Tassimo Vs Keurig, Lunch Out and Fabric Shopping

At the risk of boring you to tears, I'll share with you an ongoing discussion Hubby and I are having.  We have a 7 year old Tassimo coffee maker; it is working well and makes a quick cup of coffee.  But we have been intrigued by the Keurig.  Notably we can't help but see how much wider the selection of coffees are for the Keurig compared to the Tassimo.  Sometimes we can't even find Tassimo coffee while there will be a wall of choices for the Keurig. What's up with that?
 But to give up on a perfectly serviceable machine seems wasteful (just like the people I talked about in my last post!).  Meanwhile we do have a  4 year old Cuisinart machine that we use when we want a full pot of coffee.  Just how many coffee machines must a tiny kitchen have.
 The discussion is ongoing.  Any thoughts?

A horrible weather day yesterday and I was driving around doing my babysitting chores.  Snow and blowing snow and gray, gray, gray.  I drove like a little old woman, one of those you see whose head is shorter than the headrest and you think the car is driving itself.  If I was going to have a bump or go in the ditch, it would have been in slow motion.

Today, an about face...brilliant sunshine which often seems to happen.
We headed out to a friend's house for lunch. The long country drive with its scenes of pristine white snowy fields, blanketed horses, and evergreens looking winter picture perfect was very enjoyable.
 I wrote a post about visiting her house before and you can read  all about it here. .  She has the most wonderful house in the woods that reminds me of the house in Hansel and Gretel.  It is even painted yellow with lots of fretwork around the eaves.
 Lunch was salad, chicken noodle casserole with mashed squash; strawberries, ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert...all very yummy.  Our host made the noodles herself in a new fangled machine she got for Christmas.  She insisted it wasn't hard at all.
On the way home, we detoured into the nearest little town.  There I got to visit a fabric shop while Hubby went to one of his manly stores.

  I promised myself I would just take a quick look and not buy anything unless there was something that really jumped out at me.

What are the chances of that happening here? And yes, the bolts of fabric really do stretch down three aisles like this.

Maintaining focus is essential.  I don't know what happens to my eyes in places like this.  They seem to want to dart everywhere all at once!  I got sidetracked a little by this stack of upholstery fabric offered at a good reduction.  Still lots of windows in the house with no curtains I thought.

I had a great chat with the lady on cutting and a young woman buying the material to make her own wedding dress.  She had chosen a heavy satin for a dress that was to be very slim-lined and together they had found a tulle she liked for her veil.  What a wonderful undertaking!
I left the shop with a few purchases (of course) and feeling happy...sunshine and chatter about a June wedding.
What could be better?

Books and Someone Is Reading My Posts

I almost don't like writing reviews of books.  For two reasons...the old saying no two people ever read the same book  is true and secondly, I would hate to read a bad review of my own work, I'm reluctant to write such about someone else's. 

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison is a well received novel.  It  is billed as a psychological thriller.

This book has also been compared to Gone Girl but I admired the writing much more in this one.  I like unflinching examinations of relationships; I enjoy reading about disecting long term partnerships. I like descriptions of food and clothing. This book did all that for me. An easy read, I finished it in a couple of days. Although I thought the ending was rushed and did not reflect the strength of the opening chapters which could be its undoing, I'm going to say this book is definitely worth a look.  I was very sorry to read that the author died of cancer in 2013 so there won't be any more books to follow up and see if her writing further developed.  

Another book from a list of must-reads from the librarians.  

The World Beneath by Cate Kennedy won the People's Choice Award for NSW.  I almost gave up on this book.  The opening chapters present characters that were rather stereotyped and a situation that was also a little trite. Divorced, aging, hippie style parents and one rebellious teenaged daughter.   However, the story gained strength as it moved along and by the end I realized I'd enjoyed it very much.  The trek into the Tasmanian rainforest and mountains turns into a survival story and was excellent. That section of the book could stand alone as a wonderful novella. The scenes of the overly optimistic mom at the Finding Your Inner Goddess Retreat were funny but also sad to me.  By the end of the book I had warmed to all three characters.  They were not so easy to dismiss as I had thought. Another quick read.

Speaking of reading, someone is reading my posts...and I know that because of one of my Christmas gifts from Sister...

This book has the the most exquisite photographs of animal/bird made structures.  For a nature lover like myself, this book is a real treasure.  

I am always astounded at what a bird can achieve with just a beak.  And how hard they toil, endlessly.  

Thrift Store Finds and Foxes

A pre- Christmas visit to several thrift stores proves this point for me...we as a people are adrift in a sea of stuff.  Shelves piled high with all manner of items.  The lady at the Salvation Army store was telling me they can't keep up with all the bags and boxes of items that get donated.  They are always overwhelmed with volume. And I'd added to it that day by donating my own bag of goods!
The other interesting thing she said was that more and more items are coming in that are brand new, or in a box- obviously never used.  When she first started working there 25 years ago, they sorted items by well used or gently used; they didn't even have a category for new though once in a blue moon something would appear that had a tag still on it.  Not any more.

 Why is this, I asked her.  Here is the gist of what we came up with.

  People can't be bothered trying to make use of things i.e. recycle.
If people get a gift they don't like, they don't mind throwing it out whereas one time we would feel obligated to keep it.
People redecorate all the time and chuck out the old stuff.
No one wears anything out as such anymore.
Things would have to be broken or unfixable before they would be discarded.  Nobody fixes stuff anymore.

 What do you think?

 I bought Christmas cards there that had been donated by several local charity organizations and this pair of cross stitched pictures.

The stitching is beautiful and I think you know why I couldn't resist these.  Acorns, oak leaves, thistles,  But I have no clue as to who stitched them which is a little sad or whose design it is.

And this rather large sized book.

With full sized patterns for applique.  A great little resource and though old, had never been used.

 Driving home I glimpsed a smallish animal crossing the road up ahead of us.  I recognized the tail and got hubby to pull over as soon as it was safe to do so.  We backed up, rolled down the window;  I grabbed my little SureShot and took a photo.  The animal had disappeared by then but I was hopeful my quick shot had gotten a brief glimpse.


Here is the original photo.  So sorry it is squish and you have to twist your head but my position in the car was off and hurry, hurry was all that was in my mind.

And my magnification at home revealed Mr. Fox, pausing ever so briefly to glance back at me.  Oh if only I had been quicker.  He was quite large as foxes go, a striking reddish and stood out beautifully against the drab gray of those trees.  I sense a wonderful photo opportunity lost.  Ugh!

Btw, can you spy him in the original photo?

What is it about foxes that interests me?  They appear to be such lone, independent creatures.  There is something haughty about them when grown, but their kits look and behave like puppies.

I can't resist sharing this quote I used in a former post about the fox in Daughter's garden.
 It is taken from  the longer poem Red Fox by Margaret Atwood.


                             " The red fox crosses the ice
                                intent on none of my business.
                                It's winter and slim pickings."

Here is a link if you have a mind to read the whole thing.

Red Fox

Favorite Netflix Dramas To Stitch To

My shows I'm stitching to....





With the caption, the west can't be tamed, this show reminds me of the kind of shows that were around when I was a kid, Gunsmoke and the like. A hero of the old-fashioned model, quiet and full of integrity.  A crime cleverly solved in each episode too.



I love how these British shows employ seemingly 'real' people for their roles.  No cast of models there but good acting and a fascinating ongoing crime.  I just learned that Season 3 has been confirmed so happy about that. 





I don't know how writers can maintain such a standard in each script as the folks writing Homeland manage.  Each episode can stand on its own as a short film, almost as good as what Breaking Bad accomplished.  Marvelous acting.



Besides Wallender, we do watch several Nordic Noir type shows.  Arne Dahl being one and this one, The Bridge.  We are quite taken with the female lead detective, the first with Aspergers to be represented on screen.  Though I must admit Season's 2 crime became very convoluted and a bit of a challenge for our little brains to follow.  We needed to keep notes, I guess.




This is really a sort of soap opera but we love the way the two families, from opposite classes, struggle and fret and handle their entanglements.  But manage to keep going which speaks to the strength of family and relationships.  The acting is wonderful too.





This is River and I loved this one.  River is a detective who actually sees people and hears the voices of those who aren't there. A phenonomon that started when he was an extremely lonely little boy missing his mother.  The season had him solving one crime and along the way, we got to learn about his affliction.
 I was interested enough to do a little research. People like River call themselves "Voice Hearers" and it is not nearly as rare as you might think.  They have their own organization and are lobbying to have their condition removed from the category of an illness.  They do not have a medical basis such as schizophrenia that cause the hearings.  In fact just the opposite, they are often highly intelligent, highly functioning, unmedicated people who have been able to employ this to help them cope with some situation or other.  Interesting.

And the stitching itself goes on...

What shows are you stitching to?  Let me know so I can add them to my list.

Finish Is My Word or Possibility

Mindful seems to be the word of the new year.  Did you know they are pushing the idea of mindfulness in new ways...
I think we've all heard of mindful eating; trying to slow down, enjoy the flavour and really taste your food.  But have you heard of 
 Mindful showering, yes, showering.  It is where you take the time to appreciate your body and feel thankful for all it does for you.  Or
Mindful cleaning in which you examine the things you have in your house with an eye to how much you use or enjoy them.  Declutter is what it used to be I think.

Did you also know?  Resolutions are not as popular as they used to be.  Their failure rate probably has something to do with this.  Now it is suggested that we adopt a single word as a resolution for the new year.  I could use "create" or "dream" as my word for 2016 but "finish" would probably be even more appropriate, lol.  I read that "better" and "acceptance" are very popular.

  What word do you think would be a good one for you to adopt for 2016?


This was one of my lovely gifts this Christmas.  Younger daughter knows my love for journals well.
This one combines a number of my favourite things.  The colour pink and an Emily Dickinson quote..."Dwell in Possibility"

Come to think of it," possibility" could be my word for 2016.

Daisy Debs asked what is a snowmobile.  So I thought to include in this post a photo of ours.  Some may know it as a ski-do.  I can hardly believe it now but I once lived in the Far North on Baffin Island and this was my mode of transportation around the little town I lived in.  I used it to go get my groceries.
 They are mainly used for enjoyment and around here there are groomed trails through the woods to ride on.  Ours gets most of its use on our own property pulling wood or just riding the trail we have around the land. But they are fun to drive and ride.

Definitely Not Dieting, Quilty 365 and The New Black

Quilty 365

Before I forget, I wanted to share a project I came across in blogland by accident.  It is found on the blog Quilty Folk  and is called Quilty 365.  The idea is that each day you make a small circle from your quilting scraps, sew it to a neutral colour backing and ta da, a year later, you have a quilt. I really liked that the circles were not perfect but a slightly primitive rendering (so not too fussy).
And some people are opting to sew small rectangles instead; stitched together into long strips and then sewing the strips together would make a very colourful quilt.
 Audrey calls this a Year Long Quilting Journey and the link is HERE to her post where she very aptly describes the process and  provides information about yardage and circle making.

I like the idea of small, very doable projects like this.  No big outlay in money or time really.  Just steady on. And with bits of cloth from each of your projects, this can be something of a memory quilt too.

What's the new black?

Every year, old colours are made new again.  Last year was a purply colour called Marsala. 






 This year it's pink and blue, but not just any pink and blue. 
The colour institute Pantone announced that Rose Quartz and Serenity Blue, a pink and blue, were the new black for 2016.  Easy on the eyes.  I think my mom had a sofa in that rose colour back in the eighties. What do you think?




Nancy at The Literate Quilter wrote a wonderful post about the history of these two colours and I learned a lot from reading it.  Of course, these colours are not new at all and have surfaced every few decades.   The link to her Pink and Blue Post is Here.

 I'm wondering how you are making out with all the treats that are around during the holidays, like fudge or in our case, chocolates.  When they are brought from far away and is just about the best chocolate, you have no choice but to indulge.  Hubby and I have it made with this box...he prefers dark and I like the milk chocolate so it works out perfectly.

I don't ever diet per se myself but I know a lot of people aim to eat healthier in the new year.  I thought this was funny.


Those who read my posts know I don't usually make New Years' resolutions.  But I always have ideas and goals in mind for my health, my reading, my hobbies, etc.  No I'm never short on ideas that's for sure!
That being said, in 2016 I 'd really like to learn more about growing vegetables.  I guess that's a resolution of sorts.  Now it's ringing a bell.  Did I aim to do this last year as well?  Eek. I'll have to check back. 

This is one of my all time favourite songs/hymns; I love the way it celebrates our beautiful planet. Hope you have time to give it a listen.  This Is My Father's World

Endings Always Come Too Fast

Sang Art Garfunkul so sweetly in the song All I Know. 
If you have the time, give it a listen. 

And just like that another year ended.  But before that....

Glancing out my kitchen window on New Year's Eve day, providence rewarded me with a rare sighting of this elusive fellow, the Pileated Woodpecker.  Made famous as the model for Woody the Woodpecker, this fellow is the largest of the woodpeckers that we see here in our neck of the woods.  I glimpse one from time to time and have never gotten a photo before.  It was very interested in the oldest tree in the back and stayed vigorously pecking, just long enough for me to grab my camera and get a few shots through the window.  Then in a turn of its great red crested head and a sweep of its large wings, gone.

 But that day had another little treat for me.  The male cardinal I watch each winter came  back again.  A female is with him and I think they must be hungry.  I only see them in times of snow and they come to check out my bird feeders.  He makes a remarkable sight, so scarlet against the white. 

Before that....

  On the day before New Year's Eve we met a friend for lunch at a pub in a little town nearby.  I had this as my rather unlikely side view.  By the way, we all had fish and chips, a specialty of this place and it was good. 

Most of the little towns around here came about because of the rivers and falls and this one was home to a number of mills- textiles and wool.  That is the back view of one of the mills, no longer operating but turned into condos.  I imagine their view of the river and falls would be enjoyable. 

On the day before that I rescued the last of the tomatoes from the greenhouse.  The tomatoes themselves seemed willing, but the plants gave up the ghost and were withering.  We ate these alone to enjoy the pure sweet tomato taste.  A learning experience and I already look forward to planting more in the greenhouse come mid March.

That old stick tree in the center there is the one Mrs. Woodpecker was attacking.

It hasn't stopped snowing since it suddenly began.  We have enough snow on the ground to use the snowmobile.  Hubby took it up the trail through the woods for me to have it a little easier going on my walks.

Welcome Winter!