Cicadas Are Singing

This month the cicadas have been singing when the rain is not falling, which means the summer is now half over & it is time to take in all the beautiful summery days that are left.

A new path has been opened in the woods & we love walking all the paths in our woods!

It has been busy here with our projects & having our eldest son Don & his 4 yr old English bulldog Gordo in our daily routine. Bill is enjoying having the help with the work in the yard both here & at the apartment getting the lawns & maintenance done. 

Our grandpuppy Gordo  & eldest son Donald, Gordo is not a walking dog & the laneway walk was a chore for him. He has adjusted very well with this rural living from his city condo living. And our furbabies have adjusted even better to having a new addition to their pack, Rexton the Manx cat!

A big job this month was to remove the trailer off the lot that next year will house some townhomes that we want to build. The location is right next to the apartment, making it easy to keep both parking lots plowed & lawns mowed.

New Relaxation...

Bill & Don take to the kayaks for morning paddles & have now started to do a little fishing from them.

Our middle son Mitch inspired that idea as he does it in Alberta!

The view of our  Hardwicke home from the water and my wee potting shed.

Too much water for this hydrophobic! it does look beautiful in photos.

Bill has always loved the water. Bill was a sailboat racer, racing across Lake Erie in Ontario, he scuba dived too. I'm happy to see he has come full circle back to one of his passions, the water.

I was so happy that the walkway to the beach was opened up again. Each winter the ice rearranges that area & it is hard to walk safely down a heaped step. The last storm left a lot of sand on our beach with the sandstone only in a few places.

Gordo's first beach experience, Bridget & Baxter visit the shoreline daily!

He wanted nothing to do with the water, bulldogs are very stubborn. lol

No coaching was going to change Gordo's mind! lol

Bill throwing the stick looked like fun to Gordo, until he threw it into the water. lol

These two love playing stick!

And will run in tandem with the stick too.

Donald had fun playing on the beach too!

We were all worried about this fellow's adjustment to East Coast life & what a relief that he loves it!

Even these two have accepted him into their pack & are enjoying that he has such a laid-back attitude.

Bill surprised me with a bunch of black-eyed-susans on the porch.

The colour was a sure eye popper when I opened the front door, it was so lovely & took my breath away!

Where Is Gordo?

Where is Gordo is a new game in the house, you can usually hear his breathing but when you cannot...where is Gordo?

He has taken to climbing the great room stairs himself & loves to view it from the mezzanine.

Or take a snooze with his head supported by the stool.

Or sometimes he is in his downstairs crate.

His new place is at my feet when I'm sewing! I sew with my left foot on the petal & worry that his 70+ lbs will hit my sewing machine petal. We are all adjusting, even my sewing room as Gordo goes where you go, like a soft furry shadow.

Last night he was at Bill's feet as Don was away for the night, serving elevators up north. Gordo did very well with him gone but will be even happier when Don returns.

Sewing Projects

The Dresden Picnic quilt is now quilted & I'm putting the binding on it.

Rose did a beautiful job quilting it! I'm binding it with the red & it was all made with my 2004 scraps from Kathy Schmitz's Bird In Hand by Moda, the background white was a recent sale purchase. I'm now working on the next BOW called Grandma's Scrap Basket & it is being done in Civil War reproduction fabric from my stash.

BOW with Lori Holt called Bee Vintage, will be 20 - 10" blocks in a vintage style with sashing when it is done.

Week One

Week Two 

Week Three

Week Four

Sunbonnet Sue was done this week & I'll show her on your next visit with week 5.

I was sewing like I was at a retreat on this table-topper design by Kim Dielh, I've had this kit since 2010 & it was time to get it done!

Don did his BQ so I did not have to cook!~ There were so many pieces to sew onto this & the challenge was to keep it all flat, there were seam-ripper songs sung as I fixed some areas but in the end, it was flat!

It did take longer to do than I thought & finished at 48" x 48", now to find a backing for it & off to have it longarmed. I think it is perfect for the fall decor!

For New Brunswick Day I made new collars for all the pets, here is Bridget with her ruffled scarf.

And Baxter in his clip-on collar. Gordo had a soft tie-on scarf & Rexton an elasticized collar.

This New Brunswick wool blanket is one of the treasured The beginning of relaxation time for Don with the trio of dogs to cozy up with. lol

We had geese in our backyard for a couple of days, it drove Baxter crazy & he chased them in flight over the breaker wall, each time he went outside.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit & I'll have more to show you as our beautiful summer season is still here. We have been so lucky not to have bad weather here in the north as our other Maritime provinces have experienced this summer. The farming that has been flooded & no stone fruit is the reason for concern, there are no cherries, peaches or plums due to frost early in the spring.

 Mother Nature is not something we can control.

I remember the 3Rs from the 90s... Reduce - Recycle - Reuse, I am trying to live responsibly & my family is often affectionately teasing me for just that. 

Have a wonderful time this summer season, soon it will be your memories.

Stay safe & healthy.

Cynthia xXx