Growing up, there was a cartoon on TV called “The Green Forest”. In it, there was a character called Sammy Jay, who was a bit of a villain. Mostly he was a bully and a tattletale. I’m convinced this is why, when Dave hears the blue jays outside, he tenses up.
I however, love them!
We’ve got four of them hanging around, and they are regular patrons at Squirrelington’s.
Especially in the morning. I love this picture because you can see the black squirrel in the background with a peanut in her mouth. The squirrels and jays alternate, each taking peanuts until the pile is all gone.
And then they send one of the squirrels up to stare in at me until I fill the table again.
Then they feast again!
I’m going through about 2 lbs of peanuts a week! But it’s worth it!
I am happy to say the weather has been much more enjoyable this past week. (As has my week in general)
We had perfect weather for the family wedding. It was Dave’s uncle who was getting married. It was also his 70th birthday. It was a nice reminder that a love story can happen at any age!
We took the Bonneville so the happy couple could do some photos with it. It also meant I got to have a nice country drive in it. The bride also loved the quilt, so that was a nice bonus.
Around the house, I’ve officially welcomed fall by hanging my favourite fall wreath.
Some strange things are happening in the garden.
The Shasta Daisies started blooming again. Normally I don’t get blooms past late June, so I’m not sure what it’s thinking.
This Celosia popped up suddenly in the pot with the Red Hot Pokers. Last year I had a bunch of annuals in that pot, including some Celosia. Some how this one survived last winter, but only decided to make an appearance now. Weird.
And this flower popped up with sunflowers… anyone have any idea what it is? Because I have no idea!
More weirdness in the cat world…. Last week I showed you Burton snuggling with Relic. But now we have this…
This large foot stool sits in front of the couch where I sit. It usually holds my laptop, and bit and pieces of whatever knitting project I’m working on at the time, but it’s also a favourite hang out of the cats (it has a good view of Squirrelington’s).
This time Burton was hanging out on it and Rupert decided to get in on the action. But instead of sitting beside him, Rupert sat ON him!
What the…? And Burton just sat there!!!
Cats are weird.
As a side note: Rupert is tiny (under 7lbs). Burton is an average-sized cat. These pictures though, they make him look like a WHALE! I promise you, while he could stand to lose a pound or so, he’s not nearly as fat as these pictures make him look!
I was hoping to be further along on the first sleeve. It’s big and heavy (and itchy, and smelly), so I can only knit on it a little bit at a time. But still, progress is progress and I’ll take what I can get. Plus, I’m decreasing every few rows, so each row goes quicker and quicker. With any luck, I could have the first sleeve finished by the end of next week.
I have a very pretty snooperviser to keep me on task!
The quilt raffle we did for Bee Meadow Farm was so successful, I decided to make another quilt to donate.
This one will be sometime in November, so I thought a Christmas theme would be fun. But of course, it just had to have cats. And I just happen to have ordered some of the “Fireside Kittens” collection this summer.
I paired with with a Christmas themed charm pack I had…
And got everything cut and ready to whip out some adorable star blocks.
I still have to hunt up some fabric for borders, backing and binding, but I’m already loving how this one it looking!
With the Lava socks done and dusted, it was time to get another pair of socks on the needles. Paisley is the next birthday on my list, and even though it’s not until December, you know me… I like to stay ahead of the curve.
I’d long planned to make her some colourwork socks. I bought the yarn back in April. I’m not actually using the Love Still Wins pattern, I’ve just stolen the hearts from the chart. I’m working my sock top down…
So far it’s going swimmingly.
Felici has nice fat stripes. As you can see I’m through three of the colours and have three more to go. This one won’t go as fast as the lava socks, but it’s definitely fun!
I’ve been asked a few times where I get inspiration for the quilts I make. And, (as with any of my crafts) the answer is “all over!”
With this next project… it started with a piece of flannel from the clearance bin.
It wasn’t huge (about a yard and a half) but it’s just enough to use for a back of a small baby quilt. I bought it and tucked it away, no t thinking of it again until I saw the Dizzy Daisy tutorial from Missouri Star Quilts. I immediately knew this would be the block!
But I didn’t have any fabric for it. Normally, I would just let the idea marinate, and eventually I’d come across something. But I needed to order some foam for the tote bags I’d planned on making, so I decided to take a look at Layer Cakes too!
The colours and prints were perfect!
The other day, I got everything cut and ready to go.
And of course, sewed up one block just to see!
These flowers are so fun and easy to make. I can whip one up in about 10 minutes, so it’s the perfect project for when I’m waiting on stuff for the day job, and have a little time to kill.
I have finally made enough four patches for my Leader/Ender project. In fact, I made more than enough. I have 26 too many. But that’s ok, I’ll use them in another project eventually.
Now I’m on to snowballing two corners on some plain white squares. I need 160 of them, and then I can start assembling the blocks. I don’t imagine that will be any time soon, but that’s ok. I’m in no rush
We had a mostly beautiful long weekend, and then the day after Labour Day, BAM! Fall hit like a brick wall.
The first few days were cool and rainy. And the rest of the week we struggled to hit 20 Celcius (68F). The roses are feeling it most of all. First the shock of being moved, now this:
Hopefully it’s not too much for them and they get through winter ok.
No doubt, second summer is on it’s way and we’ll have at least one more blast of warm weather, maybe even two. And despite the roses, there’s still blooms to be had in the garden.
The Physostegia is just a mass of pinky purple blooms. I’m so glad I came across this plant last summer. My neighbour has one that’s a slightly lighter shade and it’s so pretty.
The marigolds are having a grand time. The entire backyard is ringed with them and they have spread out all over the place. I have to admit, I’ve always had good luck with Marigolds.
The butterfly bush is happy…
Which means the Monarchs are too. Of course, I haven’t seen one since the cold hit. But this beauty stopped by on the weekend for a snack.
The sunflowers have had a tough year, but despite squirrels, wind storms, and now this cold snap, they are still blooming.
The sedum is in full bloom, a definite reminder that summer is over, regardless of what the weather is doing.
I just hope we get enough warmth that my fall crop of berries can grow and ripen. They are never as big as the summer ones, but they are a nice treat in late September, early October.
My tomatoes could REALLY use some warm sunny days. There are lots of green ones – they just need a chance to ripen.
Still… I look forward to fall. It’s my favourite season for many reasons. one of which…
Is fall Mums! I grabbed this one at the grocery store the other day. It’s been a bit of a tough week (not just because of the weather) and I needed the pick-me-up!
Relic came in after his early morning romp for breakfast (which is not unusual), but instead of immediately heading back out after stuffing his face (which is the norm unless its raining), he headed up to bed for a nap.
Because this was out of the ordinary for him, I went upstairs a short time later to check on him. Burton was hot on my heels – which is also not unusual, that boy is my furry little shadow most of the day.
But when I sat on the bed beside Relic, Burton immediately jumped up and snuggled in beside Relic.
Now Relic is not normally a snuggler, but as you may recall, he does let Rupert curl up beside him at night. But Burton… while Burton loves to snuggle with people… he has NEVER snuggled with the other cats. Even when he was a kitten.
