Fall and a quick trip to Toronto

 Rick texted me on the day it was officially fall but it really didn't feel like it yet. However within the week

I was drying clothes inside rather than out on the line and

had planted Kale and Lettuce in the Aerogarden, for the fall growing season.

Germinated within 3 days.

Hooking with fall colours and a feline supervisor.

Coming in off the racecourse and the sun is already set. (Photo by Dave with Rick's phone) Just one more race to go and the season is over!

Chris and Jason both had work obligations on the weekend so I was in Toronto for some Cigi sitting.

Before I even got a "Hi Nana", we were reading a book

and I was cuddling a cat (Donny)

Chris had the Friday off so we kept Cigi out of daycare and went to a park

to feed the Chickadees. We used to take Chris and Mike, as kids, to "the Chickadee Place" between Paris and Cambridge and Chris was happy to have found the same opportunity for Cigi.

It was a small loop with

lots of eager Chickadees.

Cigi didn't like the feel of their little claws on her hands but was happy to watch Chris and I feed.

Although initially nervous about the Chipmunks coming up to her, her desire to "be friends" won out and they came right up to her feet, looking for a hand out.

 Ducks, a Swan, a Black Squirrel, Blue Jays and a Great Blue Heron rounded out the wildlife sightings. We then drove to the "new house" to pick up the mail and talk about the plans...underpinning well underway, walls will be demolished, moved, 3 bathrooms instead of 1, open concept living/kitchen/dining..exciting.

At bed time I realized this blanket is over 40 years old. Mark was posted to Germany when Christine was born. He sent this Smurf blanket as a gift (may have bought it at the Canex on base). It is a little faded but has made the rounds of the family for the last 40 years.

Chris left early for her workshop and Jason came in on the "red eye" from Seattle in time to take Cigi to Sportball and then play in the park. 

After nap we went down to the Humber River to see if the Salmon were still running.

 

We didn't see any jumping up the dam but there were still rocks to be climbed on and a soft ice cream.

 

As well as Ducks, Gulls, Cormorants and an Egret.

Then Jason joined Chris downtown.  Cigi and I had a good evening and night and I took her to swimming on Sunday morning. Jason caught up with us there.

Final photo....crawling up my screen

I couldn't figure out why he had so many legs....but he only had 8 and a set of pincers! Glad he was outside. Another sign of fall, the increased numbers of spiders in the house.

Back from West Virginia

 I have been back now for a couple of days but still need to post about the last day at the McGown Teacher Training. I did not attend last year but that did not get me out of teaching this year. I received a pattern in the mail, and later the instructions (the brief) but I had started it already so didn't exactly follow them. So on Thursday I taught a class

on this piece.

I had decided to treat the scroll as if it was an architectural element, like a stone on top of a pillar or moulding on a ceiling, and therefor used a piece of mottled grey wool outlined in a darker grey. I shaded the flowers but needed something to teach a group of teachers (many of whom teach regularly and have done so far longer and more frequently than I have), so I beaded the vein of the scroll and the outline of the pattern and attached it to a metal ring. This gave me two teachable elements.

I had purchased some dip dyes and some spot dyes at the OHCG Annual but most of what I bought down for the class was from my own stash (I need to whittle it down). This photo is what was left after the class had taken what they needed.

I was told to plan for 8 or more students, planned for 12 and had 5, which was a lovely size for a relaxed class.

We talked about scrolls and the many different ways to hook them,

about the different ways to teach fine shading of flowers,

and of course how to add beads to a rug hooked piece and how to attach it to a metal ring.

"Throw down" at the end of the day (one person had left earlier). Everyone goes at their own pace...one student spent most of the day working on different colour plans, another on finishing the flowers, a few enjoyed the beading practice but one struggled with it and said she probably wouldn't bead. Different strokes.

 That evening we paid our bills, received our copies of the book that has the report on all the classes conducted during the week and got our assignments for next year (both Jennifer and I are teaching next year, sometimes you get a year off, not this time!). Up early on Friday and drove home and I spent Saturday in recovery mode and enjoying the break from people.

Over to Long Point to help a friend with an overgrown garden resulted in me returning with a car full of plants. The Russian Sage, Lavender and Lemon Verbena made the car smell wonderful.

From where I stopped on the Causeway I saw 18 Great Egrets and

7 Great Blue Herons.

2024 Southern McGown Teacher Training cont.

 The second class, taught by Jan Frank, was a Carolyn Stitch design.

Jan provided us with lots of photos of foxes and night skies and plenty of wool to complete the piece.

My difficulty was that I had decided that I wanted to do an Arctic Fox and make mine more of a Monochromatic, blues with whites, greys and black. So there was not a lot of wool for me to purchase and I couldn't start on the face, which is what most people spent their class time on.

Getting the face right

is key.

The eye and

the mouth hint at the foxes personality and mood.

By the end of the class I had thinned him down a little, narrowed his tail, hooked the moon, his bib and the tip of his tail. I am looking forward to getting in to my stash at home and finishing him.

Wednesday the theme was Wide Cut Florals and I took this piece taught by Judy Werling.

Judy had taken the instructions "be creative and have fun" to heart with bugs hidden under leaves

and many different types of flowers (some of which required sewing, I can almost hear Nicola laughing from here)

There was a huge array of alternative fibers

and colourful wools.

This was my piece by the end of the day.

Judy taught us about "standing wool", "shirring", yoyos, proddy, quillies, using wire and beads and some some techniques that did not even have names. Basically the sky was the limit.

Sailing and McGown Teacher Training

 This September Rick opted to sail in the Spinnaker Fleet for both the Monday and Wednesday races. Our fleet photographers caught us on film (no longer accurate, I mean on SD card) a few times.

September means we are often heading in

as the sun sets.

 I am missing a week of sailing to participate in the McGown Southern Teacher Training Workshop in Ripley, West Virginia. Jennifer and I drove down in one day, leaving at 7:50am and arriving at about 4pm, with a half hour stop for lunch.

The first class I took was Rockport, hooked and taught by Norita Blue. The other options were a farm scene or a Victorian House as the day's theme was architecture.

Norita had holidayed in both Maine and Nova Scotia so had lots of photos and memorabilia

along with her wool selection.

Nice and relaxed with just 7 in the class.

I got this far by lunch

and this far by the end of the day. I think I will complete this one although there are some issues to be worked out with the shadows and background buildings.