Photos, Great Online Fun Site, Helpful Readers, Free Stuff

 I promised a few photos of my weekend away to downtown Ottawa which according to Google maps is a 41 minute drive from here. It was exciting to be in a city but I had mixed emotions about what I saw there. A lot more folks suffering around the streets and we were warned about not walking at night in an area that had always been an interesting/wonderful place to stroll and explore. But on the upside the Chateau is still so beautiful- I love it there. This is the view from our window looking towards Parliament Hill.

 And they have a dog mascot now. A black Labrador Retriever named Stewart. He has an interesting background...he flunked out of Guide Dog School but for an awesome reason...he was too friendly. We kept checking his area but didn't get to meet him.

The tulips were everywhere and we worried about a frost warning for Saturday night but it didn't dip below 0C. 

We went to the very large Rideau shopping mall and I got to roam one of my favourite stores, Simons. I could have bought many items- I especially love their scarves and summer hats, but settled on a colourful summer blouse I'll share soon. 

Meanwhile, back at home, that same glorious day I'm admiring tulips, Tony attended the poutine festival at the local Beckwith park with Robbie and Brad. In case you don't know, poutine is a French dish where regular fries are coated in gravy and cheese curds. It doesn't sound like it, but it is delicious.

Now back to real life and the mundane stuff...We have our new fridge and I like the see through drawers and how the freezer section has shelves, not one huge drawer things get lost in like the old one.

And I've begun the garden clean up including scrubbing the bird bath. No sooner did that and a chickadee took a bath which was gratifying and almost like it was thinking "it's about time!". But there's lots more outdoor work to be done.

✅I found this awesome free online jigsaw puzzle site...Jigidi, where you do not have to give any personal info. It offers many, many categories...my favourite is vintage art and you control the number of pieces too. There are many options available that I haven't explored...like turning them into greeting cards or creating your own puzzles. And it also has a huge number of puzzles featuring quilts too like this pretty one.

And in stitching I got out the EPP square in a square blocks I'd begun for a past RSC and have been adding another border. I used mostly darker scraps for these and they fit Taryn's present Scrappy Meets Thrift Challenge too. Check out the Repro Quilt Lover's SAL if you like using up scraps. I don't have a lot in green as it turns out but these few fit. 

Readers Questions/Comments

Elaine kindly wrote me to say she thinks the tower in my cross stitched England Quakers project is the Ackworth School tower. 

It does look like it!

 And what seconds that thought is the fact that this was founded as a Quaker school and still upholds Quaker values today. 

Someone wrote to ask about where I got the free diamond template shape I'm using for the Starry Hexagons. I checked back in my messages and can't find that message anymore to reply personally. I'm so sorry about that. Here is the link I use to find free diamond patterns for those scrappy EPP stars.  Alice Caroline BOM Shapes

And thank you all for the continuing messages regarding Tony's health. We love that you share your stories about fatigue - it's always good to know you're not alone and it's a learning experience to know what worked for others. We have explored his iron and protein levels and he is taking vitamin B12. And the cardiologist has scheduled him for a stress test and another CT scan in attempting to further his understanding as to why he is so weak. The investigation is kind of ongoing, I guess.

LeeAnna's, Not Afraid of Color, question this week is have we ever ridden a motorcycle. I did once and absolutely loved it. But it is odd that Tony has always ridden motorcycles and I've never ridden with him, come to think of it. Maybe it's because I would need the equipment or something.

I hope you all have a wonderful end of week and something fun in your weekend too. 

So grateful for linky parties like The Inquiring Quilter, Creations Art Quilts, Kathy's Quilts and Alycia Quilts.