A Celebration of Friendship : Six Years with Julie

Hello and welcome! I know I don't need to tell you how important friends are in life, so I'll just jump in and tell you about a get together Nick and I had with Julie and Guy last week, in honour of our cherished relationship.

I met Julie 6 years ago when she turned around to talk to me in a line-up, demonstrating that you just never know when/how an important person will enter your life! In fact, I almost didn't even join that line-up but today I'm certainly glad that I did.

When we met, Jules had recently had a young daughter and was in the process of writing her first book of poetry, which was published a few months later. She also wrote one of Canada's most popular blogs on the subject of knitting, Knitted Bliss.

We bonded over the fact that we were both bloggers (I had only written a few posts at the time) and we both loved working with yarn, she knitting with it, and I crocheting. (It's two needles versus one hook, for anyone wondering ... I get asked about that all the time!)

Since then, she has had another child, a boy, and published a second book of poetry, all the while continuing to write her blog and other things.

Since I've written quite a few stories here about things Julie and I have done together, you may already know that we get together regularly. She is a courageous, friendly and loving person, who I'm happy to have as a trusted friend.

Our men, Nick and Guy, got in on the relationship a year after Julie and I met, when J and G came over to our place for dinner.

Since then, one of the things we've all done together several times is go to the AGO First Thursdays event at the art gallery. That's an evening when they offer music, food, drinks and special activities, and generally make a party out of going to the gallery.

So, it made sense that we celebrate our sixth (and fifth for the guys) Friendiversary by going to that.

It was on November 1st and the theme this month was "Roll Up Your Sleeves", in relation to the main exhibit currently on called "Anthropocene". (We didn't go to that show this time, however I wrote about it recently in this post).

As always, First Thursdays was a lot of fun. We were so busy talking and looking at art, though, that we managed to miss all of the scheduled sessions that went on. We didn't mean to, as there were definitely interesting activities planned, however, time just got away from us, and when we arrived at the various locations we found that we were too late. In hindsight, actually, I wonder how the time flew by like it did.

Here are some photos of the evening ...

In the Garden : A New Bunch of Bulbs

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/halloween-decorations-at-east-end-garden-centre-queen-street-east-toronto.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="640" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-41277">Six years ago I wrote about how we'd found a good place to get tulip bulbs for our garden. A friendly and helpful salesperson at Canadian Tire told us about a "gold mine" of a garden centre, where we'd find all the bulbs our hearts could desire. That was the East End Garden Centre, (located in the Leslieville neighbourhood, at 1395 Queen Street East).The thing about spring blooming bulbs, including tulips, daffodils, crocuses and hyacinths, is that you have to plant them in the autumn, so they'll bloom in the spring. So, there's a good six months of delayed gratification involved with them. Also, you have to realize you're going to want tulips in your garden in the spring, half a year earlier in the autumn, when most gardening tasks involve dealing with a growing season that has come to the end.That's all to say that, aside from the red tulips the former residents had planted and a random couple of bags of bulbs I'd put in the second year we lived here, we had never really gotten the spring flower thing mastered. And, every April, as we walked around admiring other people's gardens, we'd say to ourselves, this fall, we must remember to get some bulbs.Anyway, we finally did remember to get some six years ago, which is when we tracked down the East End Garden Centre as a source.And, oh the thrill of seeing them appear in the garden the following spring! It was very satisfying, indeed. So thrilling, in fact, that when October rolled around again, we went back to the garden centre for more. That time, we branched out and, in addition to a few more tulip varieties, we also got some hyacinths and Alliums (which are a member of the onion family and produce big round purple flowers).So, in the spring of 2014, we presented a small patch of ground, decorated with a riotous array of colours. I don't mean to boast, but we'd look out the window to see people just standing beyond the fence, looking at all the flowers. One day we walked out the door to find our somewhat curmudgeony elderly neighbour out there with his camera, snapping shots. He said he hoped we didn't mind, and that it reminded him of what his mother's garden had been like.The payoff of so much joy for a relatively minimal amount of effort caused us to agree that we'd continue to add to the bulbs every autumn. And then we preceded to forget to do so for the next 4 years.During that period, some of the previously planted flowers came back every year, but with each year, there were fewer and fewer returnees. Some varieties did much better than others, and some completely died away.That brings us to a couple of weeks ago, when we drove over to the trusty garden centre to get more. As you'll see by the photos, they certainly had what we were looking for. We walked away with 65 bulbs, but we really could have gotten more. They carry so many varieties.

Autumn Crochet : A Cute Owl Adorns a Renewable Everlasting Sachet

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/crocheted-renewable-scent-sachet-essential-oils-how-to-owl-granny-square-pattern-by-sarah.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-41244">I could not resist trying out this pattern for a Crocheted Owl Granny Square, created by Sarah of the cleverly named blog Repeat Crafter Me.I used it to make one of my "Renewable Everlasting Sachets", that smell exactly how you want them too because you're the one who adds the scent via your favourite essential oils or perfume, first written about in this post.The way these work is that a 100% cotton insert cushion goes into an attractive cover. You add a few drops of essential oil or sprays of perfume to the insert, which are absorbed by the cotton. When dry, you put the cover on and hang to display. You can renew the scent whenever you please.Considering that this is the fourth one I've made, these work very nicely. You could say I am hooked on them (haha, a lame crocheting joke.)They're terrific for adding a nice scent to a smaller room, or to scent a drawer or suitcase. We have one hanging in our guest washroom, which I refresh with new oil before people come over. So far, I've made one that works for Spring and Summer decor (the one linked above), and a second one for the Christmas season, shown in this post.I also made one as a gift for my sister, which I wrapped along with a bottle of lavender essential oil. She loves the scent of lavender and really liked the gift. You can see that one and shots of her opening the gift in this post, if you'd like.So, I needed one for Autumn, which is where that charming little owl comes in.

How to Make a Fabric Pumpkin with Old Cotton Flannel

https://youtu.be/PCF81OxzCyI

↑ Update Autumn 2020 : Now With a Video Tutorial! ↑

(Aside: If you liked the video, it would be helpful to me if you’d go over to YouTube by clicking here, and give it a thumbs up and/or leave a comment.  Also, it would be great if you’d subscribe to my new YouTube channel.  No pressure, though. Thank you, if you do!)

To see photos of the new fabric pumpkins I made, and how I styled them this year, please see this post.

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On with the originally posted written instructions ...

Is there a pair of cozy flannel pyjamas, nightgown or shirt in your home, that's ready to hit the ragbag? If you're having trouble getting rid of the item due to sentimental attachment -- your child outgrew last year's holiday pjs, you remember wearing the shirt while visiting a friend who lives too far away, your beloved Aunt gave you that nightgown -- than, all the better. Here's an idea that will : (1) give you a way to hold onto fond memories, (2) make a charming seasonal decoration for your home, and (3) provide the fun of easy-to-do hand-crafting, all rolled into one!

Pear and Cardamom Cake Recipe

Greetings!

This Pear and Cardamom Cake is a tasty, yet somewhat healthy, dessert idea, that would make a nice alternative to the more traditional autumn choices of Pumpkin or Apple Pie.

In addition to fresh pears, the recipe calls for olive oil and as little sugar as possible while still being a treat, seasoned with rum or brandy, cinnamon and the exotic flavour of cardamom.

Adding a scoop of French Vanilla ice-cream at serving time adds more sweetness to the plate, however, if you prefer, the recipe includes an alternative amount of sugar added to the cake batter. Or, you can add a decorative sprinkling of confectioners' sugar or an icing drizzle made by adding a small amount of milk to confectioners' sugar, after the cake has cooled.

And, if you'd like to make an extra-special cake, I bet this would be amazing covered in Brown Butter Icing. I'm pretty certain it would work for a layer cake too, so consider doubling the recipe.

After enjoying it for Thanksgiving dessert (as seen in this post), we had some for breakfast the next day, so I suggest that it would also make a very nice addition to a brunch menu.

I hope you try it and love it!

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