Crabapple Hill's A Gardener's Alphabet

I am getting so much enjoyment from this project. The beautiful A Gardener's Alphabet from Crabapple Hill Studios.

I realized my photographs were not showing you just how pretty these designs of Meg's are.  I went into my file and did some close-up cropping to give you a better idea of how the colouring and stitching blend together.
 This is a very enjoyable project and not at all difficult...trace the designs, colour them with crayons, heat set with your iron, and then backstitch all the outlines. I should point out that the embroidery floss used is Seasons, a usual six strand floss, but it has a noticeable sheen not found on other brands.  I love how each piece is worked separately so you can take it with you, always a plus for a project with me.

For my wooly projects, I still am at sea about my pretty variegated wool; I have tried a dozen different crochet squares and none of them seem to suit.  Honestly, some of the designs are definitely over my head; I wish I knew someone who could crochet.  I just need a little instruction...

What Will I See and Bird-Saving Whiligigs

As the train approaches Montreal, it slows down as it drives past endless backyards. I'm a little reluctant to look at them.  Besides the privacy issue, what will I see.  Will I glimpse something that once seen cannot be unseen.  I don't want to see tied-up dogs or abandoned kittens or even the sagging, bedraggled back decks littered with prams and appliances.  You might think I am exaggerating but I have to tell you that once on a bus tour in Bermuda, yes, Bermuda, I saw something in a back yard I wish I had never seen.  I have a friend who had a similar experience in Cuba; like me to this day she cannot get the image out of her mind.  Fragile flowers I guess we are. 

On more mundane issues...I have replaced some of the whirligigs on the front windows.  I think I showed you a picture of them back in November.  I found them at a dollar store and they are the best thing I have found to prevent the birds from banging into the windows, something I have not had happen since putting these things up.  It's a good thing we are in the country though; I think they would not pass any suburb by-laws these days or at the least, brand us as crazy.

Partially Passionate and Poppy Block

Young people are so often told to figure out what they are passionate about in order to plot their pathway to employment.  The problem with this is that in my experience so many young people could easily name all the things they were definitely not passionate about, but would draw a complete blank about the other. I empathized with this because I'm sure many of them would probably be like myself...someone who enjoys many things but nothing in a' heads above the others' way.  I joke that I am a jack of all the needlearts but a master of none. (Yes, I  know that is a geeky thing to say.)  I think I have a certain amount of creative energy in me, and all my life I've been trying to sort out exactly how to employ it.  You might say, if  I haven't figured that out by now, it's not going to happen.  But somehow, a part of me seems to still be striving to find my arty niche, as it were.  I wonder how many  people are like me...notes for a novel in the bottom desk drawer, partially finished water colours resting in a bedroom corner, ideas on napkins and in specially purchased scribblers ever hopeful the right pen or paper or wool or embroidery thread will make the difference between thought and fruition. 
I am not lamenting that state...in fact, I understand appreciation is as important as creativity and I enjoy an abundance of that.  I've come to love the process too of whatever it is I am making, be it a cake or a scarf.  Less emphasis on the finished product and more consciously enjoying the moments of planning and creating.... I believe this sentiment from Anotole France...
"If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads."
I have the body, but lack the will to really, really buckle down and challenge myself.  Okay, I probably should have ended this with the quote...eeek, but you know what I mean.

Here is my block P which is also a very large one and I loved worked with the rosy/orangy colours in this...

Poppies are also a favourite of mine; anything that is so hardy and can withstand the cold is to be admired, right.

Sugar From Trees

"Now that print is dead, maple syrup is officially the greatest thing made by trees."

                                             Rachel Sanders, BuzzFeed Food

I was just reading that though the maple syrup production this season was delayed by several weeks due to the weather, it was still a good maple syrup year in the end. When I think about maple syrup, I think of sponge toffee and pancakes, such happy thoughts.  Here in eastern Ontario, maple syrup is a big enterprise involving the tapping of thousands of trees for some family businesses.  There are also a lot of people who tap a few trees in their backyard and try to get a liter of syrup just for the fun of it.
 Last year we went for lunch at a sugar bush restaurant at the height of the maple syrup season.  Where we were seated by a large window, we had an excellent view of the syrup lines from the trees.  The clear plastic of the tubes enabled us to watch how the sap was running through the lines.  I was surprised by how fast it was flowing, sometimes in a rush like a river.  Amazing.
Did you know it was probably a squirrel that helped people discover maple syrup?  Legends vary among indigenous people about how it was discovered and some of their stories involve a squirrel.  Scientists have observed squirrels biting bark till the sap runs, waiting for it to coagulate, then returning to the site to lick the syrup.  They chose only sugar maples and did this particular behaviour only at the time of year when the sap is running. In this way they were able to validate the often told legend about the little boy watching a squirrel biting a tree till the sap ran and him tasting the sap and finding it delicious.
I consider maple syrup one of the rare very special flavours in the world.  I prefer the lighter versions, a little less sweet but still that undeniably unique flavour.  Nowadays, you can find maple syrup flavouring in so many items...bacon, sausages, cakes, candies and cookies.  If you want to learn some more interesting uses of maple syrup, Rachel Sanders has a great online entry at BuzzFeedFood called 57 Magical Ways to Use Maple Syrup.


And here is my Block O...

  

Northern Flicker and No Book Blues

Just one more quote about books, this one by P.J. O'Rourke I came across...

"Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."

I guess that's why you should keep War and Peace with a bookmark in it by your bed...that's a book I have never read, by the way.
 

Sorry about the fuzzy quality of the first photo but I wanted to show how at ease this Northern Flicker has become on the front lawn.  Usually they are very shy birds, but this one has become a regular visitor and is comfortable foraging with the robins now.  I love how the second photo shows that brilliant yellow stripe along his wing feathers.
On my walkabout today I saw the first snakes of the season.  Two brightly striped garter snakes slithered through the grass.  What I really noticed was the absence of any flying insects...not a mosquito, butterfly or bee yet.  Perhaps there has not been enough warmth in the air to draw them out. Even today it is cool and I needed my warm vest on.  I heard on the radio that even the real gardeners have not begun any garden digging yet...so I don't have to feel too badly I haven't.  I left any seeds that said on the package to plant right into the garden and they are still waiting. 
I don't have a good book or even a mediocre one to share with you.  I have tried to read about four books lately and couldn't stay with any of them.  Disappointing, as all are part of my compiled reading list which means they are award nominated or winners or library recommended. At one point in younger days, if I started a book I would feel compelled to finish it whether I liked it or not.  Not these days...just can't do that anymore.
But why can't I get 'into' a book these days.  I guess it is me and where my head is right now, a little unfocused!

 

Libraries...A Life-long Love

"Reading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person...reading is bliss."

                                                           Nora Ephron


One of my grandmothers would always come and stay with us whenever there was a parent sick or she felt her help or presence was needed for anything.  This was a great comfort to the family as she was what would have been described as a "strong" woman back in the day.  In her suitcase she would always have Turkish Delight bars, gum and a Bobbsey Twin book for me.  I read the whole series and just loved Nan and Bert.  I also read all the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton before moving on to Cherry Ames, the nurse stories and Trixie Belbin.  My friend and I would save up  the eighty-nine cents to spend at Stedman's (the local five and dime store) on a certain Trixie Belbin book that we loved and would take turns re-reading it.
 Of course the library played a big role in my early reading career.  In Corner Brook where I grew up, the library was housed in a building with the most important name...the White House.  This had been originally built as an American USO building and opened in 1944.  Edgar Bergen and his puppet Charlie McCarthy were just one of the famous American acts that performed there to entertain troops.  Anyway, by my time, those days were long gone and the town now operated the building as a hall for dances and various community functions with part of it designated for the city library.  I loved the long windows and the creaking wooden floors.  I had a particular love of all the little drawers in the wooden cabinets that housed the library catalogue. So old-fashioned now.  This was definitely the start of my career as a library nerd.  
All of my life, I have used books to help me deal with life's experiences...whatever was happening to me.  I depended on  Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care for advice as a new mother; I relied on my library of books for entertainment, advice and wisdom, especially when I lived in places that were considered isolated. I still turn to books and my library time to soothe me and help me refocus and relax.         

At Sixes and Sevens and Block M

My thinking could best be described as diverse this morning, though scatter-brained is probably a better description.  You know what I mean, one of those days when nothing is flowing and even pouring myself a cup of coffee seems to entail effort.  As I glance about the house, everything seems to be in need of attention all at the same time.  Hubby says there is a funny smell in the fridge; all the windows need a good outdoor cleaning which is my job.  On my way to empty the kitchen scraps in the compost, I noticed the bird houses we had bought last year to put up early in spring this year. I think that time would have been last week or perhaps even earlier. While I was spying the birds at the front feeder, I glanced about the living room and realized the aquarium needed cleaning again. That's a touchy job because water has to be poured, treated and brought to the particular temperature our little fish friends enjoy.  So much for my bragging about keeping the house clean in just fifteen minutes a day.
But really, I'm not complaining, and I mean that.. I'm still mindfully grateful I have the physical strength to get these jobs done.  A walk with the dogs through the woods will sort me out.
Perhaps I'm a little out of sorts because I don't have anything on needles (or hook) just now and I've spent a bit of time searching out a new pattern but can't settle on anything.
Here is the wool I'd like to use next...

 It is  Loops and Threads Impeccable and is a pleasing colour combination of brown, pink and cream. Each colour variation is not that long so I'm not sure I like how the finished look of these squares has a spotted quality to it, with the brown dominating.  I did not know you should check out how long the runs of each colour are when using variegated wool and then choose a pattern to suit.  I'm still figuring out this stuff.  It is lovely wool though with a soft quality to it and I'm eager to settle on a project to start using it.

And here is my Block M which also includes N...

  This is one of the larger blocks in the whole project.  I loved working on a morning glory design as I grow them every year along the fence by the driveway.  They are hardy and I enjoy their many bright colours.