After the Holidays!

It has been quite a hectic week, which I am sure it is for most of you. Christmas has come and gone and we have been going out for rides and hanging out with the boys. I have had no time for sewing this week, the day ends too soon and I am catching up at night.

We had a nice Christmas Eve with the kids, always more fun with little ones around.

Christmas Day was spent at the kids, and Ivy's friend and her kids came for dinner. We had fun playing computer Pictionary, lots of laughs. Alex had fun decorating a Gingerbread man with Bella.

Another day we took the boys out for a few hours. We got the boys new shoes and spent some time at the beach.

I also got a new camera, this one is a fixed lens that goes up to 600mm, so more zoom, but not true zoom. It isn't as sharp as my other cameras, but a lot lighter and easy for me to carry. It will be nice for when we go on hikes and biking.

I took a photo to test it out, usually I cannot get birds in the trees too well.

We also went to the lighthouse and I got a few shots to test her out. This boat was out in the ocean, you can tell they have a fresh haul with all the birds.

And the lighthouse, up close.

On the way home, we stopped at the bay campus to see what is new.

Today we had the boys again. We took them to the beach for a few hours and they had fun collecting glass and shells. I hope you had a nice week and may the new year bring you blessings and good health.

Friday Finish!

 This week has been a whirlwind, which I am sure is that way for most of you. The presents are wrapped and dishes are prepared ahead of time, so all I have to do is last minute prep and cooking the main hot dishes. The kids come over after early service tomorrow, so we have a nice dinner and gift giving. On Christmas we go to their house and I save some presents for the boys to open then.

I am still working on my nativity quilt, doing some words and then prep it for quilting. I forgot I had the bowl cozy templates and had meant to make some as gifts, so too late now. But, I had enough time to whip up a couple, one for me, the trees and the birds are for Ivy to use on her table. I like the smaller version better, much stiffer than the larger one.

If you like to make your own, I got the templates on amazon, they have cheaper sets, then the name brands. I also used this video to see, the best way to make them. Shabby Fabric's  bowl cozies.

Last weekend we went out for a little shopping and a ride around the ocean, back roads. No birds at the beaches, but as we were going back, along a neighborhood road, we spotted this Red-Tailed Hawk.

And at a local inlet, we spotted a group of American Black Ducks.

I have also been trying out polarizing filters, still have to learn how to use them better, but Bean stopped and posed for me, so I could try it in bright light. I can't wait to go to some waterfalls next week, to try it out. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, Hannukah or whatever holiday you celebrate. What is important is the meaning behind the season, peace and goodwill to all.

Friday Finishes!

 

The bad thing about being sick is, you can't get out to shop or the beach, so I am stuck at home. The good thing is, I have plenty of time to work on projects. It seems I have a good day and then downhill again, but at least my body is fighting. Having injuries adding to the mix,  doesn't help and hopefully I can get well enough to get checked out and fix my problems this winter, so I can get out and have fun when the weather gets nice again.

This week I started by finishing a needle felted piece. I saw a design on the web and wanted to try it. I didn't get the exact effect I wanted, but it came out pretty nice. I need to make a wooden board to mount it on or maybe find an old piece I can mount it on. The star came out too thick, wanted it thinner and less bold.

Then I made up some mini pillows to use up the balsam I bought. I gave some as gifts and Nick took a couple home, so the rest will go to neighbors and the milkman. 

The last piece is from The Stitch of the Month Club. I always need hot pads to put dishes on and this will be fun to use at Christmas. I seem to have gone a little wonky on one edge.

I hope everyone had a good week and not getting covered in too much snow. I am hoping to get out tomorrow to do a little stocking stuffer shopping for the boys. I have been shopping online but I want to get a little candy and small items to fill a stocking. I have one more quilt to finish, hopefully by Christmas and will have to put the printed nativity aside and finish that next year. It will be easier to put away without stuffing it, and I need to get ready for Christmas Eve dinner.

Friday Finish!

This has been one of those weeks. Having the kids over, wasn't a good idea, we got sicker. Bill tested positive for Covid, so I know I have it too. On top of that, I have been taking my Lyme meds to fight it off and I had a spell and found myself waking up on the floor, with lots of bumps and bruises. So, the bad thing is, I haven't been able to do much for Christmas packages or cards, but hoping to start those this weekend and get it all done. I was able to do some shopping and got most of the boys presents, so that will be something I won't have to worry about.

Another good thing is, I have more time to make things for me. I made up a pillow with another design in the book, Snow Happy. I used a dark tea stained fabric and off white floss, for something different. I have two prim pillows that needed something in between and this was perfect.

I also made a balsam pillow with a design by Robin, from Bird in the Hand Primitives. She offered the free design on her Facebook page.

Before we got too sick, we spent a few hours at the beach on Saturday. I was able to get some photos of the Great Blue Herons, 3 different groups have stopped on their way south, and haven't left yet.

And since I wasn't feeling great, I walked more and picked up less, but I was lucky enough to find a blue ball and a nice piece of pottery.

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying time during the holiday season.

Friday Finish!

 

This has been another week of being sick. I guess we got what the kids had and they got what we had, so a double flu. Luckily I have meds that help keep the symptoms down, but it also means I get less done and I am behind on decorating. 

I was able to finish one project and while resting, I am working on a few more. This is a design I wanted to do, to match another pillow I have, so I have them on my chest with a few stuffed Christmas dolls. The design is by Robin Kingsley from her book, Snow Happy.

We were able to spend a day at the beach. I always feel better at the ocean, with the cool salt air. One beach looks across to Newport and we can watch the ships are they come in, this is a barge being pushed in by a tug boat.

Another beach is nice, since we can find more old glass here and Bean loves to play in the water, even when its freezing.

I was able to find a few nice pieces of glass, from both beaches, always nice when we catch the tide, at the right time.

Speaking of Bean, he loves the new toy I got him. It came in a set of 4, so when he destroys one, I can give him another. 

It also makes a fun photo op.

And more feathered friends are coming in for the winter. I finally got to see the Pilieted Woodpecker. She seems to like the dead pine trees on the side of the house. I am hoping I can catch her with a better close up, to get finer detail.

I hope everyone had a nice week and are avoiding the flu's going around. This one is not a fun one and even Bill had to take the day off.

Friday Finish!

 I hope everyone had a nice holiday. We had dinner with the kids, but we were all sick, so had a nice dinner and spent a little time together. The kids all wore masks and I wore mine when we sat together, but I am sure we all got the same one, since they are the only ones I spend time with. 

I got a new set of templates so I could try some bowl cozies. I got them on eBay, a cheaper set and it came with quite a few sizes, so I can make late ones for the table and smaller ones for bowls that come out of the microwave.

These are what they look like. They are not as thick and hard as regular rulers, but strong enough to do the job and a lot less than the name brands.

I made a large cozy to test them out, perfect for my large dish on Thanksgiving. It is a fun way to decorate the table, as well. I have plenty of fun Christmas fabrics that I can make, so I will work on those this month.

The boys made me some birthday presents. Nick has been collecting glass with me and they used what they had found. I love them and have a place to hang them, so that was a nice surprise.

At home, the birds have been busy at the feeder. A lot of the winter birds are coming back and new ones from nesting season, so it is busier than usual. The female Cardinal was kind enough to sit still for a photo.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and are blessed with good health. Lots of flu's going around this year.

Friday Finishes!

 I definitely need more time in a day or better organized time. So much to do in a week and I never get half of the things done, that I wanted to. I have several projects going on right now and more things to get ready for the holidays. 

I like having easy, smaller projects to do in-between other projects, so I made up a couple of pillows, stuffed with balsam. I have made balsam pillows, but most of mine are older and I need new ones. I also like to gift a few.

I also tested some new acrylic paint markers. I actually like them, but wish they had more prim colors. I did these up quick and it was a lot faster than painting and I only needed one coat, so a great way to do rocks without spend days, making them. They also work on fabric, so I may try them on a little pillow. These are the ones I used, Paint Markers.

Last weekend, we went for a walk at the bird sanctuary. Always a nice walk and lots of wildlife in the area. I was able to catch two new birds this time, an Eastern Bluebird and a Blue-headed Vireo. We also went to a few beaches, the wind was up and so were the waves.

And at home, a visitor who is watching and waiting for lunch. They do not like being watched when hunting, so he took off, which is good for the birds at my feeder. Cooper's hawks will go after birds when rodents aren't around.

I hope everyone had a good week. My day was spent, over cooking my cookies and then after spend the afternoon making homemade soup, a dish I took out of the oven, exploded. There was glass everywhere and the soup lid was off, so that killed all the work I did for dinner. Luckily the extra chicken was not in the area, so I can make weekend dishes with the rest. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finishes!

 

This week I was testing products for review, so I made a few things from the supplies I got. The first was a needle felting kit. It came with plenty of roving and nice instructions to make 4 snowmen, so I made one for now. I rushed a bit to get it done, so it is not like the original, but I always like to add my own touches. It was fun to do and a fun piece for Christmas. 

Another product I tried was Arteza transfer markers. You are supposed to use transfer paper, which I didn't have, so I used parchment paper. It also recommends using white cloth and I used a darker fabric, so the colors were a bit dull. You use an iron to transfer it to fabric, so something fun to try. I think I prefer to color them in myself, but it will be fun for the boys to use, maybe some t-shirts. I made it into a lavender sachet.

On the weekend we did some biking. The first trip was back at the airline trail, starting from the end point in East Haddam. It was a nice trail and went over two Aquaducts.

We went on this section and continued onto the next section and ended at the Colchester end. It was a beautiful day to ride, even though the foliage was almost gone.

On Sunday I decided to do a shorter ride, over the border and do an undeveloped part of the trail. It ran along a river which was beautiful, but it was also, bumpy and rocky and then we ran into long areas of water. We had to walk our bikes over a foot path, over steep hills and back down, on slippery leaves, not fun. I do hope they finish the trail system, it runs from RI, into Connecticut. 

When we got to the end, I decided I did not want to ride back on the trail, so we went on the road. That was a lot easier, but it was also, uphill most of the way back. That definitely wore me out, so this weekend I am taking it easier. 

I hope you all have a nice weekend, a few views of the moonrise over our town of Wickford, this week.

Friday Finish!

 

I can't believe that it is November, the months have flown by. The good thing is, we are getting unseasonable nice weather on the weekends, so we get to enjoy being out for a bit longer. This week the new stitchery came out, so of course I had to make that. It was perfect for Thanksgiving and I can use it to place a hot dish, on the. table.

I added extra border stitching for fun, and I like how it came out. I can never seem to get the right colors in a photo, it is bright, but in a nice way.

Last weekend we got out for a ride, closer to home. I was able to stop at the quilt shop and pick up some nice Christmas fabric and a panel to make a nativity. On the way home we stopped by the Veterans Cemetery. The trees were bursting with vibrant color.

On Sunday we went to Connecticut to check out a new area. We went to a park on the river, but ran into an event, so it was a bit crowded. We walked around a bit and watched as the Scullers came in. This is definitely a place to come back to, perfect place to go kayaking.

As we passed through the town, we saw beautiful foliage and a few fun Halloween displays.

The last place we stopped was an old mill site. It was a nice walk through the woods, following the river and seeing what was left of one of the old mills.

I hope you all had a good week and a fun weekend ahead.

Friday Finish!

 

Another week has zipped by, but I was able to find time to finish my Christmas stocking quilt. I used pearl cotton to do simple quilting around the blocks and stockings. This is one I will use on the couch and let the boys use, so I kept it simple and durable with the heavier block fabric. It was a great way to use older fabric and scraps.

We got out for a bike ride on Saturday. We rode up to the town of Bolton in Connecticut and rode the rail trail from the park, to the town of Vernon. It was a nice ride through forests, past a pond and into the town of Vernon, a stop on the old railroad. 

On Sunday we stayed closer to home, rain was headed our way and I wanted to go hiking before it came. We hiked around a pond, where the foliage was coming in nicely and along the river.

We hiked along the bike path and old railroad bridge.

And we ended up in the fields, surrounded by amazing fall colors, and back to the pond.

We were getting ready to leave when I spotted a white spot in the trees, across the pond. What a nice end to the day, I was able to get a shot of the eagle just as it started to rain.

Unfortunately Bill and I woke up on Monday with a flu or bug, but we are fine now. Another nice weekend ahead and hopefully more adventures to be had. At home I enjoy watching all the new visitors who have come to stay for winter. This Blue Jay was nice enough to sit and pose for a photo.

May your weekend be filled with blessings and joy.