Spring Things, Free Patterns, Kindness Counts

I grew up with the saying" it's bad to be poor but it's worse to be sore." Feeling grateful this week, yes! I had my annual check up recently, with a couple of tests I've never had before and they turned out normal. Always a relief when that happens at any age but especially at mine. I never take good health for granted, not for one minute.

A flowering is happening! The trout lilies, first woodland flower of spring, are finally putting on a show.

I made what I call a "cooked dinner" for Hubby recently...a pork roast, cauliflower with cheese, green beans, homemade applesauce and this dish there on the left.  At home in Newfoundland, this is served with gravy. Mom made many different meals where her biscuit topping would be used.  People call it different names- a crust or a paste. It is really a basic biscuit and I used to put it on top of whatever meat I was cooking.  Now I use a casserole dish to bake it.  It's good leftover with a little butter and jam too, if you forget about the carbs.

There are numerous variations but this is the recipe I use...

My head got turned by this Springtime celebration fabric... called Spring Awakens For Henry Glass by Debi Hron. At Debi's site you can see how gorgeous and sweet her designs are, as well as download a free pattern using this line. The colours are so vibrant and the owls are adorable.

                        
Another springtime event. The very unlikely places robins choose for their nests. Like this one at daughter's house right on the wall by their front walkway next to the garage.  She flies off when someone walks by which is a lot when they are home.  

But she has stayed to lay her eggs with all of us marveling at that wonderful shade of blue.

My little wall of photograph blocks is growing. Today I'm going to start stitching these into larger blocks. I find that easier to work with than long strings.  So far I've used only scraps for these so I'll see how big a piece I can make before deciding if I want to dip into my stash...and if I like it enough for that.

Jacquelynne Steeves has released her latest free BOM project.  She led a popular one last year called Save the Bees which are still in need of saving, sadly.  This year's project is called Happy Little Things.  The link is here for the sign up.
                             

Members of yet another of my online facebook groups got into a real fuss and the administrators had to step in and shut down some of the commentary. I'm really surprised and disappointed that someone posing an innocent question can somehow make people turn on each other with unkind words, on a stitching forum of all places, nothing to do with hot topics or anything. Yikes! 

I believe this....
                                     
                                    
We all know how good it feels when someone is kind to us even with the smallest gesture or word.
I hope there is only kindness and light and laughter in your day.
(Sorry the font sizes changed during this post; one browser shut down on me and I had to finish in another.)
Happy to be linking with Not Afraid of Color, It's A Small Town Life, The Needle and Thread Network, Sew Fresh Quilts, The Inquiring Quilter, Esther's Quilt Blog Creations-Quilts, Art and Whatever and Paying Ready Attention. 

Bird Ring, OMG, Not So Merry May

Hubby is down in the basement carpentering, as I call it.
He has set up a small labyrinth of pathways lined with various work benches and tool chests for he is a man who has sets of tools out in the garages and more here for indoor work and it is inconvenient to be walking in and out just to pick up a tool.
 I don't say a word about that or when he has a sudden need to get to Canadian Tire to look for a certain wrench or something...My own little haven aka the sewing room is getting increasingly fuller though no where reaching a 60 odd year collection like his. (Part of which he is quick to point out he inherited from his dad.)
There are benefits to his tinkering away; he's presently fixing the kitchen faucet that went on the blink suddenly last month.  Before that it was the shower head he had to disassemble and fix. We must be hard on faucets. He always has a lineup of small projects to keep him busy which is a good thing.

With all the rain and cold temperatures, the landscape here went rather quiet.  Even the frogs in the pond stopped croaking. I went looking but couldn't find any pussy willows opened yet. May is off to a soggy slow start. But today, a sunny Sunday, is bound to get spring back on track.

Here are a few of the birds around the feeder lately. We continue to be puzzled by the lone female turkey. She has been wandering our property for a couple of years now; I wonder what did she do to get banished from the flock.

What do you think of my new ring?
  My bird ring I call it. At Sundance catalogue it is called Lovebirds ring and they have carried it for years and as long as that I've admired it.  Finally ordered it and it is just as nice as I thought it would be.  Well made and very comfortable.

Not a good photo so here is a better one from the net but it is much shinier than this picture too.


I'm loving these little appliqued baskets; making them is a little addictive. I think I will set getting 20 of these finished this month as my May OMG at Elm Street Quilts.

The colours in the Sweet Pea CAL are so pretty to crochet with that it is a pleasure to work and is growing quickly. Almost making up for the lack of colour outdoors.  Btw, I love to see your photos of the blooms and greenery in your gardens.  It is so interesting to see what grows around the world.

Someone asked about the wool and pattern...
 This is Stylecraft Special Dk, wool you can wash which is essential for an afghan. Love some of the colour names- Pistachio, Wisteria, Meadow, Blush, Candy Floss. This is Lucy's free pattern found at her blog Attic 24 called Trellis Stripe. 

Lucy has started another project, the Dune Blanket and I am drawn to what she is calling the Colourwash version. Does it appeal to you too?
                                                  

 Design Wall May 4th, 2019

Hope the sun is shining but not scalding and the birds are tweeting wherever you are!
Linking this post with Kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Cooking Up Quilts, Viewing Nature With Eileen, Em's Scrapbag,  I'd Rather B Birdin, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.

Sweets, Wet Spring, Scrap Busting

Our colder weather warnings have turned to wetter ones.  Yesterday was horrid with threats of snow, snow pellets, freezing rain and then rain.  This greatly added to the burden of those suffering floods in parts of Ottawa. What is happening along the Ottawa River where waterfront mansions as well as the humble homes of earlier homeowners there being equally affected by the flooding reminded me of a line in a poem. Something about dwelling in cots and with the wonder that is the internet I found this...Whatever course of life great Jove allots, whether you sit on thrones or dwell in cots, Observe your steps.
It appears spring, a season so welcomed has turned dispicable here.

On our property, the little pond did flood its banks but it does that every year at this time. Even with all the rain, it has since receded; maybe because the ground is finally thawing.

Which with all the bad weather, has become a deserted area. I was on the trail of a pair of black ducks down there and also had several sightings of a large duck/goose that was white with black markings. Both are new to me and I would have loved snagging a photo. No luck. But I did enjoy being out in the fresh air trying.
 I did have little red squirrel annoyed with me for hanging out by the bird feeder. He didn't like me there one bit and was chuffing at me the whole time. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!

 I got out my bread machine and made a coconut flour loaf. It ended up looking like this with a hole all the way through the middle which I was not expecting. It also didn't seem to have risen like it should have. I used a recipe from the internet and had the dial on the Cake setting. Anybody else ever use a bread machine for cake making? Any clue what I did wrong? Didn't it brown nicely though.

But I'll say this, it is tasty- very coconutty, so it will get eaten.  Custard sauce works well with this kind of dense cake so I'll make one of those. Don't think I'll be using the bread machine again for cakes any time soon!

And while on the topic of tasty...
The Canadian government has released a series of stamps celebrating,of all things, our sweet tooth.
Five notable desserts for our sweet nation. They are Sugar Pie (Tarte Au Sucre), Saskatoon Berry Pie, Blueberry Grunt, Butter Tarts, and Nanaimo Bars.  Any favourites of yours?




I've been making a right mess in the sewing room.  All these scrappy projects are super ort inducing.
 And a word of caution...don't wear fleece while trimming blocks.  I was picking off threads or depositing them around the house all day.

During my scrap sorting, I set aside all the pastel coloured blocks and have sewn a number of trains. I don't know for sure what I'll do with them but I did see an idea in a Quiltmania Vintage magazine that I could manage so maybe that.  Love the scrap busting though.

 Here is a fresh stack of photograph blocks either awaiting more strings or trimming.

And here is my very own entourage, Rex and Murphy, in their usual stance impatiently waiting for me to get going; looks damp out so I guess we'll have to bundle up.

Hope your spring or fall is proceeding without incidents!
As always joining the Thursday Thankful and Likes parties at Not Afraid of Color, Brian's Home Blog, Sew Fresh Quilts, My Quilt Infatuation and It's a Small Town Life.

What She Carries

For the last week we've been living in a world that reminded me of the ill fated 1995 Kevin Costner movie, Waterworld. I remember it well because at the time it made me think of the biblical Noah and his Ark story we read as children. Okay and yes probably because it had Kevin Costner in it.☺  Friday was horrible with what I call driving rain....a brisk wind pushing rain sideways which kept up all day.
People near lakes and rivers, of which there are many here, have been flooded and the mayor of Ottawa declared a state of emergency. This enabled the militia to rush to the aid of the many people needing help.  Though there is lots of rain in the forecast for the coming week, there are not the warnings that we just had. Hopefully the floodings will be short lived.

But a weak sun is striving to shine down on my house today. So maybe we can get this spring back on track.

I have learned to have separate containers designated for each of my hand projects. With our t.v. in the basement, I am constantly trotting one or the other down and up.  And I can easily grab one to take with me on my kid sitting nights with older grandson.

 For instance, I like to keep my Appliqued Baskets in this clear pink plastic container.  I think I bought it at Michaels with one of their 50% off coupons and it has served me well. I like that I can see exactly what's in there too.
I'm ready to stitch four more of the tan/brownish baskets.  And have started prepping four more of the yellows.  This is a really fun project with no deadline pressure, etc. I keep another container inside this little tote. I store the needles, thread, glue and scissors, etc. in the old toffee can. I've learned to have all the gear there all the time.

I carry my crochet project, the Sweet Pea CAL, in this cherry red, soft corduroy bag I bought at a local craft fair.  It's large enough to hold several balls of wool and the project for now. Which is also progressing. What a great relaxing hobby for t.v. watching! And pretty colours to work with.

My cross stitched Cornwall Cottage Sampler gets its own little bag too... this DMC one specially designed for stitchery projects.  It has pockets inside and its own little needle keeper place which is very handy.

And my progress to date...I've finished the bottom half of the basket since last report.  Happily, I am still enjoying this stitching and am just as determined to get this piece done soon.  I am also so happy that everything has been lining up properly and dare I say, no unstitching so far!

This is check in week with the SAL hosted by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea.  We are an international group with a wide variety of projects to share. Very interesting to me.
Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon

I was lucky to catch a couple of photos of our mother robin gathering straw to line her nest. She is spending a lot of time sitting in it now so I think the eggs must be laid. I worried about her during the rain...did she choose a spot with enough bough cover or would she be flung about with the wind or something, but she is a hardy little thing. And her nest is an extraordinary and solid work of nature. Still there.
Two separate trips...such a hard little worker.

Note Murphy up by the pink tote...see her eyes. They are asking me to finish this and get going...it's walk time and we will never forget that. With all the ice finally gone from the trails, Rex and her are finding all kinds of wonderful things to sniff.
So even though I have much more to share, I will stop now.  Hope your Sunday is a wonderful one!

Also wonderful is the chance to join these link up parties...Kathy's Quilts, Viewing Nature With Eileen, and Love Laugh Quilt.

Costco Haul, Spring Strings

Something larger than a mouse stirred last night.
It clambered noisily across our veranda loud enough to wake me and make the dogs bark savagely; Murphy with her hair all standing along her back was especially upset.  A deer comes to mind but why a deer would be up on the veranda, I do not know. Murphy wanted to go out to do battle but of course, I kept her in. She is quite often misguidedly brave!
 Then sleep was not an option for me. Drats!

It seems like the world has awakened around our house; everywhere I look I see birds.  And down at the pond, the peeps and other frogs have begun their annual spring serenades. Noisy little critters- however their song is music to our ears anyway.

Did you hear about Gwen?
This is a book I bought a few years ago.  With all the string flurry going on, I got it out to have a look.  Gwen Marston was one of my favourite simply because she, like Cheri Payne, emphasized having fun and enjoyment first and foremost with your quilting. Now Gwen obviously had a flair for matching colours and fabrics too. I was sorry to hear of her recent passing but her quilting legacy is firmly established and will continue to be celebrated.
                          
I've had a busy week but did manage to finish four more of the Spring Strings blocks. Enjoyable stitching but many more to go!

My Costco Haul
I don't go to Costco often mainly because it offers a crowded kind of shopping feeling. But I'm lured sometimes because of the special items I can't locate elsewhere. Or the more economical pricing of dearer items such as the quinoa, pumpkin seeds and coconut flour.  That Goldenberry Power Mix of dried fruits is delicious, as are the little lemon curd tartlets.
 Please do share with me what you find at Costco that I should be buying.

A couple of Easter gifts to show you.
Hubby's new egg cup. Boiled eggs in egg cups remind him of when he was a boy.

And a lavender Hydrangea plant which I love and hope to successfully plant outside later on.

I'm calling this one below a Purple Finch and I was happy to get a photo of her, albeit through my window. She was smallish and loved the sunflower seeds. After two days of lunching, she must have moved on...no sightings since. And if our temperatures remain above zero, I should no longer have to take photos from inside!

Things are warming up here. Hope the weather is exactly the way you want it wherever you are!
As always, linking up with the I Like Thursdays party at Not Afraid of Color. Also linking with
Busy Hands Quilts, My Quilt Infatuation and Paying Ready Attention.

Glad Surprise That is Spring

Heavy rain and the odd thunderclap were keeping us inside for the most part. It came with wind too lashing about the trees.
 We went out for our walks but I worried Hubby would get cold from the dampness.  I grew up with those notions; did you?
Bit brighter today and there is no doubt "spring is breaking in glad surprise" all around us.

For instance, the phoebe has returned to the rafters of the tiny garage by the pond. Last year two nests were inside and the birds didn't seem to mind the closeness. Having a pond on one side and meadow on the other provides lots of food for these little insect eating birds.

And all the rain didn't stop this mother robin (can you see her?) from continuing her most important work, nest building.
Which she is accomplishing in a tree overlooking our back deck conveniently placed for me. I can stand in the patio door and watch her at work.

Nests with their precious cargo make me think of baskets.  Did you know humans have been forming baskets as far back as it is traceable?  Like mother robin, our need to collect and carry inspired every form of a basket.
I have this woven one that I love, bought at a thrift store years ago.  I keep my best magazines in it.

A few yellow appliqued baskets have joined the browns/tans on the wall. Think I'm going to keep the colours very controlled; maybe just in this range of tans, browns and yellows.  Putting them together on the wall makes them look like something which is encouraging to me.

I feel like I should have felt more upset about the fire in Paris which was truly horrible but we seem to be hearing about one catastrophe after another. Just this morning, dreadful news from Sri Lanka, for instance.  The way the world is these days, some things just have to be thrown overboard.  Lamenting heavily every single bit of awful news, I guess, is one of them. You can't carry it all, I tell myself.

But on a positive note our love of wild birds here in Ottawa means the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Center is getting a brand new building by 2020. The 17 acres to house it have been purchased and we have seen the new design. I'm very happy about this and support it all the way.

Special visitors at the front of the house yesterday stopping by the bird feeder- two white tailed deer.

 Happy Easter to all who celebrate! This is April's redwork block called Buns and Peeps from A  Patchwork Year  by Kathy Schmitz.

 I'm stitching appliqued pieces on my Spring Strings blocks today and also giving the Cornwall Cottage piece some attention.
Hope your Sunday is calm, peaceful and you are doing something that you love too.
Something else I love is joining these link parties. Kathy's Quilts, Viewing Nature With Eileen, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Busy Hands Quilts.

Dining Out, Applique, Geraniums, Sweet Pea Crochet

Driving rain and high winds and we can now see all the fir branches swaying without ice.  Ice will be the mark of this past winter and it made me think of my years on Baffin Island where ice played a role there too.  I don't think I've mentioned that while there I got to walk on a glacier, part of the Penny Ice Cap just inside the Arctic Circle.
The most surprising thing was that it was a noisy experience...the cracks and creaking sounds were surprisingly loud, echoing in the cold, quiet air.  I found it unnerving. My two little girls were there with me and I worried a crevasse would open up and swallow one of us (which I'm sure has happened sometime somewhere) so it was a relief to step off it.

And while thinking of swaying branches, I thought this very beautiful. The Sydney Opera House illuminated with Glimt's The Tree of Life images (credit Ken Butti). I had a brief Glimt phase in university when I drew many of his curvy branches, all badly.
Unique and meaning laden, the tree of life idea has been rendered numerous times in many art media by many real artists.

And coincidentally while looking through one of my favourite magazines, Quiltmania Simply Vintage No.22 checking out spring ideas,

I spied this project, another Tree of Life version, by Darlene Sabo for Olympic Wool Works.
 And of course, there are both vintage and classic versions of Tree of Life quilt blocks.

Recently I got to eat at a wonderful restaurant and it was so special.  We seldom do this and always say we should be doing it more.
It was Italian so I had the lasagna; we shared something new to me -polenta fries and loved it all.  I admired the swirls on the cutlery handles.

As well as the view from the window. Spring melting and the river is high.

My geraniums have rewarded me with a little bloom.  These are from the laneway pot last summer and I can't wait to get them back out there.

The cool overnight temperatures are making it hard for icy patches to melt. The forest holds onto its snow and ice; I can vouch for that.  But the deck is free at last. Woo Hoo!

While making a mess in the sewing room, I prepped the applique pieces for my next four Spring Strings blocks.  I used all scraps for the darker leaves which pleased me.

My Sweet Pea crochet project benefitted from some attention this week. I'm not sure about this trellis stitch; I think there are others that I've enjoyed working more though this is very easy to crochet while listening to tv or whatever.  I have extra wool so I'm making three rows with each colour.

Especially nice to have a sleeping dog at your feet.  

I'm sorry these photos did not capture the true colours.
I hope you have had a good week and thank you for the kind comments on previous posts. SO appreciated!
Linking this post to Not Afraid of Color, My Quilt Infatuation, It's A Small Town Life, Esther's Quilt Blog and Brian's Home Blog.