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 - 

TAKING A BREAK AND HAVING SOME FUN!

We all need to do this from time to time.  Sometimes our obligations have a way of getting us stuck down to the grind, and we need to break loose and just play for awhile.

How do you break free?  Or do you break free?

I go upstairs to the studio, rummage around and let my mind take over whatever it wants to do...

I have had a project mulling around in my mind for a long time, after I saw a painting on Pinterest of a sunflower.  For some reason the image stuck with me, and because I don't paint, I started creating my own rendition of the painting in my own style.

Fabric...

To be exact - fabric scraps... the kind and size most people throw out!

I have mine all sorted into bags according to colour, and those bags fill three drawers of a chest of drawers.

So I started gathering my yellow, red and brown scraps, and then I started cutting.  I began laying my scraps out on my cutting board and I got this...  not bad for a start.  After I looked at the picture I took I realized that the center was much to small - easily fixed!

One thing led to another, and the next thing I know I was making this video:
https://youtu.be/B3V9VPnnVko


And after working for awhile longer I decided to pin what I had so far onto the actual fabric of the quilt.  It's going to be a 6 ft wall hanging when it's done - and I have a lot more petals to add before it looks right... but the center is much better!

Then I rummaged some more - cut up a pair of capri's from years and years ago, and made the stem, and pinned that on my piece.

Next I have to add the smaller darker petals that surround the center of the flower.  And make some leaves, and then somehow attach the whole sunflower to the piece permanently and quilt it, and I plan to do a lot of embroidery stitches on the petals themselves to further enhance the piece.  It has a long way to go - but I am happy with my progress so far... and yes, the sunflower is going to spill out over the edges of the quilt- it's not getting trimmed down - it is exactly the way I want it to be!

I have another wall hanging quilt peeking out behind the sunflower one, that one is just waiting for me to get some border material, then I will sew it all together and finish it...

My Play Day turned out to be just what I needed...

And I didn't even make a dent in my scrap stash!

I see another Play Day in my Future!

IT'S UP TO US TO TEACH THEM CREATIVITY !

I often wonder and even worry about the future of activities such as knitting/ crochet/sewing/crafting in the generations to come, and even within the generations now here.

With technology being what it is, and where it seems to be headed, there seems to be less and less interest by our youth to be creative, less opportunities to work with their hands to create, and dare I say, less and less imagination in a generation that only needs to touch a screen to be entertained and challenged.

I feel we are somehow to blame for this - my generation, that is.  We were the generation that introduced much of the technology that rules the world today.  It was novel, exciting, and we jumped on the trolley that we thought would lead us to new places and to a new world.

Boy did it ever!

I'm not sure I have much pride in the technology our generation helped create.

That is why whenever I see a child show interest in a handicraft of any kind, I jump at the chance to fan the fire of creativity.

Last week we were in the city, and we visited our son and his family.  Our little step-granddaughter is 9 yrs old.  I made her a Junk Journal for her 9th birthday and she is so in love with the journal that it really makes me happy.

She has been struggling to find ways to fill her journal with the things she thinks need to go in it.  So I went through my craft room and packed her a full box of supplies and ideas to help her work on her journal.

She was over - the- top excited!

One of the things she loves the most about her journal is the tiny books that I made and tucked and hid throughout the journal.  She wanted to learn how to make the tiny books, but time wasn't on our side.

It really bothered me that I couldn't show her how to do the simple craft she really wanted to learn  - so today I made her a video showing her how to make her own tiny books.

Given the chance, I believe she will be making a lot of tiny books in her future... and why not - who said journal making is only an adult activity?

It can be done by children as well  - I am sure of it - and I plan to prove it with a series of Tutorial Video's  just for kids, on how to make a simple journal.

If you have interested children in your world, perhaps you will follow along and help create some rather awesome journals for the Children in your lives to give as gifts this Christmas...

To get you started here is the first video in the series...

How to make a Tiny Book.

Get out your scissors, paper, glue and lets get the kids creating!

https://youtu.be/jKPhiaq6KxE



If you want to see the journal I made for Zhanna's birthday here is the video where I show you cover to cover of the book...

https://youtu.be/cSeL_fGQya4

SOME KNITTING AND A BOOK REVIEW!

Now that the garden is doing it's own thing without interference from me, apart from watering and weeding, I have been taking some time to do some of the other things I love.

I have been knitting.

I finished the pullover I was knitting for myself to use on my fall morning walks - it turned out great, and I will have a picture of it soon, I promise - or maybe a video - not sure.

I also started knitting a few items for a new baby in the family that is due to arrive in October.  It is the first child of my nephew Leigh and his wife Jenna, and we already know it is going to be a boy.

So far I have knit a darling little cardigan, a hat (toque style), some baby mittens, and I am now just starting some baby socks.  Again - I will have pictures when I get them all sewn together, washed and blocked...

I have rooted through my huge stash a yarns, and pulled out all the suitable sock yarn I could find, and next I am going to start knitting socks.

I think that is going to be the Christmas gift of choice this year - that and calendars featuring my photography.

Last year, I did a couple of calendars, using Walmart photo - but although the calendars turned out quite nice, it was on the pricey side to print more than a few.  So I am on the hunt for someplace I can get a quantity of them printed, and then I might sell some of them as well as give them as gifts to friends and family.

I also have been doing some reading from my lovely little spot in the pumpkin patch.

I just finished a book called.   The Chilbury Ladies' Choir.   by Jennifer Ryan.

It was a delight to read.

It's about a choir in Chilbury England during WW11, that looses all it's male singers to the war effort, so they continue, much to the horror of the times, as a women's -  only choir.  The story is less about the choir, and more about the individual lives of the women in the choir, as they try to live through a very difficult period of history, for England and indeed most of Europe.

It's a good read with some colourful characters, some historic events, and really good story telling.

The novel was published in 2017, and was Jennifer Ryan's first novel - so I will be keeping my eyes open for her next novel - if one comes along.


If you missed my last two video's taken from my Pumpkin patch last weekend, you can catch it here...

https://youtu.be/iiCowXmzOnQ


https://youtu.be/PSiJ4cElPG0


So now, I'm off to cast some socks on the needles -

Until later -

A BEAUTIFUL EVENING, AND SOME BEAUTIFUL IMAGES!

For the past three days we have had a break from the extreme heat and humidity that for weeks had us in it's throes.  I have been able to have the windows and doors open all day long and it has been so nice to be able to leave the air conditioning off and just enjoy the fresh air coming in the windows.

Truly the past three days have been my idea of the perfect summer weather.  I know my perfect summer weather is not what a lot of people would hope for summer, but there it is.

I have never been a heat lover, or a sun-bather, or really much of a beach-goer.  If and when I do sit outside, it's usually in the shade.

But one cannot deny the beauty of summer, and my yard really does showcase a lot of that beauty, each and every day.

I am very very fortunate to be surrounded with Mother Nature's, best of the best.

In particular, I love summer evenings the best - especially that couple of hours just before the sun goes down for the night.  That time of the evening offers a hush of activity - both human, and nature; sometimes a cooling evening breeze, and always the most beautiful light and shadows.

It is the best time to take out the camera and get some really beautiful images - especially of flowers.

That's what I did last evening.  I took an hour, and wandered around my gardens with my camera and just forgot everything except the beauty all around me.  It is amazing when you slow down and really look, what you can see.  And that is precisely why I love the activity of photography.  It forces me to slow down, look carefully, find what inspires me... and then encourages me to take the time, make the effort to get the sharpest, cleanest, image I can  - over and over again.

I often only intend to be out shooting the camera for a few minutes - but most times I loose track of time, and I am out for hours... and always, I am totally relaxed when I do finally go in the house.

So here are a few of the images I managed to catch in my yard, just as the evening sun was saying goodnight to the gardens.  It really was the perfect evening to be wandering around the gardens with camera in hand.

Enjoy!

HOW'S THIS FOR A CATCH-UP!

Well, It sure has been awhile since I have sat down to write an blog.

I hope everyone hasn't given up on me, and moved on elsewhere.

It has been a very busy few months here on our little slice of earth.  We have been busy working in the yard, in the gardens and on the hedges, and also just enjoying every minute we can of being outside in the sun and fresh air.  The time will come soon enough when we will be stuck indoors during our long winter months, so now it's time to enjoy the outdoors while we can.

My gardens are not doing as well as I had hoped at the beginning of the season  - but I am not the only one saying that this year.  Once again we find ourselves in an extremely dry and hot summer.  The lack of rain has really taken it's toll on the plants and trees, and also on the insects and birds.

Perhaps I do have more birds and insects than most yards in town,  but that might be because I continue to feed and water both species.

So I water from the hose - it is after all the only way I will have any crop this year.  But even that isn't going to get much in my freezer this year.  I can tell already that yields are not going to be anywhere near where they have been other years.

I do have some successes however.

Remember the Peppermint Stick Zinnia seed I was going to try for the first time this year.... well, just today, the first flower showed it's beauty to me... take a look!

Isn't it gorgeous?

A couple of other Zinnia's new to me as well this year, that are just as fetching are these two...

New tomatoes I am trying this year are these Midnight Snack cherry tomatoes...

They are almost too pretty to eat - I can't wait to try them.

But of course there are some things that have a forever place in my gardens - and they never disappoint.

And Mother Nature never disappoints either, as usual summertime here is a daily show of some of the most breath-taking sunsets you could ever see - we are truly blessed.

The summer hasn't all been about the yard and the gardens and mother nature, I have also been on a knitting frenzy for a few months now.

I have finished my walking sweater for my fall morning walks, - it turned out great - better than I expected.  I have several pairs of socks on the go, and though I have not quite conquered Magic Loop yet, I  have once again become comfortable knitting with DPN's.

Currently I am knitting a darling little baby sweater for an new expected baby in the family, who is due to arrive in October.  It is knit in one piece, which I have never attempted before, and I must say, I am delighted with the way it is turning out.

When I get that project done, I plan to do a reveal Vlog on all my completed knitting projects.

OH yeah - and I have done quite a few Vlogs for YouTube as well, so if you haven't already check them out, if you are interested...

my channel is:    Whatever the Weather may be.

So how's that for a catch-up?

I will try not to be so tardy here in the future.  

Stay Well everyone...

Till Next Time!