Sister B- Day

 Cloudy and wet again today, not that warm either.   Cannot complain, it could be worse with winds blowing making it feel colder than it actually is.  April showers bring May flowers.  OK.. mother nature, this is the last day of April, sunshine tomorrow??

When in England, May 1st always had us doing Maypole dancing, have you ever done that?

Back to the subject of the day.

I made this quilt for my sister, I gave it to her for her birthday.  The photo was taken in 2008, when I was making it,  so I do believe it was for her 55th birthday the following year.  I really enjoyed doing this pattern, using small pieces of fabric it certainly helped to get the bin of scrapes reduced somewhat, however, the bin has now increased in size and is full again.  

This is just the top of the quilt, it still needed to be sandwiched with batting and backing, quilted and a binding put on.  A photo of the finished quilt or of me giving it to her was not taken.  

After looking at this quilt again today, I may just find the pattern and do another to use up more of my smaller pieces of fabric.  However, I would not make it as scrappy as this one, would use all of the same white fabric for the background of the blocks, as I look at this photo now, some of the white really dominates some and takes away from the entire look the soft pale colours.

The second photo is a close up of part of the boarder.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

 

Change of direction

 On a normal day I don't have anything interesting to blog about, so the direction is changing from my day to day happenings to something which interests me.

I will include things of a non personal nature and..........

QUILTING

In the coming days I will be posting projects that I have done in the past which may or may not have been posted before, along with a little story about it or why I made it.

Starting soon you will see the products of my labour over the years.

I am sorry if this stops some of my readers from visiting, however, it may open up new doors for others to explore what I do or have done in the past.

Have a great day.

Cheers

LaughiUnfortunately, many

On one of our Tv programs last night there was a Happy 90th Birthday tribute to Carol Burnett, love that lady.

Had lots of good laughs from all of the antics her and the supporting actors and actresses when that program aired years ago.   Many of my favourite  skits were shown again last night.    Unfortunately many of her fellow actors are now gone.  She looked fantastic, as well as some of the older stars who have worked with her and were by her side during the show.

Comedy is not like "back then" unfortunately.

Wall the wall sunshine today, nice for a change but, will be wet again for the next few days.

GD "C" has arrived at her destination and all unpacked, so pleased she arrived safe and sound.

All ready for my meeting tonight, looking forward to it, as I always do.   Not much makes me happy these days but, this certainly does.

Well, better get a move on things to do, places to go and people to see.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

And it's gone, just like that

Feeling so much better today.

Had a nice walk this morning not too warm but sunny, then the clouds came in again,  now as I write after dinner sun shining, just in time to get ready to set.

Notes all done for tomorrow night, even at my age, I find speaking in front of a large crowd a bit intimidating, feel so much better at it when I have notes in front of me.  So I am ready.

My Grand daughter travelling up north had her flight cancelled yesterday due to fog at her destination, not sure where she is at the present time. Today was cloudy there so maybe a chance she was able to fly in.

Not much else happening today, and not much more as it is time to wind down and watch some mindless TV.

Have  great day or evening.

Cheers.

Busy

 Busy at doing what! you might ask, well nothing really, just stuff.

Do not have much ambition, getting to be a lazy broad,  am I not.

Have you ever felt as if you are down in a rabbit hole, wandering through tunnel after tunnel, you know there is a light at the end of it, however, it is a long way off.  Twist and turns, some good, others not so much.  

Have started to sort out my sewing room again, did I not do that a short while ago.  That tidy up was for large pieces of fabric, now into the smaller pieces, I wish I could throw some of the, what some would call too small, away, however, fabric is not cheap, the good stuff any way, so cannot justify tossing it.  I have seen many scrap quilts made from small pieces of fabric, so have started to make a dent, small as it may be in that pile.

Finished my notes for the demonstration I am doing later this week, after Thursday I will post a photo of the project I am using for that.

My youngest GD "C" should  now be flying to her college co-op placement for the Summer.  On her way to Iqaluit, NWT.  It is not very warm there, if it ever gets warm, snow is still on the ground, how much I don't know, Winter wear will be the order of the day for awhile yet.   Look forward to seeing some of the photo's I have asked her to send to me.  

Groceries this morning, not sure what is happening at the store, we were there at 9:45 a.m. no maned cash registers were open, you could of course check out yourself, however, will a cart full of stuff being done on those little shelves is not a task I would be looking forward to.  Eventually, the cashier with the worst personality I have ever encountered in a store, checked us out and we were on our way.

Up really early yesterday morning, for me anyway, a relative's funeral in the UK was being live streamed at 11:00 a.m. their time, which meant it was a 6:00 a.m. for us here in Canada.  It was a long Monday, as I did not crawl into bed until midnight.   

Ice hockey is a very popular sport here, and at the present time the initial start to the play-offs have started.  Of course, they are all televised, I don't mind watching one each week for which is usually a team from a city not all that far from us, however, one every night and sometimes two is overload in my opinion.  Not going to buy my own TV, so grin and bear it, either do some hand sewing or might even take up reading instead.

Was sunny and cold, however, clouds appear to have rolled in again, April showers so they say, brings May flowers.  It must be true as the pop up garden center has now be erected in the grocer store parking lot.

Well, looks as if it is time for lunch

Have a great day.

Cheers.

 

Hobby Farm

What and how many animals constitute a hobby farm?   I do believe we are starting one, not one which is planned, one where the animal life just happened to choose the property I live on.

There have been deer for years, chipmunks, racoons, groundhogs, skunks and numerous varieties of birds.  Now, however, we have a pair of mating ducks and a turkey.  I draw the line at cows and pigs, been there done that in my growing up years, it is hard work.  All these visitors need is a few seeds and they are happy to go their merry way and come back later for another meal.  My kind of farming.

Wet day today and not very warm either, so not going for a walk today or even tomorrow as the forecast is the same.  Gives my body a rest from that exercise which is always a wise thing to do once in awhile.

Laundry on, three bathrooms are next, then the kitchen.   Some errands need to be taken care of this afternoon, a Rx needs to be picked up and another trip to the bank, as the one I went to yesterday had their machines removed, hope new ones are goin in, cannot see them not replacing them in this day and age..

I hate to complain to the world, however, feeling quite miserable today, the weather does not help much, maybe it's just the weather, I know I need sunshine.

Have a great day

Cheers.

 

May is filling up

 Next month is going to be a busy one for me, two lunches and possibly another one, sewing day with my guild, a guild meeting, four birthday parties for my great grands and a visit with other family.

May will go by fast by the looks of it.

Can't think of an interesting subject to talk about today, so you are going to get weather.   When we went for our walk it was sunny and we finally had to take off our sweaters as it was so warm.  I am liking that.   However, as I write this it is pouring hard with rain, which is the forecast for tomorrow also.   Make the grass grow and the plants start to sprout some more.  

We have had a pair of ducks visiting our bird feeder every day for over a week now,  I think they know when the feeder is going to be filled up, which is around 4:30 p.m.   Not sure if they have a nest across the street in the pond over there.

Well going now in the sewing room as nothing can be done outside at the present time.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

Common Sense

 Getting a bit tired of just talking about the weather, being in it is depressing enough, instead of writing about it. Then I seem to be chatting about how much I have done or more like, what I have not done, so decided to have a subject of some kind to chat about.

Today: common sense.

Google, what would we do without it, defines common sense as: 

You are born with an ability to develop common sense.  As life progresses you learn more about the world and this gives you insight into what makes sense and what potential solutions could be.

You can be intelligent without being sense wise.

I agree with the last sentence, as I know a lot of people who have had diploma's in almost everything imaginable, and they know a lot about what they have learnt in that particular field, however, common sense is lacking.  It makes me wonder how they every got to where they are in life without knowing some basics.

I also have encountered many people who look as dumb as a post but so full of common sense it is hard to believe what they have done in their lives without furthering their education.

Then their are others who have intelligence and common sense.

It does not mean common sense and/or intelligence makes or break a person, it is how they hand both of those things.

That's my feelings about common sense, what do you think?

Talked to DD2 who has just returned from a Caribbean cruise, they had a wonderful time, so glad as they have both worked so had to get where they are in life.

Can't resist--- the weather is the pits.  Last week, temps in the high 20's*C and wearing shorts, T's and sandals, today, struggling to get above 6*C wearing Winter coat, gloves and a scarf, I am not going out any more than I have to.

Have a great day,

Cheers.

Rude awakening

 Yesterday I was outside reading for most of the afternoon, a nice relaxing break for sure, then the sun vanished behind some clouds, the clouds got darker and it started to get cold.  With in an hour the temp  dropped over 10*C then we had rain.  Spring not here yet, even though the leaves are starting to unfurl on the trees and the flowering trees are showing their beautiful blooms.  Some people have cut their lawns once already.

Today, is a mixture of cloud, rain and a break or two of sunshine and it is only 4*C, putting on the warmer clothes again for a few days.

This is a day when I stay in an get caught up on the sewing which has gone by the wayside as I wanted to be outside in the warm sunshine.  So sewing is on my agenda today.

Not much else happening around here today either, so will sign off and get moving.

Have a great day,

Cheers.

Bursting

Went for my walk this morning by myself, Hubby worked and is still working on his lawn mower.  

Beautiful morning and I was so surprised to see so much of the green leaves showing where yesterday there was none. Spring is bursting out all over the place.  Temps are to get cold starting tomorrow, so hoping what ever we get during the coming days will not destroy all of the trees in bloom and the leaves.

On Friday we went on our first convertible ride of the season, to see Hobby's sister, was not able to have a visit as she was not well.  Will need to wait for another pleasant day to do that again.

Going to finish this short post then going outside, to do what I am not sure yet, it is just too nice to stay in the house and there is nothing happening today, so it's a ME day.

Have a great day

Cheers.

Shorts!

OH!, it's lovely.  For my walk this morning I dug out my shorts, well they are not quite shorts, they were my exercise shin length exercise tights, from when I did "Stay Fit with Age" which was run by the University.  Another thing gone by the wayside, thanks to Covid.

The temp when we set out this morning at 10:00 a.m. was 21*C already, Spring is here all be it for a short time as I hate to mention we will be getting back to the normal temp for this time of the year on Sunday, so the warmer clothes have not yet been stored away.

Worked in the garden yesterday afternoon, I have a flower bed which is on a slope and over time the soil has been washed down to the bottom and pushed the wooden barrier down too far.  The old one taken out as well as some soil and a new wooden barrier put down, looks a lot better now.  We have wood chips to lay down to help with the slight soil erosion each year.  I have since regretted working so long in the dirt.

INTERRUPTED

Thursday.

Hot even when we went for our walk this morning, so in my tights and T-shirt.  All the windows are wide open to let the fresh air in to clean the stale heated air from Winter.  Even left our bedroom one open for the night.

Went to the physio therapist yesterday for my neck issues.  I do not believe anything can be done as it seems to be an age problem, however, we shall see.  I was with the therapist for two hours assessing and explaining, quite impressed actually.  Shown some exercises to do and go back next week to see if there is any improvement.  Thank goodness I have extended health care coverage, it is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination.   

Gardening I am afraid is going to be out of the question for me in the future, all of the repetitious movements of raking, digging etc. is at the moment too painful for me to do.  Did do about half an hour this morning and had to stop.  Gardening is/was a big part of my life during the Summer, getting my hands in the dirt and helping little plants bloom and flourish was such a satisfaction and relaxing past time.  In the past couple of years I have been planting perennials instead of annuals as I knew as I got older all the work would be too much for me to do.

Time marches on and not much can be done to change it.

DD2 has been sending photos of her and hubby's Caribbean cruise vacation, having a great time by the looks of it.   

Received an invitation to one of my great grands 4th birthday party in May. It's a 'Donut" party  ! ! ! This will be her last as an only child as in July a sister will be arriving.  

Cleaned bathrooms, all three of them this morning, should tackle the kitchen when finished here.  

Because our weather is so unseasonable hot,  I think it's time to crack open the gin and tonic bottles for a drink later today, when it's time to relax.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

Beautiful

 We are forecast a week of almost Summer temps, up into the low 20's every day, only rain in sight is on the weekend.

Daffodils are in bloom and the purple primrose are showing some colour Lilac bushes are sprout green leaves, the weeds are growing and even saw a couple of the white product yesterday.  It always amazes me how this little bugs of all kinds survive out harsh Winters.

Easter weekend was nice, not too busy, but saw some of my family.  The great grands liked the basket of goodies I took over to them, stayed for a couple of hours and watched them hunt for Easter eggs, then came back here and cooked dinner for six.  Got help cleaning up.

We worked in the garden all afternoon, I just can't do the repetitive motion of raking, so I did not do a lot of that work, did what I could.   I go for some therapy tomorrow for an aging issue on my upper spine, which is the cause of the pain, hope this will help, however, doubt it very much, cannot do much with old bones and muscles.  

Groceries this morning, got a great deal on some pea meal bacon (ham),  so bought two. Only $3.63 for each piece, a saving of over $14.00 for the two pieces.  One will feed us for several meals.  Some of the fresh veg looked as if they are coming down in price too.

Did not go for our walk yet today, as we are expecting a delivery and want to be home when it arrives, as it is a very desirable product, and we cannot trust anyone for not taking it.

Lunch time, so better get off of here.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

Happy Easter

 Hope you are all having a Happy Easter weekend.

I will be preparing Easter dinner tomorrow for some of Hubby's family and want to get over and see my great grands for awhile.  Not giving a lot of chocolate, one does not like it, one is allergic to nuts, they all like fruit so making up a basket of mixed sweets and fruit.   Grandma will, I am sure have hid the eggs.

Brings back memories Easter was a very warm sunny day that year.  I hid chocolate eggs in the garden, that was a mistake.  By the time they arrived and ready to hunt with their little baskets in hand, the eggs had been hidden for a couple of hours.  Yes, the ones in the sun were liquid chocolate and in the freezer they went.

Another time, I went to one of our Dollar stores, bought straw hats, artificial flowers and ribbons and had all of the girls make an Easter hat.

These girls are all now in the twenties.  They had so much fun making these.

I am off to get laundry finished.

Have a wonderful Easter.

Cheers.

Time for a chnge

 Snow is all gone and plants are emerging from from the soil, time to get rid of the snow header and post something with more colour.

This is a photo I took two years ago, on April 10th,  the garden this year is not quite as advanced as these flowers were, they are going to have some sunshine for a few days, so the weather person says, hope they are right.

Bright blue sky for our walk this morning, however, the wind had a nip in it. gloves and ear muffs on today.

Had a lovely lunch yesterday and long natter putting the world right  with my friends.   We made a date to meet again early in May for another lunch, and plan on doing this as long as we can.  

Happy Easter to alll of the readers.

Have a great weekend

Cheers.

Out for Lunch

 Cloudy and cooler today, we went for our walk and it was quite breezy.

I have daffodils out in bloom, not many but daffodils just the same, Spring is here.

Going out for lunch with two friends I worked with many years ago.  We get together quite often, going to the theatre, dinners and of course the phone.  

Not long on here today, so better get moving, more tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Cheers.

Rain

Damp day, rain heavy during the thunderstorm we had earlier today, very humid and quite mild.  Just what the ground needs to warm up and get things growing.

 We took our umbrellas when we went for our walk this morning, had a brief shower so they came in handy.   Also, able to miss the rain when I went for our mail a short while ago, did hear more thunder in the distance, maybe it will be coming our way.  Glad there are no high winds with these storms right now.

Almost finished sorting and organizing the fabric in the sewing room, it tends to get messy while searching for a colour or pattern to complete a project, so usually get busy to clean it up when one is finished and getting ready for another one.  I am not buying any more fabric this year, I have more than plenty to do what projects I want to do.  Some fabric given to me over the past couple of years I will never use, so it is boxed up and going to a charity shop in hopes someone else can put it to good use.  

Not much else done today, just the usual things that need doing.  Made a jelly with fruit for dessert tonight.  Trying to eat a bit more healthy, and also cutting down on some of the carbs I have been consuming.  When the weather gets warmer I will be outside doing a little more exercise with puttering in the garden.

So with that I am off,

Have a great day.

Cheers.

Left behind

Good evening,  yes I am late today,

Busy this morning with our walk, then vacuuming and dusting the whole house.  Hubby does the vacuuming I do the dusting.  My shoulder and upper spine will not let me do the repetitious movements.  There are a lot of carpets to do.  Previously I would do one room at a time, however, that left me doing the housework every day of the week, just get finished the last room, then would have to start on the first  room again, not doing that again.  The cleaners we had were useless and for the price they charged, they are gone.

Left behind in what?  technology and computers.   I can do the basic stuff and I do mean basic but, the complicated "getting rid of a virus" type of things is just beyond me.  Thank goodness my son B is an IT in a big payroll company, or else I would be throwing this laptop out the window.

Good Morning, interrupted so did not get finished yesterday.

Rained overnight and while we had our breakfast, it had stopped in time for us to go and get our groceries.  Cupboards full again, plus some extra for East dinner, no way am I going shopping later this week.  When we were leaving the grocery store a customer, I will call her that as I do not know a word to  describe her.  Sunglasses, and a fur "onesy" is that a word, anyway, it also had a hood. She was covered head to toe in beige fur.   On her feet were fuzzy slippers.  She was clean her hair nicely combed, so just assume she was the Easter Bunny, doing her grocery shopping as she would be too busy closer to the end of the week to make a visit to the store.

No walk today as my left hip is not very happy, must have slept the wrong w, for too long, giving it a rest and see what tomorrow brings.

Going to finish the tidying up in the sewing room today, it was a mess after doing the last project, time to put everything back where it belongs and straighten some fabric.

Hubby is glued to the TV watching the saga of Trump. personally I hope they throw the book at him, just my opinion and just saying.

So I am off to sort and fold.

Have a great day

Cheers. 

We had it all

 During the past couple of days, we have had a lot of weather, can't think of anything we did not have/

Rain- lots of it

Thunder and lightening storm- DD#2 was without power for several hours.

Wind- blew down some trees, fortunately no real damage or injury.

Sunshine- glorious warm rays that made you feel as if Spring was rally here.

Snow- not much but snow just the same.

Warm temps- up to 16*C.

Cold temps- bitterly cold minus 4 degrees with the wind blowing made it feel colder.

Fog- a fast rise in temps was the culprit.

Sleet- some of the rain prior to being snow certainly looked like sleet.

Today, we have sunshine, not very warm but pleasant,  we went for our walk this morning and the sun was warm on our backs.

Both of my daughters and their husbands are not able to come for Easter dinner, so last night I took them all out for dinner at a restaurant of their choosing.  It was not fine dining, however, the food was delicious. Everyone ordered a drink of their choosing, some I have never had before, so had to have a taste. White wine was my choice as it always is, should be a bit more adventurous and go for something different.  Nice conversation and food, a good time was had by all.

Not sure how many will be here next weekend for dinner, not the usual number, as I know two for sure will not be here.   So not going to get one of the big hams, as we would be eating it for the next couple of months.  Hubby should do what I did, take family out for dinner.

On a recent telephone bill, yes, we have a land line, there was a long distance call, neither one of us remember making to the area where it went to.  Tried to look up on the 411 web page, only to find it is not longer in service.  Nothing,  apparently you are on your own now.   So who did we call    ????

Have a great day.

Cheers.