SEVEN MONTHS OF CHANGE!

 It's been seven months since my last blog post.  Looking back at the last few posts I had written I realize that the world is a much different place than it was even seven months ago!

Hello Everyone!  Welcome back to Erndalesnmore!

It has been much too long since I sat down at my computer and wrote anything, quite frankly.  I'm not even sure why that is - but it is a fact!

The Pandemic is here, it hadn't quite reached us here in Canada in February, but unbeknown to us, it was very close indeed!

We have gone through the first wave, and now if the authorities are correct, we are about to hit the second wave.  We have all faced challenges, some who have lost loved ones have faced unbearable heartache.

Personally I believe we should all have learned something very valuable through this experience, however the human race being what it is, I don't think that has necessarily happened.

So Spring 2020 and Summer 2020 have come and gone.  We will never see this time again. 

I hope you kept well and I hoped you kept busy doing the things you love, as much as possible.

Long before the Pandemic I had decided to completely revamp my gardens in our back yard.  I had been planning and drawing out plans for months by the time that spring hit, so when it did I went into action and made that project my reason to get up and outside each and every morning!

I can tell you I worked like a dog!  ( where did that saying come from anyway?)  But I did.  I moved structures, I dug, I planted, I made new structures, I weeded, I trimmed, I chopped, I carried, I hauled, and occasionally I sat and observed and changed my plan.

My Year 1 overhaul plan worked.  My garden plan was everything I'd hoped it would be - and then some.  

I took video of my progress from April to the September, and those video's are all on my Youtube channel "Whatever the weather may be".  If you are interested pour yourself a coffee and check them out.

Here is a brief  view of my progress...

I can't wait for Year 2 of my garden plan to come to fruition.  But until then, it will be more planning, more drawing and more dreaming!

A POSSESSED KNITTER!

It's about bout time I got back on here and wrote another blog, I'm thinking!  Good intentions sometimes don't really turn out the way we intended - that certainly seems to be the case with me, of late.

But I'm here now, and really I have been kind of busy doing a lot of different things.

Let's catch up...

So here we are, already almost halfway through the month of February.  How did that happen?

I've been knitting like a possessed woman - really I have.  I can't seem to help myself.

So here is what's currently on the needles.

 First - The Ardent Shawl - which I am making for my daughter-in law, Sasha.  I have only started this project, so there is a lot to do on this one.

Second, I am slowly depleting my small ball stash of yarn with this project  - the Mitered Square blanket.  This piece is starting to get quite warm to sit under while I work on it, so I might soon put this one away until fall, and finish it then.  It's bright, colourful and will make a nice large blanket to snuggle under when watching TV next winter.

Next I decided to treat myself to a Subscription kit, from Annie's.  This is a knit sampler afghan.  Every month I will receive yarn and patterns for squares until the  afghan is complete.  I received my first month at the beginning of the month, in the kit was two skeins of yarn, bamboo needles, patterns for  the first three blocks, a cable needle, a darning needle and some stitch markers. 

The blocks I am working on are indicated in the picture below,  and the second image is what the completed afghan will look like.

 

I also have a pair of socks on the go.  I'm loving the way these are turning out.

I have completed a few things as well.  

First here is the first Ardent shawl I made - this one for myself.  It turned out beautiful.  I think Sasha's will be even nicer as it is in a much finer yarn so the lace will be more noticeable in her shawl.

Then I made this little bookmark for one of my piano student's who had a birthday last week.

And Valentine's gifts for the grand-daughters - handmade scrunchies and headbands.

As well as a little black beanie hat with a rainbow pompom , which was special requested by 5 yr old Azaria.

See what I mean by possessed?

Seriously I have even out-done my own self!  

However all this creativity has moved time along and today I actually spent time taking slips from last year's geraniums for this year's planting season.  I ended up with 24 new plants for my pots all over the yard this summer.  How wonderful!

I don't know about you, but I have worn myself out... so I'm headed downstairs to watch the final two episodes of season 3 of the Crown.

Spring is coming - and I will talk about that next time!

Till then...

ALL ABOUT ELIZABETH!

Elizabeth came to being somewhere around the year 1900, no one can say for sure when she arrived, because no one back then, or even now really knows.

I am pretty certain her beginnings were in the United States, but exactly where is anyone's guess, but she started her life on a farm near the little village of Palo Iowa - that is known for certain.

She wasn't called Elizabeth at the beginning, that name was given to her by Mabel Owens; a little girl born in 1896.  Mabel Owens was my Grandmother.

Elizabeth and Mabel became fast friends, going everywhere together, spending hours in each other's company.  They grew up together, and when Mabel fell in love and married and moved to Canada in 1917, Elizabeth went with her, to start her new life near her long-time friend.

Married life for Mabel was hectic.  She was a busy farm wife and mother to eleven children.  After the birth of her youngest child, Mabel succumbed to pneumonia and passed away.

Elizabeth was forgotten about, as the large family struggled without their Mabel.  Mabel's eldest daughter, Margaret became the care giver of her ten siblings, and once in awhile she would seek out the comfort that only Elizabeth could give.  Just like her mother before her, Margaret grew to love Elizabeth and cherished her time with her new-found friend.

The years went by, Margaret grew up and started a family of her own.  She could see how Elizabeth was aging, so she brought Elizabeth to live with her, so she could care for her.  When Margaret moved her family to Wisconsin in the late 1950's, Elizabeth moved with her - back to the country of her origin.

I first met Elizabeth in 1972, I was a teenager  - all wrapped up in myself, as teenagers tend to be. Meeting Elizabeth, and hearing the story of her friendship with my Grandmother (whom I had never known) and then my Aunt (who I adored), I was immediately captivated by Elizabeth.  Each time I visited my Aunt my love for Elizabeth grew.

The last time I saw Elizabeth was the last time I saw my Aunt Margaret, in 2010. By this time, they were both very elderly, and when I said goodbye, I knew that it would be my last chance to do so.

Aunt Margaret passed away in 2017, and by this time Elizabeth had long been forgotten.  I missed my Aunt terribly, and thought about Elizabeth a lot, but her story had ended just as my Aunt Margaret's had.

After my Aunt passed away, I got a call from my cousin, asking if there was anything I wanted from my Aunt's home - the family were cleaning out the house and hoping to sell the property.  I asked for a few things I had made and given to Aunt Margaret over the years, and then Elizabeth popped in my mind.  I asked my cousin what had ever come of Elizabeth, and he admitted that he had no knowledge of her.  I was sad, and more than a little upset with myself that I hadn't asked about her years sooner.  I asked him to find out what he could about Elizabeth, and he promised me he would try.

Weeks later I got a call from another Aunt ( Margaret's sister) telling me that a box had arrived from my cousin with things I had requested of my Aunt's, could I come an pick it up?

I did that the next week.  Sure enough, there were the items I had requested, as well as some craft supplies of my Aunt's that my cousin thought I would use, and another unmarked box, which brought tears to my eyes the minute I saw what was inside.

Elizabeth - Beautiful old Elizabeth, who had been my Grandmother's best friend through her childhood years - and my Aunt's most beloved doll, in the whole of her very vast collection!  Elizabeth had come home to me, and now it was my turn to treasure her for awhile.

I have cuddled her, talked to her, told her stories, and in her silent reply I have felt the memories of a hundred and twenty years and three generations of love pouring out to me.  How very Blessed I have been to be her caretaker for even a few years.

She is 120 years old now, and with each passing day her precious story in my family continues.  I would love to keep her forever,  but I know that doing so might jeopardize her future.  I want to be sure that she lives on for generations to come, so I have decided to pass her forward to the fourth, and even fifth generation.

On Sunday I will be saying goodbye to Elizabeth Owens.  She will be staying with my cousin for a few months, and then she is moving to France to live with her soon to be new best friend  - Mabel's Great-great-granddaughter - Dylann Ella Jeandel.

I have written a little book of her life as I know it, that will go with her, and I hope as she continues to pass through future generations that her story will continue to grow.

I will miss her, I surely will, but I am happy that she will live on long after I am gone from this earth.  I know Mabel and Margaret would approve...

Safe Travels, Dear Elizabeth!

LEMON RASPBERRY SCONES! A DELICIOUS TREAT!

Our small local Newspaper NEEPAWA BANNER & PRESS, is very much in the format of newspapers from days gone by.  At Christmas time they have the pages of pages of greetings from business in the area, and they have the "holiday cooking and baking recipes" section, called OUT OF HELEN'S KITCHEN.

I saved the whole section this year as there were several really good recipes to try.

This was one of them.

LEMON RASPBERRY SCONES

2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup cold butter
1 lemon, zested ( about 1-2 tsp)
3/4 cup buttermilk or cream
2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup frozen raspberries

GLAZE

2- 3 tbsp lemon juice
2/3 - 1 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon zest in large bowl.  Mix to combine.  Add butter to dry ingredients with a pastry blender, cut butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

Add 1/2 cup frozen raspberries to the mixture and toss to coat.  Stir the lemon juice into the buttermilk and add evenly over the flour mixture. Toss with a fork, scraping up from the bottom, until the dough starts to clump together.  Stir gently and as little as possible in the bowl until it all comes together in a ball.  Avoid overworking the dough.

Turn out on a lightly floured surface.  Pat the dough into a circle.  Using a knife, divide the dough in half diagonally and each half into 4-6 slices.

Place on baking sheet and add remaining raspberries wherever it needs once.

Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.

Glaze:  To prepare the glaze, combine lemon juice and 1/2 cup icing sugar in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Add more sugar as needed to create the desired consistency for glazing.

Cool scones for at least 10 minutes before glazing.

These are delicious and I highly recommend them, however, I followed the recipe exactly as written and at the end of 15 minutes of baking, mine still were not cooked.  So I reduced the heat to 350 (so the bottom wouldn't burn) and cooked them a further 10 minutes.

When I make them again, I will make sure to thaw the raspberries first - I think that was the issue with the batter not cooking in the prescribed time.

I served these to guests and everyone loved them...

Enjoy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

I am embarrassed at the amount of time that has gone by since I last posted here on my blog - mortified even!

I can blame many things, but I won't.  Suffice to say, I made more video's for my YouTube channel (Whatever the Weather May Be), and neglected my Blog, which I really do regret.

But it's a New Year, and one of the things I really wanted to do to start off my New Year is come back here and start writing at least a bi-weekly blog.  So may today be the first of many for 2020!

How have you all been?  Well I hope!

Since I last posted a few exciting things have happened.  First, I started the McCreary Knitting group.  We had our first meet up in September, and have met once a month since then.  In December we had a Christmas Party where we decided to make a Christmas craft instead of knitting so I made up kits of my little blue jean angels for everyone, and we spent the evening making angels and snacking on gorgeous treats that everyone brought to share. 

Now that the holidays are past us, it's time to get back to our knitting group again!

Speaking of knitting!
I did finish my fall/spring walking sweater  - it turned out great.  It's too warm to wear in the house but will be perfect for walks outside on cooler spring and fall days and evenings.

I also finished two adorable winter hats and a pair of mittens for Baby Llewyn (my nephew's new baby boy).  And winter toques and mittens for Granddaughter's Zhanna and Azaria.

I started a scrappy blanket project which is using up all my tiny balls of leftover yarn and I finally got brave enough to try the Mitered Square Blanket, which as it turns out, is simple to do.  I particularly love this pattern as you add the squares as you go and there is new sewing squares together when you are finished!  It's Brilliant!

I have purchased this pattern from Ravelry, it is the Ardent Shawl by Janina Kallio.  I am going to make two of these, one for my daughter-in-law Sasha, and one for myself.  The yarn I am going to be using in 70% silk and 30% seaweed,  by Handmaiden, purchased from Yarn Canada.

I have enough knitting projects lined up to get me through winter ( Whatever the Weather May Be)... but never far from my mind is the gardening season ahead and all that entails.

So I'll be back tomorrow with a yummy recipe I tried last week - you won't want to miss this one, it's a keeper, for sure!

See You tomorrow!

Till Then...

WHEN A LONG STORY IS REALLY JUST A LONG STORY!

Do you remember the days when you could join a club  just by seeing an ad in a magazine, filling out a form, and mailing it to whomever was running the ad?

I did that with the Columbia Music Club.  I found the ad in my Mother's Good Housekeeping Magazine, tore out the form, filled it in and mailed it, and waited patiently for my first shipment of records to arrive in the mail.

I was 16.

I had just started my first real job at Don's Toys Hobbies and Crafts, and with my first pay-check I had gone over to Gambles Department store and purchased my very own stereo system.

Oh my heart still pitters a bit when I think of that Lloyds Stereo.   It had a turntable, a radio and a
8 track tape player.  Two Stereo speakers, headphones, and it all fit beautifully on a wooden stand - with wheels.  Be still my heart!

I had some Mono records that my older brothers had given me, and a few 45's - but I really wanted some good stereo LP's - so I joined the Columbia Music Club.

The first shipment of records arrived - I think I got 10 the first time around, because you got bonus records by signing up - after the first month you received 5 records every month.

What a blast!

That is until my parents found out - then - OH WHAT A BLAST!

I managed to acquire close to 40 records before they stopped showing up in the mail for good!

So what has brought this story to my blog?

Well -

I follow quite a few knitting podcasts on YouTube.  Great stuff - Love it!

Several of the hosts on these podcasts from time to time show what they receive in the mail.  Mostly gifts from subscribers, or other podcasters, or from companies they are endorsing through their channel.

Lately several of them have shown the same product which has arrived at their doorstep, so I started to pay attention.

The product is yarn, patterns, and accessories, and it arrives every month in a pretty turquoise box  from a place called Knitcrate.com.

The Box Yarn Club has several options of "crates" to choose from, and you get to Pick A Crate  - the crate of your choice, be it, a Sock Crate - which offers hand dyed sock yarn and sock patterns, or the Knitcrate Membership , which offers different types of yarns and patterns.  You can choose a palate of colours you want, or you can let them choose and have a surprise every month.

You can see where this is going - can't you?

It feels like I am 16 again, but this time I don't have to ask Mom or Dad!

But I do have to ask myself - is this something you really need?  Yes and No ..... Is this something your want....Yes!

So I am going to give it a try for a few months.  At the very least I will get some beautiful hand dyed yarns and some nice patterns.  I am going for the Sock Crate, because sock yarn is non-existent here in my neck of the world, and I have discovered that I quite like to knit and crochet socks.

So if you are inclined to want to be 16 along with me check out the link below.

knitcrate.com

BTW - This is not an endorsement - this is just a crazy knitter sharing some info to other crazy knitters!

End of story!

WHERE HAS TIME GONE - AND TIME WELL SPENT!

Can you believe we are already into the second week of September?  What happened to summer?

It seems that is was just a day or so ago that I was busy planning my garden and getting ready to sew seeds - and now I am slowly taking it all down.

Slowly I say - because for the first time in three months, my garden is finally looking like it should have all summer.

We had a severe drought here, only receiving less than 2 inches of rain from spring thaw until about 2 weeks ago when it finally started to rain.  In fact our Municipality and eleven others in this area had declared a state of emergency, especially for the farmers in the area.

This was taken at the end of August.

And then it started to rain, and grass that crunched beneath our feet when we walked, started turning green again.  Flowers that I planted in spring, suddenly started to grow, and just now are starting to bloom, vegetables that I re-seeded two and three times, are now growing in abundance.

This was taken this morning - a much different look to an area that was all but dead.  Sad to say the weeds are taking control over the grass here, but we will work on fixing that next spring.

This area was dead as well - now it's greening up nicely, and happy to say this is grass, not weeds!

We will enjoy the flowers and the vegetables for only a short while, because already the Robins have left and the Geese are arriving, and frost has threatened almost every night this past week.  This morning I could see my breath on my early morning walk.

While everything was falling apart outside, I turned my attention to projects inside the house.  I primed and painted all the trim on the main floor of our home, and it looks so nice now.

I have been doing a lot of knitting - I did finish my fall walking sweater, and a baby outfit for my soon to be new great-nephew ( due in October).  I made a quilted wall hanging for the living room, and a small one for the dining room, and just this weekend I finished this project.

I was lucky to be able to purchase two windows from a local church as they replaced their windows.  This window was an outside window, and it was in very bad shape.  It has the latch and hinges on it, and I left them on because I like how they look.  I chose to mount black and white family pictures in this window, and I love how it turned out.

This is hanging in my guest room now.

The other window I have on a wall in my living room.  I intend to turn it into a mirror using the spray-on mirror product, but so far I have not located that product in our area.  So for now an Ivy grows on the window.

Both these projects cost me a grand total of  $20.00 to complete.

I also cleaned my studio, which desperately needed some attention.  I made a little video on a special afghan made by my Aunt Margaret - a pattern from the 1970's which although really vintage, still is gorgeous today, you can see some of my finished projects as well on the video.

https://youtu.be/q5lX67Rx4G4

I am working on a follow-up video where I do a Tutorial on the Vintage afghan - so stay tuned if you are interested.

I hope everyone has had a lovely summer - now it's fall - time to change gears and head in a all new direction!

Come along for the ride -