Look out for that tree...

Joining  Amanda Blake Soule 

  

{this moment} 

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

The Mister getting the juicy ones at the top. They made good apple sauce.

Come by and see me at the market tomorrow.

Have a good one.

Amanda

Whirligig Festival

A few weeks ago, the town hosted an 13th annual Whirligig Festival.

 It was a great weekend. Windy. Sometimes a bit too windy for more delicate structures. But to show them off, you do need some wind. :}

 I'm sorry, this one has no central focus. But I'm adding it anyway. They were difficult to take picture of. You know, how the wind blows. And it spins the whirligig around. Away from you.

 This large one hosted a bunch of musicians.

 Quirky.

 Large crowds.

 I took delight in this one. Look at the man under the tub. When the wind blew, the woman's arms would dunk the kids into the bathtub. Cute.

 FOr all the pirates roaming the streets here.

 This display had a flock of birds trying to take flight. Lots of movement here.

 There were boat races of the motor variety on the same day. And that evening, the kids an I attended a ukelele concert hosted by Manitoba Hal. They really enjoyed the concert. Rafael was particularly entranced because he learning to play ukelele and guitar. 

I should say, he's learning all the chords and changing them, but as of yet, only can sing 2 songs. He just won't learn a song to go with all the chords. Did my singing to him when he was a baby not stick in recognizing campfire/ folk songs? He doesn't know them! Wha? We're working on it. 

Have a good one,

Amanda

Book Marks

In clearing out a box, (every box that I open is like Christmas) I found these little silver book marks.

So I went hunting around for something to put on the end of it.

L.O.V.E.

 A beaded wool bead. 

 And a sock monkey head. I just HAD to.

 Tee Hee. I've ordered some more bokmarks. Stay tuned.

Ciao,

Amanda

At the Market

Today was a wet day. Foggy, misty, warm, humid day.  But the vendors all showed up at the market. The market must go on. And the new venue, Guild Hall being built, Guild Hall picture is the perfect venue for such days. It is covered, but still open.

Here's a picture of my table. ( crappy phone photos)

 My basket of mittens.

 My tray of goodies. My friend gave me 2 of these wood trays. I love them. it keeps the table a little neater.

 Some crayon wallets and zippy purses.

 Loving these hanging acorns with hearts on them.

 This week's felted soap. Need to make more for next week.

Even though it was a slow day, it was worth going to the market! I love having the opportunity to be a part of a weekly community to sell my wares.

See you there next week with some new goodies.

Cheers,

Amanda

Mittens sewn.. Check.

I got them done! 

Happy, Flapping Mittens

 Ready for Market.

I realized that I made all the bright mittens this week. I have some darker sweaters. Maybe Next week will be a dark week?! :}

It just may be a dark week.... my sweater supply is steadily decreasing. I only have 2 stores here to get a supply. And this past week had nuthin'!!! I shall remain calm. We are going to a neighbouring town on Tuesday. Cross fingers the sweater supply is there!

Have a good one,

Amanda

nose to the grindstone

This is what I want to tackle today. And much more. If I don't, I won't have anything to sell at the Farmer's Market this weekend. And it's Thursday. Is it really Thursday?

Have a good one,

Amanda

Another beach??!!!

I picked the kids up from the bus on Friday and we headed to another beach in the area, Carleton Village Beach. We were the only ones there.

There was some rock climbing,

 Sand angels.

 Crossing creeks,

 Finding frogs in said creek,

 And me, me, I was knitting. Sitting in my jeans, sweater and wrapped in a towel. The wind was cold, but the kids went about in their swim wear. Nutters. 

After a big , hard week of sewing, I was rewarded at the Farmer's Market by being almost sold out. I have to put my nose to the grindstone and make tons this week so I can sell more next week. It's a lovely atmosphere. I like being a part of this group. 

I made 15 pairs of mittens and 5 felted soaps. I forgot to take a picture and they are all gone! Next time.

Cheers,

Amanda

a bag

I didn't think I had anything to show you, but lo and behold, the camera says otherwise.

This is a bag I made for a young friend in town. She picked out the fabric and we discussed the size/style.

 She wanted a bag for her projects. You know you can never have too many bags or too many projects. 

I used my double needle for the stitching on the edge and middle of the bag. Here's a little trick... Instead of sewing 2 pieces of fabric together for the front and back of the bag, I took one piece each, folded it in half, outsides facing and sewed a seam in it. Opened it up, ironed it and used the double needle for the stitching.

 We decided to give the bag an extra inside flap that could expand the bag.

 With a draw string. Because we don't want to limit the size of our project due to the size of our bag.

 WHile I was taking photos, I noticed that I hadn't really looked at our yard from this angle. It is at the front of the house, looking to the side. We live from the side of the house with all the windows and decks, so it was nice to see it from this angle. I can't wait to get some flower colour in next year.

 In talking about colour, this tree has been red since the middle of August. I think that in a few weeks, it will not be alone anymore. the nights are cool now and the sun has changed it's angle in the sky. 

I've been sewing up a storm. Mittens and coffee cup cozies. Tomorrow, felted soap. Friday, little coin pouches. Why?

Shelburne's Farmer's Market

Cheers,

Amanda

Amazing Quilt

I am not a quilter. I admire quilters. I'm so afraid of quilting. I'm just not that exact. And they are so huge!

I do however, appreciate all the work that goes into it. And this quilt has been hand quilted!

 It was made for me when I got married by a nanny I had when I was 2! She stayed with us for many years. When my brother and sister got married, yep, they got quilts also. When we all had children, yep, quilts. We had 2 children each. She made 9 quilts for us. Hey mom, did you get one?

 The hand stitching is incredible! Just look at it. 

 On a queen size quilt. That's a lot of knot tying, thread cutting, bundling up under the covers to get at the middle.

 It's just as pretty on the back.

 When we first chose this room, we felt the paint colour was too dark. But with this quilt on the bed, the colour is ok. Now, just to find a few night tables.

I'm very honoured to own such handiwork. Treasured.

Have a good one,

Amanda

Nature's treasures

This photo shows you the mess a boy can make when he felts! :} Not bad really. We put it away to make room for company, but my order of new foam, needles and a few more bags of roving came today from Gemini Fibres. ( i would put the link here, but their site has been compromised and warnings of mal    ware   pop up. They are aware of it and it didn't bother my mac. up to you). They have great service.

We're starting a little collection of nature's treasures on the window sill. When you feed the birds, they leave you gifts. Neve brought home the sand dollars and teeny tiny starfish from camp a few weeks ago. Since then, we've brought home a teeny tiny clam shell and a teeny crab shell.

 I was quite excited to see this guy at the feeder. 

 Looks like a cardinal yes? But with no tuft. What's with that? I've seen him many times since, but was convinced that it wasn't a cardinal. When lo and behold, it stuck up his tuft and put it back down. I've never heard of it before, but he did it. My friend saw it. Is this true?

 Knowing that school was starting soon, we went to the beach. Hopefully, not the last time. Behind us is a river that flows warm water into the ocean. Nice.

Just look at those clouds. It felt like we were in a globe.

 Henry was playing with the macro lens. Sand dune grass.

 And some yellow flowers. The sand was so nice and warm on the feet, even though the wind did have a bit of a chill to it. 

Well, the kids are in school now. I sang classical music for 2 hours today! As much as I was nervous about going back to my vocal student years, it wasn't so bad. Those songs put me back 20 years in time. I definitely don't want to relive my 20s, but it felt free to sing my heart out!

I have some sewing to do this week. I'll report back, for sure! 

Cheers,

Amanda