Winter Trees

Happy Wednesday everyone.
The week is almost over already.
Valentine goodies are in the store.
I made lots of hearts this year,
and the few pillows I showed on my blog.
Now it's time for my favorite fellow.
B U N N I E S
Bob reminded me Monday that I better start working 
on bunnies for our show at the end of March.
So start making bunnies I did.
First I made pudgy carrots, then a funky bunny.
Will show more later.

Our ice situation is still the same.
No relief.
The Canadian Coast Guard has joined in the effort....
so hopefully the ice will go into the lake soon. 

Today I wanted to show you more of my Winter.
Just a few plain trees I kept up. 

A feather tree in a crock.

Another one in a basket.

More faux berries inside.

Then there is my other tree.

Lights still on.

This will be transformed 

into my Valentine tree this year.

Stay tuned. 

Unfortunately we are back to frigid weather.

The weekend we are being told,

will be back in the 40's.

Rollercoaster weather for sure this year.

Has the weather in your neck of the woods

been weird this year?

Winter Tree Blessings To All!

Janice

Winter Displays II

Before I bring on more of my Winter displays,

I want to thank everyone once again 

for your thoughts, concerns and prayers for us.

The river has not receded yet, nor has it risen anymore.

Bob told me last night he saw two freighters 

stuck in the ice now upriver from us.

He said the Coast Guard was out there trying to 

make a path to free them.

I just hope today once they are freed, that the river

does not raise up even more.

I so love my latest Teddy I purchased,
 that I had to keep him out a little longer.
 The snowman pillow on the right
was made for me by my mom years ago.
Another one that I will cherish forever.

A sweet lil display on my chair.
I took one of my faux holly garlands 
and draped it over the chair.

A Winter Hallway.

My cabin tucked in the woods.

Small display on my cupboard.

This is an early ice skate.

I opened a book, added a sprig of holly and jingle bells.
This picture is featured as part of my blog header. 

Today I have a day off from work, so I will be stitching.
I will also hook a few loops in my latest rug.
Catch up on my tv shows.
Victoria started last night, so I taped it for today.

What will you be doing today?

Stitchin Time Blessings To All!
Janice

Mother Nature At Her Worst

Yesterday morning as I was getting ready for work,

it started freezing rain;

so I decided to worked from home.
Glad I did because then

 it changed over to snow 

and we got 2 more inches of the white stuff.

Later in the afternoon,

Bob and I went to the grocery store 

and this is what we saw.

We had no idea the river had risen so much overnight.
{water is close to the pole}

Because of the frigid weather we have had,

the ice has come into our big river

sooner this year.

Usually we see major ice in February.
 {not this much though}
We have some ice in January
{last year we had no ice}

This is our dock in the background.
See at the end where the ice has raised it.

The ice is jamming up so much, 

that it has come up under our dock

and lifted the dock up precariously at the end. 

So much so that it will need to be replaced now.

The ice is raising the river and the water 

is almost at the top of the rest of our dock.

If this happens,

 more of our dock will need to be replaced.

The ice has almost reached the road

just south of our dock.

In the 16 years I have lived here,

I have never seen the ice this bad.

Folks I know have not seen it in over 30 years like this.

The U S Coast Guard ship pictured here

is trying to break the ice up, 

so it can move out of the river into the lake.

In some places the ice was higher than the road.

{not good at all}

We were watching the ship maneuver a bit...

going backwards and turning and trying to break it up.

We are all hoping he does it soon.

Lots of docks are being lost to the river.

Now we are currently under a flood warning.

Houses are being flooded.

We live in a community of 50 homes,

where we all enjoy our dock.

We each pay $50 per year for the upkeep of both the dock

and the cutting of the grass for our 3 acre park.

Looks like our fund this year will be going 

to repair our dock.

Up the river in the town where our store is,

the ice broke up the ferry dock

that runs between the U S and Canada.

Now we lost our Canadian friends

 who come over and shop. 

This is bad. Never imagined it could be like this.

This is MotherNature at her worse.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

We will be watching our river.

Hoping To Thaw Out Blessings To All!

Janice

Red Hot Hearts

Mother Nature sure cannot 
make up her mind here in Eastern Michigan.
From frigid weather, to snow,
to Spring like weather and rain, back to freezing rain.
More snow to come and then back to frigid weather.
Its enough to make me wonder why I live here.

I am a homebody though.
My roots are here.
I could never leave my home state.
Love is everything.
{Did I do a good job of leading
 you into my latest project}  ;-)

I had these gray worms {wool strips}
So I decided to incorporate them into this.

Added a large fabric heart and a smaller wool one.

The back side fabric is the same red print fabric

as the heart on the other side.

I chose to hand stitch the word love in handwriting.

Can you believe my grandkids 

do not know how to write like this?

They are no longer being taught this in school.

All they know how to do is print...

or type on their phones or PC's.

This is going to be another lost art. 

Even though it looks wonderful here on my chair,

this one of a kind pillow is for sale.

This pillow measures approx. 12 1/2 inches square.
Kindly asking $30 plus shipping.
If interested, please email me at
primsbythewater@yahoo.com
US residents only.
Remember this one is OOAK.

As always I give my blogging friends first chance at 
my goodies before I take them to our store.

Well off to pack my stitching bag 

before heading to work.

I like to stitch during my lunch.

Do you live in your home state?

If not where do your roots lie?

Red Hot Heart Blessings To All!

Janice

Winter Displays

I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Because of the frigid temps,
I stayed inside except for going out to get groceries.
Now it is snowing. 

For those who know me,
I so love decorating for all of the Holidays.
It gives me an excuse to change things up all of the time.
My mom use to do this as well, 
so I kept up this simple tradition.
Although the Christmas is put away
 until the end of the year,
now I have transitioned into my Winter decor.

Mr Snowman is very dear to me
as my dad made this for me,
while my mom added the plaid scarf.
I will cherish this forever!

I purchased this candle mat from a blogging friend...
but alas cannot remember from whom.
So please if it was you, give yourself the credit.

One little Winter display.

Here is another one.

With the sun shining, it was hard to get a good pic

of my homestead pillow.

Faux artichokes and apples mixed in with greens.

Since I spend more time indoors this time of year,

it makes me smile to extend the decor 

with a few lights for awhile.

However I do have Valentine's on my mind. ;-)

I also have more displays to show.

Do you decorate for the Winter after Christmas?

Well off to work. 

I think 3 more inches of snow fell overnight.

It is snowing right now.

Not going to be a fun ride into work. UGH

But at least it is not freezing anymore!

Winter Display Blessings To All!

Janice

Yo Yo Yumminess

I DO NOT WANT TO GO OUTSIDE!!!
It is -2 actual temperature right now.
Alas I have to go to work. BRRRR

I have been reminiscing lately about

gramma B's yo yo quilt.

The time she took to create that quilt,

with scraps of fabric from well worn clothes.

Thinking about that quilt still amazes me.
I am not sure who in the family 
received this precious quilt, or if someone 
decided to throw it away.
I called my mom and she does not remember
where it went.
At least I still have my memories.

Although I do not have the ambition nor the time

to create such a quilt for myself...

I decided to create a few yo yo's myself.
Using fabrics in reds, maroons and off whites.

It was very relaxing

sitting in my stitching chair,

 watching tv and hand sewing these up

to create a Valentine heart.

I overlapped each yo and varied the colors.

The background fabric is a flowered creamy Matelasse.
{looks a bit like white in the pic}
Rag stuffed like all of my pillows.

I chose a striped fabric for the backside 
as it reminded me
of candy stripes.
I love candy for Valentine's!

To cover my opening, I stitched a wool red heart.
Red hearts remind me of
L O V E

This pillow measures approx. 10 1/2 inches square.
Kindly asking $30 plus shipping.
If interested, please email me at
primsbythewater@yahoo.com
US residents only.
I only have 2 available.
{the placement of the yos on each pillow are a bit different}

As always I give my blogging friends first chance at 
my goodies before I take them to our store.

The river is full of ice now.
The ferries to Canada have stopped running.
Too early for ice....just too cold.
Great for the ice fishermen though.

Hope everyone who is in this frigid cold weather,
or the snowstorms stay warm and safe.
Do not go outside if you do not have to.
I am wearing extra layers of clothing this morning.
The temps will rise a bit tomorrow....
will think it is a heat wave.
Have a great weekend!
Mine will be spent stitching up more goodies!

Yo Yo Yumminess Blessings To All!
Janice 

Fruit Filled Shoes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Bob and I actually stayed up this year

to ring in the new year.

That is a big accomplishment for us now. LOL

Since spending time with my mom lately,

she spoke more of her Christmas in the cabin. 

She told me that grandpa B would go out in the woods,

and cut down a cedar tree..because those lasted longer 

than the spruces and pines.

There was no electricity in the cabin.

Their ornaments were those handed down 
from my gramma's family.

These were Polish glass blown very fragile ones.
{I noticed my mom still has a few that 
were gently placed on her own tree}

My mom and aunt would make paper garlands.

They also strung popcorn garland.

No lights or candles. 

Candy canes and homemade cookies were also added.
A simple but very festive tree in its own right.

Christmas presents
 were homemade clothes that gramma made. 
Since they did not have a fireplace,

they placed their shoes next to the cook stove.

My mom and aunt slept together.

They were tucked into bed underneath

a handmade goose feather ticking pillow...

the size of their bed.

{we call them feather beds}

Goose down feathers filled their pillows.

Christmas day they would find presents from 

Santa under the tree,

and fruit and nuts in their shoes.

{Decided to replicate their fruit filled treasures
using my stone fruit in some old shoes I have.} 

Christmas dinner was homemade
kielbasa and sauerkraut.
Roast duck with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Cooked vegetables from their garden.
Homemade chicken noodle soup with potato dumplings.
Dessert would have been angel wings.
{A cookie with powdered sugar on them}
[I miss these homemade sweets by gramma B]
Gramma also made bread with fresh churned butter. 

They were not wealthy...
but were rich in love and blessed with health.

W zdrowym ciele, zdrowy duch 
Healthy soul in a healthy body
[Polish Proverb]

Again I am reminded (by mom)
that sometimes we take life for granted.
I have been bad at replying to your comments.
I so appreciate that you all
 take the time to visit and comment.
This year I am going to change how I do my blog a bit.

With me working full time and also
since many that comment on my blog
come into my email as no reply bloggers...
going forward I will reply 
to your comments right on my blog.

Because I do work full time,
I will reply as soon as I am able to.
So be sure to check back and see my replies.

Until next time.

Fruit Filled Blessings To All!
Janice