Two Slow Stitch Projects, Plant Booster Juice, Free Patterns

I enjoy spying the white birch trees.

Last night we fell asleep to the faint drone of snowmobiles over on the the trails. It was a great calm night for it but would have been cold. I imagine they would know to be well covered. And snowmobiles these days offer heated handles and seats, all sorts of stuff, not like when I drove one in the late seventies. 

How did your last week and weekend go? We had a very long doctor's visit for Tony with much discussion about the failing strength in his legs. He has taken two falls in a week but so thankful only his ego was bruised...snow makes for a soft landing. More tests are in his future as we do need to get to the bottom of this. Here is a kitchen window photo of him and Ned returning from their daily walk. Like the doctor said, on the surface an 85 year old man to be walking his dog daily, riding his Spyder weekly last summer, meeting his friends for coffee once a week, etc. sounds like he's doing very well, on the surface at least.  

BTW, he doesn't at all mind me talking about him here on the blog. In fact, enjoys reading your comments and suggestions.

In stitchy news, I took out Year at Hawk Run Hallow. The blocks for each month are 6 inches and include full coverage areas- a lot of tiny stitches. But I love how you can otherwise choose a small motif and with just a few minutes of stitching, the design gets moved along.

I did lay more stitches on the Dog Days of August block. These full coverage parts are slow going but easy stitching without colour changes. I'm pleased with my progress this week...another photo to follow as August has been stitched now. 

 Btw,  Stitching Daily offers an article with links to 7 Free Full Coverage Cross Stitch Pattern Websites for those of you who are interested. And the DMC site offers almost 700 free cross stitch patterns. Fun browsing!

More stars in pinks have been sewn. I'm planning to applique these to background white fabric...maybe.  

About the triangles used in this EPP project. I'm reusing the triangles I'd cut for the Panama Pyramids piece. Just trimming them to be smaller. Pattern Universe and My Teaching Station are just two sites that provide free shapes that you can download for projects. There are a lot of online teaching sites that offer all kinds of simple shapes that could be used in quilting; quite often they are free.

 What do you suppose this noxious looking brew below is?  It's my usual winter booster food for the indoor plants...banana skins and eggshells in water. I let it sit a couple of days and then each plant gets a healthy drink. 

And for us, I have a large cabbage to use up and am planning a slow cooker meal with it and rice and pork sausages. I'm going to make a red sauce with canned tomatoes, beef broth and splashes of balsamic vinegar. That's as fancy as I get these days. 

I drink one cup of coffee a day but it is a big one. And I like Banana Chips for a snack. 

And a Pine Seed Bug photobombed my picture. They are considered a wintertime benign home invader here in Ontario. I just put them outside which Tony thinks is cruel but they are supposed to be able to survive our winters so...

I hope this week is full of good things for each of you. 

Sharing this post with So Scrappy, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Life in Pieces, Melva Loves Scraps and Songbird Designs.

Wooden House Wonderful Thursday Things

Oh dear, over half way through April already! Time, slow down! 

After days of rain, yesterday was a glorious sunny day and I spent time down by the pond watching the ducks float about. As usual they alarm very easily so this was taken from far away. I wonder if they could be the same ones we see there every year. I identified (with help from some of you) American Black Ducks for the first time visiting us last year. 

This has been a good week on many levels. For instance, I've learned from so many of you how to cook squash and eggplant. Thank you for taking the time to share your ideas with me. Check out the comment section on that post HERE if you'd like some ideas/recipes yourself on how to cook these vegetables.I also got to walk lots in between downpours so feel good about my exercise level. And sewing wise, I've enjoyed moving a number of projects forward by hand and machine.

Panama Pyramids on the ironing board... I sometimes watch/listen to tv in the sewing room if I don't have an audio book.

I'm stitching the Crossroads blocks together too-such nice easy joining, not like those pesky  pyramids. 

 Here is a last look at the yellows all together on the wall. They are a range from semi brights to darks. 

Update on the cross stitching...Here is the beginning of Block 8 of Year at Hawk Run Hallow. This is the August block which features the phrase  dog days of summer beside a beautiful strong tree. 

Each block is 92 x92 and is stitched 2 over 2. Back to pouring rain here this morning and I apologize for the poor lighting. I do not press for photos either as I don't want to crush the stitches any more than they are being pressed during the stitching. Actually at this point with such a large piece, I feel like it has been mauled. 

I finished reading Vinegar Girl by the wonderful Anne Tyler and enjoyed it. Her books have been a boon to me all my adult life. I love how she writes about relationships, especially spousal. I probably read her work looking for answers back in the day. Her writing has often been compared to Jane Austen's, btw.

And I've just started the wonderful book, A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute.  I read this decades ago when living in an isolated community on the coast of Labrador and loved it. It will be interesting to see how it compares to my memory. 

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is simply chewy or crunchy??? I like both, what about you?  For instance, I find the crunch of celery, apples and almonds enjoyable and also like the chewiness of treats like Rice Krispie squares...writing that makes me want one.  

I've collected more free patterns so promise to share in a post soon.✔ Oh and the daughters and myself have been trying a common ingredient that promises to smooth and plump the face. So I'll share that too.

Going to be raining here for the next three days, but it is not snowing like so many parts of Canada and the US are still experiencing. And the grass is turning green too so all good. Hope things are similarly positive for you too!

So happy to link up with So Scrappy and other folks like Kathy's Quilts, Quilting, Patchwork, Applique, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.