The last few days of October returned to normal temperatures for this time of year.
Now that most of the leaves are down from the popular trees, the gorgeous yellow maple is visible. Can you see the big squirrel nest in the popular tree?
The next day the majority of the leaves were on the ground. Time for raking.
The big and small pots have all been stored in the garage for the winter. The small pots are either clay or pottery, and even though the plants will survive outside the pots won’t. The big pots have hosta in them, and I find storing in the garage over winter means they grow bigger next season.
Some critters in the garden, stocking up before the snow came.
October 31 brought the first snowfall of the season. It didn’t last long, just enough to coat the grass and deck.
The snow melted the next day and it turned colder. Frost on the sedum and in the bird bath.
Across the road and about 3 fields back the deer are venturing out to find some food.
I received two wonderful children’s book from my favourite Canadian author, Mike Martin. I’ll be adding the review of these books soon.
Some more stitching progress was completed on the Welcome friends pattern. My aim is to get this finished soon as it will be a Christmas gift.
The words were completed and I added some tiny silver beads for buttons on the jacket. I also did the outline of the snowman body.
I’m about to start the snowflakes and will use some shiny threads. I have this little round thingy with wax inside. I run the thread through the openings so a small amount of wax goes onto the thread. This seems to stop the thread from separating. Have you tried it? What is your opinion of it?
I get lots of inspiration from other stitchers at Slow Sunday Stitching and appreciate all the visits and comments from there. Visit them and gather some inspiration for yourself.
I made salmon au gratin for my dinners this week. Cooking always involves a gluten free meal for me and a different one for hubby (especially if the food involves breadcrumbs or pasta). Another favourite of mine are rice bowls. I’ll share how I make it soon. Planning makes it all possible.
Find a yummy recipe to cook.
I have had a few pre-surgical appointments this week as I get ready for a full knee replacement on November 16. I also did a fair bit of Christmas shopping. My aim is to get the majority of it done before the surgery date as I know I won’t want to be out shopping during the recovery weeks after surgery. And it will just be over 5 weeks till Christmas once surgery is over.
It’s the first weekend in November and time to change the clocks back an hour (my part of Ontario, Canada), did you remember to change yours?
The Crafty Side dabbles in: knit & crochet, sewing & plastic canvas, Crafty’s projects, craf-tea ideas, kids crafts, rock crafts, Christmas Ideas
The Gardener Side grows: bulbs, corms & tubers, plants, seeds & seedpods, and veggies & herbs in different garden areas
Gail
Good idea to get everything ready for Christmas before your surgery. I hope it goes well. We had snow on Nov 1st too. Lovely embroidery. I have lots of leaves to rake this week! Take care.
Crafty
I’m hoping to get most of the Christmas shopping and stuff done by next week. Lots of leaves here too, been raking a bit each day for some exercise. Hubby will do the main part. Have a good day.
CathieJ
I love your Welcome Friends and all the different stitches you are using. I have used the wax thread keeper for metallic threads. It helps a lot. Smart idea to get most of your Christmas shopping complete prior to your surgery. Enjoy your stitching.
Crafty
The wax thingy helps with the metallic threads. Have a great day.
Vicki in MN
I had to come check out your snowman stitching as I am a huge snowman lover!
Yes I have used that very same wax, mine doesn’t look as good as yours anymore!
Crafty
This snowman stitching is a gift for a friend, who is a snowman lover too. I must say I cheated in the photo and used a new thread wax holder for the photo. The other one doesn’t look so good, but it works.
Vondean Erickson
Hi Linda,
I woke up to my regular time which is ok as I get the day going before I get interrupted.
I loved the pictures of the snow and deer. I miss that so much.
Guess I am just an old midwestern and will never change.
I love the embroidery and want to get started on mine. Right now I have been going through files and getting rid of a lot of old papers. I can not believe how much of that stuff I kept and brought it out here with me.
I will be thinking of you when you have your surgery.
You are so organized and always think ahead about things to be done. I am that way. My son is so good to help me but somethings I have to do on my own.
Take care
Vondean
Crafty
Hi Vondean, good to hear from you. The deer were lovely to see, hope we see them lots more. There was a flock of robins in the tree across the road, took some photos, so will share them next week if they come out. Keep sorting, it is a huge job, which you have already gone through with the big move to California. I keep working at mine, but it seems never ending. My surgery is Nov. 16, so will let you know as soon as I can afterwards, I’m sure things will go well, at least I know what to expect. Take care.
Linda
Your stitching is so cute, I have lots of jobs still to do in the garden I haven’t even planted my bulbs yet, once the weather gets cooler I just want to stay warm indoors. I hope that your knee surgery goes well. xx
Diann@LittlePenguinQuilts
Lovely to see the views of your garden and the wildlife. We had some snow here in Colorado last weekend, too. The snowman you’re working on is adorable!
Karrin Hurd
Great project for slow stitching! Love the pictures of your garden and wildlife! Happy stitching!
Myrtle Thomas
Hello Linda, your surgery is not far away, hope you get your Christmas shopping all done and house decorating done too so you can relax and recover working on all your craft projects. I will be thinking of you. It is another nice day here but was quite windy yesterday. Your snowman embroidery project is going to be very pretty.
Jenny Benton
Very best wishes for your upcoming surgery. My husband has recently had his second knee replacement, about 10 weeks ago now, this worked very well, and has recovered well. It can be slow going the first few weeks, but then improvement start.
Deb A
Smart to have all the holiday things prepped before your surgery. Hope you prep some hand work projects as well. Wishing you a speedy recovery.