AWOL

My goodness, it was ages ago since I posted something here in blog land, so here is a catchup post which is not in any particular order.

First the weather, it has turned cold,  where I live there is not much snow, however, only 20 miles or so areas from me have received substantial amounts.  Then it warms up and rains, you guessed it slush, then gets cold again with icy conditions on the roads.  We do have a good service of keeping the roads clear,  starting with bus routes first, then highly travelled roads and streets, last are the subdivisions or streets less traveled,   It's winter in Canada and I don't look forward to this time of the year.  

After having to go to a city north of where I live, my car was a mess so had to give it a good wash. I try and do that often during the winter as the salt which is put on the roads, does not do the body of the car much good. 

It's cloudy today, no significant weather forecast, temp  -2*C,  this will be the high reading for most of the next seven days, with one night going down to -13*C certainly not the norm for this time of the year.

Last week it was very very windy and the direction of it caused a seiche on lake Erie.  The levels near where I live receded 6 to 8 feet.  Photo's show enormous waves, looking both awesome and dangerous at the same time.

Had lunch with two past coworkers and having another lunch with six different past coworkers this coming Friday. 

Happy hour Friday's and the last Friday of November was pot luck dinner.

Went to the theatre and dinner with my ex's friends, and a lovely evening was had by all.

There was a town hall meeting with the owner of the building I live in, in which we were informed about the swimming pool that will be ready for next summer, a library will be installed in our common room, etc, etc.   Residents also advised about issues they were having, which we were told would be rectified. 

Connected to a couple of long lost friends.  Visited them early in the afternoon, invited to stay for dinner, chatted and chatted some more and home at 10:00 p.m.  Had a lovely visit catching up with all of their news and telling them mine.  We will get together again soon.

Had a Dr. appointment, all fine there.

Today, is our holiday pot luck lunch with my quilting guild.   After we have eaten we will be doing a crafty project, sounds like fun.

Saturday, is our Secret Santa gift exchange upstairs.  We always have a great time at this event, so looking forward to it.  New this year is a ugly sweater contest, I couldn't justify the cost of buying one so made my own.  Snacks are also included.

If you look at all of my coming and goings food seems to be quite common, doesn't it.  Can you see a DIET starting on January 2nd ??   I can.

Christmas shopping done for three of my great grands, only five more to go, but they are easy gifts.  I have had to reduce my gift giving during the past few years, just too many family members to buy for. Put an age limit of under 18 years, so only give eight grands gifts. Christmas is for children. 

I have a lot of fabric in my sewing room, so thinking about making a new quilt for the youngest in the family as they were all given one when they were born.  They now need a new one for their bigger beds.  Hopefully, they will all be done for the great grands for next Christmas. 

Retrieved my Christmas decorations from my downstairs locker, I don't put up a tree any more, however,  do make my apartment look festive with lights and numerous Christmassy items I have collected over time.  I started doing that yesterday, will likely finished it off this weekend.  

My sister had her family Christmas get together last weekend, early I know but necessary due to several circumstances.  If the roads are safe I will visit her on Sunday.  

Time to get moving and get ready for my lunch outing today. 

Have a great day.

Cheers.

 

Where did that one go

Here it is Sunday again, and as my title indicates the past week just flew by so fast.

Two appointments with the dentist,  the first one was for my regular cleaning, and as I have dental coverage for 90% of the bill not much money had to come out of my bank account.  The second was for the replacement of a filling which decided to fall out last week.  It was under warrantee, (never knew that) so that was a free fix. 

Made a visit to Dr. as I am going to have my insides looked at by a camera.  A good clean out after Christmas, does that mean I can go overboard with all of the food.  LOL

The owner of the building I live in arranged for a photographer to come in and take photos of anyone one who wanted to participate.  I decided to have mine done, and have not received the proofs yet.

It was time for me to have a hair cut, so that was taken care of last week too.

Happy hour on Friday, everyone there had signed a birthday card and then they all sang Happy Birthday.  There are so many lovely people here, so friendly and helpful.  Don't regret moving here for a minute.

As yesterday was my birthday, and I received many best wishes from family and friends near and far.  In the evening my two daughters and SIL's took me out for dinner at an Italian restaurant, delicious meal and of course the sparkler covered cake to finish off the meal.

Our weather has been a mixed bag of everything Mother Nature can throw at us.  Snow, rain, wind, sun shine and even some thunder.  Today is cloudy, with a forecast of snow, with a high temp of 5*C, we shall get what ever comes our way.

I plan on visiting my sister this afternoon, if the weather holds and hope to be home before it gets dark, so it might be a short one today.

Have a great day

Cheers.

Finished

We have had some some rainy and cooler days this past week and more is expected for the coming seven days.

It's that time of the year when we can expect almost anything and everything in one day.  At least where I live there has been none of that white stuff yet.

Last Saturday I went to a craft day, great to see all the different crafts everyone was doing.  Unfortunately I had another commitment so my visit was short, will go again if there is another one planned.   Later the same day I went to a Barber Shop Concert,  Does not sound very interesting does it? but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

  

Have had a couple of appointments this past week, which were good.  Next week a  couple more, I always seem to have them all at once, which is a good thing really, get all done in a couple of weeks then I don't need to think about it for six months or more.

Went to yoga three times this week and also did a couple of walks, need to get a few pounds off---again.  

Went to my quilting guilds monthly meeting, it was an enjoyable time, as always.  Several quilts were finished for the Tiny Home Project here in the city, so they will be donated soon.  There was also lots of show and tell.  I  had just recently finished my 16 x 20 inch confetti fabric picture which I have been working on during the summer months.  Took it for show and tell and pleased everyone liked it.  So, I showing it here and hope you like it too.  Picture not very straight, sorry.

I browsed on the web to give me some ideas, combined all of the things I would like to see in my project and this is the result.   Some of the pieces of fabric are as small as a grain of rice so that I could get the effect of leaves, other pieces are a little bigger.  The rocks are from landscape fabric showing rocks, the water is strips of fabric, the water falls are threads from cheese cloth and batting pulled apart and mixed with white glue.  I attached black tulle on the top to make sure everything stayed in place as some of the pieces were coming loose even though they were ironed on with SAS.  I then attached it to an artist canvas, now having to decide where to hang it in my living room.

A very big crowd of residents were at the happy hour last night so lots of conversation and laughs.

Laundry done today, and I plan on visiting my sister tomorrow if she is up for a visit.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

Absent

 I was surprise to see no posts have been added since the beginning of the month, and here we are in the last week of October, I really don't know where the time goes.

A catch up and not in any particular order.

Visited my sister several times, she is doing okay and seems fine on the outside, but wonder what is happening on the inside.

Another outing with two of my quilting friends, this time we visited an apple orchard that has a shop with all fruity treats on display, so we had a nice long chat over an apple cookie and a coffee.  A bit too early for a cider plus I was also driving, so will save that treat for another day when I am a passenger.  

Attended the monthly jazz concert, saw two groups of musicians that we had not seen before which is always nice.

My friend "J" and I purchased another subscription to the Grand Theatre in London, ON again this year and attended the first play last weekend.  "The Play that goes Wrong",  the story was, a murder mystery being performed for the first time by a group of amateur actors and everything and anything went wrong.  It was a very good light hearted play, a bit over the top at times with the slap stick comedy, but I enjoyed it.

Saw the movie, "The Roofman"  it was a good movie based on a true story.

Monday, October 13, was Thanksgiving day here in Canada, on Saturday October  11th I was at DD1's family turkey dinner.  Again, DD1 did not want the turkey carcass, so it came home with me and into a nice big pot of soup.  On the 12th I was at my grandson's for turkey dinner, and met my youngest GGD  "H" for the first time.    "H", was wearing a knitted dress that I made for her mother, my grand daughter "C", when she was six months old, thirty years ago.  I had forgotten about the dress, but so happy it has lasted all of that time and still being worn.  

My DD2 was with her family on that weekend,  so last week I invited them over for a Thanksgiving dinner.  All of us had had too much turkey so I opted for ham this time.

Friday's happy hours upstairs here in the apartment building and a special get together to see the Toronto Blue Jays win the deciding game, now on to the World Series.  They won the first game of that series last night, however, I did not see that one.

Treated my ex to a dinner, for his birthday.  

 Yesterday, Friday October 24th was the convocation for my youngest GD "C", (not the same "C" as mentioned above).  She had graduated from college with honours for the three years of flight courses she has taken, so proud of her.  Now onto to further education, where she is taking courses to be a flight instructor, so that will allow her to accumulate more flying hours.  She has been accepted by an airline,  so when those hours of flying are done, she can then go for more schooling for the airliners planes.  Another couple of years and hopefully she will be flying the plane that takes me on a vacation. 

I have not done much quilting during the summer, but working on a fabric confetti picture.  What this entails is me choosing the fabric I need, using Steam A Seam so that I can iron the fabric where I need it to be in my picture.  However, before I can do that, I cut the fabric into confetti size pieces, use tweezers to put it on the picture, then iron it on.  I know what you are thinking.  No!  I am not crazy, well maybe a little bit, however, I love doing this type of craft.  When it is completed I will show you a photo and you can then see how crazy I am.  

Well that is that for me today.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

Is Summer Still Here!

In S.W. Ontario we are having some lovely weather, still wearing my summer clothes during the day, the evenings are cool so a sweater is needed.

A busy week,  yoga, coffee and chat afternoon on Monday,  Wednesdays quilting meeting, not at our regular location this time.   But at a local shop which sells articles of all shapes and kinds,  which are made locally.  There is also a meeting room,  which usually hosts classes, was available on this day so an appointment was made for us to go there this month.  The shop owner gave us a talk on how she and her daughter started the shop and where all the pieces which are available to purchase were made..  We then had our meeting and light snacks, followed, of course, with us all browsing around to look at and purchase some of her displayed pieces.  I resisted the temptations, but fell in love with a bowl carved from a root of a large apple tree, however, I could not justify the cost of it so left it for someone else to enjoy. 

On Thursday, a trip to the pharmacy for a Rx refill, also enquired  as to when the flu  and Covid shots would be available.   Covid shot was administered, but need to wait a couple of weeks for the flu shot.  Then on to Service Ontario to make an appointment for my 80 year old driving test.  Oh! we can do that right now, said the person on the desk.  Test done, photo taken, I can drive for two more years.

Friday,  picked up a few groceries, and washed my car,  Happy hour in the evening.

Yesterday, went to a local theatre, I say local, it is a good hour and 20 minute drive from where I live,  A lovely day for a drive so didn't mind the sitting for that long,  We saw, "The Wind Coming Over the Sea" by Emma Donoghue. It is a true story of a family coming from Ireland to Canada, and all of the hardships they encountered.  Enjoyed it very much.   Emma Donoghue, also wrote "The Room", the play and movie both of which I have seen in the past.

Today is the 8th birthday of one of my great grand daughters, Mum and Dad do not have a party for their children, but each one gets to choose what they want to do for their special day.  Usually each one choses something simple such as a shopping trip for a piece of clothing and then a food they particularly like but don't get to have often.   

  As it is such a lovely day, I plan on going for a walk during the afternoon.

Have a great day

Cheers

Winding down

 Yes, summer by the calendar is done, however, we are still having some lovely sunny warm days, and I must add some cooler nights,

The heat and very little rain we had during the summer this year seams to be hastening the leaves to turn into their glorious, reds, oranges and yellows and every colour in between.  Starting to look as if it will be a colourful fall (autumn).  During this month we have had some much needed rain, now the lawns are a nice bright green again.  Making the most of these nice days as they will not last long.  The evenings are drawing in and once we move the clocks back it will be dark even earlier.  Not looking forward to the shorter days.

So, what have I been up to this month.   My sister is not well, so visiting her.  She lives almost an hours drive from me so it ends up as a long day.  Never mind it need to do it, not only for her sake, but for mine too. 

Took myself  to the movies and saw Downton Abbey.  I had a gift card for the movie theatre and also one for Tim Horton's, so a lovely evenings entertainment and a meal all for nothing. and thoroughly enjoyed it all.   Later the same week, I again went to see the movie with a friend, enjoyed it again.

Then off to see a performance at a theatre in Petrolia where they were showing "All about ABBA".   I have always loved their music and this show did not disappoint.  

Also attended a local venue to hear a jazz concert.  Every month a different group of musicians put on a free show.  This one was a trio from Chicago. 

Pot luck dinners have started up again after not having any for the summer.  I made sweet potato casserole this time,  It must have been tasty as I came home with an empty dish.

I have been working on a fabric confetti fabric picture this past month.  It is looking nice, if I do say so myself.  Hoping to get it finished and on a frame within the next week or so.

This coming week I go to our quilting guild meeting.  This one will be held at a local craft shop which has a meeting/craft room, where the owner will be giving us a talk about her shop.  Looking forward to it.  

My DD2 and SIL will be returning today from their vacation to Alaska, it was an anniversary trip.  DD1 will have a birthday next week, and a GGD has a birthday the following week.   Then Thanksgiving, and I have received an invitation to have dinner with my GS and family.   

Today, I will be going out with a friend for a drive as it is looking like another lovely sunny warm day.  Not sure where or what but I am sure we will find something interesting.

Have a great day

Cheers.

It has changed

 "IT" is the weather.  

As soon as September started it changed almost overnight, and the nights are decidedly cooler.

Yesterday, we had to batten down the hatches so to speak, as it was so windy.  Overnight it settled down and this morning all is quiet,  cloudy and cool.

Wednesday, was the first meeting of the quilting guild I belong to.  We don't meet during the months of July and August so we all had a lot of chatting to do to get caught up on what everyone had done over the summer.  We must have been busy doing  other things than sewing as there was not many projects for show and tell portion of the program. 

Two of the members and myself go out every two or three weeks to find an interesting place to take a look at and finish off with a lunch.  The last of our travels took us to an art gallery showing fabric paintings and then to an Art Guild in another city.   This is where we saw a show the members had just finished.

This guild has members who sew, paint, work with clay etc. so it was interesting to see their latest show which included all of the mediums.  We got our idea for our guilds next challenge.  

With the help of the two friends, I took on the task of explaining the challenge to the members of our guild.  To make it short, one picture was given to each member and they had to look at it and use what inspired  them in this picture to make their project.  All methods of sewing or even some other medium could be used.   The challenge ends at our March meeting next year and then each piece will be put in a show in April.  It will be interesting to see the finished projects.

The rest of the week was doing all things that normally need to be done, and then yesterday was happy hour upstairs, which is always includes a lot of chatter and laughs.

Have a great day.

Cheers