Endings and New Beginings

There are a couple of hours left in this year, 2011. I have spent most of today wondering how I feel about it and I really can't say I am sad to see it go. A friend of mine says they feel like the new year is like getting a present and they can't wait to see what they get. I am not in that frame of mind either. I always do hope for good things in the new year but as the evening goes on I am lacking more and more enthusiasm. I am not sure what is up with me today. I do know that I am not going to allow myself to slip into that state of mind where I start to feel sorry for myself. Its not worth it.

I do know that I am not making resolutions this year, this year I am making wishes. Maybe wishes will be more effective and long lasting. I read on the internet somewhere that someone was making wishes this year and I shamelessly stole the idea.

Brace yourself here are a few of them.  I am wishing to clear some of the clutter from my house. (I actually started that one tonight, I sorts through stacks of magazines in my craft room. 99% of which will be either recycled or go to the office for others to read). I wish to redo my bedroom, I wish to paint the red guest room, I wish to start giving back more. I wish to weave, spin and quilt more in the coming year, I wish to get back on track to getting healthy, I wish to be more frugal, I wish to learn to stop wishing for things I know aren't going to happen. I have a million more wishes, for things, for improvements, for happiness, for contentment and for acceptance. Biggest wish of all is that I wish that everyone will have the best year ever in 2012.

So I plan to stay up until midnight, open the front door to let in the new year and then the back door to let out the old year, then I will go to bed. I had Chinese food as per tradition, I watched a really bad movie on netflix and then I sorted magazines. I had a very quiet day. I did not feel like doing a lot of stuff. I had played with the idea of putting away the Christmas stuff but my house looks so nice and tidy I decided against it. If I started putting the stuff away, it would totally mess the place up and I was not in the mood. Tree could still be up come June with this attitude :-)

Last night I had the No Cook Group over for coffee and the remnants of the Christmas dainties after we went out for supper. We had such a nice evening, we chatted, snacked and laughed until 10:30 when everyone decided they maybe should head home. I was tickled to have them. I need to start entertaining a little more than I do. It just laziness on my part and I really need to get over it.

I think I will go and see if I can find something on tv worth watching until its time to ring in the new year. I hope you are all enjoying your evenings no matter how you choose to celebrate.

Toodles
Linda

Last Day of Lazy

Hmmm its back to normal tomorrow, back to work, back to the routine. Yes I know that New Years is still to be celebrated but I'm sorry, its not nearly as big a deal to me as Christmas. Probably because I never have celebrated it all that much. So to me the big deal is over and done and now we slid comfortably back into the day to day routine.

I slept in this morning, snuggled into my bed and waking at the lovely hour of 10:00 am. I rose and ate cookies for breakfast. You can do that when you are the grown up and make the rules. It was shortbread and sugar plum spice tea for breakfast. I did not spend the entire day in decedent indulgences, I did do some sensible things. I stripped and washed all the bedding on my bed, mattress cover, quilts and all. The whole kit and caboodle. One needs a clean caboodle once in a while. I also made the felt cow and horse wall hangings that were ordered before Christmas. It took most of the afternoon but I am very happy they are finished now, another thing off my to do list.

What else did I do to pass the time. Oh yes, I furminated the cat. I am boggled at how much hair that little brush gets out of her. I highly recommend the investment if you have a pet. I plan to make brushing her with it a priority as it really does make a difference. She leave bales of hair around the house and I need to be more diligent on the brushing. The best thing is Minou seems to like to be furminated. She lays content and rolls when needed. She does not fight to get away. From the way she behaves while I am pulling wads of hair from her. I think it must feel good, sort of like when we get our hair done. So its on my list to do more frequently so see if I can cut down on the hair that is everywhere in my house. I really am tired of everything being covers in a grey hairy haze.

Not totally sure what I will do with the rest of my day. I feel a nap coming on and I may just watch tv whilst crocheting for the rest of the night. I have one little mending job to do for a friend at work then I am free. Its a split seem in the bum of her son's pants. A 2 second job at the most. I think I can manage that before the sun sets on this last day of laziness. Three days of work and then three days off. I also think I can manage that.



Toodles
Linda

Monday Moment with Minou

Hmmm yeah, excuse me, Christmas is over, 

would you mind removing these dudes from the stairs, 

they are in my way.

Merry Christmas

From my home to yours come the most sincere wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May 2012 be the best year yet for you and your family. I have high hopes for 2012, I expect big things from it, big, happy, wonderful things.

So far it has been a wonderful Christmas here at the old homestead. Many traditions have been observed even though its only the cat and I here to observe them. Ok I need to say this right off the bat, I am not feeling "oh poor me, all alone on Christmas" not even a smidge. I had a wonderful full on family Christmas last weekend with the near and dear. I was treated royally and the date is not important, its the being together that is important. SO I am not having a pity party I am having a party. I am alone by choice today, I had many generous invitations to join friends for the day.

Back to tradition, I spend last night watching a zillion Christmas movies, I dined on appetizers for supper and quite frankly I over indulged but they were worth it. Wrap anything in puff pastry, make it bite sized and I am pretty much hooked.

This morning I rose late, gave Minou her Christmas tuna fish breakfast, made my all in one breakfast. Another family tradition. Its not the one my family makes, that is a confection known as Breakfast Bruschetta and we have Monkey nuts. (cinnamon pull apart bread). I make a different one and toast, but it looks yummy, no???

I may be eating it for days but its worth it.  So breakfast is cooking away, its time for presents. I have so many wonderful generous, thoughtful friends. I was showered with loot. Not a dud in the bunch. I am totally spoiled that is for sure.

I am munching up my breakfast or maybe I should say brunch because its actually lunch time. Slurping up my coffee in my favourite Christmas mug. The cat is zonked out on my bed, sleeping off a tuna induced coma. I may get dressed at some point today or maybe not, but I am thinking that I will. Apart from putting the turkey portion into the oven and making hash brown casserole I don't have any plans to work too much today. I will watch the Queen's speech, try and catch up on the stuff I have taped and I am going to crochet the day away.

I am blessed and I know it, I am grateful for each and every good thing in my life. I hope you are having a wonderful day.

Toodles
Linda

Christmas Eve Moment With Minou

Hmmph All this Christmas prep and she still hasn't got the rum for the egg nog.

One just can't get good help these days.

Faux Christmas Festivities

I found my camera so I made the choice of doing laundry or doing a blog post, laundry can wait. First of all though I have permission to share the CUTENESS!! Here is my precious grandbaby modeling her new hat made for her by her Grandma Linda, This is the Ladybug!! She is a keeper I think.

So on to the Family Faux Christmas, ( we call it that because we usually are celebrating on another day, not the actual Christmas day) , we had a great time. The Carpenter and Busy were the hosts. Miss Mouse and the Farmer were there along with the Pilot. My oldest brother, the Historian, celebrates with his kids and grandchildren, we don't seem to get together anymore. There are so many of us and everyone works a different schedule, its hard. We have also outgrown the ability to all stay at one house like we used to. Once the kids start having kids it gets crowded quickly.

There were presents, lots of presents, here is a glimpse of the Christmas carnage after a flurry of present opening. We are blessed to be so fortunate that gifts are not a hardship. Santa is most generous. I am grateful for how blessed we are, we can be together and enjoy each others company, everyone is generous with everyone else, its how Christmas should be. We are very lucky to be in this position. I am grateful for that.

 We have such a good time when we gather together:

There is Dancing:

Spontaneous moments of affection:

(Miss Mouse and The Carpenter, father and daughter)

  And of course there is food, lots and lots of food.

here is Miss Mouse whipping up some pumpkin pies for our dessert. Its her Daddy's favourite pie and she is the one who  grows and cans the pumpkin each year. (Like her Mom she is a very good cook). She was a wonderful help, Busy was not feeling well later on in the day and Miss Mouse stepped up and did a lot of the stuff that needed to be done for our supper. Just a note, she is dressed in the Christmas apron I made for her. I made one for Busy as well as part of their gifts

When I give gifts, my favourite kind to give are the ones where I gather a whole bunch of odds and ends and give them as presents, some purchased and some homemade. I find the stuff all over the place and gather it up the whole year long. The aprons were a hit!!

We dined on a delicious prime rib meal. As there are several turkey dinners looming in the future, prime rib was decided on and it was fabulous. Stuffed potatoes, homemade buns, salad, wine and pumpkin pie. So yummy. Plus a never ending flow of dainties, candy and nuts. Many of the treats that show up at Christmas time have been part of our Christmas traditions for years, generations even. It would not be Christmas without them.

Oh yes and how do you know you are having a Saskatchewan Christmas?

Its the firearms under the tree.

Rifles and handguns abound.

The new owners seems thrilled.

( I tried to borrow the hand gun for work but they would not let me take it home.) 

 Santa was good to me and I took home a load of loot. My family is always more than generous with  me. I had a lovely weekend, lots of laughs, lots of fun and good times. I love to get to see everyone.

So now its all done and dusted. Real Christmas  day is still coming and  I hope yours is fabulous. For me I feel like is all over and done for another year. I have already got lists of things to go for next year, decorations to be made and some ideas for gifts.

Toodles 

Linda 

Home again, Home again

I am home again, I have celebrated Christmas with my loved ones, I am content, overfed and very happy. We had a lovely time. I will make a more detailed posted at another time, not to mention that I am too lazy to find my camera to post pictures. Right now all I want to do is sit, and knit, watch tv and relax. I am basking in the glow of a lovely weekend with my family and I want to savour it for a bit more.

I have the Hostess coming to tea tomorrow night which I am thrilled about. I need to do more of this, more having people over.

So more posting later, I will find my camera and share with you, for now I am off to bask.

Toodles,

Linda

Grandbaby fix

My Grandbaby came to the office today to have Christmas pot luck lunch with me (and all the other staff to I guess :-P) it was lovely. She was a little star. She gurgled, she cooed, she smiled, she drooled, she was charming. She didn't get overwhelmed with all the people and all the noise. She was lovely.

Best of all I got to have a cuddle, feed her a bottle and just generally be enchanted by her little self. She smiled at  me and patted my cheek a couple of times. Well the cheek patting was probably a result of my face being close to her and she was aiming for my glasses with that wobbly baby coordination but I claim it as a pat on the cheek from a sweet little girl.

I could have happily spent the afternoon rocking her and holding her but apparently I had to work and she had to go home with Mommy. I think she is just perfect. She is so dainty and sweet. Definitely  a keeper. I would pop a picture of her in this post but I have not cleared it with Mommy first so you will just have to take my word on it that she is adorable, especially in the little hat I crocheted for her. So cute.

Well I have things to do , stuff to pack, Christmas is a comin.

Toodles,

Linda

Wrap it Up!!

I am thinking that the Christmas preparations are almost complete. The house is decorated to within an inch of its life, the last of the baking has been done as of tonight, the presents have been purchased and/or made. Yep nothing left to do but do the wrapping. I didn't do Christmas cards this year but I don't imagine the world will come to an end over that. I have tomorrow night and Thursday night to do the last minute details and then its my family Christmas. I have done a few cards, to people who sent me one.

The Carpenter and The Farmer both have to work on actual Christmas day so we are having out celebration the weekend before Christmas. The date is not the important thing, the being together is what really matters. I am so looking foreward to seeing everyone. I am also looking foreward to getting away for a few days. Its going to be fun.

Right now I am watching White Christmas will I blog for a moment or two. I love this movie, I watch it every Christmas. I have a lot of favorite movies that I watch each year at Christmas time. Sometimes its hard to fit them all in. The sappier the better. Its a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Little Women, the Walton's Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street (either version) A Christmas Carol with Allister Sim, The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Sound of Music and Charlie Brown's Christmas, to name a few.

Well I have some time left to my evening and I hear an eggnog calling my name.

Toodles
Linda

Monday Moment with Minou

Hmmph,..... I was just sitting there minding my own business and that crazy Christmas lady decorated me!!

Christmas has 'sploded at My House

Its Santa land and then some at the homestead. For whatever reason I am in a total Christmasy mood so I pulled out all the stops and hauled out 99% of the the Christmas decorations. I have not put up my main tree for a couple of years. Its lovely to see it up again. Lets have a little tour shall we. Lets start outside at the curb. We really need just a touch more snow to make it perfect.

Its hard to see in the picture but there is a string of icicle lights across the top of the veranda. The oversized Christmas balls are hung and the garland is draped. One of the bows was lost in the wind but I found it and since this picture was taken I have fixed and replaced it. So lets head to the front door.

This happy little fellow is waiting to welcome you in when you arrive at the door. Lets open it up and step inside.

This is the entryway, it smells delicately of cinnamon thanks to the pine cones in the big basket. That Santa parade on the side of the stairs goes all the way to the second floor. (see)

 The Santa on the chair was given to me by a cousin, I have had him so long I do not remember not having him. His body has been replaced because the old fabric rotted. I could not part with him.

In the entry way you find the first of the Christmas trees. Every year I inflict a homemade ornament on my family. I have been doing this for 12 years and this tree has all of those ornaments on it. Its the Family Tree.

Now lets step into the  living room where the main tree is currently on display. Its a tall skinny tree and I did not put the garland on it this year. I got too tired and I think it looks just fine without it. My garland looks like popcorn, I bought it at Eatons and chances are it will get put on the tree before the season is over.

The new entertainment center got in on the Christmas nonsense.

These guys are out, they are worse for wear but they are out. They keep loosing appendages and they are starting to look scruffy. I wonder what they get up to over the summer in their box. They go in in one piece and come out missing ears and feet, etc.  I need a wooden set one of these years or the Willow Tree set. (I have not made up my mind yet.) I forgot to take a picture of the couch with its Christmas cushions and afghans.So excuse me while I do

I am back and as you can see the snoopervisor is on duty making sure I am doing things right.

Ok moving on to the dining room 

Tree number 3, the infamous Pig Tree complete with piggy carolers ready to sing for their supper. 

My version of a Christmas village, I would love to have more but I don't have the room,so this is it

This is a very shiny example of my theory that if one is good, two is better and eleventy million is freakin' fantastic. 

This is my hand carved Santa collection. (The snowman is only there for balance.) I am not going to tell you which one I carved myself but I will bet you can guess.

At last the kitchen and the last of the trees. This one is the Gingerbread tree. The wreath hanging in the window has been put up in my house every year since my oldest niece gave it to me. She was five or six and she made it with garbage bags and a coat hanger. She is all grown now and her youngest boy is probably the age she was when she crafted it. 

These little snow folk candle sticks were a thrift store find  a couple of years ago. I love their happy little faces. So that's it. That is what it looks like for Christmas at my house. There is more but I missed taking pictures, so it will have to remain a mystery.

Tomorrow is baking, gift wrapping and cleaning. I am finally finished my shopping and the Christmas projects are all completed. Once tomorrow is over I should be able to sit back a seriously enjoy the season.

I love all this stuff. I really do, even when I feel overwhelmed and crazy, I love it. 

Good Night!!

Linda

Saturday Stuff and one big job done

My Saturday did not turn out at all like I had planned it to and I was thrilled. The plan was to get groceries, finish the Christmas shopping and then spend the rest of the day at home working on the last of the Christmas projects. Instead the Banker and I decided to spend the afternoon shopping together. We had this brilliant idea while we were coffeeing with the No Cook Friday Group. I decided I could get groceries, go to the bank, clean the kitchen before she got her to pick me up. Change of plans again, I slept in and did not manage to get the groceries. I did get to the bank, that was most important. The kitchen is still a mess but there is always tomorrow!! (Big fan of Scarlette O'Hara, me)

I managed to fly in the back door just as the Banker arrived at the front door to get me. We started out the afternoon but going to a local tea room for a scrumptious lunch and found some bargains in the attached gift shop. Then we shopped the little specialty stores on the the main drag. I drooled over the hand carved wooden nativity figures that I am one day gonna be able to get for myself, dang-it!! My set is getting a little worse for the wear, some of the participants are starting to miss certain appendages.

We managed to put in the afternoon. I got some gifts, I got a new pig ornament for the Piggy Christmas tree. It was all good. We ended with coffee at her house then I came home and promptly went to get those groceries that I missed this morning.

I splurged and bought myself some sushi for supper but I fear the label on the container lied. I read it carefully before I bought it and it did not mention fiery, hot, throat burning pain.  I bought crispy shrimp. It was neither crispy nor shrimpy and it was hot as hell!! I don't like spicy stuff, I am a baby about it but I ate the dang thing anyway because sushi is not cheap and I was not gonna pitch it out. I didn't care if my mouth burned from supper to tomorrow morning I was not going to waste it, I was going to eat it, starving children all over the world would suffer if I wasted it SO I ate it and I was not happy and really how silly is that???? I'm sure the starving children are sleeping better for it. I am an idiot sometimes but that is a blog post for another day.

Since I was already well on my way to turning into Little Miss Crankypants, I decided to tackle a big job that has been staring me in the face for a while now. I could not keep putting it off, It had to be done, it could not continue to be ignored, not if I am going to get the Christmas decorations up. The entertainment centers needed to be swapped. Crap. At least I moved the old sewing table awhile ago but the corner until was still parked in between the dining and living rooms. This had to change. I pulled up my boot straps and waded in.

I emptied, I packed, I moved, I huffed and I puffed. I got to the point where it was looking like this. Then it happens.

Right about at this point in any venture is where I decide that changing things is highly overrated and what was I thinking and why did I start this and it would not look so bad just being left this way. I could embrace the hoarder life style, bow to the inevitable and just give in. Time has taught me that when I start to think like that I need to take a break and try to talk myself down off the ledge.

It may not look like I have done much but I had. I started to chant, I will get it moved, it will get done, I can move all those wires and machines and still have tv when the dust settles. I am woman hear me roar, blah,blah, blah.

Fast foreward and see all done, all moved and there is cable!! It all works and its all operational. I AM WOMAN!! Ignore the blue and white cupboard, that is going other places eventually. I need it right now for the storage but in the big long term plan of things its gone!!

I cannot tell you the joy I feel seeing the DVR, the DVD and the VCR all tucked away in their own little spaces. No longer throwing the symmetry of the unit off balance and causing me headaches. I need balance and symmetry, it soothes me.

I have the old unit in the dining room now, (sigh) but it will be dismantled and disposed of tomorrow. I thought of donating it but no one wants those units anymore and the second hand stores are full of them. Mine is for the garbage. Everyone I have offered it to has one of their own to get rid of. I will demolish and dispose of it on the morrow. It's a shame but I have had it for a long, long time and it owes no one anything.

The blue and white cupboard will be moved upstairs and where it is sitting now will be another storage unit.................. in time. I have to have it made unless I can find something that will work. It will be a place to store DVD's, photo albums, crap and some shelves for display. Oh yes and in time the tv will change to a flat screen. I have plans!! I have lists!!! It will come to fruition. In the meantime I will have fun shuffling things around until I am pleased with how it all looks. I have already taken the two little doors off the bottom. I like it better this way.

Tomorrow I will bring the trees up from the basement. Then I can spend next week decorating the house. I am really in the mood to do it this year. I also plan to purge out some of the decorations that have seen better days, or that I no longer wish to keep. I did not put up the big tree last year so I need to get it up this year.

Its has been such a good day, in spite of the sushi fiasco. I hope your Saturday was equally as good and that your supper did not turn on you like mine did.

Toodles,

Linda

Adjusting Those Priorities Yet Again and Baby Quilt Pictures.

I like to get myself a Christmas present each year. Something special, something extra, something that I want but takes a little effort to afford. NOW please do not get me wronge, I do not lack for anything, I live comfortably and rather well. I've a roof over my head, a decent job and I have a car. I have cable TV and I do not do without. I am far from hard done by. That being said I had my eye on a smooth top stove. I want a grey topped one and apparently they are going out of that type, or at least that is what the dude at Home Depot told me. They have a floor model on sale right now, grey flat top, self cleaning, four legs, oven that is actually the right temperature and a big front burner that does not work on its own whims and wishes. I had almost got my head wrapped around the fact that I could afford it at that price. I had been saving and saving and making and selling. Lookin' promising until.....................

I decided to get me some car repairs instead. Lets go back the the week I was celebrating Craftastic Palooza. I went to go shopping one bitter cold day, the car had no heating, I came home frozen and decided to call my mechanic. I took said car to the garage today and the heating issue was not a clear cut and dried problem. So they tweeked this and fiddled that and then sent me home with it to monitor the heat for a week. The car goes back next Wednesday, by that time, they will have the oxygen sensor that is apparently not functioning and they will have time to fix a leak in the heating system. Simple problems, hmmmm ..yeah....no, not in my world. The sensor is no longer on warranty so I get to pay for this one, my car had 4 of the little critters. I have two more to look foreward to breaking down. I also happen to own the sort of car that has a motor that thinks its an upside down Chinese puzzle box. Wonderful car, I love it to bits but its a bitch to fix. Apparently it requires a massive amounts of dismantling to get at what needs to be fixed. Sort of like my house where you have to move 9 zillion things to get at what you need same can be said for my car motor. To support this statement, I will provide an example. The first time I tried to find the battery, to help boost a neighbour's car, neither of us could find the battery. Its conveniently hidden under the motor, close to the wheel-well. My brother had to point it out to me.

So thanks to the puzzle box, I am going to have to pay a substantial, new stove equivalent, labour and parts bill next Wednesday. Can you really mourn something that you never had? I am in mourning for my stove. A moment of silence it you please. I have known better, I was the one that tempted fate and said I think I will get a new stove. I should never ever let my cars know what I am doing. They get jealous and then force me to rearrange my priorities. Ack!!

Enough about that, I will get a stove, its just not going to happen as soon as I would like it. Sigh. Moving on to baby quilts. This little cowboy finally made his debut and I can at last reveal the baby quilt that I made for him. Every little cowboy needs a quilt like this don't you think?

And matching bumper pads

I was rather pleased with how well this set turned out. So were the people that I made it for which is fabulous.
Its always nice to hear things like "oh that's perfect" and "awesome, I love the colours" when you have made something for someone else.

I will be sharing more of the Christmas crafting after the event is over and the items are no longer a surprize.
Right now I have puppets to be a makin '

Toodles

Linda

Embracing the Christmas........Oh Yeah!!

Currently I am in full Christmas mode. I am working to get my Christmas projects made and my shopping done. I am trying to think of what homemade ornaments I can make this year to torture my family with. I am planning how to decorate the house and put up all the trees. Yes there is more than one.........shut up. I have baking to do, cards to make, cleaning to be done and I love all of it.

In spite of the fact that I totally love this holiday, in the past and for a good part of this year it has caused  me a fair amount of angst. Each year I worry myself silly thinking we should be practical, we should be sensible, We need to keep the cost down. Dither, dither, fret, fret, fuss, fuss and more fuss. Well this year I have given my head a shake and made up my mind about a few things. What I can and should control (me) and what I should just let be ( what everyone else is doing).

One does have to be realistic here about gifts. Lets face it, your siblings, their off spring and your friends  may love you to bits, but they are not going to spring for the flat surface self cleaning stove, the 350 watt kitchen aid mixer, the 32" flat screen tv or the diamond tennis bracelet you have been jonesing for. Those gifts are spouse/significant other gifts, not be expected from anyone else. If you are single, you get that sort of thing for yourself or not at all. I know as much as I wish I could be Mother Bountiful  and buy everyone the big fancy things, its not gonna happen. When I win the lottery, then watch out Baby, the sky is the limit bit for now I have limits.

I know that I am at the stage in my life where the things I NEED are ether way too expensive for a family given gift or they are little things, consumable things. For example right now I what I need in life is a new scraper for the windows of my car, body wash, shampoo, a new sandwich maker, a couple of specific cd's , or a desk lamp for the sewing table, stuff like that. Gift cards are great for me. I can shop and I get stuff I need or would not buy normally. I can splurge without a second thought. Honestly I am tickled silly with most anything I am given. I don't give gifts with the expectation that I get something in return. I am not a terribly fussy picky person. REALLY I AM NOT :-)

I really, really, really  like to give gifts. I always think, that's it, I am cutting down, but I don't. You really can't in some ways, things cost no matter what. I know what I can and cannot afford so why do I keep thinking I have to clamp down on myself? I have come to the conclusion that at Christmas I don't want to be stressing. I enjoy giving gifts and I love to hunt for things I think that my nearest and dearest will like.  I love to make things and give them as gifts. Sometimes I am bang on and sometimes I am not but its ok, I have tried. I like doing it. It makes me happy and because it makes me happy I am no longer going to fret about it.

So my grand conclusion is that I am not going to fuss about it any more, I cannot and will not. I am just going to enjoy. I embrace the shopping and gift giving, I don't want to be concerned about being limited to a certain dollar amount or that's not enough, that's too much. That is not working for me and it was my idea. I was the one who thought this is how it should be. You would think I would know myself by now but I keep learning new things everyday. Mostly I am learning to go with what makes me feel good about me.

It Christmas time and its my chance to let the people I care about know that I am thinking of them. Life is to short to not be happy. I enjoy giving gifts, I am going to focus on that. Not to mention that I am not going to worry about what other people are thinking or doing. They are free to do as they please, I can only make rules for myself. This conclusion makes me feel so peaceful. I will give what I can, I will make the best choice I can for the recipient, it makes me happy to do this, end of story.

Oh yeah its all good!! Bring on Christmas, I am loving it !!!

Toodles, Linda

There are not enough hours or money :-)

Well its been a busy week here at the old homestead and its only half over. I need about 6 more hours in each day and then I could maybe get all the things done that I want to. Oh well, its all good, I love to be busy and have projects to do, I like to spend time with my friends so I am not complaining,............... really I'm not. It may sound like it but I'm not and I will change the subject now because I am repeating myself.

Monday night was the usual frantic flight of the bumble bees trying to get my house presentable because I had a guy coming today to do an energy audit. So I spent my evening, jamming things in nooks and crannies and cleaning like a white tornado ( does anyone but me remember that one?). Its not perfect but at least it did not look like an episode of Hoarders. ( do reference that show a lot don't I? because I can see it in my future and I fear it!!)

Tuesday night was sushi with the girls and then Breaking Dawn part 1, the latest Twilight movie. It was lovely. Good company, good food, good movie. I like those evenings. And yes I like the vampire movies, I LOVED the books. I secretly think I am a teenage girl at heart. A fact that was confirmed to day when I was all bummed out that my Outlander graphic novel is on back order. I may age but I am not gonna be a grown up, no way dude!! I want my adult comic book graphic novel, dang it.

Tonight I spend working on puppets ( Yahoo, Yippy, drunken monkey dance of joy ) I have two of the seven the university needs and this week I have managed to make two others for work folk. I want to have those little critters finished by early next week. Booyah!! I am a puppet making maniac.

My Christmas shopping and crafting is coming along, I managed to purchase three things tonight for a really reasonable price. This makes me smile. I want to have the Christmas gifts finished by next week as well. The rest of my week is going to go like this: tomorrow I am going to a local production of Annie and out for supper of course. Friday is No Cook Friday as always. Its special because we are going for appies and desserts. Yum. Sunday is Christmas Card making with my scrappy card making group. Saturday I may be shopping with E but we have not firmed up those plans yet. Busy busy busy.:-)

Oh yeah the Energy audit. Have I mentioned this house is 111 years old? I think you can imagine how this little exercise went. When he did that thing where they suck all the air out of the house, the back door popped open. That's really not good. Upside is he really didn't tell me anything I did not already know. Basically I need to insulate up and down and all around, replace windows, replace  furnace, fix the doors, I need exhaust fans for the kitchen and bathrooms and get that low flow toilet for the upstairs. Well I will just trot out to the big ole money tree in the back yard and get right on that. :-) Erk!!!


Toodles!!

Linda

Monday Moment with Minou

Don't even think about bugging me, I am napping

Craftastic Palooza Week is FINI!!!

My craftastic week is over, its back to work on Monday. Where did the time go? I got a fair bit done, and I am happy with what was accomplished but I would love to have another week. Oh heck, I'm not going to go into the whole "-I'd rather stay home than work" thing. That is a tired old horse just begging not to be beat again.

Where was I? Oh yes, the week. I did mending for friends, made some dishcloths, finished a queen sized quilt, started some Christmas runners, and made felt animals. See:

Knitting, crochet, quilting and sewing have been indulged in this week, non stop. One day I managed to quilt for 11 hours with only lunch and supper breaks. I loved every minute and stitch of it. I still have one large dish cloth to finish tonight but its nearly finished. The two sweaters on the end of the couch were just mending projects for clarification. I managed to get out of my house on occasion and do some shopping. I did wandered among the real people once in awhile.

This is a better picture of the quilt. Its for our yearly raffle at the office. Half the proceeds raised will go to our local Christmas charity. I did not get much time to get it made so its a plain old fashioned nine patch but at least its done and ready to be raffled off.

I also managed to get the old sewing table out of the dining room. Its dismantled and tucked away upstairs for now. I just cannot part with it and I am not sure what I am going to do with it so for now it is stored away. I am just glad I figured out a place to keep it. The middle of the dining room was not working for me for some reason.

So I have supper to make, the last large dishcloth to finish and then I need to wrap my head around hearing that dang alarm go off in the morning BEFORE the dog starts barking next door. Sigh. I also need to find my plug in for the car and plug it in as apparently winter kicked in while I was on vacation. I know that because I have had to shovel snow already.

This coming week is going to be great fun, Vampire movie on Tuesday night preceded by sushi, then on Thursday a local production of Annie, hopefully with supper out somewhere nice as well. That should take the sting out of having to be back at work.


I hope your weekend went well.

Toodles, Linda

knit, purl, quilt, lather, rince, repeat.

Craftastic Palooza week is chugging along swimmingly. I am getting lots done and sadly I keep thinking of more things I would like to do. So far I am keeping myself under control. There are only so many hours in the day and my poor hands can only take so much. Its half way through my week and my projects are all sort of half done. I am feeling good.

My days are blissful. I wake up when the neighbours dog starts to bark, I curse and swear, then doze off to sleep again. I usually get up around 9:00 or 9:30, have breakfast and a nice hot cup of tea or coffee, then I head out and go somewhere. Yesterday it was a trip to the second hand stores, today I went to the local over sized grocery store and stocked the pantry a little. Tomorrow I am going in search of Coconut oil to make soap with. After I have been out in the real world for a time, I head back home and spend the rest of the day crafting. Today I need to do a little housekeeping, the place is starting to look like a dump.

I still have not dealt with the entertainment centre or the old sewing table. Its amazing how much one person can ignore when you want to. One of my knitting friends stopped over last night for some help with her projects and I had to apologize for the mess my house was in. My mother would have been appalled. So today I need to do a quick tidy up so it is at least bearable. I don't even want to talk about the litter box. My poor cat is very tolerant. When I am in crafting mode I can be very single minded. I do have to haul stuff down to the basement today and smash my head on the joists at least twice. Its something I seem to feel I have to do every FREAKIN' time I am in the basement. I'm only 5' 8" but my house is over a hundred years old, ( 111 to be exact)  the basement is/was not created with ceiling height in mind. A fact I cannot remember for some reason. Yeesh.

Well my coffee is finished. I have been to the store already so the rest of my day is open to creativity. I hope everyone is having a good day. If you aren't I hope it gets better for you.

Toodles, Linda

Monday Moment with Minou

Will you rub my tummy and sing "Soft Kitty"?

Palooza Week has Begun

Well I have been on days off for 48 hours and I think things are clicking along rather well. I have a plan,  I have lists, I have motivation and I really need to get this stuff done. Christmas time is a comin'


What will be happening during Craftastic Palooza week you ask? Glad you asked :-)  Well there will be knitting and crocheting: 

some of this was done before and some was done one my first day off.

The will be quilting projects large and small:

Again one project was done before and the others were accomplished to day. I have 7 things ready to be quilted

There are lots more things on the list, but I am switching off, one day knitting and crocheting then one day sewing. I have to do this to keep my hands from getting over stressed and then turning on me, rendering me useless and frustrated and my least favourite thing, in PAIN. So slow and steady, with breaks in between and all should be well. I also plan to do some house work and some shopping during the days to give myself a break as well. I will need some fresh air, once and awhile.

Netflix kept me company while I sewed the day away. I am not sure I am impressed with them, the movie selection seems to be a little limited. Its like renting movies from the corner store. They are cheap but choice is limited. Time will tell if I add this item to my budget. The thing I do like is being able to watch movies in my sewing room. Maybe I should actually hook up the dvd player in here and then I could watch movies on the tv  and not just vhs tapes? Yes I am still kicking it old school. I still have a VHS tape player, two of them infact. Deal with it, I don't take change really well when it comes to electronics. The 8-track trauma of the early 80's did me in!! I have never quite recovered, I still get chills.

Right now I think I am going to go make my self a cup of hot cider, curl up on the couch and relax a bit before I head to bed. I hope your weekend is going well.

Toodles, Linda

Craftastic Palooza Week

In two more sleeps (yes I like counting things in sleeps, it makes me happy...shut up) I am on days off. I will have 10 days in which to dedicate myself to a crafting frenzy of productivity. I have many many things to make for Christmas and I felt I needed to take a break from the office to immerse myself in a gluttony of crafting fun. I will post what pictures I can but since most of the things are for gifts, I will have to keep a lot to myself. I am calling it Craftastic Palooza Week. Things are always much more fun when you add Palooza to the name. I'm just sayin'.

I have a list of things that I need to make, I have managed to complete a couple of them already and if I was not sitting here at the computer I would be knitting on yet another gift. I will be knitting on another gift, the evening is not over.

Now that I have found my knitting bag again, I can actually get at it. There has been a panic at the homestead for the last couple of days. My knitting bag went missing. I looked up, down and all around and I could not find it. Not in any of the usual places that I put it. Tonight after a thorough rip the house apart, no stone unturned, manhunt, it was found. Sitting innocently on top of the old sewing table, in a Halloween treat box, buried under some bags from the weekend. After the appropriate amount of swearing, I happy placed it where it can be easily found tomorrow. I have lost two days knitting time. This is not good, I have deadlines people.

Speaking of which I need to get at it, I need to make supper first but then I need to get at the needles.

All is well with your world?

Toodles, Linda

Its here!!

Got my new entertainment center delivered tonight. Its so good to know people with  a truck that will do furniture pick up for cheap, cheap cheap. They lift and carry and I sit at home and wait for the delivery. So that happened tonight and now my newest bit of furniture has arrived. I really shouldn't do this but I will give you a peak at what my living room and dining room have become.

As you can see the sewing table is in the dining room still and the new center is lodged in front of the floor loom. The floor loom lives in the living room because it has no where else that it can live. Poor thing.

Now I have to get up the nerve to unplug all the tv paraphernalia  move the old unit and slide all the new stuff into place. Eek. I have visions of undoing it all and then not being able to get it put back together again. I shall be brave, I shall be fearless, I shall triumph. Because I want to get the next part figured out and get Handy Guy building it. I have decided this is my Christmas present to me. I will move the new stove to my birthday present to me. :-)

I need to get crafting, cannot be blogging all night but I am so excited about my purchase I just had to share.

Toodles,

Linda

Sunday Snowy Sunday

Its snowed today, first of the year. They had predicted it for yesterday but it held off until today. I am grateful because it would have put a damper on my little road trip. Today I was snugged up inside, making soup, doing laundry and mending stuff when the white fluffy stuff began to drift down. I didn't even say "Oh Crap". Not even the snow could put a damper on my enjoyment of this day, this wonderful time change day. I feel like my world has righted itself just a little, in a very tiny teeny little way. I can't explain it, its like a delightful little present.

I bought the entertainment center and it's getting delivered tomorrow night. I zipped across town this morning, gave it the once over and realized it was the same one I had looked at in Walmart but decided I could not afford at the time. Once it is here and in place I can figure out what the matching piece will look like. Once I have the look and the measurements down, I can get my handy guy here in town to built me what I need. I will post pictures when it all comes together. I have been wanting to change this up for awhile now. Finding the corner entertainment center for so cheap has just made it happen all that much sooner.

I have of course not done a pea pickin' thing to make room for the new unit. I haven't even moved a dust bunny :-)  If I was truly organized I would have cleared out the old stuff to make room for the new stuff. I am going to have an old entertainment center to get rid of. Perhaps it can live on top of the old sewing table that I still have not dealt with. I sense that I am rushing head long into that hoarders episode I keep seeing in my future, so I need to deal with the excess furniture that is about to build up in my dining room, sooner rather than later.

My Christmas " to do" list is starting to shrink. I have at last completed all the dishcloths I need for my gift giving this Christmas. I figured out that I have knit over 70 dishcloths over the course of this year. (They are my carry about with me knitting). Even having made more that 70 of them, I still had to make six for myself so I would have enough to give away. They are a great little sale item.

Off to work again tomorrow. Where does the time go??

Toodles,

Linda

Perfectly Perfectly Perfect

Today I had a perfect "Linda" sort of day. The kind of day I so enjoy it makes me SQUEEEEE!!!. It started out a little crabby because my idiot neighbours two houses down, let their poor dog out again at 8:30 am on Saturday morning, in the cold and left him to bark, howl and moan for at least an hour. It could have been longer than than but I left for the grocery store while Barky Barkington was deep into his repertoire. By the time I got back with my McDonld's breakfast, and the groceries, he was back in his house and blissfully silent.

The Banker came and picked me up around 11:30 and we headed out of town on a shopping road trip. I do like spending a shopping day with her. We shop so well together, we like mostly the same sort of stuff but are different enough to keep it interesting. She is easy to chat too, has a wonderful sense of humour and we just have the best time. Ee headed out of the city to a couple of the small towns around to find their little gift/specialty stores. Christmas open houses abound and I FOUND THE PERFECT PURSE!! for $19.00!!!!! Its red, its the right size, I love it, its a shoulder bag, it has just the right amount of little pockets inside, I love it, its soft to the touch and oh yeah did I mention I love it????????? I would take a picture but I am tired and I don't want to go hunt up my camera. No more wrestling with that bag of jello I have been carrying around with me.

I got some Christmas gifts (yes I am nearly finished the purchasing part of Christmas, I still have the crafty part to complete) and I got some more ideas for the guys Christmas gifts. I found a deck of Angel Tarot Cards. I have been wanting a set for awhile. (Those are for me  in case you had not figured that out). We had lunch at a local cafe that has a gift shop attached to it. They have just set up their Christmas display and its so pretty. I love going there for either shopping or eating. If I had a bigger house and a bigger bank account I would run amok in this place. I was very restrained this time round, just the tarot cards for me, thank you.

 We found lots of other special places to snoop through and snoop we did. Christmas do-dads galore.  We ended up at her place for coffee, chatted for an hour or more, then decided we needed supper before we could call it a night. Off to a local Boston Pizza for super yummy jambalaya fettuccine.  Not a big fan of the spicy, me, but this was delish. We called it a day and I got home around about 9:00. Tired, happy and still with money in my pocket.

Tomorrow the time changes, we get an entire extra hour of Sunday to enjoy. This is the bestest time change of the year. In the morning I am going to check out an entertainment center I found for sale on the local web page that is super cheap and may be just what I am looking for. The afternoon is booked as I am off to the local fabric store with E.

Hopefully sometime this weekend I may find time to put the last of the groceries away, do some laundry and make some soup for lunches next week, hem pants for a friend and put a zipper in a jacket for another friend and empty the dishwasher. Busy Busy Busy Baby!!!

Toodles,

Linda


 

I Really Have Nothing to Say

Its true, I wish I had some fabulously blog worthy tidbit to share but really I have nothing to say. I finally put the ties on the bumper pads tonight, emailed the Mommy-to-be to let her know that its ready to go live at her house now, I read some blogs, made supper, has a little snooze, watched Dancing With the Stars, and now I am trying to blog. All completely snore worthy I agree.

Tomorrow night is book club, then I have C coming over on Thursday night for some knitting help, and Friday is No Cook. Saturday is a road trip with the Banker. We are going forth to neighbouring towns to check out whatever specialty stores they may have. Shopping road trips with her are always a lot of fun so I am looking foreward to Saturday. Still nothing blog worthy at the moment. Regular, everyday, boring even to some and that is ok. Its my life and I am content.

I have made my count of the things I need to make before Christmas. Compiled a list of my lists if you will. I am thinking I am going to need that week off I am taking this month. I have some serious crafting to do. I had hoped to make a trip to Saskatchewan and visit with a friend who will be there from Ontario visiting her Mom but its not in the budget. I am sad about that because her daughter and granddaughter will be with her. Ah well, such is my life.

My Halloween decorations are currently decorating the front entry. The former sewing table is still stuffed in the dining room because I have not figured out where to store it. I am blissfully ignoring them both, along with the mess in the kitchen that would really only take minutes to set to rights. And yet here I am doodling on the 'puter trying to be pithy and witty, failing at it but trying none the less.

So I am going to look at some magazines, then go to bed. How does that grab you for EXCITING??? No.........sigh........I will try again another day.

Toodles

Linda

Halloween .............all done

I like Halloween, I like giving out the candy, I like to see the kids all dressed up in costume and I like to decorate my yard.

Each year I add a little more. I need to work on some lighting for the grave yard. I have a big illuminated pumpkin that stands by the steps but I forgot to take a picture of it.  I need some bats or skeletons to hang from the veranda, and maybe another pumpkin in front of the window. I have a tiny yard so I am limited as to the amount of stuff I can have but I do like to decorate. I love my big black cat that perches on the veranda railing. A friend made her for me and I thinks she is perfect.

Unfortunately most of the neighbours leave their lights off so we don't get a lot of kids. Tonight I had 31, that's the most I ever had. I had treat bags for 28, good thing I did not snarf down all the back up chocolate. Everyone was in costume and all had a parent to escort them. They all said "thank you" too which I was really impressed with.

What I need to do is hit Winners and Michaels tomorrow and see if they have anything on sale that I can use next year.

Toodles,

Linda

Monday Moment with Minou

Happy Halloween Humans.

Sewing Saturday

Lept out of bed this morning bright and early. Now I could leave you thinking that I started my day eager and happy but that would be a lie. I lept out of bed, seriously cranky because the neighbours damn dog was barking its fool head off at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. I had no reason to be up early and was looking foreward to sleeping in. Not happening, Barky Barkington two doors down took care of that for me. So since I was up I stayed up and got started on my day.

Off to the shops bright and early, got my halloween treats, butter on sale for the Christmas baking and a new mat for the back door. Now I can come into the kitchen and get the door shut without having to step off my mat. Walmart had them on sale so I snagged one. I then came home, cleaned the kitchen, did dishes and got to work on the bumper pads. I just have the ties left to add onto them. For that I need a trip to the fabric store. I wish I could share pictures, but I have been sworn to silence until babe is born so pictures will be provided later.

I got my treat bags made for monday night. I am less likely to gobble them up if they are safely incased in plastic with black spider webs printed all over it. Tomorrow I am going to decorate for Halloween. I should have done it last weekend but it didn't get done. Story of my life, I had other fun things to do last weekend. Also on the agenda is laundry, a trip to the fabric store, tea with the Hostess and maybe working on some Christmas gifts.

So now I am going to sit and knit and watch the eleventy million shows I have stored up on my dvr.

Toodles,

Linda

Random This and That with a Tad of Smugness

Should I get the smugness over with first? OK, I will. I have a new system at work, its the way that I do my daily work. For the third month in a row, (at month end no less), I have left my office with NO loose filing to be put away, NO files to be filed. The only work left on my desk is three files that have paperwork pending. This is unheard of. Just a simple little change and my desk is tidy each and every day. Makes me want to do the drunken monkey dance of joy. I feel all efficient and organized. My Mom is in heaven muttering, "I told her that years ago, if only she would listen."  SO I'm a late bloomer in some things, lets move on, 'kay Mama?????

This and that bullets

• I have once again proved the definition of insanity by confirming that I cannot have Halloween candy in this house this far ahead of Halloween. All I am saying is mini chocolate bars are evil and I have the spine of a jelly fish when it comes to same.
• I have finally started on the puppets again. All that yapping about it has turned into action and I have an almost Panda to prove it. Her name is Persimmon and she is adorable.
• I have started to work on my Christmas gifts and I have started the usual lists needed to accomplish my  gifting goals.
• I have finished the quilt top for the office Christmas raffle. Quilting will begin this weekend.
• I really really really want to drop everything and re do my third spare bedroom, even though I have absolutely no time to do this, too much other stuff that needs to be done but I really really really just want to work on only that.
• I "heart" Almond Milk.

I am done. Not much to say for myself.  I need to get to bed and read my latest Nora Roberts novel., Tomorrow is Thursday, its Friday Eve. Almost No Cook Friday and then the wonder that is the weekend.

Toodles

Linda

Monday Moment with Minou

Dancing with the Stars, Smancing with the Stars!

I know how to shake a tail feather, Baby.

One two cha cha cha

Sew Perfect Reno

This is my old sewing table in my favorite room of my house, the craft room  First of all I must say that I constantly use my craft room so it is in a perpetual mess. UFO's all over the dang place.Once in awhile I turn up the music and dive in head first, clean and organize it to within an inch of its life but this does not last long. One or two projects later and its back to messy. I do need to purge the fabric and yarn stashes. They are verging on the hoarders level but that I will do another day. So back to the table reno. This table used to be my kitchen table before I bought this house. It was perfect for the tiny kitchen in my rental house but in the big kitchen here on the homestead it was lost. I did a barter with some puppets and acquired another table that will seat more than two people comfortably and does not look to tiny for the kitchen. I then moved this one into the craft room because I love it and I am not willing to part with it right now (or ever for that matter). My old old sewing table is out in the shed right now. It has folding legs. legs that fold up at the most inopportune times. Gives one a bit of a start when you are working away and suddenly the table drops out from under you.

See the top of my lovely table? My oldest brother, the Historian, put this top on for me. Its a recycled dream, the base and legs were in the basement of a house my family used to live in. They used to butcher meat on it so needless to say the old top needed to be replaced. I jumped up and down and begged my Mom to let me keep the base and legs. I had a plan and the Historian was my partner in crime. The new top is made of old reclaimed hockey sticks. How cool is that??

The Historian scrapped and stained and glued and varnished hockey stick handles until he had a lovely table top. The base and legs got a fresh coat of white paint and I had a perfect table.  Its not totally level but I loved the look of it. It was perfect for my little kitchen and now I am trying to protect it from getting ruined by my mad crafting skills.

This is the fun part of this table, he left the underside untouched, so you can still see the hockey sticks. It makes me smile.

The Banker, who loves to redecorate her house turned her third bedroom into a scrap booking/sewing room and she made herself two work tables from book cases and a pre-finished melamine board bought at a big box home reno store. When I saw her newly finished room I announced that I was totally going to steal  the idea from her. Its a cost friendly, quick fix for my problem. I sold knitted dishcloths to get the cash to get the components for my new table.

The work surface is bigger, the pre-finished board will stand up to my working on it, cutting material, and pinning stuff. The book cases are great storage. I have yet another place to show off my vintage tins and baskets. So here is what the new work surface looks like. I am so happy with the outcome.

Right now I am having a bit of a coffee break and feeling all smug and satisfied with myself. Of course all this self satisfaction is just a blissful cloud of denial because I do not have a pea-picking clue where I am going to store the table that I cannot part with. (Sigh) . I will figure it out, I always do. Right now its in the dining room with a pile of crap on it, cardboard from the bookcase boxes, tools, odds and ends that need to go back where they belong in other rooms of the house not the craft room. Once my coffee is finished I will deliver them to their proper places.

Laundry still needs to be dealt with and those bumper pads will be sewn this weekend. I have a "to do" list that is 27 items long and I have only gone through 14 of them so far. Must get back at it. Some time soon I will have to go and get a desk lamp for my new work table. So much to so, so little time. Yep, happier than a pig in a puddle, that's me!!

Toodles!!

Linda