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December 20, 2023
3 batches............. from Exuberant Color


Yesterday morning I cut 3 more  pieces from one more fabric for the 6" finished squares and took a daylight photo from my computer chair.  It is looking better with more of the dark squares removed.











I made 2 batches of Chex mix in the afternoon and in the evening my first batch of spritz.  Now I need to make the chocolate ones.



I had some questions yesterday about the Hamilton Beach cookie press I showed on my post.  I also have 2 parts to a Proctor-Silex cookie press with extras in the second box.  I'm not sure which ...

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December 19, 2023
Busy day............. from Exuberant Color


Yesterday started with cleaning up from baking the night before.  Then I had to get the last supplies I needed for the treats that I make for family.  It was 28 degrees with a 30 mph wind when I left for the stores.



When I got home my mail was there.  I was so excited to get a Christmas postcard from Vicki Welsh.






I was surprised there was no postmark.  I think these have to be hand cancelled so my card was missed.






Here is the whole collection of the postcards.














I only got one treat baked, one of my ...

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December 11, 2023
Canadian December, Christmas Patchwork Diamond Quilt Begun from Canadian Needle Nana

It's looking a lot like Christmas here and the kids got a snow day last Monday. We've broken a former record for how many hours straight it had been snowing -59. And it does feel like it has been snowing for days, just lightly but no sun. Our world is a post card like black and white winter one. Ned loves sniffing all the obvious tracks that now we can name as the usual visitors...squirrel, turkey, bird, fox, etc. 
The trees in the front area of the house are huge. See 6ft 4in Tony with Ned?

I ...

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December 4, 2023
Quilting two........... from Exuberant Color


I knew it wouldn't take long to quilt a 39" square quilt so I started with this one.






Since it took such a short time I loaded the other flannel baby quilt which is 40" square after I unpinned the first one.  I was able to use the same colors of thread top and bottom so that was a plus.



I got both of them trimmed and binding will be today, all by machine on both of these.






Yesterday morning I noticed my neighbor's kitty sitting on the tree stump just over the lot line.  I know he ...

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November 25, 2023
Most Popular Thanksgiving Recipe, Christmas Coins, Free Pattern from Canadian Needle Nana

Playing nicely together at the feeder...

 Somebody much younger than I am said recently she felt like each week is now just a couple of days. Time moving faster- I wonder, can it really. I know for sure there's no such thing as time heavy on our hands like the old folks would complain about back in the day. Is it because of all the gadgets we have, those to play with and those that make work easier, I wonder.  
 That last bit came to me this week as I mopped the floors using my Nellie which basically does ...

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November 20, 2023
Three Meals-One Ham, Granny Stripe Afghan and Applique Needlebook from Canadian Needle Nana

 Hello again, we are finishing off another busy week. I like to take care of maintenance things- for the car, the house and us, before winter sets in and weather and driving becomes an issue. We both were out of the house every day which seems to make the time fly by extra fast. It always feels good to have checkups behind us.

As a result of all that I didn't get in any daytime stitching, but my nights are still my stitching in front of the tv time.

A few more rows have been crocheted onto my Granny ...

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November 14, 2023
Redwork, Christmas Coins Quilting, Videos from Canadian Needle Nana

 For my American friends who are thinking about their Great American Thanksgiving...having a very long neck is very useful.

Speaking of which, I enjoy watching Becky at her Acre Homestead YouTube site. She cooks amazing and easy meals and her Thanksgiving videos, in particular, are wonderful. Here she is with her Mom preparing an incredible Thanksgiving feast. 
Though a project kind of on the side, I've stitched another of Mom's Redwork blocks. This is the provincial flower of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Pitcher Plant. It grows in bogs or fens and the most interesting thing about it ...

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November 10, 2023
Travel from Becca's Crazy Projects

Last weekend we traveled to Morristown, NJ, to participate in Metatopia 2023. We played new games with new friends, attended seminars about machine learning systems and listened to the flesh and bone artists this technology aims to put out of business. 
There was also so much food. We went to Pierogies House for dinner.
I walked in the nearby park. 
We had more delicious food. The chicken sliders - with house-made chips - were a fun lunchtime treat from The Horseshoe Tavern.
And more walking in the park. 

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November 1, 2023
Six Things to Love from Canadian Needle Nana

Six Thursday Things to Love

Finding beauty in Mother Nature's autumn palette
Getting a Special Request
 Recently I was asked by fabric and thread artist, Gwyned Trefethen, if she could use a photo of my Red Squirrel in her art work. Of course I was flattered and more than happy for her to do that. Check out her post HERE where she is bringing Red Squirrel to life with thread and fabric. Amazing!
I'm in awe of folks who can do these kind of art works. Like Mary Anne at Magpie's Mumblings with her beautiful landscape pictorial ...

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October 28, 2023
Baking, pressing, searching....... from Exuberant Color

My treats for today and tomorrow

I like my sweets and want some in the freezer to pull out when I have a craving.  I don't like to have the whole batch though so when there is someone to bake for, I bake the things that I want and hope the recipient will like them.  I visited my granddaughter yesterday and took some of it to her.  The little great-grandson is 2 weeks old now and he and his brother slept through my visit.


I pressed the Bear Paw quilt top and got it up on the design wall ...

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October 19, 2023
It was an outside day............. from Exuberant Color


There haven't been too many perfect days to work outside in the last month.  It was either close to 90 or in the 50s.  Yesterday was perfect so I did over 3 hours of digging and planting and finally pulling weeds.  Also I finished the mowing in the side and back yards.

I dug out 2 big Hostas in the front garden, ones that got too much sun and didn't look great for half of the summer.  I pulled off a few sections from one of them and then planted the 2 big plants in pots for the ...

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October 13, 2023
Canadian Thanksgiving Food, Easy Hexagon Table Runner from Canadian Needle Nana

Welcome to another post where I share more of the tiny bits that make up my days.

 I was delighted to capture these two juvenile robins taking a bath...perhaps their very  first, in our little pond. First week in October


It was our Canadian Thanksgiving on October 9 and we had the family here for the large meal. All my pots got used at some point in the process. I cooked a turkey, of course, and made mashed potatoes, oven baked sweet potato slices. buttered cabbage, mashed turnip with a little butter and brown sugar, and carrots. Standard Thanksgiving ...

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October 8, 2023
Thrift Store Quilt, Monthly Goals, October Plum Crisp from Canadian Needle Nana

I took this photo of Tony and Ned walking one of the 4 marvelous public walking trails within a few minutes of the house. This is the one where Beth walks Petey and Abbey. We wondered if Ned could smell them. Don't know about his legs, but his nose certainly got a workout!

Speaking of Abbey and Petey, here is a cute brief video Beth took of them. They are definitely lovable Labs.
 This strange orange glowing dessert below is my Plum Crisp in the oven light.  I'd bought a basket of small plums and they were bitter- ...

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October 1, 2023
Easy Hexagon Runner, Free Patterns, Redwork Stitching from Canadian Needle Nana

Yes, it is starting. I'm wearing gloves on my early morning walks these days. Staying cool but sunny which makes it wonderful fall weather. Here is a little roundup of tiny but wonderful things I enjoyed this week.

Baker Beth gave us these wonderful blueberry muffins and extra chocolatey cookies. A great treat!
I didn't share Robbie's back to school photo before but here he is now soon to be 10! He's tall for his age.
And he gave me this...worms he caught for my compost bin. I told him they will live a very ...

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September 26, 2023
Starbucks Treat, Teresa's Video, QAYG Autumn Tablerunner from Canadian Needle Nana

 No sign of a groundhog in about a month now. Also my hummingbirds have disappeared. Yesterday, the geese flew overhead with their familiar wild honking. I never tire of watching their beautiful v's cross the sky. 

LeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's new prompt has to do with our favourite spices. Recently I was here, a rare spot for me to be.

I ordered something completely new to me (well, everything in there is new to me really)...the Apple Crisp Oat Macchiato with cinnamon, a spice I like but just a little of. Anyway, it was delicious ...

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September 8, 2023
Easy Hexagon Quilt Beginnings, Other Enjoyments from Canadian Needle Nana

 While Tony had put in his order for beans on toast, sausage on the side, I really didn't know what I wanted. I'm the cook of course, so I could get myself the same or anything if it's here in the fridge/cupboard to be found. But nothing was appealing to me and staring into the fridge didn't help. Does that ever happen to you? In the end I made a large cup of tea and had a bowl of yogurt and fruit with a slice of marmalade sourdough toast. I know...a bit boring mainly ...

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September 4, 2023
Autumn Blooms, Hand Quilting, Dogs in Our Pond from Canadian Needle Nana

 Our summer is surely leading to autumn. Don't need the weather people to tell us...it is cool each morning and there is a certain slant to the light. The angle is different and the sunlight itself is glittery but like it is filtered through the trees first. And of course, it is darkening earlier in the evening..."closing in" as my grandparents would say.  I love autumn too so it's all good.

The Ligularia, such a wonderful perennial, is blooming now in late summer. The very large deep yellow blooms open up as the rest of the ...

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September 2, 2023
Hand Quilting, Flowers, Favourite Snack from Canadian Needle Nana

Walking through the garden this morning, I noted the beautiful Japanese Anemones were alive with bees. My header photo features just that. Someone before me loved these perennials as there are four healthy patches of them here. 

Below is a weed, maybe Fireweed, not sure exactly what, but I do admire the intense pinks lining the pond path. This has tufted tops. 
Here is a close up of Purple Loosestrife which is in a small meadow directly behind the house. It is invasive but has not spread here at all, just a few sprigs here and there each summer. 
Early ...

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August 27, 2023
Two More Thrift Finds, Redwork, Free Patterns from Canadian Needle Nana

 Old and still beautiful Day Lily and very young Maple tree...

There's a reason cups of tea/coffee are often shown with a backdrop of a cozy quilt/stitching in hoop or/yarn and hook, etc. Our comforts for mind and body are important to us. I honestly don't know what I would do without mine. I also love reading about yours as I think you all know by now.

As you know I also love nothing better than a good poke about in a flea market/thrift store where I challenge myself to see what I can ...

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August 26, 2023
Book Club Quilting, Quiltmania #156, Price Shock from Canadian Needle Nana

 Early afternoon here and Tony has his tea and biscuit snack. I have to tell you about these biscuits that he likes so much. I was in a dollar store recently looking for dog throw balls and saw these biscuits...several shelves of all the different kinds. And they were a whole dollar cheaper than at the grocery store!

 I don't know how this works...wouldn't the regular grocery store get them at the same wholesale price as a dollar store outlet?  You know where I'll be buying these from now on! 

Happy mail...my Quiltmania magazine ...

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