Going to be slow catching up on my blog

 but I will be keeping up the Terry and Tyler's blog at 

https://blog.fromthe.blue/2022/01/here-we-go-again.html

So please check the Adventure blog and see what we are up to in Shaunavon!!

New Year in Shaunavon.

 I know that it has been for ever that I have updated the bog.  Lots has happened since we left Saint John in July.

We traveled across Canada with the thought of staying at a many Harvest Host and free spots but found that we needed AC more than free.  Gas was atrocious and our main cost.  Having said that it was wonderful to visit our own country. 

Tyler enjoying the farm land in Quebec.

We made it home to Creston BC to visit with mom and Keith for a week before heading out to see if we could buy a RV park in southeastern Saskatchewan.  Very disappointed when they took the sale off the market the same day we made our offer.

We ended up bumming around SK for a few weeks and found a lovely spot in Eastend.  Then a house in Shaunavon that was perfect for our budget.  It was perfect timing as fall was quickly turning into winter.

Our cute little house with its new roof!!

Our little house needs a few renos, waterlines, electrical replaced in places (its missing) and I'm slowly (very slowly) getting it painted.  Speaking of painting I've taken up acrylic pours and been having a ball.  

I'll get back in the swing of blogging and show you some of the pieces I've been having fun with.  But back to Saskatchewan. 

Beautiful sun dogs taken Dec 16.

Woke up to -32 c this morning.  We actually had to start the little heater to take the chill off the living room which was only 12c .  The weather says that it is -44 c with the wind chill but I think I will stay in today and not test it.

Yesterday it was a little foggy and all the trees were covered in hoar frost.  I took this pic of our big tree in the front yard.  It might be cold but it is very beautiful.  

Tyler is busy getting everything in order to start his own business this spring.  He is opening up a CNC shop called Prairie Matter Workshop and Studio. He has even created a idea book if you would like to check it out. 

https://prairiematter.ca/IdeaBook/

Keep warm, stay safe and enjoy the beauty of winter.

Terry

In the trees.

 We are loving our new spot in the trees at Rockwood Park.  Even the kitties have been enjoying it more. Climbing trees and chasing after the squirrels.   I've been keeping up on the walking and here are a few shots of the flowers that abound in the park.

Phlox covering the hillside on the way up to Fisher lake.

Yellow iris here and there.

Purple iris alongside.

Of course we have to include the mommy duck and her babies.

With all the fog and rain the last few days it has been short walks and a lot of indoor time.  I'm working on getting to the center of the galaxy (No Man's Sky) and finishing up Tyler's Christmas sweater.  Almost done.

Carl likes to play too!!

I've been saying every evening when I go to bed that I'm going to pull out the sewing machine and finish making the bench covers.  And every morning find many other things to do.  Oh well I have lots of time and they are cut out (the bench fabric pieces),lol.

Rockwood Park

 It has been wonderful spending time at Rockwood Park.  The campground is so close to trails, lakes and outdoor activities.  

Living like a gypsy definitely has its advantages.  Up in the morning, coffee and a shake, then off for a stroll for an hour or so.  I've been averaging 4 to 5 km a day.  

Terry

Tyler

I think I've tried every trail on the campground side of the park, even a few not listed.  The wild flowers have been spectacular.

Lots of deer, chipmunks and birds. I'm sure there are lots of other critters in the surrounding bush.

Lunch at Lilly Lake Restaurant at least once a week.

Even Carl and Sammy are having a good time.  It was wonderful how quickly they remembered being on a leash and harness.

So we are having fun and enjoying all that Saint John has to offer before heading back west in a few weeks.  We even opted to stay for an extra month.  So nice to relax and enjoy the park.

Our new baby...Bella Donna!!

 We finally got our new Minni Winni home, six weeks after buying her but she is now all ready to go (well we do have to finish loading her).

We had 3 solar panels installed and should be good for off the grid boondocking.  Although since Tyler will still be working for another month we will be living in luxury at Rockwood Park. 

I keep wondering where everything is going but the nice thing about being parked right outside of the house is that you can move things inside and out as needed.  

We had a leak in the roof where the solar panel installer was a little cheap with the flex sealant, but Tyler climbed up and looked after that very quickly.  I think is was the guys first solar install.  

We moved in last Saturday and even the kitties are getting acclimated to the new home.  I think Carl remembers but not sure Sammy does as he was not a happy camper for the first few days.

Now just to finish purging, get the house cleaned up and then up the the campground and I am going to walk, lay around and do absolutely nothing for the first few days.  I'm pooped!!

Calendar Quilt

I finally finished my calendar quilt about a month ago and thought it was time to post it for all to see.

I will apologize now for the photos as some came out with the background brown instead of black.

I started this applique quilt when I had 6 Ave Quilting in Nakusp, BC back in 2013.  Most of the appliques were adapted from free images on search engines and changed or modified to make it possible to applique.

It has turned out to be as much a memory quilt as a calendar quilt as it moved to Vancouver with me and was worked on a bit.  Then across the southern US in a motorhome to be finished here in Saint John, NB.

Scrappy loops.  To much fun!

I was lucky as I had every thread color in the world (well almost) to be able to match tread color with the fabrics being appliqued on.  I makes a big difference when you really want to pop the designs.

See the birds?

  I also packed across the continent black batting which I new would be important to make the quilt dark and to make sure that there was no white showing through the needle punctures on the longarm.

Butterflies and dragonflies.

Then came the fun part.  Topstitching this quilt was a blast as I just added a few of my favorite things, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, swallows, and flowers.  A quick meander and echo around everything gave the quilt life, motion and interest.

A few of my favorite things.

It takes very little extra time to add images into a echo or meander.  Using a dark blue thread instead of black makes the topstitching visible without it being lost in the background color.

I had debated whether or not to applique on the end year (2020) and decided not to.  But I did topstitch it in just under the 2013 as a reminder that not everything happens at once and with a little preserverince all things are possible.  

Although it took me 7 years to finish this wonderful quilt, it was well worth the stashing and packing it around for that time. Once my bedroom is painted, this calendar quilt will hang on the wall at the end of my bed so every morning I wake I can smile and remember all the adventures I have had along the way.

Dieting 101

The diet I started 2 weeks ago was a great success.  Lost 11 lbs in 10 days.  Although not for the faint of hearted and will test your will power, by the end of the 10 days I was feeling much better.  The first three days is almost like having the flu.  Nausea, light headed, and fatigued.  Your body is missing all those carbohydrates normally pumped into them.  It grumbles, rolls and generally complains. 
I did manage to find a few great recipes that now will forever be in my weekly make list.  One was this simple cracker recipe from Wholesome Yum https://www.wholesomeyum.com/recipes/paleo-crackers/

Needless to say after our 10 days (my son went on the same diet as is way easier to diet on the buddy system, he lost 12 lbs) we went out for lunch and take it from me DON'T do it.  Needless to say I am back on the diet with a few modifications and feeling a lot better for it.  So my diet does not have a name that I know of, but here are the rules.  

1 - Measure out portions.  I cut my portions down to a reasonable size and no 2nds. 

2- Cut out the carbs.  It is impossible to cut out all of them but my rule of thumb is; no bread (although I did find a recipe for a soft gluten free bread that was easy to make and the first loaf of bread I've ever made that wasn't so hard you could use it as a hockey puck), No pasta, no white rice, In fact if it's white don't put it in your mouth.  The only exception to this rule is cauliflower, eat lots of that.  No sugar........check the carbs on your sugar, wow.

3 - Eat meat, not if it is processed but everything else.  Including bacon (low sodium) just remember rule number 1.

4 - make your own salad dressings without sugar added.  There are lots of recipes out there that are sugar and carb free.....have fun searching for them and you will forget about your tummy for a few hours.

5 - Snacks; you may need a lot of them during the day at the start to stave off the hunger belly rolls so a handful of nuts, a bowl of vegetables raw, salad, and best of all 5 of the above crackers.

One discovery made was having a protein drink for breakfast.  Love it, it has almost all the vitamins and minerals required in a day, easy to make and yummy.  Add water, shake, and enjoy.  Keeps me going until lunch.

Not saying that it is a perfect diet for you and you should always check with you doctor to make sure you can diet (I have to have a banana a day for the potassium, my doctors rule), it may not be the right thing for you, but it sure works for me and I may just stay on this forever as I feel better and way more energy. I will take it a little slower this time but with 2 to 3 km walks a day.

So my new goal is 15 lbs over a 3 month span.....wish me luck!

Very exciting week

Winter arrived this week with -6 mornings and a skiff of snow.  I have always loved that first falling of snow that cleans the world and makes everything silent. 

The back yard looks so bare. 

The most exciting thing though this week is we took the plunge and started Seriously Pinned Quilting and Longarm Service.  I had forgotten how much was involved with starting a new business.  Business plans, projected cash flows, financing, not to mention all of the multi media to start, hook-up and link to. Thank goodness I have a wonderful son that helps with all that stuff.

So business cards have been ordered, financing is being sorted out, Tyler has done a wonderful job on the new website https://seriouslypinned.ca/, and best of all the new longarm has been ordered and arrives next week.  wow.

I can hardly wait for the new Q'nigue 21" on a 12' frame to get here.  Load up a play sampler quilt and practice, play and get ready for production December 1st. 

This week hopefully everything comes together.  We should have the space all sorted out with ..... well, quilting stuff.  Cutting table, shelving, design wall, bragging wall, All of the important opening a new business things.

New Store Site

Very exciting!! Tyler started me a new store front in Etsy.  He's been working hard at taking new photos and moving them all over in hope of selling a few of my trinkets.

Twisted Resineers Etsy store 

We are also looking into finding a few markets in the local area of Barrington Passage or close by.  In the mean time I'm having fun making things and in the next blog post will do an acrylic pour for you.  Dirty pours are really fun and are way too cool.  In the mean time here are a few of the latest jewelry creations. 

Green Glass Copper with rose bead.

I've been having fun trying to imitate green amber.  Out collecting bugs, moss and lichen to add to the resin.
Then pouring my own beads.  They are very interesting and really hard to tell the difference between the two.

This beautiful blown glass cabochon came from the Fernhill Glass Company in Astoria, OR.  

More hand poured resin beads.  I love making my own beads. They are unique and they always turn out a little different with each pour. 

Rain Chains

I've been looking at making rain chains for a few months now. Checking out all the cool rain chains on Pintrest and other sites. 

See Tyler working away in the background.

Deciding on 2 different types just for fun.  One out of bottles and one out of zinc strips left from the roofing.  For the bottle chain we bought a bottle cutter and I made copper chains from recycled copper grounding wire. 

Ginger beer bottles and copper chain.

The leaf rain chains took a little more thought and prep work to make.  I made a leaf shape template out of an recycle plastic container and marked and cut the shapes out of the zinc strip.

simple leaf shape

marked on the zinc strip

Adding a hole at the top of the leaf and pinching it just a bit.  Then cut copper wire to slip through the hole and use as a hanger on the copper chain.

rough measure

a little curl to hold it in place

slip through the hole

Make the chain links by wrapping the wire around a broom handle many times.  Then cut out the individual chains to link together.

Lots of wrapping

clip them into jump rings

link them together to make a chain.

I then twisted the leaf wire onto every second chain and there you have it.  A home made rain chain.  

Only another 8 feet to go.

They are going to look so great on the corners of the house when we get the gutters back on.