Road runner

 This has been a week where I seem to have been on the road pretty much all the time or at least the lion's share of every day has been spent outside the house.  Needless to say I haven't had much time to spend in my sewing space so I'm in mid-go with several projects.  

# 1
Of course is the landscape which hasn't had a 
stitch added to it

#2
The beginning of a knitted scarf which is
planned to be a take-along project when
we go away next month.

#3
The current pair of socks (I usually have
a pair on the go all the time so I have a 
quick thing to pick up when I have a little time)

shhh - don't tell Resident Chef but these

are going under the Christmas tree for him

- THIS is a really pretty fall project.

- Have a peek at the work by THIS artist!

- THIS is a cute project you might like to try.  While I was poking around on her site, I discovered THIS too.  I'm certainly nowhere near that organized!

- Have a peep through the galleries of THIS fabric artist (look along the bar at the top and click on 'Galleries' to be taken to several different ones).

Today I give you a quote from Mother Teresa...."Be happy in the moment, that's enough.  Each moment is all we need, not more"

MIA

 Today I am going to be missing in action but because I'm always thinking of you, here's a post anyway!  I will be spending the day teaching another landscape workshop (be still my quaking knees!).  

- Have a peek through the galleries of THIS artist!

- THIS looks like a fun technique to try.

- And wouldn't THIS be handy (would make a great gift too!)

- THIS is another thing that would make a great gift (or for yourself).

I might have given you this quote before but it bears repeating..."Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing" (Oscar Wilde)

All wheated out

Forty five years ago yesterday Resident Chef made the ultimate sacrifice and married me.  Poor guy had no idea what he was in for!

💖I think I'll keep him.💕

 I am so over stitching wheat!  Mind you, I love the way it looks but man it was time-consuming!!  Now it's on to quilting the sky and then I can call this one pretty much done.

- Because this is a blog filled with randomness, how about playing with THIS idea!  Why should kids have all the fun!

- Some of you might be able to make use of THIS.

- Read about THIS amazing artist and then check his gallery HERE to see some of his incredible creations.

- And have a peek at the work by THIS artist.

- THIS takes you to a pdf for a fun fall project.

Today's quote is from Monika Kristofferson..."If someone doesn't live with you, neither should their stuff"

The horror of it all

 I'm blaming the RC for this one!  It seems we will be flying out to see our family again, only this time in October when the weather can be either warm or cold and no telling until you're in the middle of it.  We pride ourselves on being able to travel with just one carry-on and a small bag (more like a large purse) and I knew there would be no space to pack a coat of any sort and I wasn't anxious to have to wear one on the plane either.  What to do.  A friend suggested a 'puffer coat' which compresses into practically nothing....lightweight and warm.  The thrifties didn't yield anything (and not likely to in my size).  So an online search ensued culminating in a skid to a halt when I hit the Eddie Bauer site.  There was a coat - exactly what I wanted and in exactly my colour AND in a tall size too!   https://eddiebauer.ca/p/38925403/women's-microtherm(r)-2.0-down-hooded-jacket?sp=1&color=Dark%20Mulberry&sizeType=Tall

But then...THEN....I looked at the price and just about fell off my chair.  As I was dusting myself off the RC walked by the door and wandered in to see what I was hyper-ventilating about.  He took a look and promptly told me to order the 'd-a ----' thing.  Yep, I'm blaming him (but it sure is a nice coat and will be perfect for what I want AND it fits!).  

I don't have a picture of any stitching to show you because if you scroll down to my previous post where I showed you the wheat stitching, you'll see what I'm still working on.  Methinks I will be heartily sick and tired of wheat by the time I'm done with this one!  

- I'm not too sure about THIS but thought it was interesting anyway.

- THIS caught my eye (it's a paid pattern, but thought I'd share because I like that it looks quilted).

- Have a scroll through the incredible creations of THIS amazing artist!

- HERE is another fun craft to do in the fall.

Today the quote is from Henry Van Dyke..."Use what talent you possess.  The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best"

Done and dusted!

 A week or so ago I showed you the snowman gift bag I crocheted and now I have both the elf and Santa done.  The elf pattern can be found HERE and the Santa is HERE.  I still have to make the pompoms for all of them and have to muster some courage to tackle them.  I don't have a pompom 'maker' so will have to look up how to make my own.

Over the weekend the RC and I made two batches of zucchini relish (if you want the recipe, let me know!) and one batch of plum jam (recipe is inside the box of Certo crystals if you'd like it).  He put the relish in storage already but this is the jam...

- One day I dream of making THIS.  

- Have a peek through the gallery of THIS amazing artist!

- Never can it be said that this isn't a full service blog as THIS will attest.  

- Perhaps THIS might be fun to try.

This quote is from Mason Cooley..."Reading gives us some place to go when we have to stay where we are"

Bullions and daisies

 Although there are days of stitching to do yet on this part of the landscape, I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of what I've been doing...

Methinks, by the time I'm done, I should be really good at making buillions and lazy daisies!  You can also get a better peek at the sashiko stitching in the background.

- I think THESE would make a lovely gift!

- Have a peek at the creations of THIS amazing artist.

- I may have shared the work of THIS artist before but even if I have it's certainly worth checking again.  Be sure to have a look at all her galleries!

- I enjoyed looking through THESE but the sheer magnitude of ends that would have to be sewn in simply boggles the mind.

Today the quote is from Pablo Picasso..."Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up"

w-e-lllllll

 ummm....hmmmmm.....busily hand stitching on the landscape but nothing worth showing you yet.  Nothing else has been happening either b'cause my hands are complaining about trying to crochet too much with thick yarn and that happens to be what I'm wanting to work on.

so....how about some randomness from Chez Magpie....

- RC has been cleaning up his balcony garden because the tomatoes have all ripened at once.  The lettuce was pretty much a dud all summer long and even the herbs didn't produce like they usually do.  Right now there's only one pepper plant left and it's looking pretty sad so doubt it won't last more than another day or two.

- Got our first parking ticket.  Sitting in our own parking spot at our building.  The parking spot we've had for over 13 years.  Apparently there was a mixup with the numbers and we got dinged.  In the two weeks we've been waiting for the building management to sort it out, the ticket has gone from $65 to $100 - along with thinly veiled threats of sending same to a collection agency. Argh! 

- Finally got the car 'repairs' stemming back to the hail damage last August sorted out and have received a lovely cheque from the insurance company.  At first we had opted to have the repairs done but in the interim between the original estimate a year ago and now, the cost for said repairs has risen dramatically, and we were pretty certain that our car would be one of the many that the insurance was simply writing off (it's a 2016 RAV4) which would put us back in debt to buy another one - if we could even find one that was in good used condition.  We finally decided we'd just not bother getting it fixed (our car is now lovingly called 'Dimples') and the insurance company was happy to pay us the amount of the original estimate.  Works for us.

- Resident Chef had a very rare failure come out of his kitchen this week.  He made what we thought would be a decadant dessert that involved a graham wafer crust and chocolate/peanut butter filling.  Well....one issue was that the recipe called for melted chocolate to cover the graham crust which turned out to be harder than h-e-double-hockey-sticks to cut through.  And the other issue was that it was just way over the top sweet.  There was nothing for it but to bless the garbage and cut our losses.  

- Have a look at the award winners HERE from the American Quilter's Society 2024 show.  

- If you're brave enough to steal from the squirrels perhaps you could make some of THIS.  I did a number of years ago and it was fun to do.

- I think THIS is so pretty!

- I love Lego so when I saw THIS it caught my eye.

Today's quote is from Winston Churchill..."It is better to do something than to do nothing while waiting to do everything"