In 2019, I made a special quilt for Spirit’s breeders, Coreen and Steve of Tailspin Bernese Mountain Dogs. Sophie, their foundation bitch and Spirit’s Mother, had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer and had passed away just shy of her 8th birthday. In 2020, the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America had their inaugural art and craft show and, as I surprise to Coreen and Steve, I entered Sophie’s quilt in the show. Today is was announced that Sophie’s quilt won best in show and that a picture of it would appear in the 2021 spring edition of the Alpenhorn magazine. I am so thrilled for them to have their girl honoured in this way.
Brodie and Spirit got mail from C-WAGS today. Spirit earned her Level 1 Ranger Ace title which means she earned 14 qualifiying runs (4 runs for the Scent Ranger Level 1 title and an additional 10 runs to get the Ace). This is the first time Spirit has earned a title before Brodie. Brodie earned his Level 4 Super Sleuth Title (4 qualifying runs).
On behalf of the CQA/ACC Board of Directors, I am pleased to inform you that your entry, Through Lucy’s Eye has been accepted into the virtual National Juried Show (NJS).”
An art quilt I made of Lucy was juried into the 2021 Canadian Quilters Association National Juried Show. Last year, a quilt I made of Spirit was juried into the show that was supposed to be hosted in Edmonton. Unfortunately it was cancelled because of COVID-19. They carried forward last year’s juried entries so that means two of my quilts will be in this year’s show.
I am not allowed to post any public pictures just in case they may be seen by one of the judges.
I wish I had smell-o-vision. The house smells absolutely amazing. Fresh out of the oven: a cinnamon raisin boule and 2 jalapeño, cheddar, roasted garlic and bacon 🥓 batards. Thank goodness I am giving some away because I don’t think I could be trusted not to eat them all immediately.
This evening I used up the rest of my discard on banana, raisin and walnut muffins for my sweetie.
Friday, sourdough discard bake day, started with some delicious fermented sourdough pancakes for breakfast (we snarfed them before I had a chance to take a picture). Then came chocolate chip cookies and liverwurst dog treats.
There is also a pail of sourdough doing a bulk rise before I bake my bread tomorrow.
Spirit is impatiently waiting for her treats to cool.
My torn meniscus has really affected my mileage this month. I am 34km behind where I was last year at the time. Still managing to get out even if it is only for a few 100 metres each day.
Look at these whoppers. They are the biggest fruit my little Meyer Lemon tree has ever produced. There’s a few good sized green ones still waiting to ripen. That’s an 8oz water class for perspective.
With Iron Paws wrapping up this week I was sad our pulling time was coming to end. Not any more. We learned about a new group called Wheel Dog League. Now we will continue to have all the motivation we need to hit the trails. We can earn titles and participate in challenges. We’ve logged our first few runs and earned our first badge
My seedlings are 7 days old today. I should probably wait until they have their first set of true leaves but to heck with it, I put them in the tower this evening. Looking forward to my first delicious salad.
Aren’t they cute? Seeded just 4 days ago. My next batch of seedlings for the tower garden. Chard, endive, escarole, mustard greens, romaine and Bibb lettuce.
I can’t believe that it was 6 years ago today that Spirit joined our family. She had such a fearful and stressful drive home with us that I thought we had broken her. She shivered, drooled and sat frozen with fear the whole way home. She even refused food (for those that know Spirit, food is the most important thing in the world to her). I took her straight into the backyard and once I put her on the ground she quickly recovered her composure and inhaled any and all food offered to her. I knew we had a fearful puppy but it was comforting to see that she also recovered quickly. She has grown into a big, shiny beautiful black girl.
I joined the Under Armour You VS The Year challenge again. It gives me a goal to work towards and motivation to get out of bed and hit the trails each morning. I’m almost exactly at the same place I was last year at this time: 156km vs 141km last year.
For Xmas Sean and Catherine gifted us this beautiful Sassafras clay pot for baking bread. I used it for the first time this morning and my batard turned out beautifully. The crust is just amazing. Thank you both so much…I just love it!
Every New Year’s morning we participate in the Running Room’s 5k Resolution Run…that is until this year. We decided to try and keep the tradition alive and do our own virtual resolution. Today is also the start of the 10th Annual Iron Paws Stage Race
We did it! When I initially signed up for the Under Armour You VS 2020 challenge I never thought we would actually cover the 1020km. I was just using it for a goal to motivate me to get out with the dogs and move. Then came COVID-19 and everything changed. Getting out with the dogs was the only thing I could do. All dog sports were cancelled and social gatherings were prohibited. We ended up completing 2392km, more than doubling the goal of the challenge. We finished in the top 2% of the 322,797 people who registered.
Tried a new recipe for Christmas morning breakfast. Fermented sourdough pumpkin roll. So good! It is made with sourdough starter and then the batter itself is long fermented before baking.
What are the main reasons that people are turning to sourdough? Because it contains the same friendly cultures as homemade yoghurt and these work chemically on the whole grains during the fermentation process to make the most of flavours and nutrients, and make it much easier for the body to digest. Thus sourdough promotes gut and metabolic health, keeps you fuller for longer, and lasts longer in the bread bin too. A win-win-win situation.
I am so pleased that my Blanket of Love is finished and dropped off. As much as I cursed the design I chose, I’m really pleased with the final look. I could see myself making one for curling up on the couch and reading a book or watching TV.
Under the longarm Close up of free motion quilting
Here it is all lovely and crinkled after getting washed.
Brodie got his medal and $50 cheque today for coming in 2nd place at the Boneyard Challenge (scent detection) He thinks that the cheque should have been made out in his name so that he could decide what to spend it on.
I’ve started a 6 week online art quilt class. The idea is to use fabric, paint, fibre, beads, whatever tickles your fancy, to make a small art quilt. We were tasked with going through our photos to come up with an idea for our quilt. I found 50 images that I was drawn to and thought would make good subjects. Turns out everything I picked was too complicated for a beginner. I decided to just jump in and give it a try anyway. My thought was that I am here to learn techniques and get motivated by my fellow students. I picked 2 photos that called to me. I don’t expect any masterpieces but I do hope to learn things that I can put into practice as I hopefully grow and improve.
We have been blessed with the most wonderful, mild winter temperatures for the last week…..sadly that is about to end. We took advantage of the winter reprieve to get out as much as possible with the dogs.
A week into my quilting project and I don’t have as many blocks made as I would like to. I am my own worse enemy. Why did I pick such a time consuming fiddly block when I have so many to make. Sixteen completed … so, so many more to go 😩😳
Every time I walk into the kitchen my eyes are blessed with the beautiful colours of my rainbow chard. I love it when I accidentally brush up against the mint or basil and breathe in that wonderful aroma. All this gorgeous greenery is good for my soul when it is cold and dreary outside.
I’ve been in the mood for cranberries lately. I may have gone a tad overboard. First there was sourdough cranberry orange muffins. They were so good that I made a second batch 3 days later.
Then it was Sourdough Cranberry Walnut Bread. OMG was that amazing. I made a boule and a batard. After I inhaled my 4th giant slice from the boule I felt compelled to contact a friend and ask her to do a porch pickup of the batard to save me from myself.
And last but not least it was cranberry apple crisp. We polished that off in two days and I never even had a chance to take a picture of it before we tucked in. Yikes!
COVID-19 has taken it’s toll emotionally on so many people. I’ve decided to make and donate a quilt to the Foundation of Mental Health’s Blankets of Love Program. I have challenged myself to only use fabrics from my current overflowing stash. It is going to be a combination of neutrals in the background with punches of colour. Hopefully it will provide warmth and comfort to someone in need.
I haven’t been posting my updates regularly……blame it on COVID fatigue. My mileage has dropped this past month due to the cold, snow and icy sidewalks. I still walk most days, just not as far. It is hard to believe that my mileage is in the top 2% considering there are almost 315,000 people in the challenge.
Life In The Dog House 