apparently .....

Apparently I don't know what a car looks like nor a street sign but I seem to be able to recognize a road ..... yessiree, I'm talking about proving I'm not a robot  - what a pain in the arse it has become - I think it has run amok.  The good news is that you no longer have to prove you're not a robot if you'd like to leave a comment here.  Also, since we're dealing with the techie stuff - my blog is secure - you see the 's' after the http and the lock  - that tells you it's secure - just in case you didn't know.

I finished a couple of x-stitch pieces that I stitched over the winter.  The bigger one is "Little Dog" and the smaller one is "Old Dog" - they're both waiting for us on the Rainbow Bridge.  I did the finishing at the cabin with the bits 'n pieces that I could get my hands on.  The bigger one has cord made from braiding three strands of jute twine and the other used a small piece of cording that I had tucked away - rustic finishes but I like rustic.

We're all moved in to/into (?) our new place but if you were to ask if everything was in it's place and there was a place for everything the answer would be NO!   But the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom are set up so we can function - we're not spending much time there.  I finally found the box of kitchen dishes - we had been using the 'open me first kitchen box' - thank goodness for the 'open me first' boxes - they are a lifesaver.  We have all winter to settle in - summer is short so we want to enjoy it at the cabin - life is short at our age so we want to enjoy it at the cabin. 

don't stumble over something behind you

the butterflies .....

These are the butterflies that I mentioned in my last post.
 It was a good way to use up some odds and ends of yarn.
I've got these draped around some driftwood that stands in an umbrella stand but couldn't
get a decent photo of them that way. :(

 This is the link.

We spent a few days at the cabin that were most enjoyable.  We're home again to take care of some spring chores then we'll go back to cottage country and thus begins our summer of coming and going.

On April 30 our sweet Abby, aka Little Dog, joined Old Dog at the Rainbow Bridge where they await us.  We were heartbroken and miss her terribly.  She gave the best hugs and was so generous with them.  ♥

spring is sprung ....

 Spring is sprung

the grass is riz

wonder where the birdies is 

Here they are - I couldn't wait for the hummingbirds to return so I made one of my own - it's the ruby throat hummingbird, which is the one that visits yearly in our neck of the woods.  And to keep it company there's a chickadee who is with us year round.  ^^   The patterns are available here .... I made mine the same on both sides - does that mean they are 3D?.  

Mother Nature surprised us yesterday afternoon with a few inches (it was ankle deep) of fresh snow - there's more snow this morning than there was a month ago; however, with double digit temps forecast for the rest of the week it will soon be a bad memory.  Here's a pic of Little Dog surveying her yard and possibly wondering just what happened.  

 

a sneaky peek ....

Since Little Dog likes fish/fishing so much she's getting her very own fish for Christmas and here's a peek .......
This is her stocking  - just in case you were wondering.  ^^

12-13-14

12-13-14 ... the one and only time my birthday has been in sequence!   Perhaps I should buy a lottery ticket ........^^

Little Dog was helping me decorate .... and once she got untangled she posed for her Christmas photo.  ^^

My sister H sent me this paper pieced ornie - I like the colours that she used.  She included the pattern but I'm hopeless at paper piecing.  It's photographed on Emma's Tree from  this post.

I adore Lynn's mini cats and enjoyed stitching up her most recent one....

Look how beautiful the paperwhites are and the house smells so fragrant!

 

Little Dog .... gone fishing

We've been spending a lot of time at the cabin and enjoying it immensely.  Spring is a splendid time to be there since we get to see, hear and feed the variety of birds as they migrate north, and watch the leaves, etc. spring to life; along with that it is much quieter than in mid summer and usually cool enough to be able to use the wood stove.  Here's a slice of cottage life ......

Little Dog fell asleep waiting for another fish to bite; she and 'dad' had caught 3 already and she wasn't ready to call it quits.

Our first hot day this spring was on May 24th when the temp. hit +33C and the leaves popped out!  This is aspen and I love the tiny heart shaped leaves that burst forth! 

 I couldn't resist these twisted trunks on some shrubbery along the water's edge.

This was a complete double rainbow although I wasn't able to capture it in it's entirety ... I think I would have had to stand on the cabin roof to do that, lol.  I like how the rainbow reflected in the water and came right across to our place.

There is a family of tree swallows nesting here.  They are very entertaining and delightful to have around.  

These are Crowfoot Violets that are in abundance just now.  Fortunately, the lawn mower passes over them and we get to enjoy them as long as they choose to bloom.  

This is the river mist that we get to see on cool mornings as the sun is rising - I never tire of seeing it.  

 This beauty was in the mail waiting to be picked up when we arrived home ... isn't it gorgeous?!  It's a beautiful gift from Valérie. I love it!

hunkered down .....

Last weekend was cold and blustery so we hunkered down indoors and this was what I occupied myself with .....

and these .......

  The mice are Helen's pattern.

I also tried my hand, with great success, at making spreadable butter just by adding canola oil and since we had some Meyer lemons I made up another jar of lemon curd that is so good we could eat it by the spoonful!! 

And what did Little Dog do,  you ask?  Since it was too cold for her to be outdoors for any length of time this was her favourite spot .....

what a summer ..........

We spent the entire summer at the cottage coming home only long enough to cut grass, etc.  We've never been able to to this before and we've loved every minute of it!

Little Dog had a busy summer on squirrel patrol.  There is a chunk of bread on the branch behind Nigel (the squirrel) ... we were trying to get him to stay put long enough to get a good photo and it worked - usually he's darting about and teasing Little Dog.

Nigel is on a branch of the big oak tree by the water.  We spend a lot of time in this spot enjoying the shade as does Little Dog.  Old Dog used to spend most of her day here and to Little Dog's left you can see a flat limestone marker, which is where Old Dog's ashes are buried.

We discovered this sunflower, planted by the birds, growing in our garden at home .... four heads - those birds know how to grow a sunflower!  If you look closely you'll even see a bee on the top left flower.

Here is some of my summer stitching.  I expect I'll have a busy fall with the finishing - stay tuned.   

 Lavender Girl (centre) is from The Snowflower Diaries.

Cherry Time is from Le Chalet des Perelles.  

Lavender Honey is from  Madame la Fee.

The ladybugs design and wreath are from Luli  and the redwork is from  Val Laird

Below the lily of the valley is a Luli design and the parasols are from Lynn B

an alien?

Do we have an alien in our midst?  No, it's Little Dog's nose.....

This was such an interesting cloud formation ... sort of like an upside down chinook arch. 

Arising to this shows much promise for the day.

after the rain .....

We just spent a couple of delightful weeks at the cottage!  The garden is doing well there but there are very few birds around now.  We had a lovely meal with friends/neighbours E&M who are both fabulous cooks and hosts; they served up fish and chips (fresh caught pickerel) along with homemade perogies and strawberry shortcake.  Another day other neighbours were cutting down a tree and it fell on the power line ... oh boy, were they ever being teased about it!  Power was off for 4-5 hours but considering cottage country is out in the boonies we thought it was rather good service.  Fishing is starting to be productive so we've had a feed of fresh caught fish - yummy!  The weather has been so-so; still a lot of wind and on the cool side.  One day there were tornado warnings issued for at home and at the cottage but nothing materialized; usually tornadoes come with the heat and humidity and we've not had any of that yet - curious.

It rained overnight and this is what greeted us first thing in the morning .........

Mr. Spider was busy but the wind was causing some problems .....

These wildflowers are called 'hoary puccoon' and have the loveliest fragrance.  When I was growing up there were fields of these flowers and we called them 'cowslips'.  I think cowslip sounds much prettier than hoary puccoon. 

Little Dog resting after fishing - she tries to herd fish toward the fishing line .... it's most amusing.  I should add that she thinks she's herding the fish - the results say otherwise.

Merry Christmas from us

 

Merry Christmas from us!

snow!

We got our first snow overnight .....

 it was light and fluffy and easy to move.  Little dog had lots of fun.  (Yes, she's tied up since this part of the yard isn't fenced - if she's loose she'll herd everything that moves, even those with two legs. 

I've got another finish; these were a free design from Create and Decorate.

meet the family ....

This is our grandcat who by all accounts is a rascally rascal and lives up to his name.   Grandcat lives in France with his parents and, of course, is bilingual.  He likes to dine on his dad's herbs especially the chives .... dad says that the cat will taste good - is that a threat?  He is also a wonder cat since he can catch a bird on their 9th floor balcony. Oh my, if he and little dog got together the fur would fly!

bird watching

 being naughty?

sampling the herbs

 hiding in the herbs

 so angelic - isn't he beautiful?

the road goes on forever .....

This scene reminded me of Willie Nelson's "the road goes on forever ....."

 We've had the most fabulous, warm weather this past week with temperatures in the high 20s C (low 80s F) and it's commonly referred to as Indian Summer.  Whilst we spent a lot of time outdoors on yard work, etc. we also took advantage of the fine weather by getting out and about and even had a picnic.  Here is some of what we saw the day we went for a picnic, which incidentally was little dog's 9th birthday - I think she enjoyed her day.

 

This is beautiful Childs Lake in the Duck Mountain Provincial Park in Manitoba; it's commonly referred to as The Ducks.

Here we're at the head of a walking trail - little dog likes it here.

 This is what we ran into as we crested a hill.  The horses were quite shy of us  so I took the photo from inside the vehicle rather than risk spooking them any more.   Little dog, a border collie, wanted to lend a hand to the range riders.  The horses and colts were magnificent.  It was a stunning end to a gorgeous day.

If you're wondering ..... today is much cooler, mostly overcast, and windy.