Tea Tangent and Free BOM's

Part of a hostess gift I received during the holidays included this tea, pomegranate white tea. I never used to think I liked flavoured teas as such; Earl Grey was about my limit for something different but these last couple of years I've developed more of a taste for them. It started with peppermint tea which I like when my sinuses are acting up, then I really liked the Earl Grey strawberry tea I had for a Mother's Day Tea one year and now this one which I'm enjoying very much.
 I do need two bags for my large mug.  It's become my late afternoon habit to enjoy a cup.

If you are interested, 27 Items All Tea Lovers Need In Their Lives is a great article featuring funny and sweet tea things for instance something my Hubby would love, a tea cup with a little built in shelf for his bikkie.

With almost a week into the new year already, it's time to get serious about choosing  new stitching projects especially those that are year long.
About that, I've made a little rule with myself; I can look but I'm not allowed to touch.  These first months are going to be finishing school for me.

There are a few free 2017 BOM's around the net. As I say,  I have been looking and in some cases I've downloaded the patterns just in case.  Just in case what exactly, I'm not sure; I live to be 120 and run out of patterns somehow.  Yeah right!

 Here is one of those BOM's, a surprisingly patriotic one.
2017 marks Canada's 150 birthday as a confederation.  Part of the tributes is this quilt composed of 150 red and white blocks with each block representing a particular pioneering Canadian woman.  It is a marvelous quilt to complete and the free patterns are being released 3 at a time.

                               


I have been hesitating to jump in mainly because it reminds me a lot of the Farmer's Wife quilt I worked on for 10 months of 2016.  By the end I had gotten tired of all the triangles and the exactness required for paper piecing each block.  But I must admit many of these blocks look easier and probably don't require all the little pieces that the FWQ blocks did.
  I love the reds and pinks and purples which make the quilt look so striking so you see I am tempted.
I will think on it.

Sara Barnes wrote about a neat little Stitch a long at her blog Brown Paper Bag. It is called 1 Year of Stitches and is based on Hannah Claire Somerville's 365 day project by the same name.  Hannah completed her stitch each day into her hoop and wound up with an eclectic, very arty looking piece of work.  It's wide open-the stitches, colours, patterns, whatever is all up to you so absolutely no pressure.


                   

Sara provides the links so you can get all the details.  Again, I am so tempted.
  More later on about other stitch-alongs I've discovered. And please let me know of any you have found in your net travels.

I've talked about how Rex is always by my side. At night he makes a last sweep of the house and the very last thing he does is check my side of the bed before lying down in his bed.
I took this photo to show the after mess from making a Black Forest Cake on Christmas Eve.  I didn't realize it had been photobombed till I saw it on the computer.

I don't remember him being there; in fact I'm pretty sure I'd shooed him away.  Dogs and baking don't mix.

And see that kitchen window; here is my view out that window on January 1, 2017.

Wild, our weather has been wild.  Snowy, blowy, rainy, freezing back to snowy again.
Hope your weekend is calmer, at least weather-wise.

3 Christmas Gifts including Something Morris!

I got to have the family together for Christmas. Yes a gift in itself.  A redo of the Thanksgiving Dinner that wasn't. (You can read why I had to sadly cancel that dinner HERE). And this time I was a little afraid too that someone would be sick with all the colds and flus circulating but no, all were hale and healthy for the big day and it all got done.  I love playing games and the few we played worked well enough to give a few laughs and jokes.

  My next favourite time is in the kitchen cleaning up by myself after everyone is gone. I don't know if I'm the only weird person who likes to do this.  I like to play a little music, sip a little Merlot or a coffee, take my time with the good glasses, and generally unwind.  It's a great time for thinking and feeling some gratefulness for what I've managed to make from what life has handed me.
 This year Hubby felt badly leaving me alone so I was also accompanied by the sound of him snoring away on the sofa.  LOL

But enough about that, here are a few of my Christmas gifts this year.

I got the bread machine.

And we've already had a loaf much to Hubby's delight.  And I learned something about flours in the process.  I've always used all purpose flour in the past and never had a problem but this machine stated I needed bread flour.   I found out that Canadian flours have a higher percentage of protein by law in flour, much higher than that required in other countries and the higher the protein (gluten) the lighter the bread.  So I guess that is why I always had relative success with our own Robin Hood flour in bread machines.  Anyway, during the holidays all the flours were on special so I bought a big bag of bread flour and our loaf was wonderful.  Now that I've bored you completely to death...

Something more fun!
 My 'big' gift was a camera.  Hubby has been after me for months to buy the camera I want so he went ahead and bought it for me.  I am thrilled.
Of course, it is far more complex than my little " point and shoot" and has a lengthy booklet so there will be a learning curve.  I'm looking forward to improving my blogging photos in particular.  Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without instruction manuals of some sort to read and complain about. LOL

I wrote about a couple of my latest Morris inspired things Here so everyone knows I am smitten with anything Morris.  I couldn't believe this gift;  Sister sent me something I didn't even know existed-  The William Morris The Twelve Days of Christmas. I think the cover is stunning.

The book does not disappoint either. Beautiful illustrations with thick, thick pages...a treat for Morris lovers.  And she included a matching little wooden partridge for the tree.  I thought this a very sweet gift which I appreciate very much.

So I was very well gifted. These late years, I am receiving things that show the family are reading my posts so I must be careful what I'm writing I wish for!  I have two more gifts to show another  time that will further prove this theory.

So what about you...did you get a special gift, something surprising, something interesting?

Better Late Than Never

My New Year's Eve Dance days are over I guess. But this year I did go out but not far, just down the road. ( I know I sound like I'm 100.)

 I went to the Family New Year's Eve celebrations at the local township park.  For families, they were offering free horse drawn sleigh rides, a huge bonfire with free hot chocolate, roasted wieners and marshmallows.  The fireworks show at 6 pm was the main event and I was as happy to see them as any of the little ones.  My little camera couldn't capture them but this is a photo taken by Robert McDonald and I like how it outlines the heritage barns that are on the site.

Stitching News or Better Late Than Never

I have two of my three Christmas hangings finished and on the wall.  I had left you at the point of trying some walking foot quilting.  That went amazingly well with only a few minor glitches.

I decided for the little boxes I would outline each box with three lines of quilting.

And for the trees, I made three sets of six lines each straight up and down the whole hanging.  Here it is on the kitchen island getting squared up with Hubby's help.  

I used cream coloured cloth to edge the trees; I figured they were bright enough already. The colours really popped against the wooden wall.

I made a border of the same squares as the boxes themselves for this hanging.  Here it is on my sewing room door.  It hasn't made it all the way out because I'm thinking of continuing the quilting in each square just to see what it would look like.

The machine quilting certainly speeds up the process.  However, I do enjoy hand stitching so had to resist the urge to keep one of these to quilt by hand.

Brite and Shiny is all ready for squaring up.  I hope to have it done this week.  That piece represents a lot of my time and effort but was so enjoyable.

And a bit of a mystery.
  I found this little tin among the Christmas boxes.  I'd not seen it before and was interested in what was rattling around inside.
  Saved from Hubby's youth passed along by his parents no doubt...

What do you think they are?

A Bit Lazy During Turkey Week

This is Turkey Week here at the wooden house.

  It started with cooking a humongous turkey for the Christmas Day dinner and even with feeding a crowd and giving away parts, we still had a lot of turkey.
 So it was leftovers the first night; pretty much a repeat of the dinner itself. Then it was hot turkey sandwiches, then a turkey curry, which I can never say without thinking about the first Bridget Jones movie and how her mum was having her annual Turkey Curry Buffet and that's where Bridget meets her Mr. Darcy. Here's the clip and watching it again reminded me why I enjoyed that movie so much.

While I have a pot of turkey soup (finally down to the carcass!) bubbling away in the kitchen, I'm trying to write something worthy to you. End of year thoughts are usually deep ones.  Beginning of brand new year are usually hopeful, happy ones.
2016 is very much with me though almost gone in reality.  A lot happened. And some of it enough to feel discouraged by a direction so much of the world seems to be taking.

And about that, trying to keep in mind a couple of thoughts.

One There are still good people in the world.
Two It is all behaviour and behaviour can be changed.




Here's my wish for lots of mending, healing, peacefulness in the new year.  Baby steps are good too.



From our wooden house to yours, hope 2017 is filled with good health and good times for each and every one of you.

All You Need is Love

Winter Solstice behind us.  Christmas holidays just ahead of us.



                   



Though new to this place, we have already spent a number of days snowed in. Snow has surrounded us, piled up on the evergreens and now it looks like a winter wonderland from every window.  It is one of the snowiest Christmases I can remember.

I've been shopping and wrapping staying on track with List One and then updated List One. It has been a successful online shopping season with everything ordered wending its way to our door.
And speaking of doors, I've had to keep the presents behind a closet door.  Rex likes to try to tear them open; we think it has something to do with the new smells of whatever item it is.  Remember me saying how Rex must smell every bag that comes into the house.  Something to do with his guard dog training.


Merry Christmas all.
  Hope you get the chance to put your feet up and revel in memories of old Christmases or reflect on the wonders of this brand new one.

Pre Christmas Snapshots, Morris Inspired, Potato Dish

I'm typing this on my laptop to the light of my wee little Christmas tree.  It plugs into a usb port and is so cute.  I've been spending a lot of time in the sewing room working out those last two projects so it is nice to have a tiny bit of Christmas there too.

So what else have I been doing?  

Been shoveling a lot...I think I mentioned it is my job to shovel and salt the front steps and veranda. Lately I've had to do the shoveling twice a day; on the up side-fresh air and exercise.

Looking at pretty things-older daughters' starry patio doors which give such a glow to the den I couldn't resist trying to capture it...

And younger daughter's cute snowmen...she has a set of these, small, medium and large.

Getting to wear my William Morris inspired scarf.  Believe it or not, I spied this as they were putting them on the shelves at the Gap last August (because yes, they put out winter stock at the height of summer!).  I love it and have had two compliments on it from perfect strangers.  

I've not had occasion to wear my scarf with my William Morris inspired shopping tote but who knows, maybe one of these days I will.  Right now my crochet hexagon project is being stylishly housed in it.

I made a Potato Au Gratin.  I'm the potato lover here but just say it has cheese and Hubby is happy. We both agreed this was tasty. 

I've been reading...

I realized I haven't told you about the books I've been reading.  These are three from November that I read.  I enjoyed all of them though they are very, very different.  Two of these, The Goldfinch and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are Pulitzer Prize winners.  So it is a little inexplicable that I enjoyed Mrs. Kimble just as much.  Completely different writing sytles with very different characters, but I found them all engaging and was able to stick with them to the end.

So keeping busy; keeping the wolves at bay. No that's a little dramatic.  Everything's fine really.

More Christmas chatter next time.

Mr. Grinch and Not Mrs. Grinch, My Last Mistake

This is an updated post from December 19, 2016, our first Christmas here. I have these hangings on the wall and I thought it would be neat to look back at the original finish of them. In reading this post, I discovered a couple of things that I won't be doing these days. One is drinking coffee and the other is going to Costco. Just too busy there for the present times.  However I'm still addicted to lip balms. 

Our best teacher is our last mistake.

If I know one thing about me, it is that I learn from my mistakes.  So I took apart all my tree blocks.  Watched an episode of Without Motive and another of  The Last Detective (the British do murder dramas so well, don't they?) while doing that and it wasn't really so bad, more the idea of it.  You know what I mean.   I have set each 'tree' in a cream or white tone on tone fabric and tried out the trunk idea with it.  Now to line them up into a little forest.

Much better looking isn't it?  Don't be alarmed by the length of the trunks.  I always try to give myself lots of seam allowance. And here they are below, a little forest. 

My little Christmas squares top quickly became a sandwich and I quilted it with the walking foot.  That went well.

   

I'm sitting here in front of the upstairs fire, drinking coffee and making my Costco list. (Note the chapstick...told you I was addicted.)

 It's one of those stores where I feel I must be organized before going; it's so big with so many people but yet has products you can't buy elsewhere so...The last time we went they had full lamb carcasses for $99, a real deal considering the cost of lamb here. (Though I must confess we both found it a little jarring to see them hanging there in a cooler; obviously we are not accustomed to seeing how meat gets on our plates!)
 They are offering Portuguese flannel sheets on special and there's no denying it is cosy flannel time now.  I also like their selection of nuts in the shell, different kinds of pears, and foreign chocolates for the season. At this time of year, there will be lots of other goodies to check out too and as retired folk we can time ourselves to be in and out before the workers arrive.  Or at least that is the plan.

 Usually we see so many people out and about everywhere, it always prompts Hubby to say, shouldn't all these people be at work.

Concerning Christmas, Hubby is a bit of a Grinch and he doesn't mind admitting it.  He thinks in terms of buying that the world goes mad this time of year.  The sort of shopping and buying whatever strikes your fancy is aimless and foolish to him.  Research must be done first to find the best quality for the best price...always.
That being said, Hubby does like to have presents for people.  Something he thinks they would enjoy or could use, and something he is sure he got a good price on.  He does check in with me to recap what we have for everyone on our list, so I know he doesn't want to be caught out at the last minute.

I'm determined not to be Mrs. Grinch and I think my approach falls somewhere in between. For instance, I will buy a special treat for the dogs for Christmas.  Hubby thinks that's silly as much as he loves them.  They are so well treated all year is his point.  But I come from a home where even in old age, my mother wrapped a gift for each of the 'grand dogs' so you know I have to too.

 Do you buy Christmas treats for the pets?  I bet a lot of you do.