I'm late, I'm late ....

This was posted several months ago but somehow or other I managed to move it to drafts so here it is back where it belongs.  It remains a mystery to me how I can manage so easily to 'goof up'. 
 Have you seen the gorgeous mug organizers?  I decided I wanted (didn't need) but wanted one of these and set out to make one.  I found two tutorials that helped me figure out how to measure the fabric and what to do - oh my, I have no idea what I did wrong but it did not turn out.  Fortunately I was able to salvage the fabric for another project.  Karen has some beauties that she's made. 


I could  say this was a finish for Christmas 2013 but it really isn't ... I simply ran out of time  last year and left it till January to complete.  When I started the cross stitch I had other plans for it but I made an error in centering the design that left me with too little seam allowance on one side .... had to put my thinking cap on for another way to finish it.  The pocket at the bottom will hold a few cards or sprigs of something or other.  The chart was a free design from here.

vintage

I remember this runner being on a dresser when I was growing up- it has the same design at both ends with a crochet edging.   Since the runner is vintage I guess I am, too.  

a new tablecloth, cucumbers, and wild chokecherries

This is the last of my scrap quilts .... I sewed the quilt top last summer and added the backing and hand quilted it this summer.  I didn't use any batting so that I could use it as a tablecloth.

We're just back in from the lake for a couple of  days.  The weather was quite cool for 3 weeks but not any more ... oh my, it is very, very hot.  Even Little Dog was finding it hot so she spent a lot of time in the water and last evening I caught her standing in front of the fan when she'd come in for the night ... she's no dummy.  Of course, there is a storm brewing now but we do need rain.  We harvested our first cucumber of the season.  This is the first time I've grown cucumbers in a hanging basket - it worked well.  When we bought these petunias they were a deep burgandy with a thin white stripe and look what happened to them as they continued to produce more blooms.

Neighbour Ed asked if we'd like some wild chokecherries and I said I'd love a 4L pail of them ..... he brought us 3 pails like this (as you can see I haven't picked them over yet).  

The wildlife love these cherries!  It's one fruit that we pick without sampling .... they are so sour that your mouth immediately puckers up but on my, they do make a mouth watering jelly or syrup.   I've cooked them down and already made one batch of syrup (yummy) and will take the rest of the juice back to the lake with me to make into jelly.

peanut butter, rainbow, flowers, and a confession .....

These gorgeous blooms are Lavatera .....

The rainbow in cottage country was a complete one 

but I couldn't capture it in it's entirety; a few minutes later

 it was a complete double rainbow.   

Cottage Country is the pot of gold!

These Impatiens have bloomed like crazy all summer. 

They make their home in an old galvanized mop bucket that

sits under a large poplar tree - I think they're happy.

I made some peanut butter!  It was so easy and so tasty 

and would be a fun project with kiddies.  It went from this ....

to this in 5 minutes.

If you're wondering how .... put the shelled peanuts

 in a food processor and process until they are buttery and as fine as you like, then add a bit of oil (I used canola oil) and salt to taste (sugar is optional). 

Now for the confession ..... we're spending most of our time in cottage country this summer. 

 We have no internet connection there, which means I write and post my

 blog posts whenever I am home then schedule them to appear.  Sometimes I

goof up and they don't appear when I expect them to.  The downside
to being away so much is that I don't get to read and
enjoy fellow blogger posts in a timely fashion.

obession or addiction?

I wonder if I'm obsessed with hearts or addicted to them  .....

I  like dragonflies, too,  and at the cottage we have 3 kinds - one is small and black and white, another is also small and a beautiful shade of emerald green, and really big ones that eat mosquitoes but none as colourful as this one!



I framed these with fabric and attached them to some burlap for something different.  They'd be cute sewn up as hearts and stuffed for a lovely ornie.