Black and White....

Black and White seems to be the colour theme here right now...

OOTD

Hermes scarf

Saint James striped top

Barbour vest

NYDJ boyfriend jeans

Red shoes !

Josef Siebel ballet flats!

New lipstick in a brighter shade...

inpsired by Kathy KSL on Instagram.

(she is the talented artist from whom we purchased our most recent piece of art)

I love it!

Not always easy taking a selfie...

but you get the idea of the new shade of lip colour.

Hope that your week is ticking along nicely and its nearly the weekend.

Do you have something fun planned?

Thank you for popping by my Humble Bungalow Blog...

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

I've got the blues....

Blue porcelain pottery

Tumbling bunnies

lilting lyrics

Artist and porcelain maker Harumi Ota gave local artist Robert Amos lessons.

 Robert has created a whimsical line of vessels.

This one was a gift from our darling daughter Jennifer.

The two bowls shown here are by Harumi Ota.

I have had them several years.

For those of you reading this post who may be local 

they were purchased from a local gallery in Oak Bay called Eclectic.

 Harumi Ota frequently sells his work at The Moss Street Market on Saturdays.

Here's my new swimsuit...

also blue and white.

Finding a "flattering" suit was quite a challenge.

First off there was a limited selection in my price range

and 

coming to grips with my ample figure "weighed heavily"

I wanted decent support and good coverage...

needing to camouflage the "wobbly bits" as much as possible.

I ended up at a bathing suit specialty shop...

where they have many sizes and styles and expert fitters.

While in the change rooms I overheard many women's conversations 

 ALL of which were lamenting that they were FAT!

They were mostly young women and teenagers...

I was the eldest by far!

We are sensitive and critical of our bodies...

not everyone can be the same size or shape

we all have "problem areas"

no one is perfect.

 I am overweight

I know that I should slim down and get back to my WW goal weight.

 I have a serious conversation with myself about this regularly...

and its not really working.

I eat healthy

I try not to indulge in chocolates or sweets.

I walk every day and swim once a week.

I look around at the pool and there are women of all shapes and sizes.

There are some who would be considered morbidly obese 

in swimsuits much bigger than mine 

participating in the Aqua Fit classes...

How do they feel in their own skin?

Do we all have negative thoughts about our body image?

Is this a healthy way of thinking?

Here's my healthy lunch.

I AM going to try harder, starting right now, 

TODAY!

How about you?

Are you struggling to lose weight?

How do you feel about your body image?

Have you been swimsuit shopping lately?

Are you shocked by the swimsuit prices?

(many that I looked at were over $200)

Its a lovely sunny day and I am heading out for my second walk.

Thank you for reading my humble blog and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Salt Spring Island visit and a Rose Garden Tour

It's been a whirlwind week and one of the highlights was a trip across to Salt Spring Island to visit a friend. I did not go empty handed and I took her a wee gift and a bouquet of our Humble Bungalow garden roses.

My friend lives on a lush acreage where she has created a beautiful Mediterranean style garden.  She and her husband travel to Provence every year and spend a couple of idyllic months exploring the villages. I think she has been inspired by the lovely gardens in France.

The garden plants are selected with an artists eye...

and then one needs to be mindful of 

the deer who have voracious appetites!

Ali took me on a garden tour with the local rose group.

First we stopped off at Ali's friend Anna's home.

Anna and her husband Paul are artists and they have a gallery on their property that showcases their artwork. In case you are interested I have included a link to their site below.

Blue Horse Gallery is located in the Southey Point area of Salt Spring.

Weddings are frequently held on this picturesque property and they also run a B&B called Bloom.

I was so smitten with this adorable suite...

I could imagine waking up and taking my coffee out to the terrace and listening to the bees buzzing and the birdsong.

We visited quite a few gardens and there are many keen rosarians on the island.

I felt very privileged to be included on the tour and have Ali to thank for arranging it for me to join in.

A clump of poppies caught my eye...

I must get some of these for our garden.

Ali and I had lunch in Ganges and perused some of the lovely shops.

I was tempted by many of the lovely linen garments in the shops 

but I do not "need" any more...

 I cannot say that for roses 

as I am already thinking where I can find room to squeeze in a few more in our garden!

One of my favourite gardens on the tour was a 6 acre property near Vesuvius. 

Pauline and her husband have a vast garden with over 200 roses!

A fragrant oasis of roses

which Pauline has mixed with many lovely plants.

The most stunning array of vibrant blue, mauve and purple delphiniums 

stood tall with her glorious roses.

Pauline is an avid and knowledgeable gardener and very gracious.

It was difficult prying myself away from her garden but I had to catch the ferry. 

Ali and I plan to meet again on the island 

as there are so many wonderful things to see and do...

I am heading out to the garden so I will close before donning my garden gloves.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

XO

Weekend Paint In...

The Annual Art Gallery Moss Street Paint In was held this past weekend and Mr. HB and I wandered up the road to the Gallery perusing the artists stalls before enjoying a bite of lunch.

Of course we donated to the gallery's fund raising event.

The Victoria Art Gallery is located not far from our Humble Bungalow.

Over 35,000 people were in attendance 

and the street was full of people and dogs...

(almost) everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

This sign was situated just outside a very large pottery display

many people were lined up to get a closer look.

Two fellows were sitting here when I reached for my IPhone and when they saw what I was doing they made a quick exit!

There was another sign, 

one raising awareness of a possible site for a large sewage treatment facility...

it just happens to be on the waterfront at Clover Point Park.

IMO not the best possible site for this kind of facility...

This hydrangea was given to us when my father passed away in 2007.

The blooms are the largest that I have seen since we planted it.

With so many people parking on our street and wandering past The Humble Bungalow I decided that I needed to dress up the front porch a wee bit so I picked a bouquet and popped it on the table by the front door.

This week is going to be a very busy one 

so my computer time is going to be limited.

Hope you have a great week lined up and that you have set aside some time to stop and smell the flowers!

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~