Getting Into The Season

 Well, the 2nd isolation of 14 days is done! We are both healthy & happy to have it over. Service New Brunswick calls the house three times a day to check up on Bill & I won't miss having that happening every day. The winds are still howling here but no snow yet, lucky us. Every time it rains both of us say "At least we don't have to shovel it!" lol

We have a new visitor to our winter feeder this year, a beautiful female cardinal. We've seen the male but not lately, I worry as the neighbourhood cats run at large & have been chased away from our feeders several times. Our cat Rexton watches from the window, she's an indoor cat.

The little red squirrel is such as cute sight, they are so small compared to the Ontario grey squirrels.

The dogs chase up the tree & they chirp away as they are high above them to keep the dogs' attention. lol

As my friend blogger Julia said, these are lovely birds but bullies! They chase everything away to get seed! I've gone out to gather their lost feathers to capture that blue, so beautiful!

The Evening Grosbeak are new to our feeders too!

We are enjoying watching what come to the feeders in the front yard, nuthatches, chickadees, morning doves. woodpeckers, & those annoying cats that we chase away. Hopefully, with the winter weather, they will want to stay indoors by the fire.

We put up the small Christmas tree this year in the great room, I do miss the huge lit tree but next year when the kids are home we will have it again.

Most everything on this tree is handmade with felted wool or fabric.

We found some older Christmas decorations from our outings when we lived in London ON. I laughed when I saw this one!

Bridget is wearing her festive collar, getting ready for our festive activities that involve food! lol

She likes to sit at the dining room bay window and look out to see what's happening in her backyard.

Of course, we had to purchase this tree decoration too! lol

This little Manx rules the house. Whoever said "Cats rule, dogs drool" had it right!

She loves wearing her collar even with the jingle bells on it! 

Now if Santa just grants me my wish...

She is wherever I work, it's like having a shadow!

Rexton will be turning 5 this year & has grown into quite the Manx personality.

Bill moved her cat tower into my sewing room & now my chair & ironing board are free to use as she supervises me from her tower. She still has her Christmas stocking from last year, I don't dare take the plastic balls out as the dogs destroy them.

I can't show you what I've been working on as it is a Christmas present & she's a blog reader, I'll show it in a later post.

I'm loving Luna & creating her outfits, this is on done in vintage fabric & her chair next to her.

I found she sat low in the chair so...

I added macrame beads to give it a bit of height. The legs were wobbly & Bill fixed that with a wire extension inside giving the chair more stability. Thank you xo

Alfie & Luna Lapin are by the Christmas tree & need new Christmas outfits, next post they will model them for you! I use scraps from the Christmas quilt to make a sleigh quilt & pillow.

The Boston's Baxter & Bridget love the morning sun as it shines in through the foyer door.

I laugh when I see their silhouettes on the door when they're on the front porch waiting to get in. I'm going to make a pattern from this & rug hook their silhouettes onto a stool this winter.

Speaking of rugs! This is the new project that I've wanted to do for a couple of years, 4 braided rug that was so popular back in the 30s' & '40s. It was done with cloth back then & Erin Halverson on YouTube has found that t-shirt fabric works very well because of the stretch going around the corners. You start with a simple braid, then ad the fourth strip.

This is my 2nd attempt, the first was smaller & placed in the bottom of a wooden quart basket for clothespins. I'm continuing with using the black, it gives me handwork whilst watching TV at night & warm under my feet when it is finished.

Remember Christmas in July's Mystery Quilt? Here it is now ready for Christmas & keeping the dining room warm & cozy as the sunporch on the other side of the garden doors is not insulted.

The quilt is made of wool on fabric & I did a quilt as you go get it done.

I was hooked by the reveal of the first block of Holly & Ivy & began the journey of making it.

If I had seen it in its entirety I would not have done it, so much work!!

It really makes the back wall in the dining area so cheerful & warm, I'm glad I did do it!

Speaking of warm...the great room window was giving off so much cold air that we came up with the idea of installing the sewing room thermal lined drapes inside the window to block out the cold air coming through the double-pane glass. The winds off the water are only going to get colder as the Atlantic Ocean cools down to the Gulf of St. Lawerance where the Miramichi Bay is.

Voila! Our winter solution is warm & cozy in the great room. We're still waiting to have our chimney cleaned before starting our firebox this year. Lucky for us winter is late this year!

The evenings come so soon now that I won't mind closing the drapes to keep the warmth in.

Here's Rexton styling another collar that was on Bridget. All three pets have the same neck measurement!

I think they all look great in red & white it really contrasts with the black & white!😊

Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I hope you too are getting into the holiday season wherever you are. Please stay safe & wear your mask when you are out & about in public. 

Warmest regards,

Cynthia