Chinese Coin quilt

Posted on May 16, 2013 by mam

This is a great stash busting quilt.   It is also the perfect quilt for a beginner.   Some days I just want to sew, without too much fuss or bother.  I keep a stash of foundation strips on hand and sew to my heart’s content.   Once I have a pile of 6 inch and 3 inch strips, I start cutting out the blocks.

Start with a six-inch wide strip of fabric the length of your fabric.  This will be your foundation fabric.  I use muslin or scrap pieces of white cotton.   Using leftover strings of fabric which are at least 7 inches wide, sew the strips randomly using a flip and  sew method.  Use your fingers to press each strip after sewing it.

After you have covered one strip of fabric with the leftover strings, flip the strip over so the white foundation fabric is facing up.   Using your six-inch ruler, trim any of the strings.  Then cut the trimmed strips into 6 x 6  inch blocks.  Make 56 six-inch blocks.

Although your foundation strips can be any size, I prefer a six-inch block to match my rulers . 

For the sashing blocks, cut the white cotton or muslin in three-inch wide strips the length of your fabric.  If using a 42 inch wide fabric, cut 3 strips. Using the same flip and sew method cover the entire length of the strips with strings at least 4 inches wide.  Make 42 of these 3 inch setting blocks.

From the white fabric, cut fifteen 3″ strips.  Cut these into sashing blocks 3″ x 6″.

Very clear instructions for the flip and sew method and trimming the blocks (with pictures) can be found at MaryQuilts.

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How to build a shed

Posted on May 13, 2013 by mam

Step 1 – Take a sea can that has been in your field for the past 5 years.  Hire a back hoe to move it onto hemlock logs at least 16 feet long.   Drive your tractor back and forth in front of said sea can to get the right dimensions for the loading dock (i.e. big pile of rocks which have been in your field for years).

Step 1

Step 2 – Add gables to the top of said sea can and cover the hemlock logs with sheets of plywood

Step 2

Step 3 -  Extend the gables to form a roof over the plywood floor.  Throw your winter tires out on the lawn to get the redneck just finished landscaping look.

Step3

Step 4 -  Hide the tires before the wife gets home.  Back tractor into the sea can, just to see how it looks.  Cover the top with steel roofing which cost more than you paid for the sea can but slightly less than the cost of the tractor.

Step 4

Step 5 -  Cover the rest of the side with batten board and hinge the two big doors.

Step 5

Step 6 – Back at least one of the “tractor start kit” accessory pack into its new home, to see how it looks.

Step 6

Step 7 – Promise the wife the new shed will be painted to match the house……………..and if she starts saving now, she too can have a shed/guest house built next summer ………providing the local tractor dealership doesn’t have another “but honey it almost paid for itself”  tractor accessory sale.

 

Posted in Home Sweet Home | 4 Comments

Can you say shiitake?

Posted on May 9, 2013 by mam

Back in May 2010 I blogged about preparing shiitake mushroom plugs.  That was our second attempt after attending a weekend work shop in April 2009.  The plugs are set up for harvest the following spring.  I’m sad to say the 2011 harvest was not a success.  We built our home the next  spring and did not have the time to look after the impregnated logs.

Last spring my DH plugged another 600 plugs in winter killed oak logs.   And I am happy to announce that the little plugs are starting to grow.   There is just two little mushrooms poking through but already I’m thinking of ways to enjoy these tasty little morsels.

Personally I like shiitake mushrooms sauteed with a bit of butter.  But I’m willing to try Green bean and shiitake mushroom stir fry or fettuccine with shiitake mushrooms and basil or maybe sauteed mushrooms over toast.

DH deserves all the credit for this harvest.  He read up on the process, visited a local grower, keep the logs out of the sun, watered them when needed, soaked the logs for 2 days………………maybe I’ll share a couple of mushrooms with him.

May 8 Grow 001

 

 

Posted in Home Sweet Home, Recipes | 2 Comments

Sunny Sunday

Posted on May 5, 2013 by mam

It’s a typical Sunday morning at the Point.  We have been up since dawn enjoying the day.  DH is out puttering in the yard, and I’m doing laundry and cooking.  The temperature is forecast to reach 24 degrees today.  I popped a chicken in the oven before 8:00 a.m. and cooked potatoes on the back burner residual heat.     Sunday dinner will be sliced chicken with potato salad.

Yesterday was the first day of this season’s Kingston Farmer Market.   A few of our favourite stalls were missing, but we are hoping to see them back before too long.

We purchased another plant for our butterfly garden, an Asclepias incarnata “Ice Ballet”.   This milkweed is adored by the monarch butterfly and will serve the eggs, larvae and butterfly as home and food source.

 

We also bought a Valentine rhubarb plant.   As it is less acidic, it taste sweeter and take less sugar.

Last year’s shiitake mushroom plugged logs have been sitting in water for the past two days.   DH is moving them into the woods today.  We are looking forward to the first crop of these wonderful mushrooms.

The adder tongue violets and lung wort are in full bloom.  Another wonderful day in the country.

adders tongue lungwort

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Daffodils

Posted on May 2, 2013 by mam

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze…………..William Wordsworth

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The dollar store bulbs are in bloom, this is year two.  The sky is blue………..who could ask for anything more?

Posted in Home Sweet Home | 2 Comments

why i make my bed in the morning

Posted on April 30, 2013 by mam

According to this article in Psychology today, making your bed makes you happy.   My routine in the morning is always the same, turn on the computer, turn on the radio, make my tea, return to the bedroom and make my bed.

And yes it does make me happy.

If I don’t make my bed this is what happens…………sleepykitty

She loves to burrow under the blankets with her head on the pillow, or hide completely under the white quilt.

Porsche1

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Blue skies and burgers

Posted on April 28, 2013 by mam

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What an incredible weekend.   The temperatures were double digits each day.  At four o’clock this afternoon it was 18 degrees in the shade.  This morning the gauge read 32 degrees in the sun.

DH has been working in the yard, plowing spots of ground, dreaming of gardens yet to be.  Providing we erect a 6 foot deer fence around each and every garden plot.

We barbecued for the first time this weekend as well.   Good old hamburg patties for DH and black bean quoina burgers for me.  A good veggie burger is hard to find, and I’ve tried quite with many disappointments.  I stumbled across this recipe awhile back and tried it for the first time last week.  I could not wait to try it on the barbecue and it did not disappoint.   We roasted potatoes on the grill.  The burger we slattered with onions, tomatoes, relish, mustard and ketchup.  Reminds me of the bean burger at Calactus Restaurant.   The recipe makes 5 good size burgers, enough for a meal and a few for the freezer.  They won’t be there for long.

 

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Ayla’s quilt

Posted on April 27, 2013 by mam

My delightfully happy second great grand-daughter Ayla Athena is 9 months old today.

Ayla

I started a string spider web blue and white quilt for her long before she was born.   The top was finished a month ago and sent off to my friend Jeannette to machine quilt.   The pattern can be found here.  Of course, I did not follow the pattern completely so any mistakes in the quilt are all mine.

Ayla quilt

ayla quilt2

Soon the quilt and the captain’s bed pictured here will be going to Ayla’s home.  And I’ll start on a quilt for baby number three.

 

Posted in Grandmothers, Quilts, Sew Mam Sew | 1 Comment

Green and thrifty cleaning products

Posted on April 18, 2013 by mam

I grew up in a house that my mother cleaned from early morning to late at night. Not because we were dirty, but my Mom was obsessive about cleanliness. Growing up with a clean freak does not make you cleaner, it just makes you a bit crazy.

That being said I do like a neat home and try to keep it a bit on the clean side. My mother stills believe in the old adage if it smells like disinfectant,  it must be good.  She continues to use scented candles, pine-sol, javex and a whole barrage of product that she thinks makes the house smell “just cleaned”.

So when I found myself reading blog entries on cleaning at “Living Well, Spending Less”, I thought…”Sh*t, I’m turning into my mother”……….but not to worry, Ruth’s article are a great wealth of practical information on spring cleaning.   Check out her 10x10x10 green & thrifty cleaning products  printable cheat sheet.    I’m thinking I’ll give one to Mom for Mother’s Day.

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And then there was three

Posted on April 15, 2013 by mam

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This is my oldest great grand-daughter Isabella Isis. She turned 3 years old yesterday and we celebrated in fine style at my daughter’s home. Izzy was surrounded by a gaggle of people who love her unconditionally. Izzy loves picked dill beans, chocolate (but only on special occasions) taking baths at Little Nanny’s and running naked through the house and sometimes in the yard………..and the yellow rubber boots from her Mam. Izzy loves her baby sister Ayla and will soon be a big sister to another little sibling this October.

Posted in Family Tree, Grandmothers | 2 Comments