Cinqo de mayo

I’ve lived in 4 countries in my almost 40 years of living. Two of which were Latino. I’ve been immersed in cultures and almost learned languages. Almost meaning I come from a French Canadian background and have a general knowledge of that language. As an adult I have tried Duolingo and Mango and Rosetta Stone but have never fully committed.

I have a pretty good understanding of Spanish in that I understand what I hear but cannot speak. With French I read and understand but when I hear it spoken I’m lost. When I try to reply to someone speaking to me in Spanish my brain does a sort of gibberish French/Spanish translation and so I have kept to speaking only English.

Today being the 5th of May or “Cinqo de mayo” which is a festival in Mexico. This day reminds me of my travels through these cultures. In Mexico “Cinqo de mayo” is actually a day where the country celebrates their independence from the French army. I am French Canadian and have lived in Latin countries, it’s a little ironic, don’t you think? (If you don’t get that reference…I don’t know what to say)

It’s funny that Americans think today is a drink margaritas day (which is what I’m doing right now). But if you look at history, today was literally a celebration of freedom. As North Americans we adapt culture when it best suits us.

Anyway…happy Cinqo de Mayo bitches! (That’s the margaritas talking)

May flowers

May has arrived and I am excited for planting flowers. Every year we pull out all our pots and spend a Sunday going to greenery’s to select our plants. We’ve already planted our perennials in the front of the house. Daisy’s mostly. I love Daisy’s. Our herb garden has been planted as well but maybe a bit too early since the basil looks like it might not survive.

We have so much sun on our property that some plants didn’t survive the extreme heat. So we will have to be more selective this year. We had a massive elm tree in our front yard last year that had to come down due to the elm seed beetle problem we and our neighbors had. They were coming in by the thousands through light fixtures, walls and windows. So very happy that tree is gone. (Not something I would normally say!)

With the tree gone we have even more afternoon sun in the backyard. Last weekend we rearranged our backyard a bit. Since we are renting we have to ask permission usually but our landlord loves and trusts us so pretty much said “have at ‘er”.

We moved a bench swing that was sitting in a dark corner and never used. I wiped it down and washed the fabric and added some colourful throw pillows. It’s now in a spot that’s in the sun and can be used when we have gatherings. We’ve already had many people enjoying it, including the dogs! Luke built a beautiful table to go underneath the awning and all we need now are some wood chairs. I’m hoping to find four different chairs that can be painted to match and still be comfortable. Luke is also building a bench.

Ahhh spring! See some pictures below of the backyard and projects.

Everyday life

Sunday

Luke and I took a drive to Fintry Provincial park with the dogs. It’s about a half hour drive with beautiful views of the lake almost the entire way. The park is mostly closed for the season, but you can park and walk down to the water. Oliver being blind was kept on leash, but we let Jazmine run free and they both had a blast.

When I was in San Diego I remember having a conversation with my Uber driver regarding him living in a beautiful city and not taking time to look around much anymore. He hadn’t been to the beach in years. It made me think about living here in Kelowna. This place is an attraction for people around the world because of how beautiful it is. I need to remember to never forget to appreciate the life I live here, and how lucky I am.

That evening we ended up going out to watch a friends band play for Saint Patrick’s day at O’Flanagans pub. They are still not well known but are amazingly talented and I know they’ll make it big one of these days. They are called “Lucky Monkey“, click the link to check them out!

Monday

Luke had to work but I was off so did the usual. Laundry and house cleaning in the morning and took the dogs for a walk. In the afternoon the sun came out and it was the warmest day of 2019 for us. I took my computer, phone and beer outside and worked all afternoon on a new way of promoting my art.

My mom sent me a website that allows artists of all sorts to upload their content. I spent all afternoon Monday doing this. It’s pretty awesome actually. I am now able to offer my work in print, canvas print and various textiles. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years and couldn’t find an affordable, sort of hands off method of doing this until now. This site handles all the orders, printing and shipping. It’s an incredible way to grow my business and promote my work. Click here to check it out.

I’m sorry it took me until today to post this week, I will try and get another post in before week’s end. Don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers from time to time!