Thursday, January 24, 2019

Anticipation For Spring, Still Winter, Medieval Quilt, & Rug Hooking



 With anticipation for spring, all the Christmas bulbs are blooming!
The red amaryllis looks great with the new velvet teal drapes & even the green plants look fresh with the teal backdrop. 
With still months of winter left, I needed a warm feeling around the windows & velvet curtains were on clearance at Fabricville with the right price!

 The teal colour looks great with the gold velvet sofa. The sofa is in need for a recovering but we're waiting till the Boston's mature a bit more & Bill's thinking of getting a white German Shepard in a few years when he retires. I know newly reupholstered furniture & young ones don't go hand in hand!
Until then we'll 'Want what we have instead of having what we want.'  lol

 The paperwhites are so fragrant it makes my heart sing. Heather has introduced me to gardening & it is also becoming a longing to get back to it for me too.
It's raining today after the freezing rain left, it's going to be a sloppy drive into town tomorrow. I have a dentist appointment to replace tow cracked filling, probably from chewing on ice due to an iron deficiency. I have supplemented with iron enriched foods & the craving has left me.

 The paperwhites grew so tall that I tied a ribbon around them. It so nice to have blooming plants inside the house with all the snow that's viewed when you're looking out.

 The snowbanks are getting quite tall, I laughed going down Hardwicke Road when I saw the 80km sign just peeking out of the top of the snowbank. lol I didn't have my camera with me but that would have made you laugh too!

 The snow drift is so high in the backyard, it is well past the railings & you go upstairs to get to those deck railings!
 The morning before the snow dusting, freezing rain that changed to rain. Pretty colours!

 My freehand/wind icy snow sculptures on the back deck.

 I don't know what I would do if not for the evergreens to make me calm with all this snow!

 There is a saying here 'Snow is the poor man's fertilizer, wow, the backyard is going to have green grass this spring & summer!

 The sunporch is a chilly place to be but the view of the high snow gives you a shiver too!

 The geraniums are in an east window so they're just holding their own, the large one facing south bloomed one red bloom. The west window is full of plants that are waiting for the sunporch to warm up so they can drink in the sun from that area.


 The dogs fenced in pen is full of snow! It is so funny to watch Baxter lift his leg, nearly over the fence, to have a pee. See the propane tank to the right?

 This is the small path to get to them. They have been so handy as we were without power for 48 hrs once & just last week for 1 1/2hrs. The backup generator is working beautifully!

 The snow is really piling up & today the weather is warmer with showers but tonight everything freezes up again. Tomorrow is going to be sunny but more snow is in the forecast for Tuesday.

 Bill dug out an area on the side porch for our Boston's Bridget & Baxter.

 Not much going on in the potting shed these days.

 This lighthouse bird feeder is a busy place to view with all the wild birds & squirrels around it.

 It sure is winter here on the northeast coast of New Brunswick but winter with beauty to it!

U Is For Unicorn - Medieval Quilt 

 So many years ago my quilting girlfriend Cynthia made this quilt in a soft beige colour when my youngest Medieval loving son Nicholas saw it, he was thrilled. I promised him someday I would make it, well today I started it!

So many blocks! I'm going to do it as a quilt as you go, then when the blocks are finished & brought together it will already be quilted!
Stay tuned for the block by block reveal as I finish the quilt this year!
Cynthia called hers ' 1001 Nights' because that is how long it took her but she did hers all by hand!!
I'm using my sewing machine & doing the embroidery by hand.

My New Learning 2019

 Every year I try to learn something new, this year 2019 it was needle punch rug hooking.
Way back in 1974 I was taught latch hook quilting & it was enjoyable & easy.
Then the Miramichi Rug Hookers taught me to rug hook on burlap & linen with a rug hooking tool like a crochet hook. It was hard to get the loops all one height by I soon caught on & purchased a needle punch hook when I saw work that Edie did at the guild. She made beautiful pansies in a circle on a round rug. Years passed & I never used that hook, until now.

 Several years ago my girlfriend Elizabeth gave me a rug hooking kit, I never hooked it as it was to be done with a punch needle hook. If not now when? Good question, I started that rug two nights ago!

 This is called The Regatta & it is all red, white, & blue with the boats outlined in black. I think it is going to look get out in the sunporch this summer!

The readings that I have read say that the back should look as tidy from the front & with needle punch rug hooking that is the side of which you hook. I find it so much easier to follow a pattern from the back than the front.

Here is a close up from the back that is worked on from the front!

 Bill filled the wood holding hoop up with wood before he left but with the milder damp temperatures, it feels so good having the firebox on so the wood is going down.

This was a pleasant surprise to see the temperature above 0C for the first time in a very long time!

Thankl you for stopping in for a visit, I hope you enjoyed your time here.
Stay healthy & safe wherever you are.
See you next week!
Cynthia

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Boston's, It's Cold Outside!

This morning Bridget & Baxter were out for a brief run outside as I shovel the drift in front of the garage door. The windchill this morning is -30C & it sure felt like it!

 I knew I had to shovel the snow drift/wave when I saw the Boston disappear in the snow when he went running after the squirrels.

 We have two snow fences but a third one will be added for next winter!

 It is real winter wonderland around here these days & a huge storm is coming to us this Sunday & into Monday with 50-60cm of snow.

 The Boston's did not stay out long to watch me with a shovel.


 The garage door was open as I was warming up the car for a kickboxing class at 8:45am. Burrr


Dreaming Of Spring - 43 Days Till Spring!


 With Easter approaching & bunnies showing up in the Country Sampler magazine, I pulled out an old Beatrix Potter quilt kit that I've had for nearly ten years & started working on it this week.

 Sassy Squirrel Nutkin & owl. The creatures she wrote about & their behaviours you have to ask yourself if it was from people Beatrix Potter knew from her village.

 Benjamin Bunny & his radishes!

                                                                            Piggy Wiggy

 Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, Peter Rabbit, & Momma Rabbit

 Jamia Duck, I crocheted one for the boys nursery as a doorstop.

 Thirty years ago I decorated the nursery in a Peter Rabbit theme. Rabbits have always made me smile & so has spring after a long harsh winter. I know 'This too will pass' but until then, I'm going to dream & think about the beauty that is coming.

I made the quilt bigger it was a 5 x 5 blocks, I added 10 more. I also had a piece of yellow with red radishes fabric & incorporated it into the border too.

Once it is quilted I'll display it with other Easter decorating in a few months, Easter is April 21st, Queen Elizabeth's birthday & Easter is quite late this year. I'm hoping for the snow to be gone but I've seen it stay till June!

I saw this 'Bunny Abuse' lol music box of Peter Rabbit being disciplined by his uncle when I was in England & brought it home with me. Mitchell received the Peter Rabbit music box from his Aunt Marg & Uncle Scott back in 1988 for his nursery. Beatrix Potter & Bunnykins harmonize well together & I've been collecting them since the1970's when I was first introduced to them.
Both of the inventor's of the many animal characters are female.  Beatrix Potter & Barbra Veron have different & incredible stories about their lives & bringing these characters to life has held my interest & made me smile inside & out!

I hope to show you more of what I've been up to as I've gone back to work.
I'm teaching two classes a week on the art of making stained glass the copper foil way.

The new apartment building is now full & that has taken much time to achieve. The tenants love their new home too!

I hope you're staying warm wherever you are & are doing & seeing things that make your heart sing too!

Wishing you health & happiness this 2019!
Cynthia

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Blustery Winter Weather

It sure is wintery here on the east coast.
I knew by the red morning sky yesterday that the calm before the storm was over & the storm was going to moving into our area.

                               As the saying goes, 'Red sky in the morning is a sailors warning.'

 Out over the Miramichi Bay, the sky had a red tinge to it too as the sun was coming up.

 The Canadian geese were spared the nasty winter storm as they are on the front porch but the wind blew snow on them.

 The front porch had a nice heavy wet drift on it too. The temp rose overnight & the snow got very heavy & solid.

                      The laneway & parking lot is now open. It was ploughed out at lunchtime.

                                  The depth of snow is seen when you look at the potting shed.

                      Bill's trailer isn't going anywhere with the packing os snow around it.

 I'm always amazed at the aqua blue colour in the areas piled in the snow, I never saw that gorgeous colour in the snow in Southwestern Ontario winters. I did see that same colour in Newfoundland looking at an iceberg for the first time!
The daylight really shows the blue in the vertical lines, not so much in the picture though.

 I couldn't reach the bird feeders so I threw some feed to them on top of the solid snow.
The little chickadees are very vocal when they see you & are not afraid of getting close to you either.

                                   The birds & squirrels are really enjoying their new feeder too!

I shovelled in front of the garage & the steps after the plough was gone & was it ever heavy snow!
It was easier to lift it up in blocks, just like the blocks that make igloos, so solid.
More flurries for tomorrow too.

 There's a small opening in the garage door as it shifted when it was moved & the lock doesn't aline to keep the bottom closed. I can only image how many rodents are living in the potting shed this winter!

                                  The flurries were starting again & I captured it! lol

                                         I love the way the woods look after a fresh snowfall.

 This is one of Baxter's favourite spots to find the squirrels that take the birdseed. He will sit at the base of a tree & wait for the squirrel to come down. The squirrels love to tease Baxter & make noise.

 The birds are waiting for me to leave so they could get at the birdseed I put out.

 Winter seems like it has been going on since last year & it has! It started snowing in November & has not stopped. Maybe we'll have an early spring this year to enjoy our late Easter on April 21st.

                                        I love the look of our laneway in every season!

 Thank you, Alan, for the great ploughing job that links me to the main road, I'm mobile once more!

I'm hoping the snow wall if high enough to create the snow fence that is needed there. The snow swirls right in front of the garage door that I use. Totally forgot to change spots with Bill again this year! Something tells me the hindsight will kick in for next years winter! lol

 The light looks great in the snow & the evergreens are drooping with the heavy wet snow, frosted tips, love the woods!

Cozy inside with the snow piling up on the outside. The metal roof is quiet today just dripping icicles in the sun. Once the sun goes down everything freezes & the icicles are frozen solid again.

I found paperwhite's on sale & potted them a couple of weeks ago, they will be blooming & smelling so go soon. The amaryllis is going to bloom soon too!

 Baxter & Bridget have new coats for next Christmas. Bill & I found these Christmas alpaca sweaters at Winners for only $4 each!

 They were so good at modelling the sweaters & never tried to remove them off of one another.

                             Bridget got a pink fleece lined jacket to keep her cozy this winter.


Well, 2019 has started & it was really different having Bill home for 17 days over Christmas & time just flew by with him. The Boston's just love having him home to play stick & walks down the lane.

Spring will arrive in 68 days & Easter in 101 days. I'mm looking forward to Easter as all the kids will be flying home for Easter. All the boys will be together & I'm going to start baking & freezing food next month so I won't have to be in the kitchen so much! Till then I'll be digging my way out. lol

Thank you for stopping in for a visit, I hope you are staying warm & cozy wherever you are.
Health & Happines always,
Cynthia