Saturday, May 29, 2010

I have been asked.......






...............to show photo's of the quilts, that I put in the show, so here they are. Patricia

Pleased as Punch --




Went to the International Ploughing Match quilt show yesterday in Shedden, Ontario. I was looking forward to see if any of my three entries won anything. At our guild meeting on Thursday, we were told that some members that had entered the show had won ribbons, however, we did not know who, we had to go the show and see for ourselves.

Having been to other shows and seen quilts that were works of art, and this being the first show that I have ever entered, I didn't get my hopes up too high.

I am so pleased, and I can't contain myself any long, so now I am going to brag a little. I won, I won, I won. All three of my entries received a ribbon.

English Cottage Garden -- 2nd.



Mother & Child --1st.
Birds of a Feather, Flock together --1st.
This one is my favourite, it was gorgeous.
Patricia

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Wheeeew it's hot....

... I have just looked at my thermometer and the hottest it got today was ---36.4 C. Now, I know that the thermometer always reads a bit higher that the official temp but even at 34 C its warm , and when you calculate in the humidity, it starts to get a bit uncomfortable.

I am not complaining, because I prefer this weather over blowing snow and freezing temps, but it is a drastic change, we go from cold and wet to this and it is only the end of May.

The gardening will have to wait until after dinner tonight. Can't do much more because the curb side pick up for our compost bin does not come until next week, and my compost container is full also. Just have to fill up some spare garbage containers for the rest of the week.

Patricia

Saturday, May 22, 2010

No gardening today......

....in S. W. Ontario it is raining. I welcome the odd day like this during the busy days of getting the Spring gardening done. It gives me a chance to catch up on my housework, which has been neglected during the past week because we have had such beautiful weather and I would much rather be outside.

Vacuuming and dusting done, kitchen and bathroom cleaned from top to bottom.

Gave OH a hair cut. I have been cutting his hair for years, I am no professional, but at least he doesn't have to wear a hat for a week until it grows back in a bit. With the guides on the blades you really can't go wrong----well, I guess you could if you were not careful, anyway, he was happy with it so that's all that matters. My Dad used to say, "The only difference in a good hair cut and a bad one, is three days", so by Tuesday OH should look OK.

This afternoon I have been able to work on the quilt I have started to put together for my great grandson, so far, I love the way it is looking. On a previous post I showed the fabric, -- African wild animals. I have just bought a new camera, still trying to figure it out, will post photo's later.

Now I have to make my Friendship Amish bread, the dough has to sit on the counter for ten days, on the fourth day I had to feed it and now today I can make my loaves. It really is yummy, I have been putting some in the freezer, so that I can take out a loaf whenever I need something sweet.

Well gotta go........
Patricia

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Exposed

Today was such a beautiful day, temps in the high 20's C, lovely blue skies and not a cloud in sight. Just the perfect day to expose two of my white body parts. Now these white parts have not seen the sun in a long time, and they are not one of my best assets, (they wiggle a bit at the top), but then when you are in your late sixties none of the body parts are your "best"assets. Although, my dentist says I have beautiful teeth!!!
Here in Canada we don't get a chance to expose any body parts until after the May 24th holiday weekend, usually it is too cold or wet. But, because today was such a glorious day I decided to do "it". My neighbours were all at work, so no one to stare at me. Removing their covering I applied a liberal coating of sun screen, don't want them to get sun burnt. Peeking out the door, the coast was clear, no one in sight. I don't know what I am worried about, it's not illegal. Making my way onto the lawn and to the flower beds, I decided to pull a few weeds. Bending over to get one that was very stubborn, it suddenly let go, dang it,! dirt is sticking to my my white parts because the sun screen has not yet been absorbed. I brush most of the dirt off the rest will come off in the shower.
Oh my gosh, next thing I see is my neighbour, she is also exposing her white body parts too, we chat for a few minutes then she is on her way. Well, I think I must not look too bad if she made no comment, but I am glad that I shaved my white body parts yesterday. I was also glad that my shorts did not shrink over the Winter, and they covered my wiggly bits at the top of my legs.

Shame on you, what were you thinking.

Have a great day,
Patricia

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Entries submitted

Yesterday I delivered my quilts that I have entered in the International Ploughing Match competition. All the quilts entered are being judged prior to the show on May 28, and 29, 2010. Looking forward to seeing all the entries.

Below is a photo of the English Cottage and Garden quilt finally finished. The colours are a bit washed out due to the bright sun. I am very pleased with the final product, and truthfully glad that it is done. I started it in January 2009, so it has been a long process to get it completed. This quilt is entered in the category "Landscape or Pictorial quilt".


The next photo is a wall hanging submitted in the category of "Rural Sayings" --"Birds of a Feather, Flock together". The colours are brighter than the picture is showing, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like.
My third entry is in the "Original Design" category - "Mother & Child" which I have shown on a previous post.

Yesterday was a cold wet day here in SW. Ontario, the months of April and May seem to be switched around this year. We had unseasonably hot weather last month and getting the rain now. Today is drier but still cool, a good day to do some housework this a.m. and start a new quilt project later today.
I promised myself that I would fill my freezer this year with more fruit and veg. They are so much cheaper when they are in season and they are easy to prepare for freezing. So, yesterday I purchased and froze 12 lbs of rhubarb. On Mother's day I made a Jamie Oliver's rhubarb crumble for my Mum, it was delicious.
The local asparagus crops were damaged by a frost a couple of days ago, so don't know if I will be able to get much of that put into the freezer.
Hope everyone is having a great day.
Patricia

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Busy, busy, busy

Yesterday I worked all afternoon in my garden, it was such a lovely day, got a bit sun burnt too. My flower beds in our back garden are all curved, I liked the way it looked and they made the area look nice. However, I now help OH cut the lawn and our lawn mower is heavy, so to make the job easier on us both I am in the process of making all of the edges straight. What a job!! The side beds are done, they were about 30 feet in length, now in the process of doing the ones around our deck, only one at the back of the garden to do, it's the longest, about 50 feet.
Also baked some sweet bread. My dd2 gave me a started bag of Amish Sweet Bread (Friendship Bread). I had to keep it in a plastic bag for five days, MUSH it every day, then feed it on the 6th day with flour, sugar and milk, and then MUSH it for another 4 days. On the 10th day I had to take out 4 cups of the dough and put 1 cup in each of four plastic bags, these are suppose to be given to friends, thus the name. With the remaining dough I had to add flour, eggs, sugar, etc, etc. and made two loaves. Needless to say it was delicious and only half a loaf is left. I justify eating it because of paragraph one.
My next door neighbour gave me a big armfull of rhubarb, I put three containers in the freezer, and we had some for our dinner tonight. Some time, tomorrow, both OH and I will have our Spring cleaning done. lol. Thanks goodness the forecast is for rain tomorrow it will give me a chance to do some sewing, rest my achy muscles and be close to the loo.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Patricia