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!

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.

my new 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!

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.


our MULTI-million $ pier

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!



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 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...

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.

Courtney's bird feeder

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!

Courtney's handiwork

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.)