Who Me?

 I had to go to our lab yesterday for some blood work and as I was waiting to go through the covid test, a lady said to me "Aren't you the newspaper lad"?  I thought it was rather odd that she recognized me as I had on my mask and my column photo is quite a bit out of date.  Year's ago when I drove a city transit bus, I would sometimes have people recognize me even though I was out of uniform. My favourite instance was when I was in a quilt store some distance from where I live and I was asked if I was the Backwoods Quilter. I have also had the same question when at a quilt show as I was writing a quilt magazine column by that name at the time.

It is rather an odd feeling to be a very minor celebrity and it always catches me by surprise.  I can imagine if you were very well known and you were unable to shop, eat in a restaurant or do anything ordinary without being recognized it would be annoying.  Fortunately, it is highly unlikely I will ever get to that point.

I managed to keep my hands on my sewing machine today and got another border on my quilt plus two more passes on the frame quilt. I took some time off for Hubby, Heidi and I to go for a walk in the bush.  We didn't stay out very long as I didn't realize it had got so cold and I wasn't dressed properly.  Guess I really do need to get those winter clothes out of storage.  We are supposed to get snow on Saturday and the weatherman said it will probably stay on the ground.  It seems to always snow for Halloween.

Blessings,

Walking in the Bush.

 Sometimes it pays to not get things done in a hurry.  I was almost finished my first customer quilt when I got a call asking if I could change it from a twin to double.  Fortunately, I was still adding the last border so it will be easy to enlarge.

We had a good pumpkin crop this year so we will be able to have lots of yummy desserts and soup.  Hubby cut them up yesterday, took out the innards and placed all the pieces in an our huge electric roast pan.  We let them cook until soft and then I removed the rind.  Today, I got it all pureed, made a double batch of pumpkin butter and froze the rest.  I was also going to make banana bread but didn't have enough flour.

I have been getting outside for a short walk every day (hip is preventing me from going to far) and little Heidi and I are really enjoying the fall smells.  She is very good on a leash and, although she would love to go dashing around, she slows down so I don't hurt myself.  Once in a while I let her run free and she just tears through the leaves with her ears flying in the wind.  Now that she is older, I can trust her to come back when I call.

Today as we were returning home, it started to snow.  It was very light so you could just feel a cold drop occasionally but it felt invigorating.  I must make an appointment to get my snow tires on.

Blessings,

Chubby Birds

 Thank you, Angie, for your kind words.  I appreciate so much the feed back from my readers.

I am back to what passes for normal today.  I slept in well past a decent hour but I was coughing a lot

through the night and then we had a scare around 2 a.m.  I was awoken from the middle of a dream by persistent ringing noise.  At first I thought it was the phone or the alarm on the clock before finally realizing it was the smoke alarm.  Hubby was up as well and was trying to get it to stop while I searched to find the fire or smoke.  There wasn't anything anywhere and the alarm was turned off so, after a final check to make sure stove etc. was off, we went back to bed.  I was still concerned that I might have missed something so I left the bedroom light on and dozed on and off for a bit before turning it off and getting back to sleep.

I can't imagine what it must be like to be woken by that sound and finding a room full of smoke!

I brought my Brussel sprouts in today.  They still aren't very big but we will get a feed or two from them.  Next year, we will start them indoors.  It is so nice out today that hubby and I ate our lunch outside.  There is a warm breeze which feels like Spring. The sky, however, is telling us that either rain or snow is on the way.  We had birds flying all around our head taking turns at the feeders.  They have been particularly voracious this year and some are getting so chubby I am not sure how they fly.

This little guy has claimed the window feeder.

Blessings,

Down the Rabbit Hole

This has been one weird day.  I really do feel as thought I have slipped down Alice's rabbit hole.  I can't even begin to explain clearly everything that happened but it started when I was going to meet a friend in village.  Somehow there was miscommunication by both of us so it didn't happen.  As I still had to go into the village, I contacted a couple of other friends to see if they would like to meet as we had some items to exchange.  We did get to do that but not before confusion as to where we were meeting.  At one point, I was exiting a driving and pulled out right in front of another vehicle.  That is the shortened version of my day.  There was a few more incidences of idiocy before I got myself back home and even one more after that.

Thank goodness, it wasn't my evening to cook because I hate to think what the food would have tasted like.  I am now going to watch some mindless television and hope that my brain catches up with me tomorrow.

Blessings,

 

Top Almost Finished.

 I hope everyone had a great Canadian Thanksgiving.  We went to our neighbour's as they are our social bubble and had a great meal.  I ate more than I should, of course, and was uncomfortable for the rest of the evening.  I love turnip and had a big second helping of that.

Are children planning on going around for Halloween in your area?  They are being advised not to in Ontario but I think it is such a shame.  Children have been deprived of so much this year that it seems to bad that something couldn't be arranged that would be safe.

Another casualty here is the Remembrance Day service.  Ours is going to be limited to Legion members only and just at the Cenotaph.  I have never missed a service since being an adult so this is really bothering me as well.

On a happier note, I have almost finished making the one customer quilt top.  I just have a couple more borders.  Working with panels always seems a little odd to me as, basically, you just keep adding borders.  I do make some pieced ones in addition to the plain strips.  Hope to be able to take a photo and show it to you this week.

I do hope everyone is staying well and adhering to all the suggested safety steps.  If everyone does that, we might be able to celebrate Christmas with family,

blessings,

Rooster Still Missing

 I got my pickled beets made today and another loaf of my sourdough bread.  I think that may be the end of my preserving although I had planned on doing chili sauce.  I supposed I shouldn't say I am finished because hubby just brought all the pumpkins up to the house and they will have to be done.  I usually make some pumpkin butter and then cook and freeze the rest for cooking.  I have a great recipe for pumpkin soup that is my favourite for the winter.

If you have ever had a long break from quilting, you will know what I mean when I say that getting back to it just feels right.  This afternoon I ironed all the fabrics that I recently washed and then set aside the ones that are for my customer quilts.  I have been cutting 4.5 inch squares of two colours for half square triangles.  These are going to be the second border around the panel.  I changed my mind about the colour of the first border and one half of the HST so am not as far along as I might have been.

The sun was still shining today so Heidi and I went for a walk down to our pond and then through the bush.  I have been keeping an eye out of one of our missing chickens in case he is hiding out somewhere rather than having been caught by the fox.  One of the banties came back this morning so that was encouraging.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all,

blessings,

Red Marauder

 Tomorrow I am making my third loaf of sourdough bread.  The last batch turned out well and it is so nice to have a decent slice of bread for sandwiches and toast.  After tomorrows batch, I am going to try some adaptation and see how it works: adding cheese, or raisins, doubling the recipe are some of the things I want to try.

We had another fox incident.  A couple of nights ago we lost 2 chickens to  the red marauder.  Our young rooster has also disappeared but we hope that he is merely hiding somewhere.  This has happened before when the flock gets frightened.  One or more will hunker down somewhere and return a couple of days later.  The banty's usually take to the trees.

We are really hoping the rooster is okay as he is a beautiful bird and we were hoping he would be the start of some new pretty hens.

I was looking through some of my fall photos the other day and came across this one I took in 2012.  Love the contrast between my big burly hubby and tiny dog.

Blessings,

Groundhog Day

 

Sometimes I feel that all I do is repeat what I have already done numerous times. I am not talking about dishes, laundry etc. but those self imposed jobs that life would trundle along just as well if we hadn't done them.  I don't know how many times I have reorganized my quilt room but I am at it once again.  Everything has been piled onto the floor as well as any empty surface.  The beginning of all this was getting another shelving until.  It isn't very big but will hold my fabric overflow, batting pieces and has a drawer for thread.  I always seem to have items that don't go anywhere.  What do with an ancestors unfinished quilt.  I want to finish it and give to my granddaughter but where does it go in the meantime?

This redo is going much fast that other ones so either I am getting better at this or I am more organized.  I hope the latter although I doubt that is the case.  While adding some more finished quilts to the cupboard where I keep them, I notice that I have very little room left.  What do you do with all your quilts?  I do give away some but I have too much money in the bigger ones to do that with all.  I am thinking of making more quilts that take longer to complete.; more complicated patterns, more intricate top stitching.  What is your solution?

Blessings,

Another Reorganization of the Studio

 My quilt studio seems to be in a constant state of reorganization.  I think I mentioned that hubby made me a nice pine stand for my Tupperware and other infrequently used bowls and appliances.  I moved the shelving unit that I had been using into the studio and now am emptying bins and putting fabric on the shelves and thread in the drawer.  The plastic until that was where the shelves now are will be moved to another location where it will continue to hold scraps.  All this will be done tomorrow.

I had planned on doing the garden tomorrow but as it is supposed to rain, I will do indoor work instead.  We are supposed to get another week of really nice weather but I think it is time to get tools, chairs and so on into storage.  I will leave some of the chairs on the deck but the rest need to be put away.

Hubby has been really busy getting the storage shed organized so he has an area to do woodworking.  I am hoping for a birdhouse for Christmas or another feeder.  I know it is early to be thinking about Christmas but it does sneak up on one and I certainly wouldn't want hubby to feel bad about not starting in time.

Speaking of not starting in time: one of the side effects of the covid virus was our local agricultural fair being cancelled.  Every year I am hustling to get my entries submitted before the deadline so last year I set up a schedule so everything would be finished well in advance.  At least the fair was cancelled before I started making everything.  I wonder what next year will bring,

Blessings,

Shopping Stress

 Follower Judy asked if I make my own sourdough starter.  I do, Judy.  I use the same one I had years ago but am doing it with gluten free flour.  I like the recipe that uses potato water as it is easier and doesn't involve as much waste.  My first loaf didn't turn out very well but it may have been because I cooked it in a toaster over instead of the regular one.  I will try again tomorrow.  There is a bit of trial and error when you are gluten free because you never know for sure how the ingredients are going to react or whether the cooking time needs adjusting.

I have started working on my 2 quilts commissioned by a customer.  I had a lot of trouble finding the fabric I needed but I think I have everything now.  Because they both use panels, I am going to be adding different types of borders around them.

I was beat yesterday.  We went grocery shopping late morning and it turned out to not be a good day.  One store was busy and didn't have enough check outs and the other already had a line up when I got there.  I decided to go to a store where I rarely shop.  I got most of the rest of the items there.  I will still have to go to our local store to finish up.  With the renewed covid scare, tourists are coming earlier in the week and staying later again.   This means line ups and empty shelves again.  I wish they would shop before travelling here.

We didn't get home until after one and it took half an hour to get everything put away.  Hubby made us a quick lunch and then we relaxed for the rest of the day.  We were both beat.  Probably from the stress.  In any case, I kept dozing off.  I felt a lot better today and got caught up on my work.  Tomorrow, I am going to stain the shelving unit hubby made and get it put where I want in.  And so ends another week.

Blessings,