52 Week Photo Challenge - Ice Cream

It is a good thing that I am attempting to keep up with this photo challenge, otherwise you may not have heard from me for a couple of months!  I certainly have done very little sewing lately.  Ah well, the busyness will slow down sometime soon and I have lots of sewing adventures lined up for April!

The word this week is ice cream.  Being lactose intolerant, I have a love/hate relationship with ice cream.  I love how it tastes, but not how it makes me feel after the taste sensation is over.  However, about a year ago I discovered coconut milk based ice cream.  It is almost as good as the real thing.  The texture is a bit more akin to a sherbet, but the flavours are delish!

Here is one of my favourite flavours, Cherry Amaretto made by So Delicious.  YUMMY!

What flavour do you love the most?

Please check out Shaz' blog to see how others interpreted the word of the week.

Janet 

52 Week Photo Challenge - Heat

Hello fans and visitors,

I seem to have missed a week in the photo challenge...  Life is moving at a very fast pace right now!

Well, the word for this week is "heat" and I have an easy subject for my photo.

Next to the sun, this is my favourite heat source.  Of course we aren't using it these days because the insurance company won't let us - too old and not certified to today's standards, they say.  It is a darn good stove though and kept us warm for more than twenty years.  I can't remember how the circles on the side came about.  I think one of the kids pressed a frisbee or something similarly circular against it when it was hot.  Now it hold my aloe plant (sad looking little dumpling), the egg shells that I grind prior to throwing them in the compost, and the dog's toys.  Oh, and the copper kettle that was a gift from my aunt and uncle, both deceased.  

I think I need to do some dusting.... 

Please check out the other photos of "heat" on Shaz' blog.

Janet 

Week 3 of 52 Week Photo Challenge

The word for this week was "yoga".  I had big plans for this word but my yoga practice should have cued me in that I shouldn't make so many plans.  So here is my simple yoga photo - my home yoga studio.

Here you see my pink yoga mat, my blanket - for putting under my knees when they start to hurt from too much kneeling on them, my block (a dictionary works quite well), and my yoga instructor.  

If you are looking for an on-line yoga instructor, check out Adriene at Yoga with Adriene.  She is lovely and has the perfect balance for me of hard work and fun in her videos.  And most of them are free.  

Please check out Alshas Space blog to see what other photogs found to depict "yoga".

Janet 

Photo Challenge Week 2 - Bread

Hi there everyone and happy Sunday!  Well it is Sunday here anyway and a glorious, sunny, warm Sunday it is.  I hear it is - 40 in Ontario and there was a big blizzard going on in Newfoundland when I talked to my daughter yesterday.  Not here!  -2 and sunny and there were fantastic northern lights last night!

The word for this week in Shaz' photo challenge was bread.  I wasn't too sure how I was going to get a photo of bread as we aren't eating bread right now and we don't have any in the house.  And I forgot all about taking a photo during the week when I was in town and could have gone to a store and taken a photo.

So this morning I had to go to a short meeting at some friends (well really closer to acquaintances than friends) about the art and craft show that we are organizing next Sunday in my little town and I took my camera along just in case they had a loaf of bread fresh out of the oven, or sliced on a cutting board that I could nab a picture of.  Well they did have a loaf of bread, and it looked homemade and yummy, but it was in a plastic bag in a breadbox on the counter.  So I asked if they would mind if I took it out of the bag and took a photo of it.  They looked at me like I was a little nuts and asked me why....  But once I explained they were very cooperative and even told me about how the bread is made and said they would send me the recipe.

So, here is bread, made by my friend Rob.

Be sure to check out the other bread photos over on Shaz' blog.

Janet 

52 week photo challenge

The word for this (last) week is fan.  This is the fan in my greenhouse that blows the air around and keeps the plants from overheating.  Even though it isn’t that hot here it can get really hot in the greenhouse during the day – like 42 C.

I can tell it was hot this day as I had the window open.  You can see I have lots of weeds in my greenhouse.  They grow like crazy in the heat.  And I don’t mind them as long as they stay out of my plant beds.  Isn’t it cool how you can see the fan is going around.

Janet

52 week photo challenge–let’s carry a torch–and a little sewing

The word this week in the 52 week photo challenge is “torch”.  I looked this word up in the dictionary.  It doesn’t have a lot of definitions and they all have to do with fire, except for when it is used as a reference to a flashlight.  But that is a British term that isn’t used here in Canada, so it didn’t feel right to appropriate it. 

But I had an aha moment and got my torch photo.  The electric start button on our barbeque ceased to function a couple of years ago.  I think it happened the time when the barbeque caught fire…  So every time I light the barbeque, (which isn’t that often because that is the one cooking chore that hubby does without question), I have to lift off the grate, light the match, turn on the gas, set it aflame, blow out the match, then put the grate back on with out burning myself on the flame.  That is until the other day when hubby showed me how he does it…

The photo doesn’t fully show this thing.  Apparently it came with the barbeque and is for this purpose.  It is a wire with a double loop at the end (which you can just make out in the photo).  You put the match between the two loops of wire and they hold it in place.  Then when you light the match you can put it down through the holes in the grate to where the gas is coming out underneath and easily light it. 

This is called torching the barbeque.  With a torch.  Of sorts…. A really small torch. 

I have accomplished a very small amount of sewing in the last week.  These blocks are for July in the Canadians Quilt Bee.

And I put second rounds on two hexie flowers.  These red second round hexies were my own choice.  I love the fun and colour in this flower!

This batch of second round hexies came from Coralie, my June swap partner in the Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap.  And I had the perfect flower to add them to!

And last but not least… Julien is now six weeks old and he weighs six pounds!!  He is off the oxygen.  He has to learn to breast/bottle feed and he has to be a week without episodes of low oxygen sats and then he will be able to go home.  His grandma (my s-i-l) got to hold him for the first time the other day.  So sweet!

 

That is all.  I hope your sewing is going well!

Janet

52 week Photo Challenge – Mobile

Two forms of mobility in the Canada Day parade in my town.   I have no idea what vintage this car is but it is pretty cool.  The bike tires and the car tires look almost the same!

 

Linking up with Shaz at Alsha's Space.

Janet

Photo Challenge Calm … and the Excitement of Sewing!

The word for the 52 week photo challenge this week is calm….  My friend was very upset yesterday after a phone call from her mother and we were talking about how to calm yourself instead of reacting when our emotions get triggered.  We ended up doing a grounding exercise – feeling the solidity of our connection to the ground and the chair that we were sitting on, letting go of tension from parts of our bodies and picturing ourselves in a place that we find calm and peaceful.  So I got to think about where is calm for me.  Although many places would qualify at different times, this is one of my favourites… my yard…The grass is patchy, there are lots of weeds (or one could call them wild flowers) and the landscaping is sort of non-existent, but it is lovely and open and sunny, and as you know I see wild animals there.  

And now that we have been calm, and I have linked up to Alsha's Space, let’s have a little excitement!!

I won another giveaway about a month ago; this one was from Deonn of Quiltscapes.  The package arrived on Thursday – a nice little selection of happy fat quarters and some scraps from Deonn’s projects with this fabric.  Thanks Deonn!  I was immediately inspired…

On the weekend I was going to a little party where we would be celebrating three friend’s birthdays.  So I had to whip up some gifts.  Three pouches…

Three backs…

Three interiors…

I used this tutorial from Amy's Creative Side although just for the pouch construction, not for the paper pieced panels.  I took the inspiration for my panels from Deonn’s scraps. 

And if you click on the link to Deonn’s blog above you will find that she is having another giveaway!!

Janet

52 Week Photo Challenge–the word is PACKAGE

I DID get a package in the mail this week!  How fortuitous!!

This is not a very exciting looking package.  Dull grey – the only colour is the pink on the postage meter slip.  And it is wrapped in plastic.  What’s with everything being plastic these days? So unappealing.  What happened to brown paper and string?  So much texture and old-fashioned goodness in that.  The only thing really interesting about this package is that it only cost $3.29 to come from New Jersey to here.  I paid more than that to send a LETTER to Australia last week!

But then I got to open the package….  Oh, lookie here!!

I won this lusciousness from Chris at Made by ChrissieD in a Meadowlark blog hop back in June. Thanks Chris!!  I have linked you to Chris’ post for the hop so you can go and see what she made from this fabric.  I just love her table topper!  I am not sure I have enough fabric here to copy it, but maybe something similar.  A view of some of the different fabrics.

That’s my package post.      I’m linking up with Shaz at Alsha's Space.

Janet

52 Week photo challenge–Red

I love red!  I put some red in almost every quilt I make.  I like to wear red.  And I love to look at red.  A few years ago I did a little red photo shoot in my town.  These photos are old but still good.

Linking up with Alsha's Space for the photo challenge.

Janet

52 Week Photo Challenge–Fly

It has been a while since I got  to fly on one of these.

FLYing in small planes was one of the things I enjoyed about my job.  One day I would like to FLY in one of these….

Linking with Shaz at Alsha's Space for the 52 week photo challenge.

Janet

A busy week and some sewing :)

It was another busy week – sometimes the days seem to be so full that I don’t accomplish any of the things on my list.  Hubby is still away at work so I spent another night out there on Wednesday.  These gorgeous Fairy Lady Slippers were blooming in the yard.

And the ice was still trying to leave…  Funny because it is all gone here, but I guess this lake is at a little higher elevation…

It was my sister’s friend Linda’s birthday and the whole family came out for the party…  We had some FUN…. (which is the word this week for the 52 week photo challenge, so I will be linking up with Shaz at Alsha's Space).  And here are granddaughter, DD # 3 and a couple of the dogs having some FUN.  

 

I did actually get some sewing done this weekend… Remember I said I had to help DD # 3 make curtains.  Well we got them done!

There are two sets like this.  She got this wonderful bird fabric at the awesome store she found in Vancouver… which by the way is called Spool of Thread and is located at 649 15th Avenue.  There is a website too at spoolofthread.com.  I haven’t checked it out yet.

The curtains are backed with a pretty blue/green fabric to help keep the light out… This is how effective they will be…  Not too bad…

And granddaughter had to sew too, so she made a little bag from the children’s scrap bag of fabrics, with handles of the blue/green curtain fabric…

She is such a poser… 

That’s all for this week, but I’m pleased with my sewing accomplishment!  I hope you had a great week too.

Janet

Some sewing progress this week

Another week has gone rushing by.  It has been rainy the last few days and not as warm as it has been for the last couple of months.  Never-the-less I have been gardening.  I have most of my greenhouse planted and put the potatoes in the garden plot today.  We keep worms in a tub in our kitchen to create worm poop compost.  I put a handful of them in my outside compost bin today so I can see what they do over the summer.  They cannot overwinter in the outside compost as it is too cold, but there are still a zillion or so of them in the tub.

My sister and her two friends from New Brunswick were here to visit the last couple of nights.  We went for a lovely walk on Saturday evening.  As you can see there is still ice on the lake… 

I’m also linking this post up with Shaz at Alsha's Space for the 52 week photo challenge.  The word of this week was “view”.  I think this one will do.  

On Friday a couple of friends and I had a silk scarf dyeing session.  I did six scarves (five silk and one chiffon).   I really went wild with the colours.  Oh I do love colour.  Here they all are, hanging out on the clothesline.

And I actually got some sewing done this week.  Two hexie flowers to send to my swap partner for May in the Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap.  She asked for bright prints and green centres.  I hope I didn’t get carried away with the “bright prints”.

And I received three sets of second round hexies from my swap partners for February.   They were slow arriving but were wonderful once they arrived.  Here they are added on to the respective flowers I chose for them.

That is all for this week, but I have to say that I am pleased with my production for the week!  Did you get to sew?

Janet