Happy New Year

I tried to send you  all a cute joke but it did not work on blogspot so I'll just give you the punch line. Have a hot chocolate from me. LOL Happy New Year!!
Bob and Buzz came for lunch today , Buzz is a lady who does a lot in the house so even though she was invited for lunch she made all the sandwiches while I stirred the potato soup. I wish all guests were so accomodating :)
After we ate  we went upstairs to see why my new computer would not open attachments when I sent them upstairs, it did on my other programme but not this one. While Buzz is very knowledgeable about computers she could not figure this one out. They did take away my old computer though. She takes good parts from old computers and puts them together into another case and makes new ones from old which she then give to those who cannot afford to by one.  Nice eh! My hat's off to you Buzz.
After they left I called Jim in California to see if he knew what I should do , he did give me a tip but that didn't work either.  He said he would check the programme to see what could be done about it. Still I am not sure if it is the email programme or the computer. I had one idea though I sent the attachment to hotmail which I'll check later to see if the thing went. Actually I think that was Buzz's idea....
After they left I checked out the squares I had left over from Ray's animal hides quilt to see if there was enough to make a small baby quilt and there was , so I sewed strips to the sides and then sewed the squares into rows. Tomorrow I'll do a bit more as I  was tired by then and just left it.  At least I
 did a bit of sewing since There is nothing on my plate at the moment. Tomorrow there may be a fuller plate but who knows. My embroidery machine comes home tomorrow and I have a couple of things to do on it.
We are watching the hockey game, Canucks at Dallas, Canucks are winning 4 to 1. Keep up the good work guys :)))

Adam and me. Not really pertinent but I like the photo so it stays. :)))

I am going to make some more of the knitted dish cloths that Ray likes, there are very few left and other people I know like them too, they make a nice little gift for nothing. I do do dishes too folks LOL.

This is a cute little wall hanging, I made many years ago.

Time to stop for the evening. If you are celebrating tonight have a lovely time and stay safe. If you are staying home have a wonderful evening. Happy New Year to everyone.

Bonne Annee!

a movie

Kathy and I went to see The King's Speech with Colin Firth as King George VI, Helena Bonham Carter as the King's wife Queen Elizabeth and Geoffrey Rush as the speech therapist Lionel Logue. What a cast of characters, they were superb. Yes this film deserves Oscars galore.
It is a tale of King George's heroic efforts to overcome a dreadful speech impediment, a persistent stutter. His father George V was portrayed in a minor role of what was a major role in King George VI life. He was so critical and cruel to the King as a young boy and was the reason for the dreadful lack of confidence. I remember my mom and dad talking about the stammer of the king and of his brother Edward VIII who abdicated the throne to marry the "woman he loved" Wallis Simpson thus causing George VI to ascend to the throne against his will. I remember him and Queen Elizabeth during WW2 And how they were so loved and cherished by the people for their dedication to the British people who endure so much during that time. They refused to leave London during the horrendous attacks  on the city,
However that is not the story of this movie. It addresses the therapy methods of the unconventional Lionel Logue and is in its way both sad and hilarious. I liked it when the therapy consisted of swearing over and over. No stutter there. Singing was another way to put the stutter to rest.
Helena Bonham Carter as the queen was  beautiful and portrayed Elizabeth in an appropriate way. She displayed a true royal demeanor , balancing her  high position with her humanity and  her love for the King.
Geoffrey Rush as the therapist was amazing in his portrayal as Lionel Logue with his unusual methods of speech therapy.
Colin Firth was absolutely amazing in his ability to use the glottal sounds of a stutterer, he must have had to take speech therapy lessons LOL.
The movie showed Edward VIII with Wallis Simpson in a sympathetic light but did not dwell on them. However I was amzed that they found an actress who was so like Mrs. Simpson soon to become the Duchess of Windsor rather than the Queen of England. She was a real surprise.
All the actors in this film were strong contenders and not one failed to live up to his role in the movie.
If you are at all interested in amazing acting, interesting characters and a time in history when the world was on the brink of war again, you will enjoy this movie.
I would see it again .
As for my life that was it for the day, I ate a big bag of popcorn and a coffee while watching the show. Who can go to a movie without eating something. :))
When I came home I lay down and had a nap, the hard work of enjoying myself made me very tired LOL.
Have a good evening, consider going to a movie tonight :))
No sewing for me today and no knitting either.

socks

Finally.... Sigh.

I had to come upstairs to my new computer to download this photo . And as my system and computer are new it took a bit of figuring but Eureka here they are, Ione's socks. Something is up on my laptop.

I have spent the whole afternoon working on both computers and learning about my new one,setting up the photos on it and downloading from the camera. On the laptop I found that my photos had been tripled and quadrupled  so that was hours to do all the deletion but it is a lot neater now. Hopefully the download from the camera to the laptop will work now. However the battery in the camera needs to be replaced due to all the work it has been doing.  We have to charge the battery up and then maybe I can get things to work. I do feel that I have got a lot taken care of and feel very happy with myself LOL....................

We took my embroidery machine to Tom's today for servicing but Tom was not there. I had made an appointment with him but his sister was in town so he took the day off. That was fine, I just left it at the shop until Saturday when we have time to go and get it. I'm too busy for the next couple if days to do any sewing anyway.

I want to make some more of those little mug rugs , small projects seem to be the way to go right now.

Meaghan is back from the hospital but because of the high blood pressure they plan to induce the baby on the tenth of January. That is just 2 weeks early so the baby will be viable, it is 5 pounds now so in 2 weeks it should be close to 7 pounds.

I talked to Lynn today and Nancy is very close to delivery too  so we will have two new babies in January,one here in B.C. and one in Quebec. There is another due in June in Quebec so as you see lots of babies this year. It is very exciting!

Winter came today for a half hour . It snowed this morning and that didn't last long here but in Burnaby there was a bit more snow than we had.

In honour of winter I am adding a photo of January Sue that I put on a quilt for one of the great granddaughters.

Who knew she could skate :))

I'll try and remember to add these girls every month. I so love them.

Rick called to say he and Carla are coming back from visiting Mary and Albert in Victoria and hope to catch the 7:00 ferry. They'll come here around 10:00 to pick up the winter  jacket Jim left here when he went down south. Rick will take it to Calgary when he goes back to work. Jim will go to Rick's apartment  when he goes through Calgary on his way home.  Isn't life amazing- problem solved.

Now if I could solve my photo problem as easily life would be fantastic !

Time to sigh off    friends.

Have a lovely night. Bon Soir.

too full

Oh I am so full of turkey and gravy on bread, two slices, along with peas and onions. But it was so good. Thank goodness this won't last too long. We still have turkey and a little gravy left but not enough for a dinner meal. I plan to make some soup with the left over turkey and add some rice along with my usual celery and onion staples, can't cook without them. It' a good thing I don't bake or there would be some very odd tasting cakes happening here LOL.
My i8 year old grandson can make a pie shell and flute the edges. I can't do that, neither could my mom so Adam is an anomaly in our family. His step grandma Lisa taught him how to do that. Amazing isn't it.

See those little hands , aren't they wonderful ;)

I took the photo off Facebook but I can't seem to get my photos off my camera tonight. Computers have their own agenda I'm afraid.     Much later and I still can't get the pictures off the camera.Grrr!

In the newspaper this morning I noted an article about recycling your old computers and any such electronic items you may have. Just take them to London Drugs HA!

So Ray and I went in to the store today and asked about it and yes they will take my old computer,printer and keyboard in at the store and they will take care of the recycling and no fee. I am impressed as always with my store. Good service, happy salespeople and caring for the customer. That has been my experience with them.

Ray went to Mark's Work Warehouse and found the jeans he wanted so now he is happy. I saw some very nice men's white T Shirts that I think would be nice for Jim. No point in buying them right now but soon becasue we noticed that his heavy winter coat is hanging up in our closet. As  soon as I hear back from him to see what he wants I'll take care of everything then.

I finished Ione's socks this afternoon and those are the photos stuck on the camera. Such is life.

 We watched an interesting programme while i was knitting about swamp logging in North Carolina, it was interesting for the first hour but it went on and on for hours. What is up with TV these days. Imagine logging in a swamp where there are snakes in the water and quicksand on land if you can call quicksand land. I didn't see any alligators but maybe they are not that far north. And nobody lost a leg haha....

I am going to sign off for tonight and try and get my camera  working.

Have a lovely evening.

too much

I have sat here and eaten almost a tin of hot jalapeno almonds alive with salt. I love the salt.  So dinner is out LOL.
We went out for lunch too with Rick, Carla, Jim, Ricky and Katie.

Rick me and Ray, Ray looks as if he was caught in the headlights haha!

And Ricky just wasn't looking :)) I guess he didn't hear me call or I was just trigger happy, but Carla looks adorable doesn't she....

It was so much fun , we laughed and gabbed for nearly two hours. The restaurant must have loved us. But we go there lots and I am sure the owner likes it when we bring in our family which we do often. Ray and I had these huge cabbage rolls ,they are so delicious. We shared them them as no way we could eat all that food, potatoes and corn as well as salad. Carla ordered them too and she took half home.

Uncle Jim and gorgeous Katie.

We did so miss Mary and Meg who could not come for personal reasons, Mary had to work and Meg is in the hospital.

Ray just lit the fireplace, good Ray, it is chilly here tonight.
Jim is on the road again, he left this afternoon for Los Angeles. Good thing he was not going back to Edmonton, apparently the Coquihalla is a disaster, it is very dangerous  in the winter.
While Jim was here he set up my new computer, the embroidery programmes and Wilcom TruSizer which opens embroidery designs. It is not like I was used to but I think I get it LOL. If I don't he'll just have to come back :>)  Jim said it was a mess to install. I am hoping it is not a mess to use.
I did take photos today , but I did not sew. Maybe tomorrow I'll embroider a bit before I have to take the machine into Tom's for servicing on Wednesday. I have confused everything I had to do this week and put them on different days than they really were. Kathy and I are going to see The King's Speech on Thursday and I though it was Friday.I remember when I was very young my mom and dad commenting on George VI 's speech problems. They were British so they knew these things LOL.
 Then I thought Tom's was Friday and it is Wednesday. Good thing I looked at my book and another good thing I write things in there . With my mind I need to have a record.LOL.
Sew (cutesy isn't it?),  it is all good now. Ray and I are back to normal now. We did love having Jim here though. Our family is  all so special to us isn't it?
Ione, I am almost to the toe of your sock and then for the photo shoot :)))).
I sent the photo of my redwork quilt into the list of the designer and lots of people have made very positive comments on it. The designs were extra special.  I love getting comments ....
So my continued best of the season to all my readers. Love you!
Ti Amo

Christmas snooze

Not a good Christmas day, I felt so badly that my dinner was left on the plate and I went to bed at 5:30, stayed there until 8:15 AM. That was a good snooze LOL. It was better today.
 Jim and I went to London Drugs and bought a new PC computer for me. It cost $399 , it was a good deal. Jim has spent the rest of the day getting it all set up and taking the information off the old hard drive. I hope all goes well, he is trying to make it easier for me to use. That will take a master stroke LOL. We also bought a back up hard drive. I had bought one a couple of years ago and the second time it was used the darn thing quit on me. That kind of put me off.
I can't believe all the things that need to be moved , I'll bet you don't know what you have on your computer, Jim is asking me about something every couple of minutes. Decisions, decisions. Do I want to install my Quilt Pro , oops wait a minute, it won't install on the new computer, too old. Kind of feels like me  :))
That said we didn't really do anything else but shop and fix. I thought about sewing and Kathy asked if I planned to attend an embroidery class with her. I think it is a BOM class for 12 months and is definitely a Hoop Sisters design. Kathy and I did one earlier in the fall and she did get hers done. There was a photo of it on my blog , but mine is still sitting there. Maybe I should  take the class with Kathy but finish the piece I have. Not a bad idea, ya think? I'm going to Tom's on Thursday to take my embroidery machine in for  servicing and I'll check it out with Kerrie then.
Isn't it hard to get of the holiday mind set and back on to the regular state of mind. Maybe after Jim leaves for Los Angeles it will be easier but with him here I don't want to upset the whole apartment with all my threads and machines haha. I do feel at loose ends with no sewing going on though. It is time to write down all the things I want to make in the coming year. Maybe time to take stock of 2010 to see what was actually accomplished. I did have a good time this year though and that is an accomplishment, don't you think. Oh I did do some things today, updated my binders and found a pattern I was looking for.
Rick, Carla, Katie and young Rick are coming tomorrow to take us out for lunch . I am looking forward to seeing them all. I sure miss Mary but she is working through out the season and can't come over from Victoria.
I am almost finished Ione's socks La-di-da....
Have a great evening.

Have a good evening

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas friends.

I am not well tonight so will be back on again tomorrow. And no I do not indulge in alcohol. :>)
Good night.

eat and sleep

We're back from Mr. Ho's. Jim took us for dinner and asusual it was delicious but we feel sleepy now. Sated and sleepy as we sit by the fire. It's good!!
Ione wrote this morning to say leave that guild block and get down to knitting her socks. LOL She is a funny lady!
Now that all the sewing is put away I really have nothing else to do but knit.
Right now we are watching the Hallejuha chorus in a mall, it is a glorious scene. I hope you all get to see it or hear it I should say. It will warm your heart to hear that beautiful piece of music sung by so many.
Ontario choir that set up flash mob in mall sets YouTube record ...‎ - 1 hour ago

The 80-member Chorus Niagara showed up at the Seaway Mall in November and spontaneously serenaded surprised shoppers with a rendition of "Hallelujah" from ...Winnipeg Free Press - 129 related articles
Must-see video: Hallelujah Chorus in mall food court‎ - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (blog) - 1776 related articles
You can find the video here.
It was very rainy today but we are Wet Coasters  and the rain does not keep us inside. Jim wanted to go to Princess Auto which was down United Boulevard. I have never been there , they have everything the auto afficiondo could want. We did not go to a quilt shop though. I think I'll demand to go to Fabricana on Boxing Day. Haha. We have to go to TOM's next Thursday anyway so I'll get my chance then.

Jim and I somewhere! haha.

 

Our friendly woodpecker on the wall outside my bedroom window, he doesn't seem to know he is hammering on cement LOL. We are quite fond of him.

Ray and I are bird lovers.

Here is another  photo that i just love. I want to wish the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq a wonderful Christmas and it is my prayer that they can come home soon.

There is nothing like a puppy to bring love and happiness!!

On that note I'll leave for the night.

My wishes for a very Merry Christmas too all my friends.

Love you!!

 

So nice to have grandchildren

Oh it was a lovely day with my dear sons and dear DIL as well as my two grandchildren. Chelsea is back from Toronto. She was saying it is a lot different being on your own in another city and having to take care of all your own expenses and to budget your money. In just four months she has matured so much, no longer a girl but a young woman. I enjoyed her company a lot. Ryan was even more  talkative than usual and it was so nice. Matthew was as talkative as usual and Caroline was her lovely self .
Jim was out in Abbotsford at Rick's for the day  and came home around 3:30 ,so we all were together . He said it took him and hour and 3/4 to drive back from Abbotsford.
I cooked Mac and cheese , Matt declared that I had not lost my touch LOL. I also served the ribs I made yesterday and Jim said they were marvellous. Do you think I had a good day YES!!
We sat around and talked after dinner and then Chelsea had an appointment with her friends.   Phood Photos. Ray's salad is always so pretty/

Cookies in the bakery.

Chelsea, Ryan and Jim.

Matthew who says he IS smiling LOL

Caroline my dear Daughter in law.

I did make another of those blocks for the guild but it was awful. The pieces did not meet at the top so one or the other of them was the wrong size. I will take it out tomorrow when I am more patient and do it all over again. I  have a problem with the squares that you draw the line from corner to corner diagonally,place on the a second square , sew on the line and then fold over and cut the excess triangles off. Probably not a very good explanation  but it is this that caused me a lot of trouble today. If I  can figure out a way to make this technique work better I'll do a bit more. Maybe make the original squares a tiny bit larger. I'll try that and let you know.
I really want to know how to get that right, but the first one I did was no problem, wonder why. I am not taking a photo of that block, it is too awful.... :))
No company tomorrow but on Christmas day Sam and his friend Scott will be joining Jim, Ray and me for turkey dinner. Man we eat too much around this time of year. I am still full from tonight's dinner.
All this cooking is making me very tired LOL.
I'll close it off for tonight. I wish you all a good evening.
Take it easy.

dinner for four

Dinner for four takes all afternoon to cook LOL. Peter came over to visit with us and Jim and he stayed for dinner. The Man Who Came to Dinner :))
I cooked today ,yes me, and I made chilli , cauliflower and cheese soup for dinner tonight and barbecued ribs for tomorrow night's dinner when Matthew, Caroline, Chelsea and Ryan will be here for dinner. The ribs put me ahead  for tomorrow night when macaroni and cheese are on the menu. I am pretty well  done for the night. But it was fun to have the two sons here to cook for.
I had no time for sewing and Ray put the embroidery machine away for the rest of the week, the sewing machine is also having a few rest days while company visits.
We took the morning to do some shopping, picked up my prescriptions,toured around Canadian Tire because Ray and Jim like to wander around that store. It's not bad for me either as there are many household items as well as car parts in the store. We didn't buy anything though, then we had a coffee and doughnut at  Tim Horton's.

Mary Alice's Christmas quilt.

 I went to London Drugs and the camera man there fixed my camera so that all my photos were not yellow . I was quite unhappy with the highly yellowed photos.  There are no new photos yet so we'll see how that goes. And of course I forgot to take a picture of Jim and Peter, it was my intention but you know how that goes. It is a paved road LOL

Here is the recipe for ribs.


3 lbs of spareribs

one medium onion one tbsp of butter or bacon drippings

one tbsp of vinegar

one tbsp of sugar

3 tbsps of lemon juice

1/2 tbsp prepared mustard

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup chopped ce;ery

2 tsps salt/dash of cayenne

2 tbsps Worcestershire Sauce

one cup of  Heinz hot ketchup and 1 1/2 cups of water

To start , I just saute Celery and onions, then braise the ribs to brown them.
A  warning, Be careful not to cut your finger while chopping . I wasn't and my finger bled profusely :(

Put them in a large casserole dish .add the sauce , cover and put them in the oven at 350’ until they are browned and smelling good. That should take a few hours to make them fall off the bones.
My Christmas present to you..... Merry Christmas.
I'm still talking haha.
Eye of the Beholder by David Ellis. A pretty good book that keeps you engrossed right up to the end. An attorney who successfully prosecuted the killer of 6 women 15 years ago. The murderer is convicted and sentenced to death. Now there are more snd similar murders. It is a puzzle and is not solved until the end of the book. It kept me guessing. So if you like these kinds of stories, this is a decent read.
Now I am finished talking LOL.
Take it easy tonight.
Oyasumi...

quilting done

Lauren finished quilting the SBS quilt and brought it to Community Quilts, she did such a wonderful job. I gave her Ray's quilt to do too.

Look at it for the last time -sigh.... I need to make the label for it and send it off to Quebec. She won't be born until January so no big hurry .

Wendy made this cute dog quilt.

This beauty was made by one of the members of Community Quilts.

I really liked this treatment of black and white scrappy with the wide  triangle and the half rectangles. Excuse me if I don't know what these bits are called, but the look is great.  It was on the table at Community Quilts.

When I got home Jim was here, he made it through the Coquihalla without any problems. I always worry when he comes from Edmonton in the winter and drives these roads.

We went out for dinner to Cockney Kings for fish and chips plus a couple of oysters for me. Now we are relaxing by the fire.  I couldn't have had a better day, it was smiles and laughs all the way!!!

Have a great evening folks.  Bon Soir.

backing is done

The backing for Ray's quilt is done, that is all that got done today -just finished it off.
Ray and I had to go to the clinic this morning for bloodtests. We fasted for 10 hours , but Ray was too early for his tests so they would not give them to him. He has to go back in early January. I was on time with mine and got that bit over with. This afternoon St. Paul's called to remind me of my appointment with the cardiologist in January and the get my bloodwork done. I told the lady I had it done today and she said "You are a star" LOL.
I could not finsih off the tests so she told me to go out and have some coffee and come back again with the required product .We went for breakfast  at TOP's, Ray had a Spanish omelet and it was delicious. Did I say Ray ordered a Spanish omelet, I did say that :)). He shared it with me, we always trade off our food. Bad manners I guess but we are old and permitted to do what we want.  That is what I say, my mother would have a fit.
When we were finished breakfast we had to go back to Sears to return the jeans Ray bought the other day. They had a button fly and he does not like that so back they went.
Then to Canadian Tire to look for fireplace logs- they had some , so we bought a box and I picked up a bigger plastic box for my silk applique threads, my threads were outgrowing the box I have. Of course there were none of the same kind of boxes but the one I got was okay.
The bakery was next and we bought fresh bread, took back the item to the clinic and that was all before noon. I was worn right out. However I really wanted to get the backing done so push came to shove . It isn't good to do things like that because it makes me want to stop quilting. It seemed to me to be way too much work. I am sure I'll change my mind but for now it is holiday time and I am taking a rest.

I really wanted to use this fabric even  though there wasn't much of it. It is so delightful.

So I added a small frame And then the fabric around it. And it all came from stash. Now if there is enough batting in stash that would be a great thing. There is enough for binding thankfully.

It's chilly tonight so we lit the fireplace, that should warm up the place. Mind you chilly here is positivey hot somewhere else so I do apologize the those of you who are suffering from a deep freeze.

We have been watching   some old movies lately. Today it was Christmas movies in black  and white.Christmas in Connecticut with Dennis Morgan and Barbara Stanwick,  was a charming love story and both the leads were delightful. We also watched Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire ,the female lead is someone I   didn't recognize. White Christmas was sung but the show was in B&W. I am sure there was a movie  in colour that was called White Christmas.

Have a great evening everyone.

sewing day

After the housework, laundry , shopping I finally managed to get down to sewing.  The first thing I did was to embroider  another of those little angels by Sonia Showalter,she calls them Angels of Light. There are several of these on her site. I have just a few of them but think  I'll get a couple more after I make up the ones I have.

This one is just called the Angel of Light, the ribbons and the bottom of her skirt are certainly highlighted and full of light. This one was  still not dry when I took the photo but I wanted to show you what I did today.

Then I began the backing of Ray's quilt. It took me a long time cutting, pinning , pressing and sewing the parts. But I will be happy with it so that is the main thing. By 6:00 I decided to call it quits ,it was not quite done but  I had not stopped all day from the time I got up until  6:00 and  I was just too tired to go on, so I'll finish it tomorrow. I had to clean everything up and put it all away because Ray is not happy when I leave it all in the kitchen where he wants to get things done in there.I don't like it either.  Unfortunately I have to do my cutting on the kitchen counter because there is no other placve and it is the perfect height for me.. I don't get backaches when I do my cutting..

I am excited to get the b back done so I can put it all togetehr and start on the quilting. Ray said not to worry about it until after the new year because we have a lot to do this week and next. I think Iwill bag it and wait until then . Then I can take it to the church on Tuesday where the ladies will help me pin the

layers together. Oh yes and I need to buy the batting. LOL

Tonight we have to fast as we are going for blood tests tomorrow. I go to the cardiologist in early January and he wants the tests 2 done 2 weeks before the appointment.

That's the tale of my day.

Have a great evening ladies. And gents if there are any. I hate to leave anyone out :))

Buenos noches.

win,win

Ray and I went shopping this morning and got our free turkey. It is 7.76 Kilos frozen. We had to give up 18,000 points for  a "free" turkey , but we save our points from year to year just for this purpose,some years we go out for dinner at Christmas so we had  40,000 points saved and had lots as you can figure. It is far too big for us and Jim and Sam but we can send some home with Sam and Jim eats lots.  We love turkey for the few days following  Christmas too. So all is well!!
I finally figured out how to do the backing on Ray's quilt and got started on it. I cut the piece so it was even on all sides and started the framing of it.
Then we decided to go to the casino later in the afternoon. It was a good day for me ,because I won around  1300 dollars , gave several hundred to Ray and came home with over $900.
That is all we did today and so my blog is kind of short.
I was reading a good article in the paper about refugees that are allowed into Canada right from refugee camps. It said how happy they were to be in a safe country , to have clean bedding, no bugs ,clean new clothes, money from the government and good food to eat. That was just for the first two weeks and then they had to go out and find accomodation for themselves. It is not an easy task for them as you know just how hard and how expensive it is to find housing in Vancouver. Learning to speak English is another hurdle for them. They have experienced the darker side of life and hope to establish themselves  in Canada . It will be difficult for them.
I remember what  my mom and dad said about coming to Canada from  Britain after WW1 and how they could only afford to go as far as northern Manitoba . It took a decade before they could manage to find the money to come to Vancouver. That was during the Depression and times were tough for them too but they had savings and could speak English. 
No photos tonight unless I take a couple tonight .
Have a good evening, I have heard it is going to snow so enjoy it.
Bon soir.

water boy/man

We waited nearly all day for the water man to deliver our big bottles of water. Neither of us is happy about waiting for someone to arrive. I had to cancel my appointment with Tom and make another one for the 29th. But instead of whining about the fact that we could not go out as we usually do I got down to business.  Really though it was probably a good thing we stayed home as there was a ton of traffic around town and a lot of places that were blocked off for one reason or another.
Remember the little rug mug ,I quilted it this mmorning, not that it took a lot but it is done!
The afternoon was taken up with doing two bibs for my upcoming great grandchild. I know you won't believe this but I have never made a bib before LOL.  These two bibs were printed ones that I bought at Wineberries last month. They had to be cut out with scissors and after using the  rotary cutter for so many years I find scissors vey hard on my hands and especially that thumb joint. Then I had to pin the fronts and backs together very closly so that the two pieces did not slip when they were being sewn. After doing that more cutting of the back to match the front. Then I sewed them together very slowly , I got them sewn at 1/4" and took the curves carefully. Then the curves had to be clipped and the front and back turned inside out. I took a long time with them so the legs of the bib was turned nicely . I don't know if other people do this but I took a pin all the way round and pulled at the seam so it was even. Then I sewed the opening left by turning and hand sewed it down,pressed them  and added the velcro strips.

Not a very good picture but they are cute.

My next project was to make a a block for the guild. It  was not easy as the cutting was out of whack and it looked as if a mouse had chewed the corners. Maybe not but it sure looked that way. A lot of fiddling but again it was done. This block is the same as the ones I did previously  for the guild but was a smaller version. It is pretty. There is a second one that I just got started but decided to finish tomorrow. My back is so sore  I won't do any more sewing this evening.

I am going watch TV and knit for the rest of the evening. no way I can just do nothing LOL

I have been planning my dinner for the 23rd as Matthew ,Caroline, Ryan and Chelsea are coming for dinner. Meg and Louis are also coming but I am not sure if they are staying for dinner though. Jim will be here too, he comes on Tuesday.  I'll check with them.  Matthew has requested macaroni and cheese, I know Louis loves chilli and I thought to do some of my delicious ribs. Ray will make a salad. Sound good?

I am finished for the night folks. Have a good one.

winter time

I have always felt that I should have been a bear, it's winter time and I am sleepy. Not just sleepy but lazy too. With that in mind , I have done nothing today, other than lunch out with our friends Bob and Buzz . It was a great time together and we talked for a couple of hours. Ray and I had hamburgers and fries. Neither one of us can eat very many fries so Bob took care of the second sleeve of fries.

Here they are, Bob and Buzz.

Ray and I went shopping after lunch, we went to the Bay , I was looking for a silver bracelet that I thought I had seen advertised but all they had were gold ones, not what I wanted this time , though I usually prefer gold. .

Then we walked down to Sears where Ray found a pair of jeans he wanted and they were on sale.  I found a red sweater that I really liked so I bought it and then I found an adorable little outfit for my new great grandchild, my granddaughter Meg's baby which is due in January. We don't know what sex the baby is so I went with red which I love anyway. Any great grandchild of mine will love red!! HAH!!

My pretty sweater.

For the baby, I was unable to resist this beautiful red outfit with the adorable little penguins. I added a photo of the penguin on the shirt so you can see it better.

Doesn't he make you laugh.

Bob had told us that Save On Foods had the turkeys on for free with 8,000 points. We didn't know that and had been waiting for them to go on sale . We went down the street to check up on the turkeys and Bob was right. We have 40,000 points so no problem there . Bob had only 4,000 points so he couldn't get one. I said I could get him one but he laughed. Now I wonder if they only give you the option of one. We didn't get it yet and the offer is up to the 24th. We don't have a freezer so can't get one too early. 

While we were there I bought a watch that I'd seen last Saturday. It was $19.99 then and $11.99 today. I love a bargain LOL

We got home at 3:00 ,which means we shopped for 2 hours , no wonder I ws tired :))

So that is all I did today.

Have a great evening by the fire LOL.

warm and cozy by the fire

That's how it is supposed to be but I just find it hot! Ray likes the fire but then he is always colder than I am. I hope we run out of logs soon LOL.
I had a lovely visit with my friends today. We went for lunch at Kelseys in Richmond, the four of us , Marilyn, Muriel, Rae and me. It is a kind of institution with us. We all bought our embroidery machines at SEW before they closed and took embroidery lessons together. You form friendships at those  places where you work together. We decided that we wanted to stay in touch when SEW closed its doors to lessons and classes.
For lunch I ordered some shepherds pie, one of my favourites  and I have had it there before. But this time I tasted as if they had loaded it with hot pepper. The waitress told me it was hot sauce. I said laughingly they must have unloaded the bottle in it. She said she would check with the cook/chef. Next thing I know the manager comes over and apologizes because I was unhappy . My suggestion to him was to taste it for himself to see if he felt the same way. I was not rude but just making a suggestion. Anyway when the bill came there was no charge. That is a business that backs up its product. I am impressed as I did not ask for anything and actually ate the whole meal. I was hungry LOL.
We had lots of laughs reminiscing about the births of our first children and how ignorant we were, it was hilarious but not for this blog I think.
Then we talked about our embroidery machines. Rae is still waiting for a part for her machine and it has been 7 weeks. These companies are so slow with their delivery. Kathy also waited a long time for a hoop that was missiing from her new machine and that had to be ordered.  So far I have not needed any new parts so haven't had to wait, cross my fingers.
Rae has been busy making ornaments with her other embroidery machine. Good thing to have two of them. I'd love that. You could set them up side by side and set them off , like duelling banjos :)) It would be fun !!
On the way home I went to the library and toook out six books for my holiday reading. I hope they are enough.
Pictures from yesterday now.

Eating up a storm at yesterday's party.

I promised you a look at the basement of Community Quilts where many things go on, arranging blocks, cutting, sewing binding and sandwiching the quilt. This day it was adding side strips to blocks. It's called sashing I think LOL.

That is all I have today, I hope your night is warm and cozy if that is what you enjoy!!

Rester au chaud,,,,

Wet,wet and more wet

What a wet day, it poured all day but strangely though I love the rain. Oh I said that before didn't I? I alwasy think on a day like this of a time when I was about 9 and went downtown with my mom, just the two of us, which was something unusual, And it was raining cats and dogs just like today. We  ran from one shop on Hastings to the next, from Woodwards towards where the Sears building is today. originally it was called Spencer's. We had a nice time in Woolworths across from Spencer's ,looked at all the good things you could find in a five and dime store in those days, we ate a  ham salad sandwich at the lunch counter. I begged my mom to buy me a cutout doll book and she did. She rarely spent money that way so it was a huge treat. My memory of that day is vivid and sentimental but one I often recall and enjoy over and over especially on a rainy day like today.  Memory is a strange thing, a smell can evoke a memory that is vivid and strong. A quilt pattern can also bring warm memories to mind. Music of course is a prominent cause  of memories flooding the mind, particularly romantic songs that bring back another time. Snow on Christmas Eve will evoke a special present.
I went to the Tuesday group today and we had our annual Christmas pot luck party. Ray made his famous devilled eggs and they were fabulous as usual. People at my groups love his eggs and always ask for them. Ione sends him a thank you card each time he makes them. He loves that... :))
However Ione did not get any today as she is in Community Quilts not the Tuesday Group formally called Kerrisdale Quilters.
We ate at around noon and it is 5:00 and I am still not hungry, must have been too much fat and sugar. That will do it LOL. Most of the ladies brought their sewing today but I didn't. However I took my fabric for the backing of my quilt so that Sharon could advise me on how to do it. We discussed her ideas and mine and I think I have it figured out. That was my sewing for the day LOL.

Split nine patch, it makes a really nice design.

Betty Lu's hand quilting, this is a 15 year old UFO which she decided to finish this year.

Pat, my Tuesday coffee buddy, whom I have known since 1942, and me .

Wendy taking photos and me taking her picture taking photos :)

Betty's adopted kitty. He was a stray who came sniffing around one winter looking for food, She put food out for him, then he tentatively came in but was really skittish and just came into the kitchen.  Now he owns the house and is a wonderful friend and companion for Betty. We all love him too.

I went to Community Quilts after that  and had Ione stand on a ruler so I could get the number of inches of her foot. I need to get the socks the right length. I won't tell you how big her feet are . :))
Everyone was still quilting and piecing the quilts. I had a couple of ideas for making tops for the babies.  Actually I will use the left over Skins squares for a boys quilt. Sharon suggested that one. Jocelyn made me tell the story of how Ray and I met to some of the other ladies but no I do not intend to tell that one here today, maybe another time haha.
Ray had stuff out for dinner when I got home but I was too full still so we decided to forgo dinner. We may live to regret that decision.....That's the day folks. It was wonderful as usual.
Have a cozy evening by the fire...
Oiche mhaith....

Tom's today

We had to go to Tom's today becaseu the light on my embroidery machine was notworking so we thought we needed a new light, not really a big thing. But when we brought it home the new light did not work either and both lights worked at Tom's. So I called Tom and said I thought it was time to service the machine. We take it into him on Friday. That's fine as I wanted to have it serviced. I usually get my machines done every 6 months so I don't have any problems with them. It has paid off for me. I am sure many of you have noticed that some of the features on your machine are not working as well as they should. Time to service :)) Notably the features that are often out of whack are the scissors or the needle threader. At least that is what I have found. But the light is a new one for me. Tom said it could be thread shred that is the problem. Ray looked and could find no thread shredded anywhere but then he is not an expert. He should be as he is so good with things like that.
We went to IHOP  for lunch as it is just close by to Tom's.
Big problems on the roads and bridges today, accidents abound and road work really gums up the works.
I was tired so I had a rest. Then I added the last strips to my skins quilt. Tomorrow I am going to take the backing piece I have to the Tuesday group to see if I have enough. Those ladies are so clever at figuring that out. If not I do have an extra   piece to use.
Just thought I would add a Sunbonnet Christmas greeting embroidered by me.

These are so cute, but since I did them last year I have learned to add two layers of stabilizer to get a product that does not wrinkle. 
Big sink hole on Marine and Fraser , the way  I go to my Tuesday groups, guess I won't use that route tomorrow LOL.
And the mayor is upset and frightened. He should be, too many shootings in this town. This time it was close to the mayor's house. Maybe now he'll pay attention.
I finished my book called Inheritance. It was quite a new concept to me. A young man goes to a funeral of an favourite teacher and fins himslef in a differernt funeral. He feels he canot up and leave so he stays. It is the funeral of a man and there is only one other person at the funeral, an older woman.  He is pressured to sign his name and address in the guest book. Later he is called to a lawyers office and informed that he has inherited 17 million British pounds as he attended the funeral of the unknown man and the man wrote his will to give all his money to thsoe who attended his funeral. He is stunned of course   and receives the money after about three months whereupon he starts speniding it like a drunken sailor. But it is not easy to get rid of essentially 35 million dollars. He travels about Europe for a while but finds himself  at loose ends with no real objective to his life. He is not happy. So he decides to investigate his benefactor to give him life so to speak. From there he is totally involved in this project.  Good book , original concept at least as far as I know. It is worth the effort. Another intersting thing is the title has no article and by the way the last book I read did not have an article either, is this a trend?
Have a great evening.
Wan An..

embroidering

It was another full day but what day isn't for that matter. I hardly had any time on my computer. Oh my!!! 
We got all the work done, then went out for a bit . When I got home I went to work on an embroidered piece. It is cute , this is the second piece I have done by this designer and I don't think I'll do another. There were far too many jump stitches that took a long time to clip. The back took forever to clean up the jumps and the the same with the front. Those tiny jump stitches are so hard to get under and clip. However it is done. I wanted the design to make a mug rug, the latest enthusiasm on the internet. I thought that I would birth it , that means turn it instead of doing a binding. I am not too happy with that technique so the next one will be the regular way of putting the pieces together. I have a photo of it but I didnot do the quilting yet. Maybe it will look better once the quilting is done.  Let's hope :))

He looks a bit drunk doesn't he?  His name is SantaCat. The mug goes on the stripes. And a plate of cookies goes on the Santa .

Also I pinned the last of the strips on the skins quilt top. Ray says he doesn't want a border so that will be the last of the top. Then to sandwich . I am going to piece the backing first.  Usually we do our sandwiching at the church on Tuesdays but this Tuesday is the Christmas party so we won't be sewing. 

I was going to put a block design on the blog but it was so huge that it  messed up the blog and I had to delete it. I'll get that right some day with some more practice. I have another blog with nothing on it and I can use that for the practice. It helps to have a spare LOL.

My Mary called today and we had a good chat, she is happy with her new job at Shaw and says it is a great company to work for. She is talented with computers and has had two kudos as she calls it, already. Then Jim called and we discussed our trip to Houston for the quilt show next year. It is going to be fun. One of his friend's mother is a quilter and has a booth at the show. I am excited about it even though it is a long way off.

And that was my day, another good one.  So I am off for the evening , need to read my mail.

Have a good night folks. 

Saturday doin's or nothing doin"

The morning started out fast. We were expecting the chimney cleaners between the hours of  9 and 2. We never use the fireplace so it will be clean.
Aren't we always at the 2:00 end of things?   I was just sitting in my chair reading my newspaper as I always do when a knock came on the door. No it was not Santa Claus but the chimney cleaners. haha!  Talk about a scramble. Ray just went and opened the door , not thinking that I was still in my nightgown. However the men were gentlemen as I scrambled out of everyone's way and they did not turn their eyes my way. Not that there was anything worth turning their eyes for anyway. LOL.
That did free us up to go grocery shopping. Fun huh!
The day was just another day nothing exciting. I spent a lot of time on the computer organizing my latest embroidery designs into their categories and adding some to my memory stick. Surprisingly it takes up quite an amount of time. Now I don't feel like  doing anything else. I am feeling lazy. I have to remind myself that sewing and embroidery are hobbies not jobs.  So I will not have a lot do write about. Maybe.  LOL.
One thing I want to do is download my Quilt Pro to my laptop, hope it turns out okay. What can go wrong? Famous last words.
Saw these didn't you?

I took the little Xmas tree bookmarks , put them in an envelope and stuck them in the door of my neighbour's apartment for her and her son. I hope they like them.
I found a little angel that had been embroidered last year and not fnished off so I did that the other day, it too is FSL but very pretty. I have three more of them so might do those this year. LOL. They all have names but of course after a year I have no idea what they are.

Pretty isn't she?

That should be all for tonight, I did add a puzzle blog just to see if it works. I really want to add just the link rather than the photo so I'll fiddle with it and see what works.
Have a good evening.
Guten nacht.

puzzle

Let's see if this works.
Well by golly it does just click on the puzzle and it will un lock,then you can put it back together again . Is this the definition of insanity haha....

Did the tute on FSL help?

I hope that the tutorial on FSL helped those of you who wondered about it. I did receive one comment saying it was useful.
Not a lot of news today. I had to go to the foot specialist in the morning.
And at noon I met Kathy at the movies. We bought popcorn and root beer, then traisped off to the show. We saw Burlesque with Cher and Christine Aguillara. The two male leads were men I did not know but KAthy said one of them was in a hospital drama on TV that I had never watched.  He was the bad man, the kind women love to love and then love to hate as he does not live up to his promise. And he truly he was a lovely man- the anti hero. The hero was another handsome man who eventually lived up to his promise. Cher was of course Cher in all her middle aged glory.  Unfortunately women who have a lot of facial and body surgery don't look quite real. And Christina Aguillara who was another star whom I had never seen or heard before and I was really impressed with her. She sang and danced so professionally, well I guess she is a professional and on top of it all she was beautiful. So there is the important cast members. The others all were great too. I thought the acting performances were excellent but the story was a bit thin and could have been developed in more depth. However the song and dance numbers took a lot of time so not much left for plot development.
Both Kathy and I enjoyed ourselves. We are hoping to see The King's Speech a tale of King George the 6th, the Queen's father. While I do know his history it will be good to see more of it . I am sure there will be items that I don't know , particularly about  the speech pathologist. So I plan on seeing that show and I would love to see The Swan too. That ought to keep me busy for the season
No work happened here today.  Can't do any sewing if you are not home LOL.
Now for a few more photos of the guild night.

A lovely rainbow set of  Place mats and a table runner.

Peaches on the left and another circular quilt on the right.

Cats and dogs at the table. Cute quilt.

Finally Don Cherry in pink LOL ....Hope I didn't add this one preciously.

Time to go , nothing left to say. I am sure that won't last. hehe.

Have a great evening. Dobranich!

grandmas-bits and pieces: Free Standing Lace Bookmarks

grandmas-bits and pieces: Free Standing Lace Bookmarks

post #2

Two posts in one day, some people have too much to say. It was such a full day that I didn't get to the computer until late in the afternoon and then I did the tutorial on FSL. I hope it helps you anonymous :))
I got up late this morning , no wonder since I read until after 1:00 AM. and then got up several times during the night. I wonder why it is so much easier to sleep in the morning.
We went out to see if we could find some coffee that was on sale but the sale doesn't begin until Saturday. Who reads those flyers correctly, certainly not us.
Then we had a bit of curry in the food court. That lady is so nice to us for some reason. She likes us old white folk who like curry LOL.
I wanted to go to Michaels to do a comparison study on some wool.  After that we had a coffee and timbits at Tim Horton's. Ray wanted to get a couple of shirts he had seen advertised in Mark's Work  Wear World.
We came home ,I wanted to do a promised tutorial on Free Standing Lace, something I love to do. I began a new project of bookmarks and took photos of my procedures. It took me quite a while but I had 2 more bookmarks in the end. I am going to give them to my neighbour and her little guy.  I think they'll like them.
 Now that dinner is over I am siting here computerizing. I'll add a few photos from last noght's guild. First will be the hat ladies.

Lydia wearing her beautiful red hat with wondrful pins all around the crown

Mary Alice's hat was lit all round and the top jigged and jagged from side to side

Another delightful quilt pieced and appliqued on the borders/

I am always a sucker for these kinds of quilts and the perfect points.

I love this quilt, the pwner said the pattern was the Yellow Brick Road. I don't know what she called it but I would call it Tequila Sunrise and I have this pattern too. and the fabrics as well.,...

Time to go The Mentalist is on. Have a good evening.