What Christmas really means to me…

Our Christmas tree this year.

Christmas – what exactly does that word mean to you? It isn’t about manic shopping or tons of “GREAT” bargains, it isn’t about getting the best gift for your kids or from your kids. It is about tradition, it is about family, it is about love, it is about laughing and memories.

A friend recently posted on Facebook that she couldn’t take 19 more days of Christmas music, she was not raised as a Christian so she does not have the memories or traditions that I do, so I suppose I understand how annoying “Christmas” can be to her. My first thought of course was – Change the station, but then I started to really think about Christmas meant to me.

As a child we decorated our tree on Christmas Eve, the rest of the house would be decorated through out the month of December but the tree was always decorated on Christmas Eve. We would start it and our parents would finish it. As we got older we would finish it with them. I do remember very specific directions about how to properly place the tinsel – I also recall some good natured arguments about the placement of the tinsel. Side note – I do not use tinsel on my Christmas tree! I also remember waking my parents up at about 4:00 in the morning (I of course did not realize that my father had only gone to bed about an hour earlier) – to open presents – “GO BACK TO BED FAITH” was what I heard from their bedroom.

I have wonderful memories of Christmas and none of them have to do with the gifts that I received. I remember my mother accidently doubling a recipe for cookies and consequently having a ton of cookies to bake. I also remember the time my mother was putting candied cherries on cookies only to have my younger sister eat all of the cherries off of the cookies. I remember my grandmother ringing bells under the table and telling me that there was a present upstairs that Santa’s helpers had left me. I remember Christmas Crackers on Christmas Eve and wearing funny crowns all through dinner.

Gingerbread Cookies

Christmas for me is about remembering precious moments and creating new ones. It is about the love that I always felt growing up, it is about the cookies that my mother made and my grandmother made that I now make. It is about talking about the memories with your children, and parents, and cousins and dear family friends. It is about going out with your dearest friends to cut your Christmas tree, drinking hot chocolate and eating candy canes and then going back to the house for a wonderful meal.

Christmas is about the season – it is about family, friends and memories. It is about being thankful for the blessings that we have and about sharing them with each other.

But most important it is about LOVE – I love the season, I love the reason for the season, I love the time spent with family and friends. I love the rush and the crush, I love the trees and the lights and the cookies. I love the Christmas carols! I love the walk on the beach on Christmas morning, when there are a few snowflakes falling and the air is cold and brisk. I love the anticipation of seeing someone that I love opening a one of a kind gift that I have made especially for them. I love the warm, comfy feelings that I have when I remember tucking my children into bed in their red sleepers on Christmas Eve. I love the total exhaustion that I feel when I have done all of the things that I feel need to be done to make it a “perfect” Christmas. What makes it perfect is the family!

I hope that you can feel some of the spirit that makes Christmas special and wonderful for me. I hope that you can make memories with people you love

Be kind…

Faith

Celtic Christmas…

Dec4

first step cut and ready to sew

It is that time of year again. Christmas and a new Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt. Bonnie Hunter – one of my favorite quilt designers has a mystery quilt every year. It starts the day after Thanksgiving and ends some time in January, she posts new steps every week and we sew like mad to get the quilt steps done. This year Bonnie’s quilt is called Celtic Solstice – here is the link up.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/12/celtic-solstice-mystery-monday-link-up-1.html

Her colors are very bright and while I am sure that her quilt will be amazing the colors just didn’t work for me.

work in progress

So, after careful thought and a little bit of sleeplessness I came up with a solution. I am making the quilt out of my stash of Christmas fabric. I have been buying Christmas fabric for 30 years so I have lots of choices and fabric. The salvage on one of the fabrics said 1991. Yup, lots of old fabric. By using it up it will free me to buy more with no guilt!

chain sewing

Bonnie has given 2 sizes for this quilt – a twin/double bed size and a king size. I have opted for the King size – that way when I am done I will have a wonderful large quilt for our bed. I will use it every year for the month of December.

completed units

I am not yet done with the first step but I will finish it today. I am more than half way finished and that gives me the incentive to keep my little Featherweight chugging along. I am very happy to be using up all of this old fabric – the goal is to refrain from buying any new fabric for this quilt. I have never done that before – and I may not be able to do it with this quilt either. I may need to buy some fabric for the back but hopefully I can be resourceful enough to make due with what I have.

A little Christmas thought – from The Little Book of Christmas Joys –

#248. Read “The Gift of The Magi” by O’Henry It always brings tears to my eyes and warmth to my heart.

Be Kind…

Faith

Eagle Lake – Acadia National Park….

Nov8

Eagle Lake

So the plan was to take a walk around Eagle Lake and then go to The Jordan Pond House for Tomato Bisque soup and Popovers. I am sure, had the day gone according to plan that I would have added a nice glass of dry white wine to that order. But the best laid plans do not always happen.

We had explored Bass Harbor Light that morning and had gone back towards Bar Harbor to park the car and start our walk. We had a little knapsack packed with water and snacks. We had our guide books so that we would not go the wrong way and walk even further than the 6.1 miles that we had planned. Chuck figured that we would be finished with the walk in about an hour and a half. I had my doubts about that – I was not going to “briskly” walk for over 6 miles. I wanted to see the beautiful scenery, take pictures of lake and the foliage. I wanted to stop and listen to the birds and the babbling brooks.

I wanted to savor the entire experience.

Well, I thought that it was a walk around the lake. Haha – it was an uphill walk around the lake. Of course when you go uphill you must go down hill. It turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun came out – the temps were around 58 degrees and the views were breathtaking.

Eagle Lake

It took us over 2 hours to finish the walk and by the time we were finished I was a sweaty mess. I had stripped off my windbreaker/rain jacket. My very light weight polartec was tied around my waist – the sleeves on my long sleeve t-shirt were pushed up as far as they would go and my new Red Sox cap was on only to hide the mess that was my hair. Not to mention that I had a huge blister on both the bottom of my foot and my heel.

Carriage Path

It was a beautiful walk – in a beautiful place with my best friend. It was never a race, it was always a journey. I love to walk – I have found that Maine is a beautiful place to walk. When you live by the ocean you have the advantage of seeing the ever changing seasons. The Sea looks beautiful in all seasons – but it can change from hour to hour depending upon the weather.

Needless to say we did not go to the Jordan Pond House for tomato bisque, popovers and wine. I would not be seen in public. I skulked back to the car – chugged a bottle of water and we went back to our rooms. Thankfully I was a girl scout in a previous life so I was prepared and had brought cheese, crackers, salami and a bottle of both white and red wine. The white wine was chilled to perfection and the cheese and crackers tasted wonderful.

We relaxed, showered and walked to dinner. The completion of a wonderful day. Thankfully the Red Sox were traveling that day so we didn’t have to struggle to stay awake to watch the game.

Take a walk, enjoy where you live!

Be Kind…

Faith

Bass Harbor Light House…

Nov7

Bass Harbor Light

In mid October Chuck and I took a couple of days off and headed Down East. Our destination was Mount Desert Island. We try to get to Bar Harbor once a year. It is one of our favorite parts of Maine. We love Acadia National Park and if you have never been there it is definitely worth the drive. It is an amazing mixture of mountains and ocean. Towering pines, crashing waves, amazing wild life and a wonderful place to relax, walk, ride a bike and see nature.

On the second day that we were there the day started out rainy and dreary. Not a great day to take a long walk. We decided to take a short drive to Southwest Harbor – the most southwest corner of Mount Desert Island. It is also the location of Bass Harbor Light.

Bass Island Light

This lighthouse is perched on the very edge of the rocks. The views are amazing, even on a drizzly day. We were on the edge of the rocks looking down on the crashing waves.

To the left of the Light house there is a path that brings you down through the woods to more rocks. It would have been a great place to bring a picnic. There was a very steep set of wooden steps that brought you even closer to the water.

I love walking through the woods on a rainy day – it reminds me of playing in the woods behind the house with my sisters when we were kids.

There is a certain scent in the piney woods that can’t be duplicated by a candle or any thing else artificial. It is a the smell of the woods – I can’t find the words to describe it, but I love it.

We wandered around the lighthouse area taking pictures and talking to other visitors, then we hopped back in the car. The rain was letting up just as the weatherman had predicted. We drove through Southwest harbor – stopping at a local quilt shop to pick up a couple of yards of fabric to supplement the stash. Then on to Eagle Lake for our hike. We had our knapsack packed with some trail mix, cheese, apples and a couple of bottles of water. The hike was a 6.1 mile walk. I will write a post about that in the near future.

Off to my sewing machine to work on a quilt for the veterans. Love being in front of my sewing machine!

Be Kind…

Faith

Wow – 1 year anniversary!

Nov6

Who would have thunk it??? I wrote my first blog post over a year ago. I have really enjoyed sharing my world with you and I hope that you have enjoyed taking a peak. This fall has been very busy – we have done a bit of traveling, we have watched our beloved Red Sox win the World Series, I have worked on many charity projects and Chuck has removed bags and bags of leaves from the yard. Over the next couple of days I will share a lot of the wonderful pictures that I have taken and tell you about some of our adventures.

In September Chuck and I celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. Don’t ask me where those 28 years went. It is pretty nice to be married to and spend everyday with your BFF. We really enjoy each others company, we look forward to spending time together. That is a really good thing because we work together also.

We took a trip to Bar Harbor in October. Thankfully the idiots in Washington had re-opened the Federal Government so we could walk through Acadia National Park with out “breaking” the law. I have some really pretty pictures from our walk around Eagle Lake. It was mid-October so the trees were in full color.

leaves on the carriage road around Eagle Lake

I have been very busy being the President of Evergreen quilters. We hosted 85 quilters from all over southern Maine for a pot luck dinner and speaker. We had a wonderful meeting and handed out some fabulous door prizes. Leroy the Chicken was one of the door prizes.

Leroy

Leroy is a very large pin cushion. I need to make one for myself. I would love to have Leroy keep me company while I sew. I would just need to keep him away from Gracie -he is stuffed with crushed walnut shells. It seems Gracie likes to eat pin cushions that are filled with crushed walnut shells. She devoured Henrietta the hen a few months ago. Bad Dog!

So stay tuned – I have loads of wonderful things for you to see and read about.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog – I really enjoy the creative outlet that it gives me. I also love to share bits and pieces of my daily life here on the coast of Southern Maine.

Remember…. Be Kind…

Faith

A walk on the beach…

Oct14

I Love Candy Corn!

I love October. I also love it when the kids come up to visit. Saturday was overcast and windy here. The ocean has such a huge effect on our weather and sometimes storms just hang off shore and we have misty, windy days. It is part of living by the coast. I am not complaining at all – sometimes a drizzly day is perfect.

We had a semi-house full on Saturday. I decided that it was a perfect day for turkey. Not just any turkey, a deep fried turkey.

Deep Fried Turkey

It is amazing how moist and flavorful a fried turkey is. Of course you need stuffing/dressing, mashed potatoes, roasted butternut squash and carrots with and roasted garlic, cranberry sauce (yes jellied Ocean Spray, love it) and homemade applesauce. Pumpkin pie with vanilla bean ice cream.

YUM! We all ate well and then settled in to watch the Red Sox game. Sadly they lost but they evened up the series last night.

the beach

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Bright sunshine, clear skies perfect temperatures. Gracie and I decided that it was the perfect day for a walk on the beach. There were a lot of other furpals on the beach. Sometimes the beach is the best place in the world to be. I can’t ever imagine living too very far from the ocean. It has such a restoring effect on me, I always feel better after breathing in the wonderful sea air.

wet sand

There were several surfers in the water, lots of people sitting and reading books, just a wonderful day to be outside. We spent a good amount of time looking for heartstones. They are beach stones that are shaped like hearts.

Heartstones

I have several heartstones that have been given to me by people that I love. When I find them I keep them if they fit in my hand, they are smooth and cool and make me think about the ocean. I also give them to people that I love so that it reminds them of good times at the beach.

I hope that you had a wonderful October weekend filled with love and family and good memories.

Be Kind…

Faith

A baby quilt….

Oct9

A Quilt for Nolan

A young lady that I have known for many years just had a baby. Meredith and her husband Garrett have been friends of my son Charles, for many years. They graduated from high school together. They had a beautiful baby boy named Nolan on September 23rd. I had been working on a quilt for him since the spring. I never really expected it to take me so long, but as I worked on the quilt I kept getting new ideas about how to complete the quilt. I finished it last week – and put it in the mail on Monday. I think that Meredith should receive it in the mail today, that is why I am posting pictures of it today.

I used the Eleanor Burns Irish Chain Quilt book for the basic design of the quilt. I changed the borders and added some new details. I used the Electric quilt program to make 4 1/2″ blocks for Nolan’s name and the stars in the corners.

I paper pieced the blocks so that they would be very accurate. Paper piecing is a great way to have your star blocks finish with pointy points. I think that paper piecing is either something that you love or hate. For many years it frustrated me but I persisted and now I love it. Paper Piecing is a very accurate way to piece small blocks or blocks with a lot of points. So if you haven’t tried it give it a try, eventually you will love it.

I machine quilted this quilt. The theme of Nolan’s nursery is Elephants so I quilted elephants in the center of the Irish Chain.

Elephant Quilting

I really loved working on this quilt. I love the way yellow and blue work together. It is one of my favorite color combinations. I have another quilt in the works with the same colors – but that is a potential gift so it will remain under wraps until a later date.

I was able to get 2 items crossed off of my To-Do list. I completed the placemats for Meal on Wheels and the block for the Veterans quilt. Two looming deadlines that will be met. PHEW!!!

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather – the trees around me are a blaze of color. I will post some pictures soon.

Be Kind,

Faith

Fun weekend & Mabel visits Maine part 2…

Aug6

Jacoby Ellsbury hitting a triple

What a wonderful weekend I just had. Friday night we went to Boston to see the Red Sox. We met our daughter in Boston, sat at the bar at Jerry Remy’s, had a couple of cold beers and some nachos and just talked. It was wonderful to have some time to just visit and be silly. Our daughters boyfriend met us later for dinner and then we went to the game.

We had fabulous seats and had a really nice evening. Got back to Maine at about midnight. Phew long, but great day. Sadly the Sox lost.

On Saturday our son and his girlfriend came to visit. Of course they brought their 5 month old, 70 lb. English Mastiff named Mabel.

Mabel is a very large, very sweet dog. She has her crazy times as do all puppies but then she gives you a big sloppy English Mastiff kiss and all is right with the world.

Mabel

The weather was absolutely beautiful. The temps are perfect, no humidity. We had some wonderful meals together, the kids and Mabel went to the beach for a walk.

A man and his dog.

We have determined that Mabel does not like the water. We tried to get her into the pool but she wanted no part of that. When we brought her to the beach she skittered away from the waves. Some dogs like the water and some just don’t. Mabel is a don’t.

Mabel thinks that she is a lap dog. Which is fine now but someday she may weigh in at 150 lbs.

Mabel loves the yard and the freedom to check out the flowers and the bees.

She also likes to sunbath. Overall I think that Mabel likes visiting Maine. Every time I see her she has grown a lot. I have to say that I love this dog. I love her goofy antics when she is chasing a ball and sliding all over the floor. I love when she pounces on an ice cube and sends it flying across the floor. She is a puppy disguised in a very large dog body. Mabel is fun!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend also. I hope it was spent with people you love, that always makes the weekend better.

Be Kind…

Faith

so much fun….

Jul9

My goodness it has been way too long since I have written anything. Spring/Summer is a very busy time of year. Gardens to plant, pools to open, beaches to walk on, Fourth of July parties to plan for.

Every year we have a family reunion on the 4th of July. All of our kids and grand kids come to the house for the 4th of July week – or weekend depending upon when in the week the holiday falls. This year the fourth was on a Thursday. By Wednesday evening everyone who was going to make it was here. Let the parties begin….

We eat, drink and be merry for the weekend and it is a wonderful family memory making time. I was up early on the fourth. These are some pictures of my backyard at about 5:45 the morning of the fourth.

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful setting.

I love the American Flag and I fly it proudly and thank those who have sacrificed for our freedoms.

We had some fireworks in the yard. The neighbors enjoy them also. We have had so much rain this year that thankfully we didn’t need to worry about any fire dangers.

I love that we make wonderful memories with our family every summer. We laugh, play games, and tease each other. Love and fun are the main themes of the weekend. Walks on the beach, swims in the pool, and lots and lots of great food. We are all back to our normal (or not so normal) lives now and basking in the memories of a fabulous weekend together.

Next post will be back to quilting – I have been working on a lot of wonderful things but some of them have been gifts so they have to be kept under wraps.

Be thankful and Be Kind…

Faith

Mabel the Mastiff visits Maine…

May29

Hmmm – how do I get up there?

Memorial Day weekend was a raining cold one here in Maine. I almost turned on the heat but it was the end of May and I totally refused to turn it on. I cooked and baked instead. That warmed up the kitchen and family room, which is really just one big room.

Is there something good to eat in there?

Yes, I am being a good girl. But don’t blink…

My son Charles, his girlfriend Charlotte and MABEL came to visit. Mabel is a 12 week old English Mastiff puppy. She already weighs 27 lbs. Yikes she is growing fast. She is a puppy and does all the wonderful and annoying puppy things. She tumbles over herself, she pounces on everything that she finds and she chews. She chews pant legs, bones, toys and hands. I was lucky enough to avoid the little shark teeth and came through the weekend unscathed, I can’t say the same for the other members of the family.

Oh dear – I am in love!!! Are you sure you want to take her home.

Mabel is quite the little con-artist… she makes you think that she is just a sweet puppy until she decides to pounce on your fingers or hand or ankle. OUCH! what a jaw she has, but somehow it doesn’t matter – you just keep loving her and going back for more. Mabel is totally irresistible! I just love this “little” puppy.

Those toes are very vulnerable!

I am being a really good girl – but just wait. HaHa…

The same can’t be said for Gracie our almost 5 year old Chocolate Lab. At first she was ok with Mable but after awhile she had had enough and just barked at Mabel. Being the puppy that she is Mabel just didn’t get the hint – she kept begging Gracie to play with her but Gracie wanted no part of it. Imagine a teenager with a 3 year old, “Please, Please, Please play with me!!!! Please, please, please!!! Gracie just barked and said NO BUG OFF!!! Gracie doesn’t mind if you are in her house, she doesn’t mind if you play with her toys but just don’t bug her. You stay on your side of the room and I will stay on my side.

So on Monday – Memorial Day when it was time for the kids and Mabel to go home the weather was beautiful. Isn’t that always the way? Your travel days are always beautiful.

We had a wonderful weekend playing with this wonderful new addition to the family. The concept of her being over 100 lbs. isn’t really anything that I can comprehend but in a year she will not be sleeping on my lap. The most wonderful thing about Mastiffs is that they are gentle giants – just don’t threaten their family and you will be fine.

I hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend.

Be Kind…

Faith

quiltingonthecove

A peek at my life. My quilting, my cooking and a look at the beautiful place that I live!

Archives

What Christmas really means to me…

Celtic Christmas…

Eagle Lake – Acadia National Park….

Bass Harbor Light House…

Wow – 1 year anniversary!

A walk on the beach…

A baby quilt….

Fun weekend & Mabel visits Maine part 2…

so much fun….

Mabel the Mastiff visits Maine…