Meet the Halloween Quints.......

So here they are all done, with their name tags on.

 The kids are going to be amazed, as each one was born on the recipient's birth date!!

Below on the left is Witchy-Way who is for Nora.  On the left is Goblin who is for Paige.

 To the left is Spell who is for Nitara, in the middle is Boo for Samvith, and to the right is Bones who is for Jeina.

 All were made with material I had laying around the house.

Went to the dollar store and picked up some books and other things for Halloween for them, and not a chocolate or candy in sight, so the parents should be happy!

Slow Knitting.........

Slow Knitting: A Journey from Sheep to Skein to Stitch by Hannah Thiessen

"Like the “slow food” movement, Slow Knitting encourages knitters to step back, pare down, and celebrate the craftsmanship of their work. In five chapters centered around the tenets of slow knit­ting—sourcing carefully, making thoughtfully, thinking environmentally, experimenting fearlessly, and exploring openly—Hannah Thiessen challenges knitters of all skill levels to view their practice in a new way. Each chapter contains explorations of fiber types; profiles of well-known yarn types, makers, and yarn suppliers; and garment patterns inspired by the featured fibers. With contributions from knitting superstars Norah Gaughan, Bristol Ivy, and many others, Slow Knitting proposes an approach to knitting that is both minimalist and all-encompassing, and emphasizes what makes knitting a meditation, a passion, and a unique necessity."

(book blurb directly from here)

I got an email from Knitcrate advertising this book.  I am a slow knitter; not through choice, but because "I am a slow knitter."  When I was reading the "blurb" about the book, it actually makes sense.  When making things by hand it's not about how fast you can finish it but how much love and thought you put into each project.

We live in such a fast paced environment that I think you lose track of how to do things slow and simple.  As with everything in life I think it does help if you stop and think about where things come from; how it came to be and what processes it had to go through to be a product you would use.

I think the quote:

"Slow down and smell the roses,"

comes to mind.  Maybe we should all try to do this?

Will I buy the book, not sure, but it does sound interesting.

Had a quiet but busy weekend.

It was Thanksgiving here in Canada this past weekend.  Not that we generally do much for Thanksgiving and this one was no different as the kids rented a "cottage" for the weekend and they all went there.  No, we were not invited, but as neither dh or I are 100% well, we were not overly bothered.

One thing I did do this weekend was catch up with some sewing.  I finally got Paige's quilt top finished, the one that uses all the fabrics from her first year photos.

It is hard to see and the light was shining behind the quilt, so you see the seams.  I have a call into a lady to see about her doing the quilting for me.  It's around a double bed size of 60 inches wide and 77 inches long.  Paige is climbing out of her crib now, so she will be moving into a big bed soon.  She will be 16 months old on the 15th of this month.  The fabric for her birthday shot will be the binding on the outside of the quilt.

I am not a huge fan of Halloween and I do know the mother's of the grands are not that fussy about the children getting a lot of chocolate.  So I decided to make a dog called George all dressed up for Halloween.  These two are for Jeina and Paige.  The material is what I had laying around the house.

Three more to go and then to pick up a Halloween book for each of them!  Not a speck of chocolate in sight from us!

My first time making curry and basmati rice.

I didn't do the pre-soak and I made brown basmati rice.  Found it a little chewy but overall very good.

The recipe for the Red Lentil Vegetable Curry can be found here.  I found it quite bland, which is very funny as I don't like anything too spicy or hot; this was neither.  I will make this again and will add black pepper and garlic to the recipe.

I had it for the following two nights supper and a lunch.  I mixed in the leftover rice and enjoyed the rice much more.  I found the flavours developed more over the days and it tasted very good.  This recipe will be added into our meal plans now.  I gave dh garlic bread with his as I had no naan bread.

Well worth trying if you want a hearty vegetarian meal.  Actually I think it is also a Vegan recipe.......

Do you have a favourite mild curry recipe you would like to share?

Tea that's good for you......

I have been drinking Tetley Care Herbal Tea while I have had this bronchitis:

"A comforting blend of lemon, ginger and rosehip to provide you with some tender loving care when you need it most.

Available in 20s

Ingredients: Rosehip Seeds, Apple Pomace, Ginger, Lime Flowers, Citric Acid, Natural Lemon-Lime, Flavour, Sweet Blackberry Leaves, Chicory Root, Lemongrass, Lemon Peel, Ginger Extract"

I have to say I love it and it's perfect in a morning to get me going.  Tetleys have many other Herbal Tea's that are all caffeine free, you can read about them here.

Do you have a go too drink when you are not feeling 100%?

I also posted four new book reviews over on my Book Review blog if you are interested?  You can take a look here.

How Wallpaper is made at Farrow and Ball

This was an interesting video to watch I thought.




I haven't wallpapered in years, it went out of fashion, but looking at some of the lovely wallpaper out there I am tempted to start putting a feature wall in each room that is wallpapered.

I do like their Helleborous line, especially that green colour.

You can get some free samples of their wallpaper here.  I may have to order some.

Do you use wallpaper in your home?

A re-potting type of day

Must say I am loving these cooler days, this is my perfect time of year, at least for me.

I was given a money plant for my birthday and quite by surprise I haven't killed it, in fact it is growing like crazy; unlike our bank account😋 It was getting root bound so I decided to re-pot it.

Before: 

During:

After:

I then re-potted a Gerber daisy that I had outside to over winter in the house:

I just hope everything continues to grow after disturbing their roots...........