Sunday Stuff

Its been a grey, dull, rainy day here, not the sort of day you would like for a weekend but a good one to be tucked inside doing something you love to do. Its chilly in the house but I am wrapped up in my fuzzy slippers and ratty old black sweater so I am able to resist turning on the heat. This morning I did my usual thing of getting up late, having a lovely breakfast and then I sorted laundry. Once the washing machine was chugging away I got back at covering the cushions for my co-worker. I started them yesterday and since today's weather is craptastic I had a good excuse to finish them.

I rather like the way they look, what do you think? Two of them have a solid purple side, two have the solid green and then all four have the funky floral and all have green piping.  She can mix and match them as she pleases. They are nice and big and squishy. I just hope she likes them.

I had a lovely evening yesterday. Miss Miles came to town . We don't often get to visit face to face as she lives an hour and a half away from me. So last night was a nice treat. She came in and we went out for supper that went to a movie. First time we ever went to a movie together in the near 30 years we have known each other. It made me giggle to find out that she is as anal about getting to the theater in lots of time as I am. We went and saw the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It was a lovely, sweet, easy movie. I recommend it. Then after coffee at Timmies, she had to head home again as she had to work in the morning. We really need to do this more often. 

 I am thinking the rest of my day will be spent either knitting or crocheting as I finish up the laundry. I am washing towels, clothes, sheets, and cat blankets. Its a good feeling to get everything all clean and fresh again. I have my menu planned out for the week and once the washing machine is done I can run the dishwasher. This will mean I will pretty much have washed all that needs to be washed this weekend. Laundry is one of my more favourite household chores. 

Next on the crafting list are I  have Busy's runner to make and Best Friend's quilt to do. Those will get started this week. I will keep posting pictures as I finally got batteries for the camera again. For now I am off to make some lunch then settle into my chair with my knitting needles and enjoy the remains of my weekend.

Toodles
Linda

Sharing a Handy Hint

This is not my idea but I saw it on CozyLittleCottage and I thought it was a fabulously simple idea.  I saw it awhile ago and just now got around to making some for myself. So here is this clever idea.

To start with having one of these, or any other four footed fur baby

means you usually have lots of these floating around your house.

Lint rollers are handy dandy items that unless you want to look completely fuzzy and furry all the time.  If you are like me or like most people you loose the wrapper and then what do you with it? They either end up stuck to something or you have a fur covered lint roller in you drawer. Yuk!

Here is the brilliant solution: (Thank You Brenda from Cozy Little Cottage)

Get yourself some of these ordinary tin cans. Empty  them, clean them and save them. Find some pretty paper. I used cardstock from my scrapbooking stash. 

Measure, cut, clue and Voila!!!

Its the perfect place to store your lint roller, it keeps it clean and you don't end up with it stuck to anything you don't want it stuck to. You could not bother with the paper if you wish but I like the look. You could add ribbon , tart it up a bit. You could do whatever your heart desires.

The green one now lives in my entry way for visitors who need to be de-cat haired when they leave. The blue and white one is in the sewing room for my personal use.  I need to make another to take to the office, and one for my bedroom. In my house I could easily put one in each of the spare rooms.
How that cat is not bald I will never know.

So there you have it, a recycling, crafting smart tip that was too good to keep to myself.

Toodles
Linda

A Good Day

Today was a good day, nothing earth shattering happened, a day of ordinary miracles if you will. It started out as normal.  I got my car delivered to the garage, I managed to run an errand before hand and I still got to work on time. We had lively, interesting, topical debate over coffee this morning. We all did not agree but we all got to have a say and we all shared our opinion without tempers flaring or one person dominating the conversation. It was the  kind of conversation I so enjoy. Timely, interesting, diverse and spirited without temper or hard feelings.

J and I took one of our monthly charity donations to a preschool enrichment program today. Oh it was nice, we were warmly greeted, give a tour and introduced to everyone. We got to watch the children open our parcel and everyone was so thankful. It just made us both feel so good. We got our picture taken with the kids and we were send off with well wishes and urging to come back and visit sometime!! I am really enjoying the little project J and I are doing this year. We are doing a year of giving. Each month we pick a charity or deserving group and we make a donation. We are trying to pick places that are local and do not receive a lot of donation dollars. It has been very rewarding and today was just the icing on the cake. Giving back is a gift to the giver as much as the recipient.

Ladybug's Mom and I  went to Staples today at lunch and ran amok in the stationary aisles. What is it with me and stationary? I love it. I indulged and bought myself some Martha Stewart chalk board labels for my pantry jars. I bought some other labels and some little journals, and other odds and ends. I could spend a lot more on stuff but I really do not need it. No sure why but  I love post-its, pens, clips and paper. Its yummy stuff. Ladybug's Mom is as bad as I am so needless to say we had a very good time.

Then it was back to work, and an afternoon spent with  lots of chatter, lots of laughter and lots of work accomplished. Great fun. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood and we had a lovely afternoon. Before I knew it, it was time to be off to collect the car.  I am so glad that the last of the problems that had my mechanic concerned about the car have been looked after and I can move on to other things. One of these days I have to take this baby on a road trip.Next on the agenda, No Cook Friday. No Cook Friday was a much fun as it always is, we eat, we talk, we laugh. Its the best ending for week. None of us like to miss out on it.

And now the weekend looms ahead, full of promise and possibilities. One other nice thing that happened today is  I got an order of books today from Chapters. Love new books!! More stuff to read. Oh me little heart is a flutter. Its gonna be a good weekend!!

Toodles, Linda

Like Water Dripping on a Stone

That is how I am feeling lately about mostly everything but first and foremost the dang yard work. I did a little more tonight. I look out and I can tell I did stuff but I am pretty sure a stranger would look at it and thing "why don't they do something to that poor little yard". I live in hope that like water dripping on a stone I will eventually make a noticeable dent in it. I need to get some plants , I had three perennials that did not survive the winter. Crap, now they have to be replaced.  I saw a pink hydrengia (?) bush at a local nursery that I would love to have but $32.00 is too rich for my blood at the moment. I have made a list (big surprise) of the plants I need, next pay day I will get what I can and go from there. Water on a stone, drip, drip, drip.

I worked on the sewing room tonight. I am trying to get it organized to the point that I have room to do some sewing in there. There are piles of magazines in there, piles and piles.  I swear I think they breed in the dark when I am not looking. I just sort and recycle a bunch and poof there appears another mile high pile. Blargh!!! One good thing tonight, I finally put away my card making stuff. I have been tripping over it for weeks now. This is one of my biggest problems, I am less than stellar at putting things back when I drag them out. If I did my house would look a lot better than it does. I have had this quirk all my life, its something else to work on about me, add it to the ever growing list. AND another thing I need to take care of in this house is that I have donation stuff all over the needs to be delivered to its proper places. Sick of stepping over it as well. I need to make room, create space, out with the old., etc, etc.  Water on a stone, drip, drip, drip.

SO the yard work has been worked on, I have room to do some sewing, progress has been made. I need to look through and deal with at least 5 magazines tonight and I will feel like I have dripped a couple of  water drops on that stone.

It is all a work in progress.

Toodles, Linda

Mother Nature has a Sense of Humour , the Hag

My legs are not so sore today but I have to admit I was not gung ho about yard work. So I got up, fed the cat, fed myself and then mentally went through the things I wanted/needed to do today. I got the laundry sorted, put some on to soak. Then I made a honey sesame marinade for a pork loin and got it soaking in the fridge. By then it had started to rain. Oh darn (heavy on the sarcasim) I now can't go out and work in the yard. What ever will I do. Hand to head, heavy sigh and all that dramatic stuff.

So I watched some tv, did some crocheting and then decided I should wash the table on the veranda down. The white tiles on it are so dirty they look brown. Pail and rags in had I head out to wash it down. Mid way through the cleaning, the rain stops. Hmmph, there goes my legitimate reason to not pull weeds. Mother Nature what happened to us women sticking together supporting each other??? Nope, the funny lady turns off  the showers and the sky lightens, the day stays cool, I have no reason to sit on the couch. Crap. (I realize I am probably the only person wishing for rain this long weekend.)

So I went out for awhile and pulled weeds, which for me is more like I am yanking the tops off of them but at least it stunts their growth for a moment so the real plants can gain ground. I did that until my back hurt and I could not bend over any more.  I trimmed all the suckers off the big old maple tree in the back yard and I got the little fence put around the Brigadier's ferns. I have half the flower bed looking slightly better. I wish I could get down on my knees, I could actually get something done but I do what I can.  I have decided I need to do a little each night. I would love to dig out the mature plants that I want to keep, work the whole thing up and then just plant the hell out of it so there would be no room for weeds. Hmmm, no money, no man power = not gonna happen, at least at this minute.

Right now I am washing clothes and I am going to spend the rest of the day crafting at something. I hope you all had a great long weekend.

Toodles, Linda

Day of Rest........ I'm All For That

Best laid plans and all that. I was going to do a lot of yard work today. Well not so much. Me poor old legs are so sore today I just can't do all the things I want to. Over did it yesterday maybe, change in the weather, just plain getting old, too fat, all of the above, who knows??? What I do know, I managed to plant two bushes and two hostas and I was done. So I put my things away and came in to rest for a bit. If I can I will go back out there sometime later today but for now I am going to sit as much as I can.

There is no shortage of  chores to be done inside. I am going to take this as the opportunity to finish the king sized quilt once and for all. The weeds can wait, I have quilting to be done.

Toodles
Linda

UPDATE: the king sized Square Dance quilt is finished......currently doing the drunken monkey dance of joy!!

I Are Tired

Well I think I have earned my onions today. I am tired. That sort of bone tired because I worked hard and was productive kind of tired. I even had a nap this afternoon and I am still tired but its a good feeling. I was up earlier than planned this morning thanks to Barky Barkington the dumb dog two housed down. Seven in the AM he started his soulful litany of howling and moaning with staccato barking thrown in for good measure. I was less than impressed as he jolted me out of a rather nice sleep. Long story short I was up at at it long before I intended to be.

Groceries first. I have to say again this meal planning thing is great. I am saving money, not wasting as much and   now I know better, I double check the fridge and pantry before I go so I am not missing things I need or buying what I already have. As I am saving some cash, when I see things on sale, like bags of jumbo shrimp for $8.00 I can pick some up to have on hand for the future. It is one of the smarter things I have started to do. So groceries, a quick search for plants and to Walmart for cat food then home.

After a snack I started in on my garden shed. WHAT A MESS!! I have pictures but the battery in my camera has died to I cannot upload them. I still have a lot of work to do in there. There are many many more things to purge but I have made a great start. Three trunk/tool chest things, wooden bits and pieces, old garden hoses, a ton of general detritus is now piled in the back yard awaiting a trip to the dump. I can walk in the shed now, I can get to the garden tools and I am not tripping over a zillion thing. I took a carload of cardboard to the recycle bins. You forget how many boxes you have for things you have purchased. Next week I am taking the electronic recyclables to the dump. That will free up even more space.

I used to preserve food. I canned all sorts of things, jams, jellies, vegetables, pickles but now I do not. I do not have the place to store it and I do not have a garden. The reason I have brought this up out of the blue is that I have boxes of sealers in my shed. Some of them are old and I will not part with them but there are many many that need to be either recycled or given to someone who would use them. I thought I only had about 4 boxes but I think there could be 8 or more. Yikes. I really have to address this part of me that thinks if one is good, two is great and eleventy million are FANTASTIC!!

There is a chest of drawers out there that seems rather solid. Its filthy and needs some love. I have plans to clean it, paint it and bring it in to the house for storage. Currently I have a little night stand in the front hall and this chest will offer more space for winter things, extension cords, all manner of things. I am going to wait for warmer weather to do it because I do not want to bring it in the house until it has been thoroughly scrubbed and disinfected. I do not need any bugs in my house.

After I was done with the shed I came in and I started to clean up the kitchen.  Why is my kitchen always an unholy mess, why???????? Could someone explain it to me. I seem to be forever cleaning it. Anyway back on topic, i made a batch of laundry soap and I quilted for a while. The king sized quilt is getting finished this weekend for sure!! Right now I need to make some supper but I am blogging instead. I am tired and I don't feel like cooking anything but I don't want to order in because the is expensive and not healthy and I ate out last night, and and and......

Toodles

Linda

Catching Up

I have had company this week so I have not had much time to blog. The Nurse and her daughter The Entertainer were here for three days and we had a good time. You forget how much energy and life someone who is 4 years old can bring. The Entertainer lives up to her name, she sings, she dances, she tells stories and she has the best giggle. You could not stay somber in the presence of that giggle. Its infectious. Her eyes dance with delight and her smile just beams. A definite little sparkle, much like her mom was at that age.

One dollar store tiara and instantly she is Princess of the world  AND the sky. Teddy, always a loyal subject is  the best when you need a cuddle. Teddy was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa when she was borned. 

 I got a introduction to some new television this week. I got to see  Bubble Guppies, Octonauts and Max and Ruby. Never saw them before but I had heard of them. I like bubble guppies, Ruby is a little bossy for my taste and Octonauts, well  I don't understand the animals under the water, but its cute. 

My house is usually a mess but this was one I was happy to see. There it is, a delightful mess  as creative energy found a release in crayon and paper.

Pooh Bear came out to inspect the goings on. Yes that is MY Pooh Bear, what of it?......shut up.  I have several stuffed animals in my house, mostly of the pig variety but there are a couple of bears. I learned too that a stuffed pig, a basket and a tea towel plus a little imagination and you have a "baby". A baby who needs naps, time outs and large feedings of soap made from smashed fish or turtles depending on the mood of the cook. Lucky Baby Piggie. he has not had so much love lavished on him since he came to live with me.


So now they are back home, safe and sound and my house is very very empty and a little lonely. The cat is happy as her nose has been out of joint since they arrived. Madam is not overly fond of small children and got in a huff that is still going on even though they are long gone. She is currently shunning me as I type.

So now I have to manage supper tonight on my own, no one to take out or be taken out by. (Sigh). I had best get at it. I plan to spend the evening quilting and maybe playing a little with my new vacuum cleaner.

Toodles,
Linda

Sunday Thoughts

I had a good day today. I went to an antique/collectibles sale in a small nearby town with a couple of friends from work. We had a lovely day. I got a candlewick dainty tray, and two pieces of milk glass. They were a little milk jug and an egg cup that looks like a chicken on a nest. I was very pleased with my little purchases. I have not taken pictures of them yet. Just too lazy today. We got home and I had a nap. I love Sundays.

I have my menus planned for the coming week. No need to hop to the grocery store until Friday on pay day. I am rather proud of myself for this. It sure takes a lot of fussing about meals out of my week. I do have company coming this week to stay for a couple of days so meals will have to be flexible. I imagine they will mostly do their own thing as they have other people in town to visit besides me. I am prepared if they have other plans for suppers, I am prepared if they do not. I am feeling a little smug.

The other good news in my life is that I am closing in on finishing the quilt. I am thinking it will be done this week. I can start on the butterfly quilt next week. Somewhere in there I am going to make that table runner for Busy. Not to mention I am going to keep working on the yard. Still have not managed to get it mowed yet but that is first on my list for things to do tomorrow night. Move a couple of ferns and mow the grass. Clean out the shed, dig up the dead bushes, and so on and so on and so on.

Right now I want to finish off my night with the quilt and the last show of Desperate Housewives.

Toodles
Linda

Weed Whacking Mayhem

Well maybe not mayhem but at long long last some yard work is taking place at the homestead. I actually got up this morning and headed straight outside. I cut down old dead plants from last year, I pulled weeds, I worked up the front flower beds and pulled more weeds. I planted marigold seeds, a test this year since we are having an early spring. I am hoping they start from seeds this year, it will save me a lot of money on plants. I discovered that in a fit of weed killing last year I manage to kill my dogwood bush but keep the weeds alive.WTF?????  My potentilla bush is dead as well from being transplanted then totally neglected. I will be replacing them this year.

I have plans for my yard and the work has just begun. I may share pictures once it gets to look like I want it to look. I did not get everything done today. I still have to mow the lawn and move a peony plant. Then dig out the dogwood and dig up the strip in front of my fence, between the sidewalk. Its hell to mow that spot and so I am thinking some nice ground cover will be a better idea, maybe something that flowers. I need to weed and feed, and plant more grass, too many weeds making their way into my grass.  I have yet to start on the back yard and I need to purge the shed. Lots of stuff to do, lots of ways to keep me out of trouble and very busy.

Last night was No Cook Friday, of course, and we tried out a new place in town. It was really good. Good food, not a big variety but good basic stuff. Well made and the homemade fries were perfect. They have fixed the place up with a black, white and grey scheme and it looks very nice. We all were full and it was not over the top as far as price. I was impressed and would go  back again. I have a burger and fries. I like burger and fries and I figure its hard to screw that up. The burger was homemade and one of those kind that you have to practically unhinge your jaw to bite into it. I have already mentioned the fries, crispy and homemade, yummy. Hopefully the business will take off. Its so hard to start a new place and this location is no the best one.

This afternoon, Teddy Bear and I went to the hospital to have a visit with the Hostess. She is in for the weekend with gall bladder troubles and is waiting for surgery which will not happen until her infection is under control. Poor girl, she is in some pain and things are not going how she had hoped but she is on her way to getting better. Our focus is that she will get her operation soon and be on the mend before she knows it. Once we visited her into sleepiness, we left and went for a quick coffee. Then I dropped Teddy Bear at her home and I came back to mine. The only other thing I want to accomplish today is clean the kitchen. The Nurse and her daughter The Entertainer are coming to stay next week for a few days and I need to have the place reasonable.

Tomorrow I am headed out of town with friends to an Antiques/Collectibles sale. I should be staying home and doing yard work or cleaning but I am not. I am going to have a fun day out with some lovely friends. I may even find some treasures to bring home.

Right now I need to make some supper, then attack the kitchen. Once the kitchen is done I can quilt,quilt, quilt. Its turning out to be a not bad weekend.


Toodles,
Linda

89 Today

That is how old my Mama would have been today, if she was still with us, here in the physical world. She's not, in my mind she is with the angels, with my Dad and all the others that have moved on from our world. I think they are having a good time, being together and waiting for the rest of us to catch up. That is what I chose to believe, I cannot think any other way, that would be too final, too harsh, too sad.

I miss her.......... I miss her each and every day. In so many ways she is still here with me. I hear her voice in my head all the time. My life ebbs and flows around the ethics, morals and standards she instilled in me. I see her things in my home, her memories are there for review deep in my heart and mind. The older I get the more I see her face when I look in the mirror.  I miss HER, her presence, her strength, her no nonsense "keep calm and carry on" attitude. Her capability and her amazing strength of spirit. I miss spending time with her, talking to her on the phone or over a pot of coffee. I miss having someone who shares the whole of my history, who knows the details, who gets the unspoken message. I even miss her pushing my buttons and getting me so frazzled I could scream. I miss her irritating me, I miss her loving me, I just simply miss her. Even no I can hear her saying, "Oh Linda, get over it and get on with it, fussing won't change what has happened, you just have to get on with things".

Busy emailed me today and mentioned the date. It was comforting to know that someone else was thinking of her today. I know we all do, but its was a comfort to see the actual proof. For some reason this year her birthday is a hard day and  its not because Mother's day is around the corner, that is the same thing each year. The anniversary of her death came and went this year and it did not tug at me like her birthday has. I have no explanation as to why I feel it more this year than any other special date. I cannot explain my moods to myself let alone anyone else. It is what it is and today I am sad, I miss my Mama.

While I may be sad, I am choosing to be grateful for the time I did have her with me, for all the wonderful things that our time together entailed and the bad ones too. The good, the bad and the ugly are the things  have made me who I am. They are my history and the stepping stones to my future. I choose to honour that and be grateful for all that was.

always always always the heart and center of our family, 

Linda

Menu Planning and other Stuff

Ok, Its still the first week, and I am only four days in but I am liking this menu planning business. Look at what I made for supper tonight:

Still like the Hostess's shrimp bowl best but this is pretty good

It's Shrimp noodle bowl!! Well I ended up with a plateful but the recipe calls it a bowl. You can see the fragrant steam coming off it, full of sesame, garlic and gingery goodness. I have enough for lunch tomorrow. SQUEEEE. Ok this may not seem like much to most people but the fact that I came home tonight, actually chopped, sliced, diced and stir fried is so amazing, such a big deal to me you have no idea. I did not spend ages figuring out what to make. I had all the stuff to make it and dang it I made it. Multiple pats on the bad to me!! Next weeks challenge will be to plan a menu around what is actually in the house. No trip to the grocery store for something.

Tonight I am hoping to get back at the quilting. I have the side panels sewn on and its the right size now, I just need to quilt the side panels and then it will be done like dinner baby. I do have to admit, I am not a big fan of making a quilt that size. Its a lot of material to wrestle with. I was tired after I got all the pieces sewn on.  I have spend the last two nights fiddling around and not really accomplishing much of anything. Tonight hopefully something will get accomplished. I also need to get doing some laundry or it could be a naked work day tomorrow.

 I have a friend coming over for a little knitting help this evening. She is a novice and I am happy to help her if I can. I like to encourage this hobby and it tickles me pink that I can help her out.  So far she has not come up with a problem that I have not been able to help her with. Hopefully tonight I can fix it one more time.

Well I should go and tidy my kitchen before she gets here.

Toodles,

Linda

Monday Already

Seems like I just blinked and the weekend vanished before I had a chance to really savour the time, the freedom, the lack of scheduled minutes. I did a double take this morning when the alarm rang its stupid, annoying little head off and bullied me out of bed. hmmph.

You may have to get up but I am staying in bed

I could feel a Monday morning crank coming on but I changed my mind. Cranky is too much work so I got on with it and got my self to work. Thinking all the time, its good to have my job, I have good people to work with and I love that pay cheque every two weeks. Attitude really does make a major difference. A better one is easier to deal with than a bad one. Something else that helped this morning, I got my breakfast and lunch ready today with little to no thinking on my part. I cannot tell you how much easier the morning went for me without those two questions hanging over my head.

Tonight I managed to get my home personal filing caught up, I brought the bank book up to date and have to say it feels good. I like to have things caught up and in order, inspite of what it may look like around this house.
Doing the filing is one of those jobs that has piled up for far too long. I think I need to make myself a daily chore list, just those little things that if they were done each day would not pile up and make me crazy when they get out of hand. Maybe I need to start looking at that Flylady website. I have heard good things about her helping you get organized and keep on top of things.

Trying to improve yourself takes a lot of work. Worth it but a lot of work.

Toodles,

Linda

Lazy Sunday Update

My house smells like a house should on a Sunday. Oven fried chicken and the caramelized onion and potato flan are baking away in the oven. Two lemon loaves are cooling on the kitchen counter. It smells like food in here.Warm, homey delicious aromas are floating about my kitchen, tickling my nose and making my mouth water. It is the start of my menu planing. Since its just me, I can cook one thing and have it last for a couple of meals. This dinner alone should carry me through to Wednesday, including lunches. Or I can freeze stuff to reheat at a later date. I am in love with the possibilities of this.

So the plan this week is oven fried chicken, onion and potato flan, lemon loaf and greek yogurt for dessert. Then Asian noodle shrimp bowls (not the hostess' shrimp bowls but a different recipe), tossed salad and fresh fruit, and finally if needed, baked ham, hash-brown casserole and steamed vegetables. These meals could run over into next week but that is ok. At least I don't have to struggle to figure out what to make or what to make for lunch. Steel cut oatmeal porridge is in the fridge to be reheated for breakfast with almond milk and craisins. Yum!!!

I need practice at this cooking thing, I need to work on the timing but so far everything looks yummy. It won't matter how it tastes I will be eating it anyway. The plan is to save money not chuck stuff out. I actually enjoyed cooking this afternoon. I got to play with my Kitchen Aid mixer and that always makes me happy.

I hope you are having a good weekend.

Toodles,
Linda

Lazy Sunday

I am not accomplishing many of the things that I had hoped to today. I am not feeling up to it, just don't feel like doing much of anything. So I got up late, has my usually lazy Sunday morning but I did not burst into energy after I ate. Its ok, the world did not end. I am learning that.

I made porridge for the week for breakfasts. I got the kitchen cleaned up and I fell asleep on the couch when I decided to sit down for a few minutes and watch the Vanilla Ice Project. I patched up the shower drain so I think I can use it. Really the whole unit needs to be replaced. Its a cheap flimsy thing and it should really go. I will have to talk to my brother about how long it would take to replace it and then start to save up to get a new one.

Leap Year is on the tv and I love this movie. Must find my crocheting and settle in to watch it. Sundays are a day of rest after all.

Toodles
Linda

Happy Blogiversary

I missed my blogs first anniversary, it was one year old at the end of April. I cannot believe I have been blogging for a year. The time does slip away on a person. But I am glad I started it, I like to blog, even if no one ever reads it, it works for me.

So its Saturday and I am taking a little snack/blogging break. On Friday I managed to make a menu plan, a grocery list as per the menu plan and then this morning I went and actually bought the groceries. I stuck to the list and only bought two things that were not on it.  I did learn one thing, I need to check the fridge and pantry before the shopping trip, I bought a couple of things I didn't really need to but I came in under budget so I was happy. Cooking will commence tomorrow.

I ran all my errands, and got home around noon. After lunch and a quick tidy up of the kitchen I retired to the sewing room. I slept in a little this morning so I was later getting stuff done this morning than I thought I would be. No matter, armed with my lists and my eye on the schedule, I got it done and got home before it got Saturday crazy.

When I am sewing I usually have HGTV or the DIY network on in the background.  Summer Home and then the Bronson Pinchot Project played in the background filling my head with a zillion decorating ideas and yearning for a cabin at the lake as I worked on the king sized Square Dance quilt. I have the side panels added to the top. I now need to add the panels to the backing and then I can get quilting. Tomorrow I want to cover cushions for a co-worker so I want to get this quilt finished and ready to move to the living room to quilt. Four 22 inch pillow forms take up a lot of space in my little sewing/craft room.

Tomorrow not only will I start the cooking for the week, I need to make a batch of laundry soap. I bought the supplies and made my first batch last June. Almost one year later, the only thing I have had to buy is the bar soap for a couple of bucks. I do ten to twelve loads of laundry in a month as there is only me here, the cat is pretty light in her laundry needs. So for an initial outlay of maybe $12.00 I am still going strong a year later. I cannot calculate what a savings this has been. I have the formula tweaked for the soap so it works for me. It pleases me I am not putting chemicals into the environment, and I am saving money. Not to mention it takes little to no time at all to whip up 5 gallons of the stuff. Oh yeah this will be only the third time I have had to make laundry soap. I get to use my new soap grater this time. My thrift store purchase of a cheese grater to use just for soap makings. Have you spent less than $20.00 for a more than a year's worth of laundry soap?

I also need deal with the shower drain tomorrow. I decided to unplug it on my own, then it did not come apart like I thought it should and then...............long story short the drain is now totally out of the bottom of the shower. I can't get it to go back, I have no idea why? I mean forcing it to come out could not possibly have anything to do with it. Forcing stuff always works so well. Some times I am too much like my Dad for my own good. I wonder if they make shower drains for dummies?? First before I hit the hardware store I need to have a real look at the drain and see if I can save it and reuse this one. I just have to keep in mind to not be rammy as my Mama would say.

Time to get back to sewing, then make supper, I think I will do little to nothing this evening. That sounds like fun to me.

Toodles,
Linda

Tomorrow is Friday!!!

Book club night was awesome. Its always a good evening of chatting, debating, enlightening, and sharing, mixed in with loads of good food, giggles and fellowship. This is an interesting group of intelligent ladies with strong opinions and we love to share them. The food is always fabulous, The left overs went to work today and  many a coworker offered to join the club just for the eats.

Tonight I can just relax, the only thing I am determined to do is clean the litter box. I am hoping to get my week meal menu made up and get started on the grocery list. This is a big step. I am excited to see if it makes my life easier and saves me some money. I need to have a little nap first. I don't know if this is the weather but I am tired today. Weary to say the least. I am hoping a little shut eye will snap me out of it.

I keep looking at my yard and hoping that one of these weekends I will actually get out there and get something done to it. I have seeds I want to put into the ground. There are old dead plants to be cleared away to make room for the new stuff. I need the fates to collide so I have the energy and the right weather to get it going. I am dreaming of potted pansies, marigolds and lilacs in bloom. I am rather afraid my potentilla bush did not not survive the move from one spot to another last year. I may need to go get a new one. Well that will teach me for not planting it in the right place the first time round. Live and learn.

I did not plant flowers last year and I was so sorry that I did not. My yard looked so sad and bare. That will not happen again. There will be flowers this year. My yard may not be home and garden perfect but I love to have colour in it. I love flowers so dagnabbit, there will be flowers. I need to make a list!!


Well  hear my couch calling my name. Nap attack in imminent.

Toodles,
Linda

Sock Monkey Knee Surgury

I have only a few things left to do and the house is completely ready for my company tomorrow night. I have to admit I had my doubts it would happen but dang I like having my house this tidy!!

I took some time out in my evening to do a small favour  for my most favourite Ladybug ever. My Grandbaby. She has worn the toes out of three of her sleepers doing her army crawl that she does. I put a tiny little patch on each of them so she can wear them just a little longer. Then I performed knee surgery on the cutest little sock monkey for same said Ladybug

I love sock monkeys and this one is too cute. She had a little hole in her knee that needed attention so we stitched her up and the patient is resting comfortably in recovery. She will be released tomorrow and be back home with her loved ones tomorrow night. Surgery was a success.

I am so happy to be able to do these small things for this sweet little girl. Its what Grandma's do right???

Toodles,
Linda