I did some more work on the hummingbird paint by number (PBN). But before I get to that, a few people were curious about the skull on the table in the last post on the subject. That is a skull planter that I bought at a thrift store ages ago. But I never put a plant in it (believe it or not, I have more planters than plants). But at some point, I stashed the PBN paint pots and brushes in there – and there they stayed.

And to be honest, it’s been a great way to keep everything together. I have another PBN to do (moths and butterflies) and I’ll probably use it for that. But after that, I think it may just end up as the permanent home for all my paintbrushes. It works well for it… and I have a lot of brushes to fill it. They are currently held in a mason jar. But they’d look much cooler in a skull, don’t you think?

Anyway.. here’s a where it started, where it is now of the PBM after this weekend’s session.

As you can see. It’s not finished. I did fill in all the rather… poopy… colours in the flower. They look a little out of place right now, but once I get the rest filled in they will look like they belong a lot more.

All that’s left are the colours that I need to mix up (because they were dried up in the kit). I could have started on it – but Dave was bugging me to go out. I didn’t want to mix up a bunch of paint, then have to store it. Or even worse, have to try and mix it up again and match what I’d already done.

So I’m saving it for a weekend when I have more time to take with it. Hopefully this weekend… I’m just going to have to find something to keep that husband of mine occupied…

This is just a little bit of silliness I had to share.

The Thursday before last, was grocery night. We were headed out at 8 pm, after Dave finished teaching for the night. (I prefer to grocery shop later in the evening to avoid crowds). The day before, I’d worked a 12 hour day. And that day I put in about 11 hours. To say my brain was zapped would be an understatement.

So … I shouldn’t have been surprised as I was when I got out of the Jeep at the grocery store and noticed this…

Yep.. I was wearing TWO different shoes. Now… they are both Skechers, so the footbeds feel pretty similar. They are also the same fabric and colour. When we got ready to leave, I didn’t bother turning on the light above the shoe bench… I just slipped them on and away I went. And I’m sure the state of my brain had something to do with it too.

Dave had a pretty good laugh about it. And I admit, I did too. But I will be a little more careful when slipping on my shoes from now on.

Working on the dragon quilt meant I put a good dent in basket of four patches.

There’s still lots to go, but it’s no longer overflowing. And we have a nice little stack of eight patches.

Eventually, they will be paired up as well, making 16 patches that measure out to 6 inches finished. And well… that’s not very big. Burton and I are going to need a lot of them! I think this project may stretch out for another year.

“Are you done working yet??? I need pets”

Progress is being made on the shrug, though not quite as much as I’d hoped.

I’ve been working the day job into the evening quite a bit, so it just hasn’t seen a lot of love since you last saw it. I did join the fourth ball of yarn, and it’s about 12 inches from the armpit now. It needs to be about 20 before you join back in the round and start decreasing for the second sleeve.

And I’m afraid Furby isn’t much help with knitting like he is with cross-stitching.

He might look sweet and docile there… but bring out the yarn and he turns into an absolute mad man!

I mentioned the other week that I had taken on a quilt commission. A former coworker reached out to me and asked if I would be able to make a quilt for her first grandchild (who is due in March). She had only three requirements – that it be mainly green and yellow… and incorporate dragons!

DRAGONS???? My favourite! And I had just the perfect fabric.

See that centre fabric? Could she have made a better request? I’ve had that dragon fabric for ages, just waiting for the perfect project. Since I had dragons on the fabric, I could have gone with simple stars or something. But what’s the fun in that? So I went searching for dragon patterns. It didn’t take long to find this one.

So just after the new year, I got to work. I’m trying to devote one day each weekend to sewing. So two Saturdays ago, I got to cutting. And it took FOREVER!!!!!! OMG, there are like a million pieces in this pattern. By the time it was done, there was barely any time left for sewing.

But I just had to get something done, so I decided to just do the first part, which was completing the head. The pattern puts a sleepy eye on by appliqué, but I’m going to embroider it.

This past Saturday, I was determined to finish the rest of it. So we made a foot…

Lemmy was quite impressed.

And then we made another foot.

And this foot looked suspiciously like Rupert’s back foot. (could he be a dragon in disguise???

And then it was time to make the wings.

The first one went just fine. But I ran into a little hiccup when I started on the second. The pattern does the wings, legs and spikes all in different colours. But I decided I wanted them to all be the same colour -yellow. That is… until I realized the second wing overlaps the back leg… so same colour wasn’t going to cut it.

To say I was annoyed at myself was a bit of an understatement. It was already late in the afternoon, so I decided to put it into a time out for the rest of the night, and I started again fresh the next morning.

A little cutting, a little sewing…

And we had a new wing in dark blue!

And then soon after, we had another. And our dragon was starting to look like a dragon. And you can see the dragon inspectors were doing a very thorough job.

After that, there was just a tail to make…

Then it was just a matter of sewing it all together.

The boys were pleased with the final result… I think.

When Dave and I were thrifting in Chatham the other weekend, we stopped at Lens to see if I could find something for the back. And boy did I!

How cute is that? And flannel too, so just perfect for a cozy baby quilt. The binding is a diagonal stripe I’d bought ages ago with the plan to use it to bind something. (I have several striped fabrics I’ve bought specifically to use as binding.)

Now… I have three tops ready for quilting! I guess I better make a date with Mom!

It was another successful stitching weekend.

That’s probably because this guy gives me the stink eye if I move, so when he’s on duty, I tend to stay in one spot longer.

So the owl got his wings, and the second witch got all her whirly, swirly branches. I just have to do a little bit of orange in the owl’s eyes and beak, then I can move the hoop up again.

And then I can tackle this part…

I am not looking forward to doing all that sky. I’m going to need Sir Furbs firmly in place to keep me on task.

As you know, one of my resolutions this year is to complete all the crafts on my “rage craft” table. My plan is to commit one afternoon each weekend to working on something from the table. And while it’s not exactly on the table, my easel with my paint-by-number sits right beside it, so I count it among it.

Burton was quite insistent that it be the first thing we commit to finishing. It was hard to disagree with him (especially when he’d already pulled out all the paints. )

When last you saw it, it looked like this.

And while I wasn’t able to commit a whole afternoon to it, after a little more than an hour working away at it, it looked like this…

I think it’s a pretty decent amount of progress for just over an hour. Imagine what I can so with a whole afternoon! I might even be able to finish it!!!1

Of course, the thrifting continues.

We generally go thrifting in Sarnia twice a week… usually Tuesdays and Fridays. But, if I get a day off we’ll sometimes pop down to Chatham. If I just get off work early, we’ll nip into Strathroy. We don’t always buy things, but we’ve discovered going often gives us a much better chance of coming across something cool.

Here’s some of our latest and greatest finds.

I’m always on the lookout for garden kitsch. This little metal welcome sign for just $2 fit the bill.

As did this fabulous terra cotta wall lizard.

You may recall that I have two ceramic Persians awaiting makeovers to resemble our Fabulous Fluffalicious Lord Burton

Well… now we have Furby and Dave says he needs at least one idol of worship too… so this little guy will get an orange makeover at some point!

This next one is actually my Christmas gift (Dave’s planned gift didn’t pan out and he was so upset he didn’t have anything for me on Christmas)

The green Hen on Nest has been on my list for a long time. In fact, it’s really the only hen on nest I wanted (though you may recall, I have two others). The pink one… well I didn’t even know they came in pink! These weren’t exactly thrifty… and I wouldn’t have paid the price they were asking… but Dave insisted. And I can’t regret it. My Hen on Nest collection is now complete! (and Dave is no longer sad so it’s a win-win!)

This next one isn’t for me…

About six months ago, I was asked to keep an eye out for one of these. You’ll recall I do collect Corning Ware, but the blue cornflower isn’t my pattern (I collect Spice of Life). But apparently Paisley and Rowan’s maternal grandma had this one, and it got broken. She was very upset, so the girls were determined to find another one for her – but not at the crazy prices some sellers online are asking. They know how often we go out, so asked for my help. Last week – I finally came across one! In fact, we came across two, both at different shops. I texted Paisley immediately and she was thrilled. This will be passed along next time we get together.

And last, we come to one of my holy grail items (items on your list you’ve been looking for forever). I have long wanted one of those wrought iron mid-century staircase plant stands. I see them on FB marketplace all the time, but they are usually too far or too pricey. Just before the new year, Dave and I popped into Strathroy to run some errands. He suggested we go to the Goodwill there while we were passing by. I almost didn’t… I was tired and it was close to closing anyway. He insisted… and I’m glad he did.

We’d walked through half of the store, turned a corner and my jaw dropped.

I immediately ran over. I could not believe the size of it!!! It’s taller than Dave and he’s over 6 feet. I had no idea they even made them that big. Once I quit jumping up and down from joy, I made Dave carry it to the cash (it’s crazy heavy!)

The young guy manning the cash said about 30 minutes before a lady came in, was going to buy it but couldn’t fit it in her car. I got soooo lucky!

Also because it just BARELY fit in the jeep. In fact, I had to drive home with part of it hanging over my shoulder.

Dave gave it a good cleaning and a light sanding. In the spring it will get a new paint job. But I couldn’t wait to set it up!

I think it looks just perfect in front of the living room window! It holds eight plants on the stairs, and I managed to hang a couple more off the railing!

I think it’s been a great start to a thrifty new year!

It’s been an exceptionally snowy winter so far. We haven’t gotten as much snow as some areas (I saw a report that said Barrie, Ontario has received a total of 7 feet of snow so far this winter), but the ground has been almost consistently snow covered since the beginning of December.

That makes me extra aware of keeping my feeders full for my feathered friends. It’s mostly the usual suspects – House Sparrows, House Finches, Juncos, Goldfinches, Blue Jays, Rose-breasted Nuthatches, and Cardinals. I have seen a couple chickadees, and an American Sparrow, but wasn’t able to get pictures. I also put a suet cake out, hoping to spy a woodpecker or two but no such luck yet.

Anyway, here are my favourite pics from the last month. (Most of them taken after the Boxing Day ice storm)