Stitchy Gift, Applique Projects, Free Patterns, Update

The ground is starting to get that in between seasons look...grimy snowbanks and patches of old grass showing through here and there. Freezing temps overnight still and it was -14C here yesterday morning for a windy walk with Ned. They keep promising warm ups that don't happen. I gave my Geranium a deep trim-all my plants are getting a little "leggy" as they reach for the precious light. You can glimpse our snow free gravel driveway here so the sun is working it's magic even if the air is cold. Yah!

We went to Robbie's last hockey game of the season, part of their tournament. They won their game which was fun. They've played together well in the Under 12 league but some of the players will be moving on to the next league in the fall so it will be a different team then. His Dad built him a marvelous backyard rink again this year and he spent hours on it practicing...great exercise in the fresh air. 

I cooked a roast beef dinner for us on Monday and we had leftovers for Tuesday. I got the beef at Farm Boy and it was good. We are not big meat eaters and I always worry we are not getting enough iron. I did a little checking online. I was reassured to see that nuts and dried fruits can help in that regard. I keep dates, prunes, apricots, and raisins in the house most of the time to have with cereal and oatmeal as well as little snacks. Apparently they are fairly good sources of iron. 

I did get a photo of the oven roasted potatoes and carrots I made to have with salmon one night. I'm trying to include fish in our diet once a week. 

That's a spinach and kale salad with lots of dressing for Tony and he said he actually enjoyed it. 

This week I"ve been working on prepping more of the Liberty's Birds blocks. The Cardinal and the Bluebird have been readied for stitching...mostly. These are large pieces and not fiddly at all to applique. Just like the Everglade blocks that were fun to hand stitch. 

And I also prepped the side panel for the Baskets Love project. I took a photo but for the life of me I can't find it.

💓  I got some lovely stitchy mail from Magpie's Mumbling's generous Mary Anne. She sent me her grandmothers set of the Canadian provincial flowers stencils. Looks like they were the Aunt Martha's set which was so familiar to all us older folks. I was able to order the American version from Amazon and am looking forward to embroidering these pretty flowers. What a great summer stitchy project that will be. 

The Jolly Jabber is a fabulous site for us stitchers to hang out and ogle lovely projects of all sorts. It has several sections of free quilt patterns. I enjoyed looking through the one labelled Vintage and Classic Quilt Patterns- the link to that is HERE.

Update on Tony

We got a second opinion report on Tony's CT scan. This doctor confirmed everything from the first fellow but also noted what he thought was a slight collapse in a small area in one lung. So we have an appointment with a respirologist on the 31st to check that out. We also sat down with our GP and had a good talk. He brought the conversation around to something we had not really thought about. And that was should Tony have an operation, one that requires opening the chest, even if the specialist thinks so. I guess there could be ramifications for recovery, etc. in light of his age. He favoured the idea of waiting three months, having the scan again to see if the tumour will grow. That certainly gave us food for thought.

I am enjoying seeing your photos of the pretty early spring flowers appearing in your necks of the woods. Please keep them coming. Mine will definitely be a while. 

I hope all reading this are having the best kind of weekend, one with treats and stitching time too. 

I love the wonderful link ups at Alycia Quilts, Quilting Patchwork Applique, Kathy's Quilts, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and Creations Art Quilts.