And It Goes On and On

The yard work continues and while the going is slow, I am on track with my planned out timetable and I am getting it done myself. //getting it done myself is the biggest deal for me. The weeds had a heyday and were totally running amok.

Thankfully the little shrubs that were planted last year all survived the winter and are coming back this year. Here we go with the before and after pictures.

Not sure why the pictures are sideways but it doesn't matter you can see all the weeds at any angle. They are lush and plentiful.

I just realized this year that I do not weed correctly. I do the rip their heads off method. The Banker digs and loosens the soil then she can pull out the root as well. This would be a far smarter method and one I shall try to do in future. It would make it easier in the long run.

I may plant a hosta or two by the glass mushrooms in future. I cannot tell you how happy that little bush in the corner makes me. Its at least the third one that has been planted since I killed the old one and its the only one that finally took root and may actually be growing.  I love the bright green of the leaves. (Oh I can hear my neighbour mowing our lawns even as we speak. I like that.)

This is the front host bed. I was not sure they were coming back as I could not see them but its amazing what shows up once you move a ton of weeds out of the way. Best of all is I have the front yard finished and next week I will move into the back yard and weed the big flower bed. That is going to be a job and a half. At least now the hostas will be coming up and I can weed round them.
I have more hostas to plant back there. I want to fill the entire bed with them. They look so nice and take no maintenance.

All those leaves in the lawn disappear when its mowed and just look green. I have no idea what they are but I keep throwing down grass seed hoping the grass will choke them out.

At least the place looks like someone cares a bit about it. I need to get my garden hose out of the shed and get the water to the outside tap turned on so I can water without having to carry water from the kitchen. My neighbour is going to up plug my downspouts at some point which will make me happy.
I am missing out on some lovely rain water.

I have tried the quilt as you go method on my row by row quilt and I have to say I am still not a fan. I have done it before but I am not good at it.

Where 

While I like the ease of quilting each row on its own, I do not like the wobbly uneven look of the finished product. I am not skilled enough to make it close to perfect so I am scrapping this idea. I am going to sew the top all together and then quilt it like I normally would. I am happier with that plan of action.

Today I will work on it. I did little to nothing but a bit of weeding yesterday. I still have to get my weekends figured out. I always used Saturday as a get the errands done, do the housework kind of day and then Sunday was laundry and crafts. I can do housework, errands and laundry on week days now so I have to find a purpose for Saturday. Sunday is all crafts but Saturdays find me a bit lost. I will figure it out in time. The smart thing would be to use Saturdays for baking and making some meals ahead. Time will tell if I do the smart thing.

The weather this weekend has been so fabulous. Saturday there was a lot of veranda sitting and soaking up the days. This is my sort of weather and I know its not going to last, I am making it a mission to take in as much of it as I possibly can. I love these days.

Time to get sewing!!

Toodles
Linda

Little Acorns

At long last I have stopped talking and started actually doing..............the yard work that is. To harp on a tired old subject I cannot do all the things I used to do, little as that was. To give you the condensed version, it hurts, plain and simple as that.  It hurts before, it hurts worse during and worse again after. The downside is if I don't push on I will loose what little I have left, not to mention the fact that I really want to do this stuff for myself. I want to be independent and I am not good at asking for help. I do it but I do not want to become one of those people that makes others cringe when she shows up, wondering "what is she going to ask for now?"

That being said,  I did have to ask for help in getting my flowers. The Banker (bless her golden heart) went out this week and burned through my list in record time.

In no time at all my veranda was loaded with the necessities and I had the wherewithal to get the yard looking nice. Just have to get the stuff from the veranda into beds in the yard.

I finally got myself together yesterday and made a little start. I planted up four plant pots and Mom's old washtub

I got mostly red and white petunias this time around Feeling rather Canada proud this year. Mom always planted petunias in her wash tub and I do it now in her memory.

I then had a little rest and managed to tackle the peony bed. It needed a good weeding and I managed to give it a half hearted going over

I need to find the clippers and cut down the old brown stalks. A good sweep of the path and that will be as good as I can get it. I will then work my way around the yard. I had hoped to plant marigolds today but its raining. Oh well, I am rather stiff and sore from yesterday. I know I have to keep at it. I know its not much and its not the best job but I am pleased and proud of it.

My neighbour mowed my lawn which makes things look good. He has also said he will unplug my downspouts for me which is one more job ticked off the list.

Right now I am going to get a coffee and go sit on the veranda and listen to the rain for a bit. Then I will come back to the sewing room and work on quilts for the remainder of the day. My idea of a good plan.

Toodles
Linda

Long Weekend has Come and Gone

Finally the weather has warmed and the furnace has stopped running and it looks like we might actually get some proper spring weather. Makes my heart sing. I spent a good deal of time on the veranda this weekend, on my own and entertaining. Again it made my heat sing, That veranda is, without a doubt, my favourite spot in the house.

This pandemic nonsense had made us become inventive with how we interact with folk and once again my veranda has made me happy. There is enough space out there that I can have someone come to visit and we can social distance. Weather permitting of course.

This weekend Teddy Bear came

KitKat arrived with supper in hand and we dined al fresco

The Nurse stopped by with Breakfast biscuits and coffee and we chatted the morning away

All were most welcome and made the weekend wonderful. The most unexpected treat of the veranda shenanigans was a sweet treat brought to me by Princess Diva. Saturday morning she stopped by and left me these

Sweet treats from a local bakery, OMG they were sooo delicious. It was a lovely, generous, unexpected treat from a very kind friend. I inhaled them as soon as possible. So yummy

I even had a little feline visitor this weekend. This big orange fella stopped in for a pet and a head scratch and to provide a reminder that I do have a soft spot for big orange cats.

I have never seen him before, and have no idea where he came from but we had a nice little moment. He has the prettiest pale blue eyes. So we canoodled for a bit and then he wandered off to places unknown. No collar but he looked well fed and cared for. He was friendly so I am thinking someones pet out for a stroll. (Yes I am in bare feet, deal with it)

So the house keeping continues to stay on the better side and has not gone back to the dark side so far. I have been crafting up a storm. Knitting dishcloths

I have a plan for these., so I am busy making a lot of them. I have been working on quilts as well. The pile of works in progress grows each day

My row by row quilt project via facebook continues on. I think we only have two more weeks of it before its done

I had a bit of a panic because I thought I had run out of the pale yellow material but thanks to my quilt scrap sort out, I found enough to get the quilt finished. Whew!!

Busy shared with me, a picture of a quilt she had made for Sweet Pea. I loved the pattern so much I made a crib quilt with it from scraps on hand. Hers was all beautiful blues and greens but I went with what was on hand. 

Its all quilted now but I have not taken the finished picture yet. The Banker found me some quilt batt at the local Walmart so I am good to go on the quilts for a while. I will keep this little quilt on hand for a gift or a donation item. Those situations crop up now and then and I just gave my last little quilt and toddler afghan to a family that had a house fire. I need to restock.

I made a pie on the weekend. I saw the recipe on YouTube and it only took three ingredients. Lemon Ice Box pie. It was super easy and rather tasty and made with things you would have in the house. I cheated and bought a graham cracker crust. I could have made one but I like the bought ones better.

I have yet to get myself organised to bake bread. Its on my radar to do I just have to wait until I get in the mood. Yeast is as scarse as hen's teeth so I am looking at trying a soda bread. Because I use it for cleaning I have a good supply of baking soda. 

Today I have not accomplished too much so far. I plan to wash up the towels and cleaning rags. I need to put the dumpsters out as tomorrow is garbage day. I have a bin of compost to move from the veranda to the green bin. Not a terribly big list but I bet I can make it take up the entire day. I may start purging drawers as well.

I finally cleaned out behind my chair in the living room. Its like the back seat of the car, a great place to toss things that should not be tossed back there. Its all cleaned up now and all I can do is hang my head in shame, and try to not let it happen again.

My next quilt to start working on is for Best Friend. She brought me a bunch of her Dad's ties and asked it I could make her a quilt. More than happy to do that for her. I have found a pattern that pleases me, Now I need to get the material together and get doing on it. Fun times!!

Toodles

Linda

April Showers Bring ............Snow???????

Ok Mother Nature is apparently having a moment, a snit if you will. The woman needs to get back on her Meds and stop with the shenanigans, On May 9th we woke up to this nonsense.

Now granted by mid afternoon it was all gone and things were green once more but it certainly spoiled the day. It was rude to say the least. I know we did not get as much as other parts of the country but really it was pretty nervy if you ask me. My furnace is still running on a regular basis. I can;t even talk about it.

Lets move on to more positive things. Before that snow hit, I got the veranda cleaned off and it looks a hundred times better. It feels so good to get the winter dirt washed away.

The tiles on the table look white once more not a dirty gray. The leaves have all be swept away, Every time I do this I am reminded that someone has my leaf blower that I only got to use once. The nerve.

All the furniture, bird houses and plant pots got a bath and are now shiny clean. It will look decent for my next veranda visit with a friend. It is a job that I am very happy to have done and over.

I also got my room cleaned at last. I have put it off for so very long that its embarrassing, How do you know you need to dust??

Yeah I have no excuse. The up side is its all clean now, I just have to get the floor washed. Then its done and will be added the the maintenance rotation list. My goal is to never let the house get as bad as it did, ever again.

I finally broke down and made myself a mask. I think its something we cannot avoid wearing at some point. I have to have one to go to my podiatrist appointment so I caved. Teddy Bear asked me to make her a couple when she saw the ones I made for myself, so I did that as well. They are not hard at all and I do have all the supplies on hand

I have even started to do some baking. I made a cookie cake the other day. SUPER super quick and simple. Its tasty and that is what I was going for..

Its made with a cake mix which is why its called a cookie cake but its more cookie than cake like. My next thing will be to tackle some bread. I am out of bread and its not just that easy to run and get some. Once again I have all the stuff on hand, just have to get myself to do it.

Things are starting to open up. Fabricland is open again but its still limiting how many people can be in the store at one time but its a start. I am hoping they do not go too fast on one hand and on the other I just want to be able to go out and go to the store without thinking you are doing  something wrong or waiting in a big long lineup.

I am going to do the next row on my "row by row" quilt today. Then I may start a crib quilt to keep on hand as a gift or donation item. I have to wait for a couple of fabric orders before I can work on and complete the three other quilts I have started. Orders have been placed and am just waiting for them to arrive. Thank goodness for on line shopping.

Toodles
Linda

Switching Gears

I cannot tell you how much I do not like the fact that my furnace is still cutting in in the mornings. I have it set to 15 degrees and its turning its self on!! Its May for goodness sake!! I usually do not hear it run after the beginning of April. Yeesh. Hurts my feelings and my bank account.

So I had sort of thought that this Monday I would get outside and start the  yard clean up. The lawn needs to be raked and the flowers from last year need to go and live in the compost bin. I had great plans, I knew it would not be easy but it would be good for the yard to get it started and good for me to get the exercise. Switch gears!! I am way to stiff and sore today to do it. I'm not sure why, I give up trying to figure it out, I just know its a day to day thing for me. Plus its cold, cold enough for the furnace to cut in so will do this another day. For now I will content myself with watching the tulips thrust their young green selves up through last years detritus searching for spring

I really need to get that grate spray painted, its getting so rusty

You know you are an old lady when you get all excited about a grocery cart. I treated myself and got a new one. I did have a small one that I got at a yard sale which worked fine but I wanted one that was bigger and stronger, with four wheels. Meet Rosie the grocery cart

She is shiny, new, strong, capable and has four lovely wheels. This means I can push it with ease instead of having to pull it behind me. It holds the entire grocery shop and the bags do not drag on the ground. I am toying with the idea of making a liner for her but for now I am super tickled with my new addition. The only down side is now I  have to find a storage spot for the girl.

Last week I tackled a job that I have wanted to do for some time. I sorted most of my quilt scraps into colours. I did two totes worth. I think there is another tote filled with cotton but I ran out of steam before I got to it. It will get done in time

Once I had them all colour coded, I bagged them. I thought that would keep them in their category. That last tote looks a mess but trust me its far more organized than before. I even culled out the material that I knew I would not use and passed it onto the Banker's Mom. She and her friends make quilts for the Woman's shelter and they are running low on material.

So in the spirit of reducing and reusing, I finally got around to this little project. Prepare to be dazzled by my brilliance!!!  Seriously I know its not much but it pleased me and this is my blog, so there. This box came with a flower delivery at some point.

I discovered it is the perfect size to hold my clear stamp sets for scrapbooking. It corrals them into one place

I found some contact paper in the craft room that I have had for some time and I made the little box pretty

Its useful, it was made with things that were laying around the house, it did not cost me a dime and it saved the box from being thrown away. It made me happy

I finished The Nurses quilt. Its had a bath and is all dry and ready to go to her house. I wish I could find a lint brush to take the little fuzzy bits and threads off it. No cats in the house means there are not the plenitude of lint brushes about the place anymore that there used to be.

My dear friend Rosemarie made this quilt for the Nurse many years ago. Rosemarie was The Nurse's favourite aunty. The backing had holes and the seams had given in certain spots but she did not want to throw it out. She asked me if I thought it was worth mending and if it could be done. Apparently I said yes because here it is, all ready for a bit more life. I was so happy to be able to do it for her.

It is one month to day since I began this new chapter of my life. I am still enjoying it in case you were wondering. I now use my weekends as total crafting times. Housework can be done during the week as I have time to do it not to mention the energy. So my weekends are free to spend time doing what I love best, creating.

This weekend I decided to start a quilt that I can use as the raffle quilt for the Safe and Warm Shelter, if I can figure out how to sell tickets. Not working means I have lost that lovely situation where lots of people would come to me to get a ticket. Something will work out, so I decided to get a quilt made in case.

I need 12 of these big squares and so far I have 8 of them made. I worked on them while watching the Last Kingdom (?) on Netflix. I am nearly finished the series and I still am not sure of the name. The quilt is a Celtic knot that once I get the whole top finished you will be able to see better.

My coffee is done, my blog post is almost complete and I need to get on with my day. My kitchen  needs to be cleaned, behind my chair in the living room needs to be purged and I am sure many other things need to be done. I best get at them .

Toodles
Linda