A ROCKY April First

It is no joke, these are rocks, but they are beautiful.  The high water in our river has receded and our beach is above water.  Every spring brings a new crop of rocks, some for skipping and some some for just looking at.  These are just some of the rocks on our beach.  I love the colours and the textures and the stripes.

Amazing Snow Quilts

This picture is of Simon Beck's art.  He designs patterns in the snow.  He just uses snowshoes!  Just Google his name and you will see the amazing designs he has created.  Most of his designs are about three soccer fields in size and they take him over five hours to create.  And then it snows and his 'canvas' is ready for a new design.  These ones are in France. I hope he puts together a book.

Pine cones and Pussywillows

The snow has melted very quickly this week.  Last week we had temperatures in the 20 (C).  We even ate outside on the deck one evening.  At the beginning of the week there was still lots of ice in the river and this is what it looks like today and below is what it looked like last weekend!  Amazing, I love the changes in the seasons.

On our walk today we saw pussywillows.  They are always a sure sign of spring.

This pine was planted along the river by my husband, David and this year the cones were abundant.  You can see the high water in the background.  Now that the water is open on the Keswick, we have seen lots of hooded merganzers and some whistlers.  We have even seen one kingfisher already this spring.

Books and Owls?

I have been working on a few projects.  Some are a little silly and some are useful.  Below is my sock  owl.  I got the idea from this website, http://httpecho.deviantart.com/art/Sock-doll-tutorial-98753371?offset=10 . I thought he was pretty cute.

 

The other project that I completed last week is a book.  It is a nutrition and fitness journal.  I have looked for a journal to record my fitness and healthy eating progress and goals.  I haven't found anything that I was happy with so I made my own.

Sunday River

Here we are at Sunday River.  We had three fabulous days of skiing.  The sky was blue and the slopes were groomed to perfection.  In the background you can just barely see Mount Washington.  This year we stayed in a lovely chalet.  It was a perfect fit for the five of us.

We were just minutes from the hill.  The heated pool and the hot tub were available for us so we could relax after an exhausting day on the slopes.  The National College Championship snowboarding and skiing finals were in progress.  Our friend Lui joined us this year and the Maine Adaptive Ski Program offered him three guides and he had a great time too. 

After four days away, when we returned home, the wonderful weather continued and we sat outside on our deck in +16 degree (C) temperatures.  We shovelled off part of the deck and toasted our wonderful trip to Sunday River and the promise of spring.  We had the best March Break EVER!!!

Disappearing 9-Patch

My Disappearing 9-Patch



This is the Disappearing 9-Patch quilt top that I finished at our February retreat. My January post, http://photosandfabric.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-quilt-retreat-project.html shows the stages of making this quilt.  It is a great pattern for beginners because it is so simple.  This quilt is for one of the bunk beds in the boys' room.  I am making another quilt for the other bunk which will be the same pattern and the same fabrics but the fabrics will be arranged a little differently.  I am hoping this cheery sunflower fabric will brighten up the bedroom that my children fondly call, The Cave!

Speaking of sunflowers, I bought my first seeds this week!