Good Bye 2013 - Hello 2014

Whoa!   Where did that last six weeks go???  Time to stop and smell the roses, er..... um.... snowflakes!  The craft fair the end of November was a success.  The turkey was delicious.  An excursion to Kingston, Ontario was exciting.  The Christmas tree is still up and hanging in there for one more week.

In the meantime, we have partied and over-eaten, visited friends and did I say partied?  Cooked?
Lots of snow here.  I've been enjoying sledding down our driveway.  Ice-skating has been difficult due to too much snow, but a January thaw should fix that.

Have a happy, safe celebration tonight and welcome to 2014.

Halloween Costume

I couldn't let the season go by without posting my granddaughter, Emily, wearing her Nut Brown Hare costume.  I had such fun making it for her and with her counsel.  We had several fittings in the last days before Halloween.  Such fun.  She bounced and hopped so much the ears stayed floppy, but she liked them that way so no matter.

I wonder what she will want to be for Halloween next year?

Sailing School Anyone?

A recent mild autumn day I walked along the bike path which borders this lake.  The Sailing Center was open and all the supplies, boats, rudders, centerboards, etc. were being made ship shape for the winter.  This is a wonderful facility.  Children at an early age can have a full battery of sailing instruction here.  What could be better in our land of many lakes?  Thought you'd enjoy a few snap shots.

Autumn Beauty

It is autumn again and who can believe how fast September flew by?  Colors are becoming more colorful day by day.  Notice the blue heron perched on the boat to the left of the dock.  He fishes from that spot most mornings in the early sunshine.

The last bouquet of glads of the season came from my favorite roadside veggie stand.

Dutch apple pie and many other varieties of apple desserts are on the menu.  There is a bumper crop of apples this year.  Might be good to can some applesauce as well.

Thunderstorms & Summer Rain

We've had a lovely summer with warm spells and cool spells, but not many rainy spells.  A couple of days ago we had two major storm fronts move through... one in the morning and one in the afternoon with drizzle inbetween.  I cooked during the morning storm... crockpot full of stroganoff, kettle of split pea soup and a banana cake.  But the afternoon storm rolled in with more thunder and lightning and I decided to take a blanket to my wicker chair on the open porch, snuggle in and simply enjoy it.

The weatherman later said we received nearly 4" of rain that day!  We bailed our little fishing boat, the big fishing boat and the neighbor's boat when I found it sitting on the bottom of the lake half full.

I enjoyed this quiet listening time.  It brought back memories of a summer when I was about 12 yrs. young.  A lot of that summer it rained incessantly.  We kids in the neighborhood gathered in one girlfriend's house on a regular basis.  The mom was a stay-at-home and welcomed our company, encouraged us in our games and cooking.  We played many games of canasta and "war," made the old-fashioned stirred chocolate fudge (pre-marshmellow-cream-years), popped popcorn, and most fun was playing "Murder in the Dark" which was an acted out version of the board game, Clue.   So I was glad for the rainy day to spend some time remembering. 

The Past Month of My Life

My neighbor thinks I may perish from "chenille-ufocation."  I think she may be right.

My fixation on chenille has gotten out of hand.  For most of the past month, my spare time has been spent sorting, piling, creating bundles, and letting a lot of it go.  The above photo shows what I think I want to keep for my patchwork quilts.  I have already made quite a few quilts, but I have many more ideas and gifts to give.

 This second photo is in front of my regular quilt weight stash on the left and my weaving department which contains a variety of warp materials.  I love to weave, but I cannot access my supplies. 

 And this third photo is in front of my rug loom... all warped with a special treadling design in mind and I haven't been able to get to it for three years now.  Oh, dear!

And this pile of chenille is in front of my vintage bark cloth collection.... more projects in mind.  Will I live long enough?  I had better keep at it.  In the meantime I feast my eyes on these gorgeous colors and designs from days gone by.... such inspiration.  Check out my ebay and etsy sites if you want to help me out here.

Cherry Season

 Tart cherries are these bright red pie cherries.  Of course they ripen during the week we have consistent temps in the 90's with high humidity.  My husband and I picked 17 pounds one day this week.  The next day I pitted them... I do this by hand so the cherries will be round and plump in my pies.  If I plan to make jam, I use a hand-crank pitter which chews them up a bit.  The 17 pounds yielded 10 quarts by the way.  We will enjoy these throughout the winter in cobblers and pies.

 

Here is my granddaughter, Emily, picking sweet cherries.  Notice the juice on her chin.  Her daddy had to remind her the best way to eat them... not by little nibbles, but rather pop them in your mouth all at once, then spit the pit out.  She got the hang of it right away.

 

Raspberries ripen nicely in the summer heat as well.  We eat them on our cereal and on ice cream with chocolate sauce dribbled over them.  They never seem to make it to the freezer.  Delicious summer bounty!