A THANK YOU

Thank you to everyone who left kind comments on my Blog over this past weekend, and for the numerous emails of comfort I received regarding the passing of my beloved "Shorty". Many were from people I don't even know. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated more than you'll ever know.

~Janet

LOSING A VERY SPECIAL FRIEND

Today is a very sad day for me. Early this morning I lost my special little friend Shorty. I adopted her from rescue almost 10 years ago.  She was around the age of 7 or 8 when she came to live with us. I can't even begin to tell you how much joy she brought to our lives. I found this little poem and I am posting it as a tribute to her. 
I loved her so much. It broke my heart.

God looked around his garden and found an empty place.

He then looked down upon the earth and saw your tired face.

He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest.

God's garden must be beautiful, he always takes the best.

He knew that you were suffering, he knew you were in pain.

He knew that you would never get well on this earth again.

He saw the road was getting rough and the hills were hard to climb.

So he closed your weary eyelids and whispered "Peace be thine".

It broke our hearts to lose you but you didn't go alone.

For part of us went with you, the day God called you home.

Author Unknown

AN OUTING TO AMISH COUNTRY

This morning my DH and I were feeling a little better after battling a flu virus/bronchitis for the past 4 weeks, so we decide to take a drive to Amish country which is only just over an hour away from us. It was a beautiful drive, mild and sunny with snow on the ground. I was up there just before Christmas and got some carrots that were the sweetest carrots I have ever tasted. I bought 10 pounds of them, and for only $1.75. We have been enjoying them every day, so I thought I could pick some more of them up while we were there. Today, I got 20 lbs. of them. Of course I will share some of them with the horses. We had the breakfast buffet at a wonderful Amish restaurant called the Crossroads in Elmira, Ontario. They have fabulous food. The breakfast buffet is absolutely delicious and for only $7.99....all you can eat, and boy did we eat! They had so many different selections from fresh fruits, to pancakes and waffles, eggs, bacon, sausages, biscuits, and lots more. There is a great Quilt shop at the end of the building where the restaurant is, so we had a look around there after breakfast. After that we hit the market and got some needfulls for the pantry, then we headed home. It was a perfect day for a nice drive. We enjoyed it so much, and yes it did make us feel better.

~Janet

Amish horse and buggy

Fresh vegetables at the Farmer's Market

A SNOWY DAY

Today is a snowy day here in Southwestern Ontario. Sometimes, I can't even see the barn when I look out of the kitchen window. The bird feeders are all full and the birds are all huddled together getting their wild bird seed. The dogs have been out enjoying the snow and the horses are outside enjoying some fresh air. The cats are laying beside the wood stove in DH's shop soaking up the heat. We are expecting up to 40 cm of snow by the end of tonight. This is the first snow storm of the season. I just finished making some home made butternut squash soup, so we will be enjoying that for our lunch.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. DH and I have been fighting off a cold virus and bronchitis for the last three weeks, so hopefully we will feel better soon. 

I am looking out for a tall cupboard only about 12" deep for my sewing room to store my fabric in. Having it in boxes on the floor isn't a great way of organizing it. Hopefully when this snow stops, I can find something that is in my budget.

Have a great day.

~Janet

HAPPY NEW YEAR

MERRY CHRISTMAS

A CHRISTMAS GATHERING

Last night was our yearly Christmas gathering of our little sewing group. What a fun time we had. I know what you're going to say Robin....yes I am at it again :)

Mary was our host and she made a delicious dinner for us. On the menu was pasta with a choice of meat or vegetarian sauce, Caesar salad, garlic bread, sausage, and for desert, Mary made home made pumpkin pie, lemon tarts and peanut brittle. She had some wonderful appetizers also.Thanks Mary. A great time and a delicious dinner. As you can see from the pictures below, we all had a wonderful time.

Mary's table was beautifully set

We enjoyed pasta, Caesar salad, garlic bread, sausage, and for desert Mary made homemade pumpkin pie, lemon tarts, and some peanut brittle. It was a real FEAST and very delicious!

Linda and Michelle

Brenda and Mary

Brenda, Shirley and Michelle

hmmmm..... I wonder what is in that container??

I think I see a lot of wine bottles in there???

Brenda wearing her party hat :)

Shirley is having a great time!

Linda and Mary

Mary and Brenda

Ok girls, I think we should slow down on the wine!
Shirley knitted us all neck/head warmers in our favorite colors. Mary and Linda are modeling theirs. I got a beautiful red one, as red is my favorite color.

PRIMITIVE HORSES

I went to visit my friend's shop yesterday, and she is now making these gorgeous hand made Primitive Horses. They are just awesome and the pictures do not do them justice. Thought you might like to see some pictures. You can also check out her website at www.pinesamplerfurniture.com

CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON

Today was our Christmas luncheon for our Quilters' Guild. A great meeting, a great trunk show and speaker and a great vendor. What more could one want...............oh yes, there was a fantastic Christmas luncheon after our meeting with chicken, rice, two kinds of salad, rolls with butter, and tea or coffee and a great angel food cake desert with berries and whipped cream.

Mary and Michelle

Myself, Linda and Shirley. I guess I didn't know someone was taking my picture........DUH! I was looking at someone across the other side of the room. Actually, I think I am just wondering....WHEN ARE WE GOING TO EAT! :)

A NIGHT OUT

On Thursday night our friend Brenda had our little sewing group over to her house for dinner. She had just completed her new sewing/pattern designing studio so we got the grand tour of that. It is absolutely gorgeous! There was also a built in Pantry installed for Brenda's canning. Boy, I thought I did a lot of canning, but Brenda has me beat. We had a delicious dinner and then we all settled into her new sewing area and spent the evening sewing and chatting up a storm. We had a wonderful time as usual! We missed our friend Linda, she couldn't be with us that night.

Brenda and I standing beside her full Pantry

Another picture of Brenda's Pantry

Sitting down for Brenda's delicious dinner. Everything was home made, even the juice!

We are all sewing up a storm after dinner in Brenda's new studio.

NEW WOOD SHED

I would like to wish Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends. Our Thanksgiving was October 10th, but I wish we were having it now too :)

We just put a new woodshed on the back of my summer kitchen and we have been working hard getting it full of wood for the winter. We are almost finished. Below is a picture from October, of the first load of wood ready to be put in. The shed in the first picture still needs the trim put on and below on the last picture, it is completely finished. Next year I will stain it to match the summer kitchen that I stained this fall. This is going to be a great place for keeping our wood dry for the winter. We have been working steady putting loads in and we almost have it filled.

A load of fire wood ready to be put in

This is about half full

The finished wood shed

GIRL'S DAY OUT

Today, my friends Mary and Michelle and I started out early this morning and went to a Primitive home Open House. Lots of goodies to be found there. The home was all decked out for Christmas and the people were coming in droves. We made a few purchases then got in the car and headed for Bayfield for lunch and some more shopping. We had a delicious lunch at the Black Dog pub. Mary had the fish and chips, and Michelle and I had the chicken wrap with Jamaican bean and vegetable soup. After lunch we had nice walk through the town and checked out some of the shops. On the way home, we stopped at the Pine Sampler shop in Hensall. It was filled to the brim with wonderful primitive furniture and accessories and the air was filled with the scent of the most wonderful candles, the window boxes outside were beautifully decorated with spruce, cedar, and pine boughs. They had such a nice selection of wool for rug hooking too. We left there and stopped in Exeter and had coffee and desert at Coffee Cultures, then a quick visit to the Quilt shop next door, and then home. We even drove through a little snow squall on the way. We missed Brenda, Shirley, and Linda today. They couldn't join us due to other commitments, but we were thinking of them.

Michelle, myself and Mary

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

FAMILY VISIT AND CRANBERRY HARVEST

Last week DH and I took a 3000 mile flight to British Columbia to see my family..... my two sisters and their husbands, my Dad, and our niece and nephew. While we were there, DH was able to see our Brother in Law's Cranberry Harvest that was in full swing. He really enjoyed seeing it, as he enjoys all aspects of farming. There is no cranberries grown in our area, so this was very interesting for him to see. We stayed at the home of my sister Karen and her husband Allen. We had some great meals while we were there, and Karen makes the best spaghetti I have ever tasted! There were lots of other delicious meals too. We had a great time seeing everyone again. DH got some wonderful shots from 38,000 feet and some pictures of the Cranberry Harvest.

Coming in for a landing at Abbotsford, BC

Above the clouds

Harvesting the Cranberries

Flooding the Cranberries

Flying over the Rocky Mountains

Another great picture of the snow capped Rocky Mountains

Flying over Lake Michigan on the way home

Going over the Prairies

My sister Audrey with her dog "Lucas" and my Dad

HALLOWEEN STITCHERY

I was fortunate  enough a few weeks back to win a Halloween Stitchery made by Linda of Parker's Paradise. I picked it up at the Post Office this week and I absolutely LOVE it! Linda, you do fine work. Thank you so much. I will treasure this for years to come.

On another note, it is getting pretty chilly here in Ontario. I am sitting here typing this, enjoying the heat of my wood stove. We are supposed to get a heavy frost tonight so I made sure that I brought all of my potted herbs inside. Yesterday DH and I stacked 4 face cords of firewood in our wood shed and hope to do more this weekend.

Halloween Stitchery I won from Linda's Give Away