Heart passed the test

http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/VictorianaQuilters/SewingRoom.htm 
Such a cute idea for those pesky little threads. And the rest of the blog is fun too.
http://innovativeinventory.blogspot.com/2011/05/rag-quilt-how-to.html  Once again how to make a rag quilt. Good photos.
The heart tests I had  recently showed that my heart was able to get through the surgery  hurrah!
I have a date for my surgery.  The Doctor will remove my bladder Sept.20th. Then I might actually get off these antibiotics, start feeling  better and can get my life back. I am really looking forward to seeing my friends and going to my sewing groups. What a great early Christmas gift!
I can hardly wait to be well again :)
My dressing this morning had to be changed  as the whole arm was itchy and all red. The nurse did a good job today , no itch at all.
We made a trip to Wal Mart after the visit to the clinic .Ray spends his time in the grocery section and I go to the clothes and make up. I was looking for a skin cleanser to clean off my facial skin. I already have the  scrub and face cream. After all the problems I have had this year my skin is the biggest victim, so it needs some tender loving care :))
We had a bite to eat at Wendy's. I had the baked potato and sour cream. I just love that  and have it every time I go to Wendy's.
We came home , I checked out my mail but was not feeling too well and went to bed. Some days are like that.
Every year the swallows build a nest in our garage entrance. We always try and get a good picture of the babies in the next. Tonight this picture shows the baby's beaks peeking over the nest. Ray will take some more tomorrow and see if he can get a better one. But for today here it is up in the right hand corner.

Something different now. My daughter in law in Quebec loves to grow flowers and she sent her favourite photo yesterday. It is surely very pretty.

More beautiful flowers out side the clinic. I enjoy these every day and love the colours.

And I have a house today. It is red even though it looks brown.

The detail of the fence is carried through  on the balcony railing.

And so good night.

Have a great evening.

Bon Soir.

James Patterson comparison

Last night I mentioned that Marg had a book for me by James Patterson co-written by and different author and that she thought there was a big difference between the two writers. I too had just read a book by Patterson co authored with another writer. She brought the book over today. It is called Private. The funny thing is the secondary author is Maxine Paetro on both books. I think my powers of observation may not be as good as hers . I'll try and see if I can  a difference in this book which I plan to begin tonight.

Going over the bridge today I took a photo of the river that runs through the area, the Fraser River. It is always a source of interest to me. It has many fishing  boats motoring by, and sometimes fish  jumping up through the water, and seals coming  up river looking for the fish. Today I took the photo because of the log booms which are always there but I like them. The river is a busy place. I lost the picture and it is taking too much time trying to find it so I'll bypass the photo for now.

Ah there it is, just a bit of fiddling around and it appears. It was such a gorgeouse day as you can see, it makes one feel good to be alive.

This house has a nice fence with a pergola at the gate. The picture is taken from across the street with the zoom. It turned out pretty well .   Not one of the newer homes just an old timer with a new fence.

Charlotte meets a horse and it seems the two of them are sympatico.

And so a riding we will go off into the night.

Have a great evening.

Good night.

depression dinner

We are like a lot of folks, never know what to have for dinner and really don't care much to cook. Tonight we decided to have baked beans and weiners. It has been so long since we had that for dinner, years. Maybe it was during the depressions  LOL. My mom used to make bacon and beans. She would fry the bacon , put the baked beans in an oven proof dish, place the bacon on top of the beans and put it in the oven for half an hour. It was delicious. We loved it.

:
http://stitchfun.com/news_110829.htm
I like this site, lots of wonderful embroidery  information and embroidery sites to enjoy. It comes every day if you sign up for it. I read it each day.

http://scrapboxquilts.blogspot.com/2011/08/hexagon-tutorial-supplies-basting.html
Back to hexagons and this tutorial is very explicit on how to make them.  Now I expect to see some hexagons. They would be good to make for a mug rug.

http://www.creationsbykara.com/2010/01/baby-rag-quilt-tutorial.html

My granddaughter Katie made one of these baby rag quilts when she was in her mid teens. We bought the fabric she wanted and just sewed the flannel pieces together-no batting , no backing and brushed up the seams. It is on my webshots in the album Katie's Quilts, the quilt is titled flannels.

If you want to see her quilt check it out here
http://webshots.community.user/nanboudreau
I am having trouble with my webshots and cannot get any of my photos off the site. Also copy and paste is not working for my pictures. I think I have to get it looked at. I wrote to Webshots and they said to reinstall. Jim did that ,but it is still the same.
Good day today. I actually walked around the apartment without using the cane. Now that is progress!!!
Marg came over this afternoon so that I could copy some church paper for her.
We talked about James Patterson and how he is now writing his books with a co author. I am reading one at the moment, almost finished and the writing to me anyway is seamless. I can't tell the difference between the two authors.  Marg says the one she is reading shows that there are obviously two people writing the book
she is reading. I am  anxious to read it and she is bringing it over tomorrow.

Nice doors ,good gates and fence and the colour is dense.

A canine conversation on a day in the park. What could be better. And now a dog who knows how to have a good time on a hot day.

Time to go  folks. I hope you all had a good day.

And have a lovely evening.

 

dog days of summer

What a lovely day we had. We met Matthew, Caroline, Chelsea and Ryan at the river for lunch. They brought Kentucky Fried Chicken. We ate with the wasps. I put a put out  a plate with the leftovers on it and the wasps really enjoyed it. There were only a few wasps and a lot of scraps so the few were happy.

A glimpse of the mighty Fraser River.

Ryan, Chelsea and Caroline arriving for the picnic, Matthew was trying to find a parking space since the powers that be had ripped up the parking lot.  I was excited to see them especially since Chelsea will be going back to University in Toronto next Tuesday.

Lunch is over and the chin wagging has begun. Lots of really fun conversation. It is great to hear what the grandchildren are going to be doing in the coming year. Ryan is going into Grade 12 and I told you that Chelsea is leaving town  for Toronto.

There were many people out on such a beautiful day exercising their dogs. I took a few of them and missed many but the few are good enough.

This boy is very well behaved, Hie mom said Sit and he sat. He looks fierce but gave no indication of it today.

Here we have a lovely white fluffy dog, don't know what he is but he has a partner that missed

out on the the picture and it is a West Highland Terrier, see the white fur on the left side.

Momma Dachshund walking pretty slow. This was a group of three , the other two are in a different photo. Here they are.

From the rear LOL.

That's all I am going to put up today.

http://www.alderwoodquilts.com/shopping/Product.asp?ID=FreeTissueCover

Very nice tissue covers, a free tutorial.

Sorry to be so late folks

Have a great evening whatever is left of it.

Bonne nuit.

http://www.alderwoodquilts.com/shopping/Product.asp?ID=FreeTissueCover

Time to prepare

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=46368.0      Cute little pincushion, good for Christmas gift, any other day gift for a quilting friend or for your quilt show boutique.
http://thestitchingroom.blogspot.com/2007/10/thread-holder-pattern.html
Little thread basket, so handy to have at your side for thread cuttings while you sew or applique.
We were late to the clinic this morning. I don't know what happened to both of us. The appointment was 10:45 and at 10:30 Ray said, when is that appointment. BAH!!  I wasn't even dressed. Big hurry! But they were good about it, said they thought maybe we'd gone to the weekly clinic. The dressing  had to be changed, we are now using a bandage type since my skin is really itchy. No difference though so the gauze is not the answer. The answer is getting off this IV :((
Off to the grocery store. Haha I like that walker, I can sit on the seat and check out all the quilting magazines in comfort. But since I bought one last week I refrained from purchasing one today , See my halo?
Then I was so tired I slept that afternoon away, we think the antibiotic causes this tiredness too.
Remember when I talked about the look of the back lanes and how they gave an indication of who lived there, the real face of the residents. In the newspaper this morning, there was an article on how back lanes  cab be fuctional too. It advocated using that small sapce to grow flowers or vegetables. I can see tomato plants in a narrow space. We have so many back lanes in Vancouver, most homes do have them. Wouldn't it be pretty to have them cultivated?
I am praying for my friends on the east coast as Irene takes its toll. Jean I hope you and Sam will be safe.

Here's Emilie cleaning off the wooden spoonand she uses the bowl for a seat LOL. They do things differently in Quebec.

Ray took this one of the median. It is always planted with seasonal flowers and is so pretty.

A different fence, concrete blocks, I think they are hollow but not sure, with a lovely decorative topping.

Time out!

Have a good evening.

Baby it's hot outside

But Ray and I have a portable Air Conditioner and that keeps us comfortable. When we first bought this unit we had no idea it would be so hot. It gets the afternoon sun and was unbearable, so we bought a window Air Conditioner which had to be inserted into a samll window in which we had to cut out a portion of the glass. I was never very comfortable with that position as it was held up on a metal stand and had metal screws. Because of all the rain we have I was constantly afraid that it would rust out and fall down onto the patio of the unit below and perhaps on a person. So I prevailed on Ray to buy an in house portable one.  It works well enough for us and I am not nervous any more :)))
You know the rouble that I have had with my legs. I thought it was the anti biotic. So I called the Doctor who prescribed it, but he is away on holiday. However the receptionist called me back shortly after our original contact. She had called the anti biotic nurse at the hospital and she said it would not be the antibiotic and to call my personal doctor. But my doctor is away on holiday too. The other option was to go to emergency. I've had enough of emergency.LOL
So I'll just wait until my surgery is done.
My visit to the clinic took longer today as my arm was very itchy from the dressing and the tape. It all had to be removed and the nurse put on a gauze dressing. It is working well,thank goodness.
We had to go to the bank for some money but the bank machine was out of order.  That was okay we had enough money to do what we wanted and tomorrow is another day. We had coffee  and a muffin at Tim Horton' s.
On the way to the clinic we met a dog who was a big ham. We asked his mom if we could take his picture and he popped right up to the car window and smiled.  It was so funny, just as if he knew he was being photographed. Dogs are smart sometimes.
First he checks me out....

 Then he smiles

Isn't he priceless?

Today after an absence of months I began to make my daily lists . I managed to get some of my list done :)) Still more to come....
This tree seems to have the seasons mixed up and it is so tall it reaches the roof of Safeway.  

It is still summer or is it not?

And the really good news is that Emblibrary is featuring my leaf tea towels on their Showcase on the 6th of September.   Isn't that exciting. I though they had forgotten about them as  they were done last year. And I haven't really done much embroidery this year, just a few angels.  Anyway I am always gratified when Emblibrary features my work.

I'm not sure it this group is the ones they are showing or if it is the ones below.

These designs stitch out so beautifully and are such fun to do.

That's me for tonight.

Have a lovely evening. I hear the line up at the PNE house is short tonight. And the evening I so fine. A good opportunity to go out and have some fun and eat those delicious artery buster goodies.

Buena notte

embroidery

http://www.queenofstitching.com

If you like to embroider and you like to piece here are two blocks done all in the hoop and made into a quilt. I really like to use my embroideries to make a quilt. Check out the video.
We now have to go to the clinic for my antibiotic instead of getting it at home. A bit of an inconvenience but on the plus side we get up and get out.
We stopped off at the mall for a coffee and decided to try and walk to Sears, I know you won't know where that is but it is not a very long walk. I couldn't make it the other day so thought to try it today. I made it but my legs were almost out of control. It wasn't good and neither were the fashions LOL.
We got back to the car and oh yes to the bakery for bread.
I forgot to publish my blog last night , my apologies, but it is up now under today's date August 25.
This afternoon we are going to Peter's for a barbecue, along with Adam and Lisa. I'll take pictures if I remember. Peter and Judith just sold their  house so this will be the last barbecue there.

I love this block and when it was on Janet Wickell's's site , About Quilting.  I just had to borrow it. There are instructions at her site for making it and it is all over the internet too.  Card Trick is the name of the block. In Eleanor  Burn's book  Winning Ways which I mentioned a while ago,  she has a different way it make this block and it is much easier that the regular practice. I made my card trick quilt her way and really enjoyed it.

Who is this sweet little girl peeking out from behind the shrubbery. Great granddaughter Catherine  :)))

Papa and his girls Emilie and Catherine. They are so cute, so is dad LOL.

Adam, Lisa and me at Peter's house. Wehad a good afternoon, lots of fresh crab to eat and barbecued salmon. All recently caught by Adam and Lisa over in Sechelt.

Look at these two silly billies. Always the life of the party. Everyone has a role in life LOL.

I have more photos but they'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Have a good evening folks.

tiny quilts

http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/QuiltCategories/FreeMiniatureQuiltPatterns.htm
Cute little patterns for doll quilts. These could be a big seller at you guild boutique.
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/08/jewels-in-curio.html
A nice blog with a tutorial for jewels in curio. New to me but looks pretty . The dog loves it :))
Ray got me out early today before I sell asleep after the antibiotic. We had to go to Safeway for prescriptions once again.
Then we went to Surrey to Wineberries quilt shop. It is so small now that I just took my cane, I was afraid to use the walker. Still looking for the large yoyo maker,for a moment my heart leapt when I saw one but alas it was the small one which I have. However they had beautiful fabric but I didn't buy any, no more room in my fabric dresser since There has been no sewing going on.
I did find a lovely 3 metre piece of white background in one of my hidey holes. It will do perfectly for my next embroidery quilt. Nice surprise.
In Surrey I found a neat rust coloured house  but got the photo from the wrong end.  Also the fence was exactly the same colour as the house. I really liked the look and am sorry not to have gotten the front view rather than the side. But we can't be perfect all the time. When you look at the photo the colour appears to be brown but it was a lovely rust.

 The dogs were conspicuous by their absence today except for one whom you'll see coming into  the picture frame.

He looks pretty old, the poor dear. He's definitely not frisky LOL.

I read in the paper yesterday that many young people are taking up sewing, not necessarily quilting but who knows where it all my lead. They are very interested in couture. It will get them away from the social networking that is so involving  and fill their minds with creative thought. I think it's great.

Sorry folks I forgot to publish once again.

So here it is.

Scraps to quilts

http://afewscraps.blogspot.com/2011/08/double-disappearing-nine-patch.html
The amazing disappearing nine patch. If you are inundated with projects just give this one a pass :))
 The antibiotic this morning left me feeling very washed out so I went back to bed. What a waste of time. I am waiting to hear about the stress test before I call the doctor. If things are good on the test I expect to go directly to surgery LOL. If not I guess they will put me in the line up for an angioplasty. Then I'll call the doctor and cry.
Ray had to go to the specialist to see about his thumb. The doctor put cortisone into right away. He said it might take a month before he gets the full benefit of the treatment.
Across the street from the doctor's office was a huge house, it must have covered two city lots. The most interesting architectural feature was the roof top deck . I took a photo of the roof and the special cover. It reminds me of a flying buttress.

In keeping with my promise to show you the colours of the houses my next photo is one of a rich deep red/rose.

Almost missed it but here it is.  There is a trick to taking photos from a moving car. You have to start taking the picture befreo you reach your subject as there is a slight delay in the snapping time. Setting it up to be precisely on the subject and you miss the photo. I have missed lots of pictures that I wanted.

 I did see dogs today but my camera was in my bag and I didn't feel like trying to catch them. The little devils seem to be behind a tree or post or car most of the time. I like it when they are standing still LOL.

I think maybe you wonder how i can get around these days when I am not that well. First I have a walker that helps stabilize me or I would stagger and fall and then I have Ray who keeps a very close eye on me. If I were to pass out Ray knows what to do. That is the reason why I am not going to my groups. I would worry that no one woud know what to do.   The last reason is that most of the places I go have stairs and I find I can hardly get up 2 steps right now.

So my social doings have to be curtailed for the time being. 

My tale is ended for the day,next chapter tomorrow.

Have a good evening.

Guten Abend.

gift

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/08/snug-as-bug-baby-quilt.html
Quick and Easy baby quilt , for most of you but maybe not for me LOL.
 My friend Gail in Phoenix sent me an adorable little FSL angel which arrived today, Gail has such a good eye for detail that she added little blue crystals in the place where the eyes would go. Thank you Gail! Here she is.

It rained very heavily today so I did not go looking for any good photos except for one. There have been two very large birds with huge wing spans done in topiary along Marine Drive and I thought they would be there forever. Today the traffic had slowed down due to road work and I was sure I could get them today. It was not to be, they had been removed. In there place were two other symbols made up of greenery and redery LOL. I am not sure what the actual plants are so that is my name for it.

There it is a green maple leaf, still it is attractive.

We   had lunch with Sam today. We talked about the passing of Jack Layton the leader of the Opposition in Ottawa. There is much mourning in Canada at his loss. Whether you agreed with his politics or not you had to believe in his optomistic spirit and to grin when you saw him with the big wide Jack Layton smile on his face. It is a great loss to our country and to his family.

We went to Staples because I wanted to find a Hilroy notebook. And I found one :)) I use them to write up my daily lists. This year I have not done that as I was not able to ensure that I could even carry out my lists. But I think that I might be able to start again soon and I want to have the book handy.

We were going to Michael's for some yarn but by then I was tired and the yarn is way at the back of the store . I didn't want to take the walk.

Home again but I did not have a nap.  I read my new Mary Maxim catalogue. That always takes time because you have to go through it twice don't you?

For dinner I made perogies with bacon, onions and celery to fry them in. They were delicious.

Last night , another twilight photo,  the cascading flowers stand out and  catch the eye. The white fence and red brick posts add to the  total effect.

And one more from yesterday. I talked about the bright and vibrant colours os many homes in the city. This one is not a new one but it is a strong colour . I had to take it because the truck sitting outside is the same green as the house. All seen through a chicken net fence.

And on that note I'll bid you adieu.

Have a good evening.

Bon Soir.

a yoyo for me

I am still waiting for to buy the large yoyo maker. Of course it helps if you go to a fabric store :))
However I did find a lovely tutorial on how to use it to make perfect yoyos. You can find it on Lazygirldesigns-yoyos

http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/blog/?p=552
something to do when you are watching TV. I have seen coverlets, vests, cushions. made of yoyos. There other uses for them but I am sure you can figure that one out.  Yoyos are just for fun LOL.
I am sure I haven't put up this site dor a long time, it bears repeating
www.quilterscache.com     Have a great time with Marcia's blocks. What an imagination she has.
Margaret came over this afternoon and brought me another book. I am grateful to her for keeping me supplied with books. We had a nice visit . She was asking if I had seen Bernice lately. Bernice is a lady who comes up to the mall every day for coffee and a chat with a group of friends. Apparently no one has seen her since July. They have all called her but no answer. Although one lady said her daughter took her to the hospital. Bernice was 82 years old and looked 62. It was amazing. I pray she is recovering from whatever happened to her.

Sometimes I get requests for patterns for the little dish cloths.

Here it is. Cast on 4 stitches, knit in back of stitches for Row 1.

Row 2. Knit 2 stitches  yarn over and knit to end of the row. Continue in this manner until you reach 43 stitches.

Next row , Knit 1 knit 2 together ,yarn over , knit  2 together, knit to end of the row. Continue the decreasing pattern until there are 4 stitches left . Cast the 4 stitches off. Weave in ends.

What could be easier.

The weather seems to have changed, it is cooler and feels like rain. Too bad the PNE is on, that is the yearly fair. It has been beautiful for the first few day but they tell us this is just temperoary.

I remember one year, Adam will recall this too as he was working the fair, it poured and poured. We all looked like drowned rats. But no line ups LOL.

Ray and I just went to our local Dairy Queen . It was just a shabby little store with ugly tables and chairs. Remember when Jim and I went and I took thepictures f the round tables,that was the scene then. Today it had been completely renovated with nice booths and new tables - completely new atmosphere. Very nice!

I took a few pictures tonight. This one is a very old tree.

Isn't it amazing.

I treid for three dogs tonight but could only capture one, One was behind a pole and I just got his owner's legs and the second one was past me before the shutter went off.

But this little guy posed with his owners consent.

I found this neat fence tonight on the way back from DQ.

Great stonework. It is so attractive.

And for the piece de resisitance , then new enthusiasm. In Vancouver  many of the houses are white, beige and peach with some brick embellishment. Lately I have noticed that the newerrrr houses have had deep colours mixed into the finishes. So I plan to flush them out and add them to the blog.

The colour is deeper in fact but the light was not too good as it was nearing twilight. But there is more to come.

Time to go folks.  Have a great evening.

Laku noc.

trivia of the day

Groceries today and I bought a new magazine, I usually buy Fons and Porter but this time it was McCall's  Quilting- in a plastic sleeve too. I don't like buying magazines that are enclosed in plastic even though I know it is to keep the CDs from being stolen. Not that the ruse works since there was already one on the shelf that had be freed from its sleeve. And no CD anywhere. However it did give me the chance to look through the magazine before I  purchased it. One woman's sin is another woman's opportunity LOL

The bakery was our next stop, we go there a lot it seems but the bread is fresh , sometimes it is even still warm from the oven and the aroma just makes your mouth water.

Have any of you found that the price of vegetables is getting outrageous. We bought a stalk of celery this morning and it was over $4.00. I was stunned. Maybe things have changed a lot since I have been in and out of hospital this year. On the other hand there is so much lovely fresh fruit around right now, it is delicious.

I took some photos of pathways or entrances to pathways. It is always a mystery going down an unknown road to see what is at the end of the road.  Well it could be a bit of a danger too so take a dog or a companion or just stand at the entrance and imagine.

This trail takes you a long way up through an urban forest. When I was in a lot better shape I could climb this one but that was a long time ago :))

And here is the canine companion out for a stroll with his people.

 My Rick is stranded in in Bella Coola according to Carla. She said a bad storm had come up and as Rick is sailing the Inside Passage he cannot set sail until the storm settles down.  I am happy he is being sensible and staying put.  It will take him two weeks to navigate the boat back home according to Carla.  I know I have a picture of his boat but after spending the last half hour looking for it I am giving up.
We  are watching the most God Awful stuff (movies) on TV. I hate to be a complainer but we pay big money for these channels and there is nothing worth watching . I sure hope the Fall works will be better and that there are more than 6  episodes for the season.
Enough of this for tonight.
Have a great evening folks . Buenas tardes.