Slow Stitching Summer, Pretty Annuals, Two Bird Captures

 I've had to do something I really didn't want to and that is enable comment moderation on my blog. There has been increasing levels of spam. So there will be a delay between you commenting and it appearing in public. Your comments mean the world to me; they show me I'm not just talking to myself so are a vital part of writing a blog. I'm  really sorry about this. 😞

A change is afoot!  The season is turning. It is still August but the evenings are closing in that little bit sooner each day. On one of our gloomy, thunderstorm days, it was very noticeable. Overnight temperatures are dipping down as well so while I try hard to stay in the moment, a part of me is panicking that this loveliest of seasons will soon be over.  Meanwhile, about eight thousand miles away, my Australian friends are welcoming early opening spring blooms while our late summer flowers are in bloom.

I always use a few of those seed packets to try growing a couple annuals in pots. This year I grew petunias which last all summer as long as they are deadheaded.

And white periwinkle that I wish could be a perennial, I like it so much. 

I worked on the collating of my photos on the weekend. More to be done but I will chip away at it a bit here and there.

Veranda stitching this week involved concentrating on my medallion piece. Those small little triangles were so fiddly,

I almost chucked it. But didn't.  When I went back to the site, I saw several folks had omitted this round or substituted another row like number three. I didn't even think of doing that and after investing so much time, I'm not changing it now.  One more row to go-wish me luck! I think I will try it on the machine this time.

The best thing about the Solidarity SAL is the opportunity to try new methods. Like this one involving a little bit of fussy cutting. Here is the back with its freezer paper pieces.

  And the front where you can see I'm still not completely sold on this method. Hate to waste good fabric. Loved piecing the dresdens, of course, and working with a large hexagon. This one is almost all sewn down now. Update, finished.

 The late summer Japanese Anemones are in bloom. So lucky to have four patches of this hardy perennial around the house.

 I stared at one that had popped up in a window well -hardy as I mentioned, and then noticed the little critter there which I rescued. I hadn't noticed before how pretty the leaves are.

I'm happy with two of my bird captures this week.  I finally got a good shot of a Mourning Dove as they are not plentiful here like back at the farm where a few visited from time to time.

And the Brown Thrasher, whose rufous colouring on the back is beautiful. It's spots are very pretty as well.

Hope your week has been going well and the weekend will be even better.

So glad to link with Not Afraid of Color, Viewing Nature With Eileen, Kathy's Quilts, I'd Rather B Birdin', Paying Ready Attention, Our World Tuesday and It's a Small Town Life.

 

Ten Things That Made Me Smile

 Recently I picked up chicken duties at Daughter's house when they went to a cottage for a little holiday. They took their boat and enjoyed their time on the Ottawa River; compensation for missing their annual trip to Newfoundland.

 I love seeing the chickens up close and of course, collecting the eggs. These are marvelous layers. Here they are waiting patiently for me to take a picture before letting them out.

The common wildflower, Chicory, is in bloom displaying a beautiful shade of periwinkle blue. I love how it lines the country roads here.

Purple Globe Thistle is in bloom in the garden.

And very popular with bees-here a bumble bee and a honey bee foraging before it was completely in bloom.  I'm delighted with all the bees and butterflies in the garden this year.

Great free TV viewing On CBC's Gem -The Secret starring James Nesbitt.  A series chronicling where infidelity can lead- and spoiler alert, it's not a good place. Based on a true crime.

                           

Finishing More Solidarity Blocks- these definitely make me smile. 

Marie Lismore's design 

 You can explore her board Quilts With Personality on Pinterest.

and Sophie Dawson's pattern and you can see lots of her lovely work at her site, Sew Swish Designs.

 A book in the mail, one I've had my eye on for quite a while. Tending the Garden by Barb Adams and Alma Allen, the duo behind Blackbird Designs.

Showing you the photo of the sunflowers in this post reminded me I had a small sunflower tablecloth tucked away.  So I got it out. It's many years old and was made from a panel cut apart and resewn.  Some of you may have the same piece. Certainly cheery!

Spring Jubilee, a print by Jahna Vashti.  You can see more of her work here.  She says every smile brought to the viewer's face is a success for her.  We have not seen a bear here but I have photos of the rest including the weasel to show they all scamper or fly about our property.

Lastly I was so happy these three successfully fledged from the nest on a beam outside our bedroom window.  It made me a bit nervous and feeling sort of responsible to have them there so close.  We couldn't move our blind or curtain because it would alarm the mother. I got this photo when she was away getting food. What a great mother she was! I think the photo I took of a baby robin in the bird bath was one of these guys. 

    That definitely put a smile on my face!    

Hope there is something to smile about in your world today!

Linking this post with Not Afraid of Color, It's a Small Town Life, Viewing Nature With Eileen, Floral Friday Foto, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt and Paying Ready Attention.

 

Hand Quilting Dreamy Hearts, Complicated Medallion, Bugs Bunny Memories

 Sometimes I get down on myself because I'm not as productive as I used to be and still have in my head that I should be. For instance, there's the matter of my photos. With Windows 10 I can create albums which would be such a terrific asset when trying to find just the right photo to insert in this here blog. I started doing it, was excited about it and then the will to keep doing it drifted off across an ocean somewhere. But the idea of it still nags at me. I really must get that done. I think I'll set that as a goal for this week. Telling you all just might give me the incentive to do this. 

Saturday was a glorious August day. Sunny and about 27 C with little humidity; it was the kind of summer day dreamed about. I spent part of it down by the pond and watched a number of critters going about their business. Time spent that will be happily thought of come winter. 

Lots of chickadees to be seen and heard down there.

Then I got in some time veranda stitching and made a little headway with another round on the Medallion project. It's a bit wonky-these were fiddly to hand stitch- but by the time I get to the last portion, the fourth, I should be surer with how it all fits. 

I'm enjoying the challenge of this nonetheless.

Murphy does enjoy joining me in the front. Dozing mostly. 

Not bothering to even check out our onlooker who comes around as soon as we appear.

I've started hand quilting the Dreamy Hearts. I'm using dark pink DMC thread because I think it suits the theme of these blocks.

I enjoy seeing each of the pretty fabrics up close.

The hummingbird feeders had to be moved away from the veranda. They were inundated with wasps and hornets, the latter with such large abdomens I had to look them up on Google. They reminded me of the cartoon hornets/mosquitoes I used to watch when I was a girl.  I loved Saturdays and especially The Bugs Bunny Show and made a vow when I was ten I would always watch cartoons.  A vow that hasn't exactly been kept but happy memories nonetheless. 😊 I've gotten to watch lots with both the grandsons which was/is fun.

                                 

Hope there is something fun, even if it's not cartoons, in your days to help you through what continues to be trying times. 

Fun to link with Kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Our World Tuesday, Love Laugh Quilt and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Happiest Flower, With a Will, There's a Way, Continuous Small Treats

First of all, what I made with those ingredients I showed in the last post...Scotcheroos. One of my facebook friends posted a recipe for them that does not use corn syrup to our All Day Sweets Pinterest board. I love anything with marshmallow in it so of course, I stuck with marshmallows rather than honey. These were a great treat and I shared them too with the little grandson hence the sprinkles.

 

My bread machine turned out an acceptable loaf of whole wheat/oat bread on Monday. I've been making a loaf a week and so far we've enjoyed regular white, country white, French and regular whole wheat. It's not the most wonderful of breads but at least I know what ingredients are in it. Hubby likes it which is the main thing.  If you have a good recipe or site to check out for bread machine baking, please let me know.

Cherries are in season and we both love them and have eaten our way through 1 1/2 large bags. Farm fresh cucumber is delicious with a little apple cider vinegar and lemon pepper. 

We have one squirrel proof feeder that has held up to its claims.  However, the heavier squirrels, those black and grey, have learned to climb up and rock it a bit to send some of the sunflower seeds to the ground.  With a will, there's a way.

Garden blooms for now, the first week of August, 2020. White Coneflowers, so loved by bees; the Day Lilies too are all in bloom and the two banks of Shasta Daisies are just starting to die off.  

Summer always shows me a tiny little bit what it must be like to be a farmer. I picture a farming couple standing and looking with such a sense of satisfaction out over their beautiful growing fields.  I never tire of those iconic pastoral scenes here in rural Ontario. 

  For instance, there is a massive sunflower farm we pass en route to a nearby town and once we stopped to take photos. It's just about the happiest sight in the world. So I'll leave you today with that.

I'm happy as always to link up with Not Afraid of Color, Floral Friday Foto, Viewing Nature With Eileen, Letting Go of the Bay Leaf and It's a Small Town Life. 

Rare Visitor, Slow Stitching Sunday, August OMG, What Will I Make??

My happy chair with a view of the back yard this morning. Perhaps you can make out the pouring down rain. That old expression, the heavens opened up, applies today. We can use it so it's all good. 

For instance, this is a little patch of hardy fleabane and there are many dotting the side lawn. Normally it is pretty against the dark green grass but this summer the grass has disappeared in the heat and the area is actually crunchy to walk upon, a strange sensation.

A bank of violet mallow on the partially shaded left side of the house...I think it has gone feral as there used to be a rock garden there years ago.  In my dreams, I am restoring it.

 I still have some transplanting to do as I did buy those geraniums from the local nursery. The very pretty variegated pink geranium attracted a special visitor that I feel so lucky to have gotten a photo of.  (Hubby will now remind me if I step out without the camera so I usually have it nearby.)

I was weeding the front stones when it appeared.  First I thought it a little odd to see a hummingbird around a flower not at the feeders.  Then I realized I was looking at a large moth of some sort, its wings moving so fast as to make them invisible. It was flitting quickly just like a hummingbird, hovering only a second at each flower.  Off to Mr. Google for the answer... a clearwing Hummingbird Moth though I don't know which one. So happy for this capture!

And aren't those geranium blooms pretty. It will be my challenge (and pleasure) to keep it alive this coming winter. Hopefully this week, I will be truly done with all planting for the 2020 garden.

Which reminded me, I need to order a tripod for my camera, the one with the zoom capability. When the lens gets extended, keeping it all super steady is challenging. I've been looking online and need to get that done. 

My Dreamy Hearts project is moving along. I've begun stitching the blocks together, the ones I've appliqued so far, that is.

 I don't want to turn it into a mountain of blocks and then feel overwhelmed by the task of joining them.

  I've decided blocks of 9 hearts are what I can handle to quilt. 

  It is just straight stitching except for matching the seams. Oops! 

This will be my August OMG over at Elm Street Quilts- to get them all stitched together in groups of 9 and the hand quilting begun. So far I have 8 of these larger blocks. A surprise there are so many stitched and a great start. I feel lucky to work with pretty fabrics and also to incorporate some scraps from recycled blouses/shirts too. 

I have these ingredients assembled for a little dessert square I'm going to make.  Any guesses as to what I have in mind?? No oven required which is an essential aspect of feeding us these days.

While there won't be any lying down in meadows today or venturing out at night by me either-I really don't know what's out there😟, Wendell's words still apply. He's about 87 now and I wonder what he is making of things right now if this was his thought in 1968.

I believe nature can save us if only we could put aside the tiny matter of our colossal greed.

With no let up yet in the rain, I'll get to catch up on inside chores this morning with the promise of  hand stitching time later on. But first a cup of decaf and some blog reading. 

Happily linking with Kathy's Quilts, Applique Quilting Patchwork, The Jesh Studio, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework. 

Dragonfly Block, Solidarity Block, EPP Flower Garden Quilt Smoked Salmon Lunch

It's turning into one of the hottest summers on record here just outside Ottawa, Canada. Several days have broken a 100 year old record. Of course, it is the humidity that people complain the most about as there has been lots of that too.  I find it saps my energy when it hits a certain point and working outside becomes uncomfortable. That being said, it is cooler today with continuing sunshine so promising to be a beautiful late July day.

 No veranda stitching lately but lots inside under one or another of the ceiling fans. I finished Melva's latest block, Dragonfly, in her Pieces From the Past SAL. Not perfect by any means.  Said it would challenge me and it did. It went smoothly till I joined up the final quarter which I think I can easily amend. 

This colourful Solidarity block is now finished. 

And I was happy to achieve my July OMG at Elm Street Quilts. I have 13 of these 9 1/2 inch Flower Garden blocks made so far -this is a pattern also available from Melva's Pieces From the Past SAL. I will keep stitching them as I enjoy EPP very much. Great for evening t.v. viewing/listening. Later I'm going to retake this photo to try to show the pretty blues better. 

My audio book this week is Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, an Orange Prize for Fiction winner and available on YouTube.  I disappointed myself years ago when I couldn't get into it and I'm now finding it enjoyable to listen to her confident writing being read by a soothing voice. 

                                                         

My lunch is always better if I treat myself to smoked salmon and avocado with it. Since lunch is important for me as it breaks my fast, I try to choose wisely what to eat. That does not always happen!

Cone flowers are in bloom and attracting lots of attention from the butterflies, especially the Swallowtails.

Meanwhile the hydrangea seem to love the heat. The blooms are so heavy the branches are all but lying on the ground.

I loved this delightfully written post from Carol Michel at her May Dreams Garden site (which is called that because we dream all year about May and getting into our gardens). The Five Secrets to Achieving Happiness in Your Garden. 

And visiting my garden recently, this bird of prey.  It sat in the grass for a while idly eyeing the bird feeder area. It sat there so long I worried if it was okay. But after a seeming rest, it strutted around for a bit and then flew off.  My amateur guess is this is a sharp-shinned hawk. 

I'm sure my hawk-eyed 😉 birder friends will identify him.  

One day I turned a corner in the path to the pond and this guy was just sitting there. Hastily got a shot before he hopped away.  I told him he was very lucky it wasn't Mr. Fox that happened along.

I have another very unusual visitor to the garden to share with you on Sunday. I had to google him to find out what exactly he was!

Hope your days are filled with interesting bits and bobs too. 

Also sharing this post with Not Afraid of Color, It's a Small Town Life, My Corner of the World, I'd Rather B' Birdin', Creative Compulsions, Floral Friday Foto, Quilt Paint Create, Viewing Nature With Eileen, Life in Pieces and Paying Ready Attention.