Introducing...

Drum roll please.....

Introducing my new etsy.com shop...

SewSmoodle!


I decided to start this shop because I kept coming across fabric and trims and other sewing goodies that I just loved too much not to share! My other etsy shop was turning into too much of a jumble, so I decided to simplify it.

So, if you are looking for new fabric, trim, patterns, or other sewing notions, you might want to check it out!

I'm still building it up, so it's not too full yet, but I'm finding new goodies all the time. So, you never know what you might find! :o)


sewsmoodle.etsy.com
smoodle.etsy.com
vintagesmoodle.etsy.com

My Beloved Washline

So, forever ago I posted about the birth of my washline.

Here it is in an early stage... not looking to special yet...

It is finally finished and I love it even more than I expected to. It was quite a project -- pretty fun actually. I'm sure it would have been quite comical for anyone who could have seen my dad and I assembling the poles. Unfortunately, there are not any pictures from that stage! :) At one point, the pole was lying on the garage floor where I stood/balanced on it to keep it from rolling while my Dad tried to drill through it. Now, keep in mind that these poles are stainless steel and several inches in diameter. Fun times!

My beautiful pink sheets in all their sunshiny, breezy, laundry-fresh goodness!

Mystery Project Update

Wow!

All you people out there who garden, and can and freeze your harvest, and sew, and keep house, and have lives, and sleep..... and you blog too!?!?

Again, I say W-O-W -- you are truly my heroes. I sure can't do it all!

But, things are starting to slow down a little outside and in the kitchen, so I finally have a little extra energy update my blog. (Well, after the flu wore off and all...)

Here is an update on this mystery project:

I made this for my aunt for her birthday. I slipped a picture of each of her kids into each circle, behind the vinyl.

Here's a close-up of the ribbon and the embroidery on the front.

Here's the back. The red is grosgrain ribbon.
It turned out even better than I planned... I was really happy with it!

4th of July Weekend

Here are some pictures of our last visit to Shoop's Campground over the 4th of July weekend.....


The kayaks went along!

Here is a baby groundhog I met on a hike. And, no... he did not have rabies! He was just little and didn't run away from me.

Here is Chipper taunting the goats. It was great fun until they started head-butting the fence and freaked him out!

A lovely sunset!

A snooping snail we found...

This is me... making a very odd face while eating a s'more.Uncle Walter, me, and Dad... making breakfast!

Here's Mom trying out her new kayak for the first time...

Live from the South 40

So, one of my many, many dreams (some attainable, some not) is to someday have some more land and be able to try my hand at a little bit of farming. I am hoping this is one of the attainable ones. :)


Well, in the meantime, I just enjoy my big old garden and coax whatever I can to grow out of the sad soil.

Here are some photos of this year's adventure so far....

The first pot of green beans! They cooked up nicely with ham and potatoes.

Watermelon!!

Tomato vs. watermelon!

The very first red tomato... it's alllllmost ready!








Can you see the mini pickle?!





This poor brussels sprout plant was visited by the Very Hungry Caterpillar

Here is the start of a very lovely ornamental gourd!



Some silly 'cat-face' tomatoes... too bad they won't keep until fair week. They would surely win the blue ribbon for vegetable freaks!



Here is a photo of some of my green bean plants. You can see where they Mexican Bean Beetle has been and where it is headed next.

Speaking of the little bugger... here is the larvae of the Mexican Bean Beetle. I've picked these off until my fingers were yellow :(
But the bean are still okay!
Not sure what happened here! Perhaps he was trying to escape?? He's certainly in a pickle, isn't he?!

Happy gardening!

Sheets to the Wind!

So, these pictures might just look like holes in the ground, but they are special holes!


These holes were dug so that we can FINALLY get our washline put in!














I had a washline when I lived in York 7 years ago, and haven't had one since then. I miss it so much! I have been waiting for what seems like decades for my dad to put one up here. Finally! Hopefully I'll have a finished product to show off shortly!

Another Mystery Project!

Here's a sneak peak of something I've been working on...


I can't reveal much more -- it's a birthday present for someone who may or may not be reading this!

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Also - here is a picture of the last mystery project I blogged about!

Off we go!

Well, we are about to head out for the annual Father's Day camping trip! We always go to Shoop's in Port Royal, which is my favorite campground :o)

They have added some spaces for this year, so I am excited to see what is new, but also a little sad that it's growing. It was nice when it was small and undiscovered... hopefully the atmosphere won't change too much!

I was a little bummed out when I woke up to rain again this morning, but the sun has made its debut and perhaps it won't be so bad after all. We shall see! Either way, I'm sure we'll have fun and relax. I am excited to try out the new fish pond and of course visit the nearby scrapbooking store!

Oh, and Sewphie the Bernina is going along! She has gone the past few times and found that she likes it in the mountains. She has asked to move there permanently, but I explained that if I moved there, I would become unemployed and poor, and then she would be sold for grocery money. She decided it is okay here.... for now.

More news when we return...

Girls' Safari Trip

This past week, the girls (Oma, Jen, Mo, and I) took a trip to Lake Tobias in Halifax. If you've never been there, and you live in the area, you must go! I had been there once before on a field trip, but this was much better. We had a nice cool day and there weren't many people there. It was great!


We had so much fun on the Safari Ride! We were lucky enough to get seats in the front of the truck, so when the animals came up onto the steps, we were right there to pet them! Although, Mo wasn't too sure about the petting part... The driver gave her a corn cob to feed to an elk and we really had to coax her into it!



These animals were a cross between a donkey and a zebra! They called them Z-Donks, or Zonkeys. Jen decided she'd like to take a Zonkey home.





This particular elk was quite sociable.






Here I am speaking with a bison. He was a nice conversationalist.

Here is one of the baby bison -- 2 weeks old!

Some woolly beasts.




It was a wonderful day because...

+I was with my favorite people
+I didn't get sunburned
+I got to pet and talk to lots of animals
+Everyone had a good time
+There were goats
+The safari driver was cute ;)

Mystery Project

This is what I'm working on today.

I can't reveal much more since it's for a secret swap, but I wanted to give a sneak peek! :)

It makes me thirst for a nice cold orange-ade....

Swap Goodies!!

YAY for swaps!

Yesterday's mail brought my coaster swap. Of course I didn't think to take pictures until after I tore into it, but it was all packaged up nicely and tied with string. Here are my coasters, along with a handmade card and a yummy recipe for tea, which I plan to try today!


As if this wasn't cool enough, my swap partner Amie also included some old quilt blocks! Now, if you know me at all, you know that I love quilts, I love old stuff, and my most favorite quilt pattern is Dresden Plate....
So, how perfect!

Dog Day