Whirlwind Roadtrip

view of Manitoulin from goat island

Early Monday morning, Mark and I took the two dogs and drove to Manitoulin Island. His dad has been sick with a persistent, bad pneumonia for over a month and is back in the hospital. We spent a few days visiting with Marks dad at the hospital, and with his mom at home.

long drive there

(Lake Superior)

long drive home

(Lake Superior)

Road Trip & A Felted Wool Sweater Rug

Very early yesterday morning we drove to Thunder Bay with our female dog, Cali Coco Bean, Miss Bean. She had an early appointment with the vet to have her teeth cleaned, and possibly an extraction.  She was really stressed during our road trip, so just before we got into the city, we stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial, to let her out for a walk. 

Terry Fox Monument

Lucky for her, her teeth were just very dirty and she did not lose a tooth, yay Beanie! Her teeth are so amazingly white, they did an unbelievably wonderful job!

After a long day in the city, and a long drive home, it was nice to sit and relax and watch tv when we got home. While I was watching tv, I cut up the red sweaters that I wove this rug out of today. Gorgeous different rich tones of red!

felted wool sweater rug

Asian Lentils with Potatoes and Chicken

The weather here seems to have turned back a little wintery, sure doesn't have a warm spring feel to it anymore with white flakes floating about. I am back to thinking about stews instead of summery salads. This is another family favourite that I have been making for years.

Asian Lentils with Potatoes and Chicken

1 small onion
4 medium potatoes
1 – 2 tbsp. sesame oil
6 cups chicken broth or water
1 cup brown lentils
1 bunch green onions
1 cup parsley
1 lb. boneless chicken breasts
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. Soya sauce
1 1/2 tsp. chili paste or to taste
Salt

Mince the onion; peel the potatoes and cut into 3/4” cubes. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 2 – 3 minutes. Add the broth, lentils and potatoes. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer covered until the lentils are tender (45 minutes). Trim and thinly slice the green onion, and mince the parsley. Cut the chicken into 1/2 “ cubes, and drain the water chestnuts. When the lentils are tender, stir in the chicken, water chestnuts, vinegar and Soya sauce. Cover the pot and simmer until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the green onions, parsley and chili paste, Season to taste with salt and serve hot.

Rag Rugs and Pebble Jewelry

I have been working on this rug for few days, it takes quite a few hours to cut up  fourteen sweaters. I finished weaving it early this afternoon, and got it photographed and listed into my Etsy shop just before dinner. I was not quite sure how the colours would work, but they came together very nicely!

handwoven superwash wool sweater rag rug

Lake Superior beach pebble, pearl and copper necklace

I  have been dreaming all winter of combining pebble with pearls. I am pleased with this new necklace. I picked the pebbles up at my sisters camp on Black Bay last summer. Red Rock red... it works well with the brown pearls and the gorgeous copper!

Experimenting with an Egg

I love oxidized metal, but do not like toxic chemicals. I had heard.. read that you can oxidize with boiled eggs, so I thought I would give it a whirl. I found a couple of pairs of earrings that I had not sealed in a ziplock bag so they had started to oxidize on their own. I used them in my experiment. This was one crushed boiled egg in a sealed container for a couple of hours... I am not really impressed. Yes the silver has oxidized but not enough and not evenly. Maybe two eggs and a longer wait time. I am impatient... maybe I didn't wait long enough.

before

after

before

after

for some reason the sterling chain did not oxidize as much as the ear wires

I will keep playing with it..

Simply Home

 I recently shipped my first consignment order off to Simply Home, in the  Leslieville area of Toronto. She will be selling a combination of my rugs and jewelry! Here is a small sampling of what I sent to the shop.

copper, pearl, acrylic and glass necklace

green & blue felted wool rug

oxidized silver & vintage glass earrings

beige, green, grey & blue superwash wool rug

If you are in the Toronto area, stop by and visit Simply Home!

Rose-Breasted Nuthatch

I was out by the dog kennel before dinner, watching Canada geese winging over the Lake towards town, such a thrill! While I was out there this brave little nuthatch kept coming by for a few sunflowers seeds. Pretty cute!

rose-breasted nuthatch