Things I Am trying.

Friday, we had another 8 inches of snow. Most of the winter the sun comes up where that V is but as you can see it is moving more to the left and by the time summer comes, we cannot see the sun rise from our window.  A sign of movement to spring yea! 

This tangled ugly mess is about 9 geraniums plants. Last fall I had planned to just dump them, but someone told me to take all the dirt off the roots wrap them in newspaper and put them in a cool dark place. Then bring them out and plant them again in spring. I felt I had nothing to lose so I did it. I took a look today and low and behold they are sprouting! I took a couple and planted them. When I can make it out to the shed again, I will get the big pots and get the rest going so I can replant them outside when it warms up. Who knows it may work? 

I bought some frozen hash browns for the first time ever and tried this. The secret I figured out is to thaw them out. and squeeze them out to make them as dry as possible and really, they were great!

I have been reading a lot of stuff online about not changing your sheets weekly. When husband had his bone marrow transplant, I had to change the bed daily. But I have always changed them weekly. The ick factor gets the best of me if I don't and really isn't it nice to slid into fresh clean sheets? 

But that makes lots of laundry and everything has gone up. So, every few loads I throw the measuring cup in the washer with less soap. All the soap that was clinging to the cup comes off and no waste!

I saw an ad for a free sample from this company. Because they never asked for a credit card or asked for shipping, I ordered. I cannot wait to try them it all sounds so good and free is always good.

Speaking of free we got the covid tests we ordered from the government. It was late getting here but it is here now in case we need them which I hope we never do. 

I bought some frozen French fries and there were so many little bits in the bag it was a complete waste of money. I contacted the company and gave them all the information from the bag and why I was not happy they sent me a coupon for another bag on them. I applaud them for their quick response to my issue and will try again.

I am still trying to bind my fish rug. My hands have become so dry and cracked it makes it hard to hand sew. 

We have a farmer at the end of the dirt road I walk all the time. He sells eggs and we love supporting a local farm. Yes, it is a bit more, but the eggs are fresh, and we are buying from a neighbor a plus plus for us!

I am trying to get back to my walking routine. It has been so cold that I have not walked anywhere near as much. Today bright and early out I went. I tried to get a picture of the river, but the snow had covered the ice what a lovely sound it made gurgling under the ice.

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And I cannot close without mentioning the horror that is happening in Ukraine. There is a writer and former police officer from Bangor Maine who became famous for funny posts about a duck of justice. He wrote an article about Ukraine and no it is not about politics it is about humanity. I am going to post the link as I think truly, he has said as best as anyone I have read. I hope you take the time to read it. And as he said no matter what you think of Elon Musk he made sure that Ukraine has the world wide web to get their message out. Maybe some other big money should step up and make a difference for these people. 

Tim Cotton Write about Humanity

Complete Joy..

Sweet B had school vacation and her mother who teaches in another district did not. she spent a couple of days with us. We went to the fabric store where I had to slow her down a bit or I would have had to Morgage the house lol. On the way home we went by Chaos and Kindness' venue, so we stopped and had a look around and bought a sweatshirt. Can you tell she loved it!!?

Back to the fabric store, we bought a pattern for a Harry Potter pillow. Now it has been many many years since I have delt with a pattern like that. But we made it! She added the eyes she felt he "looked a bit soulless" her words lol

She has crazy designs skills! She felt the bunnies needed the fabric pieces in the ears and maybe a baby in her pocket! She picked the fabric and buttons. She blew me away!

Here she is with her creations! 

See the duck with the red bow? She drew the pattern and sewed it and came up with a duck! She is 11!

She hand sewed and got on the sewing machine. 

She was getting ready to leave and wondered if she could have space in my closet for a few of her things she would like to come back to?

I love opening my closet and seeing this. 

So now that she is home, and the lovely chatter and busyness is gone from my room I have gone back to hooking. 

Another sneak peek.

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We were in the mid 60's today the wind came up and the temps are dropping like a stone! A foot of snow is in the forecast for Friday. I am ready for spring! But it still is Feb for a little while anyway. 

Have a wonderful week!

Snow Squalls

We had snow most of the day yesterday. It only amounted to a couple of inches the sun came out and we cleaned up. We no sooner got back in the house and the snow squalls started off and on all into the night. 

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My amaryllis has become specular! And speaking of flowers in the winter.  

Today we met our daughter and son in law at the tiny post office to pick up Sweet B. She has a different vacation than my daughter, so we have her for a couple of days yahooooooo!

It is hard to see but this post office has germaniums blooming in the windows and there are curtains at the windows. 

Such a happy little place to pick up your mail. 

Sweet B loves a project, so I had a couple of ideas and off she took.

The start of bunnies as gifts. She is doing a great job on them. We just took some time to look at pintrest. She said but I want to do them all. Lol Yep that is how it is. 

We are going to the fabric store tomorrow for fresh supplies and to see what we can find. 

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We are chilly and windy not a good combination. I am now ready for spring we are in the last full week of Feb and our temps go up and down all the time now. So, I say time to move on to spring. 

Have a wonderful week.

Quiet Mornings

I like to get up early in the mornings sometimes I catch a sunrise but mostly I like the complete quiet.

I only turn on the lights that are completely necessary. 

I get the coffee maker already before I go to bed so just a flick of a switch and I have coffee brewing. I go back to work today after my 3 days off. I like my job, but I love being home. 

I was able to walk yesterday. My same old route. The dirt road turned into mud last week from the warm temps, but we went back into the deep freeze so lots of ruts some ankle deep. The past 2 days have been so cold and lots of wind making the air temps well below zero. But in the next couple of days a warmup is coming it will be up in the 40s. A nice rest for our woodstove. 

The lines for the maple sap are just waiting for the right time to run. warm days, cool nights. Yesterday when I walked it was so cold, I could hear the trees snapping from the sap freezing in the trees. 

I am still working on my new rug another sneak peek. This is a smaller cut than I usually do but also a much smaller rug than I usually do. I am also trying to use mostly strips from my extras basket. 

 There are 5 of us that usually go to Star Island each year. We have not been together for 2 years. 3 of us went to Star last year but just not the same. There are small plans for a gathering. Not for months yet but it does my heart good to at least talk of plans. 

My sweet friend gave me an amaryllis for Christmas I think it is blooming at the perfect time. Just when you are getting a bit sick of winter and need a little lift. 

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I have lingered enough time to hit the shower and get ready for another day. Have a wonderful day!

It Makes Scents

My sweet friend from Vermont sent all of us that go to Star Island together a valentine. The backing is from some of the old woven seats of the amazing rockers on their porch. I guess they sold pieces in their gift shop I missed it, but she made great use of it. 

I had a quilt block that I never did anything with. I gave it to Sweet B (my grand) and she used it to make a heart for her cousin for her birthday. She hand stitched it picked the button and filled it with lavender. She said her cousin loved it and now the whole family wants one. Lol she comes next week for a couple of days looks like we will be busy. 

I finished hooking my fish now for the binding. 

A little sneak peek of my next rug. I did a lot of tweaking to this rug pattern. It was a paper pattern and I felt it needed more. I will show you more soon. 

I think a lot about scent. Scent can be one of our earliest memories. 

I love lavender and spay liberally. My rug hooking room smells of lavender. I have dried lavender and candles. It just makes me happy to walk in and smell that. 

At Christmas we had grandparents who sent us gifts and one year one set forgot to put tags on them. My sister and I both immediately smelled our gift and told our parents it was our dad's parents. He looked at us like we had lost our minds. But everything she gave us smelled of roses. Oh, and so did she lol. 

We were little and still we associate that with her. 

I also burn a candle every night after dinner. I want to get the food smell out of the house. It makes me feel like dinner is done and cleaned up time to relax for the evening. 

Not sure anyone else feels this way but there is an awful lot of money spent on things that smell good.

Well, I will leave you with this the sun was setting, the sky was dark except for one spot the sun came through. The church steeple and the clock tower for the college was all that was shining. 

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Super bowl Sunday I am going to make homemade pizza. I am tired of paying 11.00 for a small cheese pizza! Oh, the prices but that is another post. 

Our wonderful Patriots are not in the game, but we will still watch. 

Have a wonderful week!

Sweet B

Old Phil saw his shadow in these parts 6 more weeks. I hope Phyllis is right he lied. 

And then there is this old wisdom. It was bright and sunny for us so she must have gathered lots of firewood. 

We have been very snowy this past week a storm on Sat that really hit the southern part of our state and a mess on Friday we had to shovel sleet! at least an inch of it. with about 8inches of snow on top. so heavy and wet. Nothing brewing in the next 5 days, but it has been very cold again. 

We got a weekend visit from Miss B our grand, so I spent some time in my wool room pulling out lots of things for her to create with. 

And here she is in her glory. she loves stitching. I will show you more, but she made presents so I have to wait until after valentine's day.

We also made walnut boxes.

when you opened them, they had bits of fun in them. this one had bits of fabric and lace. with a necklace we made from acorns I had. We cut fun things from card to roll up and stick in too. 

It was so nice to have her to have her here, she is a delight and so creative. 

Have a wonderful week!