very busy writer

My Olympic Digest is getting bigger all the time and I am doing research into interesting and personal aspects of the Olympics. Tonight's is a good one I think.
As for the rest of the day Vancouver and BC residents raised 7.4 million dollars for the kids. Most of the money was raised in small amounts of $100 to $300 from ordinary people who are not so ordinary but people who are generous in thought and deed.
We went out for a bit this afternoon and bought my "ouch" candy. I like to eat 2 candies when I go to bed and do my reading. There I have admitted when I do my reading. I can't keep a secret LOL. And my blood sugar is good so I don't worry about my little treats.
I did some fabric pressing preparing my blocks for adding the applique butterflies and also pressed some backing, cut out binding, sewing it and pressing that as well.
I tried to do a snowball block of Hallowe'en fabrics that were left over from the Hallowe'en wall hanging. There is lots left over and I need to come up with something.
. So my day was about cleaning which we did this morning, washing, a bit of shopping cutting, ironing,sewing, writing and getting dinner ready for Ray and me.
I think I'll go to bed early LOL

Olympic Digest-bits and pieces 01/31/10

A bit cooler today and more rain. Usually rain down below means snow on the mountains. Not much Olympic news today, it was all about the Show of Hearts. We raised 7.6 milliion I think, an Olympic effort :>)
I did find out from my friend who is a volunteer that there wil be transportation for volunteers from Vancouver to Whistler and free transportation for other volunteers around town.
An intersting little bit, I have a few friends who are volunteers,one of whom is in my weekly quilting group. She was so proud of her uniform pieces that she brought them to the group to show us. There were a number of lovely pieces, pants,jacket, a couple of T shirts , I can't recall all the pieces but there seemd to me to be more than this, I'll ask her. The clothing was so beautifully made, Nancy even showed us all the seams LOL, the fabric was gorgeous . I asked; and there are pants, a jacket, 2 tee shirts , a vest and toque..no socks? :>)) The designer stood in the shower for two hours with the uniform on to make sure it was impermeable to water. Hope that is proper English LOL. The pieces have special bits-pockets that are inside security pockets , so no need for a purse. I want that!! Also the pants are either inside pants or outside pants depending what the job is. The outside pants are fleece lined and the inside pants are a lovely stretchy fabric. The uniform can be changed from Olympic to Paralympic by just changing the patches. The Paralympics are after the Olympics. So don't leave us too soon, you'll want to see the paralympics too. It will be amazing!!

postings awry

I look at the blogs of others and they all look so good. The postings stay together with the pictures. I just wrote a posting re the Olympics and it came in under the pictures that were with yesterdays post. So I had to remove them and put them on the side. I want it to be kept in place with the photos not separated. So far I have had trouble with the layouts of my blog and am not too happy with it. Oh well I'll wait until Mary comes over on the 15th. She can help me.
The Show of Hearts Telethon for the kids and children's hospital is on TV tonight and right now Paul McCartney is performing, not sure it it is live or a live stream feed. Ah as I suspected it is a feed.. he is said by the announcer to be at the top of his game and he does sound really good. Too bad y'all can't tune in LOL.

We again donated to the Telethon , every year they offer a Robert bateman print and for the past 3 years we have been fortunate to take up that offer. This year the print is a snow leopard. In previous years we have received polar bears, sea otters, and a tiger- all very beautiful. We gave the otters to our grandson for his new home and we had it framed so that he could put it up on the wall immediately.
I found some batting just the right size for my little quilt and I have some backing too so yippee I don't have to buy anything. Well I was looking forward to going shopping but that will have to wait until another time.

Olympic Digest 1/30/10

Fortune has smiled... we have a cooling trend coming up ,however it doesn't really mean snow but it does mean that what snow we do have is likely to stay. That is a big plus . LOL
More good news.. the Swedish Royal Couple will be attending the Olympics,,and Scandinavia House will be hosting a private reception on February 25 to honour King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Sylvia Bernadottes. Scandavia House will have severa big TVs televising local and European broadcasts. So if you are interested in the Swedish section of the Olympics look for it on TV. Somewhere...
Moslon Canadian has a photo mural featuring 13000 shots of Canadians at its Kitsilano brewery.
Info courtesy of Vancouver Sun.

Hallowe'en quilt

I described all of this in an earlier blog so I'll just add the photo so you can see what I did!!

border strips

This is my work for today, I made these border strips this afternoon, then duty called and I had to make dinner. My chili was cooking so I added the strips to the main body of my quilt.

a Time To Sew

You all know how it with sewing, you want to make something and intend to do so but there is a deadline and it doesn't get done. Last year I saw a Hallowe'en wall hanging in the October /08 issue of The Love of Quilting, it wasn't last year was it, but the year before :>). But since it was the October issue I just knew it would not be done in time for Hallowe'en, next year I thought. Well next year came and once again it was too late to do it. But this time I said it will be started and it will be finished by October of this year ,2010. And so it began.It was an applique piece ,and while applique is something I can do very easily, this was machine applique a new challenge for me. I know it could be done by hand but this was the year when I wanted to challenge myself and learn new things. My friend Lynn gave me instructions and it went very well. Then December came and the piece was shelved for the season. When January arrived there were the end bits of the border which had corn candy in each of the 4 squares to do. Talk about proscrastination, I did not want to do them , small bits and three in each piece of candy. Blanket stitch would not work well in the middle of the candy so I decided to do a small zig zag. If all else fails do a ZZ LOL. It would have been easy if an ordinary applique was done or to leave off the candy in those squares altogether.
No I decided not to be a coward , it had to be done right or as the designers did it. New learnings have to be done :>)
Today I finished the top, and I am really happy that I went for the gusto as Ray would say!!
Also I kept on to the end of the road, which is another of my homilies. I'll talk about it another day. Pictures tomorrow.

Olympic Digest 01/29/10

All news is Olympic news tonight so I need to pick and choose and it is mostly all negative. Lete's start with closures; one of the main roads around the downtown centre was closed today, the restrictions for air travel came into effect so no small planes need apply, waterfronts are all under restrictions and if you don't know Vancouver we are surrounded by water . This is just the beginning of it. Athletes are abandoning the 1 billion dollar Olympic Village , say it is too noisy and too far from practice venues. Bus services are in contention because we are bringing in shuttle buses from California, Alabama and Florida that will be driven by American drivers. Things are not going smoothly right now. SIGH.
One bright spot is that Clara Hughes a 5 time Canadian medal winner in both summer and winter games has been chosen to carry the flag in to the Opening ceremonies in B.C. Place. I am happy !!
The world is evolving as it should!!!
Weather is very mild 10"C today.

Olympic Digest 01/28/10

Ring out those old bells !! On Feb 12, at 5:45 P.M. the bells of Holy Rosary Csthedral will ring out to ring in the Olympics. The eight bells were cast in France and the U.K. over 100 years ago the largest of them weighing almost a tonne. Acknowledging that this Information is from today's issue of the Vancouver Sun.
The major topic of discussion today is snow. What shall we do if the weather does not cooperate and it often doesn't. This has been the warmest January on record with the snow pack on Cypress Bowl where the snowboarding will be held we hope, from melting and hay being used beneath the snow to keep the ground which is warm from causing the snow to melt .Snow making equipment is busy. Whistler has seen record snows falls so that is good for downhill skiing. Now I ask you did you ever think of hay and snow as complimentery. Relocation is a possibility but I just heard that they have ample reserves of snow and are trucking it in. .... Who knew!! New things to learn all the time.

Time to smile

Today we went out to lunch with long time friends and the female friend said she had read my blog :>))))) There's the smile haha. Thank you old friend!!
My day so far has not been worthwhile blogging about so it will be short.
I did go to the library though and took out 3 books to read in my leisure time. I wonder where most people do their reading, in a chair? in the bathroom? in bed? in the airport? at the doctor's? dentist's ? I would be too busy crying to read at the dentist's LOL> on an airplane> bus? train? automobile?
Let me know where you do your reading and I'll let you know where I do it. Hello!! A variation on you show me yours and I'll show you mine :>)
I once made a cover for a pocket book, I'll add the photo, then realized that virtually no two books are the same size and given the large number of books I read,some good some not so good, I would have to make a new cover for each book. Not going to happen !!

Olympic Digest 01/27/10

The Olympic Flame/torch is in Kamloops and is 16 days away. Oh how the cost of things has gone up, up and away. The Olympic mittens is a very popular item as they sell for $10 at a local sponsor but they are being for 20, 30 or even 40 dollars on line.
The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking. LOL
If you are looking for a huge party this is the place to be!!

Robert B.Parker

As I was reading one of Parker's books I saw in my local newspaper, no , not reading them both at the same time, that he had died on January 18th 2010. I am sorry to hear that. This particular book is called A Stranger in Paradise which brings a song of the same title to mind and it won't go away LOL. I bought the book from the remainder table earlier in the month because it featured Jesse Stone , a television character played by Tom Selleck and I do enjoy that programme. Tom Selleck as the lead plays the character of Jesse Stone exactly as written in the book as if the dialogue is picked up right off the pages and transferred to Selleck's mouth if you can picture that :>0.
Selleck is Jesse Stone, and with his terse, cryptic remarks and comments, he sets the scene perfectly with his aw shucks style. The book is slow and easy and involves very little effort on the part of the reader but still it is a good story.
A sad time in American literature to lose Robert B 'Parker, I must read some more of his works.
Today I continued to work on my border for the wall hanging that I am doing , cutting the rest of the strips , sewing them together and slicing the sections to the correct size. Tomorow I hope to sew the 4 1/5" pieces together, then add them to the top. Hey that brings me so much closer to the end, then I can start a new project. I have a number of lovely heart blocks that need to be sewn together for a new great granddaughter.
I can only work for so long before it is painful so I try and do a small amount more often.

An applique day

I spent the day with friends sewing , what could be better I ask you? My work was appliqueing pieces of a butterfly in gorgeous greens on a WOW background, There is one done in beautiful pinks on the same background. I use silk thread for my applique from my war chest of many spools. However I am feeling the need to add to my collection of threads so maybe if I can talk Ray into going to a shop I'll get a few more spools. There are three more butterflies ready to be appliqued, one mauve, one blue, the other yellow. I still need to add the embroidery for the antennae.
Another evening watching a Cold Case that is still too warm since I have seen it. Don't you all think that TV programming is so poor, way too many repeats and not nearly enough new episodes. I do like The Mentalist though. The concept of being able to read people and know if they are telling the truth or not captivates me since I am so bad at reading what people are saying. I trust too easily and believe everyone LOL.
Fortunatley the majority of people are really decent .
Life in Vancouver is getting exciting with the Olympics so close, it was a bit cooler this morning , encouraging us that snow may arrive in time :>)) Excitement is is the air. The Olympic Flame is almost in the city having spent may weeks crossing the country .
Yea the Vancouver Canucks won the hockey game last night!! Neither Ray nor I can remember who we won against, oh my how time robs us of remembrance LOL

Rays Skills on my blog

As I mentioned in an earlier blog Ray made this boat/ship. It is the Uncle Sam. It took him a long time to make this one but it is beautiful and worth the effort.

book finished

The Secret Life of Saints by Daphne Brahman. If you have any interest in the life of closed societies this is a very interesting book to read. It is written by a Canadian journalist who has spent many years researching the FLDS or Fundamental Latterday Saints. a disclaimed arm of the Mormon church. The LDS or modern church of Mormons do not sub scribe to polygamy but the Fundamental church practices it with vigour. In the USA the cult, if I may use that word ,is headed by Warren Jeffs. In Canada it is headed by Winston Blackmore.
The benefits of polygamy or plural marriage apply to only the most senior of the men of the group. They marry very young virgins by the large numbers, father great numbers of children, and exclude the young men from the group with no skills or education to make their way in the real world so that they can have all the young women for themselves. Frankly there is nothing good about polygamy for the women and young men. There is a massive rip off of governments as in the eyes of the law there is only one legal wife. All the others, some as many as 100 are eligible for welfare and child payments is Cancada . All the money goes to Winston Blackmore, of course.
It is an interesting report.

we have SNOW

Winter Olympics with no snow!! what could be worse I ask you? As one local wit remarked " Who in their right mind would choose to have the Winter Olympics in a rain forest" LOL. Of course we did have snow last year but for how long is anybody's guess unless you were here for the winter. I was not. I spent Christmas in Northern Quebec where snow is the norm . When we got home the snow had up and left. We were gone for only 11 days so draw your own conclusion about snow and winter in Vancouver. Our winters have been getting warmer and warmer over the years. I remember in 1942 when it was really cold and we had a lot of snow for a month. Bad winter. We had no fuel so it was particularly chilly. The city ran out of fuel to deliver to homes but that's another story :>(
Well the snow has started up on the top of Cypress Mountain not much about 6 inches, we'll need a lot more than that. They tell us that there are snow makers who are up and ready to make sure we have snow. I hope you will all pray for a snowstorm for Vancouver. It is not too likely as we generally have flowers blooming in February and this month the February flowers are coming up in January.
I can only hope that the snowmakers are good :>)) I wish The English language had a lot more words for snow like the Inuit language does then I would not have to repeat that word so often.
However we will have a lot of beautiful infrastructure as a result of these games. That's nice !!
On another topic, one red sock is finished and the other started. Now that's progress!!

the winner is....

The Vancouver Canucks won the hockey game 5 to 1 against the Chicago Blackhawks :>))

not going upstairs

No pictures tonight either, too tired to go upstairs and add photos. Tomorrow I should do better. I was going to do a blog on the Queen , had it all written in my mind this morning and now it is gone. The disadvantage of age.The mind is like a slipping clutch, sometimes it engages and sometimes it doesn't. When the clutch goes entirely so does the mind. I am reminded of a car I once had, a red Corvair. The clutch on that one was so bad I could barely drive that car, so I bought a new one, needed it anyway. It was a gold Datsun, a forerunner of my yellow Mustang, in colour I mean, and that car cost me $1800 brand new. No doubt a princely sum at the time but in retrospect a beggarly amount compared to the cost of the new Taurus which we want but will not buy.
The Mustang which we bought in 1987 cost only $1300, I have had it all these years and it is the best of cars, I will not ever get another car. It took four years to pay for it but since then it has been coasting all the way....free driving . Could it get any better I ask you?
We are watching hockey tonight as we do several nights a week. I now can actually see what is going on. When my youngest son Matthew was playing hockey I didn't even see when he made a goal , which end is yours Matthew. Of course I was so ignorant that he just shook his head and wandered off. I had missed his crowning moment. Some moms just don't get it LOL.... well that was in the 70s so hopefully I am forgiven :>)
Anyway tonight it is the Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks, I'll tell you later who won this game.

read me

I am so self absorbed that I literally asked friends to read my blog and comment on it. Is that really needy or not. Curiosity got the better of me . My friends tell me that I am not writing in vain. Thank you dear friends :>)
Don't we all have such strange compunctions. I love to buy irons LOL, and apparently some of my quilting friends also love buying irons. Odd isn't it?
Today a bought a new one, I am so happy !! It is a T-Fal, they are such a great iron. Why the last one was not a T-Fal is beyond me but all I can think of is that is was a lot cheaper.
As Ray says buy cheap, get cheap. Hello! another homily but this one is Ray's.
Whoops he just delivered another one. Why when something falls does it go to the furthest , most difficult spot . He is working on his boat model , The Mayflower and it has been a very difficult piece of work.
His first boat was called Uncle Sam and it is a beautiful boat. I'll add a photo tomorrow as I don't want to go upstairs to the storage computer LOL. That is actually a PC . He is so patient with all these tiny bits. It must be like trying to quilt with very tiny pieces.
Now I am going to watch Criminal Minds as if the world is really interested in my TV watching habits haha.

quilting catalogues

Today I got a Spring Keepsake catalogue. I always get a bit excited when it arrives in my mailbox. It is so handy to carry around when you go to the doctor, dentist, hospital , anywhere that you have to sit and wait. At least that is what I do with it. The cover of this issue is so pretty in pinks and greens . The design looks like tumbler blocks but apparently that is not so according to the kit description. This one also came in today on my e mail. It doesn't offer much that way and you can't take it with you :>))This little book has given me many years of entertainment. So I must suck it up and buy something. I often go to order items and then it all collapses when I realize what the postage is going to cost. But this time I will purchase something. There are so many different ways to add to your quilting supplies from this catalogue. Not only the ubiquitous Fat Quarters but also 5 and 10 inch squares as well as 1/2 yards and whole yards, kits and notions. Loads of fun to read!!
Keepsake provides a real service to quilters. That's my opinion and I am sticking with it LOL> This is NOT a PAID Advertisement :>)
I did nothing spectacular today but went to the casino and won $500. Wow!! I now have the $$$$ to buy a table for my Janome 6600P that I am sure will make sewing a lot easier on my back which has been so bad I have been afraid that I may have to stop sewing and embroidering. Now that would be a bad thing not a good thing.
Life is good for me , I have so many interesting things I can do . So my advice to you if you are interested and if not just delete,is Fill Your Life With Lots of Fun and Creative things to do. You will not be depressed or unhappy. Anyway happiness is a state of mind. At least I think it is :>))
I should have been a preacher not a teacher .

The Places in Between

Book revue again and some suggestions. Lately I have had a passion for reading books about Afghanistan and The Places in Between is an excellent story. It is written by a Scotsman Rory Stewart who has a passion for walking and has walked a good part of the roads through the middle eastern nations.
He chose to walk the route from Herat to Kabul through the high mountains in the winter. Crazy!! Yes!! but so appealing. Along the way he met many different people in different tribes including Taliban and foreign aid workers. At one such community where they welcomed him in for the night and fed him as was their tradition, he found a dog who was mistreated and abused. It was a huge mastiff but a gentle creature most of the time. Rory asked if he could take the dog with him and after a bit of demurring the tribal elder said yes. So off they went the two of them through the strange and sometimes terrifying country. The dog he named Babur after the first Mogul emperor who had made the same journey.

You fall in love with this dog and find the people either kind or scary. Rory tramped through the snow and rain and finally made his way to Kabul. But at the foreign aid station he had them take Babur who was very tired by now to Kabul in the van as he could no longer make the walk. He had them find a crate for Babur so he could to take him back to Scotland. When Roray got to Kabul he found that Babur had died. For the first time in this arduoous journey Rory cried.
Read this one , it is so good.
Also I recommend The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

6 A.M.

Do people actually get up that early? Yes they do and I did too. What a big mistake,I do NOT like early rising. Wish I did but there you have it I don't.
The rest of my day was a bust as far as energy was concerned. Too bad , so sad!
Back to my red socks tonight , I am down to turning the heel and a friend wants them.She is a good friend and does lots for me such as quilting my quilts when I feel it is just too much. All I have to do is knit socks. Good deal? I think so but then she thinks she gets the best deal. Satisfaction on all sides!
I hand appliqued 2 hearts today and finished off appliquing a butterfly.
This is it for this blog but I am going to do another book review.

sewing and eating chocolates

Now does that sound like a great combination.
After a walk around the mall and not buying a thing except bread I went to the lab for more blood tests. When I came home I really wanted to sit and veg out but forced myself to
put the top of the cushion together. That meant adding the batting and a piece of fabric to the front and quilting it with a really nice stitch on my sewing machine. Then the fun part started and that was adding the 2 part backing, something that is not easy for me, so I had to do it more than once but it is now ready for granddaughter Meg. I just need to go on Facebook so I can tell her it is done. None of the young folks seem to be on e mail any longer nor do they read my blog. Maybe I should put the blog up on Facebook. Would if I could:>)) Maybe I'll give it a try tonight.
Oh it is tonight!!!
Also I took some time to update my Weshots. I am happy cuz I
got things done today.
Tomorrow I'll be out all day at my sewing groups. My bag is ready to go...

whoops here is the cushion

My cushion cover top that I did today will look like this.

a birthday dayand quilty stuff

An 18th birthday lunch for Chelsea, our granddaughter. We took the family out to the White Spot which is our favourite restaurant. Matthew our son, Caroline our daughter in law and Ryan our grandson were in the party. We had a good time and helped Chelsea out with the purchase of a new camera for her special day. Chelea is a jazz musician and plays the saxophone. She will be playing in her band at some of the Olympic venues when they come to town. So it is an exciting time for her.
After we came home I started to cut up fabric,5 inch squares of florals and some strips for a cushion cover that our Granddaughter Meg wants, she is Louis' wife. You can see about Louis in an earlier blog. She liked mine so I thought I would make her one. I sewed the strips together and pressed out the seams. By then my back was in spasm so It was time to stop. I so wanted to get it all done. Maybe later this evening. I also need to cut some brown squares for corner stones on my Hallowe'en wall hanging. Late! you say ,well I say early LOL> I knew it would never get done for Hallowe'en when I started it in October so it was decided to make it for next year LOL.
But at least somethings got done which is up from the past few weeks.:>))

sunshine in my heart

What a beautiful day in Vancouver today. Sunny and warm,I wore a sweater over my tee shirt. There is nothing like my home town on a lovely day. You'll be hearing this again in the Spring when I really wax exstaaaaaaaaatic!!
I had a nap this afternoon after shopping but before I fell asleep I read my latest book by an author that I have not encountered before. It was a slow start but revs up as the story goes on. It is murder, spies, CIA and subterfuge in a tightly knit novel. Some books are what I call a loosely written story almost as if they have holes in them, are thin, not many pages and no intense plot design. Others are tightly written ,small print, many pages, intense emotions, tight plot runs , time for character build up, intrigue and mystery along with good locations.This book is one of the second type athough a new author to me so it takes a bit to get into the style. The story takes place in a number of places which is fun , the author is able to take you on a journey to Nicaragua during the time of Oliver North and his antics with Noriega and money laundering, from Washington DC where the murders take place and in Seattle looking for the person of interest. Good read!! I am on page 396 still app. 150 to go.
Title is A Simple Act of Violence.
Author: R.J. Ellory

He has another title named" A Quiet Belief in Angels "

Look Up, Look Up...."

It has been my personal obversation that we don't look up enough, at least I don't. The meaning for me is not the saying that your sales managers give you to add incentive to your selling prowess, "Keep you feet on the ground and your head in the stars". Probably good advice if you are selling Lipstick. I mean to practically look up. Most of us, myself for sure look mostly at things on eye level and below. For instance, the other morning, I spent a lot of time looking for a pair of warm socks that I had in my hand a short time earlier.In the bedrooms, the kitchen, the bathroom where I thought they were, upstairs in the computer room, downstairs in the living room but they were no where to be found. Ya, ya upstairs, downstairs , in my lady's chamber. NOT!!Finally once again in the water closet I raised my eyes to the heavens in exasperation , lo and behold there they were on the top of a towel rack. Once again I was reminded that I need to look up. That happens on the groceery store and wherever else I am. So now my mantra is Look Up, Look up. :>))) There you most likely will find what you are looking for.
The past few days have been very full with dinner on Wednesday night with my guild friends, then the evening at guild where we worked on the issues of money, so difficult to come up with good ideas for recruiting and making money to apy for the room and the insurance. It is a hard job as many mambers do not like change. Then Thursday aftr 2 doctor appointments my friend Kathy and I went to a sewing class the subject of which was using metallic thread effectively. Interesting. Today 2 more doctor appointments and then I am off to my pot luck group. We are 9 teachers some /most retired and a couple still teaching who have been together since the late 70s. We each take an appetizer, veg plate or dessert, just one of those not all three LOL. Tonight I will take shrimp, seafood sauce, baguette bread sliced, buttered, smoked salmon sliced thin and 2 kinds of cream cheese lite and regular. I think the others will like that, don't you?
For the hostess I have embroidered on my embropidery machine a tea towel with a chef on it and for one of the other ladies a tea towel with a cup of cappucino on it. Most of the others have their towels and I want to get it all finished up so I can start another hostess item. However there are still 2 towels to go. Next time it will be done. Pictures going up.. have a look.

on short notice

Tonight I go to dinner with 3 friends and then we go to our Guild meeting for the rest of the evening. It is always a fun night. I work the library each guild night with another person. We joke around and have a lot of fun because we see everyone .Our guild has a very extensive library , new books coming on line at each meeting and looking at the new ones is great fun too. So this is a short post , no time to write a lot.
Have a good one folks.

Book Revue-The Devil's Punchbowl

Yesterday I promised a revue of Greg Iles new book The Devil's Punchbowl..to me it was the most disturbing book I have ever read. The venue for the book is the Mississippi city of Natchez. My initial attraction to this book is because of the city of Natchez where I briefly visited last year as well as the proximity to Louisiana where my son lives. Also I have always enjoyed the authors previous books.
The hero of the story is the reputed mayor of Natchez who has received a message from an old friend who was soon to be murdered , of the horrendous practice of vicious dog fighting going on and being practiced by the owners of the casinos in the city. All throughout the book I kept thinking of Michael Vick who was prosecuted for this activity. The results of this book are so horrific that it is really difficult to read but one continues on because of Iles talent. And to see justice done. There are dresdful pictures of what the fights do to the dogs and in this book to cats and people who are used as choice bits of meat for the dogs who are kept hungry so they will fall on anything that comes their way. When Iles describes how the dogs are devoiced so that they are silent killers giving no warning when they pounce it is terrifying and I am not squeamish. The blood lust of the men and the sexual appetites that go along with it is a hard read for any ordinary sensitive person.
The story continues to unveil the path of destruction of the anti heroes and the eventual punishment of the crimes.
Of course it is all fiction and the city of Natchez is not the culprit of the story just the setting.
In my opinion if Iles desire was to set the world on fire regarding the practice of dogfighting he has clearly been successful. It is not a book one can forget.

the knit wit

There has been a rearrangement of Sunday's and Monday's posts.How this happened is a total mystery to me as are most things, so if you are reading my blog look for I Love a Rainy Day as today's post and the Knit Kit as Sunday's post. Too much rain has made my brain soggy LOL.
So all I did today as far as sewing goes was to iron fabric. Wait! That's not actually sewing is it? But it is getting ready to sew some time this week if I can find the time in between all my appoinments.
I just finished reading Greg Iles new book The Devil's Punchbowl. Tomorrow I will tell you all my considered opinion of this book.
Sleep tight! after reading this book it will not be easy for me to do that.

The Knit Kit

Another blog about knitting. I was planning to write a pattern for socks but decided that took way to much "time and space" :>) but I will show you my knit kit and the casting on of the sock. This one uses 4 needles as that is what I have for this size wool but for smaller yearns I use 5 needles.
The cast on for this red sock was 14 stitches on the first and second needles and 16 on the third needle using size 4 Canadian metric needles.
I prefer to do a knit one purl one rib but some prefer to do 2 knits and 2 purls. The best tip I can give you is to cast on loosley rather than tightly. My rib is just 14 rows of rib and then knit from 6 to 8 inches of cuff. With this wool you might want to make a smaller cuff. When I did the grey socks the cuff was 8 inches and at the end of the second sock I had only 4 inches of yarn left. A bit too close for me :>)
When I get to the heel I'll give more instructions.
Watch for it !!
My Knit Kit is one I bought years ago and it is wonderful. some pieces are missing and I would love to find another one but so far no luck. It has needles for threading the wool, a great little ruler with holes in it where you can stick your needles if you have lost the package and it will give you the correct size of the needle. There are cable needles and stitch holders, counters as well. It is a very handy addition to your knitting basket.

I love a rainy day

And that's a good thing since the rain has been falling steadily all day and night. They had to close Cypress Mountain today because of it and now we are all worried that there won't be enough snow for the Olympics.
All this rain makes me think of a very old movie B&W, The Rains of Ranjipur. There is something about that title that I have never forgotten, it resonates with me. Did not see the movie but saw a preview, trailer to those of you who are younger, and as a very young person the total flooding in India and the floods of people running to escape the waters in the movie preview left an indelible picture in my mind. I must look that movie up and see if it is on DVD. NOT very likely LOL>
Louis is now out of hospital and on the mend so that it a blessing. It seems to me that I promised to put up my second chef. I'll do that even if there was no promise :>))
If I can think of anything more to say by this evening I will add it to this blog.

the rest of the day

I must be a real Chatty Cathy, there is more to tell.
We always do our housework and laundry on Sunday so that takes us half the day. Usually we go out but today we were both tired. I did something I rarely do, sat and watched silly movies on TV. One wasn't silly it was marvelous. I can't recall the title but it was about a group of African American pilots in WW2, it was very well done and the research of how African Americans were so badly treated was excellent. It was good . Then we watched a silly romantic movie called November something or other. It was about a young woman who was going to die so she would not have a steady boyfriend. Her BFs were only allowed one month and this one was about her November BF.
Of course it was a bound to end with teary eyes and runny noses. They fell in love and then he left as he was supposed to do. How's that for a silly movie :>))
I did some applique preparation for my Tuesday quilting group so that I would have something to do. I am good now for weeks and I only got 2 butterflies done, 5 pieces each .LOL
Yesterday I made another embroidery tea towel with another chef on it. Maybe tomorrow It will go up on my blog. It's getting crowded up there.

To Knit or Knot to Knit

Yesterday I promised to talk about Wool or Yarn as some call it. I have knitted since I was 8 years old off and on . Sometimes there would be a hiatus of a decade or more and then back at it. This decade I am at it but in a much lesser way than when I was
young. In the early days there were big Indian sweaters as we called them at the time with wonderful designs , Aran knit sweaters with elegant cable patterns, beautiful lacy patterns, socks, mitts scarves and whatever caught my fancy.
I had a bit of difficulty learning to knit.
as my mom was not a patient teacher and would proclaim
that the twins, can't recall their names , could knit when they were four. I was eight and what was the problem. Eventually I got it after she showed me how to cast on, which was the problem. It was off to the races from then on.
By the time I was twelve it was sweaters and socks that I made , matching ones at that:>)After many projects now I only knit socks and dishcloths as my arthritic hands will not hold anything heavy. But it was a good run and an enjoyable one.
My feet are cold in the winter even though our climate is temperate. I have neuroapthy in them and they love to be warm. Also they need to have soft yarn that is easy on the feet, not hard wools which are hard on my feet.
My latest discovery is a yarn made by Lion Brand Yarn called Wool-Ease worsted weight. I have one warm and cuddly pair in grey and am going to begin another set in a bright red.
Red alone keeps the feet warm LOL>
Tomorrow I'll set out the needle size and the beginning cast on stitches.
Keep on keeping on until the end of the road!!

body scanners and stuff

Louis is out of thehospital on a daypass, then he has to go back into the hospital until next week. Isn't that strange?
My sister with the broken arm has to wear the sling for another three weeks. She thought to have it off this week, the 5th week since she broke it. But I saw the Xray and it was an awful break.. We oldies heal slowly. Margaret is going on a cruise next week so maybe it is a good thing the sling stays so that she doesn't get shoved in the crush at the airport. What a mess the Vancouver airport is with the new body scanners . I think they are a huge travesty and so intrusive . I hate the idea of being naked in public so to speak. Can't wait for the triple mess when the Olympic arrive next month.
That makes me not want to fly any more. Surely there is a better way , can't they pay attention to the reports that come in about terrorists. We are all being held hostage! Oh well this is too political but sometimes.....
Tomorrow I will talk about wool!!

just for today gadgets

There are so many many gadgets that you can add to your blog. I only had the time to view 625 of them today, no quilts though, couldn't find any. I'll have to upload my own :>( Aah too bad. Some I just can't make work for me. Just for Today was one as it had a google ad on it that I didn't want. I only wanted a positive thought for the day, so that one went out the window. Another was the weather , no matter how many times I changed it to Vancouver weather , it changed back to New York. Any ideas out there?
However I cannot believe how many great ideas there on on More Gadgets- if I had my way my blog would be saturated with cute gadgets LOL. Plenty there already. My first thought is to add one new one a day and take off the previous day's. Yes I think I'll do that if I have the time.

kaboom 3

Dare I say it, Ray found 4 more bottles of Kaboom , enough to last him the rest of his natural born days if I have anything to do with it LOL> And enough FREE advertising for K.....
I had a major problem with my embroidery flash cards which would not read in my computer. After some very clever thoughts on that by yours truly and the young man in the computer store my problem was solved with no money involved . Now could anything be better than that? I have spent hours trying to get my photos to work but and here is a homily: Persistance Pays!! We shall overcome blogspot..
No news on my grandson in law, so another one: No news is good news. Wow two Bits and Pieces I have learned in one post.:>))
And tonight I do NOT cook. I have made too many meals lately and am on a sit down strike VBG.
We will eat those lovely dinners that you put in the microwave oven. I know I should hide my head in shame but that is not my way and I do it MY Way. Favourite song.
It is time to put away all Christmas things, all that is left is my quilt and the seasonal poinsietta wall hanging.

Kaboom 2

Ray found his Kaboom. Now he can get on with cleaning the bathtub., Just kidding. I am too tired to go upstairs to do this blog with photos. Can you see how red my eyes are, well they are defintley red from where I sit. I worked on my applique at my quilt group today, cute little butterflies, this is my 3rd butterfly quilt but this time they are different and four pieces rather than one.Quite pretty. This evening's blog is Short and Sweet like me LOL. I just heard Abby say Kaboom on NCIS, isn't that called Synochricity or something close to that. Good night Mrs. Calabash wherever you are. :>)

Kaboom!!!

Ray wanted to go to Walmart to buy some Kaboom for cleaning the tub. Fine, that worked for me , so off we went.
Thankfully we got a Handicap parking stall close to the door . It was raining and Ray does not like getting wet, doesn't really bother me much but I have trouble walking too far. Although that does not include walking for an hour around Walmart. :>) I call that exercise anyway.
We dawdled in the food section for a while, then checked out all the other food aisles, bought cereal in small boxes, you know the kind your mom wouldn't buy because they were too expensive.. now that I am my mom I can do what I want LOL.
I looked through the clothing but it was dreadful.The books were too expensive and I hate paying $3.00 more than the American price when our dollar is so close to the American dollar. It is highway robbery to my mind.
We bought 2 large bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol as it was on sale and had 60 extra FREE caplets. We need it to keep our pains at bay .
No need to explain all theother stuff we bought but suffice to say the bill for the KABOOM!! was $142.00 Oh joy!.
What is it about Walmart anyway.

the two of us

This photo is of Katie and me at one of the parties we went to over the holidays.
Katie is my granddaughter. She is beginning a new job tomorrow at the provincial legislature. She finished her degree, took a few months off or I should say worked at other jobs until this one was ready to go.
I wish her luck in her mew venture.
and this is my second posting today making up for the one I missed yesterday :>)

Off to the Hospital Once More

Another hospital trip, this has been the year of emergencies.
We visited Louis in Abbotsford and although he seems normal he is on lots of wires and things as well as blood thinners. When he comes home he will not be able to get up and move around until that clot dissolves. His mom had come in from Alberta, I was glad of that as it makes a man feel loved when his mom gets on the scene :>)
We drove all over the Lower Mainland on the way home hoping to find the Olive Garden, there is only one in this area. We found it at 2:23 and hoped that it would be less busy. Not to beso we left and came home.I did have a bit of time yesterday to do some embroidery and i am extremely happy with it. It is a tea towel with a chubby chef on it.

It Started Out Right

My Happy New Year has started out right. We had a visit from my youngest son and his wife this morning which was delightful and tomorrow we are expecting one from my third son. I was very happy but then I heard from my second son and he told me that his daughter's husband is in thehospital with a bllod clot in his leg that migrated to his lung. So we are waiting to see if they can move it or dissolve it. He is so young 28 I think. I can only pray for  him. I beleieve that he will come out of it.