strong medicine

I started taking the pills the doctor gave me for H Pylori and the first four packed a wallop. They sent me to be and to sleep. I wonder what will happen with the second set of four tonight. Sleep I guess. Wonderful LOL. But it is only for a week and then I'll be healthy again.
So my day has been nothing. No going out, no sewing. Maybe tomorrow will be a bit better.

Richard wrote some good advice on his blog today.
Richard is Living With ALS is where you'll find his blog.
I wish some of my other sons would write a blog. However most of them are on Facebook and accessible by phone. We have so many ways to communicate these days. I recall my Mom and Dad sitting at the desk in the second living room`which was supposed to be a dining room, and writing letters in answer to the ones they received. Our relatives were all somewhere else like England and Scotland, Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick. So there were lots of letters to write every week. And we kids had to write Thank you notes for gifts and visits. Both my parents wrote letters, Dad to his family and mom to hers.
Adam told me that he and Lisa had a military photo wall of   family who served in the military. I thought it was a lovely idea. My dad and uncle are on that wall. The ones I showed recently and some more too.  Adam and Matthew both served in the Canadian navy and Aaron served in the Iraq war. Our family has seen generations of service to their countries.

Same photo as last night and the one on the right sometime around 1912 dad with one of his many sisters. Family of 8 children, 2 boys and 6 girls. Dad's brother William died in the 1918 flu epidemic.

Have you seen these...

Carrots-Purple and according to my nephew Lawrence there are red ones too as well as the orange we know. Lawrence says the purple one taste the best. He gets them at a market in Edmonton.

Hahaha I love the look on his face.Whatever am I doing here I ask you?

 

 Ditto!!!!!

 

Wonderful creatures I love them. Several age groups in this picture. I have a few pictures of elephants.

Pretty quilt , all small squares and all scrappy. Not mine but from Craftsy.

Time to go folks.

Have a great evening.

And a gentle sleep for all of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

embroidering

Embroidery today. It took several hours but it is good. My friends on my Flyladies list offered to make Rick a quilt with a nautical theme. Sue asked me to make one of my embroidery blocks and of course I did.  I am happy with the block.

It is a great design don't you think.  I hope maybe to do another pieced block.  If I can find one I like.

 

In the morning Ray and I went to the doctor. He had a good physical check up and it was all good.

I had an appointment too , not so good. I have H Pylori and have to take anti biotics. I seem to have a problem with antibiotics and infections. I wonder why they don't go away. Oh well I am a host or should I say hostess LOL. So it is 7 days of antibiotics 8 pills a day. That should be fun to get down, 4 in the morning and again in the evening. Aren't we fortunate that we can take anti biotics  to get rid of infections. I am hoping that it will help my gut too.

We came home and I started to get things ready for my embroidery, thread colours stabilizer and fabric. I used a blue batik because I thought it would look good and it does.

I wanted to make the blocks for guild but they require some cutting and there was no time. Maybe tomorrow.

Marg came over this afternoon to return two of my books. I had not read one of them but because I had a pile of books. I gave it to her to read in advance.

Richard called and we had a nice long conversation. It was good  for me and I hope for him too.

Life is strange. Even when you are sad you can find something to laugh at. And you definitely need to laugh , no matter what. I hear that laughter can clear your lungs and keep your heart healthy. Well i am not sue about the lungs but I see that it does boost your immune system. So I should laugh hearty every morning even if I am not amused LOL. Fake it till you make it as the saying goes. 

We saw a dog tied up outside  Safeway when we went for my prscription. He had his tail between his legs. I thought he was cold but Ray said he was an abused dog. It was raining and chilly so who knows.

What do you think?

 

Stunning cat. He looks ferocious but his eyes are gentle.

 

Blue flowers are not that common and this blue is stupendous. What could be more perfect?

 

Nice quilt from Craftsy. It looks like the sashing I like  three strips and a nine patch, white square in between, scrappy fabrics. Easy eh!

Dogs are very smart!

 

Friends! and by the way look at that cat's tail.

Like this advice. Men too can knit. My uncle Gavin used to knit socks and mitts Peter, Marg and me for Christmas. I still remember a yellow pair of mitts that he gave me.

Uncle Gavin on the right and Dad on the left ready for action in WW1.

 

Okay that is all for tonight.

Have a lovely evening.

Good night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

message board

Richard Is Living With ALS    Jocelyn, I can't find you email address so here is how to get to Rick's blog. It is a lost and found story HaHa.

My day was plugged with thing that happened. First I went with Juliet to my sewing group, thanks Juliet for the ride. I did a lot of chatting but managed to get one full wing appliqued on the butterfly and positioned two more. This butterfly has four wings.
We had our lunch. I have become the lunch bell LOL.  When I take out my lunch at 11:30 they all say lunch time Nan? And some get their lunches out too. Ray made me a Cappicola sandwich , two bottles of water and an apple. I ate half the sandwich, the apple and one water.
I packed up my things and waited for Sharon to take Betty and me to Community Quilts Hurrah!! It was so nice to be happily received . I talked with Jocelyn for some time. It was so good to see her again. And Ione was as great as always.
Some hospital quilts.....

Betty made this one , I love the orange hearts and the dotted background with orange spots.

Ohio star in Ohio star. This is a great block.  I made a quilt with this block a long time ago.

Now this is easy and interesting as well.

 

I left my walker outside and Sharon helped me into the house. I can hold on to arms for a short trip so leave the walker on the car. Then Susan got me out to the car to go to Betty's where we had tea and goodies , as well as the latest quilting magazines to look at.
When it was time to leave Sharon helped down the stairs and waited  for Ray to come and pick me up. I had phoned him from Betty's to say it was time for him to come and pick me up. So we waited and waited and waited. We were pretty cold and decided to sit in the car. After more waiting I said to Sharon, "Why don't you go home." and I thanked her for waiting with me.
I went back in to Betty's I was kind of worried about Ray but thought he had gotten lost. I had made him a map but if it was the wrong way up he might have confused the directions.  I hope he would go home and call Betty. I wasn't at Betty's long before the phone rang. It was Ray and he was home. So I said stay there and I'll take a taxi. The taxi was there in about 8 minutes and we were off. $21 later I was home. The driver was good to me and took care of my stuff and walker so I gave him a nice tip. He said it was too much. Wow I was impressed.
Home again and I told Ray we should go out for dinner. Guess  where we went. Yes TOPS. Haha.
When we arrived back home it was to find the elevator was out of commission. Dag nab it I had to get myself up 3 flights of stairs. Not an easy task with wonky legs, but lucky for me my arms are good enough to drag me up the stairs. Poor Ray got stuck with taking the walker up. No need to hurry though we can take our time.
That was my day LOL. Wouldn't you say it was a full day?
I'll answer for you...It was !

Now isn't this adorable mom and puppies.

Blue and white is so clean looking. So said my sons' paternal grandmother.

I love these hexagon quilts as I may have said before. I do tend to repeat myself. LOL.

 

Wendy was making beaded necklaces this morning at quilting. I should have taken a picture and Judy was knitting one of those curly scarves that are so popular right now.  More shouldas.

That's it folks I am ready for bed.

Have a good evening.

I am not going to do the language good evenings for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

no time to sew

I really thought I could get some embroidery done today . Instead I had lots of trouble with the design I wanted to do and spent most of the day on my laptop and then the PC. I waste more time with these computers. it is a design with many stitches so I have to wait until I have a good chunk of time. My little embroidery machine is not a fast stitcher. I noticed that when Kathy and I went  to our last class. Kathy's machine sewed a lot faster than mine did. Not really a huge problem but I need to start early when it is decision time for sewing. That is a weighty sentence isn't it LOL.
 This morning Ray and I had to go to the hairdressers' for.... wait for it.... a haircut !!
Ray took my books back to the library, went up to LifeLabs for a quick delivery, to the bank for money for both of us and for the house cleaner, Lynn. So he had a busy morning running around. Then we had to come home to open the door for Lynn.
We decided that we didn't need to have her every week, we are not that unclean.  So it is every second week now. Let's see if that works for us and for Lynn.
While Lyn was working Ray went out to spend money, $1200 to be exact. That was for his automibile insurance and licence for the year. So ICBC has even more of our money. It is really expensive to buy insurance any kind of insurance. 
After Lynn left we had a call for Adam. We talked about a lot of things one of them about the way children are raised these days. I feel old when I do that. It is so different from the way we were all raised. Of course we talked some about Richard . Adam wants to come up at the end of March and I wanted to go to Calgary then  too. So Adam suggested we drive there. I wonder how the mountains will be at that time of the year. I'm sure they will be cleared but it is a concern.
So now it is time for dinner TaDa we had Eggos for dinner LOL. We have not eaten them for years and it was a compulsive purchase yesterday . What happens when you get old, you seem to go back in time to have the things you had when younger. Not young because there was no such thing then. My mom used to make her own pancake batter and cook them in the frying pan. I used to love watching the pancakes bubble up through the batter. Funny the things that amuse you!

Dinner , time for the news and Gerry called.. That is Ray's oldest sister. In his family only the oldest and Ray the youngest in his family of six kids are left. So it is good to hear that Gerry is still active at 84. Bodes well for Ray.
We finally got to eat and they were as good as we remembered. None left though as we bought a small box.
I'm still hungry.

Baton Rouge - the capitol of Louisiana.

Nice block.  Download now as a pdf pattern

 

Bears Paw, an old one. It was one of the first blocks I encountered when I started quilting but I have never made one.  But I would prefer this in brown, a beautiful brown with a cream background.

 

Download now as a pdf pattern

 

Oh he is so pretty ,what a heavenly blue. The colour of God's eyes.

 

Another gorgeous colour . red is so attractive. Siamese fighting fish are a beautiful species, not only for their magnificant colours but for the spectacular fins and tails. Too bad they are put in little plastic cups and sold that way to be kept there until they die.  Another thing we humans do to other helpless species. I am on a roll tonight.

 

I may have put this one up before but he is such a dear that I thought he would be good to go.

 

Haha funny guys!  Good for a giggle.

 

Who? They sure look like they are asking a question don't they. I love owls.

 

Time for a dog.....

Well how about two dogs. Puppies? These guys are out for a bracing walk . Brothers do you think? Or sisters LOL.

 

Odd man out, pretty though and that may be the reason why. He is different.

Lots of critters tonight , fun stuff.

Time to go.

Have a lovely evening folks.

Good evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

many things today

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20776/20776-h/chapter_5.html

For those of you who embroider this is an interesting site on out of print books in Project Gutenburg .


City Streets Quilt Block Pattern

This looks like a great block and fairly easy to do. It was on  About.com Quilting by Janet Wickle.

 

Download now as a pdf pattern

 

 

One of the nicest sailboat patterns I have seen. Maybe it is the pink LOL.  A Quilt Pro block.

 

Certainly amusing, I can't claim it is mother love since I know the mother could not set that pack herself LOL.

 

Whew A basket full of adorable trouble. In my life I had two Siamese kittens. Neither one worked for me. The first one I got after I had miscarried my first child. Some how it escaped out of our apartment through an open door and was killed by a car. I was beside myself with grief , first my child and then my kitten. Not a good time for me.

 

The second one I had in my mid thirties. Unfortunately it was not a match made in heaven. It would attack me everytime I turned around . It would sit by the tub and peer at me looking as if it wanted in. It destroyed my dresses by climbing up the clothes and running across the top of the

rod . It was almost 45 years ago. I haven't had many cats in my life . Bad luck for both the cats and for me. Too bad. I have been thinking about a Devon Rex though.

This is oneof the more attractive ones I have seen.

It is a best in Show. These cats are strange looking but have such nice natures. They are born without the outer layer of fur so what you see is the inner or under layer and is incredibly soft. 

After a busy morning doing things around the apartment and having my hair washed in the shower I had to rest. Why I find it so exhausting to shower and dress I don't know. It is weird.

We went to do the grocery shopping that we did not get done yesterday. It rained like the skies opened up and sent down buckets full of water.  We were just on the way to the car when that happened.  Then we went to Safeway to pick up a prescription and onthe way out the exact same thing happened. We sure got wet. But it was a lovely sight to see that pounding rain. I wish I had been home to hear it on the roof. One of my favourite things LOL

 

 

Can you believe it ? Certainly grey and wet.

When we came home I went into the kitchen and started to cook. I made some clam chowder . I had to keep on stirring it so it would not burn the bottom of the pot so that meant a lot of standing. But it was good. Ray won't eat it as he hates seafood so I have a big pot of clam chowder to eat all by myself. I am sure some will go down the tube -or- maybe I could freeze it for another day.

 

I just love this picture of mom and baby moose and wanted to share it with you.

 

 

Richard had a nice time taking his Sunday drive this morning. It is the simple things that give us pleasure. Think of the things that make your heart gladden. Mostly it is the simple things of life that do that. I love a day when it rains hard. Simple right ? and today I got that pleasure. It does not happen that often, usually it drizzles.

 We are watching The Mentalist and not the hockey game which the Canucks are losing Sigh!

http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2012/01/hotcold-bags-tutorial.html    Have a look at this one.

 

That is the end of my meanderings tonight.

Have a great evening folks.

Bon soir.

Cute isn't he?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

away for a night

Michelle in response to your comment we did not go as far as Seattle. I am afraid to go too far into the state in case I fall sick and need to maek a run for the border LOL. Sounds like a robber baron doesn't it. It was an impulsive action. Next time I will let you know. However we don't go there very often. Maybe you might come up to Vancouver some day, that would be fun.
We are back home now and getting back to normal. Whatever that is Haha.
We stayed at the Silver Reef  hotel last night on the sixth floor. We discovered that the 6th floor has a special status. In order to get there you need a card that fits into a slot in the elevator, no other way to get there. We thought we were  special LOL. Put the card into the slot and then press the sixth floor. No card no entry.
The room wasn't something special though just an ordinary room with a king sized bed.
We started Friday at the Skagit , drove there as it was too early to book into our room. We had a good time there and were fairly successful. We had our lunch at the buffet. So many buffets in casinos. Ray and I often just ask for a menu to get away from buffets. But we had a nice early weekend and a good night's sleep.
I asked Ray if he was tired, of course he was , he said his fingers were exhausted from doing the two finger  two step. He is so funny.

So my visits to the states are often few and far between but my friend Sharon just called and asked if I wanted to go to the states to see some quilt shops. We are going on Feb 8th at 8:00 in the morning.
My mind has become a blank, I'll wait a while and see if it recovers. Don't you think a mind is like a computer which stops and takes minutes to regain its strength.  I need props to think.

It rained all weekend. As we were coming over the mountain the rain turned to snow. Fortunately as I have told you I love the rain, snow not so much LOL.

These little guys are keeping out of the rain, that's smart if you have no overcoat.

 

Download now as a pdf pattern

 

Now here's another way to keep dry.

 

Download now as a pdf pattern

Time for dogs or maybe cats.

Hmm he's kind of slipping a bit here.

Now that's gratitude for you LOL.

 

Time for me to go , tired of course LOL. Nothing new there.

Have a great evening.

Buenos Tardes.