Spring time in the Kootenays.

 Spring time in the Kootenays.

In a nutshell: We drove up to Trout Lake to see the gerrard trout spawning.

Here's a few scenery and wildlife photos, plus a short video.

A couple of weeks ago, we saw this badger, on our way to Cranbrook! Awesome!

Spring flowers in my garden.

Kaslo is our 1st stop on the way to Trout Lake.

Johnson's Landing- mudslide from last summer

The gerard trout spawning at the mouth of Trout Lake

 Early in May the gerrard trout spawn at the mouth of Trout Lake and Mother's day is the perfect excuse to go for a beautiful drive up along Kootenay Lake, and see them. 

It's become a bit of a tradition for us to witness this annual event, and enjoy our lovely scenery,  that we sometimes take for granted.

Trout Lake from the bridge.

 We went on the Monday after Mother's day, so there was no one else around for a long time, makes me nervous about bears. It was sunny and hot which encourages the spring run-off, and the fish are BIG!

The trout seem to just hang in place, but if you watch them closely you can see they are quite busy, and once in a while one would jump out of the water. 

Gerard spawning, just missed a jumper.

 There were many butterflies and birds of all kinds, including some common mergansers and a mature bald eagle. 

Hope you enjoy my photos :)

Mergansers

Spring run-off. This silty creek is flowing into the main river. Note the
difference in the water's colour.

Here's a short video of a jumping trout.

Where does the time go?

 I've been exceptionally busy lately.  Here it is,  Feb 1, 2013 and I realize how long it's been since
I wrote in my blog... um NOVEMBER?!  I'm embarrassed about that. Not like I haven't had anything
to write about.
 I've had some very sad news recently, happy news, and muddled my way through other personal ups
and downs and a fried hard drive, ( not my brain, but my computer's), and lost a lot of stuff, in particular my photos... NOTE: back-up any important stuff... do it now, I'll wait right here :)
     Life is an extra-ordinarily long roller coaster ride. It's fun, thrilling and scary, and there's times I wish I could change my mind and get off the ride, or just scream.  Looking back isn't a good idea, but looking ahead can be even more frightening. I love the calm parts the best especially when climbing up, the view's awesome, but just when I get comfortable, the ride changes directions at such an incredible speed, it feels like I might get thrown off. The best thing to do, is hang on tight and try to flow with it. Take a deep breath "Keep calm and carry on".
    I have been quite busy with my Etsy shop, and am focusing on my wedding bouquet charms. I was going to set up a separate shop, just for my bouquet charms but decided against it... for now. I want to reduce my time on the computer... not double it.
  My packaging is evolving, as is my marketing, and new designs are in the works, but the best reward is knowing I can make something lovely enough to hold the memory of a loved one, to be part of a wedding and will be treasured for years to come.
 Anyhow, enough said...I could go on, but it's time for bed. Gotta get up early for work tomorrow. It's after 11pm and I wanted an early night tonight.
  Where does the time go?

Wedding bouquet photo charms... not just for weddings.

    It's been many years since Dave and I got married...(in 1984!) and we have many fond memories of that day. I wish the same for all my lovely customers on their wedding day.




 Once in a while, someone sends me a picture of their charm, after they've added their photo. Why, just the other day, I recognized one  on Twitter, with a sweet comment! How awesome is that!? It makes me happy to know that I have helped to make your day more special.



It is so easy these days, to take ands share photos (or a links to them),
so if you have photos of something I've made for you,  I'd love to see and maybe share them here.
Here's some photos and comments from my customers.

My aunt recently gave me this beautiful Iittala glass vase.
It seemed fitting to add my parents' photo charm.

Maybe you'd like to see a couple of the charms I have in my home...
just to show, they're not just for weddings.

My Hungarian grandparents.

Our newlyweds... my son and his wife.

And here's  my Angel photo charms, for the Holidays:

Angel and pearl photo charm.

Angel and crystal frame charm.

I've added them to my shop.

Here's me, when my husband & I first met.

I often have lockets available too.

Kootenay photos

We're having an amazing Indian summer here in the Kootenays.
Since it's a busy time for many of us, I'm just going to post some photos I've taken recently, 

enjoy.

My squirrel photo has become a Cover Squirrel for our  MAKE Team's FB page.
Nov2/12

     Red squirrels... cute but noisey (and nosey).

Kokanee spawning in Kokanee Creek

Clean dog.

Dirty dog... yup, rolled in the dirt right after his bath.

Cruising down the West Arm.

Johnson's landing from across Kootenay Lake.

Swimming in Kootenay lake.

Awesome views on Kootenay Lake.

Kokanee Creek Park.

Feathered visitors.

Osprey Ferry.

Beach day at Queens Bay.

One of our small Kootenay towns was featured on Global News:

Silverton... 

Back from Holidays... more frame charms

Short version:
 I've had a once in a lifetime holiday with my kids, visiting family overseas.
I'm back to my "normal life", and have been making new Wedding bouquet photo frame charms.

Memorial frame charm.

Simple freshwater pearl frame charm.

 Now that I'm back at work, and getting back to my normal life, I've been making more wedding bouquet frame charms, and they are getting to be quite popular.

I love knowing that my charms will hold the photo of someone dear, and help them be remembered, especially on a special day.

Here's a peak at some of the new frame charms that will be popping up in my shop soon.

                                    

Long version: 

I've been on holidays for the last 6 weeks.

  Since I haven't had a real holiday in years, it's been long overdue.  I had an opportunity to take my kids and visit my sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, neices, nephews and their families in Finland, Hungary and Slovakia. Then my husband and I visited friends on Vancouver Island for a few days, and did some beach combing and shopping. It was the best holiday I have ever had, but I'll write about it in a separate post/s.

 white and subtle, memorial/wedding frame charm.

Wouldn't this be adorable, for a flower girl's bouquet?

  I'm also trying something different with the photos of my charms, by including some flowers from my garden.
  I love the textures and colours. It's so much more interesting than a plain white background,
although it might be a bit distracting...
what do you think?

        

Wedding bouquet photo frame charm. Roses.

Wedding bouquet photo frame charms and more

Wedding bouquet and memorial photo frame charms.

Short story:

   My son is getting married this fall, so I made a couple of photo frame charms to clip to his bride's bouquet,
 I enjoy making them, so I've made more and added some of these charms in my Etsy shop.

Longer version:

Since my son is getting married this fall, I've made up a couple of photo frame charms, I'm hoping his grandparents can be included on his special day. 
It's a lovely way to remember them.  

These charms can be clipped onto a bouquet or just about anywhere, so I made some more to include in my Etsy shop. They are so well loved by my customers, I've added many more colours and designs :)

I love this combination of antique silver and freshwater pearls
I call these my "Classic" charms.

              

Now I have so many colours and styles available!

Here's a link to these charms.

Small and meaningful keepsakes.

It's easy enough to add a little photo to these charms, as they have slots in the corners to hold the photo in place. You can also cut out a small rectangle of clear plastic to use as a clear cover to protect the photos.

A red shell pearl, lovely for a winter wedding.

(Tip: To get the photo corners tucked in place, I use a toothpick.)

I also have some lovely little frame charms that don't have any slots in the corners, so the photos would need to be glued into place. 
 (I haven't listed any of these ones yet).  
















A piece of two-sided tape should work fine, but I thought I'd use Dimensional Magic and see how that works.  I made some memorial charms of Spike, using it as a glue and clear coat for these frames and am very happy with the results.

Here's the finished charms of our dog Spike. He was the best model ever...
he never complained about my sharing his pictures :)

This photo frame charm features a baby blue shell pearl

(and my boys when they were little... don't tell

them I posted this :)

I love these pink shell pearls.

Road Conditions in the Kootenays

Short version:

If you're travelling around the Kootenays any time of year, it's always a good idea to check on the local road conditions 

any time of the year. BE PREPARED.

 I'm adding some local webcams and links (mainly for my own reference,) and thought I'd share them.

Longer version:

   It's June 6, 2012 and it's been a cool and very wet spring here, which means mudslides and sometimes unexpected road closures. The snow-covered Kootenay Pass (AKA Salmo-Creston Pass) looks ugly with all that snow! I'll have to check and see if it's still open.

 A detour in the mountains, can mean many extra hours  and kilometres, and maybe an unplanned ferry ride,(at least it's still free to ride the inland ferries.) Gas stations are far & few between, as well as accommodations. BE PREPARED for any kind of weather or situation… you know, munchies, water, blankets, etc. especially the etc.

  Anyhow, since we need to know what the conditions are to get to Golden, I'm checking the Passes and (adding their live webcam links) to see what the best route to travel will be… will have to check them again tomorrow… today wasn't a good day to go from the looks of things.

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All BC inland FERRY SCHEDULES are on this MAP.

Kootenay Lake Ferry SCHEDULE.

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Balfour ferry landing WEBCAM. Balfour Ferry Terminal

Balfour inland ferry terminal, looking north towards Hwy 3A. (elevation: 535 metres)

Kootenay Bay ferry landing WEBCAM. 

Kootenay Bay Ferry Terminal: looking northeast on Hwy3A. (elevation: 538 metres). 

Shelter Bay ferry landing WEBCAM

Hwy 23 at Shelter Bay ferry landing, looking north.

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Drive BC-Major Events- MAP  (very handy)

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 Kootenay Pass WEBCAM

Salmo Creston Highway Summit. Looking East.

Paulson Summit WEBCAM

Hwy 3 about 3km East of the the Paulson Summit, looking West (elevation 1446 metres)

Castlegar WEBCAM

Hwy 3 at 14th Ave. in Castlegar, looking East

Christina Lake WEBCAM

Hwy 3 at East Lake Drive on the east side of Christina Lake, looking Northwest.

Coffee Creek WEBCAM

Hwy 31, 45km north of Nelson and 25km south of Kaslo, looking north.

New Denver WEBCAM

Hwy 6 at Hwy 31A in New Denver, looking north.

Nakusp

Junction of Hwy 6 and Hwy 23 in Nakusp, looking south along Hwy 6



Rossland- WEBCAM
Hwy 3B at Hwy 22 (Rossland Weigh Scale) looking West on Hwy 22

Salmo WEBCAM

HWY 3 at HWY 6- looking West on HWY 3.

Yahk WEBCAM

Hwy 3 at Hwy 95, Yahk Weigh Scale, looking North-East

(elevation 854 metres)

Revelstoke WEBCAM

Hwy 1 at east end of Columbia River Bridge in Revelstoke, looking east.

Roger's Pass WEBCAM

Hwy 1, near Parks Headquarters at Glacier National Park, 72 km east of Revelstoke

looking east. (elevation: 1330 metres)

Golden WEBCAM Hwy 1, just north of Hwy 95 interchange, looking northwest. Kicking Horse Canyon WEBCAM HWY 1 (Kicking Horse Canyon) at 10 Mile Brake Check- looking East. ***************************** Drive BC-  MAP •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Public Weather Warnings for BC…. MAP

Nelson Weather Office

Creston Weather Office

Revelstoke Weather Office

Cranbrook Weather Office

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Local News

TMTV- if there's something happening, it'll be here pretty quick.

Nelson Daily News

Nelson Star

Mainstreet (East Shore newspaper)

   Local state of emergency declared June 6/12

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