I've had to crack a window in the living area this morning. This at the risk of letting in the below freezing air outside that put frost on my pumpkin this morning.
But the air inside seemed a little smokey when I came in from my walk certainly in contrast to all the brisk freshness outside. I enjoy everything about my morning ritual of starting the fire in the fireplace stove.
I also enjoy picking up sticks on my walks, ones just right for stage two of layering up the perfect fire. This is about the only thing I know I could do well if I were a contestant on that show Alone. Tony thinks my biggest challenge would be not getting lost in the woods; he thinks I could make the perfect camp with shelter and fire, etc. But in wandering in the woods, never find my way back to it. I told him one of the contestants had prepared for this issue and as part of her allowed gear, she wore a huge hand knit sweater which she unravelled and used the wool to mark her paths through the woods. So, see, there are ways around everything. And a plus for hand knitting too which will be a necessary post apocalyptic skill, imo.
This morning's music...I like Paul Simon's singing voice though I always think it is tinged with sadness. His words often are.
"Like a memory, it falls"...Kathy's Song
My mind is all over the place today. I just wrote down that I want to buy puff pastry and use it for meat rolls using ground beef. I used to use this a lot back in the days of dinner parties especially when I made a Beef Wellington type roast. I also used puff pastry in desserts. Somehow it has fallen by the wayside and I haven't even thought of it in ages. Do you have something like this that you used to cook and have forgotten about?
Anyway here is the recipe, Meat and Veggie Wellington Roll, I plan on using...Taste Great Foodie. I'll let you know how that works out.
Meanwhile, I've been stitching of course. I've been finishing the final side of binding on the ChristmasCoins quilt. Going to get that November OMG done!
And I enjoyed finishing the little Winter Needle book that was an aside project as it were. I got a Kick out of sewing the White Snowman and it will be a great place to Keep all my needles for a project in one place. That is instead of stabbed into the cloth like I've been Known to do.
It was fun to get out my button tin, the one inherited from the talented first wife. And to make a button enclosure for this one since it has "pages".
I added a bigger pocket to the back flap.
To match the smaller one at the front.
Also Fun to go through my small supply of embroidery wool and edge the "pages" in blanket stitch. I added a heart to the center to symbolize my love of stitching. Not an original idea. From the talented Ann Wood who makes amazing needle books. Here is the link to Ann's Sweetest Needle book Free Pattern.
But I'm happy to say this whole project was made from scraps and all hand sewn except for these strips on the back. Note about the colours...the reds are showing more orange which they definitely are not. Happy to join Joy's November Tablescraps Party.
I like keeping a needle book with each of the slow stitching projects...I've accumulated the gear, nothing fancy mind you, now to be able to kit out each one.
I've a bunch of things to get done, paperwork-ugh, change the bed...Tony has requested flannel sheets now and play with this guy. Another way he keeps me moving...Giving me the eye here just staring at me, signaling let's go.
I'm not the only one who likes whimsy...We found this little item at the base of a very large tree on one of the public trails back in October. I thought -wish I knew who put this here...perhaps I'm missing out on a friend.
Still enjoying playing around with what I would like to stitch for the Bramble Blooms QAL. I got out several of my books to look through for inspiration and to settle myself down to a colour theme as well. For instance, I love Tilda's Fan Flowers and wonder if I could make my own improv version of them.
Then I realized I had run out of freezer paper which I never let happen and put in an order to Amazon...I've tried needleturn applique and it isn't for me. I need the paper which arrived promptly the next day. Of course I put my hand right on the remnants of the last roll as I was storing away the new roll...isn't that always the way! I'm getting closer to what I will begin with.
And I found this small scrap of winter fabric while scrap sorting and knew it would work perfectly for a little pocket in my winter needlebook. A slightly squished size but I left it like that.
Early morning is when I listen to music while I'm doing chores. I found this piano rendition of Ed Sheeran's Perfect from The Piano Guys who are wonderful. This is so beautiful and moving. It really revs up at about the 3 minute mark.
Though so many of you spied it, I'm still getting questions about what was hiding in this photo.
It was a Blue Heron moving ever so slowly. Taken with my phone which ranks pretty low for quality amongst phones.
A couple of posts ago, I wrote about getting three meals from one ham. Yes, I do like the challenge of using leftovers in food for sure-hate waste and also in my stitching. Tony has said a couple of times that I would have made a good Farmer's wife with my frugal ways, the recycling and especially the gardening and animal interests. I think the first time he said it to me was because I am such an early riser...and he is not. Anyway, those were his notions of what farmers and their partners are like. Considering where I grew up, I could have been a fisherman's wife I suppose. What about you? Is there a path not taken, one where the skills you figured out you had later in life would have been better suited to you than what you wound up doing?
I'm going out to lunch today and looking forward to that. It is quite cool- windchill minus 20C when I walked this morning, but warming up with a sun shining brightly. Counting my blessings this morning including all of you with your kind words of encouragement to me. 💞
Hello again, we are finishing off another busy week. I like to take care of maintenance things- for the car, the house and us, before winter sets in and weather and driving becomes an issue. We both were out of the house every day which seems to make the time fly by extra fast. It always feels good to have checkups behind us.
As a result of all that I didn't get in any daytime stitching, but my nights are still my stitching in front of the tv time.
A few more rows have been crocheted onto my Granny Stripe afghan. This will be a Christmas gift which is a good incentive to finish it up.
I watched Sandra at Cherry Heart while doing so one night. She has finished her wonderful Leaves & Lace blanket. Inspiring! I learned to crochet hexagons for a project years ago but my centers were not as intricate as these.
I decided I wanted a winter needlebook. One a little smaller than the last one I sewed. I found the colourful reds in the scraps and decided to applique a little snowman. That plaid piece definitely needed saving. My progress so far and this will be a very quick project.
I mentioned before that I had an appointment with the doctor and my main issue was sleep. I can certainly tell in my body if I've slept well or not. I've always been a person who needed my sleep in order to feel in top shape. I don't usually have a problem falling asleep ...my issue is waking in the night and then my mind's voice turns into a chatterbox. I worry about everything under the sun. It feels like I can't draw a deep breath, something hurts in my stomach when I try to.
What do I worry about...easier to say everything, from the mundane....mice getting inside the car in the garage now that the weather is colder to family stuff to awful thoughts about how the world seems to be changing for the worse. I'm very clear I am not depressed, but I do seem to have anxiety in these nighttime sessions. So doctor and I had a good long chat about all that and the upshot is I came away with a prescription for an anti-anxiety medicine. One that works well with sleep issues and I can take intermittently as required. As I'm sensitive to any OTC drugs, I am going to quarter the pills and try just a little first to see how I react. There is a part of me that is doubtful this is going to work for me though I know I should not be thinking like that. I promise I won't speak of this for a while as I've whined about this so often to you all. Thanks for listening! But I will tell you if it's working. Fingers crossed.
ON to Happier things...eating!
I bought a ham at Costco and did well with the meals I made with it. Even though I don't have the running around with children and working anymore, it is still a win to have meals planned and ready to go.
Meal #1
First I made a traditional meal of baked ham with pineapple rings, corn and scalloped potatoes. I used a can of Cream of Mushroom soup for the potato sauce which I saw on a video. I have only almond milk now in the house so I figured the soup would have more flavour. I used lots of cheese; everything was tasty and enough for leftovers the next night. I didn't get a photo.
Meal #2 was a ham and veggie quiche. This time I went back to my usual pastry recipe, one I've shared often here, the Crisco recipe.
I used all the dough in the very large pie plate...it's one of those with a recipe painted on it but fully intended for baking. And the quiche as well lasted for two nights with a veggie salad as a side.
Meal #3
I love homemade pea soup, something I know isn't for everyone that's for sure. I used my slow cooker which I love, 2 1/2 cups of yellow split peas, some onion and a container of chicken broth and the last of the ham...with added water as needed too. Very easy. Tony loves Skye Flakes crackers.
That's enough about me for this week; I'm off now to read what you all have been up to. Happy Eating, Stitching, Show Watching etc. or as Connie, the Spinster Stitcher, says...doing whatever blows your skirt up!
I normally don't pay any attention to the statistics of this blog but I recently became aware of how much attention one long ago post has received. I had yet another email about it which piqued my interest so I did some digging. The Canadian Needle Nana post that has garnered the most page views by far, over 15,000, wasn't because of the stitching life I share. It is this one published May 23, 2019-
In that post I talked about how Mom was a Woolworth's shop girl for 25 years. I made the Woolworth's icebox cheesecake and shared the recipe. I did share what I was stitching but that was an aside to what captured attention.
I've also gotten the most emails by far about that post. Yes it was definitely the Woolworth's connection that drew all the attention. I didn't know that Woolworth's was all over the world. I heard from lots who had worked at Woolworth's- first job for many and as teenagers often. I heard about mothers, grandmothers and favourite aunties who worked there. And what people ordered at the famous lunch counter. The Woolworth's Cheesecake recipe also garnered a lot of comments and questions. So many said it was a happy walk down memory lane for them. What a treat that all has been for me and nothing I've written about since has struck such a chord. So thank you!
Now on to other happy things...
I just love when I find a new (to me) artist and a very special one. Rien Poortvliet is a Dutch artist and considered one of the greatest nature/wildlife painters- a fellow who never had a drawing lesson in his life. Can he ever paint fur! But it was his paintings/drawings of the fanciful creatures, Gnomes, that brought him international fame.
Here is a poster of one of his paintings. It can be purchased at Fine Art America and if you google his name, you will find YouTube videos of him, a most modest fellow. Rien believes every painting should tell a story. I just love this deer!
My cross stitched Floral Motif Sampler garden is growing. Flowers in February...
I am so happy to have finished that little needle book to corral my needles safely.
I scrounged the tiniest bits of fabric to make the petals on the cover.
It's proving to be very useful and just big enough so it isn't getting lost in the bag. I'll be sharing my efforts with Joy at The Joyful Quilter who hosts a Last Friday of the Month Table Scrap Challenge to use up the tiniest bits of fabric in a little project.
We walk every single day no matter the weather and there has been a lot of wild winter weather lately. We have all the gear and are careful to use our cleats for when it is icy like it has been recently.
Below is Hubby in matching gnome colours. He is bearded like them and an engineer like some gnomes but sadly knows nothing of illusion or magic and at 6'2 or more inches (depending on the day...he used to be 6'4") is definitely not gnome sized. 😄
Happy Thursday from the snowy, blowy, freezing Canadian Ottawa Valley.
