strange things are lurking in the night

My internet is disconnections and re connecting , I hope I can write thes blog before we disconnect once again.
This morning was another grey day,so I put on my brightest yellow shirt to mimic the sun, it is a very cheerful colour. Speaking of shirts This one came from Walmart. They used to sell T shirts that had the style I preferred and they were of a quality that was very good. Lots of colours and I think I bought them all LOL. Whoops internet off again.... Back to the shirts , the most recent ones I bought....connected again --weird, were of such thin fabric you could spit through them. I won't be buying any more.
Today I sandwiched my little Hallowe'en table topper. Since I have no table I can use I hope it works okay,looks all right.
Tomorrow I shall take my heart quilt to my sewing group and sandwichit at the church where there is a table I can use.
The sun came out this afternoon and it is still here :>)
I am thinking of what quilt I can make after these two are finished. I have some lovely Japanese fabrics and the Bento Box pattern which would be great together,so that is one of my options. Decisions,decisions!!!
Bon Soir!

a day to forget

because it was a forgettable day LOL.
Apart from doing the housework and going to the bakery for bread I just sat in my chair reading mail and playing Solitaire. I thought about sewing but couldn't get up for it.
Now I am listening to the tryouts for singing the national anthems for the US and Canada. Some great singers believe me.
And I finised my book, The Devil's Queen, about Catherine De Medici who married King Henri of France,had quite a few children and eventually was stepmother to a very young Mary Queen of Scots. It was quite interesting. Remember the previous book I commented on about Diane de Poitiers, Henri's mistress? She showed up in this book too because of course it all took place at the same time period. This book was not quite as sympathetic to her as the previous one, naturally as this one did not feature de Poitiers. This book had quite a bit of magic and deceit in it as can be expected in the world of the French court. Nostradamus made an appearance as Catherine consulted him along with other astrologists. She was quite brilliant and considered to be the brightest person ever to sit on the Frendh throne. I liked it, very interesting, but then I do love the history of the Royal families of Europe and other nations.
I am going to look for another one in the library. I am thinking of The Borgia Bride by the same authour.
Hasta la vista. and good night.

a somewhat lazy day with a bit of fabric preparation

After doing our grocery shopping we didn't do a lot of anyhting else. It is so cold here today that we actually put on the heat. It is off at the end of March and stays off until the end of October. But it is so cold here right now, we can't believe it so the heat is on. No point in being silly LOL.
The hockey game is on and it is tied 5-5 at the end of the second period. Amazing playing.
All I did today is get something ready to be mailed. I play in an on line Bingo game group where we submit a fat quarter at the beginning of each game and if we win we get all the fat quarters that have been sent in by the players and then have to call the next game but do not play it. I have won a lot lately. So had to send in postage and my fat quarter for the next game which I will call. I feel almost guilty about the number of times I have won recently . So hopefully it won't happen again for a while.
I do love the FQs I get though don't get me wrong but hopefully some other participant wins, well someone will win this game since I don't play LOL. I have been playing this game for many years.
Then I mucked around in my large tote looking for some batting for the heart quilt but none I had fit. Oh and I had to trim and press the fabric I sent in for the game, then made a Greek salad for dinner. That was the day!
A friend wants to know how to make a good corner for her binding so I want to make another tutorial, will have to get a bit of a quilt ready for that.It is fun putting all that together.
I'm done for the day, have a good one . I am going to finish my book tonight, what about you?

making binding pictures

After adding the borders to my quilt I began to make binding. My binding is pretty good now but when I first started to make binding it was just awful .I had no idea how to go about it. I have since figured out what I need to do but it took me a long time. With that in mind I decided to tell how I do it now.
First cut the binidng strips whatever size you like, mine are usually 2 1/2 " wide ,but sometimes 2 1/4" depending on what I am doing.
1. I take one strip and turn the corner over so that it is even with the side of the strip and makes a 45' angle and press it.
2. This is where it always gets hard for me still..
I figured out that you need to take a leader and put it on a 45'angle so that you sew it on the diagonal to the corner point.
3.Then continue sewing onto the binding which is also on a 45' angle. It is easier to put both leader and binding on the 45' angle as they then work together with no problems. Be sure you start sewing exactly at the corner and I mean exactly... or your edges won't meet. Continue on to the end of the diagonal fold to where the two pieces meet exactly at the edge.
4. Now take the binding to the ironing board and and press the two pieces of binding open . It will make a lovely 45' angle with the edges meeting exactly right.
5. Go to the cutting board , lay the ruler along the seam at the 1/4 " mark and cut off the extra . You will have a 1/4" seam which you will press open so that there will be no lumps in your binding.
6. Fold the strips in half and press them to make a double fold binding, Roll up the binding and put an elastic around it to keep it from rolling out.
Good luck!!!:>))

sewing on borders

One inch borders on my heart quilt to separate the body of the quilt from the border sewed on and pressed, cut the outer borders and pinned on the long sides. That was it for sewing today but I was happy to get at it again. I was happy to sew after all the time we had company and I couldn't.
Although I spent a lot of time trying to thread the needle with my needle threader , finally I did it the old way and that worked. Surprise!!
We bought me a new camera this morning as I found my other one sitting on my car hood. My neighbour put it there. She said it was on the cement floor in the garage. It looked like it had been stepped on. That was fine as I wanted a new one, Does it sound deliberate or was it just my mind working overtime.
I forgot to mention that Daniel also had a loss. He lost his cell phone in the ocean over in Victoria. I told him it was heading for Japan LOL.
We also bought a new coffee pot, ours was a pain in the butt so we decided to buy it before the new tax comes in and makes everything so much more expensive.
Tomorrow I'll add on the final borders to my quilt and sandwich it. I do have the backing .
AND I'll take pictures , let's see if I can download them onto my computer.

2 photos for no reason

Haha I have nothing of any consequence to discuss tonight unless something happens this evening . So I aded two photos of my favourite dolls. One is a Shirley Temple doll. I wanted one so much when I was a little girl but never got one , my dear husband gave me one for my 60th birthday. I was still enamoured of her so she is still my favourite doll. Then when I took up quilting after retirement at 65, I discovered another love Sunbonnet Sue. I have made several quilts of her for my great grandchildren, good thing they are mostly girls LOL. You may be seeing them on this blog occasionally.
Got up so early this morning to take the kids to the airport that when I came home my body wanted to sleep so it slept until noon. How bad is that ? Then we had some errands to do which kept me from purchasing my new camera. Oh I hope tomorrow!!
Just came back from an AGM and sometimes I get tired of stupid people who monopolize the meeting with nothing to say.
Night folks.

short story,long day

That says it all , I just got home a little while ago and it is time for bed. We had a busy day doing not a lot of anything but shopping for items Lynn wanted to take home. They are leaving tomorrow and we are all getting up way to early as far as I am concerned but then I am a late sleeper. Early to bed , early to rise was not written for me LOL.
I went to see about buying a camera while Lynn and Danile were shopping at a nearby store in the mall. The saleslady gave a very convincing salestalk about this really nice camera which had what I wanted so it was not a hard sell by any means. So I said I'll buy it ,she went to the back of the store for the camera. I was really happy about it. She came back with a sad face and said we sold the last one last week.:>( But I have this one which is a good camera and it is $100 cheaper. Not really what I want I said, you did such a great job of selling me that first camera that I am going to look about to see if I can find it somewhere else. Sad story :>(
So tomorrow I'll check out a couple of other places. Maybe I'll be lucky.
Time for me to go to bed folks, have a good evening if you are not already asleep.

off to Whistler we go

We rode the Sea to Sky highway on the way to Whistler. Many stops along the way, particularly at Shannon Falls where Lynn wanted to go. After walking around in Whistler we had lunch. It was so crowded up there as today is a national holiday to celebrate the Queen's birthday. We tried several places which had long waiting lists so ended up at Opa's .I have not ever tried that chain which serves Greek food. My lamb Slouvaki with tzaziki was tender and delicious and Ray's Greek salad was very tasty. So a pleasant surprise. We found Whistler to be very different from the last time we were up there 15 years ago. Not really a big surprise LOL.
But we did enjoy the sunshine, the fresh air and the atmosphere. On the way home we tried to find the eagles at Brackenbridge, no luck there, and Squamish has moved :>)) in the past 15 years.
We did stop at several view sites along the way and Daniel took lots of photos.
Then we stopped over at Horseshoe Bay to watch the boats and the ferries out in the harbour. It was so exhilarating out there in the sea air.
We are all so busy with travel, fresh air and exercise that when we get home sleep comes easy. We ended our day at our favourite fish and chip restaurant Cockney Kings. I had 3 oysters and one piece of fish mmmm....
I hope you all had a good day too.

totems in the park

Kind of a grey day here but nothing but snow stops Vancouverites. So off to Stanley Park we went this morning. We
stopped at the Totem Park in Stanley Park. What a fabulous display of totems, Grr No Camera... Even the gate ends were totems. They were all in wonderful condition, well painted and
cared for. So much imagery and meaning in totems. Some of them were very tall and exuded energy, some were smaller amd there was one very old totem that was weathered and grey as they would have become were they in their original place . The totem that I always loved but it is not here is the ine that stands in front of a doorway to a long house and has an opening in it as a door. What a fabulous doorway.
Then we travelled along the seaway to the Lion's Gate Bridge which was designated as a heritage site today. It is a Suspension bridge across Burrard Inlet which connects Vancouver and North Vancouver. It was built starting in 1937 and completed in 1939 at a cost of $6,000,000. It was named for the two mountain peaks that can be seen from the bridge.
We ate lunch at the White Spot, legendary hamburgers, of course, and a new sensatiog to our guests.
Tomorrow we go to Whistler.
Have a good night, take care.

another great day

We took our company to Queen Elizabeth Park today and through the Observatory where we delighted in the parrots and some smaller birds. One very brave African Grey came down to the ground and was surrounded by many feet. He was completely at ease. I so wanted to pick him up as I have had lots of experience with parrots and fell in love with this little guy. But I refrained as I did not want to frighten him by coming on strong and of course I didn't want a bad bite either. I have had many of those from parrots and they are not fun. Under the dome was a magical land of tropical plant life, koi and birds. I love the many and varied kinds of Coleus resplendent in their gorgeous colours. But always the birds are my favourites...
Ray bought me a little shot glass with a bear's head coming out one side and his rear out the other. It is so funny but I cannot take a photo until I get another camera. SOON...
Lynn and Daniel went down into the garden but Ray and I did not climb down into what was once a gravel pit. We sat and watched the tourists take pictures. Then we had lunch at Seasons . It is a lovely restaurant, I thought they were serving lunch but apparently it is Brunch on Saturday and Sunday. That worked though.
I have been away from my sewing machines now for over a week and will be happy to get back to them. We have been out so much of the time that even cutting is not getting done and of course the ironing board has been put away for the same amount of time. Who misses their ironing board? WE DO!!
Good night ladies and gentlemen..

away we went

We have been away for a few days in Victoria. The trip on the ferry to Vancouver Island takes about an hour and 40 minutes..going over we were on an older ferry but coming back we caught the new ferry and it was great. Our guests Lynn and Daniel were very thrilled with the trip as they are from the north and have not been on the ocean before. Fortunately the ocean was reasonably calm and no one had a problem with sea sickness.
We stayed at one of the better hotels on the Inner Harbour. It is absolutley beautiful there with the boats and sea life and the lighst coming on around the Empress Hotel and the Legislative Buildings in the evening as the sun sets. The semi circle of the Inner Harbour is surrounded by stone sea walls and walking paths for people to spend a lovley day exercising. We walked a good part of the wall and around the Parliament Building, then went into the Wax Museum for a visit, through the Royal Families exhibits, Henry 8th and his 6 wives, many wax figures of important people of our own times and of earlier days,then the Chamber of Horrors. I had been there before but our guests had not. We met Mary our granddaughter at the hotel for breakfast and she came with us on that little tour.
I had to go and see a friend whose wife is in hospital with dementia. She and I have been friends since the fifties but she no longer knows her own children so Paul didn't think there was any reason to see her and in fact we were there for our guests. I'll go another time.
We drove up island on the Malahat, a very curvy road through the mountains , to Chemainus which was a town where all the buildings had wonderful murals painted on the outside walls and it was one a great place to shop and eat, very quaint. It was a disappointment as things had fallen apart and businesses had left due to the economy and rising rents. Sad story.
On the way home we stopped in at Butchart Gardens .It was pretty nice , the sun came out and that made it lovely. Lots of people there, bus tours and tours from the cruise ships. We talked to two ladies form New Zealand for a bit of time, then shopped in the gift shop. We bought a new glass set of wind chimes.
Oh and I broke my camera, need to buy another one soon:>)) so I can take a picture of the chimes.
When we boarded the ferry we went up to the buffet floor and had a great buffet, relaxed and watched the view through the very large windows.
Great trip!!
Nice to be back..... Take care folks.
Rest easy! :>)

Book Review

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. A big book with 841 pages, I wondered at first if I could get through it but it was not a problem, the book was so well written and full of interest with competing stories to twist your mind around- a bit of romance along with a disappearance of a young teen aged girl and an investigation into the criminal activities of a world wide company. All this takes place in Sweden where a journalist has been tried and sentenced to prison for libel against the huge company and its owner. What he had to say in his financial magazine was true but he said it without a reasonable amount of proof.
The disappearance of another very rich man's granddaughter is the major story line. The grandfather hires the disgraced journalist to determine what happened to his granddaughter over 40 years ago. The journalist investigator who does not think he can uncover what happened , takes on the job as the compensation is very rich. In return for finding and uncovering the mystery the grandfather has promised to give the journalist incontrovertible proof of the criminal activities of the owner of the huge company. The journalist hires a unique young woman as his research assistant, I found her a symapthetic character. These are the major players in this story , there are other interesting characters apart from the real villain in the piece such as a serial killer who does not really make an appearance until much later in the story. I have not mentioned names as they are all Swedish names and it takes a bit of reading to get used to the look and mental sound of them, but it can be accomplished. This book is a page turner, it reads very well and the story is well constructed. This is an excellent mystery and I intend to read another of Larsson's books with the same main characters.
Read a good book tonight....:>)

measuring up

Well I don't measure up let me tell you... While I had a little bit of time I thought to cut up some fabric for the day when I had time to take my machine out of mothballs and do some sewing. I wanted to cut up some pieces to make more napkins. Infortunately I am not able to measure 18 inches so the cuts were short. Not Amused!!!
Lynn and Ray went out for some daughter /father time and that is what I chose to do. Maybe I should just put everything away until I am more focused LOL.
After Matthew and Daniel finished their game and Matthew had gone home, we four decided to go to the casino. We had fun but Ray and I lost our money in the end but Daniel won over $300 so he took us all out for Chinese food. We ordered a goodly number of dishes and the waitress said too much food, too much food. We just laughed and said we'll take it all home for tomorrow.
When we got home my little pink camera which I use to take the photos that I put on my blog was sitting on the hood of my car and it was broken. It looked like it had been stepped on. I think it must have fallen out of my bag and the person in the next parking stall must have stepped on it wthtout seeing it. So now I'll have to buy another one. Do you believe that we manage to do what we want unwittingly. I was just looking at cameras the other day LOL The mind is an amazing thing.....
Another great day!!!

missing blog

Whoops I forgot to write in my blog yesterday. We were kind of busy with our company. We had to get up early to go to the airport . While we were there we met my son and his family. My granddaughter was flying to Ottawa, we browsed the book store together which was very nice. I wanted to buy The Girl Who Payed With Fire but it was $13.50 so I decided to wait until I finished The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It is a great story and an even greater mystery . You cannot figure out the ending until the ending. :>))
It is nearly finished but as with most mysteries within mysteries there is still more to come.
When Lynn and Daniel got here we went out for breakfast as they were really hungry not having eaten at all . Lynn was afraid of getting sick on the plane so they chose not to eat.
Later we went to the mall so lynn could buy things for her grandchildren since we have different shops in a bigger city than in a small one.
Soon Matthew is coming over to challenge Daniel to a chess game, apparently it is not a challenge at all as Daniel is very good and Matthew has not played for years. But it is a nice thing for Matthew to do since he doesn't even know Daniel . It should be interesting, Matthew doesn't speak French and Danile speaks little English .
Have a great day!!

company's coming

For the next ten days we are hosting our daughter and son in law from Quebec. We plan on taking them places so will be quite busy while they are here. However my laptop fits in the car :>))
We spent the day shopping and cleaning so that it is all ready for tomorrow. We clean every week on Sunday so we are a day earlier this week.
The worst part for me was having to move so much of my sewing stuff into the back room so that the room our company will be sleeping in will not be full of my machines etc. I won't be sewing while they are here, sob. However we plan to go over to Victoria for a day or two and up to Whistler for one day.
Since they live in northern Quebec I think/hope they will enjoy the ferry ride over to Victoria. I really want to go on the train to Whistler but that ain't going to happen LOL
So my sewing today consisted of moving my stuff, nothing else except to copy off the on line machine quilting class I signed up for and have had absolutly no time to even do more than run off the lessons. I sure hope things calm down some this summer.
Take good care folks!

chicken coop

We have a very green mayor who is in with the likes of our premier Gordon Campbell, Arnold Schwarzenager, and Al Gore. In view of the fact that eating within a 100 miles of where you live is the latest concept in green sustainability, he has decreed that Vancouverites can keep chickens in their back yards as long as certain rules are ahdered to, most of them about cleanliness and fair trade rules to chickens, kind of like a chicken union. I am wondering if he plans to hire a Chicken Inspector. He also wants to build a $25,000 home for retired chickens who have been abandoned by their owners, kind of like buying a big dog and then not wanting it so you give it to the pound. Think it will get full, fast? LOL Lots of jokes around that one, some suggestions observed that killing the chickens for McNuggets wouldl be a good option.
On that note I want to tell you of a chicken observation that Ray saw one day as he was driving home along an exit. There happened to be a bus stop on the exit lane and a bench for passengers to sit on while they waited for the bus to arrive. Two women were sitting on the bench , one at each end and in the middle of the bench sat a rooster quite calm about the whole event. These chickens are taking over , so beware!! Did I tell you this one? Well it bears repeating so look for it at some later date LOL.
It always makes me laugh whenever I think of the rooster LOL.
No sewing today but I did go to one of our bigger stores as they had a great sale. I didn't need anything, who does? The line ups were long for cutting and for paying . Believe it or not I came home with nothing :>))
We bought 2 big hanging baskets today, will add the photos .
I had a great day, hope you did too.
Be good and still have fun :>)) Oxymoron?

Lesson on tea cosies

Kathy and I had a really good lesson tonight at Tom's. It was a class on how to make a tea cozy. Tom had us make an inner cozy from the pattern usihg that fabric that has insulate on one side, we cut two pieces of insulate and 2 pieces of muslin, put them together with an edging stitch around them to stop any ravelling that could occrt , then sewed them together to make a cozy. Then we added a single binding areound the bottom edge.
Then as Tom says we did the fun part. Another 2 cuts of muslin from the template but an added 3/4 " on the bottom. Then we took our precut strips and starting in the middle sewed them arranged on the muslin . I am not going to go into all the details tonight except it was fun as Tom said. I did not get mine finished but got the one piece completed . I'll get it all done at home this month.
We are having company soon and I will be busy entertaining for then next two weeks.
I got a letter from my granddaughter tonight inviting us to her graduation from Grade 12. She has been an excellent student her whole school career and a young lady to be proud of.
I am really tired now as it is late so this will be a short blog.
Sleep well I am sure I will

Quilt guild tonight

I got my Rhubarb Pie! Ray is very happy to have it since he loves Rhubarb. Sohe was happy. Ione made it for him as I mentioned yesterday. She keeps her word :>)) Thanks Ione.
Just added a few photos from show and tell....
Before the guild Kathy picked me up and we went for dinner with Barb and Judy as we do each month. It was a good time. Thanks for the ride Kathy.
Interesting programme tonight at the guild, all about quilting programmes such as EQ7 and Quilt Pro as well as the many add on or stand alone programmes associated with them. I have had EQ before but they were not easy for me to do, very frustrating so I gave up on EQ despite the many people I hear from who love them. So I bought Quilt Pro to do the job I wanted for the guild web site and the guild newsletter. Now that I no longer have that job I don't use the program at all. However the new add ons I found interesting if you want a specific technique such as Mariner's Compass, Strip Piecing which is a new add on from Quilt Pro and is only $29.95 , or Paper piecing. You don't have to buy a whole programme but just what you want to use at that time. The presenter certainly knew what she was talking about , had lots of information and had slides to go along with her presentation. So if you were interested in that topic it would be good for you.
It has been a long day and I am quite tired so I'll call it a day or night :>))
Be careful driving at night!

quilting bee

The day was gorgeous today, as a beautiful spring day in Vancouvercan be .
I went to my sewing groups today as is usual on Tuesday. I finished another appliqued butterfly. I use silk thread for my applique, it sinks so beautifully into the fabric with very little sign of the stitching. My preferred method of applique is the freezer paper method but I am sure that you already know that romrm previous blogs Todays butterfly is a nice print on the upper wings with small rose and blue flowers , the bottom wings are a shade of blue that matches the florals.
My sock knitting lessons continued , we reached the turning of the heel and picked up the stitches along the instep. So Betty Lu's homework for the next few weeks as I won't be available is to finish the decreases on the instep and knit down to the toe knuckle.
Then off to Community Quilts to entertain the troups...No more quilting since my eyes were tired and blurry. But it was a lot of fun. The decision was made that I knit socks for Lynn and Ione, Lynn quilts my quilts and Ione makes pies for Lynn. Do you think this is a fair trade? I complained and said I wanted a pie too so Ione is bringing me one tomorrow night at guild. See my dad always said the squeaking wheel gets the most grease LOL. He was a wise man...
Then three of us we went to Betty's for tea and cookies, a nice way to end a lovely day. It was AWESOME!! I hope yours was as good as mine.
Take care!

Sew Pink, Sew Pretty

Most of the pink hearts quilt is done except for the final larger border. The afternoon was busy sewing in the between strips ,between the hearts and between the rows. I have often wondered how some quilters are able to get a top done in one day. That is really beyond my skills. Maybe it is because I pin,pin, pin. It anyone out there can do this , make a top in an afternoon please tell me how. I worked all after noon doing the rows. And I put my machine on fast whereas usually it is on slow. Fast worked for me as I am getting quite proficient at butting the fabric up against the 1/4" edge of the foot. I had a good time sewing this so it was all worth the work.

My latest book is called Invisible Eden by Maria Flock. It took me ages to finish it. At first it seemd quite odd as I thought it was a work of fiction but the realized it was a real life mystery about the murder of a fashion editor Christa Worthington who was living in Cape Cod and was brutally murdered. I am not going to write a book report but suffice to say it took me quite a long time to read and in the end the mystery remained unsolved. Disappointing, I always want closure.
My iron worked well today . When I first bought this one just a short while ago it would not steam. Quite by accident I pressed the lever where the cleaning chamber was , lo and behold , steam started coming out . I am not a mechanic LOL.
Have a sew good day.....Stay healthy!

sew many hearts

I had fun today sewing strips on my heart blocks and then sewing rows of hearts together. Of course I did have to take some stitches out but then I always do so that is nothing new. They are looking nice though. I was short a block to appliqued another heart. It is just a plain set as the quilt is for our newest great granddaughter. Tomorrow I'll take photos and put them on the blog. Very pretty in pink, I understand that lots of you do not like pink but I love it.
I spent many weeks appliqueing thhese hearts at my Tuesday group. We just do hand work there as there are no machines. Also I plan to cut out some more applique pieces for the butterlies that I am now doing on Tuesdays.
I did not see any of my family today for Mother's Day. Of my 5 sons, one was stuck in London, a victim of the volcanic ash, another was in the air travelling from Rhode Island to Louisiana , he called when he arrived home and we had a good chat, The third was in Calgary Alberta on business and called from there, the fourth was in Edmonton, Alberta and forgot to call but then he calls nearly every week. The fifth called but he is not really a fan of visiting. My grandson called from Penticton and my granddaughter called from Victoria, so many of them were away somewhere. My other granddaughter wrote to tell me she had been chosen to play her saxophone in the youth jazz band in our nation's capital Ottawa, a great honour. We are proud of her.
Ray and I went out for lunch and we each bought a new jacket. Mine was to go with the pants I bought a couple of weeks ago and had decided to make it a set, so now I have two suits for the summer.
We are watching CSI New York. I like Mac. This one is about a man who was in Auswich in WW2. I am always interested in that war as I was a child at the period in history and it formed my thoughts for life. My dad ws in WW1 so that too is an interest of mine.
Have a good night folks. Keep well.

turtles on a log

After shopping for groceries this morning we went to the park for a walk as the day was beautiful and warm. It was just too tempting to go out and enjoy the day so we fell into temptation :>)
The park was full of people riding bikes and walking. One little guy was chasing a Canada Goose and the goose was running away. I worried that the goose might decide to turn and hit the boy with its wing. That can actually break an adult arm so what might it do to a child. However the goose got away and the boy was fine .
My favourites were out in force today sunning themselves on rocks and logs. That is the turtles that I love so much. They delight me each time I see them in the park. The pond has a lot of life in it, big fish, small fish , large goldfish and koi, that people have decided they no longer want so they release them in the park. The same has happened with the turtles which were small and cute when parents bought them from the pet store for their little ones. Of course Red Eared Sliders do not stay small for long and are no longer a good pet for kiddies.They bite!! So off to the pond they went and have survived very well in that environment. There are ducks in the pond too and seagulls causing trouble as the will do. I love the wild animal life.
We came home for a bit and then Ray took me out for dinner at the Keg. Prime rib horse radish and gravy, baked potato with sour crem and chives, warm bread ,three cheese butter, oh so good and dessertands coffee for afters.
It was a delightful day!!! :>))

at last

Finally the napkin.

Cut a square, mine was 18 inches which made a nice luncheon napkin. Turn 1/4" over on all sides. Because I am not good a seeing a 1/4" I added quarter inch tape on all four edges, then turned it and pressed it down. Imagine my surprise when upon removing the tape it still stuck a bit making it very easy to keep the 1/4" perfect.





Next line up ruler at the edge of napkin along the 45' line keeping the point of the ruler at the corner as in the photo. The ruler's other edge will then be right down the centre from the corner ,draw a line on that edge. It will bisect the corner.



Measure down 2 inches from the corner on the drawn line. Line up the ruler on the centre line at 2" then draw a straight line from edge to edge as in the photo.



Now cut off the corner on the line you just drew.





Put the two cut sides together and sew from one edge to the other making a 1/8"
seam.



Turn the corner and clear the point with whatever you use to make the points sharp. I used this green thing I have had for years. Do all four corners in this manner.





All four corners are now turned, press the edges down and sew along the inside edge of the turned hem on the wrong side as you see in the photo.



Turn to right side and it is done. A beautiful professional looking table napkin and no rolled edge to do.



I would love to know if you try is one and how you like it. Now that my work on the blog is done, I plan to make more napkins.
Good luck to you all :>))

very nice young men

I know you are aware of my troubles with laptops but I have neglected to tell you that the young men who served us were unusually helpful and polite throughout the whole ordeal. They gave such wonderful service with great patience. For anyone in the Vancouver area who are reading this blog these two young men work at London Drugs in Bend Crossing in Burnaby. Just ask for Clayton and Ben if you
are looking for computers . Commercial over.:>))
We went to Lenscrafter this morning to get fitted for new glasses , that was for me, one pair and it was $550. Honestly it is awful. Ray had to get his last month. So now we can both see better , at least when I get my new glasses in 10 day.
Then we went to get the new laptop which was having all the data transferred over,
got it done ,brought it home and it would not access the internet. After two hours of fiddling with it I called Clayton, he said to bring it and the wireless router in. After he worked for a while we decided that my router was not strong enough for the new computer so we bought a new one. Now it all works. I am happy now. I like this laptop , it has a good keyboard, easy to use.We didn't geet home until after six, I was tired , so after I made dinner it was time to do nothing so this blog is a do nothing blog LOL.
They say you need to have 8 hours sleep to function well and to live long, so sleep well, live long and be happy.
Take good care!! :>))

A whale of a tale

A whale in False Creek? What a tale that would be! But it is true. A grey whale has been seen in False Creek in the middle of Vancouver. From the name Creek you can tell it is a small inlet into the city . The distance allowable by law for a boat from a whale is 400 meters, not an easy thing to accomplish in a creek that you can easily see from one side to the other. But oh what excitement to have a whale up close and personal in the city. If you were having lunch at Bridges Restaurant you would have had a ring side view of the mature adult male grey whale. Things are never dull in our home city. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Graywhale.shtml LOOK here for some facts on Grey Whales....
I am waiting now for the laptop to be readied for use, all the data is being transferred. What another tale that has been!!
I am taking a course from Quilt University on Machine Quilting, sometimes I feel like a dunce , sometimes I don't. It takes me a while to peruse the infromation and to find all the information I need to know. But finally I think I have all the bits put together for the first lesson and found the things I need to have for the second lesson. Sounds like a church reading LOL> I just hope I can find the time to get it all done. It seems that every day is so full but we'll see how that goes. Cheer me on folks!!
Time for a nap LOL>
Have a great day.

shoulda took a picture

Today at Community quilts we made cushions and pillows for Emergency Aid Society which helps women and childfen in need of a place to sleep, who arrive there with nothing but the clothes on their backs. It is good to have a nice soft pillow in lovely fabrics to cuddle. So that was our work for the day. The organization wants a picture of the group making them and I had a camera with me too. Next week
At my other group I was helping Betty Lu with her socks. The stitches slipped off one of the needles , whoops, a nice mess to fix. I have fixed many dropped stitches in my life LOL.... On occasion I have been known to take back half a sweater if I have found a mistake . So one needle was not a problem except for the time it takes to knit them back up. Then we had a bit of a problem with the back of the heel, not the right number of stitches so back I went again. But in the end it all worked out okay.
We all learn from our mistakes is my theory. I do. I hope!
Betty Lu made my bag from the pattern and fabric I showed earlier on the blog. The picture will be up tonight. She loved the pattern so much she has made seven of them,came in with them all hanging fromher arms, another photo missed:>( and a lot of our group happily took them off her hands.LOL.
Still working on the *(&%^$ napkins, HA!! But I think I have it now. Ione set up a practice one with the directions on it and she showed me what to do. So if my brain is working I should be able to write the pattern. Mary no laughing :>) Mary is my friend in the community quilts group.
My new computer is ready for pick up tomorrow another ongoing saga like the napkins. I'll take a picture of it too .
Just in case!!
Bonne nuit de sommeil bien. Good night , sleep well...... :>)

we're back!!

Miss me haha!
We travelled down close to Seattle on I5. We stopped at the Tulalip Resort Casino and spent the day and the night at the hotel. What a beautiful hotel, it is so magnificantly appointed. All things work together to make a perfect hotel. As it is on native land as most American casoinos are the theme is Native , both in the art and the design. There are gorgoeus art works hanging everywhere even in our bathroom . Whoever designed this hotel missed not a singel item of detail. Even the extra toilet paper is wrapped in the signature colour, red paper. The desk covering was red leather and hotel book of services was also red. But the bed coverings were white.
Even the drain pipes in the hotel/casino washrooms had their own leather type covering, I was intrigued by that little detail.
It was a good little holiday and we had a good time in the casino, won and lost but did not break the bank. I was going to take pictures but the camera got left on the table so no pictures. Next time we go I'll take some.
Tomorrow when I go to Community Quilts Ione is going to show me that missing piece of the instruction for the napkin. Who would ever believe that this could take so long to get organized LOL. But then nearly everything takes forever, there is no instant. I am still working on this computer and should get another one tomorrow. This latest new one, the one I am working on right now, began to have issues such as the keys falling off so we negotitated another new one , should be there tomorrow, but I am not holding my breath.LOL.
I am ready to rest now. you all rest too.:>)

We are going south

Like the Canada geese we are leaving town and going south over the border tomorrow. We want to test our new nexus cards. I have booked a hotel room at the Tulalip Hotel in Marysburg. It will be a short trip just overnight for Sunday , maybe Monday too , who knows. We like to play it by ear , it's more spontaneous that way. It is also convenient for us as we have new neighbours moving in across the hall and they will probably tie up the elevator for most of the day and as I am not good for climbing the stairs it makes sense to leave town LOL. I am looking foreward to doing some shopping at the outlet malls there. Maybe I can find a quilt shop too, now wouldn't that be nice. Especially if I can get Ray to stop haha.
I have no idea why we did so much grocery shopping today, we knew we were going away, more spontaneity I suppose LOL. There you have it elders are able to live it up !! We don't need to think ahead, no jobs, no visitors, no tasks that need to be done today!
It's a good life and any day above the ground is a good day :>))
I did some work on the napkin tutorial today but got to a point in the instructions that made no sense to me so I had to leave off.Who would have a problem makinganapkin I ask you LOL. There is aletter into my friend for a more clear explanation. However I did come up with a good idea at the beginning of the instructions ,much to my surprise, which I am happy to share when the whole thing is finished. Once again it may be later in the week after I come back.
See you in a few days, no blog tomorrow, but mabe Monday. I must take my camera...
Take care folks.