Gremlins

I have a Gremlin living at my house. Don't know where he came from - or when, but he definitely exists! I spent most of this past winter on the couch in the living room so don't know when "he" appeared., but shortly after finally going to bed in the bedroom upstairs I noticed the TV in my sewing room was on.  Hmm, who turned it on ? How long has it been on? Maybe the cat walked over the remote ? I hid the remote where she could not possibly walk on it and waited. Sure enough 2 days later the TV magically turned itself on! Hmmm. Maybe the TV timer is way off. I turned off the TV clock  and waited to see. A couple of days later the TV once again magically turned itself on. It is rather disconcerting to come home after an evening out to find your sewing room TV blasting away! So I unplugged the TV!  Last week I was in the sewing room doing a few chores (ironing) so I plugged the TV in , did my chores, turned the TV off and forgot about it. Sure enough, I came home last night to find the TV blasting away!!! Gremlins!! Actually, I think my neighbours next door must have a baby monitor which has the same wave length as my TV so when they turn on their monitor it turns on my TV as well! A more logical explanation I'm sure, but I rather like the thought of Gremlins ;)

Had the sewing ladies in for afternoon tea last week. Sure was fun to see them. Of course I used my new Strawberry Basket ordered online from North Carolina! It comes with a creamer and open sugar bowl which fit into the side pockets. You can't see from this pic, but the sides of the bowl have a basket weave pattern. LOVE IT! My friends know  I'm a sucker for China, and I've always wanted this piece ever since I first started collecting this pattern (never mind how long ago that was!)

 Of course we had Angel food cake to go with the strawberries, fancy cheeses and crackers and a grape salad (new recipe for me) and finished off with mini fruit tarts and Hello Dollies. YUMM :) Lu brought me these lovely tree Peonies. Aren't they lovely! Thanks Lu !!

On the sewing front I have finished the next to last row for Lucy Boston. Have to cut out and baste more connector beige hexies before I can finish off the last row. Once all that is done I can audition the connector blocks. Phew! this has been a long haul with more yet to come, but it is a good hand work project for the patio :)

 TTFN

Patio Redo

Woohoo - summer is coming and it's almost time for some patio :) Now that I'm retired I'm looking forward to more than just post 5 pm/weekend patio time - yippee!
When I first moved into my condo I had a too small patio. So, I went out and purchased more (smaller) patio stones and did my best to expand my  patio. In this left pic you can see my patio table, still with its winter cover, and the division between large and small patio stones. Not only was it not aesthetically pleasing, neither side of the patio were level anymore :(.  So, since I finally have both the time and money I hired someone to come and re-lay all my patio stones into a more pleasing and level pattern - see  pic on right. Small stones are now in the centre and the larger stones outline the patio :).

Another of my projects when I first moved in was to plant some wee gardens and trees. At the time all I had available was that ugly black plastic thingee to edge my gardens.  Well, this worked for the last few years, but was also not aestheically pleasing.




 So while the man was here I had him install some garden stones around both tree gardens. Now I need to plant some ground cover/Hostas in the area under the Caragana tree which just will not grow any grass! The land around my Japanese Maple slopes away so the stones are
layered higher at the patio level and lower towards the grass. Not exactly the stones I had in mind, but I had to leave for a med appointment so this is what I got! Not 100% the way I wanted but 100% better than before! I 'm contemplating getting new patio furniture and getting rid of the table altogether. Maybe this year, maybe next, maybe not.

What else have I been up to you ask? Well, lots of hand sewing the connectors for my Lucy Boston blocks. 4 rows done, row 5 and 6 to complete. I have an idea for the cornerstone blocks but need all the rows on the design wall to see if my idea is any good. Stay tuned !!

TTFN

Happy Easter!

Ok ok, I'm a week late with that post title. Been busy (yeah!) As you can see I made a cake for Easter, and once again it was a big hit! Luckily my B-I-L saved the "eggs" from last year to decorate the cake.

 

My sister had her friend and her daughter's M-I-L over for our Easter dinner so it wasn't too weird missing both Mom and Dad - our first Easter without either of them! It was a lovely day and I managed to snap this great pic of Greg and baby William - in matching shirts!

 

I am well into recovery and made my way to my sister's without the walker! That's a big step for me. It was a lovely day and kept my mind off the week to come. Wednesday was the memorial service for the Pater. I took my walker to that as there was a lot of standing during the visitation. All the Smith cousins (ok, all the local cousins which equals most of them), the Boyters, many of my quilting friends, the step family and lots of Dad's friends and neighbours were there to pay their respects, so it was a good showing. Afterwards there were several comments on how nice the service was, so I guess we set the right tone. So now it's just the internment to get through and that's out of town and can wait a bit.

Got these lovely 2 dozen white roses from a good friend of Dad's. Luckily they are unscented. Have really enjoyed all the flowers :).
Have decided to splurge and splash out on a redo of my patio. Here's a before pic

I'm going to have all the stones lifted up and the under layer levelled out. Then the stones relaid, in a mixed pattern (small and large mixed). I'm also hoping to get rid of the big table (under the tarp) and purchase a chaise lounge, a couple of chairs and a small coffee table. More suitable for this size of patio and for my needs. Here's hoping it all comes together as I'm hoping to spend lots of my first retired summer out there!
TTFN

Spring has Sprung !

Yahooo! Spring has sprung and my Forsythias are in bloom. I've had a lot of flowers lately which is a real nice change of pace. Being single and a bit frugal I never get flowers and never buy them for myself, but when I got sick this winter first Dad gave me a lovely planter with Daffodils, Paper Whites and Gloxinias, then my step sister sent this floral arrangement, then a friend from out west sent this bouquet both of which lasted several weeks. And finally, my step brother out west sent along a lovely single rose. I've been spoiled! Soon my garden will start to bloom outside and I hope to be outside and enjoy it!  I am so looking forward to my first "retired" spring!
Recovery from this winter's Influenza is reallllll slow :( I have been outside 3 times now, with assistance, and even did a wee bit of shopping at the pharmacy!! On the real nice days like today I am taking a short walk, but still tire way to quickly. Having lost way too much weight while ill I'm working hard to gain some back - not as easy as you might think. I know most of you have the opposite problem ;)
My sewing mojo has recovered and I have been busy adding the joiner "bits" to row one and row two of my Lucy Boston quilt! It's a great project for me right now as I can sit and hand sew and sew and sew while watching the Boob Tube.

Once these were done it was time to go up into the sewing room, still a major task for me,  and determine what to do for the in-between (joiner) blocks. I'm going to keep you guessing for a bit as I have a couple of ideas I need to test out. And of course I ran out of prepped hexies, so spent the last two days cutting and basting more. Still have more to do, not a lot of fun but it passes the time for this house bound quilter. Lets hope for a not too rainy April.
TTFN

More Sad News

Robert (Bob) Sidney Smith (the pater) passed away peacefully after a short hospital stay on March 18th, 2017. Born 1928 he had a fascinating, adventurous, successful and happy life. He got his Master's degree, became a "Master" at the Teacher's College and then a Professor at the University, even editing his own "math" magazine! Dad enjoyed so many hobbies and interests including running, stamp collecting, traveling, golf, cross country skiing, music, tennis, bicycling, sailing,  RVing, amateur theatre, cruising, visiting friends and family, bridge and cribbage, reading and singing in the church choir. Feeling bad that having been knocked down for the count in late January by a bad bout of the Flu the best I could manage was a phone call to him each day at the hospital.  Guess I'm officially an orphan now :(.

TTFN

Cat Socks !!

Always wanted to take a pic of my feet ;) so since I'm sooooooo bored here's my cat socks :) ! I've been sick/down and out for the count since the last week in January. What started out as a simple cold turned into a respiratory flareup complicated by Influenza A, a 5 day hospitalization and more weight loss!! Haven't been this ill or in the hospital since I was 6! NOT what I was anticipating for the start of my retirement :(. Too much stress lately - need to relax!! It has certainly given me a scare and a new perspective on why/how the Flu is so dangerous for us older folks. Shall be taking better care of myself in future!

Lots of cards, flowers and calls from friends and family which is much appreciated and heart warming. I'm still on the couch in the living room and trying to not stress out over the huge ToDo list not getting done :(, leaving most of it to mon soeur and mon step soeur to accomplish. The pater has also had his challenges this month with at least 2 trips to the hospital :(. Adjustment to retirement home living is not going smoothly. The family home has been sold and remaining furniture goes to auction soon. Here's hoping things run more smoothly soon as my sister & her DH are off for a month's vacation in March to Portugal! So now we just need to get everyone healthy again so we can relax and enjoy an early spring!
Before getting sick I managed to make a start at the Canadian Women 150 quilt along.

So, I have 6 blocks done out of 41 - YIKES ! I'm way behind!! The FB page is lovely but somewhat discouraging for me. Oh well, something else to look forward to.
Saturday was my great niece's 3rd birthday. Luckily I had a pink princess and a pink pony Bday card to send down to her - it was a big hit as princesses are her current obsession ;) Apparently she carried it around all day!

And her brother William also got dressed up for the ocassion !

Of course I'm biased ;)
TTFN

Happy New year, and Mission Accomplished!

 

Happy New Year everyone ! A week or so late I know but have been tres tres busy helping the Pater pack up and prepare for his move into a retirement home. Mission accomplished! He has a lovely 2 bedroom apartment with a great view of downtown overlooking the gazebo. A few more tasks to accomplish and all will be done, but the hard part is over now - and not too soon as we're having a whiteout snow storm today!

One thing I have managed these last few days is to decide on a final arrangement for my Lucy Boston blocks. This is necessary as my next step is to make the cornerstone blocks, although I haven't finished with the side pieces I did also manage to prep more of them and wash/iron dozens of red fat quarters in prep for my start of the 150 Canadian Womenp quilt along project ! Onwards and upwards! Can't say I'm unhappy about having a snow day today ... plan on staying in pjs ALL DAY!
TTFN

Merry Christmas!

 Well Christmas is over for another year - TG! I'm soooo happy I took home this table topper I made for mother. I always liked it - the red polka dots really stand out, and it looks so nice on my coffee table. The blue & white striped loveseat in the background will be history soon as I have decided to take the mater's condo sized sofa and chair. I'll piggy back on Dad's move into Chartwell (coming early in Jan) and have the movers make a stop @ my place.

The season started off with Christmas Eve dinner with the Pater at his house - maybe our last in his dining room. We had Tourtiere, made by Val, the pater's step daughter, and salad and an apple cake made by me! His Christmas table runner and placemats were quilted by me a couple of years ago and look so nice on his table. After dinner we watched some TVO programs about the Royals, then back to my place to sleep over. Breakfast was eggs & bacon and more apple cake - yummm.


Dad had a restless night so I let him nap while I made the first of two hors d'oeuvres for the day at my sister's. I dropped Dad off at his place so he could go down and visit Dorothy @ her home, then off I went across town to pick up "the boys". I gave Mark his $20 Star Trek collector coin and the equivalent to David so he can go have a beer on me! Then back to my place to make the beef/horse radish roll ups - yummm. One more trip and we're finally at my sister's for the BIG celebrations :)

 William was his usual sleepy boy, and Claire was, considering all the excitement, well behaved for most of the day. Here she had just opened her Miss Prickly (hedgehog) plush toy, one of many toys to come!

William finally opened his eyes, so was able to get a family pic (Claire was too busy running around!). Chaos ensued as we opened presents and tried to have a family dinner, but Claire wanted to watch TV instead so Vince ate with her in the Den. Kids eh! All in all it was a busy, tiring but fun day. Dad and I got home by 8:00 pm, which is late enough. Enjoying Boxing day in my kitchen and don't intend on going out for at least one day! My TV is dying, so I'll need to go shopping this week to get a Boxing day deal. Wish me luck!

TTFN

Week before Christmas

So it's the week before Christmas and as usual I'm soooo busy :(. Thought that things would calm down and I would have some time for myself once I retired - HA! Monday I was with the Pater and we finished his holiday shopping, banking, post office chores. Father has decided to go into a retirement home in 2017, so this means lots of arranging and decisions to be made. January will be busy!! Tuesday was a bone density test for me then furniture shopping. I'm trying to decide whether or not to take over the mater's condo sofa and chair or just get my own. I kinda like hers - the size is good and the colours will work in my living room, and it's free (other than the cost to move it here). On the other hand, I've waited so long for something new for myself .... What to do, what to do ... Wednesday was another Dr appointment then off to campus for more drugs. Stopped in and visited my former colleaques. I made then gave this candle mat to my former boss. Here's me doing a Show-n-Tell @ guild night.

Later in the afternoon I dropped over to my sister's place with the new candle mats I made last week. The black & green one is for my sister and the red and grey one is for my niece Lisa. Had some problems with one "slice" on the black one so the centre is not perfect :(. They both have the same green backing fabric.

 I also finished off two more Lucy Boston POTC blocks - woohoo!
I really like the one on the left, thanks Susan for finding the perfect black/brown/gold batik print for this one! The one on the right was a hard one. I chose the funky beige/grey fabric to match the blue/grey flowers in the brown fabric. Not sure it makes the statement I was looking for. Hmmmm.
Well, Christmas 2016 is shaping up to be OK. First holiday without mother which will be different. But then again, it will be the first holiday with baby William!

TTFN

I

Snow !

So, yesterday we got 20 centimeters of snow 😕.  Normally this would send me into a tizzy worrying about how I would get to the car and get  it cleaned off in time for my Monday morning commute, but wait! I'm retired now so no worries - Yippee! I do have to go out tomorrow for a CT scan @ 6:30 pm so will be cleaning off the car at some point today.
Since it was a "snow day" yesterday I decided it was appropriate to sit at home and sew. I put  my Lucy Boston blocks on the design wall and decided 4 of my blocks were too white :( so am in the process of remaking 4 blocks. Here's yesterday's block

The star bursts come from a Christmas fabric, believe it or not! The other 3 blocks are all cut and basted and ready for sewing. Loving it and getting my Lucy POTC mojo back on. That's good as I have decided to also do the 150 Canadian Women  sampler quilt. These should keep me busy this winter !
TTFN