The first snow is always a little exciting. There’s still a good amount left, but it’s melting quickly.

But when it started Lemmy was happy to run around like an idiot in the frosty catio. It got a little tougher for him when the snow got heavier. But now that it’s melting, he’s back out there stalking birds and acting the fool

But I think all the snow and cold just might just turn a certain someone into a house cat…

He certainly hasn’t been in a hurry to spend much time out in the cold and the snow.

Since it was snowing on Sunday, his Lordship demanded I get in the studio and get sewing. I still didn’t have my sewing mojo rocking. Some of you had suggested starting a new project to get it going, and I definitely considered it. But the project I want to start requires a lot of thinking… and I just wasn’t up to it.

So I pulled out an old project. I started it back in spring 2024 and never touched it again.

It was the perfect project for me to work on, because it doesn’t require much brain power. I just pulled out random strips from the Jelly Roll, and keep on sewing.

In the end, Burton and I got eight more cabins finished.

When I first started it, I wasn’t too sure about the solid grey. I thought I might have made a mistake with that choice.

But seeing more blocks laid out – I think it works quite well with those pastel batiks.

I’m not sure how big I’ll make it. I guess it depends how many blocks I can get from that Jelly Roll.

On Sunday, we got the snow they called for. You can see my poor roses weren’t very happy about it. I didn’t get a chance to cut any before it snowed.

It was really just a dusting

But definitely enough to put an end to gardening for the year.

And if I didn’t believe it…. Monday made up for it. We don’t normally get a tonne of snow here. We are just outside the snow belt, so the worst of it almost always passes us by.

But… every once in a while, the wind is just right… and we get lake effect snow. It started early Monday afternoon.

By dinner time, the gardens and swan were well on their way to being buried.

Dave snowblowed while I was cooking dinner, and by the time we went to bed, the driveway was all filled in again.

He was up before I was and had it mostly blown out again by the time I pulled myself out of bed.

But my poor swan was completely buried.

In the end, we got close to two feet.

They say it’s supposed to start warming up today, and the snow should be melted by the weekend. But it’s definitely the end of gardening until the spring.

I guess I can focus on indoor projects now.

Because of my weekend trip to the big city, there wasn’t a tonne of time for stitching. But there was enough to give the first witch her body and head. There’s lots to fill in around her, and of course, she needs her other arm. But it’s nice to see her come to life.

I believed I mentioned last week, that on Friday, I was headed to the big city for part of the weekend.

And by big city, I mean this place. Good ol’ Toronto.

I learned a few things from our last jaunt to Toronto, so this time I decided to take a train the whole way – instead of driving half and train for the second half like we did last time.

But this train isn’t like the train we used last time either. Last time we took the GO train – which is basically a commuter train. It’s really just a bigger, fancier bus/subway.

This time, I took the VIA. The VIA train I took runs the Toronto to Windsor corridor, so it’s a smaller scaled-down version of the VIA that does cross-country travel (no sleeper cars etc). It also goes much faster – up to 130km at times – with fewer stops. And happily stops in a town only 15 minutes from here.

So Friday afternoon, Dave dropped me off at the station and soon enough I was zipping along, watching the world go by as I got some knitting done.

I did splurge a little, and went business class. That meant I got free drinks and a cold meal.

A fancy cheese plate with a date square for dessert.

There is a downside though. On Saturday, there are only two train back home – one first thing in the morning, and one just after 5 pm. So I had the choice of getting up before dawn, or having to hang out in the big city by myself for most of the day. Dave was not keen on me taking the second option, so before dawn it was.

I got to Union Station by 6:30 am, and it was practically deserted. So I took some time to enjoy the original part of the station. Quick history – Union Station building began in 1914, and it was officially opened in 1927. They certainly don’t make them like that anymore.

My train was departing at 6:50, so I couldn’t linger too long.

The trip home saw another fancy meal…

… and me getting a good amount of work done on the second deathflake hat.

By the time I hit London (the stop before mine), I was through the ribbing and plain knitting. Now I’m ready to start the colourwork.

So… while it was a quick trip. It cemented one thing. The train is the BEST way to get to Toronto!

You may have seen this on the Bearbottom Facebook page, but I thought I should announce it here too.

We’ve just discovered that due to changes in customs regulations, we are now required to prepay import duties on all U.S. shipments. With the removal of the de minimis limit, every quilt shipped to the U.S. is now subject to a 35% tariff — that’s an additional $35 in fees for every $100 spent. (That’s over $100 extra on a $300 quilt).

Unfortunately, this makes it extremely difficult for us to continue offering fair prices to our American customers. As a result, we’ve made the tough decision to temporarily suspend sales to the U.S. while we explore solutions to make this process more manageable for both us and you.

We are really upset about this… and I’m not sure what the solution is, other than charging the additional money. We don’t sell quilts at a fast and furious pace, but at least 50% of our sales have been our friends south of the border

We’re going to mull it over and decide what to do. In the mean time, here’s a look at Mom’s latest quilt on the frame…

I convinced here to add a little snail in the quilting…

If that doesn’t make you smile today – nothing will!

Don’t ever let anyone tell you roses are delicate and fussy.

Here we are, almost mid-November, and most of the roses are still blooming. Above is Good as Gold. I find the colder weather tends to make their colours a little more intense and it’s a good example.

It’s very true of Koko Loko. I just love this rose more every time it blooms. I’m so glad I found it this spring.

Bolero is still best for scent though.

New Dawn is the climbing rose I have on the catio fence. It should bloom on and off all year – but the first couple of years it only bloomed once in early summer. This year however, it’s made up for it. And to see blooms on it now – this isn’t the only one, there are several more higher up where it’s harder for me to get a picture.

It has bright, beautiful hips too.

At Last (left) and Prairie Princess (Right) have fairly small flowers. But they are still so beautiful. Especially in November.

There are lots of buds on the roses too. I’m really hoping those bottom ones (Chicago Peace) will get a chance to bloom just a little bit more. At least enough to cut and bring them in.

But… they are calling for snow tomorrow. So I just have to keep my fingers crossed.

Furby’s outdoor house got a little upgrade.

We bought these letters from Michaels before we started letting him in for the nights, but it took a little while for Dave to paint them to withstand the weather. As you can see, Furby helped me make sure the letters were on just so.

We had to squeeze the “Y” in there, but overall I think he’s pleased.

In my last post about Furby, I realized there was a little confusion over whether Furby was a stray or not. Our understanding (from another neighbour) is that he once belonged to people who lived down the street. But he didn’t get along with their other cats so the put him outside – permanently. Apparently they were putting a can of food out for him each day, but judging from how he was looking when we started feeding him – either they stopped or he wasn’t getting it.

Either way – now he’s got steady feed and a warm place to curl up.

The second Deathflake has been started. Though as you can see, not a lot of progress has been made. But given how busy work has been lately, I’m honestly surprised I even got it started. As you can see, I’m using the same yarn, but in different colours.

The Brava is acrylic, but it’s nice and squishy. I like it much better than Patons Canadiana. I don’t knit a lot with acrylic, but I think this will be my go to when I do. It came from Hobbii.

The Deathflake motif will be done in more Universe (also from Hobbii). This one is called Outer Space. While it looks somewhat blue in the pic, it’s all varying shades purple. The rainbow used in the other version was called Galactic.

I’m still quite a ways to go before I get to play with the sparkly yarn. I’ve got 3 inches of ribbing then 3 inches of plain knitting.

I am heading out of town on Friday (taking the train!) so maybe I can make some progress then!

The other day, when I said we haven’t had any really cool thrift finds, it wasn’t strictly true. We have tried to be more discerning in our purchases…. really questioning if we need something or not – and as a result, we definitely haven’t had as many finds. But some have been very cool…

Our Value Village frequently has some good quilting fabric finds. Like the above Halloween print. Each is a 1 yard cut and I got them for $2 each. Do I need more quilt fabric? Absolutely not. But at that price, I’d be crazy to leave it behind.

It was just $4 for 4 yards of the construction flannel above, and $2 for 2 yards for the fire truck flannel. They will both become baby quilts at some point.

These fabrics are all part of a quilt kit.

The whole quilt was just $10!!!

But the real find….

For my non-quilty friends…that is two yards of Moda Grunge. It generally goes for about $20-$24 a yard here in Canada. So two yard for under $4… well that’s an absolute steal.

Grunge also happens to be one of mom’s preferred blenders… so that’s where this piece is going. Gotta share those great finds when you can!