammies, pouring a nice glass of wine and reading a good book or phoning a friend for a chat.

These are my new pyjamas. Well, my new jammie pants. They cost me a whole $10.00. So I bought two pair. These are my untraditional Christmas pants - pink and grey. I'm quite taken with the grey lace on the cuffs. (My second pair are more Christmassy - red with snowflakes and white lace).

Circle Craft Christmas Market

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We spent a good few hours at the Christmas Market yesterday. We spent a little bit of money. It's probably the least amount of money I've spent there. But. We might go back tomorrow or Sunday.

I've noticed over the years that there are less and less of the handmade Christmas crafts and more and more of the high end textile, pottery and jewelry artisans. That possibly explains why I spend less and less each year.

The highlight of my day was when Kath and Shazza gifted me a photo of two polar bears that I had oohed and aahed at earlier in the day. Right now it has pride of place on the buffet in the dining room.

Kath and I tried to talk Shazza into a three foot wooden Santa, but she wouldn't have a bar of it. Miss practical. Common sense is over-rated.

I bought yet more Christmas crap for Shaun and Kelly and Jo. They'll love it. As will Shazza and Kath who get to lug it home for me. They'll love that even more.

Malbec Shoes

Malbec is a word I normally associate with red wine. A red wine from Argentina or Chile. I haven't found a Malbec that I haven't liked yet.

So of course these shoes caught my eye. You can't drink them, but they sure look pretty. They won't be coming home with me anytime soon because:
I wear black boots to work
These are $178.00
Miss Albright shoes never fit true to size so I'd need to try them on first
In 5 weeks I'll be out of work so now is not the time to spend $200 on a pair of shoes!

Miss Albright Malbec Heels

Places to Fly - Tillamook Cheese Factory

We love cheese. We love to fly.  Tillamook Cheese is in Oregon. Not far from the Tillamook Airport. Perfect. Last year we flew to Tillamook Airport and then rode our bikes to Tillamook Cheese. It's about a 20-30 minute ride. Good exericse. Gotta work off the cheese somehow.

 

This year, Kim, Joanna, Miss M and Kenny were with us and they don't have bikes (yet). So riding was not an option. Luckily the Tillamook Airport has a courtesy car that we borrowed. Actually it's a truck and we couldn't all fit at once. Well Miss M wanted us to sit in the tray and just do one trip, but it's not really legal so we passed on that idea and made two trips.

 

 

Upstairs in the visitors centre is the viewing platform, where you can watch the factory at work. Yes, they are big bricks of cheese.

 

 

Downstairs is the tasting station. We may or may not have stopped at the tasting station first, then gone upstairs to view the factory and then back down to the tasting station. Just saying. My favourite is the Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar. Hubby liked the Pepper Jack.

 

 

Once we were done tasting, we had to buy. Squeeky cheese and a small block to have as appys back at camp. And a brick to bring home. Those bricks below are 5lbs each. We didn't buy them. We thought about it, but we went with smaller versions.

 

Tillamook Cheese doesn't only make cheese. They make ice cream too. And of course we had to taste it. We didn't buy any to take home. No cooler in the plane. Mmmm, now there's an idea.

 

 

And one last look at all that cheesy goodness.

 

The view of Tillamook Cheese Factory and Visitors Centre as we flew back to Nehalem Bay.

 

Rocky Mountaineer at Costco