Sunday, Sunday so Good to Me

Lovely, Lovely, lazy Sunday morning. Bacon, eggs, toast, hashbrowns and then coffee on the veranda. Just enough breeze to keep the skeeters away. Heaven!! Sundays should be like 72 hours long :-) I could sit of the veranda all day, with my book and either coffee or a cool drink and be perfectly content!! However, I wanted to get some thing done today. The trip to the mall has been postponed until some evening next week. For today, I will putter, go check KitKat's cats, and quilt.

Some things have been accomplished besides quilting, laundry is sorted and started. The rain barrel and the barbecue have found comfy new homes on the patio. A chair and table will join them eventually and maybe a plant pot or two. for now they rule the roost. I was going to tile a tv table to use out here but I have changed my mind. It won't work. Maybe I can make something!! or maybe I can find what I want at a yard sale to fix up.

The pinterest mushrooms are outside finally but this is not where they will stay. I am thinking I may put them under the down spout, by the rain barrel. they will be protected there. For now however they are off the kitchen table and actually outside.

Its kind of hard to see them and I don't like them sitting here. They look lost and out of place. But they are finally outside!! I have a very small yard and I have not got a lot of choice as to where they go. I may move them to the front yard. I have an idea where they might look ok there. We will play move the mushrooms another time.

Since the Banker so kindly and wonderfully removed the weeds from this little space between my fence and my house, I got the plastic out and laid it down. I am going to gravel this little section. Its not wide enough to get the lawn mower in there and it is my only path to uncover the air conditioner.

Now I need to get a few pails of gravel and cover up the plastic. The plastic is my effort to keep the weeds from growing as rapidly as they like to do.

The fence needs replacing, the rail as the left of the picture needs replacing, or bracing as it has a wicked wobble to it. So many things I want to do, so little money and energy!!

I am off to quilt!!

Toodles
Linda

Best Laid Plans Go South in the Best of Ways

Ok Saturday has arrived, time for errands, time for chores, time to pitter patter, etc, etc. And I did. I got up, hit the Home Depot for a few bits and bobs, more spray paint, two small cement pads to put under the bench in the back yard, and some plant food. The I was off to Future Shop were I stood around and looked completely clueless until someone took pity on me and sold me this

I caved in an bought another camera charger. I should find the original one any minute now. The Pilot's wedding is just around the corner and I need to take pictures, man. My head would blow off if I couldn't. So I admitted defeat and bought a new one. The battery is charging even as we speak. Two jobs were scratced off my list. 

Next stope was something I have been intending to do for months, literally MONTHS!!  Since there was snow and ice on the ground, no less, because I remember using slippery sidewalks as an excuse to leave things as they were. I TOOK THE DONATION BOXES TO THE CHARITY SHOP!! Happy drunken monkey dance of joy!! My kitchen no longer looks like this:

(Actually two weeks ago it looked worse because KitKat took two boxes and a big garbage bag to another charity shop for me. ) To looking like this:

Although you cannot see it, there are actual dust outlines from where the boxes sat. I ASTOUND myself at my ability to ignore something for an incredible amount of time. All that is left is a scrap of paper which has since been removed.  I am so happy they are gone. My kitchen looks huge!! I am going to give the floor a good wash and bask in this newly found space. The newel post is earmarked for an little Pinterest project!! (one of these days) and shall remain where it is until I get at it.

So by the time I got these dropped off it was time for breakfast. I hit the local Timmies, got my breakfast biscuit and came home to enjoy. I had every intention of finishing breakfast, going to the mall for some stuff and then coming home to work in the yard. Well............that was when the surprise fun stuff happened.

I chatted on facebook with a friend in Ontario whilst eating my biscuit and drinking my coffee. We said goodbye and I had just talked myself out of enduring the mall, at noon,  on a Saturday. Instead, I chucked a load of laundry into the machine and was planning where to start in the yard when the phone rang. Well, some friends, that I have not seen in ages, were passing through town. they are on vacation and asked, did I want to go for lunch. Hells yeah!! So off I went to catch up with them. I was so pleased that they called. It was really lovely to see them.Years ago they adopted Best Friend's first born. An extra bonus once Best Friend found her boy again was that both her family and I found new friends in these wonderful people.

Lunching and chatting took a nice chunk of the day, in the very best of ways, as we had lots to chat about. THEN I got home and another friend called to ask if I could give him some help with his resume. I was free so he came over. We have not talked in some time, so we yakked it up for a goodly amount of the day. He left and I had to pop out and go feed KitKat's kitty cats while she is off on her Father/Daughter fun weekend. I managed to indulge my need to love up on a cat with all three of her's. I miss giving ear skritches and chin rubs and belly rubs and getting rewarded with rumbly purrs for your efforts. She has three cats and as she is away, they are anyone's for some attention.

By the time this mutual admiration society called it quits it was supper time. I am now blogging and then am going to quilt for the rest of the evening. Yard work is slated for tomorrow. Along with laundry and some cooking as well. That is unless I get a better offer!!

Toodles,
Linda

The Rewards of Having Wonderful Friends

I have been wanting to have a cement/brick something or other pad under my kitchen window to place the barbecue and the rain barrel so they would not sink into the mud. Nothing grows under my kitchen window but weeds. So to this end, I had started to gather some patio stones from a friend who was getting rid of them. I was going to buy the rest but then last year The Banker stumbled over some chunks of sidewalk that were headed to the dump. She claimed them and brought them to my house for my patio. I was thrilled at her generous gesture.

Well if I was thrilled then, I am gobsmacked to day!! She had mentioned a couple of times that she would be happy to help me with the patio. I had, to date, installed three stones and got them way too low but I had done three of them. Noting how quickly I was getting on with it, she offered to help. She likes doing that sort of thing. I accepted the offer happily.

Last night The Banker, Kit Kat and I had supper at my house, we watched a movie and we discussed my vision for the pad. The Banker said, casually, that she would maybe stop by in the morning and get a start on it. Insert gobsmacking here::

I left home this morning to my yard looking like this

Well not exaclty like this, I did move all the stuff in case she did stop by.  When I got home tonight it looked like this:

Holy Patio Pad Batman!! She did the whole damn thing!! I actually teared up. That is a lot of work, in the bug infested heat. All it needs is sand in between the stones. I have no idea how I will repay this but I am going to get my thinking cap on. I love, love, love, it. Its all recycled and just what I wanted.

I have said it before and I will say it again, I have wonderful friends. Each and everyone is amazing, generous and so precious to me. My life is so much better for having them in it. I have no idea what I have done to deserve such good friends but I thank God every day that I did it. I am blessed.

Now I feel like I should get the bench painted, the flower bed weeded and get my yard looking like I want it to look. I am one happy happy bunny!!!

Toodles
Linda

Its Just a Cat

That is what people say.... its just a cat and I think I may have even said it myself. I know that when I got a cat and I was living on my own, I tried to tell myself I would not be one of "those people" that talk to and about their cat, who just go over the top about there precious babies. Well I may not have gone totally over the top but they did become far more important to me than I ever thought could happen. And I did the best I could to make sure they were cared for and loved.

If you did not know it before just how important they are is driven sharply home when the Vet starts using words like tumor, lots of pain, can't open her mouth properly to eat and you realize that you have to make that decision. THE DECISION that you never want to make for your baby. Thankfully, my baby had 19 good, spoiled, pampered years before this happened. She did not let me know she was in pain. She did not complain, she was thin but I put that down to age. She purred, let me pet her and rub her face, she had some swelling but I thought it was maybe her teeth, She was old, bad teeth were possible.

Nope, cancer and I could not stand to think of her in pain. On Thursday, we said goodbye. I stayed with her until she took her leave, so she would know that she was not alone. It broke my heart but it was the kindest thing, in my opinion.  So no more listening to that tractor like purr, no more gentle pats on my leg when someone needs some attention and I am on the computer, no more warm little body curled into the small of my back while I read in bed. No more belly rubs being demanded, no more death glares when I am not doing as she wants. No more laying on my hip while we nap together on the couch. No more trotting to the door to welcome me home and no more nose bumps. Sigh. I miss her

Yes there is no more hair all over the house, no more stepping in kitty barf in my bare feet, no more litter box to deal with but those things mean nothing. I would rather still have her. The house feels strangely empty without her little presence. Its the first time since I have lived in this house there is no cat in residence. Its not the same, my house and my life are missing a very important part. Just a cat..............be serious.

Minou

Making Mushrooms' Pinterest Style

SO I finally got around to taking some pictures of the stuff I mentioned that I found yesterday, My great grand finds whilst I was out and about with KitKat. My favourite find of the day was this little cutie:

$5.00 investment. It was super dirty but a little oil soap and now it looks a treat. I am not even tempted to paint it. I love the patina of the wood,  I am thinking its a plant/ash tray stand.Its not very big and I am so tickled with it. I am going to try it at the top of the stairs, where the stairs turn to get to the bedrooms. I will put some do-dads on it and we will see if it fits, If not I will find another home for it. Somewhere in this little stuffed house there is a perfect spot for it. I know there is!!!

I got this little baby for $2.00. I think its a sewing or work basket of some sort. It has a silky lining and the lady that sold it to me told me it belonged to her Mom so I am thinking its old. I loved baskets and this one will be perfect for something or other, I am sure of it. Not sure just what yet but I will find a use for it.

The other stuff I bought was the makings for some mushrooms. Pinterest mushrooms that is. I saw these and I just thought they were fun, cheap and easy to make. I could not wait to get some for my yard.

An old vase, a bowl and some silicone and you have mushrooms for the garden. I spent less than $5.00 on these three. I am going to put them outside once they are dry and firmly glued and see how long they last. Vases are a dime a dozen at any second hand shop and bowls are about the same. This way I have no sentimental attachment to anything, so if they break I will not mourn the loss. Not everyone's style to be sure but they make me smile.

Now I just have to find the best place to put my newest additions to the garden. I am slowly and steadily getting the garden to look how I want it to. Can't wait to paint the bench and make the patio pad.

I started to quilt on my scrap quilt today. Its something I really enjoy doing and its a great way to spend time on a Sunday afternoon. This is the quilt that is for me so that makes it fun. Its not this size any more, its queen sized and ready to be completed.

I am just quilting it from corner to corner on each square which means there is no need to mark quilting lines on it. Its plain, simple and ever so easy to do. This is also one of my favourite looks on a quilt.

Well I should maybe go swap out the laundry. Today I have managed to do a tenderloin in the crock pot, I finally poured the rhubarb tea on the ant hills, so fingers crossed it works. I did the dishes, made the mushrooms and started the quilt. A bit more than yesterday, maybe not as much fun but at least there is progress. My knees and legs are really giving me trouble these days. Its so annoying. I hate to not be able to move like I want to. I am not happy about it. I would love to be able to walk around, bend, kneel and just generally move with even just a little bit of ease but that is not happening lately. Sigh

My laundry and my quilt are calling me and I don't want this to turn into an oh poor me post so have a lovely week!!

Toodles
Linda

Saturday Stuff

Today did not go as I had planned but not in a bad way. Today turned out to be one of those days that I am off spending time with my friends, doing fun stuff and generally running amok while the house/yard work languishes. I LOVE IT!! Oh but first things first, I just this day threw out my birthday flowers, that pretty little bouquet lasted from June 19th to July 12th before it actually looked like it was done!! I am impressed!! Mommybug picked a good one!!

Anyway, last night at supper KitKat and I decided we needed to check out the monthly flea market this morning. She arrived here at 10:00 am and off we went. I was up at 8:00 am but all I managed was to go get coffee and a breakfast biscuit before she got here. We flea marketed, we garage saled, second hand store shopped , we went for lunch, we took the Banker some tea and a cookie, we had a great day. Poor Banker had to work 4 hours today, so we thought she would need a treat. Some retired people have it so hard. We visited with her for a while, then headed back to mine. KitKat graciously took some of the donation boxes that have been sitting in my kitchen for WEEKS!! up to a charity shop in her area of town. This has inspired me to think about loading up the remaining boxes into my car to go to another charity shop and then maybe I will be able to have my kitchen back again. Whoot, whoot!!

I napped, made a run to the store for bread, came home and Teddy Bear had called to see if I wanted to get some supper with her. Off I went again. After supper we popped over to her house so I could meet the newest grandchild, a lovely little girl. I got some serious baby snuggles in before I headed home again to try and get some laundry done in time for bed. I have no choice, I stripped the bed this morning when I got up.

I love days like this. I love spending time with my friends, I love hunting up some bargains and I love getting some things done. I got the folding table out of the car at long last, some donation stuff is gone, the sheets are chugging away in the washer. KitKat took some of my left over flowers and I am happy happy happy about all of that. That folding table has been in my car for far too long. I am astoundingly good at dodging little jobs, things that would take only minutes to do but I can avoid them like a champ!! I have even started to move the dead electronics off the back step to the back yard dumpster area for easy loading once I get a dump run organized.

I will share pictures of what I bought today at the flea market and the second hand store but it will not be until tomorrow. I have to go change the laundry and then head upstairs to make the bed!!

Toodles,
Linda

Splash On Some Colour

What I wet weekend this has been. We are currently experiencing some flooding, had a state of emergency declared, been warned at work vacations may be cancelled and that our "volunteering" is expected to deal with evacuations,should we be needed in the next week. Kind of hard to believe the area is under so much water  today because the sun is shining, a gentle breeze blowing, its just an all round lovely day. Last night was easier to believe when the rain was coming down in sheets, so hard and fast you could hardly see across the street. I have had only some water in the basement, which is not the end of the world. My basement is completely unfinished.  Some time, in the near future, I will need to go down there, open the window and get a fan going to dry it up.

Can't much remember what I did yesterday, I know it was not the yard work I had planned on, It was WAYYYYYY too muggy for me to be out there. Menopause, humidity and chubbiness makes for a bad combination. So I stayed in and worked at the house, cleaning, tidying and getting things back to normal. The only yard work I did yesterday was finally mow the poor lawn!! Two weeks after it should have been done but at last, mowing was accomplished. Sad fact is it takes 23 minutes from getting the lawn mower out of the shed, untangling the cord, mowing and putting it away. The way I carry on about it you would think it was HOURS of work. I can make a mountain out of a mole hill, me. However, yesterday the weather channel threatened rain for today and into next week, THEY LIED, but I thought it was mow now or never.

I tried to sit on the veranda last night, in the early evening, it had cooled a little, due to the impending thunder storms/hail and the mugginess has receded but it as impossible. I did not have enough hands to swat all the skeeters out there. I doubt I made 10 minutes before I bolted into the house and away from the blood suckers. Its so sad it would have been a nice evening to sit out before the storm hit.

Today I dragged out the spray paint and gave my yard some hits of much needed colour. I have before and after pictures but try to ignore the overgrown vegetation. I have not got out the machete to do some weeding. All this water is making for some lush, full  run-a-muk weeds. But here we go:

A couple of shots of spray paint later and Gnorm the Gnome and the plant pot look so much better. Gnorm is starting to show his age but now he will make another season or two.

Once I got going I wanted to paint everything, soI also gave these two ornaments from the front yard a shot of freshening paint. Not quite as loud colourwise but a face lift none the less. Rusty and dull they needed some help.
\

After: copper for the grate and oil rubbed bronze for the lantern.

Maybe I should have taken the after picture once I got them back into the front yard, oh well you get the idea. I have a couple more things I want to spray paint but I will save those for another day.

Toodles,
Linda

Canada Day Stuff

HAPPY CANADA DAY!! The sun is shining the rain has gone away, lawn mowers are purring all over the neighbourhood. Its a lovely lovely day. Nice breeze blowing, birdsong floats on the breeze, no bugs are out and about. Big Sigh of relief. We did not need any more water!! Too many basements have been turned into indoor pools already. Yesterday I was sure Noah and the Ark were going to sail by at any moment. Its been a wet few days here.

In-spite of the rain,I have had a wonderful four days off. I am rested, renewed and refreshed. I have slept in, done little to nothing that NEEDED to be done, accomplished some things that were hanging about and generally just enjoyed my time off. This morning I was just deciding to get up and debating whether I would go out and pick up breakfast or would I make something here when Teddy Bear called to see if she could talk me into coffee. Twist went my rubber arm and I was up, dressed and out the door in short order. It fact I got to the coffee shop before she did for once!! We had breakfast, coffee, chatted and it was so nice.She is one of the one's with a pool in her basement. Poor thing, she was tired from shop vaccing, and moving and hauling, she needed a break. Its not as bad as it has been in the past but its still a lot of work.

We parted company after two cups of rejuvenation and verbally setting the world to rights. I came home and for some reason decided I needed to wash all the cat blankets. I try to keep my furniture covered as much as I can because she is a hairy little beast, who loves to smear soft fur all over my house, no matter how much I clean and vacuum. I have let the blankets pile up so today they hit the washer. I had to peel off sheets of cat hair, probably enough to create another cat or two before they could even go into the washer. I had a plastic grocery bag full. I swear, how she is not bald in a mystery to me. The best part is I can hang them all outside and they will be wonderfully clean and fresh for the next round. I also threw in her eating mats so Miss Minou will have all sorts of clean stuff once again and I will not have hairy blankets piled in the laundry room

Yesterday I finished the top for my scrap quilt for me. It io plain, unfussy but a good scrap quilt. Since I got my queen sized bed (thanks Lovely Bug Family for giving it to me) I have had queen sized sheets but no queen sized quilts. Now I will have at long last.

 I may yet today get the backing pieced together. I have loads of scraps of flannelette from other projects so I am just going to sew some together for a back to use them up. Its just for me, after all and I am all about the using what you have on hand lately. Its funny but I made this queen sized quilt top, using scraps from my stash and now its done the stash box looks just a full as it did before I made the quilt. Yeesh. I am looking foreward to the day I see a dent in the stash.

Today, inbetween grappling with cat hair, I made a tooth fairy bear for Teddy Bear's grandson. He lost his first tooth recently so we thought he needed one:

I got his pocket on crooked inspite of pinning it, and I did not notice until I was done and taking his picture. ARGH!!! Stuff like that makes me crazy.

I should be out working in the yard but I have allowed myself to give that a miss for now. There will be time in the coming week to get at that. Besides I am watching the "Leave it to Bryan" marathon and I want him to come to my house!! I have a list of things he could do but since he likes to make the decisions, I would let him. Oh yeah in my dreams!!

Well I have blankets to hang on the clothes line and a quilt back to sew. Oh I love love love love love, my days off!!

Toodles
Linda