Christmas temporarily postponed...............

...........by the worst ice storm ever recorded here. Forty hours of ice rain resulted in one big mess....trees down...power lines down.... and roads like skating rinks.

We had no power for 65 hours. It went out about 11:00 p.m. on Saturday night and went back on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.

It got mighty cold in our house. It went down to 7C inside and it was a brisk -17C outside this morning. Needless to say my turkey was still frozen solid so we didn't have turkey for Christmas dinner today.

The gazebo frame and the wires going into the house.

The poor trumpet vine.

It looks pretty but boy was it cold and very treacherous to walk about.

The bird feeders were totally covered with an inch of ice.

The down spout on the back porch.....it looks like the rain froze instantly as it poured out..

Food wise we had to be creative.......and with a glass of very very chilled wine...bearable:) Scrabble by candle light was fun......like camping in the winter sort of.....although it was very hard to handle those little tiles with gloves on.

 
My husband finally found a fast food place that was open on Tuesday...Tim Horton's...and we had our first hot food since Saturday. The hot chicken noodle soup from Tim's was amazing:)

I was really starting to lose it on Tuesday afternoon.......my patience was wearing thin I think. I had so many layers of clothing on that if I fell over I wouldn't be able to stand up again....LOL I looked like the Michelin Man. The sound of the furnace going on was the best Christmas gift ever:)

Take care.

Next week.....

Lots of things happening ......

Next week I'll be celebrating yet another birthday. I figure that instead of thinking I'm getting mentally and physically older I'll think that I'm another year young. Can't hurt right? Mind over matter so to speak....ha ha.

On December 28th it will be another blogoversary here on My Tate Gallery......December 28, 2010 was my first post here. To celebrate I'll be having a giveaway in January for all of my followers. That way everyone will have settled down from all of the holiday stuff and will get a chance to participate if they wish. I haven't decided what it will be yet so stay tuned.
 

This picture was taken by my son after our first big snowfall...that bright window on the right is my sewing room. I should have turned off the lights for the picture.......ah well....next year:)

Christmas lights 2013

I want to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from me and my family.

Take care:) 

Stitch Dictionary.....

I did a post awhile back about making a stitch diary and then I found this ......definitely a very unique way to create a stitch dictionary:) Some where I have a version of these drawers. They were once used for holding the letters for printing.

Each little pillow has a stitch and it's name. I have often seen these types of drawers in flea markets and antique shops.  Sorry the pictures aren't very clear but you can go here and here and see a better version.

Source: The Fabric of  Meditation

Source: The Fabric of  Meditation

Take care:)

The Snowman Song by Phil Keaggy........

Snow....

Snow crystals under an electron microscope.....

Link

And even more wonderful pictures.....here

Source

I'm trying to stay in a positive mind frame about snow......I'm not sure if it's working.

Take care.

A Finished Make......

I decided to make myself a Stitch Diary as a place to keep my odd little bits of embroidery and crossstitch that I do.

I made the cover using plastic craft mesh that you can buy in craft stores. I bought about 10 of them eons ago when my favourite craft store (White Rose) was closing. Ten plastic mesh for a dollar. I finally found a use for two of them...LOL

I then covered the mesh with a thin padding on one side...almost like a very heavy Pellon interfacing....and regular quilt batting on the other. I had this gorgeous fat quarter with a Lily of the Valley pattern to use for the front book cover and a plain fat quarter in a matching green for the back. I believe it's a Robert Kaufman fabric.

The pages are fabric too. I had bought some packs of Pellon stabilizer....4 packs for $3 at Fabricland. It's supposed to be used for appliqueing, embroidery and monograms but what the heck. I used it as a stabilizer for my book pages. I covered the pages with some broadcloth that I inherited from my mum's stash. I was glad I finally found a use for it:) The pages are just a plain pale green and a very pretty pale blue that I can embellish on both sides. It sounds strange but they do match the book cover.

So now I have this nice soft squishy book...very tactile.....

Everything that I used came from my stash...bonus:)

Vintage lace and trim....and vintage buttons too.

A pretty dancing fairy pin..

I'm joining up with The Needle and Thread Network......come over and visit and see what my fellow Canadians are up to today.

Take care.

Todolwen.....

If anyone is a follower of Todolwen and have wondered where her blog has gone here is some news. She had a mishap while doing some changes on her blog and lost the whole thing and all of her followers:(

She now has a new blog address and has started up again slowly but surely.

You can find her here.....

TODOLWEN

Take care:)

Almost Wordless WIP Wednesday......

A wee bit of  Scotland

and......

A wasp waist doll circa 1880's

Crazy Quilt A Long 2014......

Good Earth Quilting is a having a Crazy Quilt Along in 2014. The rules are pretty easy going with no pressure and I think even I can do this:) I've always wanted to get started doing crazy quilting and this looks like the push I need. If you're interested here is the link........

Good Earth Quilting

Take care:)