February Crochet Projects

crochet, Reflections

I was working on this post in early March but, for reasons that likely need no explanation, I got distracted and never finished it. Summer was busy and I didn’t do any crocheting but now that it gets dark early again I find myself picking up the crochet hook and yarn each evening. Since the projects that I am working on will be Christmas gifts I won’t be posting pictures until after Christmas so for now you can take a look at the projects that I completed in February.

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Something fun for my Valentine.

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My husband asked me to make him some mittens because we have a hard time finding gloves that really keep our fingers warm. He said the mittens were better than gloves.

The problem with wearing mittens is that it is difficult to do any thing with your fingers, so I though I would try making some mittens that the top would flip back. I worked off of the same pattern that I used to make my husband’s mittens. I began by making the lower half  of the mitten. Then I finished that part off and attached the yarn a few rows down on the back of the mitten and crocheted across the back then made a chain/foundation stitch across the front adding a few extra stitches so it would slip over the lower part.

The one on the right was the first one I made and I discovered that I did not attach it low enough so it created a gap in the mitten. On the second one I attached the yarn lower on the back of the mitten so the top overlapped the lower part and it came out just as I had hoped. Thankfully these were just prototypes because when I had them finished I realized that I had two right-hand mittens. Oops!

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I made a 5 of these hot pads using three balls of crochet cotton. I gave two of them to my neighbor who was thrilled to have them.

My sister sent me a pattern for Yip Yips. I actually had no idea what Yip Yips were. Thank goodness for internet search engines.  I learned that Yip Yips are alien-like Sesame Street characters.  (did you know that?)

IMG_6281 (2)I made two Yip yip’s and thought I would put some chocolate bunnies in them and give them to Jackson and Addy for Easter.

Well it was a nice thought. Lockdowns happened and family gatherings for Easter did not. The best I could do was send the Yip Yip’s home for Jackson and Addy with their dad when he came out to the farm to hive the package of bees he purchased this spring. Hopefully I will be able to give Christmas gifts in person this year.

55 Things #42 – All Saints Day

55 Things, Reflections

Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.

Today, November 1, being All Saints Day seemed like an appropriate day to share this post.

It’s only been in the past year that I have received information about my family tree on my paternal grandmother’s side and in doing so found that one branch stems from the Montreal and Quebec regions of Canada. Much of the information is names and dates but there are few stories about notable people. One such person is a Great (x8) Aunt named Jeanne LeBer.

I’ve thought about the story of Jeanne often this year as we struggled with imposed quarantines and were instructed to socially, or at least physically, distance ourselves from others. At times I have found myself resenting having to make such sacrifices and would wonder about this woman who chose to live her life as a recluse

According to https://margueritebourgeoys.org/en/jeanne-le-ber/:

“Jeanne Le Ber was born in Ville-Marie (Montreal), on January 4, 1662. Daughter of Jacques Le Ber, a wealthy merchant of Montreal, and of Jeanne LeMoyne, Jeanne LeBer was also the goddaughter of Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founder and governor of Montreal, and of Jeanne Mance, foundress and administrator of the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital.

From her earliest years, Jeanne was attracted to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrement, an attraction which grew ever more powerful and was accompagnied by a deep desire for silence and prayer.

When she was eighteen, she obtained from her parents’ permission to live as a recluse in her family home. Completely withdrawn from the world, she left her home only to go to Mass. On August 5, 1695, at the age of 33, she made her reclusion more complete. She left her family and withdrew into the house of the Sisters of the Congrégation Notre-Dame where Marguerite Bourgeoys and her Sisters welcomed her with great joy. There she lived in a tiny room behind the altar of the chapel.

As a benefactor of Ville Marie, Jeanne gave away her fortune over the years, assisting the poor, the churches and the Congregation of Notre Dame. She made clothing for the most needy and provided for the schooling of disadvantaged young women.

Her life now was now one of continual hommage to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrement, in union with the Virgin Mary and the Angels. Between her hours of adoration and rest, without cessing her prayer, she sewed and embroidered church vestments and worked for the poor.

Her church vestments and altar ornaments, embroidered with gold, silver and bright coloured threads, reflected her intense life of contemplation as well as her appreciation of the beauty of nature and of God’s creation. She is at the origin of the Oeuvre des Tabernacles which is still active today. (4120 Vendôme avenue, Montreal, Quebec, H4A 3N1)

Her contemplative life has been an inspiration to the Recluse Sisters a religious congregation founded by two former students of the CND.

Far from being indifferent to the outside world, she brought the concerns and suffering of her contemporaries to her fervent prayers. She prayed especially for peace in a war-torn country.

She died on October 3, 1714 at the age of 52 years “in great odour of sanctity.”  The entire population of Montreal attended her funeral there to pay their last respects.”

The article found here  refers to her as a “native Canadian Saint”.

While I find myself admiring her decision, her dedication and her devotion, I can’t even begin to imagine living such a life of isolation. I am humbled.

55 Things #41-Inside My Window

55 Things, Reflections

Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.

Since my last post showed a look outside my kitchen window, I thought I would show you what is inside that window – on the window sill.

Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. I Corinthians 16:13

It’s likely these encouraging words need no explanation. Recently I have been thinking that I should have this verse tattooed on the back of my hand – universal instructions, so to speak. ( I won’t because tattoos are not my thing.) Maybe I just need to wash more dishes. 🙂

For longtime readers the flashlight is likely understood as well, but if you are new here or are wondering why in the world I would leave a flashlight on my windowsill or you have never read my flashlight sermon post, please click here. I do think it is worth your time to read.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day. 🙂

55 Things #40 – Outside My Window

55 Things, Birds, Reflections

Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.

It was this post in 2016 when I first wrote about being visited by a cardinal. Since then we have a pair of cardinals who regularly visit our court yard. I see them often during fall, winter and spring but then they tend to disappear in the summer. This guy, who visited today, looks young so perhaps he is their offspring. I am looking forward to seeing more of him.

Thanks for visiting. 🙂

Woo Hoo The Garlic Is Planted

Gardening, Planting Garlic, Reflections,

It’s hard to believe that a whole year has passed since I last wrote about having the garlic planted. This is something that I blog about each year, mainly so I have a record of when we planted, how much we planted and how the weather was.

If you are curious about how we plant garlic you can check out this post from 2016.

Relying on the 7 day weather forecast it’s always a gamble, but I must say that our plan came together quite nicely this year. It was Wednesday, a week prior to planting, that I looked at the forecast and noted that we had a nice weekend coming up and temperatures were suppose to remain good through the following Wednesday, October, 14. Monday night was supposed to bring rain followed by dry days Tuesday and Wednesday.

It would have been prudent to plan our garlic planting for the weekend, as my husband suggested, but I really wanted to have the kids over for a picnic since I didn’t know when we would have the chance to do that again. We decided to roll the dice and wait to plant until Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday were prep days. On Monday My husband tilled up the ground where we were going to plant and I began splitting the seed bulbs into cloves. We had rain, as predicted, on Monday night, but Tuesday was warm and mostly sunny giving the ground a chance to dry up some. I finished splitting up the bulbs on Tuesday.

It was shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday when we made our way to the farm to begin planting our 2021 garlic crop and it was right around 5:30 when I said “WOO HOO! the garlic is planted,” followed by a short prayer “Lord please bless our efforts.”

In that 3 1/2 hours we planted nearly 1100 garlic cloves. The soil was moist and loose making for ease of planting, but having to continually chase chickens out of the area, so they didn’t dig up the planted garlic, slowed us down some. We also lost some time when I had to take the boys home after Ranger decided to run though a patch that we already had planted. After all the garlic was in the ground we enclosed the patch with a temporary plastic fence that will deter chickens and dogs and deer that may be wandering in the area.

Today I am even more grateful that we planted the garlic on Wednesday since we had rain again on Wednesday night and on and off on Thursday. Friday and Saturday were dry but the rain started again last night, continues on and off today, and is in the forecast for each day in the 7 day forecast.

It may seem odd but I have begun to think of garlic planting as the beginning of our growing season – almost like the New Year – something to be celebrated. Perhaps next year we’ll have champagne and fireworks. LOL.

For anyone who may be considering growing garlic next year, in northern parts of the world now is the time for planting. Garlic takes about nine months to grow and we try to plant about 6 weeks before the ground freezes. This gives the garlic time for it to establish roots. Ideally the garlic will not sprout green leaves before the freeze comes, but in past years when we have had this happen the garlic did not seem to be damaged by the leaves freezing.

Thanks for reading. 🙂