Spring Is Here

 Spring is here! The sun is warming the ground & life is beginning to emerge. It is such a joy to walk outside & see what has been under all that snow. 

And yes.... no more snow it is all gone now!

This photo of Bay du Vin Island was taken last week. Can you see the loose ice floating by & the ice pushed to the shore on the other side of the Miramichi Bay? All remnants of snow are now gone, so happy to see that in the rearview mirror!

To me, this is the first sign of spring & my heart sings!

One of my favourite thrift stores finds!

I've been working on a FREE - SAL (sew along) with Wild Wonderful SAL 2021 on Facebook. 

Here is my version of the 1st block. It has all the same silhouette as the designer with a few changes that put it right in my backyard... literally! 

The view from the sewing room window was my inspiration.  I added in the coloured embroidered lupins instead of the wild grass & robins that grace the backyard daily now.

Block two, this was fun too!

 I needle punched in old Tommy's cat hair & added some cat whiskers!

Rexton has been noticing the movement of the birds outside. She sits & watches them fly in & out of the lilac bushes branches & seek shelter with the sandwich board protecting the blue muffin bush.

The winds were over 80km the other day, fishing has been delayed due to the strong winds. Tomorrow the boats will set sail for the beginning of the lobster fishing season.

The seed trays are growing & have been transferred to larger pots.

The old desk holds them well & gives them an area of afternoon sunlight.

The outer edging has been done & now that afghan is finished!

You can see the eyelet openings in this photo. It was a pattern from Woman's Day Magazine back in the early '70s. The black edging is just enough to finish off this very colourful afghan.

I started rug hooking again...

This was a pattern I had made years back off of Marg's quilt onto a linen canvas & it was such a joy to hook on linen! I did the colouring of Mr. Boots & this is his memory rug, such a sweet cat. 💓

It is a larger oval finishing at nearly 3' x 2 1/2' I finished the edging with checked bias cotton to keep with the whimsical feel of the hooked rug.

The face on the cat brought back memories of my childhood friend's house that had a Felix the Cat clock. This face looks like Felix & the eyes would move back & forth as would his tail! A delightfully memorable clock of years gone by.

I'm from the era of the 'electric frying pan' & when our son Don & Stephanie gave us an 'air fryer' for Christmas we were stumped on what to do with it. I have to tell you since we have used it & found out how wonderful it was, we use it several times a week! It's used to sizzle our sausages, excellent with frozen or fresh french fries, frozen egg rolls or spring rolls, anything that needs to be reheated & would be left soggy in a microwave. With having to watch cholesterol & fats now this 'air fryer' is great!

The removable Teflon basket allows fats to drip away from the food. It removes easily to be washed & is ready to be used again & again. I can see these becoming as popular as the microwave with kids in apartments. I'm curious to see the electricity bill with this invention as your only heating up a wee space instead of a large oven. Thank you kids for making our daily life a little easier & healthier!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I hope you are doing well & are able to get your vaccine soon.

I was told by the local pharmacy that my turn will be closer to the end of this month, so until then I must stay healthy.

You too stay healthy & wear your mask, it sure has stopped the spread of flu & cold viruses!                   

I came across this saying & will be embroidering the words onto a linen pillow. Everything decor these days is fashionably done with words. Pillows, signs, pictures, so many words!

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

-C.S.Lewis

Have a wonderful week!

Cynthia

April Showers With Snow

 April is unpredictable across Canada, what we do know is that May brings flowers! 

The bulbs are beginning to poke their heads through!

Tulips in the Anniversary Garden, located between the two lilac trees. I'm hoping the squirrels don't find them!

Lovely yellow & purple irises are beginning to show life!

Show-stopping pink ground cover under the lilac tree.

The Anniversary Garden is going to have pink roses growing up on the outer sides of the trellis. 

The tall single trellis has been overrun with the rose offshoots so Bill is moving some out to the arbour trellis & one batch over to the potting shed.

We've had some sunny days that you can sit on the front porch & take in the sounds of the birds in the woods. 

Or watch Bridget & Baxter take a tongue lashing from the squirrels that are in the tree. Yes, we still have snow here!

Bridget will stand on her hind legs to get a better look at the squirrel.

It is a daily entertainment for them!

How nice to see moving water with the tide in tide out!

Bill helping me with the photoshoot of the 169 squares all crocheted together!

Thank you, Bill! Just the outer border to crochet around it now but I do need more black yarn!

Our first flower of the spring!

The backyard grass is even greening up! 

The snowdrift on the east side yard is still dense, Bill has a bet with the sons that it will still be there on April 29th, it could be!

This was a pleasant surprise, the last wind storm brought in a sandy beach!

We've had it before but not for a few years!

The digging out of the rose bush begins!

I'm so looking forward to seeing it climb this arbour trellis!

And to see the pink/green colour next to the potting shed. This time last year the potting shed was not even in that location! 

Bridget so wants this job done so Bill can throw the ball!

I saw this idea on Pinterest & asked Bill if he could make me one, so he did!

It has the lavender from our garden last year & recycled bottles from juice, familiar Bev? lol

The sunflower is now the home & Mr & Mrs. Squirrel & their new babies inside!

I was surprised to watch her last week being so large that it took several tries to get through the opening!

With the babies inside, she flies through that hole! I've tried that that when I knock on the front door that means get out of the way because I'm unleashing the Boston terriers. 

They often just sit on top of their home & chatter at the dogs.

With the spring thaw a very large truck going down our laneway (we have the hydro poles/telephone/internet lines) on several occasions, cracked the cement pipe from its weight. We replaced it with a PVC one that hopefully will do the trip with future ground thaws. We also picked up all the Bell Aliant clips from their cuttings during their line replacements. Their equipment is on private property & I wish they were more respectful with their cleaning with access to our laneway for their lines.

This hole was noticeable from the road & my girlfriend saw it walking by, I placed a stick in the hole so no one would drive over the weakened area.

A bright-coloured dusting cloth tied with orange string would do the trick to warn others of the danger below!

Here are the 169 granny squares before they were crocheted together. With the scraps, I made a cat mat!

The cat mat was made with a scrap of burlap that I had.

I love making something from nothing! Well, not nothing but stuff people would see no value to & through it out.

Rexton knows that it is hers & sits on it on the end of the couch ottoman.

She's viewing Bridget... stay away!

Bridget cannot resist giving her a very kiss with her very long tongue. These two have a love-hate relationship. In Rexton's eyes - Cats rule - dogs drool. lol

Thank you for stopping in for a visit. I hope you keep safe, healthy, & happy through this most trying time in history with COVID-19. 

It's been a year since Mr. Boots our beloved cat passed away & our friend John, over the pond, gave me these words of comfort for those that have passed. These words are one of comfort, so lovely to feel.

'Those we love don't go away.

They walk beside us every day.

Unseen, unheard, but always near.

Still loved, still missed, and very dear.'

Author Unknown

Enjoy the spring days ahead!

Cynthia