99/100 Update

Not many updates here on the 99/100 challenge but I have been running!  Honest!  I'm up to 92.3 miles.  Some alone, most with friends.  (There may have been some running through sprinklers...)  So less then 8 miles to go and more then 2 weeks to do it in.  Totally do-able!

Oh, and did I mention I'm running my first half marathon this fall?  So my running won't be ending at Labour Day.  This is the run plan I'm going to follow to be ready for 21 kilometres (13 miles) in October.

Taped on my bathroom mirror so I can't forget about it!

Doll Clothes Again

I've done a little sewing of doll clothes for my cousin's little girl who I'll be seeing in a week.  She's 4 & I thought she'd like to expand her Cabbage Patch wardrobe a little.  I made all these things from stuff I had on hand - mostly old clothes that were too worn out to wear.  I love using old clothes for doll clothes because you can cheat and re-use the hems most of the time!

First up, a dress that was a long sleeved T-shirt in a former life.

Next, due to some lack of planning on my part, there is one T-shirt with three different bottoms options.

Skirt (the only thing not made from old clothes)...

Shorts...

Pants...

I remember from my doll playing days that I really liked having everyday clothes for my dolls, they didn't have a lot of occasions for wearing fancy dresses, so I've kept that in mind when planning doll wardrobes.

If you would like to make some doll clothes of your own you can find the T-shirt tutorial here and the pants tutorial here.  The dress is like a T-shirt with a gathered rectangle attached and the skirt is a gathered rectangle.  If you have questions please ask!

Where I've Been

As you've probably realized there hasn't been a lot of crafting going on here lately.  This is where I've been spending my time.

At the lake.  Hop in the car, 20 minutes later you're here.

So many evenings spent at this beautiful spot.

Gotta soak up the sunshine while it lasts.

Signs

On my recent day out I spotted these, somewhat unusual signs:

Not that many people paid attention to the first one - can't blame them it was hot!  I'm not sure about the second because I was inside when the train movement was in progress.

Day out

On Saturday I spent the day in my nearest "big city" - Toronto.

We (my mom, sister & I) were a bit early so we spent a few minutes taking pictures of seagull families & feet while we sat by the fountain in front of city hall.

Then off to the Four Seasons Centre (the city's opera house) for a backstage tour.

It's a beautiful building.  While we waited for our tour to start I took pictures.  Of the great architectural features.

Two views of the glass staircase.

The lobby.

And then my sister & I did a little photo-shoot on the grand staircase. Because when you come for a performance it's covered in people so you can't do things like this.

Well you could but there would be lots of people in the photo as well as some giving you strange looks.

At this point our mother was pretending she didn't know us.  We aren't the only ones who think the stairs make a great place for a photo - here is the National Ballet Orchestra having their picture taken on the same stairs (photo taken post performance in June).

I didn't take any pictures of backstage but it was really interesting to see the non-public spaces in the building and hear more about the thought that went into the design.

Next we were off to see a show in the most unusual theatre I've been to!  It's basically a tent.

And this is the star of the show!

A vintage steam engine named Vicky.  Here she is on stage.

The show was The Railway Children based on the book by E. Nesbitt.  The staging was really interesting, it was a railway platform with seats on both sides and the actors performing in the middle.  As well as the train, there were "mini stages" that rolled along the tracks as part of the scenery.

All in all a great day of theatre!