I'm late, I'm late for a very important date

Charlotte in her new vehicle , she looks happy. Soon Charlotte will be one year old. Hard to believe.

Do you have issues with overused words? The word like comes to mind. There was a good article in the paper this morning regarding this topic. The author lists 10 words and phrases that should be banished for 2012. His top choice is

.Amazing. followed by Baby Bump , then Shared Sacrifice, Occupy, Blowback, Man Cave, The  New Normal, Pet Parent, Win the Future,Trickeration, Ginormous and Thank You in Advance.

No more Amazing Grace...... His joke , not mine. There were

two columns as he is very passionate about these "iconic" , another bad word,  mouthings. I thought it was fun and entertaining. And will it make us more aware of the words we use way too often.

Last night it rained so hard it woke me up. The rain pelted down on the roof and  the windowpane. It was extremely noisy but I never mind the sound of the rain. When I could walk I used to get up in the night and go to the front room window to watch the rain run down the roof of the townhouse below us. It was soothing for me. Picture courtesy of

maxwell@housemouse.com

You can sign up for you Daily Squeeek  if you choose. It always makes me smile.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow because we can't go anywhere. I need to get on my PC and do some organizing. This laptop also needs organizing. And of course there are some embroideries  I need to get at.

It's time for winter

Have a fabulous New Year Evening.

A very prosperous , healthy and happy year ahead.

Happy New Year.

sites to see

http://www.thequiltshow.com 
Videos on this channel. You may have to register but there is no fee. At least I did not pay anything. Alex Anderson and  Ricky  Tims host this site. Keep scrolling and find the jigsaw puzzle.

http://www.kreativekiwiembroidery.co.nz
I just bought the cutest designs from this site. They are called Couch Potatoes. It is as it says an embroidery site. The digitizers in New Zealand produce some wonderful designs.

Winter cutie. He's going downhill on his tush LOL.

If you are out and about on the mountains with your skis, a warning- The weather has been unseasonally warm , the snow is soft and wet and that lends itself to avalanches. Stay out of the back country. Three young people were caught in such a situation this week and did not make it out alive, a word to the wise.

What a pretty quilt nine patches and triangles. I'm sure there are instructions but I don't seem to be able to locate them. If I do then I'll put them up. Until then enjoy the pretty quilt.

Couldn't quite resist this one. Too cute!!

We went grocery shopping  this afternoon, it was a madhouse. We bought a ham but who knows when we'll cook it. After eating the ham Ray makes green pea soup. It is just delicious. I must get after him to cook that ham.

Happy New Year.

Feliz Ano Nuevo

This just came in,it relates to yesterday's blog about the twister design and the twister ruler. Many thanks to ang.

Take i piece of a 5" plexiglass square you can get cut at hardware store measure in 1.5" on each side draw the X and you got a twister tool for half the cost or even you cardboard cut into 5" and do the same thing way cheaper. making mine tomorrow so i dont have to spend any money on mine

twist

http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/2011/12/tnt-thursday-with-diagonal-twister.html

It looks good and I know most of you can figure it out but I couldn't. that is no reason not to put it up.

http://www.pbtex.com/html/free_patterns.html  Watch for the big black patch at the top, I thought there was nothing there so scroll down.
It was our 35th Wedding anniversary today. It's a long time for a second marriage. But I did better the second time around ;))
We were going to go to a nice restaurant but Ray said he wasn't up to eating a big meal and I can't eat much at a time either. So we scrapped that idea and went to visit our money at the casino as my friend Salliejean says. There will be more to visit the next time we go. LOL
We ate our anniversary lunch at the casino, very special!! Ray had a hot dog and I had chips and gravy. I couldn't eat them all so Ray helped me.
My legs were bad today, could barely stand up. It's strange, some days they are good and on other days terrible. I will be happy to see a neurologist.
But on to other news. Gerry, Ray's sister called  this morning to tell us that Marion, their sister who was treated for cancer ,has had a recurrance of the cancer and it apparently is bad. They are looking at a very strong chemo which is extremely expensive and applying to the government for funding. It will take two weeks before that happens . Meantime they are giving her
chemo to keep the cancer quiet.

New topic, Baby Rose, Mary and me. Baby  Rose never  batted an eye. I must call Mary to see when she is leaving for Victoria and if she, Albert and Rose can drop in for a short visit.

We are watching Murdoch Mysteries, a period tale of murder and mayhem. It is a very authentic depiction of life in Toronto in the late 1800s.

Good night friends- have a great evening.

Feliz ano nueve.

something fun and useful

http://sew4home.com/projects/fabric-art-a-accents/1047-worlds-cutest-felt-sewing-kit-
So useful for travelling to classes or sewing groups as it carries all the items you may want to use and in one place too.

http://quiltsatcs.blogspot.com/2007/04/disappearing-9-patch-tutorial.html  http://psiquilt.com/2009/03/disappearing-9-patch-tutorial-super.html

Two tutorials on how to make a disappearing 9 patch. I think that it looks better in a controlled colourway such as in the purple one made from charm squares.
Charlotte is beginning to read LOL. Look!!

She is such a clever girl LOL.

Doesn't she look adorable, Charlotte always knows when she is the centre of attention .

Such a full day today, the shower lady came first, then the nurse for the antibiotic, the usual stuff, The cleaning lady came next and then Peter and his cousin Liz, on his dad's side, came for a visit. We enjoyed the visit. Peter said that he was going to South Korea on business, glad it isn't North Korea and hope it is not near the border.  I think he said Inchon was the place he was going to.

One wonders what my happen along that border after all the funeral events are over.

Adam called today and put little Adam on the phone. It is much easier to talk to him now that he is 9 years old. While we were talking  Rick's call cut into our conversation. It was really weird. Adam is in Louisiana and Rick is in Alberta. We must have crossed wires somehow.

The last person to come today was the man who

delivers the anti biotic for the week.

Whew a full day!!

Our girls having fun at Christmas.

Meaghan, Charlotte making trouble haha, Katie in from the great white north , Fort MacMurray , Mary and baby Rose still sleeping through the noise LOL.

Did you get snow today, we had a temperature of 12' today , no rain , but it is coming!

That is the news for tonight.

Bonne Annee.

back to normal

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/12/eydie-as-jelly-quilt.html 
Time to get started and here is a simple yet effective quilt to get you going.
It has been a nice quiet day for us. After the nurse was finished we went to Metrotown . It was packed. Being in a wheelchair does not protect you from injury. People just walk right into you or in one case on my foot.  Not that anything was really damaged but if one of them had fallen on me it could have been disastrous. We went along to the Bay for an egg sandwich. It was the worst egg sandwich we ever had and the Bay used to make super ones. Why do businesses do things like that?
We watched a marathon of Holmes on Homes this afternoon. some of the houses were almost falling down they were so bad. They had to rebuild them from the ground up.  And now I am watching Murder She Wrote.
Jelly rolls, my mother used to make cakes called jelly rolls but now we make quilts with them. LOL. Here is a good place to take a look at jelly roll quilts and a few other things.
http://www.crazycreekquilts.com/free-jelly-roll-patterns.html
I kind of miss the babies, they were so much fun yesterday. And it was wonderful to see all the grandchildren.

And Santa is on his way

Nice   picture of my sweetheart who is preparing my super right now. Once this turkey is gone I am going back to eating more soup.

The three Musketeers, Sam grinning, Rick no smile and Jim no face, eyes down and not paying attention to the camera. I have noticed that my sons all have a picture /camera face,no smiling.

There Santa is laughing,because it's time for he and me to go!!

Dobri noce

SBS

http://tipnut.com/26-free-tutorials-for-needle-books-cases/  

There are a great number of neat needle cases on this site that you can make and save for gifts. I love the Sunbonnet Sue one as you scroll down. Happy needling!
What a fabulous three days we had here. I told you about Saturday in my last blog. 
Rick and Jim were here from Alberta, Peter and Judith came over to visit. I took pictures of them and after they had gone home I accidentally  deleted them. What a sap!! LOL.
Rick cooked the Christmas turkey, Ray made the dressing snd salad, Sam peeled, cooked and mashed the potatoes, Matthew brought his home made cranberry sauce and it was wonderful! Jim put a safety  bar in the shower/tub so that it will be safer for me.
Today Ricky, Katie, Meg,Louis, Mary, Albert and the two babies visited.
Charlotte you already know , she is nearly a year old and beginning to walk. She is a ton of fun, full of energy and a mind of her own,

Charlotte and her protector. Mommy Meg in the background.

Can't you just see mischief on this face LOL. She is teasing Daddy.

Then there was new baby Rose,just 6 days old . Such a perfect baby. I held her for quite some time, she slept through all the noise going on around her.

Sweet little girl isn't  she. My clothes are falling off,too much weight loss. Maybe I need new clothes.

Four generations ,Rose, Mary, Rick and  Nan.

I took more pictures but will save some for tomorrow.

Rick and Jim left in the afternoon to go back to Edmonton. It was a late afternoon start but they break the 13 hour drive up by spending the night in Kamloops. I hope the roads are good.
 Christmas has been very special for us this year, gifts just for the babies and that was so good.

Time to go  folks.
Bon soir.

no blog tonight

early start

Not even noon and I am starting this blog. Jim is here and we chatted for a while . Now he and Ray have gone to the hardware store to get a bar for the tub. Jim will install it for us. I'll feel a lot more seccure once that is done. Right now there is nothing to hold on to at a decent level so I have to be extremely cautious.
It has been a great day. Rick,Jim, Sam Matthew , Caroline, Ryan and Chelsea came for the afternoon and Caroline brought dinner . Oh how lovely it was. Ryan made macaroni and cheese, Caroline made meat loaf and she brought chips and dip and home made cookies. There was pumpkin pie and whipped cream. I ccould   only eat some of the food but it was delicious. I loved the dip and the macaroni,but didn't have the appetite to eat the meat loaf so we saved it.

Ryan Grandpa Ray and Chelsea. I was impressed with Rayn , he speaks Japanese, new news to me. Chelsea brought her saxophone  and played two selections for us. She plays quite a few different musical instruments.

Matthew and me having a cuddle.

Group photo or some of the group.

Now for something new.

As seen through the closed window of my car:

Next one with the window open, I got hooked on the green hydrants as you can see LOL.

I am off the air for the night.

Have a very merry Christmas Eve.

Good night!

late again

Today was full of things to do. We waited for the lady who gives me a shower and when she didn't make it at 9:00 we waited for a while and Ray helped me. Then she, Emily, came after 10:00 . Well about that time the nurse came to do the antibiotic . I spoke to Emily regarding the time frame that would work for me. She went back to her supervisor with my suggestions, the supervisor called and she needs to work it out on the timetable.
Ray and I went to TOPS for lunch, we ordered Shepherd's Pie and salad. It was  delicious, but way too big a portion so we had it again for dinner. Neither of us like to cook any more so we eat dinner out more often so we can have a decent meal.

Then we had to do a bit of shopping for the Christmas dinner even though Rick is going to cook it.


We have had some white Pyrex dishing for years but lately Ray has been breaking them, I wonder why. LOL.
We hunted down a store on Fraser Street that carries all kinds of housewares. I waited in the car as the store was too crowded  for the wheelchair and Ray went in a found what he wanted. We just had three of these dishes but the packages had 5 in it. $200 later we were back on the road. But we are both happy with our purchase. Merry Christmas to us.
Margaret came over for a visit and to return my clock, Ray was out at Safeway so we turned off the TV and chatted. It was Karin's birthday today, Karin is Marg's daughter. She was hoping that the baby would be born on her birthday.
Then Peter came for a visit , it was great to see him and to hear of his experiences in Hong Kong. He had a fine time and some funny tales to tell. For instance he went to the floating restaurant , can't remember the name , and ordered Peking Duck. No,no,no said the waitress too much food for one person. She was insistent and ordered him something else, pork, chicken, He said it was good.
Now we are waiting for Jim to arrive. He dropped Rick off in Abbotsford for the night.
You may be wondering why I have not been taking pictures lately. It is because I am pretty well stuck in this chair and when in the car I'm not fast enough.
Baby pictures.

first weigh in, first of many :))

I too am very tired now so off I go.
Have a great evening folks.

a treat

http://www.quiltersnewsletter.com/nine-patch-quilt-patterns.html  
Wow this is a great Christmas gift. Have a look and see if there one you would like to make.
Ray and I were out for nearly three hours today as I felt quite good.
We had our Chinese food lunch at the mall, then we went to Sears . I thought I might buy a new outfit  , one that would fit me since my clothes are all too big now since I lost 24 pounds . The selection was just awful,colours were dark and dreary except for dresses that looked like cheap gold lame . I could not find one single thing I liked.

I liked this but it didn't fit -too small.

LOL. Well one can dream can't one!!!

I am sitting here eating an orange, a mandarin of course. While I was in the hospital Ray used to slice up a navel orange and bring it to me.

Ray just talked to his sister in Winnipeg 

whose cancer was in remission. Her white blood  count is back up again. We are praying it does not  mean the cancer has returned.

I guess you are all getting ready for the big day. Ray and I are being well pampered this Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Matthew and Caroline are  bringing dinner over and on  Christmas Day Rick is making turkey dinner for us and Jim as well as Sam. They all said

neither of us would have to clean up. Darned good thing, I would just fall over LOL.

I  just called Mary to see how she is. She is still pretty tired, not much sleep I guess. But both she and Rose are well which is the main thing. She said she is downloading pictures to her computer so we'll have some new ones soon.

That the end of my story.

Have a good night.

she's here

Our Christmas Rose not even on day old. Beautiful baby isn't she. She was born December 20th at 11:30 and weighed in at 8 pounds exactly.

 

There! we will get to see her on Boxing Day when the family comes over. I can hardly wait.

More pictures, these are of Charlotte.

Charlotte reading her book LOL.

Trying to escape, soon she will be walking,

It    has been a hectic day, Mary called at  7:15 to announce the news of the baby. The nurse arrived at 10:30, we had to go for some groceries and had to rush back for 1:00 as the cleaning lady

was coming and she was right on time.

Later the delivery man came with my week's medication.By then it was time for some  kind of dinner. I do not have an appetitefor food these days so I hope I can eat my Christmas dinner.

Tomorrow we shop for the things we need for Christmas dinner.

Some people like to collect things, actually most of us do to some extent. We collect fabric and thread but some collect wooden thread spools.

I wonder what they do with them if anything. Haha. Have you ever seen the shows about hoarders,most of us are hoarders in some small way, books,dolls,stabilizers for my embroidery machine, fabric more that I can use. But this year I haven't bought any fabric. Nor used any of what I have :)))

That's all folks,  have a great evening.

Buon Natale

quick table runner

http://www.sewwequilt.com/2011/12/comfort-and-joy-with-deonn-and-her-ten.html 
Time is running out folks, need a new quick table runner for your Christmas table? Have a look at this one. and if you are a quick study you could actually make place mats or hot pads as well.
I went to see the infectious disease specialist this afternoon. He said it is not the antibiotic that is making my legs so weak. He is going to make arrangements for me to see a neurologist. It does take a few months for that to happen and who knows what could happen in that time. I might be able to walk. LOL.
Mary has now had three attempts with chemical means to start her labour, to no avail . They are going to try one more thing and then  do a caesarian.  Baby Rose will get here this week for sure.
The latest news bulletin , just a few minutes ago. Mary is having contractions 1 minute apart and is waiting now for the anesthesiologist to give her and epidermal. One minute -shouldn't be long now.Meg said she would call again to let me know when the baby is born.
I keep making so many mistake tonight that I am thinking of stopping for the night. Maybe I am just excited.

No snow for Christmas this year, hardly news for this city but the one year we did have snow  we were in Quebec! And I remember one lovely Christmas Eve in 1944 when the snow came down in big white flakes.

Veteran of the year. Quite a surprise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU-A7eqadho&feature=related

 

Time to rest folks, I am very tired. So have a great evening without me LOL

Merry Christmas. And maybe a Happy Birthday.

 

chocolate is bad

Ray bought chocolates After Eights. They are so easy to eat and we did. Now my stomach is unhappy. Silly b....r !
We also went out for lunch at Cockney Kings , all you can eat,. Well you know I cannot eat much but I sure enjoyed what I did have,which was 2 pieces of fish and 2 oysters.
One of the oysters was for you Adam, it was really good LOL.  Did you enjoy it ?

We had to come home and rest after that. But you should have seen those that participated with second heaping plates.

My dear Mary is having another dose of medicine to jump start the baby but this little girl is not going anywhere.  haha.  Karin might win after all.

No I am not finished yet :D

We waited for a delivery of my ostomy supplies this morning when they said the would deliver them.  Of course they did not come and we went out. While we were out the came to deliver. So and this is the interesting thing, I called the supply house and was told they could do nothing about it and I would have to call them. I  did not have a phone number  but found a 1 800 number. When I called the message said if I was from Toronto..... At that point I hung up. Ray was mad,mad,mad so he called the supply house. Same tune different story. When he was finished with them they asked him when would be a good time for another delivery. HELLO! I need to be more aggressive.

This is the photo I told you about yesterday. I hope no one is offended by it but I thinkit is beautiful and want to share it.

Some day I am going to make a quilt using this block. I just love the colours in this particular block.

I found this block in quilting about. but I just typed in quilt blocks and there were thousands of them. If you go down to about the 4th

line the PDF is also there. Looks good.

Have a good evening friends.

Mele Kalikikimaki

 

no power

Our power went off at midnight last night and did not come back on again until 6:00 this evening. So no computer, no lights, no heat, no phone.Everything in our apartment is powered by hydro so it becomes as issue. However I saw tonight in my mail that a friend in Alaska has also been without power for a couple of days, now that is tough!! I hope your power comes back on soon Denise.
The phone didn't work and the front door to the building was not functioning so getting my nurse in presented a problem . I used my cell phone to call the office but just got a message. In the afternoon the nurse got through to us with the cell number which was on the computer in the office. So" all's well that ends well."
Marg came over with a land line phone but it did not work. She lives in the same complex so her hydro was out too. She brought me a book, we always exchange books. The funny part of this exchange was both books were the same one. No new reading for us LOL.
Rick went back to Calgary today. I think he may have gone up to Edmonton to get his truck but don't know for sure.
Mary was given something to induce her labour but it didn't work so they'll try again tomorrow. Apparently these days the medical profession don't like the baby to go too far overdue because it will get too big so they induce it. So hopefully we'll have a baby this week.

Charlotte practicing to be a chef or a drummer. LOL, So we do have a baby!!

Jolie Anne licking it up. I wonder what the idea is of putting babies in a bowl- Haha.

And more than one.

I  found a fabulous photo of 6 babies all around their father, I was wonderful but try as I may I cannot get it onto my blog. It was amazing.

I spend a lot of time with photos ,trying to get them up on the blog and looking for the right one. If it weren't for the pictures I could have this blog done in no time LOL.

So the time has come....

Have a lovely evening.

Feliz Navidad

pot pourri again

We what do you know I have no quilting sites for you tonight, I have been remiss.
But I do have some photos.

I took this quiz to see which Jane Austen character I am and this is she or me Haha-Anne Elliot. Gail you can tell me all about her and where she is hiding LOL. And I cannot find the site where I got the quiz from but if it turns up I'll put it on the blog.

Rick is in town from Calgary to be here when Mary's baby comes. She was induced this afternoon but so far no action. It's all I can think of, I so hope it goes well with her.

My niece Karin called tonight for a chat. She is such a lovely woman, I always enjoy hearing from her. Karin has two dogs,Westies, and one old cat. She creates her own doggie treats and often packages and sells them. She is a talented cook as is her brother. Where did that come for , Margaret , my sister and their mother is not that interesting in cooking.Nor am I. Our mom had two daughters and neither one of us are cooks. Poor mom!! LOL.

Ruby and Freddy, both girls despite Freddy's name . They are active little dogs and love to go to the lake for an outing.

I am going to sigh off for tonight, It has been a pain trying to get my pictures up so  I'll leave and go to work on them.

Have a great evening.

Froehliche Weinachten

http://www.elion.ee/docs/joulukaart/eng/   This is a fun site, takes but a moment

.http://www.mccallsquilting.com/articles/Vintage_View___Forties_Chevron  One block quilt with Chevron half square triangles.

Dr. Warner today. He said I need to walk 3 times as much as I do. And I did walk down the hall by myself while Ray was out. I figured if I fell he would find me when he got home LOL
We went to the Purdy factory showroom to pick up some chocolates . I had hoped to see the factory itself but of course it was not open to the public. I know they do have tours though. I'll  call and ask when the have them.
Since TOPS was just across the street we dropped in for lunch. I ordered a salad and Ray ordered a grilled corn beef sandwich. We shared our orders.

Our next move was to go to the store in New  Westminster that carries all my ostomy supplies. We were told the store was across for the Royal Columbian hospital. Yes there were 2 shops near the hospital but not the one we wanted. We wandered the streets of New Westminster and could not find the store. We came home and phoned in our order....HA! why didn't we do that in the first place. Don't answer that question LOL.
Snowy Owls have come to the Lower  Mainland. They look so beautiful sitting on a overturned tree trunk. Apparently there is not enough food for them up north and the have come south where the food is more plentiful.Two of them were picked up by the OWL society ,they were too weak and eventually died. Too sad.

I took my second walk this evening but I was really tired when it was over and my legs were shaky.

And that is all for tonight folks.

Bonne fete!