Mid-December With Winter's Arrival

 Wow, it is already 1/2 way through December! 

Winter has arrived & the winds are nasty here on the shoreline, the evergreen trees are swaying so hard at times that I fear they will topple over.

The water is dark as there has been no sun shining for days. It is so important to keep taking vitamin D in the winter because of this!

Here are photos of Miramichi Bay yesterday.

The top of the breaker wall shows the division of land & water but soon that will be covered & it will look like the tundra until the spring thaws the snow on the black rocks.

The water was moving very quickly with the tide & then it stopped & the ice started heaving upward!

It stayed like that for quite a while & then it was gone.

 

The low spots on the lawn had melted snow on them looking like small ponds. 

Today it is snowing but the heavy snow starts tomorrow & into Sunday. Bill has his plow ready to go!

Bridget sits by the window waiting for activity outside & snoozes in between. The Boston terriers do not like the cold wet days & cozy in by the firebox every night.

Bridget & that tongue of hers, she has such a bulldog profile compared to Baxter.

Baxter wearing his Max antlers & his Christmas scarf, such a handsome terrier!

We had purchased real wreaths from a local maker & had them in the house to attach ribbons to them before taking them outside to hang.

Well, Baxter loved the feel of those pine needles scratching his back & rolled in them, he did smell good! lol

He does have trouble with allergies from outdoors & being too close to the firebox at night which I think dries his skin out.

Every Boston terrier we have had loves to take the lid off the water bottles and then crush them down, here's Bridget with one in front of the firebox.

Have you ever had one of these days, when one of these things is not like the other?

And here are those blocks resew the right way as I brought the quilt top together on week 12!

Here it is all sewn together & now the outer borders have to do with the Monday reveal on putting it all together!

I hung this Christmas sweet treat on a bookcase in my sewing room. I spend most days in there creating & finishing projects.

Memories of days past with the racing days in the rearview mirror, I really have had a charmed life full of fun & adventure. It was that road that brought me here to the present day. 

Bill & I laugh at the fact that we live at a resort setting here on the north Atlantic year-round. And we are over the moon that Leslie & Nicholas live 30 minutes away in the city.

It's this Christmas year that Mitch & Nicole go to British Columbia to spend Christmas with her parents, so missing them I made them each a hanger to put on their Christmas tree in their new home.

I did a YouTube class on how to make a rectangular crocheted rug, it is so much easier than I thought!

This is 20 batik jelly roll strips (2 1/2" x 42") It now sits on my ironing board for Rexton the Manx Cat to sit on whilst I sew.

The scrap round rug continues with 3/4" scrap fabrics from my many projects & it was this rug that inspired me to make another because the cat is always on my seat-mat when I get up to cut or iron!

Now she has her very own & is high on the ironing board to see what is going on!

I was watching the Fat Quarter Shop show the new fabric lines & kits for 2023 & a Lori Holt project caught my eye! It is a kit she's selling that finishes at 40"x 40".

I took out paper & drew her quilt pattern, this is it done in 2 1/2" squares & finishes at 20" x 20". I'm making it into a pillow to go with the Prairie Meadow quilt that I finished & still have to sew the binding on. But I had to get this idea out of my head! I am really enjoying working with colours these days as it gets dark so quick now & the sun rarely shines.

I made myself a project bag from these squares.

Here is my first project bag, the pattern of the crosstitch can be seen through the front plastic, making it easy to see what is inside the project bag!

The zipper pull was made by me from watching Lori Holt's daughter Cassidy teach it & Lori taught how to make the flower that is on the bag. I'm so enjoying working with Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet and working on her books & projects.

I chuckled at the projects I worked on this week & how they are so colourful. I usually work in primitive colours & always have black as my go-to. 

When my Pfaff 720 starts to skip stitches it is usually its way of telling me that there is too much lint in the bobbin case. Yes, there was!!

All cleaned and ready to sew again! 

  

I did get the rumballs made up this Christmas & have delivered many to friends. My friends are so generous at Christmas & I've been gifted with two meat pies, apple pie, raisin pie, chocolate bonbons, scotch cookies, and sugar pie ( that never made it to the end of the day, yum!) Christmas cake that was made just how I like it & I poured on the cognac. Food sharing is such a wonderful way of giving. xXx

These rumballs have walnuts in them, another batch was made for Bill that has no nuts but crushed sunflower seeds to give it that texture.

This is a box of vintage Christmas stickers that I enjoy looking at & warms my heart of Christmas's past seeing them. I kept them next to my chair & at night would shake the box & look at them.

Then a box arrived in the mail from my girlfriend Sandy and look at this paper she wrapped my gift in!!

I will be saving this paper for sure! xXx

I made this rum carrot cake as I'm making a rum cake for Christmas day's dinner & I had this Nordic mould for a very long time & have never used it. I was so pleased with the detail that was exposed when I took it out!

I'm trying the slogan 'Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without'.

We have become such a disposable society & it has really gotten us into trouble, it is now time to take a step back. And reduce our footprint in our everyday living by just a little bit every day the habit will form & take the time to breathe. 

I hope you too are enjoying the holiday season in a way that makes your heart sing, there is joy in the world that you live in.

Wishing you peace & happiness always.

Cynthia xXx