Life has been busy. Summer seemed to whiz by and sewing and blogging both fell to the wayside.
We had a fabulous sailing trip…
Mama moose had a new set of calves…
DD # 2 got married…
We had tons of company…
We got to spend time with our new granddaughter…
The garden was productive…. and we had a successful moose hunt…
I’m back in the swing of sewing now and I’ll be back to show you some of my projects that are lined up for the winter.
Janet
Kathryn from Blue Heron Quilts has nominated me for a Leibster award.
Never mind that I don’t really qualify for a Liebster Award because you’re supposed to have less than 200 followers, and much to my amazement I have more than that…. But I’m going to accept it anyway, because it’s fun and I like being introspective about myself.
The rules:
1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you
3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate
4. Choose 11 blogs with less than 200 followers and link them in your post.
ELEVEN RANDOM THINGS:
Random eh….
1. It was my 35th anniversary last week and is my 60th birthday next week. We had a nice middle of the celebrations party with some friends. My three daughters were all there…
DD # 1 gave us 35 memories. Things like:
“Do you remember that we kept a butcher knife on the wall of the tent above the beds so we could get out if there was a fire?”
“Do you remember that you made me walk home from school for lunch? Laina remembers one time that I was late getting home. I arrived to announce proudly, and had to show you the tracks to prove it, that I had walked all the way home backwards.”
DD # 2 came home from Newfoundland for a five day visit. So nice to see her.
And DD # 3 made me a wheat free birthday cake – hazelnut and Frangelico flavoured. It was delicious.
2. When I did college upgrading to complete the high school that I never finished I got 100% in my physics class.
3. I am an introvert.
4. Housework is low on my priority list.
5. I love winter. Here I am just returning from a 45 minute snowshoe at –28 C (-18 F).
6. I’ve travelled in most of north and south America, but have only been overseas once, to Germany.
7. My triple great grandfather (I think) was from Austria.
8. I have worn my hair long since I was about 10 years old.
9. I seldom wear dresses.
10. I am fascinated by cop and whodunit shows and stories, real or imagined. In another life I would like to be a police detective who works on a huge murder investigation.
11. My honeymoon, 35 years ago in January, was at a small cabin in the bush.
ELEVEN QUESTIONS FOR MY NOMINEES:
1. Favorite author(s):
This is difficult. I have different authors that I love and read everything of and then I move on. Some I remember are: Mary Stewart (the Crystal Cave etc.), Mordecai Richler (stories of life in Montreal and rural Quebec), Margaret Laurence (I read all her books), John Krakauer (such interesting books about the outdoors). And here is one author who wrote fascinating books on many different subjects – Robert Harris. I have read all his books. My favourite was Pompei, but the others all kept me riveted.
On this note, I have read three books this month.
Dead Cold by Louise Penny. This is a light mystery story but I enjoyed it because it is set in the cantons de l’est of Quebec, where I spent much of my youth, in a town that I saw often on Christmas cards. Lots of snow, children sledding, carollers on the street, horse drawn sleds crossing bridges over the river and a beautiful tree trimmed in the town centre.
Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast by Bill Richardson. He could actually go on my list of favourites. This book is about a fictional B&B run by twin brothers in an unnamed town on Vancouver Island. Mr. Richardson has a vivid imagination and writes very intelligently, while making you laugh.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffe and Annie Barrow. At first I wasn’t sure about this book as it is written all in letters, but it didn’t take long for me to be hooked. If you like anything by the Bronte sisters you will like this book. Very rich and interesting.
2. If you won the lottery, the first thing you would do: Try and persuade my husband to be happy – he would not like to be a rich man. Then I would start to give the money away…
3. Share a childhood memory: Lying on the grass on the front lawn looking at the sky, the clouds going by, and feeling the world turning underneath me.
4. Live concert you would like to attend: I like small concerts. I’m taking my granddaughter to a house concert this week; Don’t they look young!
5. Dream vacation: I have two places on my bucket list – Ireland and North Carolina.
6. Where would you like to live: If not where I am then on Canada’s east coast – in Newfoundland or Nova Scotia.
7. Favorite pet: I love animals. I love my dog, Zeke. I have had cats most of my life and love them but developed an allergy late in life…
8. Favorite ice cream: Pralines and cream. But I’m lactose intolerant so only eat ice cream on very special occasions.
9. What famous person/fictional character would you like to get to know? I used to love Joan Baez, then I read her autobiography and discovered she is – or was – very narcissistic. It put me off of celebrities. I would love to meet Dolly Parton though. She seems to be quite genuine.
10. What would you like your autobiographer to say about you? That I was witty, intelligent, kind and generous. But they would have to make a lot of that up.
11. What was your first car? I won a Metropolitan Nash convertible when I was five. My Dad was in the Lions Club and they had a raffle. He bought a bunch of tickets for 25 cents each, and put the family members names on them. We got to go to the ice cream place where I was given the prize and we all got to have ice cream. A rare treat when I was young. I gave the car to my mother for her birthday which was a week or so away. She had it until I was about fourteen, then sold it. I never got to drive it. I don’t remember it looking like this – more like a Volkswagon – but it was yellow and white.
Now I am supposed to nominate 11 blogs….
Evalina Maria from This and That
Dahn from the Wilderness City Quilter
Lynne from Never too Hot to Stitch
Diane from The Cheshire Quilter
Jean from All Points of the Compass
Janet
Here is my photo an hour post for Friday, July 27th.
7:30 a.m. I’m ready to leave for work, but have to say good morning to my greenhouse and garden before I go. I say hi every morning, when I get home and before I go to bed. This morning there is a zucchini flower waiting for fertilization.
8:30 a.m. Arriving at work. I just got an underground parking space at the law courts – spaces are allotted twice a year by draw, but I’m luckier at blog giveaways than I am in the parking draw, so this is a real treat. However, my access code isn’t working, so the first order of business is to go over and speak to the security guard about getting it fixed.
9:30 a.m. Back at work – I work in a building across the street from the one above. I spend a lot of my day on the computer. Have to check e-mails and file them. When you work for government everything has to be saved.
10:30 a.m. Time for a break and to move my car over to the garage now that my access is fixed. This day can’t decide if it is going to be sunny or rainy.
11:30 a.m. Still working at the computer, but I’ll give you a different view of my office. This is my window; it’s great to have a view. That building you see is a restaurant and wonderful smells waft up from it all morning as they prepare for the lunch crowd. On the other side of it is a park where there is live music every weekday lunch hour during the summer. It usually starts around 11:30 and goes to 1:30 and I can listen while I’m smelling the good smells.
12:30 p.m. It’s still sunny so I’m eating my lunch by the river. Someone is in there swimming – it must be a warm day!
1:30 p.m. Here’s another view in my office. I’m in my 19th year working with the department of Justice and although I’ve had seven office moves in that time, I continue to keep my little collection of familiar things that make my office mine.
2:30 p.m. Well the rain finally arrived…
3:30 p.m. Going down the hall to speak to someone. We have these locked doors throughout our building. After all this is where senior Justice officials work; they need their security. I’m being facetious – I think it’s ridiculous.
4:30 p.m. Ahhh… work is done and I’m off now for nine days!
5:30 p.m. Grocery shopping is done and I’m waiting at my friend’s house for her to arrive. We’re supposed to be going for a walk, but she is notoriously late coming home from work and I’m so tired I don’t think I can wait.
6:30 p.m. On the road for home; my friend didn’t arrive and I had to leave. Here is my favourite mountain, welcoming me back to my little town.
7:30 p.m. I’ve put away the groceries and been to the library to find some books for the next week. Next order of business is some attention to the garden. The flowers want some water.
8:30 p.m. There is a Delissio pizza in the oven. DH isn’t home yet but I’m hungry. Talking to DD # 3 on the phone while the pizza cooks.
9:30 p.m. Taking the dog for a walk. But where is the dog? Well I lost him. He is a most loyal dog and although he explores in the bush he always re-joins me after a few minutes. But tonight he disappeared. He was at home when I got there…
10:30 p.m. Checking e-mails and sending some replies, then I’m off to bed.
Hope you enjoyed travelling through my day with me. Can you see why I never have any time to sew?
Janet
It’s TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long) day for March. I forgot to post my TUSAL collection in February, so my vase is very full - but also very pretty.
I’m mixing TUSAL up with TAG this month. Earlier today I was “tagged” by Sheila and I cannot remain “it” but must pass it on. The way this game works is that you answer eleven questions, then you get to tag someone else. Here are my answers to the questions from Sheila….
1. Why did you start blogging?
Why did I start blogging…. My friend whose quilting I admire, was a blogger and she was involved in interesting on-line swaps. I wanted to participate. I found a swap I wanted to enter that required you to have a blog. Since I have always enjoyed keeping a journal, this seemed like a natural way to continue doing that, and with pictures too.
2.How long have you been quilting?
I have been interested in quilting since I was young. When I was in my mid-twenties I started a quilt. Hand sewn, solid fabrics, green, appliqued blocks. I had made quite a few of them, when just after we were married DH and I lost everything in a fire. I didn’t quilt again until about eight years ago, when I started to make baby quilts for my DD’s friends who were having babies.
3. What project have you made that you are most proud of ?
Every one of them… I’m not fast, so my production isn’t huge and my quilts take a while to complete. All that labour, I can’t help but love them. But the quilt I made for DD # 2 is in my home and I get to look at it when I want and enjoy the beauty of it. So I’ll pick that one.
4. What country other have you visited and when ?
When I was 23 I spent almost a year travelling with my then boyfriend. We drove from Toronto down through the US to Arizona. Then we travelled south, by bus, train and sometimes plane, through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. At that point we’d had enough and we turned around and headed north again. Besides that I’ve been to Cuba when I was 24 and Europe once about fourteen years ago. Principally we went to Germany but DD # 2 and I did take a bus excursion one day that took us into Switzerland and France. I have visited the USA many times over the years as well.
5. What is your favorite color and why?
Gosh. I love yellow and usually say it is my favourite, because it is so bright and cheery. However I love to wear red and love to use it in quilts. I probably have more blue fabric than any other colour, so I must have some attraction to that as well. I just realized these are the three primary colours. I wonder what that says about me….
6. Are you an animal lover and if so what is your favorite animal ?
Absolutely an animal lover! I love to see wild animals; it touches my soul when I do. I saw two wolves yesterday when coming home from work – they are not animals who usually hang around the road.
I love cats and dogs the most as pets. I have always had a cat, until I started wheezing around them about ten years ago. I grew up terrified of dogs after being bitten as a child, but I’ve gotten over that and I have a little dog curled up beside me right now. Once we babysat a rabbit for a year, and he was lots of fun, but he hadn’t been house trained very well, which didn’t endear rabbit keeping to me.
7. Other than sewing / quilting what other craft do you love ?
I’ve tried so many things over the year and love them all: spinning and weaving, pottery, beading, knitting, paper tole, stained glass, cross stitch, embroidery. Quilting and other sewing are my favourites for sure though.
8. What is your favorite all time book ?
9. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you most like to visit?
Ireland – the land of faeries and pixies draws me. I would also like to visit North Carolina and wander among the coastal islands. And Australia….
10. What is your favorite comfort food ?
Bread. I love bread, but it doesn’t love me quite so much. It gives me heartburn and I always fell much happier and healthier when I eschew bread.
11. Who influenced you most in your life?
Ahem… When I was a teenager I struggled with life and got into lots of things that could have ended disastrously. I had a probation officer when I was sixteen and seventeen and she was a huge influence on me. She was the first adult I knew who treated me like I was capable of being a success. So thanks Susan. The time you spent with me paid off.
I’m not going to TAG anyone specifically, but offer the tag to anyone of you who would like to answer these questions… Please let me know if you do so I make sure I stop by and get to know you better.
Janet
