Our Rink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9OPmeYQaIo

We have had our natural rink in great condition for the month of January.  I tried to upload a video of the rink on to this blog but I was not able to so I uploaded it on to You Tube.  The link to the video is under the picture of us.  You can skate along with me!  On Sunday, David used the snow blower to clean the 6 inches of snow off the ice and then we all scraped the last bit of snow from the surface.  The rain last week gave us a great surface.  We have been trying to skate everyday because we have no idea how long this ice will last before it melts or is buried with snow.

My Quilt Retreat Project

This week I'll be heading to the Villa for a quilting retreat.  It is a weekend of sewing and chatting and fun.  My project is a 9-patch variation.  I start with these fabrics.

I will sew them into a 9-patch block, like this:

And then, I cut the 9-patch block into quarters and rotate the blocks and sew it back together again!  The blocks look like this and the final quilt top will be a surprise.

My sister and I made some more sock monkeys today.  (Hers turned into a sock rabbit, thought.) Mine was made from a toddler's sock.  We will be demonstrating how to make these cute creations at the Villa retreat on Saturday.

A Wet January Day

It was been a very wet rainy day.  In January it should only be allowed to snow!  I did get the day off today because of the weather so I won't complain.  Our rink has a lovely layer of water on it so now we need a few days of below zero temperatures.  My picture for today was taken earlier this winter, but I think it is perfect for today.

The Camp

This weekend we went to our camp.  It's a great camp that David and I built when we first met.  It took us 3 summers to build it.  This weekend was very cold so we walked everyday but mostly we stayed inside in front of the fire and read our books.  David finished  A Secret Kept by Tatiana De Rosnay and I continued to read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson.

When we got up on Saturday morning the sunrise was beautiful.  It was a brilliant red.  This photo was taken across the field just below the camp.  The time spent at the camp is always relaxing.

Mittens

These are the mittens I have been making!!

My mittens are made from recycled sweaters.  They are lined with fleece.  The first pair that  I bought were from a craft co-op in Sackville NB.  I loved the idea of using old sweaters to make mittens.  I figured out how to make them and since that time I have probably made about 20 pairs as gifts.  I have refined the pattern and this fall I found a great video with a pattern.  The website is http://studio5.ksl.com/?sid=4456414&nid=61

This video shows you how to make them and also provides a pattern.  I changed the pattern pieces a little but the online instructions are easier then my original instructions.  These mittens are easy to make and very cosy.  One of the pairs that I have made are in British Columbia and one pair travelled to India.

The Coldest Day of the Year (so far)

This morning the temperature was -17 and it was a beautiful day.  There was not a cloud in the sky.  We had some rain this week and we were a little worried that we might lose our skating rink,  We didn't!!!  We did have some shell ice that we needed to scrape off but, all in all, it turned out pretty good.  My pictures for today are of our skating area.  When we got on the ice this morning there was this fabulous frost on the surface.  It was beautiful!

The frost was feathered and David thought it looked a little like an owl.

As we scraped off the shell ice, it was about an inch thick, we discovered this lovely texture of frost on the under side of the ice chunks.  It was hard to get a really good photo of these formations and this is the best photo that I got.

Even though the temperature never went above -14 all day, we skated for close to 3 hours.  Our friends, Melanie, Paige, Mike and Caillie came over for a skate too.

Back to Work

I am back to work after a great Christmas holiday.  We had lots of visitors and family around.  I did get the opportunity to work on a few projects.  I completed the binding on a quilt that I made for a wedding gift.  The pattern is from the book, Anka's Treasures by Heather Mulder Peterson.

This quilt is called Maple Harvest and like all the quilts in the book, it is a combination of patchwork and applique.  The book is full of beautiful quilt designs.

My twin and I had a great time making sock monkeys.  I bought her a sock monkey kit for Christmas.  I purchased some socks from the dollar store for my monkey and followed her pattern.  We had a great time making them and we were very pleased with the results.  We called them Mathie and Gregor and we hope they will be featured on the themonkeyshow.ca. 

Mathie and Gregor

January 2012

This past year I have followed a few blogs and I thought, that looks like fun.  I like the idea of recording my pictures and my projects and my thoughts.  So, today is the day.  My daughter recently told me about someone who has a photo of the day blog.  I am going to try posting a photo of the week.  I am going to record the books I have read. And sometimes I'll post the projects I complete.

My photo for this week is of us skating on the gully next to our house.  Usually we have lots of snow by now but we have had so little snow that the skating has been great.