Guess what day it is?

Wednesday already!! Sheeeesh...they blow by so fast! the days that is....... we have had 3 good ones in a row (+20C on Monday!!) I have been getting some exercise.....raking and cleaning out major debris (mostly leaves) from under shrubs and off the lawn. My shoulders know it. I raked up a "Hefty" size bag of cones from one 15 X 15 foot square of lawn; we have no trees.............the neighbour has two huge spruce that are not healthy...ick....they lose piles of needles and cones during the winter. A windy day when it blows from the northwest?.... we get absolutely peppered with them.









So,............ABC day at Mrs. Nesbitt's again ..... and the letter is "O".

These are not new photos...but they are my own from Christmas time. My "O" word is ornament. It could also be origami...because that is what these little beauties are. Made by folding pieces of paper in order to achieve this particular shape.













This is my favourite that I have made so far. Probably because of the colours; love the teals. It is made from foils and the patterned bit is a piece of gorgeous gold and teal doubled up tissue paper. The tissue paper is a bit fragile to use if not doubled or glued to a firmer paper for a backing. It still needs to fold well.. not buckle under pressure, and must hold the shape when folding is complete.










This gives you an idea of the size.










Oh, look... chocolate box wrappers.... all foil-y and shiny and so perfect. You can also use any wrapping papers...a great way to recycle some of the pretty wrapping paper you hate to throw away. If you have origami papers with tiny flowers or patterns on them, they are lovely added to the mix.










I bought my first little origami ornament several years ago. This is it. It includes proper origami papers with pattern of tiny flowers.










Actually, I bought 3 because I didn't know if I would ruin them all trying to figure out how they were constructed. I still have all 3. That number must mean something... because they are made with 3 pieces of 3 inch square paper. I took one apart and it took me 3 days to figure out how to put it back together again. Each year when I try to make another...it takes me 3 tries to get it right. I don't know if I could explain in less than about 33 pictures and plenty of uhm-ing... how to do it. I have searched for a tutorial on it... came up with this. It is not quite the way I do it.... mine is just what I figured out in my own bumbling way and it works for me.










Look at all the beautiful colours I've made... hahah...then I got really silly...and made some half the size ...ohhh, was that fiddly! They can be made into cute little Christmas earrings....!. String a golden thread, add a bead or two and look how beautiful they are. They are such fun to make.

there is still snow in the shady spots...but...

It is spring in the house!
Ahhhh.... here we go... a flower on the Hoya plant. Good ol' plant.... every year. Always on the same stalk. They drop off and leave little bumps...then every so often below those..some new little flowerettes form...grow, and bloom. Click on the pics to see closer and you can get the idea....













When I say old...this thing is so old I can't even remember when I got it... it never gets any new leaves...probably because I almost killed it one summer. I put it outside with other plants to clean them...left them in the hot sun......it was too hot for them all. This one's leaves were never the same..they went all pale and "shrivelly"... sort of recuperated and now are pale and strong...but never a new leaf and occasionally one falls off. Poor thing. I don't deserve it..but it still does flower once or twice each year. This is what they look like about 3 days before they actually open up...they almost look like plastic.











Then the flowers open and they are almost soft and furry... like the nap on very fine velvet. The tiny stars in the centers look like beautiful miniature wax flowers. Click on the pic for a look at the texture.

ABC Wednesday

If you would like to play ABC Wednesday..check out Mrs. Nesbitt's site.....

Today is "N" .......I chose needle ... .. so I'm showing a few pics of my fun hobby...stitching small bears with needle and thread. Here is the latest little guy I just finished. If the bear is small.... under 5 inches, I do the whole thing by hand. If it is over 6 inches I sometimes try to do a few pieces by machine...but, still do the head, foot pads and ears by hand. If the fur is ultra fluffy, like this stuff...I find it easier to do it all by hand.










This is the bottom of a leg and foot... all the fur must be tucked in out of the way before attaching the foot pad. This is a strange faux fur with some very long outer "hairs". It was a cushion cover that I bought on sale and took apart... silly as a cushion..but, great as a little bear!










In order to keep the fur out of the way while using my little needle to do the tiny stitches, I use many clips to hold the paw pad securely to the bottom of the foot while I stitch around it. It is a bit awkward working around them...but speed is not of the essence.....perfect stitches are....and each stitch is only about two of those teensy squares (squint hard and you can see them).. I don't want things slipping and sliding while trying to keep stitches neat.










Once the pad is stitched into place... turn it all right side out and there you have it...foot pad... and all the fur pointing in the right direction. Needle work complete.













His nose is another type of needlework... embroidery...
it is a smooth satin stitch.. stitches done very close together and keeping them all the same degree of tightness in order to form a satin-like finish. Noses can be tiny or large...and many different shapes... depending on where or how I place the stitches with my needle.......

Jingle Bells...jingle bells....

Look!! the 10 inches of snow from last week melted.... and on Thursday I actually found some greenery ..... and a little sleepy ladybug slowly creeping around....enjoying the sunshine....










Then, ..... Friday afternoon.... some snowflakes were swirling around and beginning to cling to the new buds...this is why the trees in this area suffer like they do. It gets lovely and warm... things bud, and ..then.... wham! a cold front blows in, there is snow and ice, and all the buds turn black, fall off and must begin again. If they do at all. My bleeding heart will be starting over again at the beginning of the week if it warms up...... I didn't even want to look at the forecast yet, but had to as I need to drive a few places this week. So.. this morning it is -11C..... only warming to -2C..... snow flurries expected daily 'til about Wednesday... same temps as today.













a la la... bah humbug!!

I'm late...I'm late....

..for a very important date....
I'm late for the Mad Hatter's Tea.... well, yes that too...but today I'm also way late for "word Wednesday"....good grief... it is almost noon.... the day is already over in parts of the world......










Check it out at Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.... play along some day?

Well, I sure had to wipe the dust off my motorcycle before I dared post a picture of it...no self respecting biker would dare to post a photo of their dusty "ride". Even a smattering of bugs is much better than dust. It was covered with sawdust and winter dust too...ick... .. Here it is.... shoved between the table saw and some lumber. I had to move things around.. to get an angle that was somewhat less cluttered just to take a pic. Moving it outside the garage was just as bad... vehicles, alleyway..etc...plus it ain't very warm out there again... forget it. Won't be taking it out for a spin around the neighbourhood just yet... although we did have a few warm days earlier in the month.... Anyway...here it is.... Little Red as I sometimes call her. She is a Kawasaki Vulcan 500....




















here is my other M .... a Northern Mermaid. This is the cover of the magazine...(hey! another m word!) and inside, fellow doll maker Judi provided the pattern. She also sent me some Arctic Fox Fur to use for her hood. A small and dainty doll; the type I like to make. Tiny hands are a challenge....even if they are gloves.













She was great fun to make...and if I ever get off the current bear and bunny kick....I want to make a few more from this pattern.













Here is my effort. I was pretty pleased with how she turned out.










This is what mermaids in norther waters wear....much to the chagrin of local sailors.

Pay it Forward fun.......

Some time ago I initiated my portion of a Pay it Forward which I had offered to play over at Table Bread. I barely had enough people to carry it on..... but, Caroline was one of the nice folks who did offer to play along and then it was her turn to round up more players. She had trouble finding folks too and decided to Pay It Back to me!! How lucky was I !!

Today when I got home from running errands.. there was a box sitting on my porch.. oooooohhh.... a surprise! And, was I ever surprised ... as well as totally spoiled by her. My goodness, the effort she put into this was so special. She definitely was paying attention and picked up on some clues about me since the pay it forward day......
I was like a kid on Christmas morning let me tell you. Eagerly reading her letter...then unwrapping each little thing...and ......there were so many!










It began with a basket lined with fabric pieces purchased in Chad...and inside the basket... a most amazing assortment of tiny treasures!
an artwork postcard of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.. a tiny brown wool sheep from Finland.. (this girl gets around and if you check out her blog, you will find out why...)










And, look at the teeeensy shopping bags! How cute are those? like a kid or cat alright...that's me....playing with the packaging as much as the goodies.
A silver trade bead from Ethiopia...the stone bead from Northern Cameroon...you can barely see one of a pair of tiny wooden shoes from the Netherlands... but from Dutch celebrations in Zimbabwe. Can you see the tiniest owl in the world? lol......... you can see him better below...I took a close-up .....










... and on it went.... a miniature vase from Zimbabwe... with a sweet little spray of glass flowers.. small wooden frame holding a watercolour of a baobab tree...soapstone and wood pendants.. also from Zimbabwe...











Look at this amazing little guy. He is only half an inch big! Unbelievable. Made by a lady in South Africa. Adorable is the only word I can think of......

I had so much fun reading her letter and the descriptions of where each little treasure came from....who made it and the circumstances under which it was discovered or purchased by her. She wrapped each little thing... I marveled at every gem I unwrapped.

Signing up for my first pay it forward on Lewis's blog was the most fun I have had in years. I think Caroline is like me in several ways... and we sure both had a lot of fun sending out our little goodies to each other ... I still have one more pay it forward to do...but there is no hurry... the deal was 365 days.... I think I have time.

Thanks so much for my wonderful gift basket Caroline... I love it!! Everything is the perfect size for use with my mini needle felts sitting in the curio cabinet (where all is safe and dust free....)

brocade can be tricky....

....but, with the help of a few people who know a lot about sewing.... I managed to use it for the inner ears and foot pads of my third bunny.











I didn't know about the tissue paper trick yet when I did the ears, and they are easier to do than the little foot pads....... I pinned only in the seam allowance so that even if there were pin pricks that did show... they would not be visible when I turned the ear right side out.










Then I learned about the tissue paper trick. Use tissue paper against the good side when stitching it to the other fabric... this is by hand for me when I am doing foot pads. I just can't seem to do them by machine yet..... then after turning, just tear it away.. et voila! you have a pristine piece of fabric. Worked like a charm. Thanks Richy.....














The brocade pieces survived intact...not a pick mark or hole anywhere..... and I now have a pretty pink bunny.

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so, how's your day so far????

View from my kitchen window this morning.. are those chairs holding hands? ...













It began to snow around 5:30 a.m.... everything was dry as a bone then....











.......3.5 hours later....we have almost 9 inches and it's still snowing... ...I stuck a ruler in to the snow on the patio chair to prove it... don't want anyone thinking I exaggerate.....cuz, some folks think I have the knack of making a story a bit more interesting in the telling....













...the gas lantern has a top hat ... or maybe it is a huge "bowler"...










awww, look... a couple of frozen love birds..
and somebody else looks a bit shocked at the situation too...hahahhaha













hey!! a little help here please.... snowflakes... ack!!











.....just a minute...don't forget poor little me. Come back!! Pleeeze?..........











a chunk slid off the BBQ cover.... now we can see depth.... guess we won't fire that up for awhile.









We could pretend we live in the deep south.... and those are really cotton balls.......













It is pretty wet,..I'm not even going to bother shoveling... it is only 0 C.... and supposed to be +20C by Sunday....people can just darn well trudge through it 'til then.


UPDATE:.... it melted a bit...but then at 4:00 p.m... it was almost a white out....huge, fluffy flakes.... and now...we are on tv. Record for this day... about 10 inches I guess.... 25 cm.. I think they said. It is tapering off now... and moving on to other areas of Canada and folks who are hunkering down as they know it is on the way... stay warm SweetPea...

when life gives you lemons....

you know the old saying, right? ... "make Lemonade"











....
Well, my response is always... hey..lemons!! I can use those..... for Lemon Loaf.... or Lemon Blueberry Muffins.... or my sister's Lemon Squares... or.... well, anyway.... there is absolutely no shortage of what to do if I am handed lemons or find them hiding in my crisper. What?...it doesn't mean literally?..... oh...........well, so what? Let's make 'em anyway.











Lemon Cranberry (or, Blueberry) muffins. When I heard that Tim Horton's was coming out with lemon cranberry muffins, I absolutely had to try one because those two flavours together?... all I can say is YUM! Ran out to my car with my lovely coffee and a muffin as soon as they began to sell them... ready to savour each bite in peace and quiet... yech! I couldn't believe how awful it was. Store bought muffins...ptoooey. Tossed it. What a shame. Home I went, and over the winter, perfected my own. Then, I also tried them with blueberries... Yeah... I know I'm a bit of a nut case.. but I do love a great muffin. ...and if you do as well... check out my recipe some day. My Lemon Blueberry muffins are pretty darn good if I do say so myself; and I'm cheeky enough to do just that.... They get great comments from anybody who tries them and I even have people that call to order a batch every so often for their own freezers, so, they must be pretty good.

Check out all the other folks and their word for Wednesday...today is the letter "L" .... and it stands for Lemony goodness here at the house of bears....

mixed bag Sunday...

Sunny, but still cool at night time.... what little water is in the birdie bath still freezes each night... today I am going to scrub it well and put out some fresh for the little visitors.

This year there are lots of little warblers or thrushes..I am not sure, I need a lesson from a true "birder"... but we hear them trilling away all day now. This is something quite new to the neighbourhood. We have decided that perhaps it is because so many of the huge, old poplar trees have been taken down (finally) and maybe that is deterring the bigger birds from building in the immediate area. Great! There is nothing worse than watching a huge crow or magpie stealing a baby robin. I have hurt my arm and shoulder several times throwing boots, brooms, balls, (whatever is handy when I dash out to screech at them and throw things!) .. those murdering big ugly birds. Sorry...I know it is nature...but...I can, and will, draw the line at letting it happen in my yard. Two years ago, we tried in vain to stop the magpies from beginning a nest in our big blue spruce... lobbing golf balls at them...but we couldn't throw them half way up the silly tree. Mr. Bumble decided he could climb the tree and do it ... he is pretty agile.... but I wasn't sure about him doing that. In about 3 minutes flat he was 30 feet up the inside of the big branches... throwing out the huge twigs they had hauled in since 6 in the morning...they had quite the pile of junk in there already. They flew past a few times while he was in the tree..but never did come back ... and nobody fell out of the tree, so all was well. Whew.
























This is a little sketch from a few weeks ago. My eyes don't always feel up to looking at tiny stitches if I am sewing... or even concentrating on where I am stabbing sharp felting needles if I am doing some felting project... ..... so, on those days, I just do something else. There are so many cute dolls on the covers of some of the magazines I have in my small collection. ... and I kept looking at his little girl.... finally took out my sketch book and pencil and gave it a try. I had never done any drawing or sketching until '04, when I took my first online class and actually had to draw eyes on fabric to make my first doll face. My imagination doesn't provide me with original stuff...but I like to copy things.... animals...pictures....the like.... I find it fun to see if I can make it look "sort of like" ...... I am a copycat.

Update: sunny till about 2:00...then the cloud rolled in.... the birdie bath was sparkling in the sun ... .... some robins discovered it....