It seems to be all about the weather here in the winter months. Saturday,when I went out with the dogs, the temperature was this with a wind chill of -34C.
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Hello friends and happy Tuesday
If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, or if you follow me on Instagram, you know just how much I love English Paper Piecing. This quilt is called 1797 Revisited and is my first finish for 2026. It was a quilt along that went around the internet in 2019 (I think). This quilt is based on a quilt in the V & A Museum and is made up of 60 degree diamonds that are “snipped” on each end.
I just finished binding this quilt a few days ago. I had Back Door Quilts ...
Hello friends and happy Tuesday
If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, or if you follow me on Instagram, you know just how much I love English Paper Piecing. This quilt is called 1797 Revisited and is my first finish for 2026. It was a quilt along that went around the internet in 2019 (I think). This quilt is based on a quilt in the V & A Museum and is made up of 60 degree diamonds that are “snipped” on each end.
I just finished binding this quilt a few days ago. I had Back Door Quilts ...
I've been really busy. Well, what seems to be busy for us. Daily chores and lots of shovelling too. There for a few days it kept snowing every day, all day. We ran the snowmobile over the trails to flatten them for our walks. I've been taking the dogs down to our frozen pond for playing ball and they've been loving that. I get to do my little run about as well, safely, on a flat snow covered surface for now. The weather will change it soon enough. Update, it has. Milder temperatures and pouring rain for ...
read moreThe lone rabbit is still hanging around. I glanced out the kitchen window and ears caught my eye amongst the old vegetation.
Well, it's November, a harder month it seems and more than a few steps closer to winter here in Ontario. We had a week of heavy rain which I think the earth needed but there were driving winds with it and so cold. It's freezing overnight regularly now here in the Ottawa valley.
But I'm very thankful those rains have restored our little pond. It is very muddy looking from all the downpours. It will be interesting next spring if I hear the sound of peepers and frogs, etc. because we keep wondering where did they go ...
read moreHere is officially the very last wild rose of 2025 and what a strong little beauty it is.
Walking the dogs just out the basement door and starting on the nearest trail, I spied something amongst the big old oak trees. So here is another of my Can you see it? photos.
Maybe now?
What a beauty! I loved seeing this Barred Owl. I especially liked seeing how those feathers ring the neck and the tree trunks provided a natural frame.It had been rainy but we seem to be back into a dry spell with no rain in the foreseeable future. Very cool overnights. Day times it's been changeable- I think that's the word to describe the weather- one minute dark and cloudy and the next a little sunshine. There have been two frost warnings so far with one night recording 0.6 C so the season is easing in. A pretty sign of such is the fall Aster like flowers are in bloom. What a pretty shade of lavender.

These three 8″ x 8″ bears are great for incorporating into a child’s quilt, a table runner, or used as a repeat for a larger project. The three are all different patterns emphasizing the different head shapes that make these bears distinctive. They are meant to be pieced using the folded Freezer paper technique, but other methods work well too. The patterns are simple enough to be weekend.
The pattern comes as a PDF download for you to print, small enough to print on one sheet of paper. Click here for the $8.92 pattern. You can pay with ...
read moreI got up at 6 this morning and went right out in the garden by myself which has so many rewards. (But left two pouting dogs to do so.) Instead I had my shears with me on this walkabout and did a little snipping here and there. I disturbed three turkeys who I think must have overnighted somewhere nearby. I sat by the pond and reminded my body how important it is to relax. It is hard for me to sit and do nothing...by the pond like that early morning is the closest I can come. But even then ...
read moreHalfway through the year now and past the halfway point of June. I wonder where are all those hours we were promised for retirement...when time on your hands would hang heavy- an expression first recorded in 1760, btw.-I was curious enough to look up that expression. But no, though my days begin early there is still not enough hours to get everything done. I struggle not to have the feeling I'm getting behind. Behind what exactly is a bit of a mystery. But there is always something that needs doing and mostly, I'm thankful to be ...
read moreWell, it's June and someone should tell the weather that. We had an overnight frost warning one night last week and someone told me there were snowflakes in the air one afternoon. I didn't see that, perhaps because of all the rain pouring down in spits and starts around us here at the wooden house. And it's been cold, single digits most of last week climbing into double by day's end. This week it's been climbing higher and yesterday we had a hint of humidity- so maybe the sputtering start is about to end.
But ...
read moreA piece of my plant broke and I stuck it in this little single sprig bird vase.
We have a Phoebe nest on the abandoned sound box on the back of the house and a robin's nest on the front veranda. I tried to discourage the robin because, years ago, the last to nest there came to a sad end. But my banging about out there didn't work. How I wish she had chosen the light on the wall just opposite her. Last year's robin family did quite well there.
This was a good week for me and here are some of the things that made it so.
#1This bird below is another first ...
read moreThe birdsong alone is worth a very early morning start to the day. A switch has been turned and it's like cue the sun, the birds, and all the growing things too. Here Ned is amazed by the sprouting leaves that have appeared seemingly overnight.
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| Note the fallen trees and branches; ice storms are very hard on old trees. |
I promised a few photos of my weekend away to downtown Ottawa which according to Google maps is a 41 minute drive from here. It was exciting to be in a city but I had mixed emotions about what I saw there. A lot more folks suffering around the streets and we were warned about not walking at night in an area that had always been an interesting/wonderful place to stroll and explore. But on the upside the Chateau is still so beautiful- I love it there. This is the view from our window looking towards Parliament Hill.
And ...
read moreThe Phoebes are building a nest on the old speaker at the back of the house again this year...two in a row. I can watch them from my chair in the TV room window. The two of them spent ages flying back and forth from a nearby tree to the site thoroughly checking it out before giving it an okay it seems.
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