Scandinavian Embroidery, Cones and Roast "Beast"

A light snow covered the ground this morning and it was minus 5 degrees...brisk but very invigorating for my walk. The dogs love to sniff all the new smells overnight creatures wandering our trails must leave and their mood is one I can describe as joyful.  I can't help but sort of match them somewhat in thinking too, yes, isn't this all wonderful.

I've been noting an abundance of evergreen cones on our trees...where none were last year.

The belief is that this is a sign of a hard winter with lots of snow and the extra cones higher up on the tree are food to help sustain wildlife throughout such hard times. Other parts of the province are also reporting lots of cones this year, so much so that the Weather station had a meteorologist address the issue.

Of course he said this was a myth.  That in fact the extra cones are self preservation for the tree itself.  Having the cones higher than usual is another way of having them available for birds to carry the seeds wide.  But he did admit it was a very nice myth.

Here is a link to read more about conifer cones if in the unlikelihood that you are a nature nerd like me and would find the fact that it is the females that are higher on the branches interesting!

So appropriate that I am working on a snowman today-still this week.  His scarf is giving me a bit of grief. For starters I think the cream colour is too close to his white so I'm going to change it to a darker cream in hopes it will not blend in with his body.  The stripes are kind of fiddly but doable.  I'm glad I didn't stitch any of this down till I had a good look through the camera's eye. Lynette Anderson's Scandinavian Christmas project

And chickens need wings and feathers still and the reindeer need eyes, mouths and saddle blanket decorations on this one.  There is a surprising amount of hand work to finish these blocks but all of it enjoyable.

I know my American friends would have feasted on turkey recently, but we had a roast "beast" on Friday. Just so you know we are not always eating soup, lol.  That yellowish stuff is mustard pickles...any of you like that?  Hubby had never had them till I came along and now loves them like I do. It's a little hard to tell but there is turnip, carrots, peas and potatoes here.

I have registered for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2018.  I've visited the site several times and looked at the wonderful works of art really that some have made of their "pages".  I'm looking forward to it and would hope to see some of you there too.
 The CQJP 2018 link is here if you'd like to check it out.

If you know of other BOM's that you think would interest me, please let me know.  I love the idea of a block a month which is manageable to me.
Happy Stitching All!

So thankful to link this post with all the happy stitchers at Love Laugh Quilt, Free Motion By the River, Stitch All the Things, The Quilting Room With Mel and Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.  Thanks for hosting all!