security found (on late night south-bound roncesvalles streetcar).

last night, as we were coming home from a grand night out at ghost jail theatre (the sweetie pie brother is visiting from vancouver and i am trying to impress him with worldly delights), i discovered a very special something on the floor of a streetcar. it was a slightly crushed security envelope button. what kismet. i guess the world is finite and circular after all. i get excited enough when i see buttons i made on the backpacks of strangers but to have one returned to me by the fates...well, it was just too much.

so i am having a two-part contest to celebrate.

part one - if you think you lost this on the king/roncesvalles car on sunday, march 29th, 2009, then i will return it to you.

part two - if you want to win a care package of mysterious sweetie pie goods, then leave a comment under this post. and if you want a second entry, then say something nice about me on your own blog (you will have to leave a link in another comment here to get a second entry). entries must be posted by midnight (est) on friday, april 3. yup, this is a quicky.

after all, i have to return the favour to the gods of stuff and chaos. i can feel karmic debt looming over me as i type.

fungal fever.

today aitor is jealous because i managed to grow a mushroom before him (look closely). upon further inspection, i discovered little toad stool in two of my terraria. the picture above is as close as i could come to photographic proof, given my astigmatic ways. but it's exciting to know that spores are lurking around in the moss.

my other covered terrarium seems to be growing a couple of small alders out of the cones i put in. i had visions of huge trees busting out of a post-apocalyptic and abandoned glass jar...but maybe i am getting ahead of myself.

one clean corner.

everything in the sweetie pie home/office/studio has been an absolute manic mess for months. this continues to be the case as we make our annual spring attempts to clear out and organize. it's not working that well thus far so i take solace in being able to clear up small corners. currently, the bedside nook (pictured above), is the only area that makes me happy. the rest of the room is heaps of laundry and clothes to be sorted. now, at least, i can turn around and leave it all behind me. thankfully, like all dunces, i am happy to stare into corners.

installed.

after putting finishing touches on my plastic bag hyperbolics, i hustled over to theknit cafe for this evening's installation.

maybe some images will speak louder than words. or why not go take a visit?

in order, these pictures are:
1. bay bag mass by yours truly
2. milk bag cups by shannon gerard
3. blanched pods by kalpna patel
4. jelly fish by angelune deslauriers

there is also a chance that this reef will grow before your very eyes during the month it is up. we are also planning a closing party on earth day, april 22. everyone is invited!

night and day.

the ender bros. at pop with brains

last night and today were spent at two smaller toronto outlets for craft and art.

first off, i spent my friday night at the rivoli for pop with brains, a bi-monthly music and art event at the rivoli that exists to spread joy and raise money for camh. this was the twentieth installment (making it a four year venture?) i really like these events. they make me feel more worldly in that i get exposed to good music and actually spent time in public.

then today, i went to a burgeoning crafty/community event at hart house called spring wake-up. even though i have lived in this city for a decade, i was never an institutionalized student here, so u of t feels like a foreign country to me. it even has all the trapping of of the university-state; like...no streets and confusing signage. that said, hart house was a really amazing place to spend a day. the facilities were beautiful, sun poured in all day, and a small snack bar was provided - tea, juice, cookies. if only all craft fairs offered these placations (i should be taking note). it was a slow day for action, but it was nice to kibbitz with other crafters, work on my crochet, watch kids run around and make sock monkeys and check in on the streetknit knitting circle (in the background above).

i also got to come home with some great new soap from ella's botanicals. it's wonderful and cleans up my filthy plastic bag/button hands like a dream.

last-minute plarning.

we have all agreed that plarn is an uncomely word that makes us all unhappy. that said, i sure do like saying it around shannon and watching her wince. this is because i am mean. plarn, by the way, is the term we found online for yarn made of plastic bags.

the little group of us (working under the calm leadership of angelune), got together last night in a last-minute meet-up before the plastic bag coral reef goes into the knit cafe window on sunday evening. it's quite the cram, but it's also exciting to get peeks at the work of others.

i also, discovered a few interesting plastic bag messages while shredding them up.

#1) a warning to all chickens:

#2) the ridiculous ideas of what ecology is to the brilliant marketing minds of target (mentioned previously here):

volunteerism.

today i went out on our little (yet highly appreciated) apartment deck to cut back the dead growth, throw out cracked pots and do some soil dispersing in preparation for spring gardening. guess what? i found some unsolicited growth peeking up under dead leaves. there were chives (above), thyme, and some strawberries! the two trees (one pine one maple) also pulled through the winter, but i expected this. the strawberry pot also hosted some other living things which might be a collection of trees. we will see when they start sprouting leaves. one way or another, i might have some plants to offer up in the coming months. first, i can't eat chives (they must have been planted by our subletters while we were on tour). i also don't think that twenty trees can grow in one pot together.

regardless, i was happy to encounter nature again in all her pluck and circumstance. it's reassuring to see other living things surviving a canadian winter with less effort than people seem to go through. now i am ready for the wind chills to taper off.