May Long Weekend

Much of Saturday and Sunday were spent in gardening. I have been seeding into this bed for the last month and I have carrots, chard, beets and lettuce all germinated. I seeded each for the last time this weekend. Hopefully this means that my harvesting will be spread out too.

 

In this bed, and in containers at the front and on the deck, I have 12 tomato plants and 12 pepper plants. The green material on the cages is "row cover" that I wrapped around them the first day they were planted because they needed protection from the very strong wind that was blowing that day. Once they are established they wont need that protection any more.

I had purchased a number of plants from a person in Port Dover who sells them every year (hosta, lily and coral bells) and some "driveway plants" (primulae, hosta). So those all got planted this weekend too. 

The apple tree looks great this year. Usually there is just a couple of clumps of blossom and sometimes none gets pollinated.

 

It was planted 5 years ago and this is the best blossom show yet. I have never had more than 3 apples off it!

Next door's pear tree also looks great this year. Last year, not a single pear.

Rick did some work on Spellbound and also helped me put the deck furniture out. He also whipper snipped the bank and I cut the grass.

By Monday we thought we had earned "a vacation" so went for a walk in Backus Woods.

It was very hot and muggy

and we were thankful whenever the wind found us.

I recognized the foliage of the lupines before I realized that the meadow was full of them . I had not realized that wild lupine is native to Southern Ontario.

Lots of wild strawberries too.

We were past the peak for trillium

but there were still some around. Rick mentioned he had never seen a red one.

Challenge accepted!

We had planned to go further but we just weren't accustomed to the heat yet and only did about 4km.

In Port Rowan we stopped at Tims and the grocery store to get what we needed for a picnic in the park by the marina.

It was difficult to get a photo of the osprey in the nest on the lighthouse as she was crouched down most of the time, perhaps sitting on eggs.

She appeared to be panting, too hot for her too.

I had assumed that the swallows swooping around the boat houses were barn swallows but this looks like they are tree swallows.

End of the long weekend, drinks on the Edge.

A Creative Week.

Once a month the Senior Centre holds a painting drop-in. I haven't picked up a paint brush since I got back from Spain so decided I needed this to get me kick started again.

It was lovely to immerse myself in watercolour again (not literally) and just have 2 hours devoted to it. There was just one other person there but I gather there are usually 3 or 4.

 

I have continued working on it since and hope to have it finished to take back to next months drop-in.

Heather and Don came down for a couple of days and spent one day down at Long Point, birding. Cedar Waxwing, photo by Don.

Grey Catbird. Photo by Don. They had their best sightings in the old Provincial Park.

Hooded Warbler. Photo by Don.

We were also treated to some magnificent skies (photo by Don), changing lake colours

and a rainbow. Also a large doe walked through the back yards, but no picture.

Friday I had signed up for a fused glass workshop at the Senior Centre. These were the examples.

There were dishes of coloured glass

on our tables and

a bin of glass shards to pick through (with gloves on).

We were given a piece of glass to use as the base and glue to stick our glass patterns on.

Unfortunately I wasn't in a very creative mood and just went through the motions. The instructor will now put them into her kiln, so they will fuse, and we will pick them up next week.

I have continued to work on the Paint Brushes rug hooking.

Ditch Lily after the rain. That might be an interesting painting challenge.

Rick has been working on Spellbound and she is ready for her launch next week. The fenders he uses on the dock are looking pretty disgusting, even though he scrubbed them last year. So we decided to see if I could make covers for them.

We found a polyester mesh at Lens Mills along with outdoor upholstery thread. Although not much of a seamstress I covered the 2 of them using my $80 Kenmore sewing machine. After taking this picture we replaced the white rope to tie them, with black. 

So, yes, a creative week: painting, photography, glass fusing and sewing.

 

2026 OHCG Annual, Oakville

 I picked Heather up in Ancaster and then we drove to Oakville, last Friday. Pam and Sue were already there as they helped the vendors get set up and also delivered all of J.J.s hooked pieces.

Trudi, Heather and I 

 

"hung" the J.J. Ruggers display. The sun from a skylight was streaming in, making it difficult to get a good picture. The two centre pieces were hooked by Pat Lawson (I think her sister designed the big one and I think Pat herself designed the one below.), unfortunately I didn't think to take a photo of the listing for our booth.

The next day I walked around the display with Pam and then again on my own. I walk around it in different directions as then I notice different articles. Below are photos of those pieces that caught my eye.

I would take a picture of the piece

 

and then a picture of the listing hung in the booth. "The Whale" was hooked by Bonnie Richards.

"Sunflowers on the Coast" hooked by Betty O'Toole. I thought this was an interesting composition with the foreground, middle ground and background giving depth without complexity.

"Georgian Bay Glory" hooked by Judy Payne. Love the colours.

"Azalea", a prize winner, hooked by Ingrid Hieronimous, designed by Amy Fortier.

This was also hooked by Ingrid and was listed as "Garden Gate" but the piece next to it was obviously that one so this may have been "Painted Rose" - a bit confusing when the numbers are put on incorrectly.

The reflections in this one work really well, every other row is a line of grey, very effective. "Three Fish Huts" hooked by Shirley Crockett.

The sky and water in this are beautifully done. "Come Sail Away" hooked by Liz Walker.

Liz also hooked "Sandbanks Pillow"

and "Sweet September Pillow". I really love how she hooks water and sky.

There were three examples of this pattern, "East Coast Boat", this one hooked by Helen Houghton,

this one hooked by Ellen Williams

and this one by Onna Erstikaitis. All were adapted from a picture by Sheila Rose.It was interesting to look at the different choices made and the impact they had.

Another prize winner, "Turtle" hooked by Alice Bespolko.

" Preston's Farm, PEI" hooked by Marge Bruin

"French River Wharf"  hooked by Karen Glover reminded me of the boat houses in Port Rowan (which might be a neat thing to hook)

"Medallion of Colours" hooked by Joanne Hipwell

"Millstream" hooked by Debbie Fabi.

Of course there were plenty of vendors with yummy wool and yarn, hooks and frames and other hooking paraphernalia. I had vowed to get no more wool and, for once, stuck to it.

Heather spent the morning assisting at a workshop where they made wool "lavender"

and I spent the afternoon in a workshop learning about the history of hand hooked rugs and how to repair them.

Heather, Sue, Pam, Michelle and I (and a random "hooker" who came along to make it 6 for the reservation) went to a Thai place for dinner. There was so much food we took some back to the hotel and ate it next day for lunch.

Heather and I shared a room. Each bed had 2 pillows that were soft and 2 that were firm. Never seen them labeled before. The next day the only thing we had to do was to take down the display at 3pm so the day was spent hooking and

 

viewing the display again. The Rowan Award is given to the rug voted by members to be the best in the show. "My Hooked Wallpaper hooked by Susan Grant.

There were just a few rugs that I hadn't noticed during my 2 viewings the previous day. "Inch Rug" hooked by Rachel Miller.

This is what I was hooking on "Create" designed by Carolyn Stich.