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Thanksgiving party at Chris' sister's, singing songs in honour of Grandma Mable.

Our nephew, Jonny (below, in the middle) was in the play, Guys & Dolls & was phenomenal! I think he has a career in acting!

My cousin, Shilo, who lives in Phoenix, got married this November and asked us if we could design the Bridesmaids' jewelry. Below their dress ~ 

We made these silk necklaces with glass beads in their individual birthstone colours, along with earrings (yep, there were 7, 6 Bridesmaids & 1 Flower Girl). They turned out well, I think. Perhaps a side gig for us?

I had the chance to go to Jasper for a jewelry sale & was so excited to be in the mountains again since it's been years since I lasted visited. Definitely got my wildlife fix!

Also, this November, I took 4 classes with the brilliant Holly Cooper, who resides in Austin, TX, but came up to Canada to teach ~ 

Holly's stringer work is maybe the best I've ever witnessed. It was amazing to watch her in action & I developed a new bead line after learning certain techniques in her class that I decided to call "Alchemy" ~

I'm always grateful to learn new tricks!

My dearest friend, Tricia, who drives up from Calgary every year to help out at our annual Open House, couldn't be here this year because... SHE HAD A BABY!!!  And isn't he adorable! Can't wait to meet him in person. Congratulations Tricia & Mike!

And on the other end of the scale... If you've been following me for awhile, you might have read my many complaints about the neighbour's Manitoba Maple ~ a giant, noxious weed to say the least! Well this year, I finally convinced him (with the offer to pay for half) to have it cut down. Now you see it ~ 

Now you don't ~

It was strange at first to have so much open space all of sudden, but I think it's going to be awesome come summer considering 80% of my gardening is weeding out all of it's seedlings. And now, the other trees will have room to grow, so I'm sure, in no time, that area will fill up. *A sigh of relief. *

And this bridge by my house is so darn photogenic in the morning; I just can't stop taking pictures of it ~

As for last weekend's Open House, thank you to all who came out! A successful day filled with lovely women, long time patrons & some new faces.

 Wishing you all the best as we end out this year & here's to 2017! xoxo