Block 10!!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today was much more productive than yesterday.  

The last of the canning was completed and all the food processors, canner and jars were put away and my kitchen looks so much bigger now!

Laundry is all done, and Halloween costumes have been located and created.

After bath, story and tucking in kiddo for the night I spent a wee bit of time in my craft room.

Block 10 of the Scandi 3 Quilt:

Now to head off to bed cause tomorrow it's back to work!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Jammie Day

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I woke this morning to yet another kind of cold, wet dreary day outside.  Thankfully kiddo and I had already made plans for today.  Yesterday I was able to get all my errands and a couple for next week completed so today was set as Jammie Day.  It was great and very much appreciated as it has been a while since we have had one of these days.

I started a few new projects, but first I did complete:

Row 5 of my 2016 Row By Row block from Village Quilts in Lethbridge.

Here are the five rows that I have "sew" far almost completed:

TAH DAH!!!

As a result of having Jammie Day and doing only fun things we decided to have pizza for dinner.  I made a whole wheat crust and kiddo got to put on all the toppings (of what was available in the refrigerator) that he wanted:


Dinner is served!

Now I am going to do a bit of knitting before crawling into bed tonight.  Tomorrow is laundry and get ready for a very busy week so no more relaxing for this weekend.  ☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

It's HERE!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Well, it's finally HERE!  Friday that is!

Somehow I have made it through this very long week.  This was the first of my two, four day work weeks.  On top of that I was begged to participate in the chili cook out for work because there were not enough participants for this annual fundraiser.  Monday night just before midnight I made chili for the slow cooker and it cooked all night.

On top of that there was the regular weekly activities including Student/Parent Teacher Conferences last night.

Throughout the week I did some knitting on a couple of projects on the go while at various activities but nothing specific enough to show any progress.

The only thing I may have made a wee bit of progress on is my Row by Row from Village Quilts:

TAH DAH!!!

This is my project plan for this weekend as I have managed to get all my errands and most of my housework caught up!

YAY ME!!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Here Comes Monday.....

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Monday arrives tomorrow and I am only sort of prepared for it.  As of this moment, I still have about 50 lbs of tomatoes to do something with.

Thanks to one of the ladies on a quilting page I belong to asking about an Ebelskivor Pan I decided that since I had made all that fresh jam last night that is what was going to be breakfast this morning:

I purchased this pan at Williams-Sonoma when they first opened in Calgary close to 10 years ago.  Of late my son has been more enthralled with the Waffle Maker on Sunday morning, but these are always fun to make and eat:

After breakfast I cut up tomatoes and got started on tomato sauce:

While that was simmering and processing I set about cleaning up some yarn and cross stitch projects that I have in various states of start (notice I did not say finish).

This afternoon we took a walk in the River Valley.  It was pretty but I think I will be regretting this decision as the night goes on because my lungs are very tight at present.  Will be sleeping with my puffer beside the bed I think tonight....

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Abracadabra!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

It's that magical time of year where everything gets to turn into something it's not by donning a costume.

As you have already witnessed through my blog the garden was bountiful this year.  Plus I was provided with 2 boxes of tomatoes.....I now have just over 200 lbs of tomatoes in my possession.  Seriously.

I have spread all these out on newspaper under the spare bed in the basement to keep from ripening too quickly.  However, they are ripening just a wee bit quicker than I would like what with all the other things I have on my schedule to accomplish ☺

This evening after kiddo and I got home from selling Scouts Popcorn, I started in earnest on the tomatoes.

As of a few minutes ago I am the owner  of 7 1/2 pints of green tomato jam!  This is where the magic comes in; by putting green tomatoes through the food processor and adding a bit of sugar and some Strawberry Jello I have Strawberry Jam!  If only I could wave my wand and make it appear...

Tomorrow will be Salsa and Tomato Sauces!  I am hoping there is still room in the freezer so that I can just put the jars in there and not have to can them to save time......but there is already a lot of vegetables, a half a beef I got from a friend and a basket full of bison from home as well.  Guess I won't put the canner away this evening ☺

Now off to knit for a bit and see if I can actually sleep in tomorrow and get a full four hours of sleep.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Ready For the Snow! NOT!!!!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

This evening I finished my pair of Winkelmittz mittens!  The fantastic news to this is that the pattern is now correct as well thanks to yours truly for finding it!  

I have been working on these mittens since early last spring, but no matter what I did something was not right.  Finally I sent a message to the designer and she agreed that there was a typo.  Once that was fixed these mittens came together perfectly and easily.

This is now hands down (pun intended) my favorite Thrum Mitten pattern:

TAH DAH!

These are so super cozy and warm I want the snow to come back just so I can try them out!  Who am I kidding?????  I still hate winter, but at least I have new warm woolly mittens for the upcoming 17 months of winter (not really.....a bad Western Canada joke).  

Now it's off to start some of the many other knitting projects I have in the house.

I am still trying to recover from night shifts last weekend.  Had my turn around days but somehow did not get turned around to day shift before starting back for three day shifts this week.  I really think Monday disguised itself as Wednesday this week on top of that☺

Hoping that this weekend I can get my days and nights sorted out as well as my 200 lbs of tomatoes.....

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Hello Monday....

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today is my turn around day from having worked this weekend.  I LOVE my job but I really hate shift work.  I only gave in to a  one hour nap this morning so that I would go to sleep early this evening.  As you can tell by the time......that has NOT happened.  Instead, I am in a rather hyper state of some sort right now.

Do I have tons of accomplishments to show you for today????  Nope.....I got kiddo to school on time, had a nap, I think I ate lunch (not sure on that one), picked up some groceries.....will assess tomorrow what all treasures I picked up, made dinner and got kiddo to his extra curricular activities.

I did go to my craft room after getting kiddo to bed and made another block for my Scandi 3 Quilt.  Meet Block 9:

Now to carry on with some of the random half finished knitting projects I have laying around ☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Continuing on with Scandi 3

Good Evening Internet Friends!

All that I managed to accomplish today as far as crafting was making Block 8 of my Scandi 3 quilt:

The remainder of the day was spent doing mom things like laundry and housework and on top of that studying for my re-certification of Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support.  I have completed this course in the past, but this year there are new guidelines and since the exam is $400 CAD I probably should pass it the first try this year.  So, I hit the books today!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Grateful

Good Evening Internet Friends!

My blog title for this evening sums up how I feel this evening.  

It is the Thanksgiving Day Weekend and my family and I were dinner guests at a friends home.  

I made pumpkin streusel pie with cinnamon whipped cream (yes it was delicious):

I dropped off a quilt top at my local long arm quilter....now to see if it ever gets finished and or returned.....not too attached to the quilt if it does not come back:

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and 

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

It's Snowing......

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Yes, the title of today's post is actually true!  Snow was forecast all day but it seemed warm enough that I hoped it would pass.  The six o'clock news showed me however that the snow was a 20 minute drive away.  So, out the entire family went!  We live on a corner lot in a historic neighborhood so lots of big old trees full of leaves.  An hour and a half later and a dozen lawn bags and the lawn was clean! 

As I was tying the last of the lawn bags it started to snow. 

This picture was taken at 1930 MST hours and by now the entire lawn is white......

Today while running errands including a Costco run for peppers, mushrooms, fresh mozarrella and lettuce I stumped upon a 44 pound bag of Parrish & Heimbecker wheat flour!  Most of the time I will use my Kitchen Mill with grain from the farm and make my own whole wheat flour but right now I am running low on farm grain and this was such a deal I could not leave it behind!   Upon arrival at Costco there were no carts in the store but we were only there for a few things.  The line ups were long so when I found this bag of flour I got my son to take the vegetables and go secure us a place in line.  As I was trying to lift the bag up onto my shoulder one of the staff came by and asked if I needed help.  Of course I did!  This chap picked up the flour, carried it to the check out, waited in line with us and then even carried it our to the car for me!!!  This is why although I have not set foot in a Wmart or M arts and crafts in years due to their lack of customer service and inferior products I will still shop at Costco;the ultimate big box store.

Arriving home I used the flour to make whole wheat pizza dough:

It turned out delicious especially after being out in the cold.

Now I think I shall snuggle up in one of my quilts and do a bit of knitting!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Comfort Things....

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today I am very proud of a project that I completed in the wee hours of this morning (yes I worked today).

I started on this shawl about a year ago.  I remember knitting on this at my Grammy's bedside after she had been airlifted from Foothills, home.  My son, his puppy and the Shih tzu loaded into the Focus and headed off to Saskatchewan to be with her.  My brother was eight hours behind us.

Today I finished this shawl and looking at it I am very proud of my accomplishment.  First, I have never ever knitted a shawl like this ever before!  Second, I followed a pattern.  This was the very first shipment of Yarn Crush and I chose to make what was in the shipment.  Thirdly, this project has been a great source of comfort for me this year as I have dealt with several adversities this year three of which occurred at the same time.

Throughout these adversities this shawl due to the complexity of the pattern served to be a focus for me....if I did not focus on the pattern I had to go back and fix the mistakes.  A year later the shawl is done, and I am for the most part feeling and coping better, health wise still is tough some days but I get through it.

This is my Oroya Shawl:

As of right now it is still not blocked;that is a tomorrow project.

A close up of the pattern.

On the thought of things that bring me comfort home baked bread is one of those things as well.  We rarely have store bought bread in our home because I love the comfort that home baked bread brings.  Both of the dogs also love home baked bread and as soon as I turn on the oven they will both come and stare at the oven door waiting for the first cut of the crust!

This weekend I pulled out the Kitchen Mill and ground up some of the last grain that I have from the farm to make:

Whole grain bread.  This is most definitely my go to comfort food!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Knitting A Mitten!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today was kind of cold and the wind was chilly, almost felt like winter outside.  

This evening after getting all the household and mom chores done I knit a bit on my mitten.  This is a Thrum Mitten and the kit is one of my Yarn Crush subscription boxes.  

One mitten completed!

I have already cast on the second mitten but am beginning to think the snow will arrive before this pair of mittens is ready to make their winter debut ☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

The Scandi 3 Report

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Well somehow the weekend is gone and it's back to work!

This evening after my son's extra curricular activities I took a bit of time to myself in my craft room.

I have started to try and focus on doing small, brief things for myself throughout the day to mitigate the stress of my days.

I completed Block 7 now of the 25 Blocks that I require for my Scandi 3 quilt:

Here's hoping I can have this done and adorning my sofa for the Christmas Season.

I have been doing some house cleaning (okay purging) and the amazing things that I have found to decorate my house with......it's almost like whomever added these things to my closet knew what I like!  Now the plan is to start using these items to reflect the changing seasons on my buffet!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

On the Road Again.....

Good Late Evening Internet Friends!

I was up by 0730 this morning to get my son out to his Boy Scouts event.  Originally this was supposed to be a Friday to Sunday camp out in the bush however, due to the weather (rain and cold) it was cancelled.  The group my son is part of though was gifted a piece of rural bush land with some out buildings on the property and as such it was decided that they would do a overnight camp out there as at least there are structures and wood burning stoves.

So we packed him up and headed off.  It was a very pretty drive but the rain was heavy.

Upon arrival and mudding in with the Go Go Go Toyota parents were informed that the trip was only going to be a day trip due to weather.

Since I did not want to drive home an hour and then come back an hour I decided that I would go for a drive and check out some of the small towns and quilt shops.  In total today I made 190 miles (306 kilometers).  

The drive was beautiful:

I stopped at a couple of quilt shops and picked up WAY too many items one of which was:

It's Matryoshka Doll fabric by Elizabeth's Studio.  It made me happy cause it made me think of my Grammy.  I got some to make her a mug rug, but now am thinking it would make a really nice place mat for her Broda Chair.

On the way home kiddo and I opted to drive the newly opened section of the Anthony Henday Drive that had been open for an hour and a half:

No pot holes or accidents, but there were already the usual Edmonton drivers out cutting motorists off, speeding and tailgating.  Just another day here I guess.  ☺

This evening after dinner I made of the blocks for my Scandi 3 quilt:

Now I should probably get ready for bed as tomorrow is a day of housework, and get ready for the work and school week.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy