Fun in the snow

Well, Jessie and Emily were here since Friday. We did some cool stuff. We went to see Sleeping Beauty at the Playhouse Theatre. It was delightful and the kids laughed through the whole thing. We did 3 Geocaches which the kids thoroughly enjoyed. They took cool trinkets and left cool trinkets in the caches. We sewed pillow cases out of the soft fabric they got for Christmas. And we watched 3 movies, Karate Dog, Happy Feet, and Chestnut. Chestnut was about a dog that 2 adopted girls sneeked into their new home. It was funny, sad, happy all at the same time. Here is a collage that I put together of their weekend in Freddy Beach.

We found our very first Geocache.

Jessica and Emily are here from Moncton. We went out to find our very first GeoCache. It was in the McEvoy softball diamond area. We walked through snow, then up a hill. Grampie was letting the GPS lead him. Then after lots of digging around, and using our clues, we found a Barkless tree and it was in the stump. We took out a blue moon rock and put in a porcelin heart. Then weput it back where we found it. Can you see it in the last picture - it looks like a baseball and it's inside a stump. We learned a couple of things: 1) Decrypt your clue so you have all the info possible; 2) We know that a themed container is not a regular lock and lock. 3) Emily learned to walk slow so you don't tire yourself out. 4) we learned that the cache might be 20 feet away from where the exact coordinates are. It was fun, fun, fun. We all really enjoyed. We'll go find another one tomorrow.

Merry Christmas Mystery Solved

Wow, what a morning. We were busy watching the triplets open their gifts, then came home to open ours. I hope you had as much fun as we did. My sister designed me a beautiful Winter time tablescape. I'm so glad, because I was wanting to have something designer looking but didn't know where to start. And look what she did for me. I love it. Notice the card on the table that came with it. Her gift came with snow, but I had a white feather boa that will be a little less messy, especially with little kids around. Isn't she talented. Thanks Donna.

The mystery. Well, I found out what the mystery card is. It's a gift certficate from my dad for the Running Room. There's a story behind it, but I don't know what it is yet. I spoke to Donna briefly and she said she'd tell me later on today...

And here is a picture of Patience at 6 weeks to go. The next big event will be the arrival of Baby Aurora in early February.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Sunday - a day of rest .... sort of

Well, it's Sunday and we're all prepared for Christmas. This afternoon, I have a bit of wrapping to do, but other than that it's just a resting day. Patience is over at Michele's doing a family of hair. I made gingerbread with the unused dough from the kids gingerbread day earlier this week. I'm anxious for tomorrow to come to see the kids all here for Christmas eve. The weather looks great so we won't worry about the drive for Carrie and Kenny so much. Patience and I drafted the menu for the after church brunch and I'm hungry just looking at the list.

I made Jessica and Emily a Geocache kit. It's not a Christmas gift, so I'll give it to them tomorrow after church. I'll have to explain the concept to their dad who will have to program the GPS for the kids. I think they will really like the hunt and the web aspect of it.

And I'm still waiting for the instruciton from Stephanie....

Gingerbread 101

Well, the triplets came for a visit yesterday and we did Gingerbread. It was fun. Here is a cute video. Mitchell is wearing is new glasses. The glasses must make a difference because he never takes them off. Pictures below are in progress and the final results.

Still waiting for secret instruction from Stephanie.

I love a Mystery!!!

I got my mail this morning and there was a little envelope - about the size of a credit card. I know it's from my niece - Stephanie - because it has her return address on it. Look what it says on the back.. Do not open until instructed. What could it be - a game? Oh, I'm soooo curious. I wonder if it's some sort of virtual Murder Mystery... thinking... thinking.... I feel like I'm in a James Bond movie. (We watched Casino Royal last night).....I'm quietly awaiting further instruction...

Will the cold ever go away!

Well, I can't get over how much whining I'm doing about the cold. I have to force myself to get out and do things. I'd rather stay huddled up on the couch watching TV. Today, I did a bit more Christmas shopping - for P and we did the biggest part of our grocery order. On Christmas eve, we're having all the kids over after church for some snackies. I'm so glad Carrie and Kenny are coming for the day with the kids. It's a long trip just for a day, but I was jumping for joy when Carrie called to say they were coming. So on the menu are Devilled Eggs, Spinich Dip and crackers, bacon wrapped scallops, wings, cheese and veggie tray, hummus and guacamolli and tortilla chips and what ever else strikes my fancy between now and Monday.

Today, I wrote a number of security certifications to maintain my credentials for xwave. I wrote a number of tests yesterday, only to find out that I had done a couple of the wrong tests. So, this afternoon, I spent 3 hours, reviewing, and writing the correct practice tests before taking the official online certifications. I passed. So, I'm done for another 365 days.. or in other words... Forever.

Tomorrow, the triplets and I have some important work to do. After school, we're making gingerbread, some to hang on the tree as a decoration and of course, some to eat. I'm trying a new Kraft recipe that is not so spicy for the kids to eat. It has butterscotch pudding powder in it.

Today, I finished putting the 12 large Burgoyne surrounded quilt blocks together for the St. Dunstan's quilt. Now I just need to put a small border, then a big white border that will feature fantastic hand quilting by the St. Dunstan's ladies. Another couple of hours and it'll be done. I made a mistake and made 20 blocks, instead of just 12. I think I'll make one more block and have a 9 x 9 square lap quilt.

So, all in all, in an attempt to avoid thinking about how cold it was out side, I did have a productive day.

A Blizzard in Freddy Beach

Well, the weatherman is right on today. He called for a "System" and we got one. We went to Nova Scotia to visit my sister (who was having her 49th birthday) and my Dad on Friday. It was snowing lightly on Friday morning and we knew the weatherman said there was going to be snow on Sunday, but we went anyway. We had a very difficult first hour on Friday, but it was tolerable, just dirty the rest of the way. We stopped at the Truro SMT bus station to drop off Stephanie who was headed to Antigonish to visit with her sister Michele. It was her 21st birthday on Friday. Then we're on our way again, and we stopped in Windsor for lunch.

The Avonport discount fabric store is gaining repulation for being a great place to shop, so we stopped there too. It was easy to find. I bought 30 yards of quilting fabric.... for $75. I left the building saying to Mert "Start the Car, Start the Car". What a find. I think they must have been going to do inventory, because all the $4.00 discounted stuff was down to $2.00. I bought some of their famous bulk chocolates too. They taste like Gannongs. After that , we were on our way and landed in Greenwood about 2:30. It was nice to just sit and relax and chat with Dad until Donna got home. She had made my favorite - cabbage rolls - for supper... yum...

After supper went to the Greenwood mall, where I got a very nice Jim Shore Christmas Angel oranament for our Friday girls gift exchange this Friday.

Early Saturday morning, we went on a little hike in the woods with Donna's friend Jill. It's good to get your excercise even when away on a little trip. When we got back, Mert had viewed, reviewed and analysed the weather radar and sattelites.. and was really disturbed by what he saw, so we decided to leave for NB after lunch rather than waiting for the morning. Donna and I made a quick trip to the maternity/baby consignment store and I picked up a few things for P. We came home and had a nice lunch and then we were off on the highway. We had a nice relaxing drive home. Stopped at McD's for a chocolate sundae in Sackville and decided to head right home rather than stopping for supper.

So, with our free Sunday morning, I finished my Habitat Sunflowers wallhanging, and went with Mert to Marysville for my run. We came out of the gym and the snow had begun, and within 15 minutes, it was a Blizzard. I'm glad we came home yesterday..


Happy 49th Birthday Donna.

Kindergarden Concert

The triplets had their Christmas concert today. They sang a beautiful opening number for 37 seconds. I was tempted to shout out "Encore, Encore". I wanted more. We watched the rest of the concert and it was cute. I was hoping that the kids would come back out again..

The girls wore their concert dresses that Aunt Mae and I made for them last year. I'm so pleased they got another year out of them. Michele said the teachers all raved over them. They twirl so nice...and Grace and Caitlin are happy to oblige when somebody says "Twirl".

Here they are in the top row on the very end.


Tomorrow, I go to the kindergarden class to read a Christmas story to them. Thursday, Mert and I are helping to do dishes in the kitchen as it's the very special turkey dinner in the school cafeteria.

Friday, depending on the weather, we're heading to Nova Scota for a Christmas visit with my dad and sister and brother in law. Back on Sunday.

A sweater for Baby A.

I'm almost done Baby Aurora's little aran sweater. It's so small at about 10 inches tall. It's like a doll sweater. I have to sew up the sleeves and sides and put little buttons on the back raglin sleeve. It's adorable.

It's going to be a busy week. Tomorrow, we have the triplets school concert first thing tomorrow morning. I'm the videographer. And then my FQG Quilt guild Christmas luncheon at 11:30. It's nice to get together with the girls one last time before Christmas. I'm trying to get my Sunflowers for Habitat wallhanging done, but there's still about 2 hours worth of work to do on it, so I'm not sure it'll get done for tomorrow's show and tell. I did get the 2 Juicebags done; one for my God-daughter and one for the kindergarden teacher of the triplets. I'm writing instructions for the juicebags at the same time as I'm sewing. These are to go on the Canadian Living website when the green issue comes out. The editor emailed me today to say she got my bags. She loves, loves loves them. :)

Michele is 38 on Sunday.

I can't believe Michele is 38 tomorrow. Man, how time flies. We had the triplets over to make her a very special cake today. So early this morning, I used my new Wilton cake pan that Carrie and Kenny and kids got me for my birthday. I absolutely love it. The sides of the cake were perfect for icing. I tried an experiment that I read about on the web. I made a cake pan cozy that fits around the cake. This cozy slows down the cooking on the sides and allows the cake to rise more evenly. I think it worked quite nicely. I whipped up the cozy out of potholder material that I've had in my stash for years.

Well the kids came over after hockey practice, and after I squeezed in a run at Marysville. We started to decorate the cake right away. No matter how hard you try, chocolate icing always gets on your fingers when putting sprinkles on. We washed their little hands each 3 times... Those little sprinkles get everywhere... Grampie grumbles all day long because the little balls get stuck in his socks. The kids were pretty pleased with themselves for how it turned out. Isn't it great to have a birthday around Christmas time. You can decorate with candy canes.

Then we made Mom each a personalized birthday card on the computer and the kids made up the poems and then signed and sealed. Then we had big homemade waffles for lunch with banana pudding for desert. When that was done, we started to make Mom's Birthday present. Time was getting short, so Grampie helped with that while Grammie went into her sewing room to work on the kindergarden teacher, Miss Donovan's, Juicebag that the triplets are giving to her for a Christmas present. Well, we just got done Mom's gift in time to put in a box and wrap with a special bow.

The juicebag will get done tomorrow or next week. We had a fun day today. We'll go see Michele to deliver more presents tomorrow, but not until after the noon hour. The other grandmother is keeping the kids overnight and Wade is taking Michele out for breakfast.

Nano, Nano - 500km

Well, Paula somebody (Radcliffe I think) came on my ipod yesterday and congratulated me for achieving 500 kms. (since the purchase of my Nike running kit, November 2006). Then I synched my nano to see how much over 500 I was. I'm at 504. Nike sent me a message, that I'm well on my way to 1000 kms. So I'm going to set that as my goal for next year. It took 13.5 months to get 504 km, so I should be able to get 496kms before December 31, 2008.


Today at the Friday Girls coffee, Jen brought a bunch of placemats for Meals on Wheels that we worked on last week. She now has over 50 so far, including the ones from the guild. The guild has a luncheon on Tuesday and I expect we'll have many more. They are so nice and whimsical.

Presents, Presents, Presents

I'm so excited that I have my sisters family all bought for including my dad. On our way home from New York, the bus stopped at LLBean for 2 hours. So my goal was to have all 5 done and I had a few others on the list too. With only 2 hours, I now realize how lucky I was to find gifts for 5. It's a busy, busy store. So now I have them all wrapped and ready for our gift-delivery trip to Nova Scotia on December 14th. I just left them in the Bean boxes and put a nice ribbon. I think they look so nice.

He Shoots, He Scores

Well, it's so cute to see Mitchell play hockey. We went to his practice today. He's just been in a Timbits Hockey for about 2 months now. They are playing little 15 minute games now at the end of their practices. He got 2 shifts today.

Here's a little video. His skating has improved so much. He's only 5 years old compared to some of the other kids who are bigger and older. Today, the coaches did drills to skate on one foot and other drills to shoot the puck to the boards. They also do drills to help the kids get up quicker after they take a dive. It's hard to get up with all that padding and with all that equipment on. After practice, I told Mitchell a secret and he's not to tell his mother. See, after the hockey practice on Saturday, he and his 2 sisters are coming over to our place to make a birthday cake and a crafty gift for their mother's birthday which is on Sunday. The kids love a secret and even more, they love to bake and make crafts. I don't know who will have the better birthday, Mom or the triplets.

A storm day in Freddy Beach

Well, the weather man predicted right. We had about 18 - 20 inches of snow in our driveway this morning when we got up. It took Mert almost an hour to clean out the driveway. Heavy, deep snow. It's so white. Look at how deep it is.. it's up to his knees.


Well I got an exciting phone call this afternoon. Canadian Living magazine called me and want post the Juicebag story in their April 2008 issue. It's their "Green" issue. They love the juicebag, but love the direct message it sends to kids regarding repurposing our resources. A lot of the products we use today are made from recycled products, and the quality is so good, that you'd never know it was recycled. Napkins, grocery bags etc. Kids understand the idea of recycling when they see the totebags. So, I'm sending a few bags to the magazine in Toronto to be photographed. In the article, they will put a reference in to contact me if anyone wants to buy them. Now, I'm on a mission to see if I can find somebody who will sew them and manage the sales part. I learned my lesson after the Sept. Daily Gleaner article. I had orders for more than a dozen bags. I got them done, but I felt pressure... I think it would make a nice home based business project for the right person.

It's exciting just the same.

Kitchen Update - almost final

Well, I really like the look of the wallpaper. Coffee themes seem to be in season for me. This is called Comfort Cafe. I don't have the border up, because I'm being wishy washy about it now. It seems to make it to busy. I need to get fabric for the curtain, so I'll make my final decision later about the border. Notice the new black dishwasher, the new countertop, the new toaster, the new knobs. I'm liking the new look. Off to fabricville this afternoon.

Yummy Pumpkin Latte

My dad, we call him Grampa, turns 78 today. I gave him a Tim Hortons gift set with a can of coffee, a new TH mug, and a gift card.

Speaking of Coffee - while in New York the week before last, we were waiting to board the SMT tour bus to get our 5 hour Manhattan tour. At the same time and place, - in front of Starbucks, they happened to be outside giving out small coffee samples. The drink was in a paper cup about half the size of the small Tim Hortons paper cup - so, maybe 4 oz. I couldn't tell what it looked like because the top of the cup was completely covered with swirly whipped topping. I asked what it was... and the Starbucks girl said, our holiday flavor - Pumpkin Spice Latte. So, I took two, one for me and one for Mert. As I was boarding the bus, the bus driver said, "Where's mine?" I said "right here" and gave him one of the samples. I went to my seat on the bus to join Mert and we shared the other one. So.. was it ever good!! Not the taste of pumpkin, but the nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. It was sweet, smooth. So the next day - the day of the Macy's parade, we stopped into Starbucks and we each got one. Not the Tall 10 oz one, but the Grande 16 oz one of course. That turned out to be a little too big because it's so sweet. It's a great thing to either have a very small one once in a while, or a Grande one once a year. It was delicious.

Well, back to the reality of Freddy Beach, today I went for a half hour run on the treadmill at the YMCA this morning. I hadn't run for 5 days..I was trying to get to Christmas before I had to move to an indoor method of running, but it looks like old man winter is here. The roads are snowpacked today. It's -7 and blustery. My fall on the ice the other day reminded me, that if I'm not smart, I might fall and really hurt myself if I keep trying to do the outdoor thing. I'm scheduled to go for an official tour of the YMCA on Tuesday and it looks like that's going to be my running home for the next 4 or 5 months. I can hardly wait for spring already to start running outdoors again. Isn't that sad!

I watched Oprah yesterday. Is she putting her weight back on? Oh the poor thing. She must be devistated. That's my nightmare.

Christmas Placemats with the Friday group.

I spent the morning making placemats with the Friday girls. The group doesn't have a name, so I just call them my Friday girls. One of the girls, Jen is in charge of the Quilt Guild's community project this year. One of the projects is to make quilty and Christmassy placemats that will be given to those who get meals on wheels over the holidays. We have over 100 members of the guild, and only 34 placemats were turned in at the last meeting. So the last day to turn them in is at our Christmas luncheon on the 11th. So, it sounds like the target is 100 placemats now to be used not only for meals on wheels, but the veterans too. This is a great project for the small day quilting groups to use as an excuse to sew together. So this morning our little group of 6 people made a dozen placemats. Jen, had to leave a bit early and took them with her before I could take a picture of them all, but we're getting together next Friday, so I'll see if she'll bring them for a photo. They're quite simple, but very festive and who doesn't like a placmat. Funny, you get 6 quilters working on a project and everyone has a different idea what size placemats should be... ha ha. We decided on 15" wide by 12" high.


While I was out this morning, Mert cleaned and started up the pellet stove. While it's Zero outside, it's a cozy 24ish in the family room. Residual heat floats out of the family room and goes upstairs. I love the warmth of the stove. He also primed the backsplash in the kitchen and we're ready to wallpaper - probably on Monday. The paper is a cafe like motif. I think it'll be a nice departure from the mock-tile wallpaper we've had for 17 years. Here is the wallpaper and the border. I'm not sure how I'm going to use the border, but it's cute. It has 3 or 4 different sets of words... Bake Shop, Pattiserie, Pie shop, etc. It's quite a narrow border, so I'm not sure how I'll apply it. Then, the kitchen will be done. I like it though, and I don't think it's too country. This was the first time I ordered wallpaper out of a book. It's much more expensive that just purchasing from the local inventory at the paint store. I didn't find near as much selection as I have in the past.

Ohh, winter is coming!

Well it's snowing lightly today. I need to get my run in before it gets windy. I put my sneekers on, long sleeve shirt and shell, hat and gloves on. Got my ipod ready and started and off I go. I didn't even get to the of court and down I went. I slipped on an ice patch hidden by the light whispy snow. I didn't hurt myself..(I have a lot of padding back there) but I'm so scared of falling and really hurting myself. I really need to figure out where I'm going to run for the winter. Patience thinks she has come up with a solution at her gym. We'll see if that works. So we're off to the Orena for a FAST walk on the indoor track (they don't allow running).


Knitting - Thanks to the long bus ride to New York, and back, I have the back and half the front done so far for Baby A's little sweater aran sweater. It's so small and cute. We had an ultrasound for Baby A yesterday. She's a whopping 1800 grams at 30 weeks. That's about 4 pounds. Man, she's going to be a big one. We saw her face and I think she has Patience's little nose... but can you really tell in the ultrasounds... What neat technology.

Grampa Ernie birthday is on Saturday December 1. I put his present in the courier today. I'll be delivered to my sister Donna's school tomorrow. He's going to be 78 years old.


Tomorrow with my Friday quilt group, we're making Christmas placemats for the Veterans and the Meals on Wheels deliveries over the holidays. I'm not one to buy Christmas fabric, but I bought a nice little bunch to bring to the group. I'll take a picture tomorrow.


Here's a nice Christmas picture of Grace, Mitchell and Caitlin that their dad took last week. I think he's pretty good with the camera, don't you think!!

Back from New York - I need a rest!

Well, we got back last night from New York. What a fabulous trip. We did it all: Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum, Radio City Music Hall, Central Park, Trump, 5th Ave, Madison Ave, the Stardust Cafe, Macy's Parade, Ground Zero, the Soup Natzi's original restaurant, Grand Central Station, Battery Park, Kates Paperie (a fav. of Martha Stewart) the famouse NY Library (that has a lion statue outside named Patience) on the way home we stopped at LL Bean in Freeport for 2 hours of power shopping. I should have worn a pedometer. My feet are just recovering now and I need to go buy a new pair of sneekers.

I took over 100 pictures... now - which ones to put up.

Packing and off to New York

We're packing and heading to New York first thing in the morning. Our first bus trip. It's our "official" retirement gift to ourselves. We'll be away for a whole week, returning Saturday night. While we're away, having the rest of the kitchen work completed, and having our 3 bathroom floors tiled.

We'll be front and center for the Macy's Day parade on Thursday, so watch for us on TV. We'll wave.

Back to Blog on Sunday 25 Nov.

Kitchen Update - Step 3

Well, the countertop is in. That involved removing the old dishwasher, the sink, taps, and the stove, then removing the countertop, then reversing the process. Install dishwasher, cut holes in the countertop for the sink and stove. It was a difficult removal and install, but it's done. The laminite on the island has been removed but the island still needs some preparation work before the new laminate can be put on. Mert put the new chocolate brown knobs on the doors. I like them. So, besides the Island and Desk laminate to be installed, all we have to do is the backsplash to put on (wallpaper that looks like tile) then it will look nice. Now I don't like the look of the white toaster. So we might get a new stainless 2 slice. We've always had a 4 slice toaster, but I don't know why. I only ever have 1 slice and never at the same time as Mert. So, we're downsizing to a 2 slice model. The frilly curtains have to go too.

The Dragon

On Tuesday, we woke up to snow. It totally threw me off. I was all set to go for a run, as I usually do on Tuesdays, and it was too dirty. I probably couldn't have even walked in my sneakers because of the slippery conditions. So I started to really consider what my options were for running for the winter... my old work gym, the new YMCA, or wait for the new Newbodies... I went for a really fast walk at the new track with Mert and ran on Wednesday instead. I have to learn to be more flexible.

That same day, Mitchell visited us in the afternoon while his sisters were at gymnastics class. Our goal was to make a dragon hat, make muffins, make supper, make a puzzle and finally to make a dragon paper craft. Whew mama, I was tuckered out, but Mitchell was so happy, especially with this paper dragon. Funny how the small things please kids.

Wednesday around noon, I finally got my run in. We had Grace for the afternoon while Mitchell went to hockey practice. We had a bit more time, so with Grace, we picked out a nice paper acquarium with 8 fish and a snail. We also made cookies, and a fleece hat. By far, the acquarium was her favorite thing. It took almost 2 hours to make. Last Wednesday we had Caitlin over and she mostly made her fleece hat by herself. She is so proud. She wore the hat while making brownies, while having supper and even wore it to bed. How cute!

Yesterday, (Wed) afternoon we go the call from Home Depot, our countertops are in. We rushed up to pick it up and couldn't wait to call Peter, our carpenter to tell him it was here. Peter dropped by to check everything out and said he'd be here first thing tomorrow (which is today, Thurs) to install the dishwasher and countertops. I'm so excited. Our kitchen should be all up and running, with the new light, countertops, knobs and dishwasher by end of day Friday. I can't wait to take a picture to show you.

Kids Skating

I think swimming and skating are two of the best things kids can learn at a very young age. We've been going with Michele and triplets skating for almost a year now. You would never believe what a difference free time on the ice makes. Here is a video of Grace skating casually around the rink and Caitlin joins her for a bit. She reminds me of a little adult enjoying a casual skate. They love skating for the camera. I'll show Mitchell playing hockey a bit later on. You won't believe how he zings around the rink.

Quilt group

About a month ago, I was invited to attend a Friday daytime quilt group. It's a group of about a dozen girls all around my age, some younger, a few older. Basically those who can, meet at a different host's house at 10am on Friday morning. Talk is about kids, quilting, food, quilting, weather, quilting. Today I went for the 2nd time. I took some fabric that a nice friend gave me to make a jungle quilt for Patience's baby. Patience told me this summer, she wanted jungly theme for the baby room. I couldn't figure out how to put a quilt together with this lovely donated quilt. Today, I took out the fabric and within 5 minutes, I had lots of input on what to do, and voila, I have a plan. So next week, I'll start that. I also learned that you can watch quilting videos on the internet. Who knew.. This afternoon, I watched a Simply Quilts episode that had these amazing floating leaves using a discharge method.. neat, neat, neat.

Yesterday, we had a really full and busy day. Mert made spaghetti sauce and now we have 6 easy meals. We made 2 fruitcakes - one light and one dark. They're all wrapped up and sent to the coldroom for a month or two... I finished 2 table runners for Carrie. One is quilted using Royal Albert's Old Country Roses fabric and the other is plain using the fabric from her roman blind.

My Guild newsletter is 99% done. It's gone to the proof-reader for a final once over. Then this weekend, it's photocopy, stamp, stuff, and drop in the post office box.

For the Rememberance Day, we're going to have a Turkey Dinner on Sunday. All the kids will be here... 12 around the table.

Kitchen update - Step 1

It's so nice to get things. My sister sent up some cabbage rolls and home made grape jelly with Terry who was on his way to Ontario. She also sent more juicebags so I'm well stocked now.

I'm so excited about our kitchen update. Terry and Mert hung my new kitchen light over the dining room table. I really like it. Next week we get our new countertops and dishwasher. This whole thing started because about a month ago, our dishwasher broke (or we thought it did). When we installed the hardwood a few years ago, we blocked in the dishwasher, so the only way to get it out was to lift the floor, or lift the countertops. We decided to lift the countertop and use this as an opportunity for a kitchen update. Lights up. Later this week, new knobs for the doors, and drawers. We pickup the new Maytag dishwasher (promisses to be quieter) Then later next week, installation of the new dishwasher and countertops. Today, for the heck of it, we tried the dishwasher, .. it works. Oh, well. It's 17 years old and we're so into the update, that it's going one way or another. Anyone want a 17 year old almond color dishwasher that works sometimes.

Terry left bright and early this morning and he was going to drop in to my Aunt Angeline's in Quebec City. I put together this little bag of goodies for her. This is a screen bag... the black transparent part in the middle is screen (yes, like on your screen door). Actually the whole bag is screen, but the bottom and top parts are covered with a cat fabric. In the bag, I put sugar free chocolate, a stash of juicebags, a kit of the same coffee/cat fabric in to make herself a matching travel/cosmetic bag. I hope she likes the bag of goodies. I know I love it when people send me surprise care packages. It's usually just my sister..

Left to do today, are 2 Christmas friutcakes, 1 light and 1 dark; a 4.5k run; finsh off Carrie's table runner with the left over roller blind fabric; purchase yarn for baby Aurora's sweater; list the old kitchen light on kijiji and to complete our Quilt Guild Newsletter. Tomorrow is a fun/rest day.

Mini, Mini, Mini Quilts

This past weekend we had a Mini Quilt show that featured 30 mini quilts from Ontario's Henny Bremner... It was so inspiring. Our guild is going to have a mini class in March, and I'm going to be the first in line to sign up for the class. I can't seem to add another photo yet. I'll have to ask my experienced sister how do do that on blogger.

On Sunday Mert and I went to Moncton. We took Jessica and Emily to see the BEE movie. It was really cute. The bee was gradutating from school and got all "B"s. A Perfect Score!!

And we also hung Carrie's Roman Blind for the kitchen. She picked out really funky fabric. Her kitchen looks so nice with this curtain and her patio door curtain.

November 1- My first Blog

Well, everyone has one. So I've been thinking about starting a blog too. Today, I thought. November 1... Let's do a blog.

I really enjoy looking at others blogs, especially quilters, and sewers. Today is November 1. The day after a very slow halloween. Only 12 people showed up. I had candy for 100. My hubby and I ate about 30 of the chocolate bars, so I picked up a bag of 150 feet shaped suckers. We gave away 20 at the most. The best little goblins came at suppertime. Grace, Mitchell and Caitlin.

I'm making a list of sewing projects that I've started in the past few weeks that I need to complete before I start any new. But then last night, I saw this little Sewing Machine Mat that is just darling. I can easily come up with 2.5" quilt scraps to sew this. I should be able to whip up in an hour... I might do that today this afternoon - or maybe I'll just organize myself to sew it tomorrow. This afternoon, I need to work on Carrie's roman blind for her kitchen. It should be so cute. Mert and I are going to Moncton on Sunday to install it. I'll take a pic.

Later this afternoon, I'm going to tutor the husband of one of my quilter friends. He loves technology and has an Ipod Nano. I think he relies on his out of town son for help, but he hasn't made much progress, so this afternoon we're having our 3rd lesson. At our last lesson, I left him with homework. For today, he was to make playlists for all the music that was dumped into his music library since he got the nano. Some 200 titles, but no playlists. He was also to go through his digital pictures and identify some nice directories to put on his nano.

When we have our last tutoring session - probably next week - I'll have his wife take a picture of us and our nanos. Mine is green and his is blue.