windy, chilly, gloomy....oh my.

Wow, today is a bit of a shock to the system, it's so chilly and windy. Mom, Zoe and I went to Humber Nurseries to celebrate mothers day early, I have to work tomorrow. Picked up some really great hostas for the garden...love them, hopefully they will survive the dog, and squirrels! They also have a big selection of pond plants and koi fish, I love when they come up to the surface of the tank looking for food. Forgot my camera but took some snaps with my camera phone, now I just have to figure out how to get them out of the phone!


I finally asked James (IT support) probably would not have figured it out on my own without much screaming at the various electronic devices, here is a pic of the little tiny koi, they cost about $15 bucks each! For a fish, there cute, but a pretty pricey meal for our neighbourhood racoons!

I love a gloomy day, warm cups of tea and a good book, although the one I am reading right now is a little to weird even for me. Something has my hackles up, and I don't know what...hopefully today will end the last month and a half of unexpected drama which will make life seem a bit more sane. One can only hope. I am also without a sewing project and feel a bit lost. I did splurge a bit this week and bought a couple of new inspiration magazines, and the big Martha Stewart Craft book. I love the pictures and ideas in the "Marie Claire" magazine but it's in french, but I couldn't walk away from it. My french is okay but not that okay, hopefully this will help make it a bit better...ha, I doubt it!

The big debate right now is do I want to spend the money to enter my first craft show in our neighborhood park?! Hmmm, I don't know, nothing ventured nothing gained I suppose. Oh and I found something that made James and I just cry we laughed so much. Sometimes after you laugh so hard you don't really know why you found it so funny but it's still great to laugh, so here it is...hopefully you see what we saw.

Snuggie for your dogs!! Here is the front of the box....


Here is the back, which got even more laughs! Since I didn't have my camera this day either, we were just doing some mundane household shopping. I had to use the camera phone again as well so the pics are a little fuzzy but look closely. Yes, that is a dog sitting with the remote, and another pair playing a game of backgammon!


Enjoy the blustery day, and the angry clouds, just cuddle up with something furry on the couch and watch a good movie, and don't forget to laugh...really laugh!

it's been so long....

I have been away from my blog for so long, time really is so fleeting. It was partially because I was in such a funk...so bad that even a good walk with James and Fergus, and a cuddle with Ollie didn't help. There is something in the air that's for sure. However, there were a lot of good things in the past month that I would like to share as well.

There are two things that really jump out. Firstly, my sisters 16th birthday! Oh my, I cant believe that she is that old already we always joked that someday she would be 16 and I would be 32! I am not quite 32 yet but it will happen this year! Mind you I still feel like a 16 year old myself. A 16 year old with a mortgage and bills, but a kid none the less.

But I digress, I received a giant order of Echino fabric in the mail from Superbuzzy, thanks to our dollar being so good I got dinged for the duty and it sat in a customs warehouse for a few days longer than expected. It arrived very behind schedule giving me only 2 weeks to get her quilt done!


So a stack of echino fabrics, bright kona solids, and a quilt plan = happy and only 12 days left! The plan, simple big blocks, 11" squared to really show off the great colourful prints and minimize how much fabric is wasted. Then to add interest, window blocks scattered randomly throughout the quilt. I needed a total of 22 window blocks and thanks to James the math for the wonky and centered ones was very easy...law of smidges be gone, haha! I also made one of Zoe's pictures into an embroidery, her signature image, a robot, I totally love those iron on pencil thingies, to cool, and so smart.


So a few days later the window blocks were done and it was time to lay it out on the quilt wall. The layout went very fast and so did sewing the rows together. Then it was back to "The Workroom" for the back material and batting. With help from my special consultant, James :), we decided on Anna Maria Horners flannels. So soft and cozy, two different prints were picked out, just too many options! Then it was home to vacuum, mop and lay it out. T-minus 5 days and counting! I got it all basted and quilted, just a simple in the ditch straight line down all the rows and around all 22 window frames, both lines. That took about a day and a bit leaving me with only a day and a half to bind it. My Mum was kind enough to help with the finishing up of the hand sewing of the bias tape, I really hate that part so it worked out well. So here it is...she loved it!


So there it is, all done and sadly I did have to part with it, that is always the hardest part for me, selfish I guess! I have some scraps left and I will make my own echino quilt for sure, maybe the same or at least slightly different.

So as not to make this a marathon post, probably already to late....I will simply try to post again tomorrow, with my other highlight's of April. Right now the sweet smell of rain is calling me to go sit out on the porch in the dark with a cup of tea, or maybe even some mint chocolate chip ice cream...or heavenly hash, I cant decide...maybe a scoop of each!

Goodnight, sleep soundly and love the people around you...

hair, hair, HAIR !

I will start by saying, I LOVE MY DOG, I do, but at this time of year I wish that I had an in house maid that would vacuum a couple of times a day, or that Fergus could actually vacuum up his own hair. I cant keep up, and I cant believe that the old guy isn't bald, but he is just to cute to get that angry with. He snores just as loud as my husband, has the softest ears ever, and yes I admit I am one of those people that loves the smell of dog paws. He is happy to see me no matter what and he will listen with great attention to my complaints no matter how crazy and insecure they are. So even though the season change means a boat load of more dog hair everywhere, and that I can pull it out in clumps faster than the brush can take it out, I still LOVE MY BEAST!

Where are the weeks going?

Here we are and nearly April, with easter just around the corner. I had a busy week full of life's big, little, confusing, things, with a little anticipation and worry thrown in. I did finish another quilt! Using my $2.95 a yard Ikea bird fabric, I tried out an old quilt block style called a "snowball". It went together pretty quickly (which having a self diagnosed case of mild ADD) it worked out rather well. After I finished the inside of the topper I decided it needed a bit of something so I added the bright inner border, a vibrant Kona solid, and the larger printed outer border, that has lovely flecks of gold throughout.



I hate the binding stage, I did have a helper though, he is not a very fast sewer but he sure is cute! It does not fail that every time I am binding or laying out a quilt to baste, that I always have the cat and my 80 pound lab Fergus, as my trusty sidekicks, I keep trying to teach them how to baste! No such luck yet.

I had a thought....

I declare...well I feel anyway, that when we have a day in mid march that the temperature hits 15+, and the sun is shinning, we should all have a mandatory free day!!!

Blogs I love....

This blog thing is kinda new to me, the thing I like the most is just stumbling upon blogs by people that just inspire...here are two great finds.

a real gentleman
full of pure thought...and loveliness...i will try and ice cakes like this...sigh

Is it really March...

This week in Toronto we are having some pretty unseasonal weather...hitting 15+ somedays...it wakes you up a bit and is helping pull me a little out of the darkness I am in. I was poking around the garden a bit and found this little guys shooting out of the ground! Does this mean spring is really here? I also watched the ivy on the side of the house a little, it is home to numerous families of sparrows...they are just to button. I really have to trim the ivy back because it is growing wild but I am afraid of disturbing the sparrow families. In the mornings you can hear them chattering and if you are watching from outside you can some them dancing around and then exit there homes all at once! We have a little side window on the second floor and the ivy is starting to cover the over the space, my hopes is that a sparrow family may make a home and we can watch a little family. Our cat really loves watching the goings on out that window.