Sunday, July 7, 2019

Summer's Finally In Full Swing

Beautiful hot hazy days of summer are finally upon us. These days came right after we turned the corner of cold & wet of last week. In one week I had the firebox going to get rid of the damp cold to put on the cool AC on to rid the heavy humid hotness from the house.

 This July month started off quite cool so sandals & short sleeves would have been much too chilly.

 All the pets wore their Canada Day scarves & awaited for our companies arrival.

                                                    Mr. Boots looked so handsome in his attire.

                                              Rexton strutted around with her scarf on too!

                                                  Bridget wore her frilly scarf.

 Mr. Boots was the only behaved animal that day! He was enjoying the mat that I made for the back of Bill's truck now that he has the Boston's riding with him, they need a soft stable place to stay when the truck is in motion.

 Bridget just could not help herself when she saw Rexton looking mighty fine in her Canada attire & had to lick her!


 After Bridget was done with Rexton, she started in on Baxter & wanted his collar!

Mr. Boots watches the shenanigans from the stairs, he knows that area is out of bounds for the Boston's.

Rexton loves her perch so she can watch everything & none of fur-kids can get her up there!
She how the Manx's ears are like a cradle between them & not close & pointy like Mr. Boots.
Rexton has been with us five years next month, how time fly! What a precious cat she has grown into, how could someone throw baby kittens in a ditch with hope that the Bonar Law would take them in to live in the barn? So many kittens in the showing room in the barn. A safe place has been made due to the abandonment of so many kittens. I'm going hooking there this month & will take photos of the new kittens waiting for adoption.

Our 32nd Wedding Anniversary - July 4th 1987

 Here are on that special day over 32 years ago in London Ontario. It was so hot & a drought was happening at that time & a lot of the green was hay . We had our photo's done at the Reservoir Park.

And a more recent photo, life just got better with the years! We're happy together!
It's like I keep telling him, 'I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow!' Loved that old upbeat song!

 Nicholas gave us a very thoughtful gift in etched out metal, the HOME concordant for here!
How cool is this?!!

It has been installed over the front door & between the second story window & looks even better from the upstairs mezzanine!

 Then another metal surprise! Mike, Carrie, & Catherine were here for a visit & presented this to us for our anniversary. So much metal thought has gone into this anniversary & will be enjoyed for years to come.

 Bill installed it on the stone pillar leading to the front door. Thank you so much for these thoughtful gifts of metal that will be seen & enjoyed for years to come.

                                                                             XOXOXO

                        Summer here is so worth the wait, winter was a bit long this year though.

 Nick & Leslie brought these butterfly flowers for the Anniversary Garden last year & the blooms of such an assortment of colour is like nothing I've seen before! The butterflies love them!

                                                                  Roses are in bloom.

                                               Peonies are so full this year & smell heavenly!


 The Gnome Garden is going to get a thinning this fall, it's so thick & lush this year.

 The Potting Shed is getting a new window installed, it's from the cottage & will give natural  light inside. The perennials from last year are looking great this year, bright yellow flowers will soon bloom.

 Bill was busy cutting up birch trunks to be split & stacked for the firebox & fire-pit.

 The wooded area that Bill worked in is one that he also cleared away. So thick is the woods!

 It is now summer & I'm going to savour it with all the tastes & smells that are in the ground & air!

Sewing Projects & My Creative Chaos

 I made a new outfit for the Kewpie Doll a more fitting one in colour for an Agricultural Fair.

 I was playing with some striped chintz around an embroidered sheep block. A small baby blanket or play-mat for the floor for a new baby.

 I took the scrapes & started this boy quilt blanket in Beatrix Potter centers. A biege star border will finish it off nicely.

                               I need to take time & clean & organize my sewing/cutting table.

 I now is layered a foot deep with sewing 'things' that I have worked one or am working on.

The acrylic sewing extension table is the only clean area in my room right now. I go into there & ideas start... I just love this room! Must clean this room!
I am always saying 'Creative Minds Are Seldom Tidy', I heard it said once & it's so true!!

 Bill was out this week with Nicholas's drone & took these photos. I love seeing the green ground.

 This view is one of the fire-pit & the small log bridge to the big thick woods. The thinned out woods is on the bottom right of the picture.

See why I love seeing green grass?! In just six months it will look like this again... yes, savoring!! lol

This is a photo that the youngest son Nicholas took from his Brampton GTA balcony. These falcons are protected & have lived several years now on the roof of their 27th floor apartment. Nick fondly calls this bird Falco the Falcon, stunning photo Nick!
Their balcony is always littered with died bird carcasses & the door has to stay closed to keep the loose feathers out. Not an area for the faint of heart.

This month is going to be a blur but I'm going to take it in as slow as my fast days allow.

Thank you for the visit & seeing what was under all that snow! It is so worth it, breathtaking indeed!



Friday, June 28, 2019

Surprise & Sunshine

This week has been one that started off with a great surprise from a girlfriend from London that I have not seen in seven years! Karen called to say she was in Moncton & would see me tomorrow for lunch! She is the best longarm quilter in the London area for custom quilting! I love her artistic quilting!
                                              Karen & I, happy to see each other!

             Karen's husband Jim, they'll be celebrating their 27th anniversary this month.

            They are enjoying their retirement years together & you can see it in their smiles!

                        Karen has finished the last of her needle turned hand sewn blocks!

This is just a sampling of the many colour palettes that were in her stack, each one is unique with no two alike! I forget how many blocks were completed in this project, too many to photograph & after layering a couple she wanted lunch! lol, beautiful work Karen!

 I'm still unpacking bins from the basement & found some silver that is so beautiful when it is polished.
 I stumbled upon this cleaner at Winners when I ran out of Silvo. Goddard's from England is great!

 See the bottom of the photo as I started cleaning & polishing it? Great product!

 I even polished the old cocktail shaker that I use to water the house plants. Goddard's polish is a to protector too. I hope this shine stays for quite a while, real silver is so elegant!

Kewpie Doll

                                     She is together & it was quite the job doing this doll.
                                     She has her wings that will be hidden under her clothes.

                         Cheeks elbows & knees have had blush colour on them now.

                                                         She is fully jointed in the arms & legs.

I'm pleased with the hair tuffs. I purchased a funky monkey at the Sallyann & cut the tip of his tail off & opened it up to transfer the tuff patterns on it. I looked online for faux fur, too expensive!
This worked out perfectly!

 Kewpie is dressed in her fancy nautical dress, she also has a blouse & jumper that I will make & I think that it will look better as the colour of this outfit looks too washed out with her fair skin colour.

                                         She has on her socks & I neede to make her shoes.

                                                                  She is a cutie patootie!

 The jointing was work with the plastic cotter pins but so worth the sitting/reaching pose!


                                                       Sneak peek of a baby quilt with a jungle theme.

 Summer Garden

 Hard to believe that all this was under the snow just a couple of months back! It is growing with a vengeance, can you see the cement boy statue among the iris?

 I'll be dividing them this fall & putting some at the new apartment to add colour there next summer.

 This has more blooms on it since this photo was taken & sitting on the front porch next to it has a heavenly smell.

 I love the texture & colour as the garden is thriving in the weather of rain & sunshine.

 
                   The peonies are next in the queue of blooming & are oh so fragrant too!

 Lupin seeds are going to be saved & transferred to the shore view, a maritime favourite for sure!

                                     So beautiful mimicking the shape of colourful gnome hats!

                                                           Love the colour & texture of these!

 The rhubarb is doing better since I removed three flower pods from the wee patch & the pom-pom loves its sunny area too.

                                   Lambs ear is so soft  I have to touch it every time I see it.

                           The French lilacs are done now but were so beautiful & fragrant.

 The gardens all around the yard each have their own surprises & if it wasn't for so many mosquitoes I'd be out mingling among them. Windy days are great as the mosquitoes are blown away, that's one of the privileges of the living next to the water.

It was a long winter but that is behind us now as the beauty of summer is all around us!

Thank you for stopping in for a visit & a look at the summer on the Atlantic northeast coast.

Have a safe & happy Canada Day weekend, wherever you are!

Wishing you the very best!
Cynthia