On doing it wrong

If doing Thanksgiving a week early is wrong, I don't want to be right!

Happy Thanksgiving. Gobble Gobble and all that.

(and since when is Thanksgiving the 4th Thursday of the month? I thought it was the 3rd....)

daydreaming

When the mail was slipped through the door yesterday afternoon, there was the regular junk mail and circulars and other useless crap and among them lay a catalogue from a fabric company I ordered online from once. This quilt was on the cover and my mind keeps wandering back to it.

I love the big blocks of fabric that show off the bold fabrics he designs. I love the contrast of aqua and red, and the interplay of the subtle and bright - like dappled sunlight on the forest floor - but blues and reds, hot and cold, fire and ice. With the onset of winter just around the corner, I can imagine nothing so comforting as to cuddle up under this with a lap cat, a good read and a steaming cup of hot cocoa. (speaking of good reads - have you read the Glass Castle? so good!)

Do I dare suggest that I might be capable of tackling a project of this magnitude? If ever there was a quilt that might encourage me to take the plunge it is this one.

And the local quilt shop is selling it as a kit! So I don't even have to sort out the fabrics' yardage or colours or patterns or anything, since I'm not yet savvy enough to venture that on my own. That is, without my quilitin' mama here to guide me! Tempting little Kaffe...

Did I mention that I was offered my dream job a couple weeks ago? I'm going to be teaching Animal Science full time at the local college starting winter term. My timetable looks to be the fun stuff like Animal Behaviour, Wildlife Conservation and Habitat Management, Ethics of Animals in Captivity, Wildlife Rehabilitation and the like.... How lucky am I? Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Having said that, I just don't know where I'll find the time to start a proper quilting project in the midst of all that preparation and assignment marking. But we'll have to wait and see.....

A bird in the hand

Work in progress.....

Sundays are for....

holding hands...

favourite knits...

noticing the small stuff...
the arrival of winter birds

crunching autumn leaves

sneaking in a cat nap
most of all sundays are for...
blending in harvesting the tomatillos and making salsa (recipe coming soon....)

whiskers

The Results Show

Finally some finished projects to show you! I actually finished the Nightingale Lap Quilt last June, but somehow forgot to post it up here for y'all to admire. Oops.
It's my first ever sewing project completely on my own. That is without the help of my very talented (and patient!) madre to help.
I'm totally in love with my new slippers. Aren't they cozy?
The quilt is an exact replica of the one in Aimee Ray's Doodle Stitching, my most loved how-to book of the year. Speaking of books, I finally finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and you should too.
Oh yeah, there's been some knitting involved as well.


Let me introduce you to the Pia scarf from Rowan's Big Just Got Bigger book from a few years back. An easy and mindless TV knit that keeps you warm and can be finished in an evening of back to back America's Next Top Model marathons and a bottle of nice, rich red wine. Everybody got one for Christmas last year, and now I've finally made one for myself.
I seriously need to learn how to make those photo mosaics that every other blogger on the planet uses so I don't induce carpal tunnel in you with all that scrolling down and down.

Things That Didn't Happen in the Millennium

Did anyone else see that Saturday Night Live news report about 10 years ago, when we were all preparing for the armageddon that was to be Y2K, called Things That Didn't Happen in the Millennium? Cap'n Crunch didn't invade Poland and people didn't line up around the block to vote in a presidential election.

The BBC reports that voters are queueing up for hours before the polls opened in New York and that lines extend 3 or 4 blocks long. Really? How cool is that!? I'm a little sad that I didn't have to line up to drop my ballot in the postbox. I feel like I must be missing out on some patriotic commaradarie or other political quipery. It's just so exciting to have someone to vote FOR for a change instead of trying to choose between the lesser of two evils.

In Britain, the media coverage has been frequent, but not a full on bombardment in the way that I imagine US TV must be right now. There have been a number of documentaries produced by the BBC on America, the best of which is called The American Future: A History * which has some really great historical footage as well as original insight, and is a programme I'd urge every American to watch.

It's a good chance to reflect on the way the rest of the world views American politics and how when America sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. The advert I've seen the most lately says something like "We can't vote in the election, but the outcome affects each of our lives." or some such. The bottom line being, it's a big deal. Get out there and vote!

Click here to see what Brits are saying about the election on the BBC website.

Love,

Bee xx

*I'm not sure if you'll be able to view the programme online if you're outside of the UK, but I know a lot of you are much more technologically savvy than I am. You'll find a way.

photo found on www.kissmygumbo.com