Another Finish

This morning I'm thinking about finishes. I've finished a few winter trips, finished putting away all my travel stuff, finished putting away all my "new purchases!" and I've even finished a few quilts along the way.

Here's one. It is the after Christmas-still winter quilt. Love it!

Here is what I'm working on now. I designed it while down south and I love love love the colours. I was inspired by a copy of an antique quilt I saw in a cute shop I visit once in a while. I decided to do hearts out of my 4-patches. Stay tuned!

So since it is such a beautiful day, and since I need (badly!) some exercise, I'm heading out for a walk before the sun is high in the sky.

Sand in My Shoes

On our way north on the interstate, we took a short detour and this is what we found.

 We stopped for a half hour at most...we had a long trip ahead of us. But for just a half hour, I was at the ocean. Ahhhhh.

 I stuck my feet into the surf. The flags flying by the entrance to the beach indicated "dangerous riptides and dangerous marine life."  Needless to say, I didn't need to be convinced not to dive in. So I was content to let the surf cool my feet off.

There's something overpowering when you stand on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean. The colours are spectacular...as the sun peeks in and out from behind the clouds causing the water to change in colour  from greens, to greys to beautiful blues. I could have stayed there for a week.  

We didn't know this was just off the interstate. I'm glad we decided to venture off the highway and search for the ocean. It was a wonderful little treat to experience as we said good-bye to Florida.

And now we are in civil war country as we travel north to Canada. So much history in this huge country...I hope tomorrow brings more adventures. How could it not?

Coastal stop

A Day in Savannah…

Today I toured the Wormsloe Plantation, a 1736 Colonial Estate near downtown Savannah. It was created by an early colonist, Noble Jones, a common Englishman who was a physician, carpenter, and surveyor. The estate sits on land located near a waterway. He farmed his land, growing corn, turnips, potatoes, rice, cotton, oranges, pomegranates, figs, peaches, apricots, and mulberry trees for silk. This is the front gate.   

The long drive in to the plantation is lined with old oaks that arch over the driveway. Do you recognize this from the movie Forest Gump?

Here’s another view, looking back toward the front gate.

All that remains of the original Tabby house built by Jones.

This path takes you from the ruins of the home to the gravesite of Jones, and it runs along the water’s edge.

Early colonists in Georgia didn’t keep slaves. They believed owning slaves made one lazy. Jones and other Georgians did eventually succumb to owning slaves and this is an example of what the slaves would have lived in on Wormsloe. The interior of the cottage includes a large fireplace for heating and cooking, a sleeping loft, and one room for living in.

              

Quite a day…walking by myself through the heavily forested plantation and thinking about what the lives of the people who had trod the same paths might have been like.

Waking up in Savannah!

What a lovely, historical city! We've just arrived, had our first sleep here in a carriage house of an old, historic downtown home across from a beautiful park. The trees are laden with Spanish moss, the grass is green, the spring flowers are up and the magnolias are nearly in full bloom.


I’m off with my camera to discover the historical downtown area while my DH enjoys a beautiful Savannah golf course. And, of course, there will be a few stops at local quilt shops…
Have a wonderful day!

A Beautiful Day

Amazing! This warm breezy weather at the end of January is unheard of.
Today, the weather is something to behold! Sunny, mild, and it is the end of January. Who knew?!

I've been watching the birds in my yard. They are hunting for nesting places already. Last year I watched out my kitchen window as little sparrows made a nest in the corner of my neighbour's roof where the eaves trough meets the roof. The little sparrows worked so hard every day, bringing bits of this and that to feather their nest. And eventually, the babies were hatched and mom and dad had the task of going back and forth with bits of food. Eventually the family left the nest.
Unfortunately, later on in the summer, I noticed my neighbour cleaning out his eves and stuffing wire mesh into the spot where the nest was built. I was sad...

Just this morning, I noticed the sparrows were back, perched on the roof where they built their nest last year. They were looking at the wire mesh that blocks the entrance into the corner of the roof/eve. I'm sure they will find another spot. I will, of course, place bits of yarn and leave some garden refuse around as I clean up this spring...so that the birds will have some extra bits to put into their nests.

Meet Rusty. I call him Rusty because if you look closely at his ears, they are tinged with rust coloured fur. He is new to our yard this year. I’ve never seen a fatter squirrel. Someone has trained him to beg for his food, and to come close to find it. He will come right up on to our deck when he sees us out, and he waits to see if we have a peanut or two for him. Doesn’t he look like the most polite squirrel you’ve ever seen?


Today he was enjoying the apple I put out for the gang. There are several very overweight squirrels in our yard this year. I am guessing someone’s bird feeder is not squirrel proof like ours is.


It is amazing what you see when you stand in one place for an hour or so and take pictures of those things that are within your eyesight. And I find it interesting to see where one’s mind goes when you are doing this exercise in photography. You see things you wouldn’t normally take notice of.

I am packing up slowly for a weekend departure on a month long vacation down south. We've never done this before, so we are really excited for the adventure. Lots of stops along the way and a wonderful grand-kiddie-filled destination! We are looking forward to lots of rest and relaxation...and I’ll be taking my camera, documenting our trip and posting as I go.

What will tomorrow bring?

The Red Pot

It's time to put my red pot into service and make some yummy chicken soup. Besides, I'm fighting a cold and when I feel like this, there's only one thing that makes me feel better. That would be some delicious, comforting homemade chicken soup.

So first thing tomorrow morning, I'm off to the grocery store to buy an organic chicken, some carrots, celery, onions, and fresh parsley. I'll fry up the giblets, deglaze the pan with some white wine, add the chopped veggies, the whole chicken, cover with water, and let everything simmer until the chicken is cooked.  I'll remove the chicken, pick off the meat, return the bones to the pan and then let the stock simmer for several hours.

By tomorrow night, I'll have some yummy, homemade chicken soup. Yum! Until then, I'll have to comfort myself with my hot water, lemon, and honey. I hate being sick.

Magic Moments

This Christmas, we are enjoying our little visitors as they discover Christmas for the first time.

It is exciting to see Christmas through the eyes of little children.  The sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas stay with us for a lifetime.

The little people here are enchanted with my Christmas Village. Especially at night, when we turn the lights on. They have each chosen their own "house" in the village. One is "C's" and one is "E's".  So cute.

In the other room...known as the work centre where the sweet smells of Christmas are produced, things are a little chaotic...oh well...

I hope your home is filled with the sweet smells of Christmas!

A Divine Appointment

 

A few years ago I came out of a Tim Horton's in Burlington and a street person asked me for money. I looked into his eyes and gave him some money, and asked if I could buy him some breakfast.

He declined.

Then he looked at me and smiled. He said, "I know you. You are Deborah Brown." I was quite surprised because I didn't recognize him. He said he remembered me and my husband from a certain church we were members of during the 80's.

He eventually told me who he was and I remembered him in his former days...a young professional, newly married, with a child on the way.

This man looked nothing like his former self.

As I conversed with him I realized mental illness had taken its toll and he now lived on the streets in Burington and the surrounding towns and cities.

He was estranged from his former wife, and his children. 

I told him where we lived and told him if he ever needed something, to please come. He told me he wasn't allowed to do that.

As I left, I felt odd.

Yet I also felt I had encountered a divine appointment.

I'll never forget that morning when I became reacquainted with and old acquaintance, and a new burden.

 

 

Where in the world am I???

What a busy fall!!!  My daughter and her twins moved in for a week this fall before they took off to Florida for their winter stay. Immediately after that, I was off to Houston with my friend to the International Quilt Market/Festival. It was my first time at market and was sort of a scouting adventure for a business I'm thinking about. Stay tuned!

While at market, I met Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts, Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims from The Quilt Show, saw Eleanor Burns' at her booth Quilt in a Day, got a peek at Marianne Fons and Liz Porter from Fons and Porter...let me see...that is probably enough of the name dropping for now.  

There were many classes to take, and I did my best as a first time festival attendee to take as many as I could. In Charlotte Angotti's "Let Me Surprise You" class we made an orange and black batik quilt.

I need to find a border fabric with pumpkins or something fallish. I know these are Halloween colours...but I am not really a fan of the goulish celebration...oh well, I know now that these surprise you classes at Festival are just that. I was surprised by the colour choices! But it was fun to sew all day and not have to worry about cutting or measuring. The kits in the class were laser cut by John Flynn. That quilt was probably the easiest quilt i have ever pieced because the pieces were exactly cut. It went together like a dream!

Other classes I took were from famed machine quilter Philippa Naylor from the UK; Paula Nadelstern's Keleidoscope method (Paula is from New York); a paper piecing feathered star class from Carol Doak; and last but not least, my favorite class and teacher - Pineapple Quilt block with Anita Grossman Solomon, whose books I highly recommend. She has a great blog too!

All in all, we had a blast. I recommend the journey to the quilting mecca for everyone!

Today, I'm on my way home from a visit to the Lily Pad in Florida. Talk soon.