We have really enjoyed beautiful weather this last week which for the beginning of November is such a treat!
Knowing that it won’t last long, I made it a point to use the clothesline and also to bring the winter boots etc in from storage yesterday.
On the quilting side of my life, I currently have a queen sized quilt on the Longarm. I often will work in the morning into the early afternoon and then spend my evenings quilting.
I left off last night with one more row to quilt…
With the temperature in the high teens yesterday (Celsius) and the weather forecast showing that is the last of these temperatures for a long time an outdoor adventure was in order.
I joined Liam and his Mom…my daughter for an adventure at a nearby park.
We have a high of 6C today and rain and snow forecasted for tomorrow.
At the beginning of every month it seems that Erik and I comment to each other how the previous month flew by…
October was no exception! It was a full month of preparing the yard for the upcoming winter while the weather cooperates. We did enjoy nice temperatures for the most part.
Somehow this summer we didn’t get out fishing! So early in October there looked like a promising day and Liam happily agreed to miss an afternoon of school and join us for some fishing! It was a fantastic day and we were rewarded with our limits of pickerel.
Jaxson came by for some driving lessons….
We even had some target shooting visitors!
October was a very busy month in my studio! My Longarm quilting takes precedence which has left little time for personal piecing. When time allows usually at the end of the day I have worked on my crumb blocks…I find it a relaxing way to play and to use up bits of fabric scraps.
Here’s a sneak peek at one of the last of the October customer quilts. It is one of two that will be fun to share after they are picked up.
The only thing that I really don’t like about summer is that it seems to fly by! Somehow August seems to be in an even bigger hurry than July was. This post is a catch up from July.
A customer requested that I pick up a backing for her quilt which I do periodically for my customers. This request gave me the perfect excuse for a day trip to Pass Lake and a visit with Donna Watson who owns Fuelled by Fabric! If you are local and haven’t been to visit and shop in her wonderful quilt shop do yourself the favour!!
There may have been more than just backing fabric that followed me home.
My Dad and Liam joined me for this adventure as I also wanted to go further down the road. We visited the Sleepy G farm and picked up eggs…Liam learned about the honour system of paying.
Also the new Amethyst shop in Pass Lake is beautiful and well worth stopping by for a visit.
Years ago I was invited to spend time with a friend and family at their camp at Silver Islet. Saying that I loved it there would be a huge understatement…if you haven’t been it is so well worth the drive.
Silver Islet has an amazing history and many of the miners cabins still stand along with the store that has been restored and reopened …unfortunately being a Wednesday the store was closed that day but we still found our fun!
Such a fun and interesting day. My Dad used to own a sailboat and like tho sail to Silver Islet and really enjoyed seeing the updates!The fog hid the island, thankfully the picture captured it! A quick google search will take you to more information and amazing pictures by better photographers than I.
Well with a look of the calendar we are a little past mid July…it’s been a full month.
One of the best things about my quilting business is that I can work throughout the day and evenings instead of having to fit life around my job. I am currently working on a king size quilt and have some others to share.
One of the best things in the summer is extra time with Liam…something he and I both agree on. He has spent as much time as he can in the pool and the weather for the most part has worked in his favour. Our pool is solar heated.
He can spend hours swimming and playing in there at times just floating around looking so relaxed!
He loves it when I get in too and we have been working on perfecting our frisbee game.
My Dad’s 85th birthday was this month. Life is good and he has certainly role modelled to his family what a healthy lifestyle can bring to life! Sadly we missed his party that I had planned due to Covid, so we had a second party after taking extra time to be sure we would all be safe.
My Auntie Marie had sent one of her blueberry pies along with my brother when he stopped to visit enroute from Calgary. Dad saved the pie to share with us. It turns out that blueberry pie isn’t only Dads favourite!
Liam has been asking me to teach him to make banana bread this summer…the days have been way too hot to use the oven. That is until yesterday. I haven’t made bread in a really long time and have been meaning to replace my old loaf pans so we made muffins instead.
We watched a YouTube video first which explained the process and then got busy.
He had a hard time waiting for them to cool… and a hard time not snacking on them during the day. At ten and a half his appetite seems to be constant…and he loves that he is almost as tall as I am.
It rained much of the day yesterday, but we did manage to get out for a walk together. I usually walk first thing in the morning in the summer while the guys sleep. Today is looking promising for both my morning walk and Liam’s pool time.
This mornings view from the picture window! There is still some snow on the ground most of it in the yard is what remains from plowing…aka snow mountains. The grass is turning green and there is that slight tinge of green leaves on the poplars. Spring seems to finally be here.
Erik and I walked the back paths to our pond yesterday, it is huge! Between the heavy rains this week and the snow melting and the ground still being frozen….
Our sump pump has been on constant duty for the last couple of weeks.
The robins have been busy rebuilding their nest under our deck…it’s always so much fun watching their process and can usually see the babies from the pool…. Summer is coming! Erik has taken advantage of our well being too high and has the pool almost filled!
We were also able to dine on the deck this week and Liam was more than happy to join us!
My morning view from the picture window is looking more promising that spring is on its way!
This has been an extremely long winter, with more snow this spring than anyone can recall. We have had warmer weather which has meant full time work for the sump pump and careful monitoring of basements!
This weekend we took Liam to check out a close by river which is usually very low and easy to walk over as it leads to a swimming hole.
We had meant to get ice cream cones but we weren’t able to get what we wanted so Liam and Erik ended up with Shakes. These two guys share a true love of ice cream!
My Dad and Katie held a Mother’s Day brunch yesterday. Katie is not only creative with paint but also with food. Her crepes were such a treat mixing both sweet and savoury including one of my Dads specialties of smoked tenderloin!
Liam was so excited to have extra special gifts for his Mom.
We also had a good visit with Eriks Mom, she was thrilled that her gift from us was that Erik replaced her clothesline that had been struck down by a tree during one of our spring storms. Hanging laundry on the line is something she and I both love to do. She also had visits with all of her children.
Another Mother’s Day without my Mom. She really did love family and get togethers, her granddaughters and great grands were near and dear to her heart. Family is not always easy and as the years pass it teaches me as a Mother many things.
This was recently shared with me and in this season speaks loudly.
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children. And he said: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
In previous posts I have shared some of the creativity in my family. Today I am sharing another family member who inspires me in so many ways!
My youngest daughter has always been creative as a child she would often ask for crafting supplies as treats and her bedroom at times reminded me of the book Jillian Jiggs and for the most part that was fine with me. I understood…I also didn’t ever want to diminish her joy of creativity!
Of course she has grown up and went to school and married and has a career that she really enjoys….still the art needs to be released from creative people!
She has sold many of her pieces and her art is displayed in local businesses.
My love of sewing began as a small child, my mother sewed and her machine was never put away as I recall. I loved to play with fabric!
We had a neighbour at one time who made Raggety Ann dolls and Barbie doll clothes and oh did I love that woman’s sewing room. So full of colour and fun! I remember receiving one of her dolls…I also loved that doll until she was threadbare. That revealed the stuffing…pantyhose!
A family trip to visit my Aunty Mary in Kamloops in that same era of my life holds a strong memory of a bag of scrap fabrics that she gave me to play with! (My Aunty Mary is my Dads sister)
I have been fortunate to have so many people who are creative in my life. My Aunty Mary is a weaver and her work is so beautiful, if I wasn’t a quilter…I would want to be a weaver!
One of Aunty Mary’s looms and a towel in progress.
My Aunt also hooks rugs and shared this on her Facebook page in thinking of those in Ukraine.
I read a blog this morning whose writer hadn’t written these last two years…they have been challenging years and the latest development in the world is as she called it such a sucker punch! I know for myself as the horrible news of what is happening in Ukraine began to unfold it was hard to feel safe, hopeful and creative without feeling guilty. I still feel at a loss, my creativity has always been a refuge from life’s storms and I am still so thankful for it.
January has always felt like a long slow month to me, the weather is usually the coldest we get and it’s typically the quietest month.
It’s been a fun month of quilting both for customers as well as relaxed piecing for myself. I have the backing for my Sunny quilt and a quilting plan…
This quilt that Florence made is so pretty and called for more blossoms.
The backing is a solid Kona in black. I chose to use a silver thread which really popped against the back, however I was unable to capture a good picture of it. So unless you happen to see the quilt live, you will have to take my word for it. The stitches were so pretty!
We spent yesterday, the last Friday of this January with three of our grandchildren. It was a fun filled and very busy day! Snow play and snowmobiling, fort building.
My personal favourite was when Grayson (5yrs) asked what my sewing machine and serger were for so I let him try them…later he said he wished that he lived here…I asked why and he said it was because I have sewing machines!!! He was so excited to show his Dad his new skills when he picked him up!
Another anniversary has just passed over the New Year of my APQS Millennium’s arrival December 31, 2004. I began Longarm quilting for others a few months later and continue to love and grow in this wonderful business.
After allowing myself a little down time and time to quilt one for myself, my machine is back to work…of course that means that I am as well.
Just a peek
And another peek
We had scheduled a fun day for Liam and two more grands before Christmas which had to be cancelled due to the gastro crud…so this week we had a redo… the epic nerf gun war, sledding and snowmobiling were in order and lots of fun and laughter!
Erik preparing the sliding hill also known as the snow mountain as the kids call it. This year the addition of the back hoe has helped to grow it.The biggest kid!
Of course the big winter highlight is when Pappa gets out the snowmobiles. Liam has mastered his driving skills and loves to ride our trails.
Another highlight around here this winter has been the addition of the jumbo lego blocks…they have provided hours of fun! Liam has returned to virtual learning this week and really enjoys his forts for when he is off school.
