I am ashamed to admit, there has not been much walking in the past week. Work has kept me extra busy, and when I have had time to take a lunch, Dave and I have had to run into the city for something or other.
That’s not to say I haven’t been getting exercise… I think moving that motorcycle was worth at least three days of walking! But it means I haven’t been out taking pictures of our weird and wonderful little town.
Happily, I do have some pictures saved up from previous walks.
Just past the middle of town, there’s a bridge that goes over a little ravine/hydro corridor. On the railings of that bridge, there are these:
Little metal bird houses with planter boxes below them. I’m pretty sure those planter boxes were full last summer, though for the life of me, I can’t remember what kind of plants they held. I’ll have to keep an eye on them and get new pictures for you when they are planted up again.
Regardless, I think it’s a fun little bit of whimsy in this quirky little town.
Despite the busy weekend, I did make time for tiny stitches
While watching a few episodes of Black Sails (Pirate drama) and very interesting documentary on Al Capone, I finished up the flowers on left side of my little Queen. And you might think she’s finished, but she’s not. There’s still a thin, single stitch border to go all the way around here. But one more night of stitching and she’ll be ready for an FO post.
It took me longer to get around to than expected, but I finally got the snaps on the Little Pearl cardigan
It’s a basic simple top-down cardigan. What really makes this one shine is the self-striping yarn. In this case, it’s Ice Yarn Glamor Sock (sport weight)
I chose orange for the snaps, I think they they stand out just enough without being too over powering. I’m working on a hat an booties to go with it and round out the set.
Lately, it feels like if I’m not working, I’m driving somewhere. I was really looking forward to a quiet weekend and home, but Saturday morning, Dave and I were up at the buttcrack of dawn (actually – even early, 2:30 am) to beat traffic as we embarked on another quest.
Nineteen years ago, not long after I met Dave, his friend gave him an old motorcycle – a little 1970 Honda 550. It needed work, but Dave loves a project. It got tarped up and set at the back of the parking spot at his mom’s condo. And there it stayed for the last 19 years. We just never had the time or money (or space) to work on it properly
They are doing some work in the underground, so they needed us to move the bike. It was time to finally bring her home.
We were supposed to get a proper motorcycle trailer with ramps, but Uhaul decided to send us to a location that is no longer a Uhaul dealer (why… I don’t know…. but it’s not the first issue I’ve had with Uhaul. It is however, the last). Friday afternoon we found ourself with no trailer, and a deadline to move the bike.
Happily, Dad gave me his old box trailer back when we first bought the house. It was a little rickety, but it would do the trick in a pinch.
So we hooked up the trailer, and hit the road.
The bike was filthy – covered in 19 years of underground soot. Most of the moving parts were seized, and the tires were flat. Those things were easily solvable. The big issue we had was how the heck we were going to get it in the trailer with no ramps. Happily, Dad built the trailer so the back wall came off, and we only had to lift it about a foot and a half… but that’s still a lot when you’re talking about a 450lb hunk of metal and rubber, and you’re only two people. (and one of those people are me!)
It took about 20 minutes of trial and error and some how we (and by we I mean, mostly Dave) managed it. For my piece of mind while towing, we laid her on her side and strapped her down. I’ve helped Dad with enough loads to know that you have to say the magic words (“That’s not going anywhere!”) after strap something down.
Then we set off.
We made a brief stop by Dave’s grandma’s to pick up a spare windsheild for his Charger that he stored there and set off. You can see by the sun it was still quite early.
We stopped again about halfway home for some breakfast.
I haven’t had McDonalds hotcakes since I was about 15 or 16 (it was a fishing trip I took with Dad) and they were pretty darn good. The same cannot be said for Dave’s breakfast…
Someone murdered his poor Chicken McMuffin. Seriously… who would think it’s okay to send out something like that? Happily, I’d bought him two (the other one was fine) and extra hashbrowns… so for this one, he just ate the chicken and tossed the muffin.
The rest of the trip was long, but uneventful.
By 11:30 am, we were home safe in the driveway. Now we just had to get the darn thing out of the trailer!
I told Dave we’d do it later and promptly went and had nap – lol!
But eventually, with many more swear words and some struggling, we got her out. Gravity made it a little easier than getting her in there, but it still took as a tonne of sheer muscle on Dave’s part.
Now she’s had a quick rinse, and you can see her charm more readily
I think she’ll probably need a full strip down an rebuild… Dave disagrees. We’ll see who’s right in the end. Though who knows how far away that will be – it’s not like we really have the time or money to put into her at the moment. But regardless, she’s home… and doesn’t need to be lifted into or out of a trailer any time soon.
And hopefully, I can stay off the road NEXT weekend!
I don’t know how you feel – but to me, this has been one of the crappiest Aprils I’ve ever experienced. The weather seemed colder than normal, drearier than normal,and it was just kind of a downer month.
It’s probably just because I’m so itching to be out in the yard. Still things are starting to develop…
These are my Turkestan Tulips. I’m quite pleased to see them. They were one of the first bulbs I planted at the townhouse. When I bought them, I thought they were regular tulips. It wasn’t until they first grew that I realized the were different. They are smaller and skinnier than regular tulips, but they are so dainty and pretty. I wasn’t sure I’d gotten the bulbs when I dug things up from the gardens and brought them here, so I was very happy to see them bloom!
I was able to bring lots of my daffodils and they are just starting to show off. I have a few different kinds.
Another bulb I was worried about was my pink grape hyacinths. They are one of my favourites and I hope they really thrive here.
And speaking of Grape Hyacinths, remember how I said the catio was full of them..
This is what the catio looks like now. I included the picture of Burton so you can get an idea of how big they are. Dave thought it was all crab grass (he’s not well-versed in vegetation). Unfortunately, I’m not seeing any flowers on them yet.
There’s a few blooming outside the catio by my irises though. I’m wondering if the ones in the catio are just too dense. I believe some bulbs need to be divided periodically to really do well. I’ll probably leave them another week of so to see if they bloom. Then, I’ve really got to get working on the catio landscaping, so they’ve got to come out!
Another thing that’s just every where is this Purple Deadnettle
It’s in the mint family, and if you know anything about mint, generally ,it spreads like crazy. It’s is a nice bit of pretty colour, especially when nothing else is blooming, so I’ll probably try to keep some of it.
And last.. did you know Maple trees bloom?
I confess, I did not. That is until I looked out my office window and saw my Norway Maple with all these small yellow flowers. I looked it up and yes… Maples bloom – in different colours, depending on the variety! How neat is that?
As you know, when I’m in my sewing studio, Burton is never far behind. More often than not, he chills in the basket I’ve been using to prop the door open (because of uneven floors, it swings closed on its own).
The basket was never meant to be a permanent solution. It was just handy one day, and I’ve continued to use it that way, much to Burton’s approval.
But the other day, I was in the dollar store and I found the cutest (and cheapest) little doorstop.
I mean… could you resist a tartan Scotty Dog? (Especailly at $3!!!)
I am happy to report that Mom is home from the hospital. She still has to take it easy for quite a while (which will be REALLY hard for her), but at least she’s a little more comfortable and enjoying much better food!
With her home, I can FINALLY reveal a little present I made for her. I’d been working on it quietly in the background, and while she was in surgery, I was quilting it up on her long arm.
It was orginally just supposed to be a small lap quilt – just something to bring a little extra comfort in recovery. But I kind of got carried away and made too many cats. The end result was a LARGE lap quilt. It ended up being about 56″ x 84″… oops!!!!
It was made from a fun fat quarter bundle that I bought in secret back in January (when we first found out she’d need surgery). Mom is a big lover or purple and burgundy, but she already has several prints in those colours. I incorporated them of course, but I wanted something a little different and the pink and peach turned out to be just the thing. (And she just loved them.
The back is a beautiful burgundy print that the picture does not do justice to. It’s got a subtle flower pattern a little like a batik. I bought it online and didn’t realize there was a pattern at all – I just thought it was a mottled blender. I wish you could see it in real life.
To add a little pizzaz, I tried to ad some “cat heads” to my loops.
They looked a lot better in my imagination than they do on the quilt – but you get the general idea! Lol.
And since I did the finishing at Mom’s I naturally had help from her crew.
I had to make my own binding and sew it on (usually Mom does this for me), but I had Tibbi to keep a close eye on me!
I’m happy to say that while gone for the weekend, I was able to keep up with my walks, thanks to two large fools who MUST GO FOR A WALK EVERY DAY!
This is the only picture I have because Chevy and Jem are ON THE MOVE and it’s hard to take a picture with your phone at that pace.
The first day, Dad and I went together -him walking Jem (you can just see her off to the left), and me walking Chevy. Part of the walk takes us through a very lovely and very old cemetery. Dad says some of the gravestones are as old as the 1700s. The dogs didn’t give me time to explore, but it was a nice place to walk none-the-less.
The next day, I took both of them (at the same time) solo. Normally I’d be concerned about my ability to control two large dogs (Jem is a Lab and Chevy, Lab/Shepherd and an absolute giant), but these two are perfect walkers.
It almost makes me want to get a dog of my own…
But, I think someone else would something to say about that!
There’s no Tiny Needle Tuesday today. As I said yesterday, I was at Mom and Dad’s all weekend, and I didn’t take my cross stitching with me as I knew I’d be to busy for it.
I do, however, have a finished quilt to show you
The baby quilt I made for my expecting coworker is complete! I love the simple, bright primary colours and all the fun animals.
It’s actually kind of two quilts in one, because I had some crazy fun fabric for the back.
It was a clearance bin find from a few years ago, and the colours and theme were just perfect for this one.
It’s a good size baby quilt – 42″ x 46″ – so baby should be able to make use of it well into toddler-hood.
Now I just have to finish my knits, and I can get this all off to Mama-to-be.
I had another long-weekend this weekend. Mom had to have some pretty intense surgery on Friday, so I came down so Dad could hang about the hospital without worrying about the dogs. I’m happy to say the surgery, while long, went really well. She’ll probably be in the hospital for a week, and have to take it easy for a while as she heals, but she’s got us for support.
I, of course, took advantage of the time to do a little quilting, and such and I’ll share more throughout the week, but today I want to share how I finished off the weekend.
You may remember my little adventure to a place called Grasshopper Imports a couple years ago. It was 2018, and I’ve always meant to go back. They are only open for the spring/summer. I didn’t have any money in 2019. 2020 was of course COVID lockdowns, and last year we were far too busy with house buying/moving. But Krista and I promised each other, 2022 would be the year we would go back.
Then a couple weeks ago, I saw and announcement on Facebook – after 30 years in business, they were closing for good! They would only be open for a couple more weeks to sell off the remaining stock. We were so upset.
So, as soon as I found out I’d be down for the weekend, I asked her if she wanted to make some time to hit the place up one last time. Yesterday we did. Sadly, by the time we got there, there wasn’t much left. Mostly some plain pots – certainly none of the whimsical planters and statuary they are known for.
I did manage to find these cute little hooks:
The ants will go on the side of the shed, so I can have a few tools handy. The lady bug will probably go somewhere in the catio.
We took one last selfie with the famous wall
and headed down the road to Terra to console ourselves. If we couldn’t buy fun planters, we’d buy plants!!!!
From left to right: Earth Star, Dragon Fingers, Lifesaver cactus, Panda plant, miniature inch-plants, some sort of spiky aloe, and an unknown brown spiky succulent.
I really only planned to get the Lifesaver cactus. It doesn’t look like much right now, but one day, if I treat it right, it will have flowers like this!!!
How cool is that???
As for the other plants… I do have a Panda plant, but it’s more of a blue-green, not that pretty copper brown. The Dragon Fingers were on clearance, and you know I can’t resist a clearance plant!
The mini inch plant was OBVIOUSLY meant for my fancy pigeon planter.
The Earth Star… I mean, just look at it…could you leave that behind???
The tiny spiky aloe was just the right size for this tiny Burton planter I had.
And the unknown succulent was ideal for this mug Krista gave me. The mug was too cute to tuck away in a cupboard. I think a planter is a much better use for it!
So while our last blast as Grasshopper turned out to be a bit of a bust, we ended up alright in the end!
Wandering Cat Studio 