Gathering : saying goodbye

For supper tonight I joined a small group of co-workers at another co-worker's home for a small gathering to thank and say goodbye to this man in the picture below. He was the director of our paramedic program at the university. I say was, because he's leaving us. It's sad to see him leave because he is the most jolly person you've ever met and such fun to have on staff.



... and he bakes the best cheesecakes ever !... seriously.



The front view at the house we were gathered - spectacular !

My new quilt

Saturday evening as I sat on our back porch, sipping a nice cup of tea and watching the fire in the pit I thought about what blogging has done for me :

- it has inspired me to teach myself how to knit and I'm loving it (I read on soooooo many blogs about nice knitting projects that I could'nt resist, I wanted to do nice things for myself and my family).
- i'm trying so many delicious new recipes that fantastic bloggers are posting on their blog.
- i borrowed my daughter's sewing machine and have tried my hand at a few projects and I have many more on my list... again, because of the wonderful bloggers out there that inspire me every day.
- was already living a simple organic lifestyle before blogger but every day I read new-to-me information that I did'nt know of.
- met some new friends that I would'nt have met otherwise.
- but last Winter this wonderful lady and I became friends... because of blogger. We read each other's blog every day. In May I received an email from Barb asking me if I wanted the quilt she was working on. I had commented a few times on how much I loved the color combination she was using and that I loved her new quilt, etc. So when Barb realized her first quilt was not suited for the decor of her home, she offered to give the quilt to me. Was I speechless ? dah, yes I was and still am.

As you can see from the picture above, I accepted her offer. My quilt and I were reunited on Sunday. I love it ! as most of you know - I love any shade of blue. Barb made little white french knots here and there in the quilt - making it ever so special. Barb has commented to me last week that I had to be honest when I see my quilt in person and not be afraid to tell her if I did'nt like it.

I don't like it - i LOVE it ! I will cherish it forever just as I will cherish the new friendship I have with Barb.

(Check out her blog, she is one talented lady).

I know you're wondering why I have a winter hat on, right ? see above, my number one thing that blogging has done for me. I knitted this tuque in one day. I will modify the pattern when I knit another one ''soon'' to make it slightly smaller. I have a nice earth tone yarn to knit myself a winter hat for next winter.

Jam and anything strawberry

We've been having ourselves some jam makin' around here... strawberry jam that is. Below is a picture of the batch I made tonight, because...

... the first batch I made Monday turned out to be strawberry sauce. I played around too much with the recipe and it did'nt gel as it should have but it made a delicious strawberry sauce for making strawberry shortcake next winter and sauce over vanilla ice cream. Yum ! One thing that I learned - you have to be exact with your mesurements of ingredients when making jam.

So far this week (since we went to the U-Pick on Sunday) we had strawberry muffins, have 3 large bags full of whole strawberries in the freezer for making pies and smoothies next winter, strawberry sauce, strawberry jam and a whole lot of berries in cream... for meals. Yup, I said for meals with homemade rolls I made Monday.

Below - I could'nt resist, this is our honeysuckle right outside the window where I am presently sitting to be on this computer. I opened the window just to smell the aroma - it is heavenly.


Wishing everyone a good Thursday tomorrow !

Foxglove

Today was a good productive day but I'm having minor technical difficulties with my camera so I'm hoping I can post pictures tomorrow.

Good night everyone and don't let the bed bugs bite.

As mentioned last night, Dave and I left at 7:20 a.m. this morning for the trip to Halifax to return Puss to Ginette. The two pictures show the kind of weather we had most of the way going up - foggy and rainy. But I think we left the rain in Halifax because coming back it was cloudy most of the time but the sun showed it's pretty little face a couple of times (sorry, no pictures). It was nice visiting with our wonderful daughter for a couple of hours but she had to return to Moncton and us to find a few strawberries...


And, we managed to find a very nice ''U-Pick'' strawberry field. We got a flat of 8 pints for $13. Not bad if I may say so myself. I've already put two cookie sheets full in the freezer to freeze them whole, then I will store them in freezer bags for making smoothies next winter... and strawberry pies. Tomorrow it's strawberry jam making day - wish me luck ! There is something sooooooo satisfying in getting the pantry ready for Winter.


The owners of the strawberry field also had a fruit stand across the road. Next to their stand was a few animals that customers can go and visit. I had so much fun petting the animals and playing with the dogs (especially the black lab).





Stay tuned... I will post pictures of my new quilt. Which by the way Barb, I LOVE VERY MUCH! More on this tomorrow...

Strawberry fields

Dave and I are leaving at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning to meet up with our daughter in Halifax to return Puss. We will be sad to see him go (we've had him for a month) but his owner misses him very, very much and the time has come for him to go home.

On our way back tomorrow, we are hoping to find a nice pick-your-own strawberry field. Monday is strawberry jam making day (this will be my first attempt at cooked jam, I've always made the freezer jam). Forecast is for rain (yay, my smoke signals may have worked) so if this is the case we'll find a farmer's market somewheres and buy local strawberries.

So basket and carry-all are ready. The carry-all pictured above is from Frenchy's. Although I'm sewing my own bags lately, I could'nt leave this one behind.

Smoke signals... hoping for rain

I might be the only one in the village hoping for rain but we sure could use a few drops. Gardens are begging for moisture and I'm pretty sure the water level in our well is getting low. After Dave left tonight to go play music with his band, I made a fire in the pit and just sat there watching the fire, listening to the birds and just plain enjoying Life.

Vacation : Day 2

My second day of vacation started with a breakfast of buckwheat pancakes and coffee (not shown).

Before heading outside (yes it was another gorgeous sunny day) I finished Ginette's dishcloth. I really enjoyed doing the basket weave pattern. Now I have to start one for me (or I should say for Dave, he's the dish washer around here).

Where you could find me most of the afternoon... weeding in the garden.

Late this evening - my favorite handy man and assistant gardener Dave putting up the trellis for the cukes. Everything is growing so fast around here.

Hope everyone had a good first part of their week and that it will be even better for the second half.

Down time... alone time

I had some vacation time I needed to take before the end of the month so that being said... I'm on vacation til next Wednesday. Today was my first day and what a beautiful day it was. I love spending time with my family but I also enjoy my time alone - ''home alone''.

Put laundry outside to dry - look at that clear blue sky.

This little hooked ornament needed to be washed in cold water (it's handmade of 100% wool). These works of art are made Chéticamp, Nova Scotia. They can be found all over the world. This one was given to Dave as a thank you gift for giving a speech at a conference - 25 years ago.

And what would a nice summer ''vacation'' day be without a few hours spent in the garden...

The two pictures that follow show tomato plants that were planted at the exact same time from the same batch, posted here. The first picture shows the two that were planted without the watering bottles and the second picture show those that were watered through the inserted bottles. It's amazing to see the difference but they will still produce fabulous tomatoes for us to enjoy later in the Summer.

The potatoes are up to their second box...

I love this lady's blog, check it out. She has the most amazing recipes. I made the black bean burger for supper tonight. I had mine on a whole wheat grilled bun. I enjoyed the burger very much, I will certainly be cooking it again.

Forecast for tomorrow - sunny and warm ! Yahoo, outside I go again.

Stuff

This is what our living room looks like for now. All our stuff that was in the den is now in the living room so the new hardwood floor can be put in. (You can have a peek at our new floor in the living room). That old floral loveseat has been in our den for ''many years''. Dave can't part with it, but...