BACK TO BLOGGING

Lots has been happening to everyone on the eastern side of North America and the lovely islands in the Caribbean.

This is a photo I borrowed from the BVI Beacon FB page. If you go to the Beacon on line, they have a FB page with all the devestation that hit the Virgin Islands.

No lives were lost, thankfully, and most damage is able to be repaired, except for trees that took the brunt of the force winds.

My mother would weep at her beautiful little
piece of paradise if she saw the terrible tole it
took on the little village of Cane Garden Bay
where she spent 35 years of her life.

Hopefully, no worse hits the North Carolina
coast. Earl is a terrible storm, and we here
in Ontario will only get the rains and some
winds



My grandchildren who compete in Canoe/Kayak
Sprint racing have come home with meddles.


Grandson has one gold, one silver and two bronze in canoeing. He was very proud of his accomplishments in Regina. This is his first year of really working hard at training and competing as a Midget.

His sister did very well also, with five, yep count them five gold medals, and one silver in kayaking at the Canadian Championships.


I couldn't get them to put them on and display them,
as they are quite humbled by the whole experience.


But as a proud Nana, I'm posting the medals.

I've been busy with company here at the cottage, then home for a few days while above noted granddaughter had her final treatment for the tumor. The doctor was very friendly this time....after having a superior athlete in his presence....(grins here) and was quite animated when we all talked about her being back to see him when she feels it again. Funny about him...I was ready to confront him again but he was as sweet as pie this time. Also everything went so smooth that we were out of there in about 2 hours..

September, my time of year, as it's my birthday month, it's the time of year that I feel a renewal of life. This year, I'm getting a new hip....Hip, Hip, Hip...etc, can hardly wait.

This is also the beginning of the end of life at the cottage, kids are back at school, people start closing their cottages, fewer and fewer lights on at night. We also get fewer visitors, so maybe, just maybe I can get the quilt finished before I head home.

FUN AT THE LAKE!

This is my daughter! She brings the grandkids

for my summer fun.

.

Every time they arrive, there is a flurry of the

most amazing activities that happen upon

arrival .

This past weekend was no exception. First thing that happened withing minutes of arrival was three crazy teens jumping into the water and crashing around the water.

Then the water skiing happened before we could even think of eating!

Kelly and I just take photos of all the activities

and some that can't be explained as the kids

just have fun here!

There was a shampooing with enviroment proper shampoo that produced sculpted hair dos.

Then they decided to decorate their bodies with the shampoo suds.

.

I tell you they were laughing so hard. The one in the middle of the two grandkids is practically one of the family as Aleesha has been here many times and is also an excellent water skier which guarantees her acceptance.

.

The highlight of any weekend at the cottage is triple or quads of skiers going around the island.

Well as you can see the boat is chugging a bit to get the three of the kids up. We will be using a larger motor next year for sure as Jeremy is growing like a weed.


Jeremy is a wild skier and he wanted to go doubles with his sister who refused,"cause you are crazy" and Aleesha said "no way"....so we
looked next door and Jeremy said "What about
Erin!, she skies!"

.
So we shouted over, and she was suckered into
skiing with Jeremy! Not only that she didn't know he was a wild and crazy guy, but it was her first time on doubles and the whole experience was the longest ski of her life!

.

She was such a sport, and the girls figured she was light enough for triples with them the next day, but the waves on the lake were huge so it didn't happen!

.

Next year Erin will once again be picked to do
triples as she is light and also unsuspecting of the
ulterior motives of our gang!

I'm coming up to my 300th blog...I can't believe I have so much to say...a million little things in the brain and out the thoughts come!

I'm happy to say the Helen has picked up the "spring" quilt...aka bloody quilt...which she will return to the cottage this weekend. Now I'll have to quilt!

I'm sewing the nine patch which I better get a move on as the end of August is near, the Eastern Star was visible for the first time to me last night over the south east. It's that time of year for thinking of reducing the food stuffs here at the cottage...and starting to take home the sewing stuff that I haven't used this summer.

What happens to us? Why when I think of sewing all the time, the area is a great place and still I don't sew quilts? Yesterday, I cut an old white towel into dishcloths, and zigzaged all eight pieces. Then, I decided to do the nine patches.

Nanci

ANOTHER LITTLE COTTAGE STUDIO!

My friend Helen has a lovely spot to do her
cottage quilting.

.

She uses her dining area, with her little sewing
table similar to mine which has her machine
even with the table.

When the little table is taken back to her city home, she collapses it, puts it into a carry all which has wheels.

It was purchased in the US last winter. Helen is like me in that she likes to sew with the machine even with the table. It makes for less stress on the shoulders and the back when quilting.

We who move around and machine quilt too must improvise our little spots. Karen (Karen Quilts) has been travelling for the past month or so and has her fabrics cut and sorted for camping for two months. A lot of planning goes on for those of us who have the addiction.

Did I tell you of the visits of the couple of cottagers who came to see the quilts after reading my little article by Helen? Well they arrived by boat, going down wind so the driver decided at the last moment that it was a bad idea, just as the other person was reaching for the dock, the driver backed up....the reaching person ended up reaching for water....too funny! She saved two pairs of glasses, her one shoe, having left the other in the boat, and only her cheerfulness let us know that we could roar with laughter.

The driver of the boat had a hard time docking since she was laughing so hard! I just carried a large towel for our visitor!

We had a lovely time looking at quilts, but what surprised me was that they didn't quilt at all!

I'm still having dowloading trouble, so the awesome photos of the weekend with the kids will keep for now.

It is so windy on the lake that only the very needy and brave are venturing out! Huge gusts are rocking our docks to the point that it really isn't safe to even go on them. The sun is shining though, so I'm not too troubled by the winds.
Nanci

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED!

Did you wonder what happened to my regular blogs? Well, first I had an atrial fibrillation attack which knocked me out for a couple of days, then while resting with the computer on my lap, I dropped it when the dogs scared the dickens out of me chasing a bird that got into the cottage.



Needless to say, lots of problems with the computer, but with a new hard drive, at 40 mgbites I'm running on full throttle once again!



I think that as I'm writing this post that I'm still having a problem downloading photos, but that may be the blogger site too.



This weekend my daughter is bringing up the kids who ski! We can't wait! There will be doubles and tripples on the lake, which is today very calm , so I'm off to the dock to have my coffee.



You know that as I was driving back from the city there are signs of fall all over the place! My sweetie said not to say a word...but the signs are there for all of us as the trees and the flowers in my garden are starting to dry while the black
eyed susans are in full bloom. They are the last of the perennials that bloom for me.

.

The hummingbirds are very busy with the bee balm still which makes me happy to see. In about two weeks, the hummers will be gone...imagine.

.

The quilt top is one of Helen's little creations! She has made more quilts than me this summer!

I can't believe it! I also took a photo of her little cottage studio which I shall post soon.

.

What did I ever do without a computer? When it crashed, I lost all emails, all photos, all recipes that I had saved. Now most of the photos are on disks, but it was a lesson learned...back up all documents in the future.
.

Have a great weekend...I'm happy to be back

POT LUCK SUPPER

When we were talking about the pot luck supper on our island, the Cottage Guy and Gal, who have had lots of experience with pot lucks, advised that Cottage Gal should write it up.






The invite which went out to about 60 people, said to bring your "best dish" which did not include potato chips, aka Canada...chips.



Well no one brought chips.

This is Cottage Guy and Gal picking the winner of the best cottage hat

A funny story about her hat...she thought that the former owners had left the "tacky" hat for the cottage.
Well it turns out that we found this hat on the highway
on a rainy day about nine years ago, and gave it to the
granddaughter of the former owners. Cottage Gal now
wears it with pride even though it says "Elva" inside of the brim.





This is the trophy! It was given to us by Tony the mechanic from the marina who said it was usually worn by someone who goofed up in the shop....Bev who won for wearing an umbrella hat was a great sport to pose and many people were thankful not to have won!










I tell you, when my sweetie was thinking of what was going to happen for the first annual pot luck, the expectations were unknown as no one on the island had ever done one before...










So, here is part of the food buffet set out! I tell you I don't know what everyone will do to top this feast for next year!







There were dishes of salmon, trout, awesome chicken
which was a two day marinating, pork roast thinly sliced
and so yummy. The lasagna, salads, just finished off the meal!




The deserts were few....something to note for next year.



Anyway, this blog is for my island friends who will look at the blog today.


Now, Helen, whose daughter Andrea bought these hats at a charity auction a couple of years ago let those of
us who "rate" wear these hats!





The one of a kind hats were designed by some British millinary(?} designers. Andrea thought she'd have to pay a fortune for them...but got a great deal!





So, the proud guy there belongs to Helen who also was part of the planning of the whole event. Mary, my dear friend and Bob helped immensely.





I'm planning on wearing the pink hat to a wedding next year....





So, thanks for coming, thanks for the food, and thanks for all who contributed to the event!

MY LITTLE COTTAGE STUDIO

I'm always reading of quilting studios! Well at the cottage this is mine! I've packed everything except batting into those four little suitcase and try to keep this corner tidy....ha!

Some days it looks like a tornado has been through it, other days there is some semblance of order.

I am forever going through the cases and tidying, sorting and just plain trying to remember what is in what.

Next year, I am hoping for a little chest to just throw
everything in, but the suitcases which are now hard
to find in goodwill etc have been around for years.

I used to have the gold one full of jewelry when the
grandkids were little. Eventually the jewelry
dwindled down to a few pieces and the kids grew up.

I had one full to the brim with lego that I picked up
here and there. Many pieces were borrowed of
course and now all those pieces are in a plastic
bin, the suitcase being valuable for fabrics only.

The grandkids were a bit disappointed when I moved all the craft stuffs, the drawing papers from one of them. The rule was you used the top for the table...it has many marks of drawings that blue one.

Oh well, life moves on.

The little quilt that you see is one done by the daughter of a friend who has a blog called Craft Addictions, which for some reason I had trouble getting it up on my roll. Try...http://www.tuscanydesign.net/craftbook and hopefully you will see Claire's lovely craft stuffs, and a few quilts. She has some cute craft ideas on the blog for those of us who might want to make some gifts.

I love this quilt....It's simple, it's cute and Claire says I inspired her to blog! What a girl!

It's a rainy day here although the weather is supposed to be great for the pot luck day. I'm going to rest up and sew the nine patches together....I hope. My girlfriend Cathy who was visiting from Florida has left after visiting for the past four days. We shared over 30 yrs of memories....once again!

IT'S SUMMER DON'T YOU KNOW?

It's summer! I'm enjoying it for the first time in it seems
years. Last year we had so much rain, no hot days, no
humidity! This year we have hot days, humid days and
some rains! Everything here is lush.


Last year, I had one hummingbird...this year there are two new babies that are eating us out of house and home!

They are finally able to land on the feeders without missing their footings, or landing and tipping over! I have had a few laughs at the young.

I finished this little quilt from all left over little squares that I cut and bagged in the winter. I practiced with the walking foot in anticipation of receiving the "spring quilt" back from the basting lady in Orillia.

I tell you, I am so challenged when it comes to directions. If it says "open here" I'm good, but trying to put the Janome walking foot into operation was a challenge! It took me ages of frustrating reading, trying and reading once again over and over to realize the "lift up" was the instruction that I was missing.

It works like a dream! I was sweating by the time I finished clipping the foot in! I'm getting Helen to direct me so that I don't age in the process of learning how to read directions!

This next week will be a busy one, we are having a pot luck supper at the cottage this coming Saturday. I just thought it would be great to have people come the the "First Annual Long Island Pot Luck Supper" at our cottage. All things going well, we will think of another for next year.

The cottage girl (formerly known as the new neighbour) designed an amazing invite for us to deliver, and the cottage guy (formerly you know who) printed them off. Great work and nice colours too.

So, we await the result.

I'm going to try and put the nine patch quilt top together this week. I'm thinking of so many things that I must be careful not to mix up any of the rows. So numbering as you know is tres (french for very) important. I'm off to do that today as Mary and Bob won't have a bed otherwise. The top is still in pieces there.

The girls from next door are off to camp for three weeks, the grandkids of Helen's who are here on and off are mostly off this week as their Jack plays lacrosse so we are without kids to have fun with....I guess the dog will just have to entertain me, but it's not the same!

PAN AMERICAN GAMES...

Well our grandson has made the team to go to the
Pan American Games in October, in Mexico City!

Now do you think I've been able to do anything but cry with joy? He's just an amazing kid who has such a talent and at 15 he will be the youngest member of the Canadian team!

Enough said of how proud we are. I just wanted to share this with my blogging "family". We are all so close that we do weddings, graduations, baptisms, or whatever else tickles our fancy.

Another great kid this summer is the grandson of my "private" teacher who is playing lacrosse for the provincial team here in Ontario....don't you think that family is proud too?

Don't you all have something to cheer about this summer? Be it just a little bit of news or big event stuff, we are always happy to know a bit about our lives in our journals.

The granddaughter has had her second radiation treatment on her tumor and is responding well. A bit stiff but she is back training and coaching too. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the third time will not be required.

Back at the lake, there appears to have been some pretty big storms around and some of the plants took a bit of a beating, though still standing.

I finished a little quilt today which is sort of a crib quilt and I'll be sending it off to the granddaughter of a friend who had a "miracle" baby girl...see all kinds of good stuff happening this week!

I'm putting the nine patch together starting tomorrow. It'll be as you saw in the last post...looks better now that I do see it after almost a week. I'm putting a six inch sashing around it all and using white on the backside too. White is might!

Then, I'm going to work on using my walking foot on the Janome. I gotta tell you though, I sure have a hard time following directions! It took me a half hour of putting the stupid thing together! I know how it works now, so bring on the spring quilt! I'm ready!

THE WINDS AT THE COTTAGE!

Returning home from the cottage on a Sunday afternoon is something we don't often do. Since the weather wasn't going to be ideal for a Monday return, we decided to do the drive on Sunday. Lots and lots of traffic, but still with the back roads that we know, we made it home in two and a half hours even with a couple of short stops. We were quite happy.

This is who we found munching grass in our back yard. I think he actually lives next door where they have lots of flowers and no dog. Our "stupid westie" didn't see the rabbit for about 3 minutes, till the little guy decided to high tail (no pun indended) it out of the yard!

What is with the weather? Is there tropical storms somewhere that we haven't heard of? In Canada, we will
get the remainders of some storms from the south, but not at
this time of year!

On Saturday, the wind was such that only the brave left the safety of their cottages. Now we are a large lake, deep too, so when the wind comes up there is rough waters. It's hard to take a photo to show the roughness in photos, but let me tell you....it was rough!

The neighbours, (no more new from now on) have lots of water toys, one of which is this trampoline tube...It was so rough that it's anchors couldn't hold it and the tube was dragged against the rocks at our cottage!

Not a fun time for the neighbours as this is a new tube this year and they don't come cheap I am told.

So after a lot of looking and trying to figure how to save it from being bashed and destroyed on the rocks, it was decided that the tube would be released from the anchors, a long rope
would then be attached, the tube would be pushed to our dock which would protect it due to the currents on the lake.

So, the cottage guy got into the water to release the anchor when the wind caught the tube and it looked like it was going to take off, so the cottage girl, jumped in to help. Not the most flattering photo of our cottage girl, what with the wet hair and all, but the two of them managed to release the said anchors!

Of course, just then Bob jumped in the water to help which was good as the wind was making it hard to manage the tube due to the winds!

Between the three of them, along with my sweetie getting an extra long rope on the tube, they managed to secure the tube to our floating dock.

It rocked and rolled over about a half dozen times at our dock
until the winds finally died down.

I didn't realize until this third shot appeared on the blog where the cottage guy was, I thought he was on the outside of the tube. They must have been tired after this effort. It took about a half hour to secure!

I tell you, I'm glad I've got the camera at hand at all times, as so much happens in an instant!

We are having a pot luck supper in a couple of weeks to get people on the islands together to share stories, get aquainted and of course have great foods! I'm sure that this tube story will be one of them since we delivered the invites later in the evening when the winds were somewhat calmer we were asked about the flying tube off the end of our dock!


My sweetie laughed about it as he said that this past couple
of weeks, we've not had a dull moment due to the wind conditions!


As you might have known, we've had Bob and Mary up to the cottage for the past week. I didn't get too much done in the sewing area, however, I did manage to finish putting the patches together.

This top is from a jelly roll that I've added white to just make it more of a summer quilt. It currently...not this final word...measures about 60" square.

I'm not sure I like it being matchy matchy as I look at it and am thinking about putting a white squared sashing in the top.

Do you understand what I mean? I'm not convinced that adding the border sashings will make me happy. I like symetry, just not this much I think.

It's been left on Mary's bed in her bunkie so that I can think on it when I return.

I tell you that life is so interesting these days! We are awaiting results to see if our grandson has made a national team for the Pan Am Games, or even on the team to train for Junior Worlds in Canoeing, his sister, our darling girl who kayaks is having her second operation for the tumor thing, she is also getting prepared for university, and I, note I am last here, am awaiting a date for the hip replacement in September!

Thanks to all who asked for the lovely article that Helen wrote about me! I am truly humbled, and for those who know me it takes a lot to humble me! Stop laughing....this did it!

I am still following Karen on her travels throughout the country as she and Mike are posting fabulous photos! Each year Karen, ie Karen Quilts on the blog roll does a great travel blog of the back country of the United States. Thanks so much as I do feel I am there with them....have a boo!

I'VE BEEN PUBLISHED!, THANK YOU HELEN!

I'll never complain of the price of raspberries again! See this little bowl? It took me almost an hour to pick? Mind you I wasn't in one spot, but just around the bushes on our property.

.

There is also for the first time in years, blueberries. I say that word loosely as these little suckers almost need to be seen with a magnifying glass!

.

If you look closely at the bottom of the bowl, you can see a few bits of blue. But having said that, the ones I got were delish.

Now in every situation that I have here, a dog or two is involved! Berry picking was no exception! When Quincey, who has the most energy of any dog I know, and loves to follow me around, saw me picking berries he decided that he'd get involved too!

.

He actually was picking berries off the bushes and since there weren't that many, he and I came to a big disagreement as to who is the alpha in this situation.

.

It was touch and go there for a bit as he is faster on his feet than I am, but in the end I managed after and hour to pick a bowl of berries and put them high so that he couldn't get them!

.

The raspberry must be picked by hand I presume, which is why we pay $2.99 for a half pint. I'll not complain again of the price...I promise.

.

I have been sewing the nine patches but still don't know how I will put them all together. I was actually thinking of placing them in a different pattern, with maybe all of one

colour together and drifting into the others.

.

I also have yellow pieces to this jelly, but I'm not crazy about it at all, so I could use it somewhere else.

.

This little suitcase which I keep at the cottage, actually have four in this size, I use to keep the ongoing project. It's handy and I don't make much mess while working.

.

They are very hard to find these days. I got this one and the other 3 at Goodwill many years ago for $3.00 each. I've been meaning to paint them up and put photo stickers of my quilts and the urethene over that....so much work and so little time!

So the suitcase stays as it is, very versatile. I use one for keeping all the needles, threads, patterns, and any other thing to put quilts or bags together.

.

The other two are full of fabrics that I may use.

.

I HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED! My friend Helen, my private teacher, don't you all know by now......well she wrote a little article about my quilting here at the cottage for our cottage magazine! I was so surprised and at first thought that it was about her wonderful works, but then I saw some of my quilt photos and wondered why she was putting MY quilts when it was about her.....well I read the first paragraph and realized that she had written about me!!!!!!!!!!

.

I was weeping as my sweetie came over to ask why the tears, so I told him to look! Then other people asked what was in the magazine which we were receiving as we are all members of the same association . I am now a minor star and I thank Helen for her lovely article about me.

.

If you want to read it I can send it to you as a pdf. She has given permission for me to send it to you all who want it.

.

ps....The "new" neighbours demand a name! How come we are the new neighbours they ask? After the storm of last week they read my blog for the first time! Loving it as they now do, I must come up with a name....I'm thinking on it and may have to use other minds to come up with just the right logo.

WHAT A STORM!

Don't you just love the long lazy days of summer? Yessiree...we've been having those for the past week.

.

Yesterday afternoon, while I was ripping out the nine patches to make other nine patches, I heard a flurry of activity at the humming bird feeder at the window....I looked up to see that the sky was darkening to the west!

Here is the storm coming on the first picture...I shouted to my sweetie to put his tools away as we had "a big one" on it's way.

I rushed to close all the windows in the sunroom, seven for sure right to the tops, the others were half way as the wind doesn't get to the north side much.

I had grabbed the camera so took this next on the deck

facing east as I was scrambling to cover the deck cushions.

The thunder was rolling in and we could hear it as it approached the island. The first clap shook the cottage. The dog, fearless little wonder, just rolled over and went back to sleep!

We were making sure that the windows were shut, praying that we wouldn't lose our hydro...(Canadian saying for power)

hoping that we had sufficently tied down the boats as the docks were really rocking by this point.

I couldn't get the large deck umbrella down, so my sweetie stepped out on the deck, the heavens opened up and he was drenched, but said afterwards that it's a good thing he got the umbrella down as it would have been ripped by the fierce wind!

So, he stepped into the cottage, dried himself off, and with the

lights flickering on and off, the thunder and lightning was so

loud...usually we get this kind of storm in the night...we were

looking out the windows watching the storm swirl around us

when we saw our neighbours deck chair floating by....then

another...

Of course I then went to the bedroom window, facing east and took this spectacular (don't ya think) photo of one of the chairs floating by.

Then, everything stopped....the sun came out, the lake calmed, the thunder could just faintly be heard over the Haliburton Highlands, and Algonquin Park which to the north and east of us!

My sweetie got into my boat, rescued the two floating chairs only to find that the other two chairs of the new neighbours had just ended up on their rocky shore line.

So into the water he had to go to rescue them and put everything in a safe spot.

Here's the two chairs on the rocks. No damage to any of the chairs, but I wasn't any help at all.....of course giving advice is what I do best anyway....so my sweetie put everything away and we both took ourselves back to our deck.

All of this storm took about 15 minutes....I can only imagine the time level people have for tornados. We had about 4 minutes to prepare from the time we saw the storm coming across the lake till it hit.

What amazed me was the lake! Our docks were rocking and rolling so much that we couldn't have gone on them to the

photo of the boat approaching the dock about 25 minutes after

it all passed!


The pic isn't the best as the sun was shining as we were coming back in.

Whew! what a day it was.

Today, we are in the low 70s F, to have a steady rain falling which has sent the heat wave on its way to whereever.

I'm working on my next series of nine patches to see how many I'll get done today.

Whew...another of my short blogs!

COTTAGE FLOWERS!

I started my annual nine patch quilt at the cottge today. Well actually a couple of days ago I made the strips, you know the shortcut method? Well guess what?

I didn't figure on enough white centres, so I've got a lot of blues left without centre whites or centre blues without whites on the side. I'm a great stitch picker, so this afternoon I'll be taking half of them apart.

.
Helen isn't here of course to show me the easy way of doing things, math being my mind blanking as usual.

But when I did the mauve (we pronounce it mo here in
Canada,) I thought half and half and it worked out! Thank
you my sweetie who guided me regarding half and half
centres white or prints.




This is the view from my sewing area. The bee balm, aka monarda which is a perennial that hummingbirds love, is blooming! Spectacular blooms for the next couple of months. It's so long blooming that I don't know why it isn't more popular!

.
The plant does love the sun though, so where it is on the septic bed is where there is the most sunlight. I also have lilies there to compliment the red, but lilies, as much as I love them don't last long. Exception is the wild orange ones that grow everywhere and I do have
those here as well. Daisies are always welcome anywhere, they are wild and I spread the seeds each year.




The bee balm also has scented leaves which can be dried to add to pot pourri.


I was reading one of the blogs yesterday where there was a brand new Bernina given as a gift from a wonderful husband to his lady!
.
Well of course after sewing for 30 years on a second hand Bernina, the new model was a thrill to say the least.

.
This morning while piecing, I was thinking of sewing machines and how much progress has been made to make our tasks so easy. I think that the automatic cutter is my favourite addition to the sewing machine. I have a Janome 6600 which I just love. Here in Canada we don't have Juki, or I'd have probably looked at that one too.

.
The second thing I do love is the table that I got with the sewing machine. Everything is level and I never get back aches any longer because the table is perfection for piecing.
.
Also noted on the new Bernina was the independent bobbin winder. I have that too, loving it as much as the lady does the one on her new machine.
.
I'm getting my Spring Quilt back this weekend, will save about $70.00 to have it basted. I don't know why the quilt shop in Oshawa wanted so much, but no matter, Helen will take it to her lady in Orillia.
.
Everyone has left the island this week. It's very very hot, so, my job has been to keep plants watered for the new neighbours and Helen's precious sun impatients. The weather is supposed to change overnight so the natural rain should help all of us. I do this little job as I know that if I left for a bit, one of them would look after my gardens for me.

Enjoy the season, it doesn't last long...all the veggies are at the roadside stands...can't wait till the weekend guests (Bob and Mary) arrive with the goodies!

BOTSWANA DREAMS!

I have a blogger friend "Giraffe Dreams" which I started to follow
one day when I noted the blog name....it's different.

I asked, why the name and she said that she loved the gentle
giants and had decided to call her blog after them.

This morning, I noted this lovely little wall quilt she has just made and it reminded me of Botswana! I didn't even know much about how she came to make the quilt, just the photo said it all to me. So, I've named it Botswana Dreams for her.

I just love the little houses, the whole colour compositions, the simplicity of it all, and most special.....the giraffe!


My cousin and her husband are in Botswana this summer and my cousin has posted this photo that she took of the giraffe that was so close to her she could have touched it!


What an adventure for this young woman and her family, the husband is a doctor who studies tropical infectious diseases or
something like that, but whatever it is the family is in Botswana!

We often watch "The Number One Ladies Detective Agency"
on HBO and the quilt reminded me of it right away as
the art work at the intro of the show is similar in colour





The photo of the giraffe and my cousin (next photo) reminds me of how different we all are on this planet.

My cousin has taught school in Malawi, she loves Africa and finds its diversity compelling.

So when we look at blogs, we see something in a name that catches our eye....have a look see, and we find what makes us all so different in this blogging world which is mostly quilters in our spheres.



The children are studying physics in this class. I noted how simple the classroom is and of course the uniforms that all children wear in most countries, except Canada and the United States.


I remember our visits to Caribbean islands and each village would have different characteristics to their uniforms so as to denote their village.



I awoke this morning around 6 am. yeah, I'm an early riser due to the dog thing...I stepped out on the deck
to find a huge orange ball in the sky, and one on the
lake also. It was hard to photograph as I was facing due east right into the sun.

I took about a half dozen shots trying to make it happen, so the best I could do was show this one.

It is HOT. I think when we reach the 30 celcius, or high 90s in degrees, what when we add the humidity, well it is up there for sure.

I'm not complaining, I'm just saying.

I don't know how everyone tackles the sewing on days like this. Mind you we don't have air conditioning at the cottage and everything is so sticky right now because of the humidity. Thank goodness for the fans.

Gosh, this blog was longer than I expected. That's what happens when I don't post very often.

I got a note from Amanda Jean....she has 16 projects on the go....16! I bogg down at one...but we agree we both love what white does....wait and see!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOTHER...91 YEARS OLD

My mother is ninety one years old today! She has lived a
long and varied life by any standard that we put out
there.

During her life, she has travelled, had adventures that we only dream of.

At the age of 52 yrs old, she packed up her belongings and moved to the British Virgin Islands.

There with very little money, she opened a beach bar, known simply as "Jill's Beach Bar". The beach bar consisted of a long bar, with a grill at one end and the liquor area at the other. She served killer lobster sandwiches which she more or less became famous because they were so good, and served the best Pina Coladas to go with it!

The photo on the right there is one of my favourite photos as it epitomizes the classy way my mother always dressed. She has loved clothes all of her life and was very very particular about dressing. Even now, in a nursing home, I must be careful that everything that she has must match and be easy
to mix with everything else. It's a task, as I'm not at all
like my mother in dress style.

But oh, I love this outfit she has on, look at the shoes
and the turbin with matching purse...does it not remind

you of the old black and white movies where everyone
had such style?

So the very tropical scene on the right is the view my mother had from her beach bar for almost 20 years of her life.

She met many famous people, many people that just loved going to her beach bar, and even Jimmy Buffet used to bring his guitar and play for free on Sunday afternoons while his boat the first "Savannah Jane" was at anchor!

There is a story that Hamburger in Paradise comes from this little beach he loved so much!

Nowadays, no one could possibly go, with about $2,000.00 life savings in their pocket and do what she did. For many years my mother and I have travelled to this island, sat on this beach and remissed about her life in the simpler times, before the huge cruise ships, when only sailors would arrive, before the internet, when the roads were hardly passable to come over the mountain to her paradise!

I view myself, along with my daughter Kelly, as the keeper of her memories!

Happy Birthday to a grand old lady.

THE BIG BUNKIE QUILTS

This is the "new" bunkie as it's known, or also called Bob and Mary's bunkie as they use itmore than anyone!
.
We were having my favourite sister in law come to visit so this quilt was for her. Her birthday was in May but she and I just didn't manage to get together till this day.



The bunkie actually has a two piece bathroom in it. The sink is the same size as one finds on an airplane. It is the
favourite place for people to stay if they must get up in the night to do their business, if you know what I mean.
.
The quilt is just a strippie to keep her warm when she
is reading or watching TV. She was surprised to find it
as I hadn't told her of her surprise!
.

The bunkie has a queen size bed, a set of bunk beds, the little washroom, a large bookcase for storage and a huge window for people to look out onto the lake.




.
The bunkie sits just to the left and behind the cottage. The views are wonderful from its little deck and the bed when reading in the morning.
.
Do you read in bed? We all do here at the cottage which accounts for at least six, yep, sex pillows on each bed.

.
Of course when the bunkies fill up with kids, the cots and mattresses use up the dozen or so pillows that are in the bunkie.

.


.Last summer I made a reproduction nine patch for one of the bunk beds. It was a labour of love as was the one for Kim, my SIL.

Aren't all quilts a labour of love?

No one who visits usually puts the louvres down at night because from the bed the stars and satellites are viewed because the window is 14 ft high! When the moon is shining though, it's bright as day in there which bothers some people.



I bought some new spray basting glue. It's like Gorilla Glue! I had to really work with it. Thank goodness it was just a small quilt!
.
The directions said after 3 minutes it would adhere. Well it was more like 3 seconds! I had to really work it a lot. I didn't clamp anything as it's a crib quilt, so usually it's pretty easy to do this way.
.
Our weather for CANADA DAY is cool but bright. We are expecting a gang for the weekend. Steaks are out for the Saturday feast!
.
Today we will change all the beds as our guests leave, and new ones start arriving. Whew, I'm going to be busy, but we are having pizza for dinner so that's easy.

Our granddaughter Alex is here for a couple of weeks, is very helpful. Yesterday was a bit of a scare as she ran out of gas in her boat, and learned the lesson of not standing up in a boat to paddle. She fell overboard, hauled herself out but was very chilled. A neighbour saw her getting back into her boat, brought her back to the cottage.
.
We towed the boat back, so a lesson was learned....check the gas gauge before going out in the boat and never, ever stand up in the boat to paddle!
.
Canada Day and the July 4th for our American friends....always fireworks during the next few days!