THE FINAL DAYS OF THE KNITTING SEASON!

I think I blogged about this shrug.  The first one I made would have fit a six year old, it was that small.

Well you know me, I am not afraid of anything!  So, I spent 2 1/2 hours almost taking the whole thing apart  and adjusted the tensions and came up with this.  It is now able to fit a body!

This girl (aren't they all nowadays?) was staying in a little villa for the weekend and modeled it.

It does still require a stick pin of sorts to finish it off, but it fits. 

If my butt wasn't quite as wide as it is, it probably would be good, but having said that, I am giving it to one of my granddaughters.   I tell you that patterns just do not turn out quite what the knitter expected, or they make mistakes in their writings.  Anyway it does look pretty good in real life.

The next photo was the  model on Lionbrand pattern, and there is no way this girl is above a size 2!

Also not included was a rear view of her skinny body.  Who
looks like this and is this size? She must have been six foot two!

I have made a few prayer shawls, which have been sold,   that was good as I have no idea what I would have done with them.  I have one which I use and others would have just taken up space.

I am surprised how many women don't know how to knit simple stitches, so next year, there will be a knitting group here in Florida.  Lots of sales, and lots of students to make simple, but effective things.


The prayer shawls were inspired from seeing photos of the Sandy Hook murders, and women wearing them.  It was fitting.

I have knit at least 10 pairs of socks!  Gave most of them away.  Socks for men, who now tell me that they think of me every night that they put them on!  Oh swell for me!

This pair is what my sweetie got.  Left overs of course, but  he doesn't care as long as he has them.  I even cut off the cuff of a pair and added new feet to them as the cuff take such a long time to knit....it seems to me anyway, so making the feet is half way done!


We have had so much fun here, but our days are down to single digits as by Friday the season is over at the Pineapple Villas.

We are down to the final eight, from the winter count of 20 of us.  Yes, spring must be just around the corner.  There have been double digit temperatures in Canada, and we count the days till we return to the cottage.

I tell you, we better get going as my sweetie has started doing a few things around our unit, fixing things here and there and complaining that he should have brought tools! 

Time to go from here.  We are heading south for a couple of weeks to a more holiday atmosphere and then we should be back in Canada.

BUYING FRENZIES IN FLORIDA!

 The Missouri Star Quilting Co, sends me a daily deal!  Some are really hard to pass up for the 99 cents that is charged for charm packs.  Add $5.00 for delivery etc. I then look forward to the post delivery.

I have more of the charms, but didn't want to bore you with all the eye popping colours I've bought.

I love the Moda Ocean View as it is very nautical and has of course my flip flops, (thongs) throughout the pack.  I love this so much!  

I saw the same on Green Fairy Quilts sale this past weekend, and bought two more.  I know, I know, but the ideas running in my head of what to do with all the new stash is keeping me awake! 

Unless items are on sale, I just do not need to buy.  I find that fabrics are actually a bit more here than in Canada, so yardage hasn't been my big thing. And we buy in metres which is bigger.

I got the jelly as a daily deal also, and it has so many brights in it that I was giddy when I opened the package on Valentine Day.  And to make it really special, my sweetie was singing karaoke "Lady" during my package opening.   It was a good day!

I think people know I love flip flops, so my friend Mary who is here also, found these little wine charms!  Are they not just the cutest things?   I have them in the package still so as not to lose them.  Blurry a bit, but you get the idea.

Now, Mary knits.  She was like me last year getting sick of socks and fingerless gloves, so Helen (remember my teacher/friend from the lake) gave her a pattern for baby hats and Mary started knitting these hats. 

Well, then Mary made her adjustments to the hats and what you see is one of her many lovely baby hats that she has made.

Not only that, but she makes them in different sizes, colours, with never a one being the same....she has sold about 40 of them and still the orders keep coming!

So much fun for her as she can sit by the pool, watch TV, or whatever, her little hat projects are always near.

Today, Tuesday, is usually girls day out for breakfast and shopping.  But honestly, I have been so busy that I am opting out!  The weather is awful and building.  The seas are very very rough, we are expecting rain, and with the winds howling, I think it is not the best day to venture out. 

The pool which is just outside our window, I swear had white caps on it yesterday. due to the wind conditions.  But....we don't have snow, and for that I am happy to sit out the weather for a few days.

FLORIDA DAYS

 My days have been spent knitting while sitting at the pool.  Life is actually speeding up as we only have about five weeks left here on the Panhandle of Florida.  Then we move further south for a month by another pool, but close to a grand son who will be there.

The girls received these snuggies to keep them warm during their snow days in Canada.  They loved them!

You know it's hard knitting for young adults as style is everything.  I also gave Tory a watch which is called a snap watch as it just snaps on the wrist.  She is having her 21st birthday so she got the watch too!  Loved the colour, and the style too!

I have given and sold a few of the said scarves while here which was just a bit more money to buy more wool to make stuff.  I am sick of knitting socks, or maybe just sick of knitting and wish I was quilting.  Bring on spring I say!

I did make a shrug, which was to be a large, but will be lucky if it fits a size zero person as it turned out so small.  Not being an "expert" knitter, I didn't notice the sizing till it was almost finished.  And....to make matters worse I ran out of the edging about two feet from the end.  It might fit an 8 yr. old I swear and she better be skinny!

We also watch dolphins as you can see from the photo which was a lucky shot as I could not see because of the sun.  Lucky me.

Being Canadian, we watch the weather channel.  It is in out DNA I swear, no matter where we are!  So thankful to have missed all the snow and as you can see from the above photo, some people do like it though!  I looked for days at the storms affecting so much of the US and Canada and really was happy to not have to deal with it.


Here in Florida as else where in the world the texting while driving is crazy!  There are people here on vacation who are never far from the dreadful things!  Honestly, what did we ever do before all of this.  I fear we may all grow thumbs and forget how to talk.  I shall be the only person who wishes for a landline phone and hope that someone at the other end knows how to talk!

Downton Abbey is in its two hour finally tomorrow night so I shall be glued to the telly, and dressed for the occasion....just kidding, but I will be glued!

JANUARY DAYS IN FLORIDA

 The days here are filled with "abundant" sunshine.  It is what the weather network has been calling our days!

We were told before we came to the panhandle of Florida that there would be a much cooler climate than further south.  But honestly, I cannot complain at all.  The view of the Gulf of Mexico from our little villa is beyond belief. 

The dolphins continue to be
the source of almost daily joy to us snowbirds that live in this area.   The dolphin photo was just me clicking and clicking away.  The pod of dolphins amused us for about an hour and a half!  Bliss!

There was a woman here whose name was Nancy...and she brought her sewing machine and pieced this top while on vacation.  She did say that she wished she had cut her fabrics at home before she came here.    The quilt is for a little girl.  It is very cute.

Life has been good except for a persisting tooth ache this winter, so I am biting the bullet and going to a dentist here.  It is a situation where we contact our insurance company, find a dentist (done), call for an appointment, call the insurance company and they then call the dentist with a number....I think that is how it will go as we haven't used any medical problems at all.  I am in pain again, so we must deal with it.    Ah the perils of aging....the bloody teeth that I've paid thousands over the years....we shall see.

Thank you blogger for letting me post photos today.



BLOGGING PROBLEMS....AGAIN.

Oh, sometimes I hate blogger...now, unless I am in Picassa, which limits my use of its space, I cannot put a photo on my blog.

What is wrong with me?  For some reason, I have so many problems with blogging. 

Anyway, we are well and happy in Florida, am shopping online and in the shops around me. 

If anyone knows how to get my photos online without using Picassa, let me know.

Living here for the winter, life becomes one social event after an other.  There has been a big turkey pot luck dinner featuring the aforementioned bird, lots of veggie dishes and some amazing lemon squares.  I think we should be making a cook book what with the foodies talking about their favs.

The Elvis birthday party was a bit over the top, but a fun way for people to get together as an excuse.  One of the ladies here is an Elvisholic to the point that she has a life size of himself in white sequin suit.   Funny!

Yesterday our friends from Whitby arrived to lots of hugs and happiness.  The dogs were more crazy than the people.  My wild westie finally collapsed peacefully into sleep after about 15 minutes. 

Dinner of seafood is always my way of being happy.  Here we get fresh of everything and the oyster bars are being rated all the time when I find a new one.

from Florida, I send greetings.

DECEMBER DAYS ON THE BEACH

The seas are very rough, the storms were around us all day yesterday with tornado warnings in the area.  It was beautiful to see the Gulf of Mexico in its glory! 

I went for a walk along the beach in the afternoon and this was washed up on the beach...a sea sponge.   I had not seen one in years so it was a surprise.  I presented it to the staff here to see if they had seen one before.   Nope.  A new thing in their life.   Very interesting day indeed.

I am buying fabrics here and there, doing the Daily Deal on the Missouri Star site is great fun.  Quilton reminded me to buy the quilting clips the other day which were on for .33 plus $5.00 shipping was a great price.  I know people use hair clips etc., but these are going to help with the sewing of the bindings.

I do wish I had brought my sewing machine now.  I know that knitting is easy to carry, but I miss my sewing time.

I have knit at least a half dozen pairs of socks, and even a prayer shawl...I do need the fringes on it though to make it look proper.   Not that I pray, but these days here in the US, we are all putting the people of Newtown in our hearts at least as they must put together a future without 20 children and six teachers in their community.

I am flying home for Christmas to cherish and hug my family.  My friend Mary is doing the dinner which is always a wonderful feast for all expecially the blending of our families.   Merry Christmas.



Picasa Problems.

I have been having problems with Google and Picasa.  Normally, I  put my photos in Picasa for back up system.  ...Picasa uploads everything I put in my photos file. Then, when I try to post a photo on my blog, Picasa says.....sorry you've used up your space...what's with that?   Now I must cull and move and delete in order to be able to post on my blog.

The photo above is a bush blooming here

in Florida.  It is called Golden Rod Bush

for lack of a better name, so the lady who

owns it said.  She didn't know the proper name for it, but she had had no luck growing it in Atlanta which isn't too too far away from the Gulf coast.  It is absolutely beautiful and so yellow.

The problems with blogger is  that I cannot also post in paragraph...yuck.  Anyway the little critter on the beach is a shark egg casing.  Because of the surge of the sea this week, we saw hundreds of these on the beach.   I looked it up on the web and found that these little Ray looking things are the remains of shark eggs.  

 

Some shark species lay eggs, while others give live birth...the lessons we learn these days.

 

Today, since it is raining and fog surrounds our little abode here, it is Missouri Star Quilt shops free shipping within the US, so I think I shall spend some money.

 

Am still knitting socks, and also decided to do a "prayer shawl" to keep my shoulders warm on cool nights. 

 

 



ON LINE ORDERING

 When in Canada, to order online from anywhere in the United States, the delivery charge is $15.00  in US funds of course. 

So, here we are in Florida, and I am having so much fun.  The deal of "The Sweet Scoop"  daily deal from Missouri  Star Quilt company, delivered to Florida is less than $9.00 and not only that, they
have a daily deal.

This is my third order from them, others will be arriving. 

You can only order one at a time, so I set up an account for my sweetie and I can now get two of each of the deals.

It is less than the buying at a store for me.  I cannot find this kind of a deal anywhere in Canada. 

Here at our winter home, people come and
go all the time, but some, well some people stick in your heart and hopefully one will see them again.  Such is the new friends from Ontario who have been here a month.  Tomorrow is their last day!

The Snowbirds are arriving tomorrow afternoon for winter stays here in Florida.  Life will change and the afternoons by the pool will be much busier.

I am still knitting socks.  I have made five pairs in the last month, read a few books and walked my dog daily.  How come he looks fit and I still look the same? 

Have a great weekend!

SEQUOIA TREES OF SOUTHERN UNITED STATES

Being in Florida, I am knitting not quilting, surfing the web a lot on days that I don't have much to do.  Oh, every day is a not much to do day it seems.

The photos are from the National
Geographic Magazine that I
came across.

 I cannot imagine a 3200 year old tree (called "the President) still standing and not chopped down. 

The splendid photos are breathtaking.  For those that want to see these in real life, these were taken in Nevada.  I cannot imagine the cutting out of a tree to make room for a car to go through, can you?

As we approach the Thanksgiving here in the US, we see all around us, Americans getting excited about the holiday...I think the Black Friday sales and the football games are all part of the excitement I fear.

We are having a pot luck Thanksgiving lunch here at the Villas, which should be great fun.  I am taking photos of the feast which is tomorrow at 1 pm.



SELLING QUILTS..

I thought I'd see if I could sell a couple of quilts while in Florida. 

Well I am so surprised that they were sold as soon as the people saw them.   I had no idea what to charge as I suppose I view my work in a different light than others do.

Not looking for pats on the back here but
I wasn't prepared for the "how much" when
I brought them out.



So, I sold the green flip flop for less than the white one.  My friend Helen said that I had charged too little for the white flip flop, so I added when selling the green one.

The white quilt which is the little one on the right I sold for $50.00 now that was properly priced as it is about 36" square.

I think the flip flops is really popular here as everything about the property has some reflection of the shoes.  I can see myself having to make a few more for next year.

I looked in etsy this morning and the prices are from Gees Bend (!) pricing to what I consider good to sell prices. 

It is difficult to part with works of love, but I did it.  I still have my little Maine houses quilt which I didn't show, but I am sure that it will sell when the right people are here.

I am happy with the money as here in Florida, I can get free shipping for all US locations, and there is always Joann's sales.  I bought a large cutting mat there for $25.00 with a 60% off coupon.  The original mat is cracked.  Also bought a new cutter for half price.    The fabric prices are not too bad, but there is coupons available online for Joann's all the time and instore sales....I have some fun ahead of me!

Just a little story.  Yesterday there was a few of us by the pool, complaining of the weather but still hearty souls having cocktails, when a couple joined us who are from Illinois.  The woman was wearing a Notre Dame sweat shirt.  I asked how she got it and she said her granddaughter is in first year at ND. 

I sent an email to the neighbour's daughter who is there and now.....for the rest of the story.....they are dorm mates!  Got a picture and a lovely note from them!   Small world indeed.

WHAT WOULD YOU PAY FOR THIS?

 Okay, I went to Gees Bend expecting what I had seen on TV, had read in the book, then researched online.  At the Alabama State welcome centre there was a brochure telling about the Gees Bend quilters.  I paid $55.00 US for this 12 x 12" square.  

 For those of you who hand quilt, particularly, Quilts etc's Karen, you will see that the hand work is in very simple form.  I thought that it would be so different than what I normally see.  My friend Helen, makes very intricate patterns in her hand quilting, as does Karen and many of you who read this blog. 

 This lady who is part of the co operative was sitting on quilt tops, just place hap hazardously on an old sofa.  All the blocks were fairly large, not any different than what a 5" patch work would be. But nice bright colours.

 Now this quilt above, was really neat.  Used up lots of fabric and the colours were really out there, so I loved it.  I thought that this was really individual works.  

 You can see that this wood panel need refurbishing, so many of the other panels that we were told would be there were probably being repainted.

I loved these works.  More like what one would expect from the ladies of Gees Bend.  All works were in cotton, and very individual thinking in these quilts.  Again, simple stitches which here, were really effective.

 So, here I am in the store at Gees Bend, showing my flip flop quilt which they thought was wonderful...so polite and gracious.  So there ends my trip to Gees Bend.  I think, personally that their pricing is too expensive, too ordinary in the sense that they are producing what we are lead to believe is so creative.  I don't know about that and history will judge if these ladies can produce what their mothers and grandmothers did.  Personally, I don't think so. I think that someone is influencing or managing them saying that they must mass produce rather than create...the end of Gees Bend visit.

We have settled into our little winter paradise.  So far the temperature is just like summer days.  The pool here is warm, the seas too as many people have come for the weekend to enjoy the sunshine and the gulf breezes.

The  bottom photo is what greeted us as we arrived here in Laguna Beach Florida.  Flowers are still in bloom, very very inviting.

We called Canada this morning only to be told that the first sprinkling of snow has happened.  The only white stuff we have seen is white sand.  How lucky are we?

GEES BEND VISIT CONTINUED

 This quilt, which is signed by the quilters of Gees Bend is hanging on the wall of the community centre.  If you click to enlarge you will recognize some of the name of the original ladies of Gees Bend.   The new centre is beautiful, sunny and quite large.  Somehow though, I suspect that some of the ladies must miss the intimacy of the old building.  It is quite large, the new one that is, while the original building is small, and also closer to the centre of town.

 Here I am at the front of the store at the roadway with the old centre/store on my left.  The centre of the town is pretty much here.  Just around the corner from the store is a dirt road leading to residences.  Following the road we didn't see any more of the quilt signs, but did see that the one of the quilters had a road named after her.  Will post that at a later date. 

This is the mural of quilts from the stamps collection.  It is quite impressive to say the least.  It hangs in the store which has so many items for sale.  The quilts are very expensive just to tell you right from the start.  So if you go with the idea of buying a quilt, be forewarned.  I don't know who is in charge of the collective, but the prices are up there with mortgage payments!

The store or the Collective Center as it is called has room for a busload to view the video of Gees Bend on one side, and the sales centre on the other.  

We drove through the town which, on the brochure of Gees Bend that we picked up at the Alabama border said that there would be many of the original quilts displayed as I posted yesterday, but we only saw a few.  I think that they must have removed some because of the weather wear on them.

We are at the our "winter home" having lovely lovely Florida weather.  This morning the temperature is 54 degrees Fahrenheit but at 7:00 a,m there were three kids with their dad in the pool.  The father was still yawning as he got in the water!

Everything here is in tip top shape and so clean.  We are happy! 

GEES BEND VISIT

 This is the sign that met us as we arrived in the Gees Bend area.  To say that it is in the boonies is putting it mildly, but having said that, I am so glad that we went.  It was, for me looking at history of black women in Alabama who became world famous.  Little did they know when they started selling their quilts, what lay ahead of them.

 As we arrived in the little community, of which at the best of times there is only about 200 people, we started seeing these painted signs of some of the quilts that were on 2006 US stamps.  We drove along some dirt roads, then some paved roads till we arrived at the ferry crossing.  I went in to find out where to go to see the quilters, and the woman at the reception asked how many people we were.  I said that it was just me!  She said she rarely if ever remembered anyone coming by themselves.  Usually bus tours of quilters come to tour the site.  She told me that the Gees Bend Quilters were just about to have lunch and to come across the hall to visit. And she said that she didn't ever remember a Canadian visiting!

The lady on the left in red is Nancy Pettaway, the next lady is Lola Pettaway, and the other lady is also a Pettaway, but by that point I was so overcome to meeting them that I teared up and Nancy hugged me.  When I told them that I was by myself, other than my husband and dog, they couldn't have been nicer and called to tell the manager of the store to open it up as there was a lady here from Canada.  Can you imagine?  I asked about taking photos of them and said that they were probably used to having their pics taken, but Lola said not many people ask them about that....so, my next blog will feature the humble studio where the ladies sell their wares and what they thought of me bringing my quilts for them to see!

Yeah, I showed them a few quilts....that is a story for another day!

BEAUTIFUL OCTOBER DAYS AT THE COTTAGE

 We, being alone on our little island paradise this week have had the best of the best weather!

Shining sun makes for popping the hugest mum pot ever that I received from my darling daughter.  

We haven't even had the heat on in the day time.  Now that is something for this time of year.

Ok, it was so warm that we had drinks on the dock, what little there is of it.  I had to remove my coat after this photo was taken.  The red dog thinks I have beer!  It's wine, but he prefers the amber stuff from the can.  Too funny about that dog...

The lake levels continue to drop so much
that the little dock is almost on the bottom
of the lake.  Oh well only a few days to go.  Lake levels have dropped almost four feet!


Speaking of feet...  I tell you, I've been making socks for everyone but me so when I tried on a pair a few weeks ago, I could not believe how comfy they were.  I made this pair just recently, from a ball and a half.  Now what were the chances that when I attached the remaining wool that it would end up matching.  Unbelievable!  But the socks match, not that I care about this much, but it happened by magic!


The leaves continue to be so colourful, although no reds anymore from the maples as they are gone, but golds, pale greens, and rusts abound.  We took our docks over to little bay behind that boathouse in the photo.   

We are here for the last Friday of this year.  We expect to leave by Monday.  I wish it wasn't so, but the weather will change to the point that we will curse not having left sooner.

It has been the best of the best of years.  The weather was fabulous, I quilted to my heart's content. Blog land continues to make my life interesting.  Who could ask for anything more?

THE END IS NEAR

 Putting a photo on a blog is so important, but I am down to just a few days here, and other than taking photos of the wind on the lake, which doesn't show up well, I saw this one on the web and thought that it would be a perfect quilt!

That is if I could do applique with any sense of accomplishment.  It is my struggle with hand work that continues to evade me.  But the lady bug in the photo is quietly reflecting on her
days.

Me too.  This summer has been glorious for us here at the cottage.  The weather was fabulous, the water warmed early and stayed warm till the middle of September for those hardy souls who wake up and go jump in the lake as their morning constitutional.  Not me as I love a warm shower, but do admire those that don't feel the chill of jumping in the water.

The mums in the photo are mine.  A gift from my daughter when she came for Thanksgiving.  It is huge beyond belief.  It hasn't completely opened up yet, as we have had so much rain, so little sun, and howling winds.  

Only about a week or so to go and we will be off the island.  Our docks are mostly put away in the cove to protect from harsh winter ice, one is being repaired and that will be that.

We are the only people here that I can see.  We do have neighbours on the island just next to us who are still here, but they are also leaving next week.

The mornings are quite nippy, and a wood stove warms the cottage each day.  It means a lot of wood fetching I tell you, but when the sun is out, we feel the warmth in the cottage.  

I am starting to pack up, so much to do till we head to Panama City Beach area for the winter.