Serious Distraction

Check out this guy! He's a real charmer. And beautiful markings to boot.

I heard meowing around the driveway for a couple of days, but couldn't see any cats. And anyway our dog chases away any intruders real quick. But not this guy, he kept up with his persistent meow, meow, meow. I finally tracked him down, when I realized he was trapped under our neighbour's deck. We ripped a board off the fence, and he moved right in.

We've been looking online through the lost and founds, but there isn't any match out there for him. If nobody claims him, we'll make a good home for him. He's young, energetic, and very friendly. Also athletic. Did I mention he is an athlete? He should be in the kitty olympics, he's so athletic! We don't have a name for him yet, but he seems quite happy to be here.

In other news, I haven't been sewing much. There are two reasons. After finishing Sienna's quilt, I'm at a bit of a loss, not knowing what to work on yet. There are many projects to work on, but I can't seem to get moving on any of them.  The other thing is the weather. I don't mean to gloat, because I know many other parts of the country are not so fortunate, but we have had a stretch of sunny warm weather. With it being so nice, I have been out in the garden, and not wanting to be inside sewing.

I was also at a great quilt show in Mt. Forest this weekend, but need more time to organize a post about it.

First Frost

All those wonderful oak and maple trees here in Southern Ontario produce famously beautiful fall colours, followed closely by the big rake-up. You know those big paper bags for garden trimmings? People talk in terms of how many they fill for their leaves! One neighbour filled 18, and is still raking! Having grown up on the prairies, this is still a novelty to me, even after 25 years in Ontario.

I have learned the leaves make an excellent mulch on the garden beds, so I trim all the hostas and other perennials, then rake all the leaves overtop. In the spring, all the plants come up through the leaves, and the leaves decompose nicely underneath.

Anyway, we had our first frost Sunday night, though the leaves have been falling for a couple of weeks now. This is late for a first frost. But what it means is some last minute cleanup in the garden. It's usually all wrapped up by Thanksgiving, but this year's late frost has kept things going a bit longer.

So a few days of garden work, and only a few minutes here and there for quilting.

Taming the Jungle

We've had a warm and wet spring and summer here in Southern Ontario, so our garden is lush to say the least. And because I've been sewing some this summer, I haven't been out trimming and weeding and planting this summer like I usually do. Gardening is another serious hobby. We are known for our flowers and gardens. Our yard attracts birds, chipmunks, neighbours, friends and kids! Everyone enjoys a nice fire here with marshmallows on a summer evening.

This last week, I decided I'd better get outside and do some serious work out there. I've trimmed the hedge and done a lot of weeding. I'm way behind of course. With the pesticide ban, we have a lot more weeds, but more butterflies, too. I'll keep plugging away at it. One thing we don't have to do this year, is water our flower baskets. The rain this summer has taken good care of that.

But I'd rather be sewing! I'm sure all you other quilters out there can understand.