of five minutes

Five Minute Friday.
Five minutes to write, just let it out, no editing, no second-guessing.


Today's word: Risk

My heart pounds, thundering in my chest. Words that need to be said tumble around in my head. Justice drives me. Fear holds me back. Adrenaline rushes through my system, stress building.

And that's just with the thought of what I need to do.

There's still the action to come.

I hate risk. I hate speaking up. I hate confrontation.

It's never felt like it helped.

But sometimes, sometimes you just have to. Regardless. If no one speaks up, the things that are wrong can't and won't be addressed.

But still. Still. Still.

And go.

Today's word was especially relevant for me, with what's been swirling around us the last little while. I've hinted a bit at it in previous posts... church politics are never pretty. And it's even more difficult to deal with when you actually really genuinely *like* all of the people involved. On all sides of the issues.

Life sucks sometimes. We deal. And I'll be having a difficult conversation sometime soon. Sigh.

Linking up with Lisa-Jo...

of my week in instagrams

Not a terribly exciting week here...

It's been mostly rainy and dreary - apparently we're making records here for the wettest, coldest June on record. Most people in the area are referring to this month as Junuary. It seems appropriate.

So, we took advantage of every possible moment to get outside - the daisies are gorgeous along all the roads nearby, and the playground is always fun to visit (even if you discover 3 minutes after you arrive that you actually really badly need to go to the bathroom!)

And in the not-so-sunny moments(!), we found other fun things to do. Like a tea party. And a glove. Did you know that you can blow up a (latex?) glove really big, and draw on it with a marker to make a rooster? And then you can give the rooster a dashing curly moustache, and name him Le Buck. Eventually he'll snag on a tree branch and explode, but in the meantime, he provides hours of entertainment. Who knew??

There's one more week left in June... fingers crossed that we actually get some summer-ish weather!

Linking up at Life Rearranged...

Insta-friday. again.

So, it seems that this is all I'm able to keep up with, blogging-wise, these days. So be it. Let's hope for more some day.

This has been my week:

We've had rain, sun, rain, rain, rain and more rain. Also a bit of sun. But mostly rain. There's not so many pictures of the rain, because on those days, I generally sit indoors to avoid looking at it.

I have walked more this week than I have in a long time, starting with a gruelling climb straight up a mountainside.

Ellie and I have done school indoors and out... today we went to the lake and interspersed our readings with periods of wading (Cold water is so relaxing, Mum!).

Our old van (see top left corner) has made her last trip... to the wrecking yard. I got all nostalgic - she was a good vehicle - but I don't miss her. And it's nice to have the carport back!

The flowers are absolutely glorious just now... my favourite spot is along the trail near our house. It was seeded with native wild flowers, and is full of daisies and foxgloves and lupines and I-don't-know-what-all-else.

I have my sewing machine back and functioning. My son tried to sew something with it, and managed to completely mess up its innards. I've borrowed a machine from a friend for the interim, but there's nothing like an old familiar machine to make you feel like you know what you're doing.

I spent two days working at the pottery studio where I take classes. First of all I made a huge mess, unpacking boxes after a show; then I tidied it all up, dusted everything and re-stocked the shelves in the showroom. I find that I really enjoy arranging things and making little vignettes.

And that's about it, I think. There's a blog post or two brewing in my brain... hopefully I'll manage to get them out in type before they evaporate...

InstaFriday

First row: 1. setting out on a journey 2. on the ferry 3. beach and crow 4. lunch
Second row: 1. yes 2. BC Legislature building 3. sunset 4. wildflowers
Third row: 1. heading home 2. geraniums 3. cherries 4. coffee/sister time

It's been a fun week. I got to spend a bit of time in our capital city... actually, I spent a full seven hours non-stop walking. My legs. were. sore! I was very glad for the soaker tub in our hotel room that evening!

Linking up at Life Rearranged...

InstaFriday

It's been an interesting week. Not all good... but not all bad, either.

1988

2012

We celebrated our 24th anniversary with a walk at the beach. Extravagant, I know. But you only live once...






















We got unsuspectingly dropped into the middle of an ugly bit of church politics... and I made (and ate) a dozen muffins in self-defence.

 We were given a new (to us) car.

And spring has firmly arrived, and there are many gorgeous flowers around the neighbourhood.


That's my week, more or less.


Linking up at LifeRearranged... and I'm wendyklassen on instagram, if you feel like following.

of Mama's Day (part one)

Today we had our first Mothers' Day celebration.

my mom.

Mom and her husband drove up from their home in Washington state, and my brother and his family came as well, and we had a small brunch.



We drank tea from my new teapots (they work well, but don't hold very much... I was constantly refilling them!)






















We ate yummy food...  and there was much bad punning (as one would expect at a Janzen gathering...)























 And we got our fill of these two lovely little people...  oh, they grow so fast!!

of pottery and things.

So I've been feeling guilty for not keeping up with this space... life's been busy. That's a stupid excuse, I know.

But here's some pretty pictures of my latest batch of pottery to hopefully make up for it...

(I need to give a shout-out to Lianna, who gave me a light box that she wasn't using... it made taking these photos a hundred times easier than it was before!! I still don't have lights for it, but I just put it out in the sunshine, et voila! Lovely pictures!)

a small, subtly beige bowl

Four mugs... part of a series that I'm calling "four identical, all different".
Two have feet on them, and one has no handle. I love them all.

two of four bowls, also part of the
"four identical, all different" series.

...and another.

another bowl...

two teapots that both pour reasonably well (yay me!!)

the blue one...

...and the brown one

a spotty vase

and a stamped swirly one.

 I also had a few misfortunes with a couple of my pieces.

a big bowl... my biggest so far. About 10" diameter.

A tea-light holder with a hole-y cover

Sadly, it had an air bubble in it.

Unfortunately, the top and bottom stuck together
and had to be broken apart.

That's what I brought home from the studio last night. There will be more next week.