"Chat from the Brat" is a phrase that I often use on the subject line when I e-mail friends and family, so I thought that it would be fun to use it for the title for this page. This page just gives me a chance to indulge in some idle chitchat.

Of course art is on the top of my hobbies list. I also love to work in my garden. My favorite flowers are Black Pansies and Mammoth Sunflowers. The tallest sunflower that we have grown was eleven and a half feet.

This picture of me standing under our Mammoth sunflowers was taken August 17, 2003. This year we finally beat our own record by growing a sunflower that measures a towering thirteen feet. I am only five foot three inches so you can see just how huge they are. When I work in my garden they make me feel as if I am in a faerie wonderland!

I love to cook. I will try just about any type of food at least once. My favorite foods are shrimp, (As if you didn't know that already - via The Shrimp Story) chocolate truffles, strawberries, blackberries, nectarines and watermelon. I love Chinese food both traditional and Western however, there is a few things in traditional Chinese dishes that I have tried that are just a bit too exotic for my taste. I also love Italian food. One food that I just don't like is blue cheese, YUCK!!! All of you people out there that like blue cheese, you are all insane, each and every one of you!

We live in a beautiful area so I love to go to the lake and explore and sight see. I grew up spending a great deal of time out in the wilderness and that is where I feel most at home. When we go to the city I avoid the malls like the plague, YUCK!!! I would rather go downtown to unique craft stores, bookstore second hand shops, cafés or boutiques.

I love to read. I love to read about mystical places. Unexplained Mysteries, ancient cultures, haunted places, mythology or books on travel. Some of my favorite authors are Stephen King, Anne Rice, Terry Brooks and John Saul. Three of my favorite books are A Rich Man's Secret by Ken Roberts, Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield and The Blood Countess by Andrei Codrescu.

I don't watch a great deal of television but when I do I love to watch basically the same type of things that I like to read about. I don't like any of the half hour sit coms or "Reality TV?" shows BOARING!!! I love documentaries or programs such as Exhibit A, Hollywood's Greatest Stunts, (I love to watch shows about the people who do the stunt work for movies etc. It is an art that I really admire) Cold Case Files, any type of home decorating shows, programs about extreme weather like tornadoes and any shows about haunted and mysterious places. I also collect DVD's mostly horror movies. My favorite movie is John Carpenters Halloween. I have collected all of the Halloween DVD's right to the most recent Halloween - Resurrection. (It would be nice to get some of the people who played Michael Myers to sign my DVD cases, dream on Margaux!) There are a few comedies that I really enjoy such as Dumb and Dumber, The Wedding Singer, The Birdcage and The Burbs. I also enjoyed Practical Magic, The Mummy, Independence Day, and The House on Haunted Hill. I have most of these movies in my collection as well as many others.

I love to listen to music especially while I do my artwork. I listen to the 70's and 80's music on our satellite TV music stations. My taste in music is quite eclectic. I enjoy listening to a wide variety of music depending on my mood at the time. I love to listen to Sarah Brightman. I would say that she is my favorite artist. She is a beautiful woman with an incredible voice. Here are some of my favorite songs. Sarah Brightman - Hijo de la Luna & The Music of The Night, Seal - Kiss From A Rose, KD Lang - Constant Craving, Starland Vocal Band - Afternoon Delight, Cat Stevens - Wild World, Mediaeval Babes - Isabella, Yaz - Midnight, Doobie Brothers - Black Water and Kate Bush - Babooshka.

I like to work out. I go on my treadmill an hour a day five days a week and work with light weights three days a week (For toning) and do lots of stretching. It is very addictive, if I miss a day because I am busy I feel disappointed with myself. I work out to help my chronic back problems, which I have from doing my artwork. Because I don't drive I also get lots of exercise just going down town to do daily tasks.

My grandma Christina spent a great deal of time at my parent's place while my mom was pregnant with me. One of the things that disturbed my grandma was the pet snapping turtle that my parents had. Grandma was a bit superstitious and told my mom that it wasn't good to have a turtle in the house while she was pregnant because she would end up having a turtle baby. This is rather ironic because, after I was born as time passed I acquired a deep liking for turtles. Everything in my bedroom had a turtle theme I collected turtle ornaments and I had a beat up old turtle stuffed animal that I slept with and took with me everywhere. I also had several turtles as pets.

When I was three years old my dad had to work in Melville, Saskatchewan so we ended up living in a motel for several months. While we were there one of my turtles died, needless to say I was very upset. To make me feel better my dad threw it in the air real hard and told me that he had sent it to heaven. He had actually just thrown it over the motel. I didn't see well so to me, he had thrown it straight to heaven! This thoughtful and simple act helped to mend the broken heart of a little girl. It was just one of the many loving things that my parents had done for me throughout my childhood.

Mom told me that later that day they were both crawling around behind the motel looking for the turtle to properly dispose of it and make sure that I didn't find it.

I guess to some degree my grandma Christina was right about the "Turtle Baby" thing, eh?!

In 1978 my parents and my grandma Christina and I went on holidays in the United States. This was a very special holiday for my grandma because she would be seeing the ocean for the first time.

This picture is of her sitting on the beach somewhere along the Washington coast. She really was in awe and she sat there for hours and I feel so privileged to share that moment with her. She told us that she wished that Grandpa John could have been there to share the experience with her. They loved each other so much, I know in my heart that grandpa John's spirit was there sitting beside her on the beach .

We had so much fun on that trip. We played a joke on my grandma and put a little crab in her change purse. When she opened it up she was startled to see this little creature looking up at her. "Hmm hmm, my goodness sakes, you people are crazy!" she said. When we let it go she thought that it was cute but I don't think we could get her to hold it in her hand. She was so amazed at all the marine life. I know that this was an experience that she carried with her through out her life!

When I was fifteen (1980) I went to the Barns Creek Craft Fair in Edgewood B.C. with my sister Michelle and her husband Chris. We were there for one week and it was one of the best times that I have ever had. We lived in a three level tree house and sold leatherwork and batiqueing. Chris and Michelle also made a large sauna that held about twenty people. I met so many interesting people, artists and performers while I was there. Thanks Chris and Michelle!

I will always remember the day my grandma Christina gave me her Native Name - White Swallow Woman. During a family reunion in 1991, we had a very informal ceremony. (Which we also got on videotape) To be given an Indian name is one thing but for someone to actually give you their name is such a great honor, it is like they have given you their identity. My grandma has so many grandchildren to this day I have no idea why she chose me to carry on her name. Maybe some day I will understand why. Thank you grandma, I love and miss you so much!

When I was about twenty-seven a friend and I went to see a magician-hypnotist-escape artist perform at one of our local pubs. When the hypnotism portion of the show began my friend wanted to go up but of course wouldn't go without me, oh brother! I figured that if I didn't pay any attention to the hypnotist nothing would happen and I could get off the stage and humor my friend. There was about twelve of us on the stage. Three or four people couldn't be hypnotized my friend was one of them but, I stayed up on stage and made a fool of myself while my friend watched.

I saw a herd of bulls racing through the bar and I was trying to get everyone to leave. No one was listening to me and they were all laughing while all these bulls were running past them. I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't leave and I was getting mad at them and trying to pull them off their chairs while trying to dodge the bulls. Then I was giving our poor bar owner (Percy) a bad time because I saw that he was putting cow pee in the beer. At the same time this other guy (fellow victim) was arguing with me that it was a pig and not a cow. So I am arguing with these two guys at the same time. I told poor Percy that he was going to make people sick and that I was going to report him to the police and I was calling the other guy an idiot because he thought that it was a pig instead of a cow. It was just way too funny! Then I thought that I was Cher performing at a concert. (I can't remember what song I sang, thank God!) Then the whole group of us was watching a horror movie on TV. and heard a noise in the basement and had to go find out what it was. There we are all walking hand and hand down stairs, what a bunch of dorks! I don't think that I would ever do it again but I sure had lots of fun! Thanks Wayne! During the time I was hypnotized my friend was on the phone telling my parents what was going on. The hypnotist returned to Creston several times. I watched more of his shows (as a spectator) with friends and family, lots of fun!

Another memorable moment in my life was this very spiritual weekend get away that I went to with my good friend Anne-Marie. While we were there I had my first experience of going to a sweat lodge. This is something that I would like to share with my husband one day. The spiritual leader that was there was very nice. The whole weekend was very magical and enlightening wasn't it Anne-Marie!?

Seeing the giant fir trees on Vancouver Island was amazing. When I was about fourteen my parents, my cousin Jacqueline and I spent several weeks on the island, it was fantastic! One of the most beautiful sites was the giant fur tree forest. These trees were so huge that all four of us could only reach half way around the tree, wow!!! I felt like a little faerie.(Top pic-dad, bottom pic-me, Jackie and mom.)

My wedding day and honeymoon of course was another big moment in my life. We got married at my uncle's heritage home which use to be the original U.S. boarder crossing years ago. (No big traditional white wedding B.S. for me)

Our wedding was very small and casual about twenty people. Everyone wore blue jeans and summer dresses. David wore casual tan pants and a white shirt and I wore a rust India cotton dress no vale, yuck! It was the first time in my life that I almost fainted. Thank goodness my best friend Tracey was there to give me a hand. It was so hot and I was so nervous that while I was up stairs getting ready at my Uncle's place I almost blacked out. David and I exchanged simple gold bands in a life long vow to each other. (I hate diamonds and refuse to wear them. I think that they are garish and tacky) It was a perfect day.

For our honeymoon we went through the Slocan Valley. That night when we left we drove along the lake through one of the most intense thunderstorms that I have ever seen, it was awesome. I love thunderstorms the wilder the better!!! Thank you God for the wonderful gift! We stayed in Nelson in a three-story hotel that was still under construction. Because of the storm the power was out and we had to find our room by candlelight. Walking up stairways and down long dark hallways it was delightfully gothic and spooky! In Silverton we stopped at this little restaurant and had some of the best Italian food that I have ever tasted. We stopped at a craft fair and some unique gift shops. We went through Sandon Ghost Town and soaked in the caves at Ainsworth Hot Springs. Who needs to go to a far away and exotic place when you live here!

On July 12, 2003 during our annual Garden Festival our beautiful little town of Creston set out to break a Guinness world record. Over 1,800 people, My parents, my husband David and I included, in less than three hours painted what we hope is the largest paint by number in the world. This immense painting measured 5 feet tall by 771 feet long. There were four TV. Stations present while we were painting the canvas. It was great to see our humble little town receive so much publicity. I am also very proud of all the people who sponsored, volunteered and participated in this event.

Later that evening around 6:30 PM. 242 people (my family and I included) paraded the completed drawing down town main-street to mark the beginning of our first annual "Gardi Gras" celebration.

Well folks it is all up to Guinness to decide if we did indeed break the world record. Wish us luck and I will keep you posted!

To visit our beautiful town and see more about our annual Garden Festival Visit these links!