sitting/watching TV

Listen to the news about the upcoming movies. Anna Karenina, Hitchcock, Killing Them Softly.  Abe Lincoln. I would like to see some of them.

For the day I spent all day watching TV. I never do that but today I did. Margaret came over with a book by Wendy Corsi Staub. The title is Sleepwalker. It looks scary . The story begins 10 years after 9/11 and hints that the heroine's husband is sleepwalking and a series of dreadful murders is occurring while he is away doing his sleepwalking. 

We chatted and Margaret told me a funny story. She walked to Safeway ,nor rain when she started out, slight rain when she got there and a torrent of rain when she was on her way home. A kind man stopped his car and offered to drive her home as she looked like a drowned rat. I can't remember if she took the lift or not.

Our new water cooler arrived today along with 4 big water bottles. That was great as both Ray and I drink a lot of water and we missed the cooler. We don't drink tap water as the bottled tastes better to us and no taste of chlorine.

Then Richard called, very unhappy and we talked about that. He said he just needed to talk to someone and  I am glad he chose me.
Here he is before his diagnosis.

 He got that shirt in Dubai a few months ago. This was just before Halloweèn.

We watched a movie today with Alan Ladd as Jim Bowie. I didn't think I would enjoy it even though all we adolescent girls loved Alan Ladd. The movie was actually pretty good and took place in Louisiana and New Orleans. The movie is The Iron Mistress 1952. It is worth a look if you are a romantic .

We had homemade pea soup and bread and butter for dinner. It was excellent and filling. Ray made it, he is such a good cook.


Download now as a pdf pattern

Prairie Queen by Quilt Pro. Just a bit off center and that bothers my sense of symmetry but others may enjoy this . Half squares and four patches make up the block. It is kind of symmetrical if you can take in the fact that the block carries the 4 patches in opposite sides  but it still looks off side to me.

 

http://www.fonsandporter.com/columns/free_design_downloads_bonus_quiltsLots of quilts here at Fons and Porters to download and free.

 

http://www.crazycreekquilts.com/free-jelly-roll-patterns.html

 

Want to know how to use those jelly rolls that you just had to buy at a quilt show. Well here are a few ideas.

Maybe one.....

 

 

Ladies in a former  time doing what we still do in our time -Quilting. Not quite the same way though.

 

 over Christmas doings.

 

Nice Guy isn`t he..

 And he is just a pup.

 

Time is up for me.

Have a lovely evening.

 

Bonan vesperon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off to the doctor

Why? Because I can LOL. I went because my legs were really bad and I thought it might be from grief . She agreed. And Ray got some medicine for his pain in the leg. That was it. She is a lovely woman. And she is going to back home to South Africa for 6 weeks to visit her family.
We had some running around to do but that was good as both Ray and I think we need some exercise.

We went to Michael's to pick up our Robert Bateman picture that was being framed. It looks beautiful. We have had 5 Batemans but gave one to Sam for his house. Bateman is a naturalist painter who does mostly animals and birds.

"Family Gathering"

 

This is the framed picture -a lioness and her cubs.

The photo is not good as usual but you get the idea.

 

After we had gotten the picture we went down the road a bit to Boston Pizza. It was not really dinner time but we hadn't had any lunch. Ray had the pizza and I had  fettucine with red peppers. It was excellent but so much food , we brought home a doggie bag. LOL

 

We got the charge bill today with the air line expense for Quebec,  Big one.  But then I knew it would be a biggie.  Holidays are very expensive!

 I had to open up my laptop and check out the mail as I had not done it earlier in the day. Lots of letters. I read Richard's blog, he is so positive it makes me cry. But he did say he was very close to tears. He went to work and that helps him keep steady.

 

I just went on to a site that says it will answer questions about ALS. I went through the pages and up comes a page that said I need to give them my master card number , the charge is $38. I was surprised as it said nothing about payment  on Page one. I deleted the site.

 

Have you seen any video of the Korean sensation Psy. I wonder how he came to be so big, his dance routines are not complex, but then that may be the point, anyone can do it.

 

 

Waiting for the dog to move in haha.

 

 

 

 

Oh and here's the dog, little does he know what is in  store for him. Too bad!!

 

From the quilting guru.

 

I chose these little ballerinas because they are so cute not because I know any of them.

 

 

I am quitting now folks.

Have a great evening.

Aloha ahi ahi

 

No over eating goodies LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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shopping again

Good evening folks. I hope your day went well.
We had a busy day, well sort of busy. We went to Walmart for one item , maybe three, and ended up with a $100 bill. How does that happen? Well you walk down the aisles to get to the item you want and pick up other pieces along the way.  No self control....
I did get my facial roller that is supposed to minimize wrinkles. Ha!! However it does make my skin feel good and not dry. So I spent the $18.00 asked for. Not too bad a price for a face cream in the world of cosmetic but I really like it.  It is Garnier in a red roller  not the usual green. That was my big expense. Now what else?  Can't recall what we bought because Ray bought most of it. He did buy walnuts in the shell and now we need to locate the nutcracker. LOL

Our nutcracker is not so fancy.LOL.

 

Then we went to Safeway for the small water bottles that I like. Our water cooler gave up the ghost today and flooded the floor a bit. Lucky there was not much water in the tank.  We called our water company and decided to rent a cooler from them. So Friday they will deliver the cooler along with four bottles of water.

 

We came home and I lay down but could not sleep so I got up...down and up, up and down hahaha That's how I got my exercise today.

  http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/folk-art-yuletide-quilted-wall-hanging-pattern.htm

 

Nice little country style Christmas wallhanging.   The pattern is available on the site. If you are good at applique this will be fun  and if you like fusible applique this will work for you too.

 

 

 

The golden Singer. I think it is lovely and would dearly love to own it.  That is not going to happen but I will keep the photo.

Just spent a long time on the phone with my #3 son Peter. He lives in Calgary and works at the same place as Richard so they see each other often. And I talked to Richard to night too. He is back to work. That will be good for him.

 

Download now as a pdf pattern

Quack!!

Cute block , 10 inch? Now why would it be called Quack I wonder. At least it is three colours instead of the ubiquitous two colour theme.

I have to go now, hope your evening is wonderful.

 

Bon soir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

fox in the woods

Pattern is complete and ready for downloading! Thanks for the help.
http://www.quiltersworld.com/featured_pattern.php?action=results&poll_ident=97
The fox has been altered/fixed. Apparently it had errors in it , so it is now fixed so they tell me.


 the second block in this small 4 block wallhanging. Here is the direct link: http://peckspieces.blogspot.com/2012/11/santa-in-pines-part-2.html

Remember when I put Block One Santa up on the blog, this is Block two. So grab it quick so you don't lose it.

http://agataria.blogspot.com/2011/03/folded-owl.html

I may have out this one up before , can't remember, forgive me.
Here is the photo.....

Cute isn't he?  He is a Japanese origami cutie.

 

Lovely table runner using as my friend Betty calls them Two by Fours.  Just blocks of 2 by 4 inch rectangles and added together as you can see from the photo with 2 borders. Looks very nice to me, I love the colours.

 

We too Rick back to the airport this morning, he needs to get back to work in Calgary while he is still able to work. I hate for him to be going back but he called just a few minutes to say that he is happy to be back home. He will be coming out again soon and will be staying here for Christmas. I am sorry that I booked the tickets for Quebec before we had the news of Rick's illness. I gave him the keys to the apartment so he will be able to have his kids over during the time he is here. I am trying to keep up but it is very hard. Thank goodness my dear boy cannot see me cry. It is such a shame when all you can do is cry... not help.

After we took Rick to the airport we went to Costco to pick up our paper goods and have a hot dog. I noticed that the weiner did not seem to be the same as before. Once it was a Polish sausage but now it is just a fat weiner. I may be mistaken but that is what I thought about the hot dog.

We came home and Adam called. We talked about Rick and Adam said all the brothers are getting together to discuss the plans  for him. I guess that it includes end of life plans a well as plans for how he will live. Can   you see me crying? I can't bear to think of how he will live, it is horrible.

When we came home Jim called and Rick also called. Jim is driving home from Louisiana and had reached Billings Montana where he ate some salad which gave him food poisoning. He spent half the day getting out of his car and you know what. But he is spending the night at Rick's where he can rest and get better.

I had a nap when I got home , did not sleep last night so the nap was good.

 

I am finding that meat does not taste good any more, I wonder what that is all about. Funny isn't it. I have always been a meat person.

 

Watching the news right now, we had three federal by-elections, two were won by the existing federal Conservatives and one by the NDP. Not much change there. It does not give the picture that usually happens when the electorate turfs the incumbents to send a message to the sitting government. I guess we are all happy.

Photo time, need to find my camera.

Charlotte was here yesterday to see her grandpa Rick. Meaghan and Lewis came with her and Ricky was here too.

 

Heeerre come Charlotte

 

Doing the exercise...

With Great Auntie Margaret taking 5 seconds rest LOL.

 

 She has just finished kissing my parents photo in the frame behind her. So funny , theyhave been gone since the 70s but she liked them.

Richard with his coffee and making Aunt Margaret laugh. He is still making jokes.

 

Rick and me , he still hugs me, LOL.

 

Charlotte found my small stool just her size so took to sitting on it and carrying it around.

Grandpa tossing Charlotte  up into the air. They both were giggling, having fun. It was so nice.

 

Mary Albert and Rose. They are not here but over on the island  but I thought they needed to be represented here.

Now that's all.

Have a lovely evening folks.

Buenas noches,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No blog

No blog tonight as my son Richard arrived unexpectedly t tell me he has ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease and has only 3 or 4 years to live. And those years will not be good. If you know about this disease you will understand I am devastated.

fire

Download now as a pdf pattern

Puzzle is the name of this block.  And it looks puzzling. Can you do it?

 

I slept very badly last night and had to lie down later in the morning but am still exhausted. We did not go out ,neither did I do any sewing.  I feel so guilty about not doing any sewing or embroidery.

I think I'll do towels tomorrow as I bought two designs of His and Hers and I want to use them. It will be fun.

 

I think I will buy the Sony e reader. It should be fun to read books on the plane and in Quebec and not have to carry a bag of books.

I wonder if I can download books from the library, I believe it's possible. I'll go to the library and ask them how to do it.

 

 

 Terrible fire in the garment industry in Bangladesh, 112 workers died in this fire. It immediately reminded me of the fire in the shirtwaist garment industry in New York in March 1911.  113 people died in the fire where managers locked all the doors and exits ensuring no one could get out.  They wanted to make certain no one stole anything and took it down the stairs.

 

The Grey cup game is on. We are not too happy as Calgary is losing and Toronto is winning. Looks like the west is on a losing streak. Our Lions lost to Calgary last week. Tough going !

And now no hockey. Too bad.

Paul McCartney is performing here in Vancouver tonight after a 40 year interegnum. Oh man what is that word anyway LOL.

 

These little birds , Sun Conures at one time were ubiquitous, found everywhere in North Eastern South Americs  and now are on the endangered list due of course to human interference. I once owned a pet shop and saw many types of parrots and parakeets in my activities in  the service of my business, Only once did I see the Sun Conure and it was not for sale. It was a lovely little bird but like all conures could be very noisy. They did look beautiful because of the colours. They were small enough to handle and tame as opposed to the larger parrots. I once had a Timneh  red tailed African parrot and I had numerous bad bites from that bird and no way could I tame him. I didnt mind the bites when I was taming a bird but this guy was really bad.  I eventually had him sent to a parrot place where he was used for breeding. But I doubt that you could even get this guy to do that LOL.

 

Oh my this is fantastic, I know it is not extraordiary but it is loving and kind. I like it a lot.

 

This is so beautiful that I think I might have shown it before.  But if it is the first time then enjoy it.

 

 

Dogs are so adorable. Isn't this one cute.

 

Babies!! of all varieties.

 

Our young Adam-an engineer in the making!! See what you can do with a pile of jam.

 

 

Four Calling Birds on a wire haha.

 

Time to go folks.

Have a great evening.

Buona Sera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

something different

Made in Paris: The Statue of Liberty
1877-1885;http://www.messynessychic.com/2012/06/22/made-in-paris-the-statue-of-liberty-1877-1885

This was most interesting to me and I hope to you too. I was fascinated to learn that there are at least three statues of Lady Liberty in Paris.

 

From Susan of Starwood Quilter.

 

 Flock Quilt Block is 8 inches so each of the four patch squares is  4 inches so the smaller pieces are 2 inches .  There that is all the instruction I can give you on observation, except to say  all  the pieces are triangles.

 

 

Moda Bake Shop: 30-Minute Gift: Simply Colorful Coasters

;http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/11/30-minute-gift-simply-colorful-coasters.html

 

 

We went shopping for groceries this morning and I bought a new magazine 100 Blocks. I haven't had time to really look at it  bit it will be fun when I do.

 Then we went to London Drugs with my laptop to get help with the black page that shows up when I press the magnifier. They are so good there , the man just fixed it, no charge. Great store to deal with. Then we looked at the Sony e reader. I am thinking of buying one whoops I said that yesterday. Well I did look at the Sony and liked it but did not buy. I am going to Chapters and look at the Kindle.  I would like to look at the Nook too but am not sure where to go for that one.

However I liked the Sony a lot and may just go for that one.

I don't seem to have a lot to say tonight so the blog may be a short one.

 

 

At least it feels like that many LOL.

 

Cute little snowman ,paper pieced.  There are a lot of snowmen around lately. Quilt blocks I mean, no snow here.  But the days have been lovely, warm and sunny. Not at all like November. Usually it rains all month.

 

I thought this bit of philosophy was worth passing on. Not that I suspect any of you of holding on to anger but it must be useful at some point , maybe as a thing to say at meetings LOL.

 

He's singing Let the sun shine in. Oh but he looks so contented sitting on the ledge soaking up the warmth.

 

Don't all moms feel like this some times. I know I did. When you have 5 sons you are never alone LOL. But I loved them no matter what and still do-so much!!

 

In a cabin in a wood tra la la. Did you learn that song in kindergarten along with the actions. See the wreath on the door. I love houses of all kinds.I wonder who lives in them. I think a small family dwells in this one, mom, dad , a boy and a girl.

Percheron? Ray loves the large horses. Or is it a Clydesdale or a Belgian. I don't know.

 

Well time is up for me, it's 10:00 and time for bed.

I hope your evening was good.

Guten Abend.