Stars & Mittens

Some little Christmas designs I've been working on 

Autumn Day

Autumn is my favourite time of the year. There is something about the colour of the leaves, the cool air and the need for a warm cup of tea that gets to me. Today I woke up feeling the need to listen to Simon & Garfunkel's song America. It seems to fit with my mood at this time of the year.  

Have a cup of tea and put this on.

God given clams

 We were in for a big surprise when we went for a walk on Panmure Island beach...at least a hundred huge bar clams had washed up! They were just sitting in the sand waiting for us to pick them all up. They were still alive since the tide was only just going out. The way we figure it is that the storm must have dislodged them from sand bars way out in the water. They are the biggest clams I've ever seen. 

What a find! 

Craft Jars

Found at the 70 mile yard sale. 

These little jars are very helpful in organising my craft odds and ends! 

Santa

Another little project. 

Heidi

I found this lovely little book in the 70 mile yard sale on Saturday. I paid $5 for the book and four old jars. The cover first caught my eye, but I fell in love with the beautiful illustrations. This copy was published in 1946. I'd say I found a treasure. 

One Dove. Two Dove.

By far my favourite felt craft yet. I found the idea on Pinterest but made the template myself. They are perfect Christmas tree ornaments. The pictures aren't the best but one has red features and the other has green. I hope to sell them for Christmas time. Let me know if you want any! 

Christmas ladies

I took inspiration from my new favourite website (Pinterest) to make these Christmas ladies. I altered the pattern and colour scheme to fit the Christmas mood. This has started a new interest in using felt. I already have another design and felt project on the go. 

Sunflower Fun

Andy and I decided to go for a little trip to Montague. We found a lovely little sunflower garden along the way.  I hope you enjoy this little bit of fun. 

First fruits: My veggie patch

Andy and I just celebrated our first year of marriage last week. I have taken several months off of work to spend time with the Lord and live life a bit. I have given much of my free time to gardening. I found it to be a real delight to plant the seeds, pot them on and watch them grow. It is certainly something I want to continue to work at and enjoy for the rest of my life.
My mom always talks about projects she did when she was first married. I realised that I have grown my first veggie patch as a married woman. I am delighted to follow in the footsteps of my mom and grandma. I thought it was worthy of documenting so that one day I can look back at my humble little beginnings. I long for a day when we will have a whole plot of land to work but for now the containers will do.
Andy has even caught on to this gardening idea, the eating part that is. I haven't seen him getting his hands dirty yet! He has started eating salads since the lettuce tastes so good. He has even said that he will try our green beans simply because we grew them. I have never seen him enjoy eating a green bean so that will be interesting! He is very keen to grow loads more potatoes next year, where ever we are.
There has been one catch to growing my garden. Andy and I are moving away in two weeks so we will not be able to enjoy eating our vegetables at harvest time. I am leaving them for our good friends, the Quinns, when they come home from America. I have often wondered if this might be a chance for me to give my 'first fruits' to others. I am happy to follow the Biblical principle of giving away my first and my best, it is a delight. I am sure there will be many more years of happy produce to come where I can eat to my hearts content!

These are my poppies I have grown to remember Grandma Boyd. She had such a beautiful flower garden. I hope I will one day have a garden like hers.

These are my bean plants with a bit of parsley! I have not left them outside because the weather has been so cold. After losing one bean plant to bad weather I decided to protect these more. They usually live by a window inside but are allowed out on nice days! 

The baby beans! 

So excited to eat them. I think some will be ready before we go. 

A bit of lettuce and three sunflower plants mixed in together.

Carrots and leeks in a tiny space- the bucket is deep though. The carrots have been growing like mad. 

Our potatoes. We already pulled up one plant and it was the tastiest thing ever! We are going to pull the rest up for our big family lunch on Sunday.

My lettuce. This has been the biggest success. We have been eating lots of salads. It grows so quickly that we can have one every day! 

Yum. 

My cucumber plants. They're not so happy so I'll just leave them and see what happens.  A little pest certainly though the leaf on the bottom right was tasty! 

Birthday Bag

 Here is my birthday bag! I finished sewing this bag last night, just in time for me to carry around on my birthday today! I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of this sewing project since I'm not very experienced with a sewing machine.
Sewing projects are often a source of great frustration for me. Thankfully I have found a way to help me keep my temper... music! I am proud to say that Bob Marley, Sigur Ros, and Robin Mark all contributed to making this bag nearly as much as I did...well, kind of. Without their sweet-action tunes I wouldn't have kept going through those times of bunching fabric, bobbins running out, and fabric slipping out of place.
I used the same type of fabric as my pillow - swatches torn out of a fabric display book. I also managed to pick up the linen for free. Its a sturdy little thing complete with a functioning pocket. I hope to use it for many years to come!

Baby feet

One day, I received a knitting book through the post from a friend of mine. She said that she happened to see it in the shop and thought I would enjoy it. The surprise sure brightened my day! 

The book is made up of many different baby sock patterns. I have only had a chance to try one pattern at this point but I have many more I would like to try. 

These three pairs of socks are for my new nephew Ezra. I hope they fit!

All for nothing

A borrowed sewing machine, free fabric, stuffing nicked out of a pillow and a little bit of my time resulted in a brand new cushion. 

I found an old fabric demo book with some cute, county patterned pieces. I ripped out the fabric and scrubbed off the glue (it took many hours of soaking and scrubbing) and matched a piece with a bit of velvet (also free) to make the cushion. So, I guess you could say that it was all for nothing!

Andy thinks it is the comfiest pillow he has ever laid his head on.  

Just in time for summer

My very first cardigan is finished! 

It took a lot of figuring out on my own but I have to say I am very happy with the end product. I do hope it will serve me well for many years to come. The only problem now is that the weather has turned lovely and warm! 

I have recently been thinking about the impact advertising has on my life. Too often I buy something in the shop that I like but don't need. I am not a big shopper by any means, but I do wonder at the excess of clothes in my wardrobe that I don't wear. If I don't wear everything I own than why do I buy more? 

 For the past two seasons of lent a friend of mine has refrained from buying herself unnecessary things including clothing. With my friend's example and my increasing awareness of the influence of consumerism in the world in mind I have decided not to buy myself any new clothes (including things from charity/thrift stores) for three months. I have plenty of clothes for all seasons, including my new jumper, and all of them are in great condition. We'll see what happens!  

an awkward egg

So, today I decided to try out our brand new egg ring. Andy picked it out at a store that we had gift vouchers for left over from wedding gifts. It is one of those stores with random kitchen things that you can really live life without. 

 It was a success up until the point when I wanted to flip it.

But it turned out ok in the end...

well, sort of! 

Causeway Potential

Causeway Potential from Abbie McCann on Vimeo.



While my good friend Crystal was over for a visit last week we went to the Giants Causeway. When we arrived I found that there were some good waves breaking on the causeway. I took some shots of the waves for a wee video to put together to show Kath and Andrew the potential surf over here. Having said that this break was only surfed for the first time by professionals so it might not be the best place to have a go. However, right along the whole coast there are heaps of good breaks that just need to be scouted out and attempted. I hope you enjoy this fun little clip of our day and the beautiful ocean waves. 

McCann's McDublin McTrip

McCann's McDublin McTrip from Abbie McCann on Vimeo.



With the exciting news of Crystal flying into Dublin Andy and I decided to plan a wee over night down in Dublin Bay. We made a bit of a road trip out of it complete with exploring an ancient monastery and a cool little fishing town. 

The Good Life

An Afternoon in Edenderry from Abbie McCann on Vimeo.

A little while back Northern Ireland had a length of lovely weather so Andy and I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and spend some time outside. I had some garlic to plant and Andy needed to wash his car. We decided to make a little video of our fun activities. This was our first go working with IMovie. Thankfully it was super easy to learn and use. There will be many more short productions from the McCann household, I'm sure. After watching our video my mom told me to look up a 70's show called The Good Life. Well we just loved it! Its all about a couple who goes self sufficient in an urban area (something Andy and I would love to try someday). Its great fun to watch and rather inspirational! 

Abbie Joy Jewellery

 I had a very creative afternoon yesterday making earrings. I had just bought some new buttons while in town and so felt inspired to make some new designs.  I have to say that these are my personal favourites. Three pairs have wooden feature buttons and the fourth has a sparkly one. On the sparkly pair the secondary buttons are this lovely rich flashy green-blue that really make the pair shine.  
Creativity is so much easier when you have cute supplies to work with! 

Unfinished Jumper

I originally avoided knitting a jumper, simply because I thought it would take too long and try my patience. I prefer projects I can finish within the day like a pair of earrings, knitting socks or mittens and baking cookies.
Yet, as you see I started knitting a jumper. This project originated in Canada but really took shape here in Northern Ireland. I ended up having a lot of time to fill when I recently helped out Robin and the Band. They had long days of practice and no food. So I took up the made up post of Point to Point Operations Manager which meant that I had the wonderful opportunity to order 15 cups of coffee from Starbucks everyday among other things involving food. While I waiting for everyone to get hungry and thirsty I spent time on this little project.
I did not finish it during that time and now am left with the task of knitting the arms and piecing it all together.
It will be a completely unique jumper since I have been making up my own pattern so it's a toss up whether it will fit or not. Time will tell...