Excessive thy name is Linda

I was puttering about tonight and found my recipe for home made laundry soap, and I thought to myself, I need to put that into my little book so I don't loose it. Then I got thinking about my other little books. I was so concerned when we had the bomb scare at work because I had left my knitting bag in the office and if the building blew, my little book of puppet patterns would be gone. I live my life by lists and those lists have slowly become the stuff that is jotted down in my precious little books. I love little books to keep track of things. Tonight I decided to see how many little books do I have. I never have had them all together before. I just know I have certain ones for certain things.  I gathered them together, these little bound pages filled with all the information I deem important in my life. They keep me on track and free my memory for other important bits like passwords, pin numbers and door codes.

TaaaDaaa!!!!

Fourteen, I have FOURTEEN little books, OMG this is the story of my life. Is one is good, three are better, and fourteen is Freakin Fantastic. That one in the bottom left hand corner with the L on it will be the one that will end up in a museum dedicated to me because my crafty empire has made me richer than Donald Trump and has people saying Martha..... Martha Who????  It is the one I fretted over being blown up buy a bomb. It has the patterns in it that have started my empire.

The rest of them have homemade earth friendly cleaning recipes, books I want to read, things I want to do, things I have made, things I need to make, people I need to keep in touch with, gifts I have given and received, weaving notes, and so on and so forth. Wishes and dreams and accomplishments, things to cherish and things to remember.

Oh crap, I forgot one, that makes FIFTEEN, and my date book does not count, everyone has a date book. Sigh, I maybe need a 12 step program.

Linda

Things I do on Monday Nights

I am telling you the fast paced excitement around this house would kill a lesser woman ;-) are you gettin' the sarcasm??? I don't know exactly when this all happened but seriously, a nap on the couch after work is heaven for me. Then working on my crafting projects makes it a perfectly fine evening for me. I did kick things up a notch tonight though:

Tonight I furminated the cat. How is that for wild and crazy??? She was a little star but she refused to pose besides the results. She may have been feeling a little naked.  Honestly I wish she would have. This mass of hair is nearly as big as she is,and baby girl is a bit of a chunk. I cannot tell you the joy that I feel knowing that this is not going to end up on the carpet, the furniture, my pant leg before I head to work. When I tell people I vacuum up bales of cat hair I do not lie. I would not not have her, I love her to bits but the hair thing is a pain.

Its done, done like dinner, for once and for all I am finished with this quilt. I got the last of the binding sewn tonight. I added the extra band of grey and blue to the edge which adds 15 inches onto the size of the quilt.  It fits a queen bed now and that means I can move on. I have a couple of quilts that HAVE to be done before Christmas but before I get onto them I am going to make this.

Busy asked me to make a table runner for her, so when I was visiting them on my vacation I hit the local quilt shop. I found this pattern and this material while I browsed around. So its next up on the project list. She approves of my choices. They call it a cactus pattern but I think it looks like stars to me. Busy is partial to star quilts.

I am off to knit until bed time.

Linda

Monday Moment with Minou

A little crazy glue and she will never know I opened it first.

Another Weekend is Over

What a beautiful weekend, sunny, warm and wonderful. I hate to see it end. I didn't get nearly half the things done on my "to do" list. That's OK though, those undone items will wait on me until next week or the week after, or whenever I do manage to get around to them. When you live alone, things don't get done until you do them yourself. Would you consider that a plus or a minus???

One thing that did get done was I finally got the hinge on the kitchen cabinet fixed. Its been hanging by a thread for over a year. I could not find the right sized screws so in desperation I crazy glued the sucker and its holding on. Its not a cupboard that I use much but it looks so much better closed than hanging about like a drunken sailor.

I fixed the Endless Stars quilt. I just have two sides to finish sewing and it will be done for once and for all. Not a mistake I will make in the future if I can help it. Fixing it took most of my time this weekend. I already have plans for the next two or three quilts I want to get started on. I have puppets to make, quilts to get at and my Christmas projects are calling to me from the corner. Now I have promised to make a quilt for the office Christmas fundraiser. Too much to do and not enough energy time to do it all.

This afternoon E and I went to the new Brad Pitt movie. It was long, slow and not as good as I hoped it would be. E liked it, I found it tedious. Not the worst movie I have ever seen but certainly not the best.

Right now I should be doing laundry and making supper. Since doing laundry means a trip up stairs to throw the laundry down, I will make supper instead. Laundry can wait until tomorrow. I want to get the last of the quilt binding done tonight, anything else can just wait.

Linda

My Most Favourite Season

Autumn is coming, you can feel it in the air. There is a snap and a chill, the air nips at your nose and feels crisp and clean. The trees are getting ready to slip into their prettiest party dresses and the light makes all those earthy tones deeper and richer before the bleak white and grey of winter is upon us.

This is the time for cobblers, crisps, pies, hearty stews, spicy chili and thick rich soups with hearty home made breads. Its crisp apples that crack when you bite into them and sweet juice then rolls down your chin. Pumpkins, squashes and gourds abound. Scarecrows and sunflowers show their sunny friendly faces and the world is rich and plentiful. Its a time for cosy quilts, soft  woolly afghans, cats snoozing in a warm sunny spot, good books and steamy cups of tea.

I love it, I love it all. The coolness, the colours, the sounds and the smells. I wish it lasted longer and while I am sad it portends the coming of winter. I love this rich vibrant season while it lasts. My heart lifted a little when I stepped outside this morning and the end of my nose twitched with the nip in the air. Even the fact that there was a slight skim of frost on the back window of my car did not get me down. There is gold in the leaves which lets us know mother nature is getting ready to slow things down.

I am hoping to get at the yard work this weekend. Get some of the things cleaned up that have been left undone far to long. I have quilts to make, yard work to do, and friends to spend time with. Tomorrow is Friday and I am looking towards the weekend with eager anticipation. Tomorrow night I am off to a concert with a group from work.

Lots to do, lots to look foreward to. Ah, yes its a good thing,

Linda

Am I in High School Again?

Today we had a bomb threat at work, had to evacuate the building, stand around in the parking lots shivering and wondering what was going to happen. Turns out nothing thankfully, just an angry person trying to make a point. Sigh. I would have been so ticked if the building had gone up, I left my knitting bag behind. My puppet pattern book is in that bag, its hours and hours of work. It did not take long, they found the person that did it and all was back to to normal by noon. I have not been involved in a bomb scare since high school. The rest of the day was all wonky, I could not get back into the grove of working again. Not scared just disrupted and ticked off because I was really getting things done and then wham, I am outside waiting for the police to give us the all clear to go back to work.

So that was the big excitement in my day, not much happened after that. Work, work, work and now home for the evening waiting for Dancing with the Stars to come on. I intend to spend the evening knitting and maybe getting the kitchen cleaned up during the commercials. Its not too bad but it really needs me to spend some time in there putting things where they belong. Sad thing is I have some things that I am not sure where they are going to live. One to many trips to the thrift stores while Best Friend was visiting. We both love thrifting and I found somethings I felt needed to come home with me. Ah well the things that I do know where they belong should go there.

Must go, my show starts in a couple of minutes I need to get myself settled.

Linda

Monday Moment with Minou

Belly rub position, locked and loaded, commence rubbing.

The Time has Come...

Vacation time is over for now, Best Friend has headed back to her busy life with her husband and family. The house has that empty, echoy, hollow feeling it always has went my company leaves. I love to have company and as much as I like my alone time, I do find it very sad once they leave. I like having someone to talk to, do stuff with and just have around the house. I miss them when they go. I will be fine tomorrow but today I am sad and a tad lonely. One thing that made it sooooo much easier to tolerate was the Hostess called and we went for tea and a cookie. An hour spent over a pot of chamomile can work wonders on a case of the "oh poor Me's".

To be honest when I say I will be fine tomorrow, I am really lying because I will be a whole different kind of cranky. I will be back at work. Back to waking up to the jarring sound of an alarm. (Sigh.) Don't get me wrong, I have a good job and I work with good people but the bottom line is I am not all that thrilled about working, PERIOD. Never have been and never will be. I like to be on my own time table. The second day of Grade One was a trauma to me, laugh if you will, it was. I have never gotten over it. However, I will get back into the swing of the work week. Wednesday should see me back to my old self again. My nose can be as out of joint as it wants to be, the fact is that I have to work. Pouting is not going to change that fact today.

The up side is that it is a good job, I do work with good people and I have good friends. I had a good two weeks off. Best Friend and I had a fabulous few days that she was here. We always do when we are together. Back on track tomorrow, back to the day to day things, back to reality, the bread and butter details of my life. Time to get back on the health track, back on the budgeting track and back to trying to get myself organized. I have a lot to get started on tomorrow. Ack!!!

Linda

Just killin' time

That's what I feel like I am doing today. I had great intentions of working in the yard but I apparently no longer feel that way. Its nearly noon and I am still not out in the yard. I have managed to make breakfast, deliver the puppet order to one of the local schools, take out the garbage and recycling, run the dishwasher and make a couple of phone calls. I will before the day is over clean up my kitchen and instead of yard work I will work on the Endless Stars quilt that I managed to make too small.

Happy news, Happy Squares quilt is bound, washed and on the bed where it belongs. I love the scrappyness of this quilt. Its a stash buster and I really need to make more of this sort of quilt.

Best Friend should arrive today around supper time. I just hope that I do not wander about in a lazy daze until she gets here, unable to settle on doing something constructive. Yesterday I got my head board, finished the trim in the kitchen, wash the floors, vacuumed, bound a quilt, cleaned the litter box, washed all the mats, put a handle on my new to me kitchen cabinet, got my new to me cell phone activated, did some shopping and disconnect the upstairs air conditioner.  I just want today to have some accomplishments.

Maybe I will start with unloading the dishwasher and see were it goes from there.

Linda

Where did the weekend go?

So Saturday morning early early had me on the road, headed to Saskatchewan to spend the weekend with the Carpenter and Busy. It was a good weekend. Not sure what we did but the time passed and before I knew it it was time to head back to the homestead again.

One thing that was a tad out of the norm for me was we watched the Banjo Bowl. Blue Bombers vs Rough Riders. I am not a football fan but I do like to hear it when the Riders win. I will always cheer for the Riders, you can take the girl out of Saskatchewan  but you cannot take all the Saskatchewan out of the girl. My brother likes to watch the game and apparently so does Busy so I settled in with my knitting and relaxed, while the game went on mostly without me knowing what was happening I was very content though and I got quite a bit done on my afghan.

Busy has her own bedazzled jersey. I think she could get herself a little sideline going and maybe get herself a retirement plan. Its very girly and cute with all the bling on it. Tasteful but not over the top. :-) She whipped up some yummy snacks for the game and we enjoyed ourselves while the Riders stomped the Bombers into the ground. The Carpenter let me know when to cheer because honestly, the amount I know about foot ball you could store on the head of a pin and have room left over. I know touchdowns are good and getting tackled looks painful. I'm done, honestly that's it. My only claim to fame was at this particular game, I personally knew the lady that sang the anthem. She was my vocal coach.

I took this quilt with me to get it delivered to its owner. I finished binding it the night before I was to leave so I had not taken a picture of it,  I hurled in on the bed at my brothers place and took a picture, only then did I realize I had a problem.

I had promised to deliver a queen sized quilt. The pattern I choose out of my book declared this to be queen sized. Not sure it what universe that is possible. The bed its on is a double and the quilt is just big enough for a double. Crap, crap, crappity crap. On the other hand thank goodness I took the picture. I would have been mortified to deliver it, too small, when the lady has already paid for it and waited patiently to get it. So back it came with me to be enlarged. I will not be so trusting in future, I will be measuring these things on my own from now on as apparently my idea of a quilt means it drapes over the side of the mattress, not just fit the top of the bed. My Grandmother made quilts like that, I never saw the point. You get people under a small quilt and all they are going to do is fight for covers.

Sigh, I was so happy to have it finished and now I need to work some more on it. Durn it. Oh well, onward and upward. Good news, I got the material for Busy's runner at the local quilt store while I was visiting. I found four more of the plates I am collecting. I have all I want now. Handy dandy voice mail informs me that my new headboard has arrived, so I can pick that up tomorrow. New head board means I pull the bed apart again, finally do the dust ruffle, then I will need to widen the quilt on my bed. (I am sensing a theme here). I need another week of vacation time.

Best Friend called today, she has things happening at her house with her family so she is not going to get here until Wednesday now. Poop, but she will stay until Monday (Yahoo).This gives me an extra free day at home. I have ear marked it to do some yard work. Move some plants and see if I can kill them off. Well that will not be the intention but it may be the outcome. I have a list of errands a mile long. I am thinking that tomorrow morning I will be in the car and the afternoon in the garden.

Must go check my laundry. Its good to be home.
Linda

Lovin' My Time at the Lake

Here is where I was for four heavenly days of doing nothing but what I wished to do. No television, no computer, no radio, only my cell phone. It was wonderful. I have always wanted to rent a cabin and spend some time at the lake. I would love to have my own cabin but this was a good substitute. A work friend let me use the family place for free. So off I went, with far too much stuff, but I always do that so that is nothing new.

How could you not love breakfast in the sun porch? All those windows open to the gentle cool breeze, birdsong drifting in with the air, squirrels playing tag while the morning sun filters through the pine trees. Isn't this the perfect retro table?  Its what I picture in my head when I daydream about a cabin.

There was knitting done and reading.I finished one panel and got 3/4's of another done on the afghan I am making for myself. Although you cannot see them there are books in the other basket. I finished one and got half way through another. Sitting here:

Out on the deck in the afternoon. What is missing is my glass of frosty iced tea. The huge pine trees shade this spot perfectly in the afternoons. Its very conducive for reading or napping. Both worked for me.

I got this quilt almost completely quilted. The stars are all done, just the strip around three sides, and the binding to be sewn and it will be finished. I cannot tell you how much I love to quilt and to have uninterrupted time to do it was the best of therapies for me. I can get it finished and deliver it to its new home this weekend. SQUEEEE!!!!

I do have to admit that I did have to come to terms with how much I depend on the TV for company. Its on all the time, if I am home, the box is on, because its company for me. I took loads of DVDs with me and I admit I watched/listened to a lot of them. I never realized how much I use the television to counterbalance being lonely. It was a bit of an eye opener for me. At times I made myself leave the TV turned off and made myself deal with the silence. Its good to turn off and just listen to the sounds that nature brings to us.

I shopped too, there is a really good second hand book store/fancy coffee shop close by. I indulged in lattes and fancy tarts for afternoon "tea" on a couple of days. I also bought a couple of books.  I meandered over to a near by town to check out their gift shop/tea room and left some money behind. Those of you that know me can stop rolling your eyes at any moment.  I also snooped through some of the shops that were still open at the resort. I bought a small painting that I fell in love with. Its an old farm yard by moonlight and I love it.  On the way home I stopped in and had a visit with Mommy and my Grandbaby. Ladybug is smiling now and she is too cute.

I want to go back again, for longer next time. The lake that is, I will be going back to visit Mommy and the Grandbaby, that is a given. I mean the lake and I would like to be up there when the flea market is on. They have wonderful local produce for sale.

I am also happy to be home again. There is lots to be said for your own bed and your own shower. :-) The best is I still have one more week of vacation time left. Going to go visit the Carpenter and Busy this weekend then Best Friend is coming for a few days. I LOVE VACATIONS!!

Monday Moment with Minou

Hey where did the house servant go? On vacation without me???

Left me behind did she? Hmmph, she will pay, oh yes she will pay!!!!



All Done Finished

My kitchen floor is done, finished and hopefully I will not be redoing it for many years to come. Oiy but I am tired. Moving a fridge, stove, three cupboards, deep freeze and a hutch by myself was no fun but I can still do it. I am woman hear me roar!! I know perfectly well that if I had needed help, its just a phone call away but I have an independent streak in me that makes it hard for me to ask for help, especially if I can do it myself. I am more than happy to help someone else but not so good at asking for help my own self.

There is still the clean up to happen. The pictures do not show the major mess that still lurks in my kitchen. I am going to have a rest and then I will tackle it. I want it done because tomorrow morning I am packing for my four days at the lake. I do not like to leave a messy house when I go away. I love to come home to a clean and tidy place. I need to leave town by noon so the more I can get done today the less stress tomorrow.

This is the view into the laundry room. I have a little over half of a box of flooring left over. I am hoping its enough to do the main floor bathroom. I am not doing it for awhile though. I am having a break from flooring for now.

So now this is done I am able to go to the lake and not feel like I should be home here renovating something. I am taking a quilt and an afghan with me to work on. I have books, dvd's and cd's ready to go. I have invited Mommy and my grandbaby to come for a visit one day while I am there. I have way too much food and stuff to take with me but I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. So I am 90% ready for the lake, just need to get it into the car and get me on the road.

I will be out of touch while I am there, no phone, no computer and no tv so I will not be blogging again until I get back. I know a few people read this so I will be back by Friday next week.

Toodles!!!

Linda

Put a cork in it

As promised to myself I started on the kitchen floor this morning. I was up with the chickens, fed the cat, went for groceries, got breakfast, (first day of vacation guilty pleasure McDonald's breakfast) came home, ate said breakfast, put away the groceries and then got on with the kitchen floor. First lets have a peak at the many faces of my floor

 

This what the kitchen floor was like when I moved in. This lino will not come clean anymore and I really do not like it. I was very very lucky because the Carpenter and Busy were flipping their first house and they had been to a flooring auction. The left over laminate tiles from their project were mine for the taking. I love free things and this tile was perfect for my kitchen and sewing room.

I could not install this flooring myself so I did a barter with a friend and he agreed to install my floor in exchange for a quilt for his Mom. S came along for a learning experience as she was thinking of putting laminate into her house.

This is the finished result and I loved it. I loved this tile, it was easy to clean, looked nice, felt good under the feet. It was perfect as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately it was not to be. My house is 110 years old. There is not a level surface in the place. Like me, this old lady has lots of sags and curves and she doesn't do rigid very well. Too may of the locking edges were broken in installation. Combine that with  the wonky floor underneath and  over time the laminate began to pop apart, the edges started to chip and it was just a mess. Up it came. It made me sad but I still have this tile in my sewing room where it seems to be holding together.

Flash foreward to today. Oh look, can that be faux cork flooring peaking out from under the fridge and stove? Why yes it is. Oh yeah the little white blob on the floor, those are the legs from my stove. They popped off in the moving and I dread trying to get them back on by myself. I have to though, I sorta need to cook food, maybe I will try and do that after a nap.  Every bone in my body wants to run to the nearest store and buy a new stove but I think that solution is a little radical at this moment.

Flexible laminate flooring in a cork finish now graces my kitchen. I am tickled pink, purple and blue about it. This was my labour for Labour Day Weekend. I started at 10:30 this am and worked until 4:00 pm when my shoulders gave out and my back said "stop it already". I cannot be on my knees, its impossibly painful for me, so a project like this is done with me on my tummy flopping around like a fish and it gives my back and shoulders a real work out.

I am not completely done as you can see. I have maybe two feet left to finish the kitchen, then just the laundry room and its a done deal. This will finish the kitchen as far as I can do it. I want to pull out all the cupboards and reconfigure them but that is not even on the horizon, so for now this will be considered done. 

Now I am going to ingest a pound of Ibuprofen and have me a little sleep. When I get up maybe I will be able to face fixing the stupid stove. ARRRGH!!!!!

Linda

Vacation Begins

Oh yes after yapping about it for days, I am officially on vacation. I cannot tell you what joy it was for me to shut the alarm off completely off this morning, to know it would not go off again for two weeks, unless absolutely necessary. I dislike waking to the sound of an alarm, and I do not care if you wrap it up nicely and make it a radio instead, its still a nasty little noise that makes me get up when I do not want to.

So what will I be doing the first day of my vacay??? I will be installing my kitchen floor. I want it done and this weekend is the only free time I will have to get it done. I have other fun things planned for the coming days. I will of course be sharing pictures of said project at a later date, like tomorrow or the next day.

I have my lists completed, I have plans made, places to go and people to see. I started it off with my usual no cook Friday group. Fish and chips at a local British style pub then off to Tim Horton's for coffee.  Now I am home, noodling on the 'puter and watching tv at the same time. My favorite kind of multi-tasking.

I think I need to go make a cup of tea, settle myself in my comfy chair and relax. I wish you all a happy safe long weekend.

Linda

Like a Yo-Yo

I love YouTube, I love it because I can revisit my past. Way back when in 1971 there was a new show premiering called the Flip Wilson show. On the first episode of the show the Osmond brothers were scheduled to perform. Being totally and completely head over heels, I was going to marry him and if I didn't I was totally going to die about Donny, I was counting down the day until it was on. Well the day rolled around, we were on a Sunday supper with the relatives visit and I MISSED THE SHOW!!!

Oh the misery, the agony, the pouting and carrying on was truly an Oscar performance let me tell you. This was the dark ages before those wonderful little machines allowed us to record tv programs. I was heart broken but over the years I manged to move on and live with the heartbreak.

Last night as I was noodling around on the computer, delaying going to bed I had an inspiration to just see if perchance the performance was on YouTube. AND IT WAS..........demented monkey dance of joy. So forty years after the fact I got to see the missed episode. For 5 minutes last night I was transported back to those days where the young man, singing and dancing on the tv meant the entire world. It was awesome!!

Don't judge me, they were the Justin Bieber's of my day.

Linda