~ Darkest Before the Dawn by Mike Martin is the seventh book in the Sgt. Windflower series set in Newfoundland, Canada. The series is about Winston Windflower, an RCMP officer, who is stationed in Grand Banks, Newfoundland. It is not just a mystery book centered in the police office but a book that shares the quiet side of Winston. You will love reading about his family, his pets, his friends, his co-workers, and the people he encounters in his life away from his job. The unsolved break ins in Grand Bank, ghostly apparitions, and unexplained deaths are part
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Monthly Archives November 2018
The Button Wreath
~ The button tin/jar holds an assortment of buttons in all sizes and colours. You can spend a long time reminiscing as you let the buttons fall through your fingers. But sometimes there just isn’t enough of the colour you want to make a craft, so it was off to the dollar store where they sell bags of buttons in various colours. A layer of batting was added to the cardboard circle and then the whole thing was wrapped in white ribbon. Around the outside a strip of lace was glued on. My wreath is about 23 cm. across and with the addition of
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Clay Embellished Ornaments
~ This is a way to fancy up those shiny coloured ornaments. I used a cold porcelain dough, some plain and some tinted green to cut out leaves to add to the ornaments. This was a craft we made at Creative Crafting. Thanks to the instructor, Gail, for making the clay and sharing it with us and providing us with the recipe so we could make more at home. The clay was easy to manipulate and cut out easily with left cutters. Mine came from Michaels with a 50% off coupon which made them a really good deal. You roll
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Closing out November
Birds, The Garden 2018, and What's Been Happening?.
red bellied woodpecker, Stumpy Family, and winter 2018-2019.
red bellied woodpecker, Stumpy Family, and winter 2018-2019.
~ It is lovely and sunny today but the wind is very strong and cold. We had some snow this morning and at times it was like being in a snow globe. The wind was blowing the snow around and around. It’s the perfect day to stay inside. November is coming to an end and winter is still making an appearance even though there is a month to go before it officially starts. I recently made another batch of the all season suet I use. This time I used cardboard tubes cut about 6 cm or 2.5 inches high and
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Making Beaded Ornaments
~ I love it when Christmas comes creeping in. Doing a little bit now means I don’t have to do a whole lot later on. There is gift making and ornament making going on right now These little ornaments will add some sparkle to your Christmas tree. They are quick and easy to make and would also make nice gifts. You need the plain coloured ornaments, some beads and a glue gun … and a fair bit of patience as it can be a challenge getting the tiny beads onto the ornament with sticky fingers My stash of beads seems
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The Nature Tree
~ I love trees of all sorts and decided to create a Nature tree in the corner of the dining room this year. I have previously made one in the entrance hall, but it was a little crowded when more than one person came at a time, especially when winter coats, boots, and packages were involved. This year I cut some branches from the garden and formed them into an inside tree instead of using parts of the old Christmas tree. I gathered up all the little felt birds that I made a few years ago, made some pinecone garlands,
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Winter is Knocking
~ Winter is knocking at the door. We had a couple of brief snow showers a few days ago but that only lasted a few hours. Last night a huge system moved into southern Ontario and left a thick coating of snow. Thank goodness for the Canadian flag and the blue bottle tree else there would be no colour at all. Here are both bottle trees coated in snow. Did I mention it is only mid November and technically it is still Fall. Yesterday we had the red bellied woodpecker visiting the peanut feeder. I’m sure he knew more than
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Hello Pep and Salty
~ I’d like to introduce you to Pep and Salty … the shaker people, the latest addition to my snow folk. They started out as a salt and pepper shakers purchased from the dollar store for $1.25. I’m wondering how it is a dollar store when there are very few items for a dollar anymore. One store sells everything for $1.25 and another sells things a random prices in multiples of a dollar. Perhaps if you are as old as me you remember the 5 and dime stores … ooh that goes back quite a way doesn’t it? I did have
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Nuts and Pinecones for Decorating
~ We are into November and the days are getting chillier and shorter so it is time to get into crafting mode. Besure to visit the Christmas page from the drop down menu to see all my ideas. I recently shared some craf-tea ideas. Nuts and pinecones are the theme for this post. I”m a collector of items from Nature and they can be used for some lovely Christmas crafts. The first is a pinecone and candle centre piece. The base is a wicker plate with a candle in the middle and decorated with pinecones and small ornaments. Small pieces of
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Craf-tea for Christmas
~ Dare I mention that the Christmas season is fast approaching, and now is the time to get a head start on gift making? These craf-tea ideas for gifts are all simple to make and can be personalized for any occasion. The teapot hand towel or tea towel was one of my favourite little projects to make. I’ve used different motifs from teapots, to rabbits, to Hallowe’en ghosts. Why not tuck a tea card inside a greeting card. Add a favourite tea, mine is Stash, or a festive tea bag inside. It’s a lovely way to let a friend know you are
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