Not Totally Idle

I spent a couple of afternoons last week and completed this Miranda Day Bag. I had ordered the kit from Dakota Cabin Quilts a couple of months ago and decided it was time to do some fun sewing rather than "I've got to get this finished" sewing. It has great pockets all around the inside in an additional print. I've got more fabric..from the same order in a turquoise/tan/gold combination so maybe I'll be inspired to do another one. One of the best set of instructions I have ever used. I have managed to complete two wall hanging sized quilt tops - they just need to be quilted and I am contemplating having them done by by a longarm quilter. Sitting hunched over doing machine quilting isn't all that appealing to me and some projects you just want to finish and move on.

Garden Bounty

Our heritage tomatoes are starting to ripen; we just have to beat the birds to them. The plastic owl didn't discourage them last season. Maybe a scarecrow next year.

Hurricane Bill Is Arrving

Following a busy two days getting deck furniture, planters, window boxes and boats all in hopefully secure places (Bruce did a fantastic job fitting so much into the garage), the leading edge of Bill arrived just before 9am. I was hoping to have a bit of a snooze in before I had to take our dog Ollie out, but when I heard the first patter of rain, I was up and out in my foul weather gear. We rescued the morning paper from the foot of the driveway before it was thoroughly soaked. We've got all the necessary precautions made: jugs of drinking water, one full bathtub, a full lantern as well as the old trusty solar/crank radio on hand. People around here really took the warnings seriously and shelves of the essentials at the grocery stores were looking pretty picked over by Friday. Don't think Sandy will make it in to Hfx International this evening. Looking forward to a day of reading a good mystery and working on the NY Times weekend crossword. Maybe a cup of tea of two if the power holds.

Trip To Newfoundland: Gros Morne

Got back late July from one week in Newfoundland. It is spectacular! We started off in Gros Morne National Park for three days. Highly recommend staying in Norris Point but don't miss Java Jacks in Rocky Harbour for coffee in the afternoon or dinner int the evening. We did both. Visited the Saturday morning market at the Lions Club and bought a great variety of jellies from Joe: partridgeberry, squashberry....Sandy tried the mooseburgers at Earl's. Also did a few easy hikes around the park.

July... but not summer.. yet here's our first dill beans

July was a busy month. Our daughter Jill was home from Calgary for a couple of weeks. She was happy to go back to Calgary to dry out and get warmed up; read: cool and wet here. She couldn't do her triathlon swim training off our dock because the cove was full of jelly fish. They're gone now; it's a seasonal thing. The garden began to yield: mesclun lettuce, peas, beans, bok choy and French breakfast radishes. Do the French really eat them for breakfast I wonder? ...

Tea Time

One of my favorite things to work on are tea cozies; at present I'm into crazy patch. Here's one I made for one of my girlfriends. I've had a stash of tea cup fabric for probably five years and have only used it once before. I love the fabric but find it difficult to figure out how to use it in a manner that pleases me. I used fabric scraps from a cradle quilt that I made for my daughter- she's now 29 and some lace scraps leftover from a dress that I made probably about 15 years ago.

Postcards From The Edge

I meet weekly with a group of best friends who are fiber artists ...I call myself a quilter; here's a sample of one of the seven postcards that I completed as a challenge on a theme. My theme was The Sound Of Music.... Thus this one is Girls In White Dresses....

I'm Still Here

Ok, so I haven't done much in this respect in the past year... a diagnosis of a return of cancer after eleven years kind of slows you down once you think you've got your life in order. So much for a life of complete ease. Ha! This is a learning process ofr me... the blog that is so bear with me.