I just have to share the end of another successful Barred Owls of Indiana season. I so enjoyed watching these three grow and then branch successfully off into the big wide world. I really like how the owl parents are so attentive and make sure all three, even the youngest and smallest, hatched days after the first, gets plenty of food. Their eyesight is thought to be better than ours so imagine emerging from the nest box and seeing all the world in front of them for the first time- no wonder they look transfixed.
BTW, the Cottage Garden SamplingsYear in the Woods series does feature an owl in the group but it is a Barn Owl. I would definitely work it if it were a Barred Owl. I've never seen a Barn Owl though I know they are plentiful here in Ontario. This one is a beauty though.
Sunday last was Mother's Day. Beth and I enjoyed our usual outing...getting pedicures and manicures at the local Mahogany Spa in Carleton Place, a nearby town.
I wish I could get my house to smell as nice as that place does. This year I picked the deep pink polish.
The event includes Mimosas to sip on and a delicious boxed lunch. Beth also gave me a bag of goodies including this information she came across on the web. 10 Glucose Hacks from the Glucose Goddess. I'd never heard of her but I've watched a couple of her YouTube videos since.
Stitching this week so far... Here are some of the appliqued Hourglass blocks in pinks together.
And I've appliqued sort of leaves for the Bramble Blooms borders. More to be added to this. I hope I can pull it off -how I'm imagining this in my head I mean.
Our sweet house guest is still here. Getting me out of my chair and out the door.
Ned hangs on his every whine!
I've gathered more free patterns to share soon and also thoughts about how to join those Tiny 9 Patch blocks. Think I should begin that before the numbers get overwhelming. I'll also talk about LeeAnna's Not Afraid of Color prompt next time...it has to do with childhood lessons.
We are doing well with the healthier eating. The weekly box of fresh vegetables and fruit has certainly helped. There was a large cauliflower, potatoes and green beans lately that I used in one of those mushroom soup casseroles...actually I switched to cream of chicken and it was good too. I also made a lentil, pea and bean soup with added carrots and sweet potatoes from the box. Not foods Tony would like but he enjoyed the soup. And for me, I can make a meal of a salad. I always add carrots and oranges. I'm still using Jenny of Elefantz's salad dressing...1/3 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/3 cup maple syrup. I cut back the maple syrup for me as I don't have a sweet tooth.
I did get shoe shopping for running shoes and bought these. Sketchers with hot pink soles with a little more cushioning than I'm used to.
So many pairs I tried on were white or light colours. Around here on the trails, they would be dirty so quickly, I opted for the black and I've come to like Sketchers over recent years. They are very comfortable which is the main thing, of course.
Have you heard of doing this? Yet another use for toilet paper rolls. There must be a book that could be published with all the uses by now. Last weekend, I got out my saved toilet paper rolls and made quite a lot of these. Planters for seedlings which I put to use on the weekend.
It is always tricky getting delicate, tiny sprouted seedlings out of containers to put in the ground. This way, they don't need to be removed; you can plant the whole thing. Here is a short video showing how to make the containers. Two from each roll and this tiny project definitely scratched my thrifty/frugal itch too.
Two Amazon Delights
If you google latest quilting trends, you'll probably turn up this. Alice Carolines' latest book, Alice'sWonderland Sampler Quilt. It features 100 blocks, I think all sewn in Liberty fabrics. It's popping up all over the place. Many quilters are sewing these blocks which are a variety of applique and piecing. It sold out quickly but is back in stock now even found on Amazon. Here is a short video preview of it.
And I saw this at KatyQuilts and thought I'd share it. She got hers from Sam's Club Online. Great for many uses besides sewing tools, maybe jewelry or other craft supplies. Makes a cute gift. I found similar on Amazon too but there are variations available from a number of companies and all in pretty colours. A new fangled twist on the old metal tool chest. Amazon link
My weekend's progress on the Pileated Woodpecker. I've switched to stitching some of the boring bits to get them out of the way.
And in a bit of amazing coincidence, on the weekend I was able to grab a shot of our local fast moving Pileated Woodpecker making his rounds of the trees beside the garage. Ned and I spot him quite often early morning. He always seems so intent on pecking the heck out of the trees that he doesn't notice us. And look at that... leaves have appeared almost overnight it seems.
Prep for this week's Tiny 9 Patch blocks...and nine at a time. And sadly not making any noticeable dent in the scrap bags.
I have to continue the garden tidy up this week and begin my new border on the Bramble Blooms. I hope I'm going to like what I've planned. Next time I'll talk about that and my Mother's Day outing. Hope your week will be one that includes doing something you love!
Ned's big brother is staying with us for a little while. Here he's having a chat with Tony. Petey is demonstrating his signature move...how he can balance and beg at the same time. Definitely treat worthy, he insists.
During this week, I've been tv stitching. So enjoy making these tiny EPP blocks.
I found another YouTube stitcher to watch who enjoys both cross stitch and quilting. Laura at LalaDeeStitches. She has a great upbeat vibe and shares much enthusiasm for each of her many projects. She does beautiful work in both cross stitching and quilting.
I heard from many of you who also loved that very colourful Future Dreams yarn. Here is the beginning of the particular Irish Moss (also known as American Moss) pattern I chose. From Studio Knit which offers a fine collection of patterns that just use knit and purl stitches.
It is a four row repeat pattern perfect for beginners. It is also reversible which is good for a blanket. Nothing fancy stitch wise. I'm liking the look of this better than the cross stitch pattern so I'm going to be knitting this blanket. Here is the Studio Knit video demonstrating the Irish Moss Stitch.
And HERE is the link to the West Yorkshire Spinners free pattern page for you who are clever enough to knit not only blankets, but clothing.
Pretty much all my knitting/crocheting tools are from thrift stores. I keep them in this E.R. Fisher vintage box that belonged to Tony's mother. They are a century old Ottawa menswear shop that is still in business. This box is almost as old as me!!
I loved how someone had sewn a simple knitting needle caddy to hold her own collection of needles. Though a little worn, this just had to come home with me.
There is always a huge bin of hooks and needles at the Value Village...really no need to pay full price for such items. I wonder can metal knitting needles ever wear out.
LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is how we celebrate our birthdays. Growing up, my late August birthday was kind of bittersweet as it marked the end of what were always great summers and it was back to school the next week. I was always nervous about school so that definitely took some of the fun out of the day.
These years my birthday is a reminder of, simply put, still being here. At my age, I've known a lot of people who have passed on. Recently I've been making one promise to myself on my birthday- some simple thing I want to keep up for the next year. One year I promised to keep up connections with folks, another was to improve my fitness. Last year it was to read more books rather than rely so much on audiobooks.
What about you? Was your birthday celebrated in a special way in your house?
Just noticed...I've got a robin nest building on a front door light. I'm wondering if I should discourage that.
I got a start when I glanced out the kitchen window. This guy was over close to the veranda seemingly looking in the window. I wondered what had caught his attention. I keep my camera there and took this shot while he kept staring. Then I realized there was a Red Squirrel on the wood pile in front of the window and no doubt that was what he was staring at.
Got to treat ourselves with a fast food take out meal recently. The fries were good and the wrap was a bacon, tomato/cucumber salad one. It was tasty and very filling. I don't know how they get so much in a wrap and it stays so tidy. Is this something you would like?
Below is my Bramble Blooms improv project to date, the inspiration and challenge from Audrey at Quilty Folk. Mine is definitely the Flower Power version. All the little appliqued orange peel blocks are finished and I did put a little dark turquoise dot in the centers as someone suggested. Thanks! When sorting scraps, I found a small piece of Kaffe fabric and wanted to use it one way or another in this project. It wasn't large enough for four corners so wound up in two. His designs highlight the power of flowers, that's for sure. Now it's time to sort out the next border.
Maybe this outside shot shows the colours better.
My eye seems to be craving colour more. I saw this yarn below and fell in love with the combination of those reds/roses/pinks and the summer leafy green. I liked it even more when I read the West Yorkshire Spinners had specially produced it for a cause. It is called Future Dreams and for every ball sold, they are donating one pound to the Future Dreams Breast Cancer charity. I ordered a few balls to try out for a new blanket.
Being variegated, it is a little tricky to choose a pattern that suits. First I began a crochet pattern, Lucy's Cosy Stripe, to see how the colours would play out.
Then I thought about knitting for a change since my recent wooly projects have been crochet. I researched knitting patterns best suited to variegated yarn. Several stitchers mentioned Moss Stitch works well with such yarn so I'm going to give that a go this week.
And one last thing I wanted to share today. I was very taken by this post over at Barbara Brackman's always interesting Civil War Quilts site. The lovely appliqued block, Kentucky Wildflower, is featured.
She states that overgrown plants in need of repotting are a Kentucky classic quilting theme. The pots are often shown as ridiculously small compared to the size of the flowers. I read about Carrie Nation and her personal war on bars and saloons. Women willing to go to jail for what they believe -that made me wonder about the depth of my own convictions.
Meanwhile, here is a link to this free pattern for the the Kentucky State block found at the AmericanQuilters site. I came across it during my unsuccessful search to find out more about that appliqued flower block above. This interesting formation would work well being stitched using EPP.
This week will be a week of no appointments! I will be free to begin gardening and preparing pots for sowing, etc. The ground is thawed and now is the time to transplant a few flowers that get hidden under bushes later on. I'm no longer planting any bulbs as the 50+ I've put in the soil since coming here have all been removed by the squirrels and maybe the groundhogs. I hope it was tasty eating!
Happy May to all! Though it feels a little like one step forward and two steps back, spring is getting here. Fresh snow out west; here no snow but cold overnight and early mornings have a chilly wind. But it doesn't stop the two who venture out every morning for a good walk. Of course, one of us is wearing a fur coat so he's going to be toasty no matter what.
As another Ned said...
"What is the good of your stars and the trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?" E. M. Forster
Time for a Spring Wall Hanging
I have a lone chipmunk this year. And he is very tiny. Usually we have five or six running about so I'm wondering what happened. It can't be lack of winter food. They all were quite busy last summer steadily carting my sunflower seeds back to their den to the point I imagined a huge seed mine underneath our front lawn. I just looked it up and I was not wrong to imagine that because it said chipmunks can hoard up to 8 pounds of seed during a summer if it is readily available. I counted and their hole was and still is 20 of my steps from one of the three bird feeders.
Late afternoon sun gave him a glowy look.
The latest cake from Beth has been finished off. So good! A chocolate one and the recipe is amongst Rock Recipes' 20 Best Chocolate Cake Recipes.
Some women get jewelry but look what Hubby got me...my very own Gorilla Cart. He figured it would be easier than pushing the wheelbarrow and it's got an automatic dump feature which makes it easy to use. It took him a while to assemble and here it is. I love it!
During April I fitted the Chookshed Stitcher's Challenge #9, the Panama Pyramids, into the stitching plans. I was happy with how it went together fairly accurately with just the one row needed easing of the seams to join correctly. Finishing at 70 in x 65 in., it is big enough for a bed.
So all the rows are together and the sides getting finished. Some quilters have cut through the diamonds on the sides which I'm reluctant to do, so I'm going to have a further think about that. I'm going to layer this one for quilting when I sort out the backing. I'd like to stitch a motif in the solid yellow triangles.
It has over 1500 hand stitched little EPP triangles in it! And I enjoyed stitching every single one.
The RSC colour for May is pink. Here are a couple of the appliqued Hour Glass blocks that I'd already stitched in pinks. I don't have much pink fabric and I'm sticking to the 2024 fabric diet.
LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is what does your name mean, as in, are you named after someone maybe or is there a story behind your name. Mom loved my French name which she heard on a radio drama from long ago. It was about a doctor and his nurse who was named Jocelyn. Mom didn't like it to be shortened to Jos and she also didn't know technically it should have had an e on the end for the feminine form. I thought about adding it when I was older but let it go. In all my schooling I only ever knew one other girl with the same name. I loved that my name was rare and different. How about you? Are you named after someone?
I hope your week has gone well and the weekend will be even better.
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