Thrift Store Finds

Older daughter and I had a rare chance to shop together recently and I wanted to check out a Value Village.  It was a Senior's Discount Day too and there were lots of my ilk milling around.  Two things I've noticed about seniors, they are more apt to acknowledge another shopper and more likely to make a comment about the various treasures we are all looking at.

 I met a nice lady in housewares who in between telling me she was in the middle of treatments (for what, I don't know) gave me a talk about the various china patterns she has owned in her lifetime as well as her mother's. I found this interesting because she appeared to be quite elderly but had a sharp as a tack memory for dishes.  I also admired her walker; it had a special shelf for shopping and had a seat rigged into it as well.  Very convenient and she was pleased I noticed this.

But back to my shopping.

Here's what I handled and coveted but didn't buy.

A foot massager.  New in the box, never taken from its' styrofoam cushions.  You could also soak your feet in it.  I was thinking of Hubby and wondering if it was something he would use.  I decided he probably should but more than likely wouldn't.   

A book called America's Best Cross Stitch.  This is a book I used to own so a little sentimentality snuck in there as I looked through it. But I resisted.

A copy of Tina Fey's Bossy Pants.  I've read it but wondered who I could pass it along to.

A large outdoor planter.  Our planters are wooden and very old and literally disintegrating a little more each year.  We will need new ones.  But I'd have to huff this to the car and it's fall now soooo...

Here's what I bought...

A brand new adult colouring book of mandalas, those lovely swirly designs.  I thought Daughter might use it.  For 99cents I figure you can't really go wrong.

A ceramic rooster planter.   It's got Portugal stamped on the bottom and it does look like something I would think of from there.  And I thought a good home for it is here on the farm. By the way, we hear the neighbour's rooster just about every morning so don't need one of our own.

I don't usually look at the jewelry there but this time I did and I loved these silver bracelets.  Only one of the three has a letter on it but they look good anyway.  I seem to be enjoying silver jewelry more and more. 

I debated a long time over this.  It a large bouquet of flowers worked in crewel.  The stitching is very close, almost tight which made me wonder if the right choice about working it in wool was made.  But as you can see, it is pretty nonetheless. I don't think it is provincial flowers, but I wondered if it could be state flowers.

  I had just the right spot at the end of the hall and you can see a reflection of the spare bedroom there with it's oversized bright sunny window.  Not a mark on it to see who may have made it and the frame looks almost home made, certainly home varnished.  All in mint condition.

 I had the small lonely thought wouldn't it be sweet if the embroiderer could know her work had ended up here on my wall much admired by me.

Not bad for a look round; I always enjoy thrift shopping no matter what I buy... or don't. 

A Little This and That

It's been a while since I've shown you my crochet work, my Granny Stripe Blanket and it has grown.  I only do one colour which is two rows a day.  I'm afraid to do more because I don't want to aggravate my sore knuckle.  For some reason crocheting seems to wake it up, whereas the sewing doesn't. So I think this is the way this is going to be from now on...babying that knuckle I mean.  But I can live with that. 

The deciduous trees are changing colours very rapidly and the leaves are also living up to one of the meanings of the word deciduous...falling down.  On the trail this morning so many leaves were falling it looked like a snow fall.  In fact I know it was a foreshadow of what is to come shortly, namely snow flakes.  Yikes

Trees to the left side of the house

I know a number of you are big pumpkin spice fans.  This site Yummly is one I subscribe to and they've collated a collection of amazing pumpkin recipes.   The link is Yummly Pumpkin Desserts 
I was interested in the one called Pumpkin Lasagna which looks like the Chocolate Lasagna dessert I make.  This particular recipe can be found at OMG Chocolate Desserts
 Vera has posted some wonderful chocolate recipes as you can imagine by the name of her blog.


                                  



Anyone starting their Christmas stitching?  Gazette 94  is offering a series of free cross stitch patterns for the wonderful Christmas Nutcrackers.  I know several people who have lovely Nutcracker collections they display each Christmas.

                                                




On a completely different note, I'm looking for a comfortable shoe to wear around the house in the winter.  I'm fed up with slippers; I find the soles come unglued or they get dirty looking too quickly.  I want something I can slip into easily (too lazy to have to struggle fitting a shoe on), something very comfortable, not too clunky, doesn't make too much noise walking on wooden floors, without much of a heel.  Am I expecting too much?  Am I the only one on such a search?  If you have any suggestions, let me know.
I've been eyeing this one...It's something called the Therafit Austin clog.  But I don't need a sole for all terrain, just around the house. LOL


 

Heaven Hear You

Permit me a little sentimentality today...

I am so thankful for my blogging friends and readers.  Except for those who comment or email, I don't know who you are but believe me you are with me as I write each post. You let me share my silly thoughts and doings with you, my daily small but meaningful activities, and of course, my love of fabric, thread, and wool. 
We are so like-minded you and I, it seems like we could be twins, or at the least, sisters.

So on this Canadian Thanksgiving Day I'm thankful for this blog and the connections out into the big wide world it has given me.

An old Irish wish from me to you....

              

Bringing Sisterhood Into My Home

Sewing has been taking place on my first three blocks in the Farmer's Wife SAL. HALLELUJAH
 I am whipping my whip stitch into shape.  ha ha
This was a question mark for me as I wasn't sure I could really do this; it's been so long since I hand sewed paper pieced fabrics.  And eyes, hands, neck....nothing is quite working as well as it once did!
 I am not worried about how slow I am. It is slow sewing after all but so enjoyable.  As with all my needlework, it is the process that means so much to me.  

The backs of the first two blocks...I'll keep the papers in till the end.  I had to label each piece to be sure I kept them straight.  You know me....

Bonnie

Becky

Not perfect by any means, but when the papers come out and they are pressed I think they will be okay.  You'll have to believe me that they are not as wonky as they look.

This is Belle; don't worry about the edges not being fair.  I have fabric turned under that will be teased into shape to make the sides even.  I am happy about all the points meeting so well.

Springtime On The Farm

 Choosing the fabrics for these first blocks was difficult; like most quilters I do have a stash to choose from.  However, once I settled down, picked 10 favourites, got cutting and put these together, I realized I wanted to have a sort of theme for this quilt. I decided it should be "Springtime on the Farm", just about the most wonderful time of the year for us all especially here in Canada.

 And I've been following the crowd on the Facebook group which has been interesting.  The administration of this venture has published guidelines for the group which now tops the 4000 mark.  I found it interesting that one of the things they wrote was for people to be kind to one another regarding comments about each other's work.  I was surprised that we would need to be told such a thing.  Really who would post a negative comment about another person's efforts.

They also want people to follow their tutorials for the blocks and not send around links to other sites and of course, not use the group to advertise your own company, blog or wares.  I guess it would be tempting with this many sewists as a captive audience to want to share your blogging business with them. After all, there are so many people running serious businesses with wonderful, amazing stitching/sewing offerings and this would be a golden opportunity to spread your word.

You can join this group at any time during the year so here is a link if you think you'd be interested.

The Farmer's Wife SAL

 The American magazine, The Farmer's Wife, in 1922 posed this question to their readers,
"If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you in light of your own experience, have her marry a farmer?"
They received over 7000 letters and were surprised themselves by how overwhelmingly positive the responses were. Laurie Hird compiled 42 of the best letters in her first book, The Farmer's Wife 1920's Sampler Quilt.  These make wonderful reading, personal glimpses into women's lives at the time.  The 1930's book also includes letters from farm wives, these compiled from those written to the editors over the years. They as well offer a snapshot of history and tell the most interesting tales of 'making do', repurposing items, animal care and feeding the family. 

As Laurie states these quilting blocks, chosen and named with those farming women in mind, give you a tangible way to bring that sisterhood into your home. 

Orange Is Not My Favourite Colour But....

The first of the Canada Geese have started their very noiisy trek overhead.
 The tree tops are changing colours and though sunny, the light has a different feel to it.  Kind of like it is a little washed out.  And the night time temperatures are really cooling down fast with threats of frost.
There you have it, fall settling ever so slowly but definitely in.

Yesterday was a splendid day for me in the garden.  I moved all the tomato plants into the greenhouse, separated and transplanted some perennials and cleaned out a couple of flower beds.  The marigolds, cosmos and daisies are starting to looking a little wan but I won't bring the geraniums back into the house till later this month. As I showed, the asters, sneezeweed and sedum are all doing well. We did enjoy lots of green beans.  I waded into the Chinese Lantern bed which has grown out into the field and cut several bunches to give away.  Like Straw flowers, when dried they keep for many months which makes them a great bouquet choice.

The interesting thing about Chinese Lanterns is that the flowers space themselves along the stem and mostly remain hidden till you lift each plant.  In this picture, you'll have to take my word for it that there are hundreds of flowers hiding there.

One of the bunches today.  The leaves will die away and the stems dry to a crispy straw.

This is what is left from a very large bunch I picked three or four years ago.  At this stage they have an interesting sculpture-like look to them.  I love the way the stems have joints and bends. I can see why they are a favourite with artists.
I could only find this one example of these delightful flowers worked in a stitchery and this is in vintage yarn from Etsy.

                                     

The fresh air and work out made me feel better about myself.  I think I needed that pick me up.
 I felt I'd earned the curry dinner I cooked for us last night.

Hudson's Farm Food Stand is winding down; just the corn left and since the kids have gone back to school, it is operating on a honour system.  They have a a change box for you put your money in and help yourself to your corn.  They've done it this way for years so I guess it must work for them.

The pumpkin stand has always been on the honour system.

I realized that though orange is not my favourite colour, these two very orange items, pumpkins and Chinese Lanterns, are favourites of mine.
I just heard on the radio that we will be sending pumpkins down to the states to help shore up the loss of their pumpkins due to heavy rain.  We will be helping their Jack-O-Lantern season which is nice because what would Halloween be without pumpkins.  

Talking to Home

Just got off the phone from my weekly call to my mother.  Hubby has timed me and says I am always at least an hour talking to her.  I would divide up these minutes but my parent's schedule, appointments and outings, and my schedule, appointments for Hubby and outings, make it difficult to coordinate.

Our talks go like this...

First it is health matters.  There is always news on this front these days.  Last week it was my father has a cane now.  I took that a bit hard and find the image of Dad with a cane a rather poignant one.  My father, ex military, always took his fitness seriously.  He wore out many stationary bikes and rowing machines and usually walked back and forth to work all his life.  He is the reason I still do jumping jacks just about every day.  He would lament at times that he was missing out on the great shape  he'd be in if he'd stayed in the army.  But anyway, so be it.  He needs a cane mostly because of medications making him unsteady.  If only there was a way to avoid needing those darn things in the first place.

Then Mom and I start to go through the family. She is one of six children, all alive still and in their eighties, but most suffering various ailments. I fill her in on her great-grandsons' activities here; she loves hearing every little story.

She fills me in on home news, accidents, politics, and all the local. Like her mother before her, she takes a keen interest in the politics of the island, the cabinet shuffles and how tax dollars are being spent. ( I don't share that interest particularly.) Winners is building a new stand-alone store there.  Everyone can't figure out why they didn't go into the space vacated by Target when they left last year, that sort of thing.

Lastly we talk about t.v. news, the weather and finish up with what we are cooking for supper.  She loves trying out various recipes she finds on Pinterest and hearing what I or the daughters are cooking.  Dad jokes that he is still her guinea pig.  Grocery shopping has always been enjoyable for her and more so now it seems.

We make our good-byes quick ones.  She is soft and I keep it light, despite the wrench it always is for me to hang up. 

                       Mom's raisin buns, she had ready for us when we arrived last summer. 

Let the English Paper Piecing Begin

 
                       See I'm not the only one using their dining room as a sewing room.

Oh my goodness.
I've given all my spare time to my Farmer's Wife SAL in the last couple of days.  I am using the English Paper Piecing Method mostly because it is what I am familiar with but also some of the blocks have very small pieces that warrant hand sewing. I really don't know how you'd manage these itty bitty pieces on a sewing machine.
The SAL administration has decided on Becky, Bonnie and Aunt for the first three blocks.  They are a little easier with fewer pieces.  In the book The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt, all the blocks are named after women by the way.
  I decided to set up a little assembly line to prep those first three blocks.  That way, my materials, on the dining room table, would be all there together, ready for use and I could start just where I left off.

First Hubby downloaded the patterns.  I traced the pieces onto Freezer paper, cut those out, and ironed them onto my fabric.  Trimmed those and then came the gluing.  Yes, gluing.  I decided not to put in basting stitches.  I have read that it can be a problem removing the thread from the paper and some of these pieces are so small, a little glue would work better instead.  A couple of episodes each of Longmire, Suits, and The Hour saw me through the gluing process.  This was not hard, just a little fiddly. 
Upshot is...I've put in all this time and not made a single stitch...yet.  I can see why this method is called slow sewing.  But then that is what makes some people love it.  They find it relaxing and soothing to handle the small pieces totally by hand.  I guess now I will be honing my whip stitch which is what I'll be using to join my pieces.  Haven't used that stitch in awhile so this should be interesting.
Already envisioning some unsewing in my future. Sigh

On a sadder note, my orchid is finally giving up the ghost.

The petals from one of the branches.  And the other is about ready to drop too.  February, these blossoms would have been 2 years old.  Oh well, it had a good run.  I just hope it was nothing I did. 

Here it is in what was its' pinky glory...