I think this Christmas is one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen.
We have a lovely white Christmas and the trees all sparkled prettily. That was due to the covering of ice they still had.
Mind you, it wasn't so nice for some people...no power, so no heat no lights, no dinners and for some no water!
We were lucky, our power was only off 2 hours total for the whole storm and clean up.
Our Christmas was a huge success.
The grand daughters loved their placemats.
I was a little surprised that Hayley was so thrilled with hers, because I just made a placemat to represent Guns & Roses, not their logo. But she was thrilled!
Needless to say, I was pleased that they like them so much.
Courtney wanted to eat dinner on hers that night. I asked her to wait, since we were having pasta (cannelloni) for dinner, she really didn't want to dirty it right away.
We were having our Christmas dinner on Friday.
The girls and daddy went off to see their other grandparents for Christmas day.
Our son came for Christmas day, actually the day before too.
(Big ice storm, no power for him at home, he needed to shower before he went to see a friend).
I made a turkey roll and a duck (yummm) for Christmas with our son, then Friday, I made cannelloni and salad for dinner. Both times apple pie and home made ice cream for dessert.
I also made a large cheese plate and some baked brie for snacks before dinner.
I had a big ooppsie with the brie.
I have a stone, it's marble, you heat it and cook small appetizers on it.
I heated it up( for hours), heated the brie, then put the brie on the stone.
OH MY!
The brie melted all over the place!!
But boy was it good!
I had to scrap cheese off the tablecloth! lol!
I think I will try it again, but not heat up the marble quite so much.
The kids gave us tickets to Cirque de Soleil!
I am so thrilled!!!
I can't WAIT!
spring!
Monday 30 December 2013
Sunday 22 December 2013
HOLY CRAP!
The weather forecaster has been predicting freezing rain for a few days. It was getting to the point where I didn't believe them anymore. They had been wrong so often.
Well, yesterday it came true.
Usually on a Saturday night, my daughter and I go out and shop...have some quality time.
I called her and said STAY HOME!!
I went to my sewing room and sewed all night long.
I worked on applique blocks for outreach.
Tidied up my sewingroom a bit.
Then I went back to my table runner, worked on that for a bit.
Still not done.
Every once in a while I would check outside.
It was raining. It has been drizzle-y for 2 days.
Around 9 or ten, I could feel the air getting colder.
By the time I went to bed, I could here sleet hitting the windows , trees were covered with ice already.
I dozed for a little and with a flash and bang.....out went the power. I don't know for sure how long it was out, but it was enough for the house to get cold.
I put another blanket on and tried to fall back to sleep. The power was off and on, off and on. Each time with a flash and bang.
I awoke to the furnace running and too warm for the extra blankie.
I could hear the neighbour kids outside playing on the ice.
I looked out, wondering how bad it was.....
After breakfast I noticed the birds trying to get into the feeders.
They couldn't with all the icicles, so I went out and knocked off some of the ice. Put some seed out.
I thought, they must be hungry and threw a bunch on the snow. They were flocking to it in seconds.
I wonder, with only 3 days to Christmas, will it be a white or green one?
Stay safe
and
Have a great Holiday!
The weather forecaster has been predicting freezing rain for a few days. It was getting to the point where I didn't believe them anymore. They had been wrong so often.Well, yesterday it came true.
Usually on a Saturday night, my daughter and I go out and shop...have some quality time.
I called her and said STAY HOME!!
I went to my sewing room and sewed all night long.
I worked on applique blocks for outreach.Tidied up my sewingroom a bit.
Then I went back to my table runner, worked on that for a bit.
Still not done.
Every once in a while I would check outside.
It was raining. It has been drizzle-y for 2 days.
Around 9 or ten, I could feel the air getting colder.
By the time I went to bed, I could here sleet hitting the windows , trees were covered with ice already.
I dozed for a little and with a flash and bang.....out went the power. I don't know for sure how long it was out, but it was enough for the house to get cold.I put another blanket on and tried to fall back to sleep. The power was off and on, off and on. Each time with a flash and bang.
I awoke to the furnace running and too warm for the extra blankie.
I could hear the neighbour kids outside playing on the ice.
I looked out, wondering how bad it was.....
After breakfast I noticed the birds trying to get into the feeders.
They couldn't with all the icicles, so I went out and knocked off some of the ice. Put some seed out.
I thought, they must be hungry and threw a bunch on the snow. They were flocking to it in seconds.
I wonder, with only 3 days to Christmas, will it be a white or green one?
Stay safe
and
Have a great Holiday!
I went down to my sewing room the other day and really didn't want to sew on my project.
My shoulder has been sore, I don't know if it was the knitting or maybe sleeping on my arm weird, but it hurts and I didn't feel like wrangling the table runner.
I thought, I want to do some sewing, but something mindless.
I wanted something quick and simple.
I pulled out a drawer with some scraps that had been precut. I thought something in here maybe...
I came across some half square triangles that I had trimmed and saved.
I sewed two at a time, then decided on a pattern.
I only really had a few squares to work with, but this is what I came up with.
Sewn, quilted and bound...all in a couple of hours. It's 2 1/2 inches by 10 inches.
My shoulder has been sore, I don't know if it was the knitting or maybe sleeping on my arm weird, but it hurts and I didn't feel like wrangling the table runner.
I thought, I want to do some sewing, but something mindless.
I wanted something quick and simple.
I pulled out a drawer with some scraps that had been precut. I thought something in here maybe...
I came across some half square triangles that I had trimmed and saved.
I sewed two at a time, then decided on a pattern.
I only really had a few squares to work with, but this is what I came up with.
Sewn, quilted and bound...all in a couple of hours. It's 2 1/2 inches by 10 inches.
I took this little quilt to guild for " show and tell". The white glove ladies told me it was too heavy for them to hold up. Hehehhe!
I used up a few scraps of fabric, a scrap of batting, and a smallish scrap (from a friend, for another friend, but it went GREAT) for the backing.
I will be back in the New Year...........
Have A Merry Christmas!
Thursday 19 December 2013
For Christmas I decided to make a couple of placemats for the grand daughters.
Courtney loooooves owls right now. Owl this and Owls that.
I was at Fabricland the other day and saw an owl decoration on sale for a couple of bucks. I bought it for her.
We have downloaded patterns and made owl pillows.
I went out and bought an owl panel that was 5 pillows....and owl fabric for the backing. We made up all five pillows.
So,...I thought....an owl placemat!
I downloaded a pattern, actually the pattern we used for one of the first owl pillows Courtney made.
I made up the owl and cut a placemat .
The little owl looked lonely all by it's self.
I knew somewhere I had some fabric that looked like wood so I cut a branch.
Needed more than that..
I cut a tree and some more branch bits.
It needed a moon....I have some beige and white hand dyed (by me) fabric that was perfect for a full moon. The background fabric was dyed by me also.
It turned out pretty good.....the test will be Christmas day...I hope she loves it!
I was glad to use the hand dyed fabric, I always hate to use it and this was a great way.
Then I started on a placemat for Hayley.
She likes bands now....Hedley, Guns n Roses.
So I looked on-line for Guns n Roses and made her up a placemat.
I figure I have to be careful because of copywrite.
I don't worry about the girls seeing these before Christmas, they don't read my blog and I know you won't tell them!
Courtney loooooves owls right now. Owl this and Owls that.
I was at Fabricland the other day and saw an owl decoration on sale for a couple of bucks. I bought it for her.
We have downloaded patterns and made owl pillows.
I went out and bought an owl panel that was 5 pillows....and owl fabric for the backing. We made up all five pillows.
So,...I thought....an owl placemat!
I downloaded a pattern, actually the pattern we used for one of the first owl pillows Courtney made.
I made up the owl and cut a placemat .
The little owl looked lonely all by it's self.
I knew somewhere I had some fabric that looked like wood so I cut a branch.
Needed more than that..
I cut a tree and some more branch bits.
 |
| Courtney's |
It turned out pretty good.....the test will be Christmas day...I hope she loves it!
I was glad to use the hand dyed fabric, I always hate to use it and this was a great way.
Then I started on a placemat for Hayley.
She likes bands now....Hedley, Guns n Roses.
 |
| Hayley's |
I figure I have to be careful because of copywrite.
I don't worry about the girls seeing these before Christmas, they don't read my blog and I know you won't tell them!
Tuesday 17 December 2013
Oh my....I really can't say "No" to my baby sister.
She is six years younger than me and was my birthday present when I was 6. She was born 4 days after my birthday. Let me tell you, I was really, really happy to have a sister instead of another brother. I already had 3 of them! I desperately wanted a sister.
So when she asks me for a favour, I usually grant it.
She wanted some curtains for her townhouse. She asked if I would sew them. I said "sure".
We went out to our local store called Fabricland and she walked into a sale. Premade panels on clearance. She bought 10 of them. Enough for all the windows.
She tried her best to shorten them and screwed it up a little. They aren't garbage, but now they are too short.
She begged me again....."Please sew me some curtains".
So, out we went, again, to Fabricland. She went straight to some fabric that she liked and decided that was it.
We browsed around the store, and there on the shelf was the perfect material.
It was woven squares, and she loved it!
Plus it was DIRT CHEAP! and I mean cheap!!!!! $3.50 a metre (39 inches) and 240 inches wide!!!
Because it was so cheap, she decided she wanted a nice tablecloth.
Tabling fabric was on sale too, not the great price reduction that the other fabric was, but still a good price.
We bought enough to make her a round tablecloth and four small napkins.
We came home and she left right away.
I sat and had a cuppa tea with my mister, then went into my sewing room to work on the tablecloth.
Within a half hour, I called my sister and told her that it was done, too bad she didn't stay.
That evening I started on the curtains for her.
Easy, peasy to measure and fold a straight line. And to keep a straight line sewing.
It only took a few hours, far less than I expected, to complete her livingroom curtains.
Now I will work on some for her bedroom!
Merry Christmas Sis!
see...... I am sewing...just not doing a lot of quilting or blogging!
She is six years younger than me and was my birthday present when I was 6. She was born 4 days after my birthday. Let me tell you, I was really, really happy to have a sister instead of another brother. I already had 3 of them! I desperately wanted a sister.
So when she asks me for a favour, I usually grant it.
She wanted some curtains for her townhouse. She asked if I would sew them. I said "sure".
We went out to our local store called Fabricland and she walked into a sale. Premade panels on clearance. She bought 10 of them. Enough for all the windows.
She tried her best to shorten them and screwed it up a little. They aren't garbage, but now they are too short.
She begged me again....."Please sew me some curtains".
So, out we went, again, to Fabricland. She went straight to some fabric that she liked and decided that was it.
We browsed around the store, and there on the shelf was the perfect material.
It was woven squares, and she loved it!
Plus it was DIRT CHEAP! and I mean cheap!!!!! $3.50 a metre (39 inches) and 240 inches wide!!!
Because it was so cheap, she decided she wanted a nice tablecloth.
Tabling fabric was on sale too, not the great price reduction that the other fabric was, but still a good price.
We bought enough to make her a round tablecloth and four small napkins.
We came home and she left right away.
I sat and had a cuppa tea with my mister, then went into my sewing room to work on the tablecloth.
Within a half hour, I called my sister and told her that it was done, too bad she didn't stay.
That evening I started on the curtains for her.
Easy, peasy to measure and fold a straight line. And to keep a straight line sewing.
It only took a few hours, far less than I expected, to complete her livingroom curtains.
Now I will work on some for her bedroom!
Merry Christmas Sis!
see...... I am sewing...just not doing a lot of quilting or blogging!
Monday 16 December 2013
In June I brought home three quilts to work on over the summer. Actually four ...I took a kit from my other guild.
The kit I made up immediately...2 days ..DONE! binding ..everything done.
The second I only had to quilt and bind. That was done in a couple of days also.
The third was the same...I took longer because I wanted to think about the quilting.
So, maybe a week or two to get it all finished. Plus I had a few issues with a lot of bias, but it turned out great!
Both quilt guilds were glad to see them in September.
The fourth was a bigger quilt. I layered it and started quilting. Just stitch in the ditch, I had planned on a "scroll" type design for the edges (setting triangles) and borders.
I had my patterns planned and made up, pinned in place to sew.
And then I changed my mind and decided on lines of quilting instead. I marked each triangle to keep everything straight and even.
I was really pleased with how it turned out.
I took it to guild and the lady who made the top and back, (the back is pieced also) made a comment about how much she liked how it turned out.
Dorothy makes and donates a lot of beautiful tops to our outreach program.
So we had our last meeting of the year and all the quilts that were to be donated to various charities were shown.
The one Dorothy and I worked on was to be donated to Big Brothers and Sisters for their on-line auction! And it was to be in the next 2 weeks or so.
I decided that I would follow the auction and bid on the quilt.
I GOT IT!
The quilt is now MINE! LOL!
I went and got it, and when I got it home I thought....It's been a while since I've seen it, so I would have a different perspective.
I checked out my quilting job.
It looked pretty good, I thought!
But then, I noticed.....I had missed a couple of rows of quilting.
Well, I can do them now!
And make a new label giving Dorothy and I credit for the making of this quilt.
The kit I made up immediately...2 days ..DONE! binding ..everything done.
The second I only had to quilt and bind. That was done in a couple of days also.
The third was the same...I took longer because I wanted to think about the quilting.
So, maybe a week or two to get it all finished. Plus I had a few issues with a lot of bias, but it turned out great!
Both quilt guilds were glad to see them in September.
The fourth was a bigger quilt. I layered it and started quilting. Just stitch in the ditch, I had planned on a "scroll" type design for the edges (setting triangles) and borders.
I had my patterns planned and made up, pinned in place to sew.
And then I changed my mind and decided on lines of quilting instead. I marked each triangle to keep everything straight and even.
I was really pleased with how it turned out.
I took it to guild and the lady who made the top and back, (the back is pieced also) made a comment about how much she liked how it turned out.
Dorothy makes and donates a lot of beautiful tops to our outreach program.
So we had our last meeting of the year and all the quilts that were to be donated to various charities were shown.
The one Dorothy and I worked on was to be donated to Big Brothers and Sisters for their on-line auction! And it was to be in the next 2 weeks or so.
I decided that I would follow the auction and bid on the quilt.
The quilt is now MINE! LOL!
I went and got it, and when I got it home I thought....It's been a while since I've seen it, so I would have a different perspective.
I checked out my quilting job.
It looked pretty good, I thought!
But then, I noticed.....I had missed a couple of rows of quilting.
Well, I can do them now!
And make a new label giving Dorothy and I credit for the making of this quilt.
Tuesday 10 December 2013
Yes, I have done some quilting....
I have been participating in our guild challenge.
I finally decided what I wanted to do, then I waited a bit before I chose fabrics, mulling it over, sleeping on it. I had the fabrics that I had to use for the challenge.
I decided on a table runner. A friend was saying she didn't really want another wall hanging , and when I said table runner, she thought table topper!
I settled on a braided table runner.
I was thinking and thinking how I was going to make this. I don't have a pattern, so it's all off the top of my head.
I laid my batting out on my cutting table and decided to start with a 12 inch square, cut a few 2 1/2 " strips and started figuring out where to place colours and how I would construct it.
It hit me that I could do this "quilt as you go" by sewing and flipping.
I marked my batting with a centre line, width and length.
Placed the square in the centre ...but before I sewed I thought about the backing.
Hmmm...I could actually do BOTH sides sew and flip and have a REVERSABLE table runner!
So...you know what I did! Sew and flip two side at once! I have fall on one side and winter on the other.
I started by centring the 12" block in the centre, I used quilt spray to hold the square in place, then sewed a 1/4" seam around to hold it in place. Then flipped it over and centered the second 12" square exactly over the square on the front using the sewing lines from the front.
Then sewed my 2 1/2" strips in place both side at once.
I still want to make a couple of placemats to go with the table runner.
So this is the "right side" of my table runner. I sewed so far then trimmed down my batting to the size I wanted. It was becoming a little cumbersome.
And this is the other "right side
I have been participating in our guild challenge.
I finally decided what I wanted to do, then I waited a bit before I chose fabrics, mulling it over, sleeping on it. I had the fabrics that I had to use for the challenge.
I decided on a table runner. A friend was saying she didn't really want another wall hanging , and when I said table runner, she thought table topper!
I settled on a braided table runner.
I was thinking and thinking how I was going to make this. I don't have a pattern, so it's all off the top of my head.
I laid my batting out on my cutting table and decided to start with a 12 inch square, cut a few 2 1/2 " strips and started figuring out where to place colours and how I would construct it.
It hit me that I could do this "quilt as you go" by sewing and flipping.
I marked my batting with a centre line, width and length.
Placed the square in the centre ...but before I sewed I thought about the backing.
Hmmm...I could actually do BOTH sides sew and flip and have a REVERSABLE table runner!
So...you know what I did! Sew and flip two side at once! I have fall on one side and winter on the other.
I started by centring the 12" block in the centre, I used quilt spray to hold the square in place, then sewed a 1/4" seam around to hold it in place. Then flipped it over and centered the second 12" square exactly over the square on the front using the sewing lines from the front.
Then sewed my 2 1/2" strips in place both side at once.
I still want to make a couple of placemats to go with the table runner.
And this is the other "right side
I am not finished yet, still working on one border and I have another border to do after that.
I still want to make a couple of placemats to go with the table runner.
Saturday 7 December 2013
I went out to quilt guild the other night.
It was our December "Christmas" potluck.
I love a potluck, all those different dishes to try.
All the different desserts!
No one leaves hungry, there always is a lot of food.
I waffled between making cookies or meatballs. I really didn't know what I wanted to make...well I do ...really... I wanted to make and take some short bread. But I would have eaten it too.
The mister and I discussed my dilemma and he suggested DEVILLED EGGS!
He had a very good suggestion! He loves devilled eggs.
So I made them! I had 2 dozen eggs and devilled them all!
I never got one at the pot luck!
NOPE! They were all gone by the time I got up to the appetizers. Mind you I did have some...I left half of them here for the girls and the mister.
He really loves devilled eggs... He had enough to satisfy him..lol!
For our programme that night we had a "Chinese auction".
A Chinese Auction is much like a Tombola.
That is, we bring in gifts, not always of a quilting nature, but whatever you like to donate. A ribbon is attached trailing off to a bag. Then we buy a little baggie with numbered slips of paper tickets, our names are recorded beside the numbers on a master sheet. You put your tickets in whatever bag you would like to win.
At the end of dinner we start pulling numbers.
I and a number of other ladies bought three baggies. You could buy however many you liked....All the proceeds go to the foodbank.
I think they said they raised over $400......not too shabby!
After dinner they started drawing numbers...
I won a box of thread samples...Wha??? I never win!
They kept drawing and drawing. Did I say I never win?
I won another....then another ....6 of the prizes came to me!
PLUS
I won the table decoration made by the past president. She makes lovely decorations... aaand.. It had 2 fat quarters in the boxes!
I was shocked!!!! I NEVER WIN!
I wasn't the big winner, though. Another lady won about a dozen gifts! and 3 or 4 other ladies won multiple gifts.
There were lots of gifts to be won ....over 100 of them.
I won the samples of decorative threads, 10 fat quarters, 2 tree ornaments, some embroidery cards (if they don't fit my machine they will fit my sister's machine), some Lindt chocolates (I hid those, otherwise I will gobble them all up!) a cute little dish, a wonderful hand made pincushion!, a hand made scarf, and a hand made journal cover!
I didn't open stuff there, I waited until I got home, so some of the stuff was a surprise; it was like Christmas!!!
The mister was getting a really good chuckle out of me!
It was our December "Christmas" potluck.
I love a potluck, all those different dishes to try.
All the different desserts!
No one leaves hungry, there always is a lot of food.
I waffled between making cookies or meatballs. I really didn't know what I wanted to make...well I do ...really... I wanted to make and take some short bread. But I would have eaten it too.
The mister and I discussed my dilemma and he suggested DEVILLED EGGS!
He had a very good suggestion! He loves devilled eggs.
So I made them! I had 2 dozen eggs and devilled them all!
NOPE! They were all gone by the time I got up to the appetizers. Mind you I did have some...I left half of them here for the girls and the mister.
He really loves devilled eggs... He had enough to satisfy him..lol!
For our programme that night we had a "Chinese auction".
A Chinese Auction is much like a Tombola.
That is, we bring in gifts, not always of a quilting nature, but whatever you like to donate. A ribbon is attached trailing off to a bag. Then we buy a little baggie with numbered slips of paper tickets, our names are recorded beside the numbers on a master sheet. You put your tickets in whatever bag you would like to win.
At the end of dinner we start pulling numbers.
I and a number of other ladies bought three baggies. You could buy however many you liked....All the proceeds go to the foodbank.
I think they said they raised over $400......not too shabby!
After dinner they started drawing numbers...
I won a box of thread samples...Wha??? I never win!
They kept drawing and drawing. Did I say I never win?
I won another....then another ....6 of the prizes came to me!
 |
| Hand made pin cushion |
I won the table decoration made by the past president. She makes lovely decorations... aaand.. It had 2 fat quarters in the boxes!
I was shocked!!!! I NEVER WIN!
I wasn't the big winner, though. Another lady won about a dozen gifts! and 3 or 4 other ladies won multiple gifts.
There were lots of gifts to be won ....over 100 of them.
I won the samples of decorative threads, 10 fat quarters, 2 tree ornaments, some embroidery cards (if they don't fit my machine they will fit my sister's machine), some Lindt chocolates (I hid those, otherwise I will gobble them all up!) a cute little dish, a wonderful hand made pincushion!, a hand made scarf, and a hand made journal cover!
I didn't open stuff there, I waited until I got home, so some of the stuff was a surprise; it was like Christmas!!!
The mister was getting a really good chuckle out of me!
 |
| scarf |
Wednesday 4 December 2013
It's been a while since I posted.
I was told the other day by a friend that I was missed. So I thought I would make an effort to get back into it.
The mister and I are staying up far too late and sleeping late, so I am not sewing as much or blogging. For some reason I still feel like we are on vacation. (Gee, I don't know why??) lol!
I have been doing some sewing. And not just quilting either.
I bought some fabric and made myself a new pair of dress pants. They turned out great! Look real nice...BUT!!!....they don't fit! Too small! The mister likes them! He thinks the fit is great! LOL! But they are too tight..for me! in my opinion. How did my pattern shrink inside the envelope?
So I adjusted my pattern, cut more fabric, and sewed another pair. MUCH BETTER!!.
I've also purchased some fabric for T-shirts and some sweater material. Don't know when I'll get that all done.
Then my daughter went to a wool store near her and bought a bunch of wool (yes, wool!) and a pattern book of the hats the girls wanted.
I ended up knitting 6 hats ... 4 slouch hats, a toque and another hat for my son-in-law.
The girls love the hats...I need to make me something warm just for my ears. Not a hat, but a bandeau. I am too hot for a hat, but I will get earaches from the cold wind. I have seen a couple that I like, now I need to make it.
I was told the other day by a friend that I was missed. So I thought I would make an effort to get back into it.
The mister and I are staying up far too late and sleeping late, so I am not sewing as much or blogging. For some reason I still feel like we are on vacation. (Gee, I don't know why??) lol!
I have been doing some sewing. And not just quilting either.
I bought some fabric and made myself a new pair of dress pants. They turned out great! Look real nice...BUT!!!....they don't fit! Too small! The mister likes them! He thinks the fit is great! LOL! But they are too tight..for me! in my opinion. How did my pattern shrink inside the envelope?
So I adjusted my pattern, cut more fabric, and sewed another pair. MUCH BETTER!!.
I've also purchased some fabric for T-shirts and some sweater material. Don't know when I'll get that all done.
Then my daughter went to a wool store near her and bought a bunch of wool (yes, wool!) and a pattern book of the hats the girls wanted.
I ended up knitting 6 hats ... 4 slouch hats, a toque and another hat for my son-in-law.
The girls love the hats...I need to make me something warm just for my ears. Not a hat, but a bandeau. I am too hot for a hat, but I will get earaches from the cold wind. I have seen a couple that I like, now I need to make it.
Tuesday 22 October 2013
Today was the mister's birthday...67 years young!
Happy Birthday Sweetie!
And...
He has now been retired for 6 whole months!
He had a very pleasant day today...went golfing with his friends.
It was a little cold on the course he said.
I asked him the night before if there was anything special he wanted for dinner. " No" he said. Hmmm...what can I make that is one of his favs? He has had pasta for the last two days, one dinner was seafood pasta and the other was delicious lasagna that our daughter made, so that is out of the question. (for me anyway!)
Then, I thought!
FAJITAS!
He loves fajitas!
I took out all the ingredients, all set to make fajitas.
He came home from golf and said..."hmmm....I'd like schnitzel."...
Too late to defrost the pork for pork schnitzel.
Well, we could go out for dinner! One of our favourite restaurants makes awesome schnitzel. But, no, he didn't feel like going out.
So, fajitas it is (or was)!
I promised, Thursday or Friday we will have schnitzel.
I just have to remember to take out the meat!
Happy Birthday Sweetie!
And...
He has now been retired for 6 whole months!
He had a very pleasant day today...went golfing with his friends.
It was a little cold on the course he said.
I asked him the night before if there was anything special he wanted for dinner. " No" he said. Hmmm...what can I make that is one of his favs? He has had pasta for the last two days, one dinner was seafood pasta and the other was delicious lasagna that our daughter made, so that is out of the question. (for me anyway!)
Then, I thought!
FAJITAS!
He loves fajitas!
I took out all the ingredients, all set to make fajitas.
He came home from golf and said..."hmmm....I'd like schnitzel."...
Too late to defrost the pork for pork schnitzel.
Well, we could go out for dinner! One of our favourite restaurants makes awesome schnitzel. But, no, he didn't feel like going out.
So, fajitas it is (or was)!
I promised, Thursday or Friday we will have schnitzel.
I just have to remember to take out the meat!
Monday 21 October 2013
Quilt Guild was the other night, so I returned the last 2 quilts that I've been quilting for Outreach. Rosemary was pleased to see them back so soon.
I didn't take any more quilts to quilt. I need to get some of my stuff done.
Well, at the end of the meeting, I asked one of the older ladies, Trudy,
who helps co-ordinate Outreach, if she had all her kits taken. "No" she said. There were originally 4 kits and she still had 3.
I took them. All.
I did them in one evening....all done! Less than an evening!
I will return them to her next week when we see each other at the other guild meeting.
She (and I) can't understand why no one will do these blocks.
There are 10 blocks in a kit (actually 9, one is done to show how to do it), all you have to do is applique the motif to the block...any way you prefer.
I machine sew them...3 kits done in one evening!
Next, I worked on my B.O.M. for guild.
I had my block chosen, all I needed to do was make it up and print out 35 copies of the instructions.
All done! I'll give it to Mindy next week also.
I didn't take any more quilts to quilt. I need to get some of my stuff done.
Well, at the end of the meeting, I asked one of the older ladies, Trudy,
 |
| Trudy's blocks |
I took them. All.
I did them in one evening....all done! Less than an evening!
I will return them to her next week when we see each other at the other guild meeting.
She (and I) can't understand why no one will do these blocks.
There are 10 blocks in a kit (actually 9, one is done to show how to do it), all you have to do is applique the motif to the block...any way you prefer.
I machine sew them...3 kits done in one evening!
Next, I worked on my B.O.M. for guild.
I had my block chosen, all I needed to do was make it up and print out 35 copies of the instructions.
All done! I'll give it to Mindy next week also.
 |
| B.O.M. for Mindy |
NOW, on to my projects!
Friday 11 October 2013
I decided last Thursday to go out to the local quilt store and pick out my 3 free fat quarters that quilt guild is supplying for our 20th anniversary to each member.
I knew that I would NOT be taking home 3 fat quarters....nope ...not me!
I picked out 5 fabrics.
And I had them cut 2 metres each. (a metre is 39 inches)
I picked out this purple batik just because I loved it, but it will go with the others in a fall creation
These two batiks are stunning in person...I had to have them.
Could you imagine settling for just a fat quarter of these three batiks?
I bought these also, but they are prints. They look much brighter in the picture, but they go nicely with the batiks.
I was a little surprised to see the store busy...really busy!
Oh! There was a shop hop going on!
I hadn't heard!
I got a little 6 inch ruler by Creative grids as a gift.
I like their new non slip rulers...
The next day, I went to the quilt store here in my town.
I was the only customer! Mind you, they did have a class going on.
But, I wonder why it wasn't busy? They were part of the shop hop.
Well, they didn't have what I was looking for, a book or pattern. So I left without making a purchase.
Maybe everyone was out at the various quilt shows that are on at this time of year!
Any whoo...I have been looking on-line, on Pinterest, and in my own patterns for ideas on what to make for our anniversary challenge.
I have a few ideas kicking around in the old melon.....the challenge is so wide open...but I must get at it!
But first.....I must get this other quilt that I am quilting for outreach off my worktable.
Happy Thanksgiving !
I knew that I would NOT be taking home 3 fat quarters....nope ...not me!
I picked out 5 fabrics.
And I had them cut 2 metres each. (a metre is 39 inches)
Could you imagine settling for just a fat quarter of these three batiks?
I was a little surprised to see the store busy...really busy!
Oh! There was a shop hop going on!
I hadn't heard!
I got a little 6 inch ruler by Creative grids as a gift.
I like their new non slip rulers...
The next day, I went to the quilt store here in my town.
I was the only customer! Mind you, they did have a class going on.
But, I wonder why it wasn't busy? They were part of the shop hop.
Well, they didn't have what I was looking for, a book or pattern. So I left without making a purchase.
Maybe everyone was out at the various quilt shows that are on at this time of year!
Any whoo...I have been looking on-line, on Pinterest, and in my own patterns for ideas on what to make for our anniversary challenge.
I have a few ideas kicking around in the old melon.....the challenge is so wide open...but I must get at it!
But first.....I must get this other quilt that I am quilting for outreach off my worktable.
Happy Thanksgiving !
Wednesday 9 October 2013
We've had "Culture Days" in the last weekend.
Both guilds that I belong to were asked to participate.
I volunteered to demonstrate machine quilting.
I took one of our Out Reach cuddle quilts with me to quilt at the cultural centre.
Boy, it doesn't take long for me to remember WHY I don't like sewing or quilting away from home.
The table that I work on at home is low, very low. My chair is set so that I can reach the machine comfortably. My foot control is raised at least 2 inches off the ground. Even then, I sometimes find myself over stretching.
When I was quilting at the culture centre I was really uncomfortable and my quilting showed it. The table with my machine on top of it was far too high for me. I brought my own chair, that helped a bit but I could barely reach my foot peddle. I raised it, but I had to chase it around.
I muddled on....
Some little kids came into the room with their parents, they watched for a few seconds, then I asked them if they wanted to try sewing. I ran the foot control and let the kids guide the quilt in the machine.
It was a BIG hit! Even the boys tried the machine...What fun!
I finished quilting and binding that quilt at home and started on the third quilt I took home last summer to quilt.
This third quilt has the older type batt in it. You know fluffy poly type thing that was the only thing we could get more than twenty years ago.
I now realize how lucky we are now to be able to find the better quilt batts available now. This one is real crap. I actually hate to use it.
But, I guess I will just muddle on with this one too.
Both guilds that I belong to were asked to participate.
I volunteered to demonstrate machine quilting.
I took one of our Out Reach cuddle quilts with me to quilt at the cultural centre.
Boy, it doesn't take long for me to remember WHY I don't like sewing or quilting away from home.
The table that I work on at home is low, very low. My chair is set so that I can reach the machine comfortably. My foot control is raised at least 2 inches off the ground. Even then, I sometimes find myself over stretching.
When I was quilting at the culture centre I was really uncomfortable and my quilting showed it. The table with my machine on top of it was far too high for me. I brought my own chair, that helped a bit but I could barely reach my foot peddle. I raised it, but I had to chase it around.
I muddled on....
Some little kids came into the room with their parents, they watched for a few seconds, then I asked them if they wanted to try sewing. I ran the foot control and let the kids guide the quilt in the machine.
It was a BIG hit! Even the boys tried the machine...What fun!
I finished quilting and binding that quilt at home and started on the third quilt I took home last summer to quilt.
This third quilt has the older type batt in it. You know fluffy poly type thing that was the only thing we could get more than twenty years ago.
I now realize how lucky we are now to be able to find the better quilt batts available now. This one is real crap. I actually hate to use it.
But, I guess I will just muddle on with this one too.
Sunday 6 October 2013
Boy oh boy!
We have just had the longest stretch of nice weather!
It has been sunny and warm (sort of coolish), perfect for fall walks and leaf peeping.
That's what my sister says people who sight see the fall colours are called down in New Hampshire..."leaf peepers"!
The birds, squirrels and chipmunks are cleaning out the feeders faster than I can fill them. We must be in for a long winter.
I still have lots of tomatoes in the garden...I still have some blossoms on the pepper plants, but no more peppers. I don't usually get a lot of peppers and now it might be too cold to produce more peppers.
One of my neighbours squash plants has invaded my garden..it has taken over!
hehehe...AND producing squash! I love squash!....I an watching those carefully.
The other day I made a large pot of chicken soup....then decided I didn't feel like just chicken soup, so I put a bunch of tomatoes from the garden in it.
Oh my, was it ever good.
Now I am considering just making tomato soup.
The mister will eat soup anytime, summer or winter. When ever we go out to dinner, he starts with soup....
When we were first married and I would make soup, he would complain it was too thick, more like stew. He didn't really like stew. He doesn't complain about that anymore. Now he likes stew.
Now the weather has gotten cooler still, and we have had a bit of rain.
Soon we will have to pull out the tomato and pepper plants and the neighbours squash plant. The trees out the front are getting hit with frost, it won't be long and the plants out back will be nipped too.
We have just had the longest stretch of nice weather!
It has been sunny and warm (sort of coolish), perfect for fall walks and leaf peeping.
That's what my sister says people who sight see the fall colours are called down in New Hampshire..."leaf peepers"!
The birds, squirrels and chipmunks are cleaning out the feeders faster than I can fill them. We must be in for a long winter.
I still have lots of tomatoes in the garden...I still have some blossoms on the pepper plants, but no more peppers. I don't usually get a lot of peppers and now it might be too cold to produce more peppers.
One of my neighbours squash plants has invaded my garden..it has taken over!
hehehe...AND producing squash! I love squash!....I an watching those carefully.
The other day I made a large pot of chicken soup....then decided I didn't feel like just chicken soup, so I put a bunch of tomatoes from the garden in it.
Oh my, was it ever good.
Now I am considering just making tomato soup.
The mister will eat soup anytime, summer or winter. When ever we go out to dinner, he starts with soup....
When we were first married and I would make soup, he would complain it was too thick, more like stew. He didn't really like stew. He doesn't complain about that anymore. Now he likes stew.
Now the weather has gotten cooler still, and we have had a bit of rain.
Soon we will have to pull out the tomato and pepper plants and the neighbours squash plant. The trees out the front are getting hit with frost, it won't be long and the plants out back will be nipped too.
Saturday 28 September 2013
Time for getting down to brass tacks!
I had offered to contribute to block of the month (but only one month) for quilt guild.
Now I have to find a nice block, make it up...write a little blurb for the newsletter, copy the instructions for the block and turn it in to the BOM lady at guild.
I chuckled when I told her I would do a month for her....she was giddy with delight. I think she has to twist a few arms to get people to help. What am I saying!!!?? I KNOW she has to twist arms to get people to help!
So I spent a few hours looking for a nice block, I visited http://quilterscache.com a few times.
I wanted, or really needed, a simple block for my contribution. Not that I needed to do a simple block, but if the block is too hard, or takes to long to make, ladies will not participate.
So I found a couple that I liked and mulled it over. I decided on a block called calico puzzle.
Not too hard (really easy) to scare anyone away, only two colours to deal with...hopefully it will be a winner for everyone. And not too much stress for me.
Speaking of stress....I have given up my library helper's job for right now. It was just too hard to get there with the girls here until 6. Especially when I have to leave just after 6.
Next year, my daughter says the granddaughters will go to a different school.
Well, Hayley will for sure....she'll be in high school. Mommy says Courtney will go to the school near them, and she can go home right after school, so my job will be done.
Hayley feels she is too old to be babysat and I agree with her. I tell her that I am not babysitting her, just her sister. She just comes here to "visit". Poor girl is in a catch 22 situation.
Her school is here, her friends are here. If she goes home, she won't see her friends after school. If she changes school, she would need to make new friends at school.
Growing up is sure hard on kids! Lol!!
I had offered to contribute to block of the month (but only one month) for quilt guild.
Now I have to find a nice block, make it up...write a little blurb for the newsletter, copy the instructions for the block and turn it in to the BOM lady at guild.
I chuckled when I told her I would do a month for her....she was giddy with delight. I think she has to twist a few arms to get people to help. What am I saying!!!?? I KNOW she has to twist arms to get people to help!
So I spent a few hours looking for a nice block, I visited http://quilterscache.com a few times.
I wanted, or really needed, a simple block for my contribution. Not that I needed to do a simple block, but if the block is too hard, or takes to long to make, ladies will not participate.
So I found a couple that I liked and mulled it over. I decided on a block called calico puzzle.
Not too hard (really easy) to scare anyone away, only two colours to deal with...hopefully it will be a winner for everyone. And not too much stress for me.
Speaking of stress....I have given up my library helper's job for right now. It was just too hard to get there with the girls here until 6. Especially when I have to leave just after 6.
Next year, my daughter says the granddaughters will go to a different school.
Well, Hayley will for sure....she'll be in high school. Mommy says Courtney will go to the school near them, and she can go home right after school, so my job will be done.
Hayley feels she is too old to be babysat and I agree with her. I tell her that I am not babysitting her, just her sister. She just comes here to "visit". Poor girl is in a catch 22 situation.
Her school is here, her friends are here. If she goes home, she won't see her friends after school. If she changes school, she would need to make new friends at school.
Growing up is sure hard on kids! Lol!!
Thursday 26 September 2013
The other night was the first meeting for the second quilt guild I belong to.
Dorothy, the lady who made the quilt in the previous blog, saw her quilt on the back of my chair. She was thrilled to see it all done. She says she doesn't see many after they are completed....this kind lady donates quite a few quilts to our Outreach program!
I told her of my trials and tribulations with the setting triangles and borders, but she loved how I had quilted it. I am relived. She does such beautiful work...the piecing was accurate, so it was easy to quilt. I just didn't want to screw up such a beautiful quilt.
I've quilted a couple of her quilts for Outreach...one was a picture of a doll...such a cute little quilt. not really little...it's cuddle quilt size! It was a dream to quilt too!
We are celebrating our twentieth anniversary for this guild this year and the executive have a wonderful year planned for us.
We are having free workshops. Everyone of us can sign up for a free workshop, we can also sign up for any of the other workshops they have planned..
We are having a challenge, the guild is giving everyone 3 fat quarters of our own choice, for a wide open quilt challenge!
We are having a fabric exchange. Two and a half inch strips ...we should end up with enough strips to have a whole jellyroll.
We are going to have a FABULOUS year....
Dorothy, the lady who made the quilt in the previous blog, saw her quilt on the back of my chair. She was thrilled to see it all done. She says she doesn't see many after they are completed....this kind lady donates quite a few quilts to our Outreach program!
 |
| Dorothy's quilt |
I've quilted a couple of her quilts for Outreach...one was a picture of a doll...such a cute little quilt. not really little...it's cuddle quilt size! It was a dream to quilt too!
We are celebrating our twentieth anniversary for this guild this year and the executive have a wonderful year planned for us.
We are having free workshops. Everyone of us can sign up for a free workshop, we can also sign up for any of the other workshops they have planned..
We are having a challenge, the guild is giving everyone 3 fat quarters of our own choice, for a wide open quilt challenge!
We are having a fabric exchange. Two and a half inch strips ...we should end up with enough strips to have a whole jellyroll.
We are going to have a FABULOUS year....
Saturday 21 September 2013
Boy, the weather has sure been strange this year.
Experts said we would have a hot dry summer, but it wasn't at all.
Then this last week we had a couple of blistering hot days, then a couple of cold days.....Chances of FROST already!
Boy!!!
I love this time of year...the changing colours...the fresh crisp air.
What I don't like is the mildew on some of the plants and trees. I am allergic to the mould. I don't have really bad symptoms. But the constant headache and sinus pain is unsettling.
On the quilting front, I have finally finished quilting this quilt.
I had it mostly done except for the setting triangles and borders.
I had a scroll that I planned to use. made up all my patterns, pinned them in place and could not, for the life of me, bring myself to sew them. It just didn't go!
Then I saw a quilt on Pinterest and it gave me an idea.
I decided to quilt multiple rows, incorporating the borders and the setting triangles.
I really like how it turned out.
Took me a few days to sew the binding, and now it is all done and ready to be handed in to the OutReach program.
Experts said we would have a hot dry summer, but it wasn't at all.
Then this last week we had a couple of blistering hot days, then a couple of cold days.....Chances of FROST already!
Boy!!!
I love this time of year...the changing colours...the fresh crisp air.
What I don't like is the mildew on some of the plants and trees. I am allergic to the mould. I don't have really bad symptoms. But the constant headache and sinus pain is unsettling.
On the quilting front, I have finally finished quilting this quilt.
I had a scroll that I planned to use. made up all my patterns, pinned them in place and could not, for the life of me, bring myself to sew them. It just didn't go!
Then I saw a quilt on Pinterest and it gave me an idea.
I decided to quilt multiple rows, incorporating the borders and the setting triangles.
I really like how it turned out.
Took me a few days to sew the binding, and now it is all done and ready to be handed in to the OutReach program.
Wednesday 18 September 2013
Courtney had a birthday this week...10 years old ...my, time flies!
Mommy said she could have a party.
Her party will be delayed a week or two for her, Mommy doesn't like sending her to school the first week with a fist full of birthday invites.
And...
She wanted to make her own invitations for her party.
I went upstairs and used the oldest computer (that's where I had the program) and made up some cards...then, after school, Courtney came up and had a look at what I had done.
It gave her some ideas and she made her own....adjusting colours, pictures....just making it hers.
The printer connected to this computer is older and I can't seem to get the ink to flow (I've put new inktanks in and it still won't print).
Smart *ss me, I got the cord I use for the laptop and plugged the computer into the newer printer.
Darn! The computer recognises the printer and needs drivers....HAHA..I have the disk.
I loaded the disk.....crap..the computer isn`t compatible with the printer...I can't win!
So I decided to load the program into the newer computer...it took hours to load.
This computer is SLOW! REALLY, really slow.
But then I was able to save her cards to a disk and open it on this computer.
She printed them off and gave them out.
She is a very happy camper!
Mommy said she could have a party.
Her party will be delayed a week or two for her, Mommy doesn't like sending her to school the first week with a fist full of birthday invites.
And...
She wanted to make her own invitations for her party.
I went upstairs and used the oldest computer (that's where I had the program) and made up some cards...then, after school, Courtney came up and had a look at what I had done.
It gave her some ideas and she made her own....adjusting colours, pictures....just making it hers.
The printer connected to this computer is older and I can't seem to get the ink to flow (I've put new inktanks in and it still won't print).
Smart *ss me, I got the cord I use for the laptop and plugged the computer into the newer printer.
Darn! The computer recognises the printer and needs drivers....HAHA..I have the disk.
I loaded the disk.....crap..the computer isn`t compatible with the printer...I can't win!
So I decided to load the program into the newer computer...it took hours to load.
This computer is SLOW! REALLY, really slow.
But then I was able to save her cards to a disk and open it on this computer.
She printed them off and gave them out.
She is a very happy camper!
Saturday 14 September 2013
Friday 13 September 2013
Quilt Guild has started for the new season.
I stood at the front door as I was leaving and thought "What have I forgotten?"
It wasn't until halfway through the meeting and I remembered! Oh CRAP!
I forgot the cuddle quilt that I had made first thing in the summer!
I did have it on the bench at the front door so that I won't forget it and it got moved and I forgot it any way!
It was a fun meeting catching up with some of the ladies, checking out what is happening for the new quilt season.
There are a few local quilt shows happening this fall that I would like to attend.
So I need to mark them on my calendar and prep the mister with the details of where they are.
He doesn't want to travel too far.
The grand daughters are glad to be back to school and to see all their friends.
Dance has started for Courtney and Hayley has started music lessons.
Courtney wants a birthday party and wants to make some invitation with an owl theme.
My younger brother and my daughter have the same date for their birthdays...then less than a week later, it is Courtney's birthday!
I have most of the work down for my other quilt guild, I just have to work on my "sign -in" forms for the new season.
All in all....I had a busy week
I stood at the front door as I was leaving and thought "What have I forgotten?"
It wasn't until halfway through the meeting and I remembered! Oh CRAP!
I forgot the cuddle quilt that I had made first thing in the summer!
I did have it on the bench at the front door so that I won't forget it and it got moved and I forgot it any way!
It was a fun meeting catching up with some of the ladies, checking out what is happening for the new quilt season.
There are a few local quilt shows happening this fall that I would like to attend.
So I need to mark them on my calendar and prep the mister with the details of where they are.
He doesn't want to travel too far.
The grand daughters are glad to be back to school and to see all their friends.
Dance has started for Courtney and Hayley has started music lessons.
Courtney wants a birthday party and wants to make some invitation with an owl theme.
My younger brother and my daughter have the same date for their birthdays...then less than a week later, it is Courtney's birthday!
I have most of the work down for my other quilt guild, I just have to work on my "sign -in" forms for the new season.
All in all....I had a busy week
Monday 9 September 2013
Oh my legs... my shins and calves.....they are still sore from walking at the Falls.
I am not used to a lot of steep hills, and we did a LOT of walking that day.
The next day we drove to Port Dover. ( another steep hill to climb!) It was warm and windy, so we walked around downtown (it isn't very big), but before that we went to Len's Mills Store. That's a large fabric discount store. They carry fabric, threads, notions, patterns, wool, needles, crochet cotton, you name it!
I don't really need any fabric, but I got some anyway.
I looked for some nice Christmas panels for Courtney to use, but I didn't really see anything I thought she would like.
There were some cute Christmas fabrics, but again, not one I thought was suitable.
The mister helped me with the bolts over my head...Oh my gosh! I never would have been able to see any of them! The top shelf was THAT high!
In the next aisle, I found the perfect panel!!!!
OWLS!
Courtney loves owls right now, soooo...
I purchased the cute pillow panel for her to quilt and sew, along with a couple of metres (2 yards and 6 inches)of over- all pattern of owls.
Well....
You should have seen her face when I showed her the fabric!
She was so excited!
She wants to start on them right away!
I then went looking for some fabric to make some t-shirts....nice fabric is hard to find!
I found a couple of nice NEW LOOK patterns, one has a swing jacket type sweater in it...that is what I bought it for....and the other is t-shirts. I have several patterns already, but I like this one too.
(As an aside....
A couple of weeks ago I was in Fabricland, and there was a big sign at the pattern dept. stating that because the prices to them were going up 160%, they would no longer be carrying Simplicity and New Look patterns! I was a little shocked by that! ) :(
I browsed the store some more and found some vinyl that I thought would make a nice bag.
Next door was another store affiliated with Lens Mills...only this store was clothing, household goods and some crafting stuff.
There I picked up (of all things!) kitchen string! I can never find it here okay, okay... Dollar stores carry some different types, but this was a fairly big spool!
I bought two. I know the mister will take one for the garage!
I got some rubber stamps for cardmaking .
And beads...I bought 4 vials of Czech beads.
Then Thursday came around... we were planning on going to The St Jacob's Market.
I decided I would rather stay home.
I am not used to a lot of steep hills, and we did a LOT of walking that day.
The next day we drove to Port Dover. ( another steep hill to climb!) It was warm and windy, so we walked around downtown (it isn't very big), but before that we went to Len's Mills Store. That's a large fabric discount store. They carry fabric, threads, notions, patterns, wool, needles, crochet cotton, you name it!
I don't really need any fabric, but I got some anyway.
I looked for some nice Christmas panels for Courtney to use, but I didn't really see anything I thought she would like.
There were some cute Christmas fabrics, but again, not one I thought was suitable.
The mister helped me with the bolts over my head...Oh my gosh! I never would have been able to see any of them! The top shelf was THAT high!
In the next aisle, I found the perfect panel!!!!
OWLS!
Courtney loves owls right now, soooo...
I purchased the cute pillow panel for her to quilt and sew, along with a couple of metres (2 yards and 6 inches)of over- all pattern of owls.
You should have seen her face when I showed her the fabric!
She was so excited!
She wants to start on them right away!I then went looking for some fabric to make some t-shirts....nice fabric is hard to find!
I found a couple of nice NEW LOOK patterns, one has a swing jacket type sweater in it...that is what I bought it for....and the other is t-shirts. I have several patterns already, but I like this one too.
(As an aside....
A couple of weeks ago I was in Fabricland, and there was a big sign at the pattern dept. stating that because the prices to them were going up 160%, they would no longer be carrying Simplicity and New Look patterns! I was a little shocked by that! ) :(I browsed the store some more and found some vinyl that I thought would make a nice bag.
Next door was another store affiliated with Lens Mills...only this store was clothing, household goods and some crafting stuff.
There I picked up (of all things!) kitchen string! I can never find it here okay, okay... Dollar stores carry some different types, but this was a fairly big spool!
I bought two. I know the mister will take one for the garage!
I got some rubber stamps for cardmaking .
And beads...I bought 4 vials of Czech beads.
Then Thursday came around... we were planning on going to The St Jacob's Market.
I decided I would rather stay home.
Thursday 5 September 2013
 |
| Maid of the Mist |
Tuesday we planned on going to St Jacobs Market again. Pick up some fresh vegetables, maybe some fresh cuts of meat and have lunch there.
And.....
 |
| Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls |
Sooooo....we decided, since they have announced that they will open the market on Thursday, we will go then and today, we will drive to Niagara Falls.
We didn't plan anything except to see the Falls, and have dinner.
I haven't really spent a lot of time as a "tourist" there.
 |
| The American Falls |
So...this was a PLEASURE trip for me.
We walked around, enjoyed the natural beauty of the area.
We watched the Maid of the Mist chug up and down the Falls area
Then killed some time and 20 bucks at the casino.
Sorry, I just won't spend any more than that at such a pastime!
Then...
We had a very nice dinner and came home.
 |
| both Falls! |
Friday 30 August 2013
Summer is almost done.
We only have a few weeks left ....
The days are getting shorter.
The nights, much cooler.
Local fall fairs are starting.
We have had a pretty good summer.
The tomatoes have been tasty...I love tomatoes!
For some reason, green pepper don't do so well for me.
My neighbour's squash plants are invading our yard! lol!
as long as they produce some squash for ME!
Not too hot, not too dry...
Then we had a couple of really cool weeks in August.
Overall, pretty good, in my opinion.
But, the girls don't want to go out to the pool anymore....they are tired (staying up too late) and getting bored.
I've suggested a few things to do, but they aren't interested.
Then, one afternoon, Hayley asked for a cutting mat and knife.
She had numerous rolls of duck tape in her back pack, I supplied a couple of rolls and I had a roll of double-sided tape...(I think it was carpet tape).
The two of them sat at the kitchen table for a few afternoons, playing with duck tape and knives.
Scary for me...I know how sharp xacto knives are. I really don't think they realized how sharp they are.
They watched videos, checked Pinterest and made duck tape work for them. lol!
They created without incident, or blood letting.
In fact, they had quite a fun time making wallets, purses and covering binders.
The pics are just a small sampling of their artwork.
We only have a few weeks left ....
The days are getting shorter.The nights, much cooler.
Local fall fairs are starting.
We have had a pretty good summer.
The tomatoes have been tasty...I love tomatoes!
For some reason, green pepper don't do so well for me.
My neighbour's squash plants are invading our yard! lol!
as long as they produce some squash for ME!Not too hot, not too dry...
Then we had a couple of really cool weeks in August.
Overall, pretty good, in my opinion.
But, the girls don't want to go out to the pool anymore....they are tired (staying up too late) and getting bored.
I've suggested a few things to do, but they aren't interested.
Then, one afternoon, Hayley asked for a cutting mat and knife.
She had numerous rolls of duck tape in her back pack, I supplied a couple of rolls and I had a roll of double-sided tape...(I think it was carpet tape).The two of them sat at the kitchen table for a few afternoons, playing with duck tape and knives.
Scary for me...I know how sharp xacto knives are. I really don't think they realized how sharp they are.
They watched videos, checked Pinterest and made duck tape work for them. lol!
They created without incident, or blood letting.
In fact, they had quite a fun time making wallets, purses and covering binders.
The pics are just a small sampling of their artwork.
Monday 26 August 2013
I've said this before, ....I am still tweaking my sewing room.
The set up isn't bad, but I still want to tweak...move stuff around...edit some of my stuff. Lol! not too much, though!
I find if I get rid of something, then I need it!, or could use it for an ATC or something!
Murphy's Law always applies!
At any rate, I am still working on that space. I knew I would have to, and I am.
I've been in the sewing room, machine quilting, and I have been finding that some things need re-arranging.
I have been looking for the projects that I was working on....like my Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt blocks that I've finished and the patterns I have printed ready to sew.
Well, I found the tin that I had the finished blocks in. It was under a project that Courtney was working !
A clock that I had propped up in the corner of the desk had fallen on top of the blocks and the tin lid was kitty-corner on top of that. Courtney's sewing on top of all of that.
I picked the tin up and almost had a fit!
There, in the lid, on it's side, with the spout hanging over the contents of the tin, was my sewing machine oil bottle!
On it's side and ..
OH!
MY!
GOSH!
D R I P P I N G !!!!
This bottle hasn't a top to close it....
so I keep a large headed pin in the hole of the spout!
Good thing I do!
It had dripped only a couple of drops.
But that is enough to ruin all my completed blocks if it dripped on them.
I carefully picked up the bottle and checked what was underneath it.....
THE CLOCK!
Only a few drops of oil escaped the bottle, the pin was still in place.
The glass face of the clock had a couple of drops on it .
I thanked my lucky stars and wiped off the oil, got a "Command" hanger and hung my clock.
I moved that little bottle of misery oil to a different shelf...far..far away from my blocks, quilts, fabrics and projects!
There is a trick to get out oil spots that I have used...and it does work!
CHAULK!
Ordinary sidewalk chaulk. I have a whole (LARGE) box for the girls to use. (they don't play anymore they tell me).
I have tried rubbing chaulk into grease spots on my clothes after cooking and splashing myself. It does work. You have to keep rubbing the chaulk into the grease until it is all absorbed, then launder.
BUT! I certainly don't have enough chaulk to fix all my blocks and absorb more than a half bottle of machine oil!
The set up isn't bad, but I still want to tweak...move stuff around...edit some of my stuff. Lol! not too much, though!
I find if I get rid of something, then I need it!, or could use it for an ATC or something!
Murphy's Law always applies!
At any rate, I am still working on that space. I knew I would have to, and I am.
I've been in the sewing room, machine quilting, and I have been finding that some things need re-arranging.
I have been looking for the projects that I was working on....like my Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt blocks that I've finished and the patterns I have printed ready to sew.
Well, I found the tin that I had the finished blocks in. It was under a project that Courtney was working !
A clock that I had propped up in the corner of the desk had fallen on top of the blocks and the tin lid was kitty-corner on top of that. Courtney's sewing on top of all of that.
 |
| the culprit |
There, in the lid, on it's side, with the spout hanging over the contents of the tin, was my sewing machine oil bottle!
On it's side and ..
OH!
MY!
GOSH!
D R I P P I N G !!!!
This bottle hasn't a top to close it....
so I keep a large headed pin in the hole of the spout!
Good thing I do!
It had dripped only a couple of drops.
But that is enough to ruin all my completed blocks if it dripped on them.
I carefully picked up the bottle and checked what was underneath it.....
THE CLOCK!
 |
| the clock that saved me |
Only a few drops of oil escaped the bottle, the pin was still in place.
The glass face of the clock had a couple of drops on it .
I thanked my lucky stars and wiped off the oil, got a "Command" hanger and hung my clock.
I moved that little bottle of
There is a trick to get out oil spots that I have used...and it does work!
CHAULK!
Ordinary sidewalk chaulk. I have a whole (LARGE) box for the girls to use. (they don't play anymore they tell me).I have tried rubbing chaulk into grease spots on my clothes after cooking and splashing myself. It does work. You have to keep rubbing the chaulk into the grease until it is all absorbed, then launder.
BUT! I certainly don't have enough chaulk to fix all my blocks and absorb more than a half bottle of machine oil!
 |
| my shirt, no grease spots, thank you chaulk! |
Saturday 24 August 2013
Boy it's been a while since I blogged...not that I have been overly busy.
So, the girls and I have all this dye, paint and all these shirts and pillowcases to work on.
I prefer that we work outside, but the weather is threatening to rain, so we are going to have to work downstairs in the laundry room.
Courtney wants to tie dye her pillow case.
Hayley wants to ombre dye hers. At first she wanted to dye her pillowcase black ombre. Then she changed her mind to blue.
Courtney has to spend some time wrapping spots on the pillowcase with elastics...which she did...
I kept telling her ..."More".... "Tighter"
She did!
When she finally had it wrapped and twisted enough, Mommy arrived.
She went out to greet her with the knotted up pillowcase on her head!..lol!!!
We all laughed our heads off!!
Next day, we got busy and got serious with the dyeing and painting.
Four bottles of dye and only 2 pillow cases.....actually just one pillowcase.
I made up some blue dye from some I had from a while ago
Hmmmm....
That will waste much of the dye...
I have some fabric that I (tried to) dyed with Kool-Aid...(that really didn't work!) and some fabric that I dyed and really didn't like.
I gave them a few of those pieces to use as clean up rags
The girls worked on their pillowcases, then worked on painting their T-shirts.
They worked on their shirt and pillow case almost all afternoon, after they were done with the dye, I used up the rest over-dyeing my fabric.
No t-shirts for Poppa though, he didn't want anymore.
BUT...after we were finished ...Daddy said he wanted some!
So, the girls and I have all this dye, paint and all these shirts and pillowcases to work on.
I prefer that we work outside, but the weather is threatening to rain, so we are going to have to work downstairs in the laundry room.
Courtney wants to tie dye her pillow case.
 |
| Hayley's pillowcase |
Courtney has to spend some time wrapping spots on the pillowcase with elastics...which she did...
I kept telling her ..."More".... "Tighter"
She did!
When she finally had it wrapped and twisted enough, Mommy arrived.
She went out to greet her with the knotted up pillowcase on her head!..lol!!!
We all laughed our heads off!!
Next day, we got busy and got serious with the dyeing and painting.
Four bottles of dye and only 2 pillow cases.....actually just one pillowcase.
 |
| Courtney's pillowcase |
Hmmmm....
That will waste much of the dye...
I have some fabric that I (tried to) dyed with Kool-Aid...(that really didn't work!) and some fabric that I dyed and really didn't like.
I gave them a few of those pieces to use as clean up rags
The girls worked on their pillowcases, then worked on painting their T-shirts.
They worked on their shirt and pillow case almost all afternoon, after they were done with the dye, I used up the rest over-dyeing my fabric.
No t-shirts for Poppa though, he didn't want anymore.
BUT...after we were finished ...Daddy said he wanted some!
Thursday 8 August 2013
Hayley really enjoyed her art camp.
She said the week just flied by.
She printed paper with ink and shaving cream. (something that I wanted to try!)
She carved her own stamp from lino. (another thing I wanted to try!)
Each day she came home happy and tired, excited with what she had done.
And, at the end of the week she had a journal to show off!
and
this week has just blown by..
A nice long weekend..
Not that it matters for the mister and me, we have 6 Saturdays and a Sunday in our week. haha!
Nice getting used to that!
The grand daughters told me this year they didn't want to tie dye.
(Poppa didn't really want any more tie-dyed shirts!)
Then, they changed their minds.
They wanted to dye pillowcases...
I bought some craft dye.....
then they wanted some fabric paint.
I bought fabric paint.
I thought there really wasn't enough dye, so I went out and bought some dylon dyes.
I was able to get them at half price with a discount card, so they ended up being cheaper than the craft dye.
WELL.......
We can't dye and paint just 2 pillowcases.
So....
We went out to a local T-shirt warehouse and bought some shirts, a white one and 4 coloured ones each.
We were going to embellish the coloured ones with iron-ons, and other stuff, but now
only Courtney wants to embellish a shirt, and only one shirt.
She said the week just flied by.
She printed paper with ink and shaving cream. (something that I wanted to try!)
She carved her own stamp from lino. (another thing I wanted to try!)
Each day she came home happy and tired, excited with what she had done.
And, at the end of the week she had a journal to show off!
and
this week has just blown by..
A nice long weekend..
Not that it matters for the mister and me, we have 6 Saturdays and a Sunday in our week. haha!
Nice getting used to that!
The grand daughters told me this year they didn't want to tie dye.
(Poppa didn't really want any more tie-dyed shirts!)
Then, they changed their minds.
They wanted to dye pillowcases...
I bought some craft dye.....
then they wanted some fabric paint.
I bought fabric paint.
I thought there really wasn't enough dye, so I went out and bought some dylon dyes.
I was able to get them at half price with a discount card, so they ended up being cheaper than the craft dye.
WELL.......
We can't dye and paint just 2 pillowcases.
So....
We went out to a local T-shirt warehouse and bought some shirts, a white one and 4 coloured ones each.
We were going to embellish the coloured ones with iron-ons, and other stuff, but now
only Courtney wants to embellish a shirt, and only one shirt.
Saturday 3 August 2013
Courtney and I have been in the sewing room.
She wanted to sew some owl pillows.
So, we looked on-line for patterns and ideas.
We quickly found something she wanted to make at bubblesandbobbins.com and printed out a pattern.
Courtney looked through some of my fabrics and decided that she would make the first owl out of felt.
(I had some really neat printed felt for the eyes!)
She cut out her pattern, cut out her fabric, then sewed her little owl.
Next day she made another, but with cotton fabrics.
She took them home before I got any pics.
But the next day, she sewed again....she has been working on a panel for a while now.
It's a large crazy quilt Christmas stocking. Two sides to it. She's been trying out all the fancy stitches on my machine, all the different colour thread that I have. She says it's like being in a store! (I don't let her see my rayon or specialty threads, she would go nuts!)
It's been almost finished for a while.
Today she decided it was time to finish it.
She worked on the last few rows of fancy stitches, trimmed all her threads and trimmed down the stocking halves while I set up the serger.
She serged the edges together, then serged the top edge to finish it.
It turned out very nice and she plans on using it this coming Christmas.
Later, I went out to the local fabric shop, they are having a big sale right now.
I thought that I would pick up some panels for her to work on.
Do you think they had any????
NO!
nothing!
I did pick up a cute pair of thread snips for her, I bought her the blue ones.
I will put them on a lanyard for her so she doesn't misplace them.
She wanted to sew some owl pillows.
 |
| using all those stitches |
We quickly found something she wanted to make at bubblesandbobbins.com and printed out a pattern.
Courtney looked through some of my fabrics and decided that she would make the first owl out of felt.
(I had some really neat printed felt for the eyes!)
She cut out her pattern, cut out her fabric, then sewed her little owl.
Next day she made another, but with cotton fabrics.
She took them home before I got any pics.
But the next day, she sewed again....she has been working on a panel for a while now.
It's a large crazy quilt Christmas stocking. Two sides to it. She's been trying out all the fancy stitches on my machine, all the different colour thread that I have. She says it's like being in a store! (I don't let her see my rayon or specialty threads, she would go nuts!)
It's been almost finished for a while.
 |
| all done |
She worked on the last few rows of fancy stitches, trimmed all her threads and trimmed down the stocking halves while I set up the serger.
She serged the edges together, then serged the top edge to finish it.
It turned out very nice and she plans on using it this coming Christmas.
Later, I went out to the local fabric shop, they are having a big sale right now.
I thought that I would pick up some panels for her to work on.
Do you think they had any????
NO!
nothing!
 |
| the blue ones |
I will put them on a lanyard for her so she doesn't misplace them.
Wednesday 31 July 2013
I was reading some of my blogs and this was the posting for today
http://theinboxjaunt.com/2013/07/31/organizing-thread/
she also had a great link to another article on thread
http://sewsitall.blogspot.ca/2009/12/when-good-thread-goes-bad.html
A very interesting read!
http://theinboxjaunt.com/2013/07/31/organizing-thread/
she also had a great link to another article on thread
http://sewsitall.blogspot.ca/2009/12/when-good-thread-goes-bad.html
A very interesting read!
Monday 29 July 2013
Last Tuesday we all went to St Jacobs Farmers Market.
I bought some fresh veggies, and some beets for my daughter. She is going to can some pickled beets. YUM! (and give me some!)
I don't do that sort of stuff anymore. We don't eat that much pickling or canned goods anymore.
The kids still do, so I let them make their own. Both of my kids will make pickles and other canned stuff.
My son, Kevin even make his own sausages. He has asked me a couple of times if I have somewhere he can hang sausages to dry....(this guy was a vegan in his late teens, early twenties).
I don't have a cold cellar, or cold room, but I wish I did!
After the farmer's market, we went to a nearby outlet mall.
There is a corning ware store there.
Of course I went in.
And I saw something that I wanted.....hmmm...not true...I saw lots of different dishes that I would like.
I have two different sets of dishes and a set a china, so I really don't need any more. Besides, I don't have room to store more dishes.
And I saw a large square cast iron griddle.
Last year or so I saw a BIG oblong cast iron griddle in Canadian Tire (dept.) store, I wanted to buy it but the mister talked me out of it. I never saw them in that store again!
I had a cast aluminum non stick griddle, but I really don't like non-stick!
So when I saw this one in the corning ware store I bought it! and a silicone handle for it! lol!
It's really heavy, good thing it has 2 handles, because I need both hands to carry it!
And the handles gets really hot!
I've made eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, and today we made pancakes on it! They were perfect!
What I love about this griddle is that, that like all my cast iron pans, I can use them on the stove top, in the oven, and in the barbeque, even a campfire.
On the weekend, I told the mister to take it out to the "Q" to cook the burgers we were having....It did a marvelous job! with no flare-ups in the "Q"!
Took nothing to clean it....just water and a copper scrubbie.
I can't wait to try some potatoes cooked on the "Q" with this new pan!
I bought some fresh veggies, and some beets for my daughter. She is going to can some pickled beets. YUM! (and give me some!)
I don't do that sort of stuff anymore. We don't eat that much pickling or canned goods anymore.
The kids still do, so I let them make their own. Both of my kids will make pickles and other canned stuff.
My son, Kevin even make his own sausages. He has asked me a couple of times if I have somewhere he can hang sausages to dry....(this guy was a vegan in his late teens, early twenties).
I don't have a cold cellar, or cold room, but I wish I did!
After the farmer's market, we went to a nearby outlet mall.
There is a corning ware store there.
Of course I went in.
And I saw something that I wanted.....hmmm...not true...I saw lots of different dishes that I would like.
I have two different sets of dishes and a set a china, so I really don't need any more. Besides, I don't have room to store more dishes.
And I saw a large square cast iron griddle.
 |
| my new Cast Iron griddle |
I had a cast aluminum non stick griddle, but I really don't like non-stick!
So when I saw this one in the corning ware store I bought it! and a silicone handle for it! lol!
It's really heavy, good thing it has 2 handles, because I need both hands to carry it!
And the handles gets really hot!
I've made eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, and today we made pancakes on it! They were perfect!
What I love about this griddle is that, that like all my cast iron pans, I can use them on the stove top, in the oven, and in the barbeque, even a campfire.
On the weekend, I told the mister to take it out to the "Q" to cook the burgers we were having....It did a marvelous job! with no flare-ups in the "Q"!
Took nothing to clean it....just water and a copper scrubbie.
I can't wait to try some potatoes cooked on the "Q" with this new pan!
Friday 26 July 2013
We had some wild weather last week, power was out for many, and wasn't restored to some for days.
The storm was Friday.
Monday, the mister, the grand daughters and I decided to go down to the lake for a walk.
The mister and I wanted to see the new pier our city laid out millions of bucks for.
After we checked it out, we walked along the lakeshore promenade for over an hour and a half.
I wasn't impressed with the pier.
There is a railing, a very high railing all along the length of it....with two bars...that block my view. Others have complained of the same thing. People who are in wheel chairs can't enjoy the view. There is a viewing platform, but if you are in a chair, you can't go up ....I am just short, so I can go up to see the view.
The area didn't look any different for the storm. All along the shore is breakwater, huge boulders.....there is one very small area of sand ...covered in goose poop. It wasn't nice at all! We kept walking towards the next part of the shore that is sandy beach.
We came across a huge willow tree that had been downed in the storm. It was HUGE...must have been a very, very old tree.
The girls and I enjoyed a nice refreshing ice cream cone after our walk.
Later that evening, the mister and I went for another walk for an hour.
Boy, was I tired that night!
The storm was Friday.
Monday, the mister, the grand daughters and I decided to go down to the lake for a walk.
The mister and I wanted to see the new pier our city laid out millions of bucks for.
 |
our MULTI-million $ pier |
I wasn't impressed with the pier.
There is a railing, a very high railing all along the length of it....with two bars...that block my view. Others have complained of the same thing. People who are in wheel chairs can't enjoy the view. There is a viewing platform, but if you are in a chair, you can't go up ....I am just short, so I can go up to see the view.
The area didn't look any different for the storm. All along the shore is breakwater, huge boulders.....there is one very small area of sand ...covered in goose poop. It wasn't nice at all! We kept walking towards the next part of the shore that is sandy beach.
We came across a huge willow tree that had been downed in the storm. It was HUGE...must have been a very, very old tree.
The girls and I enjoyed a nice refreshing ice cream cone after our walk.
Later that evening, the mister and I went for another walk for an hour.
Boy, was I tired that night!
Monday 22 July 2013
AHHHH! At last, some cooler weather.
We had a cold front come through...and when a cold front meets a warm front (or in this case a "hot" front), you can get ferocious thunder storms.
We had quite the storm....pounding rain, hail, wicked winds, trees toppled, hydro(electricity) lines downed and the poles that carried the lines downed.
Parts of the city were without power...some for over 24 hours.
(HMMM...there is a nursing home over in that area...I wonder how they made out?)
The temperature outside is now a comfy 72 degrees. Last week we had 94-96-98 even 101degrees!
I have a reliable temperature gauge under my patio table, in the shade (under a canopy), and one morning last week it was 101! But in full morning sun!...Man it was breathless out.
Great for the pool and swimming, though!
The temps in the pool went up to 90.
I loved that!
I won't even think about getting in unless it is 84.
Too cold and it just makes me ache....so it's not worthwhile to get in it before it's warm enough for me.
I have a "low tech" solar heater for the pool.
That's a 50 foot black garden hose coiled on the patio stones on the far side of the pool. I attached the hose to one of the jets with a fountain attachment.
AND...It really works!
The girls are having fun in the pool.....Well, Courtney is....Hayley is being a normal teen...doesn't want to get her hair wet...doesn't want to look like she is having fun!
She has been reading a bit this summer.
I have been doing a bit of reading myself.
I have numerous books that I have either collected or been given, to read.
Right now I am reading "Blow Fly" by Patricia Cornwell. I like her books...my daughter and I will swap back and forth, and I have a good friend that exchanges books with me. (She passes more my way than me her way).
One thing about having my sewing room in the basement....I don't like going down there when the weather is nice.
We had a cold front come through...and when a cold front meets a warm front (or in this case a "hot" front), you can get ferocious thunder storms.
We had quite the storm....pounding rain, hail, wicked winds, trees toppled, hydro(electricity) lines downed and the poles that carried the lines downed.
Parts of the city were without power...some for over 24 hours.
(HMMM...there is a nursing home over in that area...I wonder how they made out?)
The temperature outside is now a comfy 72 degrees. Last week we had 94-96-98 even 101degrees!
I have a reliable temperature gauge under my patio table, in the shade (under a canopy), and one morning last week it was 101! But in full morning sun!...Man it was breathless out.
Great for the pool and swimming, though!
The temps in the pool went up to 90.
I loved that!
I won't even think about getting in unless it is 84.
Too cold and it just makes me ache....so it's not worthwhile to get in it before it's warm enough for me.
I have a "low tech" solar heater for the pool.
That's a 50 foot black garden hose coiled on the patio stones on the far side of the pool. I attached the hose to one of the jets with a fountain attachment.
AND...It really works!
The girls are having fun in the pool.....Well, Courtney is....Hayley is being a normal teen...doesn't want to get her hair wet...doesn't want to look like she is having fun!
She has been reading a bit this summer.
I have been doing a bit of reading myself.
I have numerous books that I have either collected or been given, to read.
Right now I am reading "Blow Fly" by Patricia Cornwell. I like her books...my daughter and I will swap back and forth, and I have a good friend that exchanges books with me. (She passes more my way than me her way).
One thing about having my sewing room in the basement....I don't like going down there when the weather is nice.
Saturday 20 July 2013
We are in the midst of a hot wave. (if you didn't know)
The meteorologists have been telling us all spring that we would have a hot dry summer.
I didn't believe it, since we were having a very long,cold cool, wet spring.
But! Due to this heat, I have some tomatoes ready to eat already!
Yummy!!!!
I have been finding in the last few years that my yard is becoming more shady.
I planted blackberries in one spot that used to be full sun....not anymore.
One neighbour has a large maple tree that is now shading that area a good deal of the time, and it's taking a long time for the berries to ripen.
I am NOT going to complain, or will I cut any of it back! I love having trees around.
In my opinion, there can never be too many trees ....they cool the air, clean the air, look nice (usually)...I can buy berries, I can't buy shade!
I used to grow more than I do now.
I used to grow carrots, onions, tomatoes, green peepers and zucchini.
I've tried growing broccoli, cauliflower, peas and beans, all with some success.
Nothing like the taste of fresh just picked fruit and veggies.
A friend still has a large garden, and will sometimes send some stuff my way.
But now, I only grow tomatoes and green peppers.
This year, I tried something that I read on Pinterest......I put some Epsom salts into the Miracle Grow that I used on the tomatoes. I also buried some crushed egg shells under each plant.
And are they ever growing FAST!
I used some of that solution on the pepper plants...they have fruit, but aren't growing large like the tomatoes.
My son container gardens, on his second story deck...with great success!
I wonder how high you can garden in a city?
Can the bees find your garden.....say ...10 stories up? You need bees or other bugs for pollination...
Just a thought...
The meteorologists have been telling us all spring that we would have a hot dry summer.
I didn't believe it, since we were having a very long,
But! Due to this heat, I have some tomatoes ready to eat already!
Yummy!!!!
I have been finding in the last few years that my yard is becoming more shady.
I planted blackberries in one spot that used to be full sun....not anymore.
One neighbour has a large maple tree that is now shading that area a good deal of the time, and it's taking a long time for the berries to ripen.
I am NOT going to complain, or will I cut any of it back! I love having trees around.
In my opinion, there can never be too many trees ....they cool the air, clean the air, look nice (usually)...I can buy berries, I can't buy shade!
I used to grow more than I do now.
I used to grow carrots, onions, tomatoes, green peepers and zucchini.
I've tried growing broccoli, cauliflower, peas and beans, all with some success.
Nothing like the taste of fresh just picked fruit and veggies.
A friend still has a large garden, and will sometimes send some stuff my way.
But now, I only grow tomatoes and green peppers.
This year, I tried something that I read on Pinterest......I put some Epsom salts into the Miracle Grow that I used on the tomatoes. I also buried some crushed egg shells under each plant.
And are they ever growing FAST!
I used some of that solution on the pepper plants...they have fruit, but aren't growing large like the tomatoes.
My son container gardens, on his second story deck...with great success!
I wonder how high you can garden in a city?
Can the bees find your garden.....say ...10 stories up? You need bees or other bugs for pollination...
Just a thought...
Friday 5 July 2013
summertime
The first week of summer is gone.
We didn't do much.
We enjoyed the pool a bit, the girls laid out in the yard, listening to music and reading, delighting in the birds and chipmunks coming to the feeders when they were very still and quiet!
Courtney painted a little bird feeder that I bought at the dollar store for her.
She tried using some stencils on it, but then painted over it.
She still has a couple of bird houses to paint. She can work on them next week or later.
We have pencils, markers, paint, pastels, charcoal, loads of paper..we have air dry clay, oven bake clay, and paper mache to play with. I plan on having them make their own paper mach. We can sew, bake, cook...we can make cards, do origami....there is so much we can try our hand at!
The two girls and I went out to lunch and then to Value Village.
Value Village is a second hand shop...clothing, books, household goods......
The girls always find a couple of books they would like to read, and they did this time too.
They picked out some cute "T"s and we found a couple of really nice dresses for them.
Hayley certainly is becoming a mature young woman!
As soon as we got home all the "T"s went into the washer.
The dresses were washed on delicate and hung to dry outside.
Hmmm...had to take them in overnight because it was so humid they didn't dry very well and it was beginning to rain.
The girls have gone to see their other grandparents for the weekend, and they took their pretty dresses to wear to dinner at the clubhouse.
I have a few ideas on want to do for the summer, and Pinterest is full of craft projects for them to try.
Usually Hayley just likes to read (or shop).....lol!
I've got them enrolled in a week of camp at the Art Centre. Two different weeks, so they will each a week home here with me for some one on one time.
I hope they enjoy it.
Hayley really wanted a drawing course, which there wasn't any of...only night courses.
Last year they went to a "camp" at a local pottery shop. They and I were disappointed in that week....they were taken for a looong (in the heat) walk to a local store for a frozen yogurt. They didn't do the things they were supposed to do, the owners were always late getting to their store in the morning and cancelled the second week of camp, to which we had a very, very hard time getting a refund! (6 weeks!) It's a good thing I didn't make any plan to travel, or my daughter would have been stuck for a sitter. ( I often wondered if they were having troubles making a go of the business.)
We didn't do much.
We enjoyed the pool a bit, the girls laid out in the yard, listening to music and reading, delighting in the birds and chipmunks coming to the feeders when they were very still and quiet!
Courtney painted a little bird feeder that I bought at the dollar store for her.
She tried using some stencils on it, but then painted over it.
 |
| Courtney's bird feeder |
We have pencils, markers, paint, pastels, charcoal, loads of paper..we have air dry clay, oven bake clay, and paper mache to play with. I plan on having them make their own paper mach. We can sew, bake, cook...we can make cards, do origami....there is so much we can try our hand at!
The two girls and I went out to lunch and then to Value Village.
Value Village is a second hand shop...clothing, books, household goods......
The girls always find a couple of books they would like to read, and they did this time too.
They picked out some cute "T"s and we found a couple of really nice dresses for them.
Hayley certainly is becoming a mature young woman!
As soon as we got home all the "T"s went into the washer.
The dresses were washed on delicate and hung to dry outside.
Hmmm...had to take them in overnight because it was so humid they didn't dry very well and it was beginning to rain.
The girls have gone to see their other grandparents for the weekend, and they took their pretty dresses to wear to dinner at the clubhouse.
I have a few ideas on want to do for the summer, and Pinterest is full of craft projects for them to try.
Usually Hayley just likes to read (or shop).....lol!
 |
| Courtney's handiwork |
I hope they enjoy it.
Hayley really wanted a drawing course, which there wasn't any of...only night courses.
Last year they went to a "camp" at a local pottery shop. They and I were disappointed in that week....they were taken for a looong (in the heat) walk to a local store for a frozen yogurt. They didn't do the things they were supposed to do, the owners were always late getting to their store in the morning and cancelled the second week of camp, to which we had a very, very hard time getting a refund! (6 weeks!) It's a good thing I didn't make any plan to travel, or my daughter would have been stuck for a sitter. ( I often wondered if they were having troubles making a go of the business.)
Friday 28 June 2013
The first long weekend of summer!
The girls are home from school on a PD day (professional development), so they get a really long weekend!
And at home, not here with me.
They have been staying home while their mother works when they have the odd day off.
Last week, when Courtney was home with strep, she stayed with me.
They have to be quiet and not bug her, because, even though she is home, she is working in her office.
They are now old enough to realize that she is working.
Hayley wants to stay home , but her Mom has her come here, too.
I have enrolled them in some art classes this summer, I offered a week of dance camp too but no one was interested.
And really, Courtney has to rest her knee. She really injured it in the winter, falling on ice. It's been 6 months and still hurts if she overdoes it.
So they will be here for most of the summer.
Courtney loves to swim in the pool.
She got in it at 68 degrees.....BBBRRRR.
It's warm now ..81 degrees.
This will probably be the last summer I have them both, they are getting old enough to stay at home.
I have been doing some quilting.
I took a couple of quilts at guild the other day.
These ones are ready, or mostly ready to quilt.
I have 4 to work on this summer! A cute little orange and pink one from one guild that was a kit and I already finished, and told you about in my last 2 blogs and two from my other guild that are ready to quilt, plus one that I had to layer.
I started with the largest one...a pieced Christmas quilt.
Very pretty!
I was given a batt for this quilt, but it was garbage...thin, with holes. I wasn't going to waste my time using that batt, so I got one from my stash.
Then I layered and pinned the quilt, started quilting and I noticed the back was bubbling.
I picked it apart and then used quilt spray on it.
I (machine) quilted along the blocks on a diagonal.
Then inside the block along either side of the white squares, down through the whole quilt.
I used a pale-ish green thread on top and a dark green in the bobbin.
In the side and corner triangles I will free motion a motif....just searching for the right one.
I have one in mind just need to scan, resize and print it out. And opps!, printer is out of ink...going to have to go and buy some more! LOL!
I haven't decided what to do in the wide border...maybe something Christmas-y.
The girls are home from school on a PD day (professional development), so they get a really long weekend!
And at home, not here with me.
They have been staying home while their mother works when they have the odd day off.
Last week, when Courtney was home with strep, she stayed with me.
They have to be quiet and not bug her, because, even though she is home, she is working in her office.
They are now old enough to realize that she is working.
Hayley wants to stay home , but her Mom has her come here, too.
I have enrolled them in some art classes this summer, I offered a week of dance camp too but no one was interested.
And really, Courtney has to rest her knee. She really injured it in the winter, falling on ice. It's been 6 months and still hurts if she overdoes it.
So they will be here for most of the summer.
Courtney loves to swim in the pool.
She got in it at 68 degrees.....BBBRRRR.
It's warm now ..81 degrees.
This will probably be the last summer I have them both, they are getting old enough to stay at home.
I have been doing some quilting.
I took a couple of quilts at guild the other day.
These ones are ready, or mostly ready to quilt.
 |
| not gray, it is really green |
I started with the largest one...a pieced Christmas quilt.
Very pretty!
I was given a batt for this quilt, but it was garbage...thin, with holes. I wasn't going to waste my time using that batt, so I got one from my stash.
Then I layered and pinned the quilt, started quilting and I noticed the back was bubbling.
I picked it apart and then used quilt spray on it.
I (machine) quilted along the blocks on a diagonal.
Then inside the block along either side of the white squares, down through the whole quilt.I used a pale-ish green thread on top and a dark green in the bobbin.
In the side and corner triangles I will free motion a motif....just searching for the right one.
I have one in mind just need to scan, resize and print it out. And opps!, printer is out of ink...going to have to go and buy some more! LOL!
I haven't decided what to do in the wide border...maybe something Christmas-y.
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