Thank you..
to the ladies who have posted lately, and for the colourful photos. Difficult days here with a very sick friend in hospital . She had a severe stroke, three weeks ago and is paralysed down the right side, cannot swallow or speak. Makes me grateful for every step I take and every word I speak. A nice diversion to come onto this page and read the posts and enjoy the photos.
The weather in the Northern Henisphere sounds very challenging , and still more to come I hear.. Oh dear. No wonder you have time to finish quilts and take photos... . What a good idea,sending the DH away... wonder if my DH would fall for that one...
Great news from Bee. What a happy solution, living in a self contained cottage on the same property as a dear son. No such solution likely here. We really should make a move (we will both be 75 by the end of the year) but are reluctant to do so.. It's getting costly to stay and harder to keep the property up to scratch ,but we do
so appreciate country living, and will find it very hard to have near neighbours. It wouldn't be a place that either of us would want to live if we were on our own, so better to move while there are two of us... Having a friend struck down so suddenly, three weeks ago, has made us rethink the situation.
Off to the city later, to visit the hospital and also pop into a Garden Show which will be colourful and interesting.. We haven't had a wonderful summer, the sun is out today but rain is forecast.Hope it stays away while we are at the Garden Show (equal to the Chelsey Show, according to the experts !) I will take my camera and I may be able to post some photos later... don't hold your breath....!
Marion.
Great idea Rosey
I found that if I kept busy and focused on my goal to finish this quilt for the wedding, the daily trip to the mailbox behind the snow shovel could be enjoyable. I just had to keep moving because one shouldn't be out in this cold for long. Goal accomplished and the top should be pictured below. Here's hoping the longarm quilter can do her usual timely magic. The quilt is queen sized pictured on a double bed. I call it Laura's Double Basket because it is a copy of a quilt we inherited from DH's grandmother, Laura and we will be gifting it to his nephew and his bride-to-be, Laura. I love this pattern.
The other reason I was able to make this work was I suggested DH fly to see the granddaughters in Arizona. No interruptions here. Sometime in March we plan to drive the trip there since we have not experienced that and now that he is retired we can take our time. He kept complaining about the cold and jumped at my suggestion to enjoy some warmth and sunshine while I finished this quilt. I hope the girls wore him out and he will need some extra napping because it sure isn't warm here yet. I also hope that groundhog was serious on February 2. That would leave us with only 2 more weeks of this weather. One can hope.
Further 'cabin fever' nonsense
And, aside from squirrels and bunnies and birds at my bird feeders, I now have three plump wild turkeys for noonday luncheons. They are cleaning up the bird seed that the blue jays are busy flailing around with their beaks. The turkeys are quite handsome and very skittish. I watched them walk majestically across the field next to my studio, then they flew up to the top of our fence and hopped down, then waddled up the little hill to the feeding station. And that was my excitement of the day. I'm trying to remind myself that there are small pleasures in each day instead of complaining about how cold it is (well below freezing) or that we have a nobbly skating rink outside and that just getting to my car in the outside garage is an adventure or that there are two people housed here who move around silently like ships in the night...putting wood onto the fires to keep ourselves warm, I think it's good to be on this side of the earth than otherwise but winter in the Northern Hemisphere is something of an endurance test.
Rosey
And did you know...
That squirrels have very red tongues? A little black squirrel was up at my studio window this morning, licking it. I've never seen a squirrel's tongue before.
Rosey...now do you think I'm getting cabin fever...lol !
Bee news
And not our Bee in NZ. I was at the gym today and met a neighbour up the road who harvests organic honey. She shared some information on bees that I found interesting. The queen bee lays winter bees which live for six months and they form a circle around her, wrapping her in their warmth over the wintertime. She lays summer bees in the warmer weather that only live three weeks. Imagine having a lifespan of three weeks. She also said that they leave 50 lbs of honey in the hive so that the bees can eat all winter. She also said that it's getting harder for them to find areas that are free from chemical sprays. Where she lives up the road, it's so rocky that no farming occurs and this is where many of their hives are. As she said, it isn't a business that can grow because of the lack of fields that are not contaminated by nearby farms. Bees fly only a certain distance around where their hives are located. Their honey, Hockley Valley Organic Honey is so good. It's amazing the difference in taste. She said they'd received a letter recently from dog owners whose dog had been injured and they used her honey on the wound and it was healed in no time.
Just thought a little bit of news that wouldn't come your way other than for me posting it here, might lighten up us northern Hemispherers who are dragging ourselves through the remainder of winter.
RoseyP in S. Ontario, Canada
thank you and bones!!!!
Thanks so much for your lovely comments. I realise just how lucky I am. I never imagined I wouldn't have any pressure in my old age and plan to enjoy it so much. We took the dog there the other day. He really enjoyed the room to run or in his case waddle. He was also worried about the height. Robyn called him and he looked everywhere but up, until a biscuit flew past his nose. ...... I am planning to go to Aussie next year to fossick for bones. A large deposit has been found in Queensland and it is possible to go and stay there and play with the bones. I am not capable of digging but can go in the lab and clean or sort the things. My dear son has mentioned that we live just across from our biggest cemetry(sp)and I could play there. !!!I know that must be wrong but have packed my dictionery. Doris pull back from the Google site and you will see what I mean. Hugs Bee.
Bee
Bee your move sounds ideal and exciting to me. I would not be able to wade through the accumulations I have made just yet but admire your fortitude to do this. A new location would be a great way to spur me on to have better organization in my quilt studio. Someday...
Rosey feel free to share my ideas on traditional quilting anywhere. Your way with words will express them much better than I can. Post a copy here if you are allowed to do so. I would love to read it.
Olympics
What a wonderful 2 weeks. I have so enjoyed the snow and colours of the games. I can now go to sleep at a reasonable hour, a problem when we live the other side of the world..... I also love traditional quilts.I do some art ones but my favourites are the old patterns. It seems right to me to remember the days when quilts were made for warmth and by women who put all their love in their quilts......I am busy packing as I have sold my house and am moving to a cottage in my son's grounds. Completely away from them and with 2 bedrooms all I need. THis house is using money at a very fast rate,I am not fit enough to do any work and have to pay tradesmen. I can't see the point when I can have a very pleasant cottage, no gardens to do or mow, family quite near, all newly painted and papered. I didn't realise just how much junk I have been keeping!!!!!!!!Of course my fabric is a must and there is a lot of that.I have fantastic storage in the new place and I may even keep it tidy. Keep warm ,I have been watching the news and you have been getting such bad weather, Someone posted some spring flowers the other day so there is hope the spring will be coming soon. Hugs Bee in NZ
For Laura in Iowa
Laura, the signatures are faded out and I did not read carefully, how you signed your post so I apologize for missing this and I didn't realize that there were two Laura's on the site. It's so good to see others participating in posting. We have so much each of us to bring to the board. Our lives are like others, not exciting but similar in so many ways and bound together, like the threads that bind quilts. Iowa, yes, your weather patterns would be similar to ours and yes, a lot of our weather comes up from your way, to Wisconsin, to Michigan and across the border to Southern Ontario as it sweeps across Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, to London, Ontario and further east. We track our radar from the US to here and watch the storms coming across.
May I, Laura, copy your comments about traditional quilts, for a magazine article that I'm in the process of writing? I have been concerned for some time about the proliferation of non-traditional quilts and quilters not producing as many traditional quilts. Nothing against non-traditional designwork, I do it myself. And, many non-traditional quilts are nothing short of spectacular designwork but I do not give them the title of "art" quilts because not all, are art. Though many are. It is the traditional quilt that is the foundation and essence of what quilting is all about and these patterns, well-balanced in design themselves, which so few realize are so, do bring visual comfort and memories, too, to those who look at them. They are what attracted many quilters to quilting in the first place. I would not want to see this tradition diminished or lost in the shuffle of creativity in other aspects of quilt designs.
Rosey in Canada where the sun is out and I have Bed&Breakfast guests to feed this morning.
Iowa weather
Rosey, I am Laura in Iowa, thus similar weather as Ontario. Our son in Minneapolis often calls to tell us his weather is better than ours. It all depends on the weather patterns as to which of us gets the weather du jour. There is a Laura in Alabama as well.
Your comment on the Dresden plate quilt I made, "There is a visual comfort to a traditional quilt..." are the exact words I needed to express the feeling I get when I use the traditional patterns or copy an old quilt. The other part of the comfort is the use of fabrics from sewing other projects which brings remembrances when viewing the quilt(s). As a child I would lay on the bed and tell my mother where each fabric in Grandma's quilts that I recognized was used in the garments mom made for us.
I love the use of many fabrics in Heather's quilt as well. Great to see you learning Windows 7 for posting here Rosey to show us Heather's Oh, Canada! quilt.
