Happy Easter 2025

 This month has flown by with us leaving our beautiful province of New Brunswick and taking a flight to Alberta to meet our grandson Liam. We had a wonderful visit with Mitchell, Nicole, and Liam.

My first meeting with him was the morning after his bedtime arrival. I did get a sneak peek of him sleeping in his crib, and he is such a beautiful baby boy! Bill met him last October when he spoke in Calgary on elevator codes.

Liam has been cutting teeth, and the front top ones are through, too!

Liam loved his playtime on the quilts I had made for him. I'm so happy that they're used!

We ate at our favourite Indian restaurant, and Liam enjoyed his water from the glass Nicole gave him.

Then it was time to say goodbye after our wonderful stay and head to our Calgary motel for the 4am wake-up to get our flight to Toronto, then our flight to Moncton. Thank you, Mitch & Nicole, for a very relaxing visit, and we look forward to seeing all of you in the fall. xXx

Nicholas looked after the homestead here. His chores were to look after the chickens, which needed to be sprayed on their injured backs/heads with an antibiotic each morning and night, feed the Boston terriers Bridget & Baxter, with their own needs as they too are seniors now. Rexton, the 11-year-old Manx cat, gave him grief; she is very vocal and demanding. Nicholas also worked full-time from a home office, teaching an elevator class. Leslie would visit on the weekend for some shared time.

Nick also looked after my 'Rain Forest' of plants; he watered them when needed. My reply to him was, 'It is a lot of work to keep the living things alive.' lol And I love my living things with my creature comforts of home!

Thank you, Nicholas, for looking after the homestead for Mom & Dad, we really appreciated all you did!

Timing was everything as the next morning our wings had to be defrosted to fly home, a heavy frost happened that night.

Mitchell sent these photos to us the next day of that frost, how beautiful is that pattern!!

The days were lovely during our stay. Niccole, Liam, and I had taken a buggy walk on one of those beautiful days and sat outside admiring their beautiful property. And an oasis of a property they have, all 10 acres are just gorgeous!

Home that day, and here is our backyard view. The snow is nearly all gone now,  just 2 weeks later, as I post this blog. It is so nice to see Miramichi Bay flowing again, with the tide coming in, now the tide is going out, twice a day, the water always has movement.

And I believe in things that happen in threes!

First day home, the freezer in the garage stopped working. Lucky that Bill heard the beeping that tells when the temp is rising & he transferred it out & into the top freezer in the fridge & the upright freezer. That was one...

The second day home, Bill went to the basement & found it flooded around the furnace. The humidifier was leaking water when the furnace came on, and it was two buckets of water being mopped up and some books that were in a cardboard box that was all that was lost; everything else was in a plastic bin. The floor sure looked clean when we were done; it could have been so much worse, and the funny thing was, Bill forgot what he went downstairs for! LOL That was two...

The third day home, Bill went to use the new/old truck for working & felt cold, only to find the heater was gone in it. He fixed that and that was three!

It was a good thing that we had a relaxing time in Alberta & were happy to be home, and the weekend was great & relaxing here once more. LOL

Liam, all dressed up, wishing his Grandpa a Happy Birthday! xXx

When I was visiting, I told Nicole how we eat coleslaw nearly every day & how easy it was to make once you had this tool for shaving the cabbage and carrot. But that tool has cut me each time, so Bill now shaves the vegetables, and I make the marinade.

It stays fresh in the refrigerator for weeks and is very tasty!

I also cut peppers of any colour, red onion, green onions, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, celery, into tiny pieces, then add a tablespoon of lime juice over them and mix. I use it to top salads, add to my breakfast eggs in an omelet, or just as a side dish with meals. That is only one large carrot with a head of cabbage & there is another glass jar for the rest. It makes loads but will keep for weeks! A living being should eat living food that has not been fried, baked or steamed; this is my way of doing it for now, and we're enjoying it!

And this is Nicole after shredding the cabbage, yes, that shredding blade does do a great job but be every so careful if you attempt this! We both purchased the blade on Amazon, you can see it on her shredded cabbage.

Yesterday I finished the horse & tulip block for the Farm Fresh sampler quilt I'm doing. I love sewing with the black KONA, it really holds it shape well! Now to work on the Chickens & Milkcan block before next weekend when another block is to be done.

All cut & labelled for sewing after Easter!

Liam's quilt is coming along, with the Eeyore block now done too! The next block will come out on May 1st. These two quilts do keep me busy!

We found this dish set as a surprise! When I was in Alberta, I was doing online bidding for some books that I wanted & the online was done for the support of the Vondy House, a hospice house that I like to support. Where the books were to be picked up at the hospice shop, here were the Friendly Village dishes! They were priced at $60, and that day they had a draw. Bill made the draw for 40% off of the $60!! He said as we left the building 'Get in the car!" from the IKEA advertisement that meant you got a steal! They now mingle with our Friendly Village dishes and have replaced the chipped ones that we'll use for under plants or pet dishes.

Mitch and Liam with their stern faces...

Mitch and Liam with their happy faces! How sweet are they?! 

From our house to yours, Happy Easter!

So, on that note, I will say goodbye and thank you ever so much for visiting. I know we don't as much as I would like, but it is crazy busy here right now.

We're building four townhomes next to the eight-unit apartment. These homes are designed more for the seniors selling their homes & downsizing, but now wanting an apartment, just a smaller home with the lawn & snow removal included.

It is just in the early stages, but building is done in steps like a dance & each one has its turn, right now it's the permits, then it begins! They are going to be gorgeous, four gorgeous townhomes, all having two bedrooms, and two with garages.

Come back to visit to see what is happening in Baie-Sainte-Anne this summer!

Wishing you, as always, health & happiness this Easter season!

Happy Easter

Cynthia xXx

March & It's Spring! Get a Cuppa, Lots to Tell You!

 It's snowy slush today but the days are longer & warmer than last month.

The goat & tulip blocks were added to the chicken & eggs block, I now have the sheep block to work on to get caught up. I still have the Eeyore block to cut & sew together. So far the 100-acre wood quilt has been 520 pcs cut & sewn together! 

My Pfaff Quilt Expression 720 sewing machine, which was purchased in Oct 2020 went to have service done to it as I wore the feed dogs down & new ones had to be installed, also a thread shank, check spring, & a bobbin case holder had to be replaced. I've been sewing on my manual Pfaff from 1996 & I'm looking forward to using the newer one again with all the fancy add-ons I've grown accustomed to.

It was a hard week this week as we decided to get rid of Rusty the Rooster as he had grown large and was ruining the girls' backs & heads as he mounted them. The capes did no good with him grabbing their neck to hold on to them. 

I saw pink lines going up his legs & thought 'Oh no, lice!' but no it was hormones & this was only going to get worse with spring in the air. Rusty had already attacked Bill several times & I was getting fearful that it might happen to me. So, we made plans to take him to a family that ate chickens & they were pleased to have the gift of Rusty for their deep freeze.

Rusty never bothered with Henny, she has all her feathers & was always with Rusty but is doing fine with him gone & the three Reba's to keep her company.

Rusty grew to be a beautiful rooster, he's 10 months old when he left.

You can see how much smaller the Rhode Island Reds are next to the Plymouth Rock chickens. And how damaged wee Reba was from Rusty's mounting her.

All Reba's showed signs of Rusty's lust for them.

This wee girl is the smallest & survived the winter we had.

Rusty did well through the winter & only had a few frostbite areas on his waddle & comb.

Such a handsome rooster, but he was getting mean.

The Rhode Island Reds are the best layers & in June we will get six more babies to add to this flock.

They're so happy playing & pecking in the leaves from Leslie & Nick's city lawn grass clippings!

Baxter & Bridget went with Bill on the prisoner exchange of Rusty. They waited patiently in the back seat for Bill & me to load Rusty into the back of the pickup.

The late afternoon sun was warm as they took it in waiting.

Rusty was not happy being away from his girls.

A large dog crate was used for the transportation of this large rooster.

I so miss his crowing every morning, it always made me smile & feel the morning sunrise.

He was the first rooster I had ever known & I miss him but the hens do not miss the daily abuse they were going through.

Goodbye Rusty & thank you for being heroic & saving the girls from the eagle last summer. We have deer netting over the top of the outside run & the girls are now protected from overhead predators.

Oh, Rusty, you are missed. In your honour, I'm making a stained glass weather vain for the Chicken Chalet.

Up into the back of the truck you go!

Beautiful Rusty! I hope you taste as good as you look. :(  

You were an experience I will never forget. 

Rusty the Rooster   May 2024- March 2025

The swivel egg tower has been great for the storing of fresh eggs!

The chickens' eggs have such a wonderful colour & flavour to them!

We've egg salad sandwiches once a week to use up the fresh eggs & I give out 1/2 dozen eggs to friends when the tower of eggs gets too full.

The egg shells are rinsed out & dried then I crush them into small dustlike pieces for the chickens to eat for the calcium in them. Leslie & Nick save their shells for us too as those chickens eat the shells like potato chips, they love them! We picked up oyster shells for the same purpose but they prefer the crushed egg shells!

St. Paddy's Day has come & gone...

Those that have come to the house were greeted by the laneway gargoyle wearing his greens!

So stylish in his top hat & bow tie!

The Canadian geese at the front door were dressed in their best too!

Baxter was looking dapper in his top hat & bow tie!

And again in his Irish Anne hat! lol

Bill has been busy making old look like new again!

This is my childhood table, the one that was in our parlour & I would eat my supper with my dad. Dad was in a wheelchair & had his own try, I had this table. Bill is bringing it back to life & making it stronger as its legs weakened over many years. I'll show the finished table next blog when done.

Bill's still working on this labour of love for our family heirlooms that will be displayed safely on the shelves behind the glass doors.

This is the top piece with the shelves & desk shell. When together it is 100 inches tall! 

Bill & I have heirlooms from grandparents like this passport photo taken of Grandma with the three children she brought to Canada, my father is the baby in her lap.

They arrived at Pier 21 in Nova Scotia & then went on to meet Grandpa in Guelph Ontario. She was alone and sure had her hands full with this trio!! Joseph, Gaza, & Tebor Mitro.

Dad always joked that his parents' names were Mary & Joseph & he was baby Jesus. lol

This is what it looked like at the auction center from our antique dealer. It came from Fredericton & is around the 1850s. Beautiful piece of workmanship history to have our family history displayed in!

Bill has been rebuilding it & keeping it with the natural materials, it will be gorgeous when done!

I got back to doing some needle felting!

I took a needle-felted mushroom & made it into a Fungi Fellow!

Those of you from a certain age will remember Cat Stevens album Tea for the Tillerman, this little fellow so reminds me of that album, that I had to put a tea set with him! lol 

Bridget has been suffering from arthritis this winter & has responded well to the COSEQUIN joint supplement that my girlfriend Sandi gifted me. It took a couple of weeks for her to get back to a more normal state & we're happy that she is! It was hard to knit or do needlework with her needing to be so close to me but I understood she just wasn't herself.

Bridget is back to sleeping with her babies & can get up & down out of chairs with ease.

Many changes are going on these days as we are all aging & moving forward. As Bill's dad used to say, 'It's good being on the top side of the ground & not under it!'

Spring has arrived & it feels so good, there is always excitement & a feeling of new life with spring.

Thank you for this long visit! I will try to do better with not being so absent with spring, I'm out of hibernation now!!

A Janet Clare design that I'm embroidering says it best!

Turn to the SUN and the shadows fall behind you

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,

Cynthia