Hoarders and Wonderful Nicola Jarvis

Occasionally I get to catch Hoarders or Buried Alive on t.v.  I was always curious that none of the hoarders I'd seen were craft people...you know how we are always talking about hoarding fabric and supplies.  Then it happened...there she was,  a craft hoarder.
  Now I'm happy to say she was one of the good hoarders, very clean and well organized.  Everything was stored in clear plastic containers.  All her fabric was sorted by colours and her craft supplies by projects.  The fact that these containers reached to the ceiling and there were so many the poor woman could barely find her front door, well I guess that's what qualified her for the show. She had actually worked hard at organizing her hoarded materials but the crafting acronym STABLE definitely applied...STASH ACCUMULATION BEYOND LIVE EXPECTANCY.
 I could tell the counselor liked working with her. For one thing they didn't have to get an exterminator like they do for many of those houses, and this lady didn't fight the changes she needed to make like so many of those poor souls do.  Some of them go down fighting, but happily, not her.
  In the end, she had a garage sale, donated some of her stash, put some on ebay (where a lot of it had come from), and gradually whittled it down to a manageable size.  A lesson for us "lovers of all things needlework".
There's just so much good stuff out there, I recognize the temptation and identified with her, really I did.

Which brings me to one of my latest acquisitions (speaking of temptation), ordered during the catalogue retail therapy I was applying to myself in late spring.

I fell in love with crewel work a long time ago and always like to have a crewel project in the wings as it were.  One of my "to be stitched  things" I ordered recently is The Acorn, a William Morris inspired design by Nicola Jarvis.  Nicola, now a freelance designer, is a graduate of and tutor at the Royal School of Needlework.  Her website, Nicola Jarvis Studio is chock a block with the most beautiful designs available as kits and features a section of William and May Morris inspired designs.

I was so happy to get it.  It will be a challenge for me to work in wool again.

There is a wonderful story associated with The Acorn and in fact, that was how I found out about this kit.  The Acorn, A Story of Stitching can be read at the Unbroken Thread  web site.

Other beautiful designs by Nicola include this one called "Loveday".  I think it is stunning and I will have to save my pin money for awhile to afford it, but it would be worth it.



This is a crewel piece and I think it would bring you joy just to work on it.
Finally completely finished all the work on my Wren and Magnolias piece.  There were many little outline stitches and half cross stitches to work here and there.  These are a little fiddly but help to define the various shapes, so necessary.  As soon as I get it pressed I'll give you a look at the finish.

Crowd-Pleasing Brownie Decadent Dessert

Warning...Not a Low Anything Dessert

I say crowd-pleasing; well this dessert definitely pleased the two crowds that I have served it to.
  I even got a proposal of marriage because of it at my daughter's baby shower, which everyone found funny.  But that is how yummy and decadent this is.  Don't think you need a special occasion to make this but it is rather large...there is a lot of it so it definitely suits a crowd.
This recipe has been floating around the web for a while; Pinterest has any number of variations of it. 

Here is how I made it...

1 box brownie mix, made and baked as per box directions. This makes the first layer.
1 block cream cheese whipped with 1 cup of icing sugar, then one container of Cool Whip blended into the cream cheese mixture.  This is the second layer.
1 package of chocolate pudding mix (I used Jello) mixed as per package directions. This is the third layer.
I spread half a jar of caramel sauce over this.
I beat 1 cup of whipping cream into peaks, then mixed another container of Cool Whip into the cream. This is the fourth layer.
Finally, I crushed 4 Hersheys Milk Chocolate with Almonds bars  and sprinkled on the top.

I can't wait to make this again. I don't indulge in sweets often and the occasional serving of dessert like this is a real treat.  Perhaps for Hubby's birthday get-together...surely he will lift his dessert ban for that.

Have you been following all the wonderful desserts on Pinterest?  So many recipes accompanied by the most scrumptious photos...a feast for the eyes, literally. 

Time Sink and So So Sewing

It happened again to me this morning.  Time Sink.  I logged into my computer intending to set to work right away on a new post for this blog.  The feed popped up as it does every morning ...Yahoo 'news' and I couldn't resist being lured into following some of the links.  What could I not resist?

The 5 Things Gynecologists Wished You Knew

Woman Saved From Collapsing Manhole Cover (one of my tiny secret fears)

Woman Flies to Wrong Country (another of my tiny hidden fears) *Note post about being directionally challenged*

Secret Lives of Chipmunks

How Your Birth Month Correlates To Certain Illnesses

What did I learn?  Not much new to me.  Turns out I already knew what gynecologists wish I knew and chipmunk's lives are not all that secret.  Both women were okay in the end, luckily.  But I did find out that my birth month is not associated with a higher incidence of any particular illness.  Phew.

So twenty minutes later I am ready to do what I set out to.

I've been soldiering away with my free motion quilting practice.

My first attempts were so so, truthfully- awful.  I kept forgetting that the cloth would not move by itself, silly cloth ... my hands had to do the moving.  I didn't realize I was so conditioned to having feed dogs do that part.

I've been using the traditional method of practicing by trying to write a cursive alphabet and circles.  Very gradually I can see it is improving.

Yes, I am feeling more controlled as I try to make specific designs.  The gardening gloves help a lot with moving the fabric and I have learned more about tension and stitch length...things that improve the overall look.
 Still early days with this new way (to me) of sewing and feeling better about it. The machine is lovely though so I am very pleased about that.
I officially finished my cross stitched Wren and Magnolias yesterday.  What a lot of bits there were to tuck in, tidy up, and then add yet another outline stitch here and there.

Then I had this bright idea...the lower right side looked a little empty so I thought I would work another of those lovely scrolls to fill it in.  That's a little guide line I stitched there to help me do that.  But when the piece was completed and I took a steady look at it as a whole, I realized it was balanced fine.  Yes, I guess the designer did know what she was doing. Smile.

And here's Herself sneaking a nap in the spare bedroom.  She sure was rescued, wasn't she?

We should have named her Lucky.

Needlepoint on Film And Other Places

"No need to hurry
No need to sparkle
No need to be anybody but oneself."

                       Virginia Woolf

I always enjoyed the final scene in the movie The Heiress starring Olivia De Havilland and Montgomery Cliff ( no less).  The heroine has finally wised up to what a scoundrel the fellow who was courting her is; he is banging on the door, calling her name and begging her to take him back.  She is sitting at her needle work stand, and continues to calmly remain stitching while he is frantically calling to her begging her to open the door.  She is jilting him as he had done to her two years earlier.  Revenge is a dish best served cold someone said and our heroine is relishing this meal.  Perhaps the satisfaction of this scene will carry her through what we are led to believe will be a spinster's supposedly lonely life.

 "Spinsterhood is far preferable to a life with an inferior man," Olivia has said herself.

 Hubby said all she needs are a couple of dogs along with that stitching and she'll be fine, right, as he looked pointedly at me.  Absolutely says me, plus lots of snacks.

A little trivia about the back story is that Montgomery Cliff displayed a sneering attitude towards Olivia; apparently he didn't think she could act. I'm thinking maybe she wasn't necessarily acting in that final scene.
 Olivia, of course, won the Oscar for her role while apparently Montgomery Cliff walked out of the premiere because he was so disappointed in his performance.  So there.

There is a needlepoint tapestry shown behind the opening credits of the movie featuring the title and cast.  I like how this highlights the importance needlework played in our heroine's life.



My that is quite a large needlework stand.  I wonder did Olivia actually stitch.  I couldn't find any information about it.
 Someone I know that did and perhaps still does is Mary Tyler Moore.  She worked on her needlepoint often on set and described herself as addicted.  I'm thinking it would be a great thing to do while waiting to take your turn in front of the cameras.

I had read that Diana Vreeland, the famous designer, appointed her living room with many bargello stitched pillows and sure enough, you can spy them in this photo.



I'm thinking she was fond of red!

 It's reported that Taylor Swift does needlepoint but the example of her work I saw was cross stitched, I think.

Our heiress would have been lucky to be well off and able to afford her hobby because needlepoint is not cheap.  Some of the canvases can cost hundreds of dollars like the one she is working in the photo.

I worked a lot of needlepoint when I was younger.  I usually had two projects a year, one for winter and one for summer.  All lost now but the memory of the enjoyment stitching them is always with me.

Did You Know You Can Rent a Chicken?

Breakfast done here now.  I wanted to spoil Hubby as I will be away for supper babysitting older grandson while his mom works.  I know what pleases him...his favourite foods begin with B...bacon, biscuits and bread.  So I included two of his favourite B food words...the bacon and bread, and sure enough, he was all smiles.

Just catching up on a few of the local papers.  We get a couple of farming journals and I like reading the articles about cows, sheep and chickens.  Sometimes the farmers version of why coyotes are bad, for instance, is different food for thought than what the media has made of it.  Sometimes I learn about invasive species of flowers and how a farmer can control them.  The purply Dame's Rocket for instance that I admire in its clumps around the driveway is nothing but a nuisance to farmers.

I also love to see the photos of the 4H kids with their prize winning animals.  What a great thing for children to do.   Dr. David Suzuki says we humans should live with other species; it teaches us about our world in a way that nothing else can which I believe.

Speaking of which, did you know you can rent a chicken?  I guess these programs are available in many cities.  Bylaws might allow you one chicken in your backyard.  One of the things I envy about Martha Stewart is her chickens.  She so often would visit their hen house on her show and collect fresh eggs and point out differences in the various hens milling around.  She had some beauties, as you would expect.
Anyway, you can rent a chicken here for about $400 a year.  I am so tempted.




The folks at Rent The Chicken have worked out a lot of the details for you including providing the coop, but I have no idea if this works out as well as they say on their site.  They deliver to many U.S. states as well as Ontario and Prince Edward Island.  Interesting.

Son-in-law spied a sign for fresh eggs one day and bought up several flats of what are called Pee Wees.  Did you know that when hens first begin laying, they lay eggs that are very small and sometimes misshapen? Well, misshapen only compared to the store bought ones we know.  It is through chemicals that hens in industry lay large eggs and perfectly shaped ones right away.  I did not know that and feel awful about it.

He gave me one of the flats of Pee Wees; I think it cost $1.75 for these and you can see the variety in sizes.  Littler grandson can eat several at a time.  Their yolks are very lemon which is the only difference I can see.

                                                Can you spot the regular egg?

Apple Love

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

                                                                    Proverbs


The word nerd in me just loves a good simile and I've always loved this sentence so please humour me this morning.  I've been waiting to talk about apples, just about my favourite fruit.

The original family on this land planted apple trees.  Hubby had been told there was an apple grove here. I've tramped quite a lot of the 50 acres now that are not used for crops and I've found just four.  These, though gnarled and ancient, still produce fruit.  Last year, just when the flowers had opened, there was a terrible high wind with heavy rain and every single flower was destroyed.  We didn't get a single apple much to my disappointment, as I think of these apples growing here as probably the only truly organic thing I ever eat.
 It made me think of those settlers though; I guess an occurrence like that would have been disastrous.  How vulnerable growing things are and the people who depend on them!

This is a Macintosh apple tree near the creek and the closest to the house.  Lots of beautiful blossoms; what a shame if there are no apples to come of it.  

I just love apples as a motif especially for quilts.  Here are a few I've added at times to my "likes" file.



This was found by Adalgisa Coelho who has pinned 137 pins on her Pinterest board Patchwork Apples and so many are cute.



This is Pat Sloan's Red Apple Lane, Block 1.  Isn't it pretty?  The quilting is beautiful.  Since I've been practicing free motion quilting, I've gained a real appreciation for those feather motifs. You can find out more about this stitching project at Pat Sloan's Blog.  Of course, Pat is quite the expert having now designed several lines of fabric and had her quilting patterns appear in countless magazines.

Above is my S block for the Crabapple Hill Studio's Gardener's Alphabet project featuring blossoms and apples; it was so enjoyable to work.



This pretty design was featured on the cover of the July/August 2009 edition of  McCall's magazine.  It is called Apple Pie Quilt and is a design by Cheryl Algren Taylor, who, by the way, has published many quilt patterns. This is available along with many other lovely patterns and her books at Cheryl's store called
A Time To Sew Quilt Designs.

How about embroidering in an apple?  The link to this lovely Autumn Apple pattern  is HERE.  I can think of many different uses for such an embroidered piece.




And can't forget apples are for eating too, and I do believe 'good for you'. My love of apples continues.

Two Great Skills To Have

I learned to cut my own hair when I was in Grade XI.  I continued to cut my hair during university; now when I look at photos of myself from those years I think, what was I thinking. It looks like someone cut my hair with a knife and fork.

 I do believe my skills have improved as time has gone by.  At least I think so because I continue to cut my hair all the time and occasionally I have someone ask which salon do I go to.  My hair is naturally curly and this helps hide a multitude of hair-cutting sins, I think. This was a great thing to be able to do when, for a good portion of my life, I went on to live in isolated communities with nary a hair salon in sight.

 I now cut Hubby's hair or his head fringe as he calls it. I also trim his eyebrows which look positively Cro-magnon if left to their own furry devices.

I learned to type in high school.  My mother was always talking about having skills to fall back on.  She really liked the idea that I could cut hair; if need be I could become a hair dresser, so she may have thought. 

With this same idea in mind, my mother sent me for private typing lessons when I was in Grade X. Several other young women and myself (I was the youngest) gathered in a neighbour's rec room (remember them?) and were led through one of the old method courses for learning to touch type.  I went for a couple of hours each week for several months practicing on a large old fashioned, non-electric typewriter (also sounds ancient) with keys that needed real pounding to produce print. There were tests all the way through and at the end I received a certificate saying I could type 89 words a minute.  My mother was thrilled; if the university/teaching thing didn't work out, I had yet another option to fall back on.

 However dedicated I was to the typing course, and I did really try my best, I found it a little boring and couldn't imagine a career spent at it.  Nowadays of course keyboarding skills are taught quite differently.  In fact, people can teach themselves if they've a mind to. There is a course online that says you can learn in an hour and the children are basically teaching themselves with all the texting going on. 

But for myself it is another skill I have always been thankful I had.  It came in handy for all the assignments in university and then throughout my teaching career and especially now with using a computer.  I'm writing this post to you so much faster than if I had to hunt and peck.

 So yet another thing I'm thankful to Mom for.