A PERFECT FRIDAY AT THE COTTAGE!

 At the cottage there are days when life begins to take shape with perfect images of the sun.

When Mary and I got up she was searching for the cameras to get the sunrise over Dennison Island which we face.   Isn't this something?   It wasn't hard to take, just a shot from the big Canon Rebel with the telephoto lense.

The lake was so calm, not a ripple.  It was hard to tell which was up or down when looking at some of the  shots I took of the lake. 

Of course, wait 15 minutes and life changes here.
We had very high winds most of the day with
the docks rocking and rolling.

Helen's sweetie had to go out in the winds to rescue friends whose boat lost power and to add to that someone had tipped their small sail boat and he did that rescue on the way back to his rolling dock!

Then, dinner at the neighbours who set this table to serve an amazing watermellon salad as starters.  I'd never
had watermelon salad and it was yummy.
Who doesn't love beef tenderloin with
veggies done to perfection.  Wonderful
evening and the lake was back to calm
with none of the rains that threatened.

Earlier in the day we had tea at Helen's where she is making a loving quilt for a very sick friend.

Her fans are amazing to see.  She is using mono filament thread to attach the fans.  It's hard to see the stitching.  There will be twenty fans to the quilt.  She has decided to use a yellow sashing around the fan squares.

You've seen my teeny tiny studio, well Helen's is no different.  Her cottage has an antique dining table which anchors her quilting studio at the cottage.

She has a carrier for her sewing machine and table that travels back and forth from cottage to city with her.

It's September.  One wouldn't know it for the weather here as it is warm and balmy.  Very humid in fact but we, here in Canada do not complain of the warm weather days of September.  They are gifts. 

Being the long weekend, I of course didn't post this on my Favourite Friday things, but it was a perfect day to be remembered.  Sorry Shay.

My daughter called to chat, was interrupted by one of her day care girls who told her that her clothes had leaked while she was sleeping.  She couldn't find the "tap" to turn the leak off.   We howled.  Fiona had never had an accident since she was trained, so didn't remember that things do happen.  I could hear Kelly telling her that it happens to which Fiona expressed surprise!   Too cute not to mention for my memoires.

GETTING CHRISTMAS GOING! AND OTHER THINGS....

 My friend Mary and I are making Christmas place mats.  Here is the first two of twelve that we are making for our "country" theme.   Mary loves her tables set with a theme so this is part of her idea to make our holiday table really sing this year.

I've not made one quilt this summer!  I don't know where time has gone.  Honestly, it's not that I've done so much,
but I've not done anything.  The mats are
the first thing I've done!  Hard to believe.

Ok no excuses maybe, but the granddaughter has been busy winning medals at the Canadian championships and we were there.  My sweetie yelled so much that he had no voice for two days and is actually still recouping from cheering her and others on.

We also moved her to her new digs in
Ottawa.  This is her second year at University so she is renting an apartment with three other girls.  Such excitement!

On the weekend we also cheered the young guy with his arm around his "Nana" after winning a gold medal.  He is such a nice kid.  He's been so busy this summer along with his mother, my daughter who was one of the many volunteers for the
regatta that we attended that we hardly
saw her at all.  So Jeremy took a quick trip
home today and brought his mother flowers.  So thoughtful and his mother was thrilled to pieces.

On the homefront, here is the work crew assembling and getting ready to install the new top for my boat which will also have a plastic wrap around to keep us out of the weather this fall when the winds blow cold.

So many of us are getting ready for the new school year.  We could see U Haul trailers on the highways this passed  weekend.  All heading to new places for so many students.

The lake has hardly any activity on it at all.  The odd boat goes by and we wave to acknowledge life on the lake.

The humming birds are going crazy getting fatter and fatter getting ready to head south.  The nights are cooler too.  It is coming fast, that cooler weather.  We see the leaves just starting to change colour.  A sure sign.

A BATIK QUILT BY HELEN

 You all know my friend Helen here at the lake who has been teaching me for about four years now.

Well Helen loves quilting!

It's one of her passions as you can see from another project completed this summer.

This is for a young man who is going to high school in Toronto, at a boarding school, so this is to keep him warm as he studies!

My friend Helen, does lots of hand work, embroideries that are tiny, intriquate, the right side looks the same as the wrong side.

She makes patterns, she loves the challenges of my
asking, about this and that.  Well now she is doing a fan quilt, which was an idea we discussed this summer.

This is Helen, a beautiful woman with a beautiful set of hands that do wonder works with a needle and thread.

She knits very difficult patterns for the challenge of it all and does simple works for people in need.

I'm very fortunate to have her close to me to aid and inspire.  Thank you Helen.

TORNADO WARNINGS, RAIN, WIND...WHAT TO DO?

 Well, I got creative...Look at the kitchen mess!  I decided to bake!

Obviously I haven't done this in a long time, but honestly in less time that it took to make the butter tarts....see below,,,, the kitchen was totally cleaned.


Thanks to a dishwasher which takes only 13 litres of water to do all of the above mess, I was free to relax.

When we came to this place we call home now, we never ever thought of a dishwasher..not at a cottage I said...well a new kitchen and research of how much water goes into the septic system....voila!

The dishwasher is what every visitor says is so neat about coming here when cleaning up the kitchen. 

Only we women know what a mess we can make as we cook/bake whatever.

So, today, a terrible day at the lake, winds howling, trees bent, and tornado warnings on the radio to just make our day that much more stressful here since  we are alone on the island.

So, first our granddaughter Alex wanted crispy macaroni and cheese...note the butter.  It will be crispy.

Then, since we are going away for a few
days tomorrow and of course I have peaches, I made the little loaves of peach bread.  Came from Southern Cooking site.  I will let you know how it turns out as we haven't tried any  yet.

Then, because my daughter has been bugging and bugging for butter tarts, I made some.  No one that makes tarts like these can't get away without the stickies.

So, when we leave tomorrow for a few days
to see the grandkids who do sprint racing in canoes and kayaks (you know those two),we are taking tarts.

They will be surprised.

Oh and just so you know, the warnings have just been lifted for our area, but the winds are still rocking our boats such that we cannot go onto the docks to check them.

And how was your day?

DID YOU WONDER WHERE I WAS?

I've been at my friend Mary's for a week.  I didn't plan on staying that long, but car trouble warranted an extended stay.

Fortunately the trouble was warranty work, but unfortunately they didn't fix the problem.  So I'll take it back soon.

This is an old appliqued quilt that Mary gave me.  It fits the queen size bed in our little bunkie as it is known.

The quilt is probably about 60 years plus old.
It belonged to her father in law's family and although there isn't much history about it, Mary suspects that it was made by the same person that made the beautiful fan quilt that is my favourite quilt of all time.

You will ask about these couple of photos and the sight thereof.  Well, this is what we call the "little bunkie" for no other reason than it is 18 x 10.  Not big, but very effective as the bed overlooks the lake, with the stars at night illuminating the lake view.  It is a favourite of all who don't have the need to get up in the night if you know what I mean....otherwise the big bunkie with the two piece is favoured.

We keep all our water toys in here and as you see, we do a lot of water skiing.  It is not unusual to have two or three skiers up at one time, hence the need to have the skiers able to be accomodated.

Also in the bunkie is a cot size bunk.  It was built by my sweetie when we first came to our lake.  We made the bunk cot like as we couldn't have fit 36" wide singles in the space.  Now, we mainly use the bunk to store coolers, ropes, bags etc so I'm not showing that, but it is neatly piled.  If we need the space for young ones as our grandkids are now too big for the bunk, we put the mattresses down on the floor.  There is a tv in there with many old vcr movies.  Always favoured by any one who goes in there and says that they remember this and that...

The summer has gone by so fast...goodness we are almost into September already.  The hummingbirds are getting fatter and fatter getting ready to head south.  I think they may need a piggy back ride....while I was away my sweetie was here and couldn't believe how much sugar we go through to feed six little birds!  

I was driving up highway 35 today returning to the cottage and I could not believe it but there is a hint of autumn in the air as the maples are starting to pale and lose their colour of green!  Noooooooooooo!  I'm not ready!   I love summer!

We are in for some weather to coincide with the hurricane that is in the southern US or at least the tropical storm as it is becoming.  The lake is rough, the wind is up, and the birds are going crazy, a sure sign of something coming.  

That's good as I have for the first time ever a Christmas project.  I don't usually do anything till the middle of November as I don't get into that spirit thing till then.  Well, Mary isn't like that....she has gifts already!  OMG!  Who does that?   Anyway, our theme this Christmas....yeah...a theme...is country.  Well elegant country as I can't get too much into the greens and reds etc.  So we are planning and I have work to do.   I will post the fabric later this week when I've got fabrics out.  

On the way to the cottage I stopped at the Menonite co op and bought the first super sweet corn of the season!  That's part of the meal tonight.  It's that time of year here in North America where so much food is available that we should all think about our blessings as we savour the bounty.  The abundance is overwhelming, really when one thinks of it as everywhere we look there is so much corn, carrots, beans yellow and green, cucumbers, tomatoes of all kinds and the fruit trees are almost touching the ground with their harvast....we are truly fortunate.

But I'm not ready for summer to end.  I love summer!

OHIO STAR...A HELEN CREATION AND LABOUR OF LOVE!

 Here is Helen's labour of love for her
daughter Marci.

This quilt, Ohio Star was started by Helen a number of years ago.  It is hand pieced, hand quilted.

Marci loves blues and this beauty has taken a long time to make because it is so large and Helen's fingers needed  lots of rest between putting the pieces together.

The quilt has silk batting which Helen
said was a dream to quilt as the silk was so light the quilting needle just slipped through it.

This quilt was done with a quilt hoop. I first saw this a few years ago when Helen had it on her lap here at the cottage.  At the time, I had no idea the true meaning of hand quilting.

The label denotes Marci's loving nic (?) name of Marci Mouse.

So for all of you who know the true meaning of quilting.  This is for you.

The beautiful photos were taken by Helen's sweetie and Helen around their cabin in the woods of their cottage....a perfect setting.




















 

WONKY STAR AND WONKY THOUGHTS

 I was looking for a Wonky Star pattern.  The  Sillyboodilly blog has an excellent tutorial. I also wrote to thank her for it and for using her photo yesterday without linking as I can't figure that out!  Yet.

So getting my thoughts together without seeking Helen's advice regarding patterns and such, I went ahead and made this one.

Well, you know you make one and it looks like it works, well when four or five get put side by side....it's a WHOA moment.  So I finally asked my private teacher Helen for advice....she said "oh this
is so YOU!"

I wonder what she meant?  In any event,
I've cut out 15 blocks so of course, I need
to put some sashing to at least make it
worth doing.  The dark blue might just
be the ticket.

Why do I do this to myself?  Well the good thing is that my sweetie loves the colours!  Really?

I thought it would be a good thing to make muffins out of my rhubarb coffee cake recipe....didn't work as you can see.

But no one seemed to care, as the first bite was a  "so what" moment...they are still truly yummy.   Another lesson learned this summer.

I have this flower in my beautiful pots.  I think it's a verbena but can't place it.  Do you know?  It really is a beauty but there aren't many  in the pots.  It appeared about a week ago.

Okay....I read that one can never have enough stash.  I now believe it!  I have a cedar chest full of odds and sodds of fabrics which just don't match to my minds eye...Helen is not surprised at this.

I think I need more white or yellow to make some tops to get rid of some of these unwanted or unloved fabrics.  Shopping is in the forcast!

The weather has gone somewhere else today.  We are going to have some serious rain I suspect.  The humming birds woke us up this morning to fighting and yelling at each other.  They just never learn to get along....and to boot, there was a couple of squirrels egging them on at 5:30 in the morning.   I wanted to close the windows there was such a racket.  

Our neighbours have gone home for a few days.  It always feel strange when the lake becomes quiet after the activities of the last couple of weeks.  Here in Canada the last week of July and the first week of August is the time when people take their holidays as there is a stats day in there so everyone in the country gets a long weekend, which means an extra day. 

The holiday is called Civic Weekend.  It celebrates not much but fireworks and a day off for Canada is a great summer excuse.  In February we get Family day in Ontario.  I really think we get it because from the first of January till Easter there wasn't a long weekend...How great is this Country ...eh?

MONDAY IS WASH DAY

I got this photo from the Sillyboodilly blog.  The photo was on a "wash day" photo file....  It's about washdays here at the cottage, which like my mother before me I like to do the big ones on Monday.

Since we are on septic system here, as so many people who live int he country are, I thought I'd try and do something a bit different for washings as we really can't use bleach in the septic or as
little as possible at least as bleach kills the bacteria
in the system.

Last year a miracle happened!  I discovered that
the TV ad regarding Oxiclean is just what it says
it will do and it's relatively safe for the septic.

We have a ten foot umbrella on our deck which
over time went a bit green and gray from mildew
and just plain dirt.

So, we thought we'd need to take it to the
commercial laundry to clean it, but when we
took it down, we discovered it was light and
fit into the washer very easily.  I put about
half a cup of the Oxiclean, let it soak about
two hours with a cup of Tide.  Let me tell you
that that umbrella came out like new.

I am totally hooked on Oxiclean.  Whites are
whiter and the stain remover is awesome too.

Now, Tide has been a different matter.  In my previous home we had a front loader.  I used any detergent that was on sale and liquid which was so much easier to use.

Well, the front loader stank to high heaven, so what to do.  I read that Tide...more expensive too...granuals...in a box...would eliminate all the oders.   It did and I also used less than required as we had a water softener.  The water here at the lake is also soft....so less soap, and of course the mighty Oxiclean in whites...

It takes out mustard stains too, which I learned from not spreading mustard neatly on a sandwich....yeah all over my Tee shirt...out with Oxiclean.

I read that Tide was first advertised in 1949...Proctor and Gamble advertised it on the Red Skelton show...remember that?

So, today is washday, my clothes are blowing in a wonderful breeze that we have today, very little humidity so how good is that?

I love summer.

SUMMER IN FULL SWING AND BLOOM!

It's hot August nights and also the days.  Other than having had a very dry season, we are so enjoying these summer days.

I love lilies...I have a few varieties on the septic bed to go with the bee balm or monarda as these red flowers are called. 

The humming birds have been going crazy eating from the bee balm.  That makes me so happy.

The flowers are what one sees coming out of the bunkie/cabin  in the morning.  Isn't that a sight?  Even if it is a septic bed, I've planted perennials there for colour.  I love this photo taken by our nephew Jamie who has such a touch for photography. 

This is the bunkie that has a two piece in it.  The sink is almost the size of what one would see on an airplane, only in white.  I have heard it said that one can sit on the toilet and brush their teeth at the same time...it's that small/big take your choice.   But everyone loves the feel of this little place.  It''s cozy, simple, and private for those of us who must rise in the night for business.

We have finally got our granddaughter Alex to get up and water ski.  She has passed her swimming lessons and with the confidence gained, got up to ski around our lake.  We are just thrilled about her accomplishment.

The lake temperatures are in the mid 20s/70s and
this summer season is the best in ten years I swear. 

Even this old body of mine has been swimming more than ever.  I think I've been in the lake more this year than any other that I could remember.  I am pain free and able to just climb that ladder so easily.

Final photo shows our nephew Jamie doing an incredible cannon ball into the lake!  The way to get young children used to the lake is to take action photos of jumps and turns and cannon balls.

At the cottage of Jamie's the kids don't have a deep jumping spot, so this was so fun for them although I am only showing Jamie as he loved having photos taken of him instead of him being the photographer.

The quilting has taken a back burner in these past days as there has been so many visitors, action on the lake and heat.  I had to turn the fan on so close to me to get air and it was too warm for comfort.  I'm not complaining here, just saying.

I love summer.  I love summer. I love summer.

OUR ANNUAL POT LUCK SUPPER.

 Well our second annual pot luck supper went off without a hitch once again.


This little package of goodies was provided by the "Prydes" with enough packages for each of the families in attendance.  It's a "Christmas in July" gift.  Mary, my co hostess distributed the packages
to each family as they were leaving. Everyone thought it was so cool.  


Considering that Pauline's husband damaged his knee in the morning and wasn't able  to attend, however Pauline, the maker of it all did come to have drinks.


The count this year was 69
so that says it all.  Everyone
brought wonderful foods and
the tables were overflowing which as it should be.


The table photo which is empty in the photo was so full, unfortunately so much was happening that I didn't get a good photo of the feast.


My sweetie wore his Jam's shirt.  I think next year we may do a contest for the loudest shirt which his was.


But that's not what we do.  We do hats!


This year the hat was a 
fastinator won by Evelyn
which was the fastinator of
all fastinators!


It was a no contest!  She won the helmet that the winner from last year presented her with instructions that it must be displayed in a prominent place at her cottage.   

As you can see, there were a lot of people in attendance which made for great conversations.


The party was over by about 8:30 when all boats departed to see the fireworks.  The fireworks display was fabulous with about 40 minutes of non stop action.


The highlight for me of the day was seeing about 350 boats bobbing in the water, with all the families awaiting the booms of the spectacle.  Then when it was over the lights of all the boats turning and heading for home...just a wonderful day.

WONDERFUL SUMMER DAYS!

Last week I started a new quilt block which was the same as this favourite quilt that I have.  Every time I bring this baby out, there are raves for the look of it.

So, I decided to make another that is more suited to the "new" decor at the cottage.

I used  some greens that I had from
my stash.  I used the centre block of blue with brown and green dots to set off the rest of the blocks around it.  I've laid it out the way it will be finished as there are only nine 18" blocks that make this quilt up.  The quilt is from a design that was in a magazine that Helen gave me a few years back. 

It's from Quilters Newsletter, April 2009 issue in case you wanted to know.
It's an easy peasy block and goes together so quickly because of the cutting techniques. 

I have some fabric left over so may do some fancy back which could make this quilt pop.

The weekend temperatures were just perfect!  The water temp was at least 80 degrees F and wonderful for jumping off the end of our dock.

To get people to really jump into our lake, I take photos of crazy jumps, dives, and cannon balls!  This is our nephew who brought his family up for three days of fun!

Their cottage doesn't have a deep dock, so all of this was new to them and they practiced jumping for the camera with many funny shots.  But since Jamie brought his family to us, he gets the first photo.

We have finally had rain.  Today it's humid with more rain expected.  We have a total fire ban on in our area despite this rain as it's been almost a month since we've had a deep rain in the area.  We are lucky that no fires have errupted what with the lightning we've had.   Don't you just love a good lightning and thunder storm?  Our dog doesn't even move, although some dogs just shake with fear.  We have a westie....no fear from this terrior...he rules the world!

FAV. THINGS. FRIDAY! FANS!

 We have had a massive heat wave for the passed week in Ontario and the North Eastern US.  At the cottage we don't have air conditioning because except for this year, we've never needed it.  Maybe one day each year it gets really really hot.  Well this fan that is in the sun room does it all.  It gives air.

Isn't that what fans are supposed to do?  Well I put the fan on high yesterday.  It is the first time I've done this, ever.  The temperature reached over the 100 degrees F.  The humid weather made it so uncomfortable that even
the birds weren't flying.  Except this little
woodpecker that was obviously learning the "fanning" techniques to enable him to stay in the air.  He flew by me so close that I felt the wind from his wings.  Very cute.  He is on the tree on the right.  Looks like a little branch, but he's there.  Hard to take a photo of birds. 

The humming birds were even scarce because of this heat.  What is
with that!

Well, with the fan doing its job, I started a new quilt.  I love this pattern as it just uses up fabric!  I have odds and ends of fabric that I swear I'm not buying anymore till the colours are used up.  Except for white, which I love.

I love black too, but I find it hard to see when sewing.  I've seen a navy fan quilt which I just love, but know the dark colour will not work with me.

Have a great weekend all.  Ours will be busy as we are expecting three kids who love to fish!  Should be fun.

HOT, HOT, HOT....

 I know it's summer and it's supposed to be hot!  But this is crazy...weather is in the high 30s, or high 90s for those that follow different readings.

With the humidity its in the 40/100 range,  that's hot.  

The dog is fully recovered from surgery and has been on the hunt at
our friends' house which has the
beautiful pond with lots of fish that
also hunt.   The pond is home to about 7 frogs and 20 fish.  It certainly makes for a peaceful coffee place in the mornings.

We were in the city for our summer family wedding.  Our niece was married last Saturday in the city.

The affair was fabulous, as was the bride of course.  It was the happiest day in the life of her father.  The mother of the bride could become a wedding planner....I swear!

I took front and back photos of the dress.  A beauty of a dress and the bride could move in it very well to dance and walk about.  Some brides are enveloped in their dresses.  Not Carlie...she changed to summer flip flops as did the bridesmaids and they had a ball.

The groom who is the step son of an old
friend...how small is the world?...said that
all he had to do was buy a new suit and
show up!

 That's about all we had to do too...show up!

As we have returned to the cottage for about ten days of company, we are resting  as we prepare...also it's too hot to do much.  

It may be too hot to sew, although my head is spinning with an idea for a quilt, so I may go to the matt!

TEENY TINY SUMMER STUDIO! ...

This is the summer studio.  How tiny is that?  See the green antique suitcase?  Well it holds the threads, needles, extra notions that just works fine for me.

The two bins hold fabrics and batting.  On the wall are hung the rulers, scizzors and you can't see it but the extension cord for the iron.

The black quilt I finished this week
from the Wallmart jelly from the
winter.  I have the larger one to finish yet.  I can't find the batting which I packed, I thought.  So I must buy batting unless it surfaces.

I decided to do a yellow backing and give the back a bit of a boost also, which makes the whole thing very
cool for a kid I think.

When I was quilting, I thought I'd try the elusive walking foot which made me happy that it works fine.

It certainly looks better in real time, but don't they all?


The room has another large piece
of furniture which stores every-
thing from soup to nuts as storage is at a premium here at the cottage.  I have no idea where to put my finished quilts!  There isn't room in the cupboard which has about a dozen cans of spray glue.  I forgot that I had so many and a friend gave me two which she thought she owed me....I will need to store these come winter as I don't think they freeze well.



Then, I thought, why not do the Helen
trick and put the quilts on the line.

The one little problem was that there wasn't a wind.  Typical of my thinking.  In any event, here is the last nine patch that I think I will ever make.  I just decided this, as I have been making one each summer.

The back of it is white.  No point in boring you with the details of white
background.

This little quilt is for my friend who belongs to the red hat society.  Actually more pink than red, but I thought the lake layout was pretty.


Typical of me again, I'vedownloaded the great room and quilts all mixed up, but since the photo op took about a half hour to download, here is the other
side of the room.


It's a sunny afternoon so I should be outside.  I'm going there now.

I even bathed the dog today as we are going home Friday for our wedding of the summer. 

The brave little guy is back to being stupid as Westies can be.  Actually, not stupid but very stubborn, not too much different from this owner's point of view.

Have a great weekend.