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 Arrived home in the wee small hours yesterday, Sunday from a great vacation with my three children, one daughter in law and two sons in law.

We had a great time in the Dominican Republic for seven days, lots of fun, laughs, food and drinks.  Most of all we made some wonderful memories.

This was the first vacation that my children had taken together since 1977,  forty nine years ago.  

DD1 and hubby, did parasailing, something they had never done before and which can now be taken off their bucket list.  DD2 and hubby, did a day long city tour.  Both were enjoyed by all.   Son and daughter in law were not interested in doing a tour, so they along with me had a quiet day, reading and swimming.  Taking lots of photos, swimming, long walks on the beach, reading, eating and drinking were done with all of us together during the vacation.

We all met up for breakfast and dinner every night at the al a carte restaurants having, Italian, Mexican, American and Japanese and of course the buffet. 

 At the Teppanyaki restaurant I was recruited to cook the meal for everyone at our section,  lots of fun, and laughter while I was trying to do my best.    After I had done my cooking, DD2's hubby was then recruited to cook,, more laughs, it was a great night.

We are still taking to each other, and discussed a possible family vacation again, but one thing we did decide was to have a family reunion.  A reunion, hopefully later this year, which will include everyone in my late sister's family too.

Now back to reality, did some grocery shopping yesterday, laundry today, then out for lunch with two friends from the quilt guild I belong to.  We made a trip to a garden centre which had a lot of their plants displayed.  A Hosta and a potted rose left with us.  

Have a great day

Cheers.

 

Will it last this time

Spring is a fickle time of the year here, one day warm and sunny and within the blink of the eye the next day we are hauling out the winter gear or the brolly and wellingtons.  At present, 9:45 a.m. we have sunshine and 6*C , so hoping this is going to be a nice day.

The recent quilt show did well, when I signed in for a visit my name was on the 422nd line, there were more people coming in after me. Such a beautiful display of quilts were hung and displayed on the walls.  I arrived in the late afternoon as I did not want to make two trips, one to see the show and the second to pick up my two pieces after it closed.  (Price of gasoline).  Before leaving I assisted in taking down all of the quilts and folding them ready to be picked up a little later.  

My suitcase is ready for packing later this week, and I have been sorting out what will go in it.  I always pack too much, so trying to whittle down the choices I have made so far.  One does not need much clothing where I am going, a bathing suit and something to wear in the evening should take care of it.  However adding in shoes, a book, and all the bits and bobs it doesn't take long for the weight to start adding up.  This suitcase has done a lot of travelling, and no extra weight was ever as issue, so not to worry, it will all work out just fine.

Have a great day

Cheers

  

Winter please leave

 One day of spring like weather and we get several days of winter again.  That has been going on now for a couple of weeks, so tired of the cold.

I did see some yellow flower buds on the forsythia, and also green ones on some trees, that means the ground is warming up.  Should start seeing more signs of spring soon. 

I had a lovely Easter weekend in Ottawa, visiting two granddaughters with my DD2 and S-I-L, Have not seen them since Christmas, so it was nice to catch up with all their news.

The granddaughters and a partner cooked Easter dinner of ham, funeral potato casserole and roasted veg, home made apple pie and ice cream.  Delicious meal, lots of conversation and laughter around the dinner table.  

My youngest granddaughter  "C" is now involved in her final flight test, so is hoping the weather improves for that.   She is looking forward to being a flight instructor, which will allow her to accumulate the flying hours she needs to be able to fly for a commercial airline.  

Granddaughter "K" is on her final stretch for her PHD which should be at the end of this year. Her prof. is sending her on another conference in July.  This time to Spain, she is looking forward to that and plans on taking some time for a mini vacation too.

My vacation is coming up soon so I have started to sort out some summer weather clothes in my closet.  I did get a new bathing suit, but don't expect to need any more new things to buy.  

On Thursday this week I will be taking two of my fabric art pieces to a local quilt show.  On Saturday I will need to pick them up again, however, will go early enough to look at all of the displays before the show ends.

 It doesn't sound as if I have been busy for the last couple of weeks, but I really have been on the go most days.  Just hoping the weather warms up for a nice comfortable daily walk without having to bundle up in winter garb.  

Have a great day.

Cheers

It has arrived

Spring arrived a couple of days ago, however, someone forgot to advise Mother Nature.  We do not have any snow where I live, however, even with the temps on the plus side of zero, it does not feel much warmer.  The ground is still quite cold and along with the rain and windy conditions it still feels like winter still has it claws on us.  The forecast for the coming week is indicating it will be a wet one with every day having rain at some point.  

Not much happened in my world this past week other than the normal routine of yoga, housework and sewing.  I did, however, venture out and did some grocery shopping to replenish fruit, veg and dairy for the fridge.  As a vacation to sunny climes is coming up in April I needed to look for a bathing suit, one of which I found came home with me.  No bikini, but one that covers up the not so nice looking bits of an older body, you know the ones that have a little skirt.  

My yearly eye exam was on Tuesday, not to worry as the macular degeneration has not changed since last year at this time.  The vitamins I take on a regular basis must be helping.  Several years ago I had cataract surgery so have only needed glasses for reading or doing close up work.  No additional glasses needed now.  Next appointment a year from now.

While browsing the net, I saw that the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands opened  for the yearly display of spring flowers.  Several years ago my late husband and I visited the gardens and all the flowers and sculptures were beautiful.  He was not a flower lover like I am, but he was impressed with the colours of the flowers and everything in the gardens.  While there I purchased a book for a souvenir, that book is now on my coffee table so that I can take a look any time I want.   Keukenhof will be open until May 10th, so it you are fortunate to be in the neighbourhood and you love flowers, it is well worth the visit.

So what am I up to today,  I will go for a walk before the rain which is expected later today then I will finish knitting a cardigan for my youngest great granddaughter's birthday next month.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

99.9% Gone

 Thanks for some warmer temps and quite a lot of rain during the last week or so, most of the snow has gone.  Only the piles that were ploughed from parking lots etc, and the drifts along the side of the roads remain.   Hope it is not all cleared away to make room for more snow in the coming days, we still have to remember it is March when we can expect almost everything and anything weather wise.

Last Monday March 2nd, I went to see my niece, as she had some things my sister had left for me.  The items that she gave me included some books,  my Mothers WWII Red Cross nurse pin, and some post cards and greeting cards.  The cards were the most lovely things I have every seen.  My Mother must have given them to her some time ago.  

Two were cards my grandfather wrote to his wife, one for a birthday and the other for Christmas.  I never met my grandmother as she died in childbirth, I believe in the mid or late 1920's, so these cards have to be at least 100 years old.  They were made from celluloid and paper with a fine string of thread. Written inside were words from a loving husband to his wife.    

The post cards have no writing on them to indicate who they were from or to whom they were to be given to.  They are made of a very fine fabric with embroidery on it and framed with cardboard.  

I wish I had seen these things before my mother passed as now there is so much information lost.

I would like to display all of these items instead of having them hidden in box, so I am thinking they would look lovely if they were framed.  

It was a nice sunny day, when I went to see my niece and I knew I would not be home for lunch, so I packed a picnic.   Leaving her house I headed to the lake shore, it was still covered in snow and the water was no where to be seen as it was all frozen as far as the eye could see.  It was still very cold, but nice and warm with the sun coming through the windows, so enjoyed my picnic in the car.

Busy with my quilting guild, going out with friends, pot luck dinners, and happy hours, life is good.

Have a great day

Cheers.

Thunder ????

 During the past week we have been having some milder temperatures and rain.  Getting rid of some of the snow finally, thank goodness.

Last evening around 8:00 p.m. I though I saw lightening outside my window, no, it can't be, we normally only get that it the summer time.

Another flash and thunder, then rain, hail and freezing rain.  It lasted quite awhile before everything calmed down.

So what did we have, Thundersnow storm.

Quite spectacular, and unusual to have this.  I have only seen it once before.

This morning, slick roads which have put a damper on my drive today.

Have a great day,

Cheers.

Vegetable, sun, cold

 Lets get the weather taken care of first. 

It is really cold. woke this morning to -16*C however, it feels like -23*C with the wind chill factored in, and it appears we had another dusting of snow overnight.  At least the wind died down in the evening so no more snow blowing all over the place making the drifts even deeper than they were.   I hope the long range forecast which says the weather will be moderating later this month is in fact going to happen.  The sun is shining, so looking forward  to some vitamin D today.

The vegetable. 

My two youngest granddaughters, I say youngest,  K is 28 and  C is 23 years old.  They are both still in university and college, living with a partner and they all love to cook.   They try recipes and different ways to prepare new and unusual foods of all kinds.  It is nice to know they are not filling up on mac and cheese and french fries.

I received a call from K, one day last week saying----grandma have you had rapini aka Brocolli rabe before?  I have heard of it but never eaten it.  She then said-- it is the worst vegetable we have ever had, we made it tonight and it was not good, so bitter, it tastes like Buckleys.  Buckleys, for those who do not  know, it is a terrible tasting, over the counter cough and cold  syrup here in Canada.  The ad for it says " Taste terrible, but it works"  

After using Google to find out more about this vegetable, I read,  the bitterness can change on how it is prepared and the age of it.  I am sure it is one of those vegetables you have to acquire a taste for.  I don't think they will buy, cook or eat it any time soon.  

Have you ever prepared or eaten it?

Have a great day

Cheers.