Friday, September 28, 2012

Fall Begins...

The family will arrive at the cottage in less than a week now, so I'm doing some form of baking every other day now. Today it was date squares for my husband Bill & son Mitchell...tomorrow it's the carrot cake, everything goes into the freezer, till their safe arrival here. I want to spend time with them, not in the kitchen  preparing the meals & yummies.                            

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 Then there's that other obsession of mine that I try to fit into my day & this sign says it all! LOL


 And quilting is nearly done on this piece, maybe another 2 hours left in the machine quilting around the embroidery. All the embroidery piece is hand quilted & I'm surprised how many hours are involved in doing this small piece!

 It fits smartly inside the bookshelf, nice warm fall colours to the livingroom. It is up to the ceiling too! Small cottage here, cozy though.
 The rug is growing with the rounds of colour. On the way to the Lions Club yesterday I noticed how the trees looked like the colours I was working on the rug. Fall is everywhere & I just love the feeling that comes with these days and the beautiful blue skies.
 Fall decor is now hung on the door.

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 Look at my 'finds' that I purchased for Christmas gifts. They're a bird feeder/house! The house is his face & the feeders are behind his ears. What characters they are!

 Sweet birdhouse, Home Tweet Home!

 Another 'Crazy Man' birdhouse/feeder. There were also houses that were made as a cat, dog, owl, & an eagle. That Eric Carroll, is a very talented man. The cottage that I summer in is also from the Carroll family, I must ask if they're related.

 The mouth is the homes opening, so much personality in these creations!



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 Sobeys grocery store had these dried decors from Rodney Ontario, so close to my home & they came all the way out east! Now gracing my upstairs hallway.


More of Sobeys decor purchases, I love the floral shop there. Yes I did get groceries after this sidetrack of colour & decor.
Fall is now here and the days are beautiful!

 Enjoy your fall days everyone & have a safe, happy, healthy Thanksgivings everyone!

Monday, September 24, 2012

This And That


 This is the ending of summer and the beginning of glorious fall.

The morning's are heavy with the morning dew.
When Liz was here looking through the cottage window, she saw the morning dew, dripping off the tree out front. Thew the morning sun, the dew drops looked like they were made of crystal.




 It's so had to capture to true feeling through photography. Liz & I saw that awe moment. ;-)

YUMMY!
 Cranberries!
 I picked these out front of the cottage, on the roadside. My neighbours usually beat me to them!
How nice it will be to have them for this Thanksgiving dinner...here at the cottage!
 These beauties will be canned for the winter. Tomatoes did well this season & next year I hope to grow my own for canning.

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Yes it's started...Miramichi Rug Hookers!

 Rug hooking has begun, I went last week to find out that they hooked all summer! I thought that it started in September & they took summers off, "Oh that was only last year" someone replied, well last year was my first year at rug hooking. I was told they took a road trip together & hooked one sunny afternoon at Richie's Warf . Next year I'll be there with bells on!!

I'm working on a Primitive Gatherings rug, it's done in the round. I'm trying my hand at getting all the loops even...easier said than done. Thanks again Marg, for sitting with me & getting all the colours sorted out & showing me the technique of doing the working under the rug, saving my wrist from repetitive motion.

Seems like I'm just starting to settle in at the cottage and it's now fall! My window of time here and  the cottage windows...are starting to close. :-(

Sunday, September 16, 2012

F's - Friends, Finds, Fun, &... Fabric!

I would put Family into it - however I'm the only sewer & fabric lover in my family! They're mostly knitters, race car lovers or computer people.
This week has been so much fun having Liz, my girlfriend from the London area, visit with me for several days. Here are just some of our adventures.

 On our trip to Fredericton to visit with Liz's grandson Kenzie from Regina, who is attending Fredericton University this year,we arrived quite early (due to my race car driving tendencies) So a walk about was in order to get the aches & pains out of our hips and look what we found! A quilt shop called Country Crafts And Curtains!! Liz & I were both in such delight, into it went & wow! Have a look yourself at her blog - www.countycraftsandcurtains.blogspot.ca. If your in Fredericton it's worth the visit. ;-)
 It was a very small, jammed packed with all kinds of quilting supplies & yes as the sign said curtains & a heritage paint collection to choose from too. Liz & I were cheerfully greeted by Dianne & her daughter Holly & were encouraged to feel at home and look at the many things that interested us.
 Items were hung right right to the ceiling, in front is the paper pieced pattern Liz bought, quite the challenge ahead of her this winter.
 Dianne, cutting my pumpkin coloured Thimbleberry fabric
 Another customer was being served by Holly & still another customer came in. A young male interested in  getting the pricing on making his first born a blanket. We were all made welcomed, in this cozy shop & were catered to, each & everyone of us. As we all did our own visual take on what caught our attention & held our interest, we made our choice purchases.


 Liz with grandson Kenzie, in front of his new home. Both Liz & I loved the hydrangea bushes that graced the entry way to the porch. Kenzie walked us downtown, he had made a lunch reservation for us at a wonderful bistro type restaurant called The Palette. And a good thing too that we had reservations! it was packed & people waiting outside the door. After tasting the excellent fresh made food, with visual presentation...we knew why.:-P ~~ Thank you Kenzie!
 Kenzie taking our photo, with our sunglasses on...
 With our sunglasses off & ready to drive back to Baie-Sainte-Anne.
Here our my purchases and look my flowers, after a week they're still a thing of beauty. I was thrilled to find a Primitive Gatherings fall tablerunner & I'm going to try my hand at 'punch needle' hooking this winter.
I always tell myself, no more fabric, as Namama would say "The flesh is weak!" and yes I bought a bit of pumpkin coloured fabric and a 50% off kit. Oh the finds we found that afternoon, what fun!
It's going to be a quiet week without you Liz, thank you for flying in & visiting me on the east coast.
As The Beverley Hillbillies would say "You all come back now...you hear!"

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Remembering 911 - 11th Anniversary





 Our flag means so much to me as time goes by. I'm so proud of our country & how Canada handled that horrible day. How 17 terrorist changed the world that day. It was one of those horrific days that everyone remembers where & what they were doing when they first heard the news...

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 The flower box continues to flower - these are from my hanging baskets from Ontario, the ferns from June. That woman has the greenish thumb of anyone I know.
Bill thank you for painting the livingroom shutters, they look great inside & out!


 The wild rosebush is still blooming its flowers, adding to the splash of summer colour as the trees are starting to sing their fall colour.
Boris...your just too cute!

Hurricane Leslie's Day

Today it's a beautiful, breezy, sunny day - in this part of the maritime. Cannot say the same for other maritime provinces. After concerned phone calls...here is what I'm experiencing.  Thought I would share some photos of my walkabout on some of the property. Enjoy.

 The side deck is filled with the last of the afternoon setting sun. See Boris at the end, he's such a sun worshiper.
 The cosmos that were planted last year are back!
 The morning glories came back too late. I was not here in the spring to look after my gardens & some things did suffer.
 Mitchell's fire-pit, used only once this year

 The back woods, with my freshly mowed grass. Bill made comment on the weekend that he's "never seen anyone mow a lawn as fast as me!"

 Blue skies & the side woods
 The other side woods & my clothes line
 Ferns in the side woods. Next year I'm going to print some fabric with these leaves, they're beautiful.
 Vine wreathe on the garage, it's the one I made last fall in Ontario
 Splash of fall colour on the garage
 The cottage & look...more lawn
 Yes indeed, when I mow, it's my mission to finish it - I don't like mowing the lawn...I'd rather be sewing or baking. However whenever I finish I do feel good looking at it all done.
 Side screen door has colour on it now, soft sage colour. The winter was mean to the wood & weathered it terribly.
 The trees we planted four summers ago have survived, the lilac barely. It was so dry here & I was not here to water & care for the landscape till August.
 Side view with - look, more grass!! Look at the blue of the sky, now doesn't that just make your heart sing!
 Boris in the grass, it's cool on is belly & when his sunning is too hot on him, he lays next to the woods, yes in the grass that I've mowed.
 Tommy looking through the patio screen. All our screens that have pets use them, have pet screen on them. The pet screen lasts forever & weathers winters very well.
 Tommy loves the sun too, he walks the deck railing when I hang laundry and demands his petting from me in-between my grabbing of  clothes pins & the hanging the laundry. This cat is really quite vocal & will paw at you too, to get your attention. Tom & Jerry are now 13 years old.
 He's saying "Love Me, Feed Me, Never Leave Me." He's a grey Garfield!

This icon is not one of my photos...just appeared with my photos. Isn't he odd looking?


So there you have it! A beautiful day here in Baie-Saint-Anne, New Brunswick!
Hope you're having a beautiful day too wherever you are & if not...I'm sharing mine. :-)