Scenic Sunday #74

It's getting more and more difficult to get around these days. I am restricted to my scooter and the weather has been awful. The sidewalks are covered in hard lumpy ice and snow and a cold wind blows from the north! There have been no photo shoot opportunities for me lately. So I bring you this photo I took when I was in Chicago a couple of years ago. I was mesmerized by that city! I loved this view of what looked to me like a parking garage. If anyone knows any more about it please let me know. I also posted a picture on SkyWatch Friday this week. (On my other blog)

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Scenic Sunday #72

Taking the grade 3 class on a wagon ride through Pioneer Village in Toronto. Great memories!

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Scenic Sunday #71

Here is another picture taken on the island of Bonaire a few years ago. This is the Atlantic side of the island. The waves here are huge and the beaches extremely dangerous. Swimming is not allowed in many places because of the undertow. This is a photo of a huge water spout that erupted from a 'blow hole' in the rocks. The noise was deafening.

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Scenic Sunday #70

Here is my photo for Scenic Sunday. It was taken on our last visit to Germany. The town is called Fussen. It is in southern Bavaria just minutes away from Austria. This is the view from the home of the family we went to visit. It was raining the day I took this photo, but still it is a beautiful place to live.

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Scenic Sunday #69

I know this isn't the most scenic of scenic shots, but an interesting one, non-the-less. This is not just a tree that has been chopped down. This is the work of a beaver. You can see the huge chips that are on the ground around the stump. Beavers live throughout Ontario and most of North America. I am not sure of the exact number, but it is in the millions! They are the second largest species in the rodent family. Beavers cut down trees to build dams and lodges and to store them as food for the winter. This tree was likely cut for food purposes since all the branches had been taken and only the trunk was left. Beavers are very active at this time of year, harvesting branches for their winter survival. The lake this tree watched over is a very deep one. It is part of the Trent System. I doubt if any of the branches were used to build a dam, but they could have contributed to building a lodge. Beavers spend the winter in the lodges and need water to be deep enough for them to be able to swim out from under the lodge and swim to find their food cache. Ice can reach a thickness of 3 or 4 feet, so the water levels have to be higher than this.

Family: Castoridea. Genus: Castor. Species: C. canadensis.

Common Name: Beaver

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Carving a Pumpkin

My dear friend in Japan once asked me how we carve our pumpkins for Halloween. I was never able to show her because I couldn't get around in my wheelchair and didn't feel like carving anything, let alone a pumpkin. But this year is different! So here goes.......

Cover your working area with newspaper. This is going to get messy! Then cut the top off the pumpkin. Taper it a bit so that the top doesn't fall down into the pumpkin when done. There are lots of special tools for pumpkin carving. Unfortunately I have given them all of mine to my DD so that the students in her class could carve pumpkins. So, I used a knife, but be careful! Pumpkin 'skin' can be really difficult to cut!

Next, hollow out the pulp and seeds. I used an ice cream scoop. This is a kind of messy step, so get the kids to do it! I don't have any kids and Mimi would not even come to take a look, so I guess I'm on my own.


The seeds are edible and can be roasted in the oven. Just spread them onto a baking sheet and bake at a low temperature for a couple of hours - like 275F. Sprinkle with salt and eat! I decided that I didn't want to eat them this year. (I am trying to cut down on salt) so I put them out for the squirrels. After all, it's Trick or Treat for them too, isn't it?

Draw a face on the outside and cut it out. There are lots of really fancy ideas for spooky Halloween faces out there in cyber space. If you can't decide what your pumpkin should look like, do a web search for ideas. I'm calling my Jack-o-Lantern Herpes because my pumpkin was starting to decay in the corner where his mouth is and it looks like a cold sore to me. But you can do anything you want and call it anything you want. That's the fun part!

Place a light or candle inside the pumpkin and set it outside, or somewhere where it won't catch anything on fire. I just used a little votive candle. And tonight my Jack-o-Lantern will sit outside my door to welcome my Ghoulish visitors!

Happy Halloween!

Block #7 of A Tale of Two Cities

This block is called 'Churndash'. It is block #7 for the Toronto/Yokohama wallhanging. To hand piece this block you will need the following.

Templates

1. a square template measuring 3in. by 3in.

2. a rectangular template measuring 1 1/2in. by 3in.

3. a triangular template made by cutting a 3in. square template diagonally in half.

Place templates on the back of your chosen fabrics. Outline templates and cut out adding a 1/4in. seam allowance all around.

Cut 1 piece using the 3in. square template. (this can be the background fabric or whatever you like)

Cut 4 pieces using the 1 1/2in. by 3in. template of your churndash fabric.

Cut 4 pieces using the 1 1/2in. by 3in. template of the background fabric

Cut 4 pieces using the triangle template of your churndash fabric.

Cut 4 pieces using the triangle template of the background fabric.

Layout the pieces as in the block below. Notice that I used a pink for the centre. That was purely for balance of colour in my wall hanging. The original Churndash pattern is done in two colours.

Sew your pieces together.

I have enclosed a suggested layout of four blocks that we have already made. The finished quilt will be 3 blocks by 3 blocks. All blocks are 9in. when finished. (9 1/2in. before sewing together)

Notice the thin blue fabric at the top of the house block. I had to add that to make my house block measure 9in. by 9in. For some reason I had cut it too short.

Email me if you have any problems.