Actually Getting Stuff Done

So for the longest time my cable has been acting up. It would picsilate, freeze, and the sound would skip. This went on for ages and then it just got to the point where you could not watch anything or the majority of the channels would have a blue screen which stated One Moment Please, this channel will be available shortly. It lied, it would say that for days. Ok so for the last few weeks I could not watch tv but I could tape things. I called and made an appointment to have someone look at it.

I came back from Easter and voila I could watch all the channels on the tv. Cancel the cable guy. Then after he was cancelled I found out I could not tape anything. Watch live but not tape. Crap!! then in a couple of days it turns out that yes I can tape but only the preset programs and not if the tv was actually on the channel that was set to tape. Confused? Me too.

Call the cable company and they suggest I bring in my cable box as apparently its a dinosaur its so old. This means moving the wall unit, taking things apart and hauling stuff to the cable office. Today that is what I did. I faced down the man sized dust bunnies, shoved furniture around and got the cable box back to its people.

I am getting upgraded!! I'm getting TiVo. free for 12 months thank to a promo going on at the moment. I will get to watch Netflix in the living room. A guy is going to come and set it all up for me, which makes me happier than I can say. No cable in the living room until late next week but I can deal with that. I have been moaning forever about not being able to watch Netflix on the big TV and now I can shut up about that.

I have the DVD player set up in there and I am currently revisiting Downton Abbey. I like to have noise in the house.

I finally found a place to hang my Maud Lewis print. I think these two compliment each other rather nicely. I will eventually frame the Maud Lewis but at least it finally has a home.

The monster slippers are finished, delivered and paid for. I am so happy!! Tomorrow I am going to get the memory quilt sandwiched and start to quilt that. I washed and rehung the curtains in the downstairs bathroom, I folded a ton of laundry and I washed the bedding on my bed. I also partook of a nap. All in all a good Saturday.

Toodles
Linda

Easter Time

Its Sunday again, the weekend has evaporated with amazing speed and I am staring the work week in the eye. Laundry load number 4 is chugging away in the machine while the fifth and final one waits patiently for its turn. Laundry was most important to get done. I wanted to finally get it all cleared up

I went back to work last week after 10 days off and a trip home for Easter with the family

I had a lovely Easter.

Early start. That is 6:45 AM peeps. I wanted to get there in good time

All fueled up

I headed off with one of my favourite horizons in my sights. You can take the girl out of the gap but you cannot take the gap our of the girl. I have not made this trip since Thanksgiving last year and I was thrilled to be getting out of the City and actually going somewhere.

It was a fun family filled weekend. A five year old, a three year old and a nearly one year old add the magic to the day. They are so full of life and wonder. They also get along remarkably well for being little and not seeing each other all the time. 

Tater Tot is so gentle with Sweet Pea 

Lots of stuff was planned for the weekend, 

Tater Tot and the Wee Girl had much fun making Easter cards with Grammy

Then egg colouring was next on the agenda

Then the main event. Egg hunts in search of the chocolate and the toys and goodies that the Bunny brought

Aunty lent a hand to help find eggs

That Easter bunny was tricky. He hid things high and low

They has a blast and it was pure joy to watch them having so much fun.

Sweet Pea kept a close eye on the shenanigans from the sidelines, next year she will be right in there with them

"dis is ma foots"

games were played, rules went out the window but a lot of fun was had by all.

We ate good food, had lots of laughs, absorbed the children's joy,  All in all it was a wonderful weekend. I stayed until Monday then headed back home

Back home to the regular routine, work and the never ending things that need to be done here. I could have happily stayed there. I am so grateful they include me.

No yard work was done this weekend. Its too cold and I am way to stiff and sore to attempt it. I always get this way when the weather changes. I just hope we do not get snow. Time to deal with the laundry.

Toodles 

Linda

Staycation here I Come

End of work Friday marked the beginning of a 10 day staycation. No great plans for anything, puttering about the house, continuing to declutter, purge and organize. I want to finish the memory quilt and I have those giant slippers to knit. Visiting family and some girl time with the Banker and KitKat could happen.

Quilt block 13 is done and dusted. I now know that I have to make sure that all three colours are in each block.

I spent most of yesterday doing some housework, I vacuumed the living room and I have to admit, I miss my cats more than I can say but I do not miss this:

bales and bales of cat hair in the the carpet. Desi was the worst shedding cat I had ever met. This photo is from a while ago, I found it again and reaffirmed that I do not miss the cat hair at all. The cat very very much but not the hair.

I even did a bit of scrapbooking yesterday. I get frustrated with the fact that I cannot find the embellishments that I want. So yesterday I got busy and made a tea pot for my tea party page. I was rather pleased with the outcome.

Not 100% pleased with the lid but it will do. The down sid of this is that I managed to break by 3 1/2 inch punch doing this. That made me mad. Those punches are not cheap. Oh well next 50% off coupon at Michael's and I am going to replace it. I use those punches a whole lot.

My latest organizing endeavour was under the bathroom sink upstairs. I had made an attempt at it but it was not right, Dollar tree to the rescue. I love love love their little stacking bins.

So we went from this

to this

much better. Easy access and things are neat and tidy. This makes me happy. One cupboard, one room at a time and eventually it will be done.

I actually think that I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Things are starting to get better around here. Its been a slow and steady process but I am starting to see some improvements. Finally!!
It could be that I am starting to feel more like caring for things, I;m making an effort and that makes a very big difference.

Well I need to go send some emails. do some knitting and then who knows what!! I may make a coffee and sit on the veranda for the first time this year.

Toodles
Linda

I have not done this in years

I decorated for Easter. I have not decorated for Easter in literally years. I always used to decorated for Easter,  the fall, and then for Christmas. For years I just never felt like doing it and today I just dragged out the box of stuff and did it. I had forgotten half of the things I had.

I need to get some flowers for the egg vases on the buffet and maybe a couple more rabbits and I will be good. Oh yes I am going to make a table square and a runner with Easter themes. One for the dining table and one for the buffet. I have been trolling Pinterest for inspiration already I have the doily that is on the buffet but I don't like it, I want a quilted runner and happily I know how to get one. I cannot tell you how happy these little spurts of normality make me. I like to know the old Linda is in side here someplace.

I thought I would show off my quilt project. We are 12 weeks in and I am really happy with the look of it so far

I had to add some black to block number 10 and it has made it so much better in my eyes. It originally was just blue and green and it looked out of place. I will have to make sure in future that all the blocks have all three colours in them.

Other that that its been a quiet week. Out and about with my friends. I made another trip to Dollar Tree to get the last of the bins I needed to organize the bathroom upstairs. I have been obsessed with organizing videos on YouTube. Its inspiring me to get things in shape around here. Its a big job but I am working on it.

I am knitting on the giant pink slippers. I finally made it to Michaels and got some yarn. I could have started the other pair but I wanted to knit the pink ones first for some reason. The second pair I will make black and grey.

We finally got rain a couple of times this week. Its taken the most of the dirt off of my car. I thought I was going to have to break down and take it to the car wash. We need more rain to clean things up and get the green of spring to start.

I took KitKat out for coffee this afternoon and I had on way to much coat. Its +14 and a winter coat, even a light weight one was just too much. KitKat is still off work and she is bored. Coffee is a great excuse to get out of the house. I managed to get gas into my car and got rid of another garbage bag of textiles to the recycle program. All things I would tell myself I would do on Monday but not do until in the week. We had a lovely visit and she is off to a specialist appointment about her eye this week. I have a lot of hope that they will be able to fix it for her.

Well I cannot think of anything more to babble on about. Maybe I should make notes through the week. Not that I have a tremendous amount of things going on. I did go and see Dumbo. Its a lovely little movie, Dumbo is soooo sweet, you just want to cuddle him. I loved it.

Ok its time to go knit and watch some TV.

Toodles,
Linda

If I Had A Nickel

Oh if |I had a nickel for every minute I spend looking for things I know are somewhere in this house I would not have to worry about paying for anything. I would be independently wealthy. Today I am trying to find some papers that I know are here somewhere. So far I have burned through a lot of paperwork. Shredded, filed and sorted for most of the afternoon. What I actually want to find remains illusive but I have organized a lot of other stuff and found one or two things that I did need to find.

Oh bother, I am feeling very much like a dish rag today. I want spring, I want to move without pain, I want a lot of things and I am feeling my age today. A bit worn and past my prime.

But lets let the old lady wallow in her mood. We will ignore her and move on. What can we talk about? Oh yes, the two boxes of glass and china I purged out went to the charity shop this week, thanks to The Banker and KitKat. They made a donation run and whisked my things off along with stuff KitKat had. The Banker never has any things stocked up to get rid of, she gets rid as she goes along. I had a big basket full of stuff as well. Its so nice to have it gone, this way I cannot rethink my decisions.

I finished the slippers. The recipient loves them and wants two more pair, the same size, one pair in pink??? I did not ask, I don't need to know, I just know I make 'em and I get paid. That is enough for me. Size 13 pink slippers do make one wonder.

I made quilt block  10 and 11. This quilt project is turning out to be fun.

I bought myself daffodils. I love daffodils and it was pure joy to watch these slender asparagus looking stalks burst slowly into all of their spring like glory on my desk. The fact that they were in a pottery vase I had made myself was a little icing on the cake. It was perfect for them. A nice change from holding pens on my desk I am sure.

We had a SUPER MOON. It won't be this close to the earth again for a lot of years. I tried to get a good picture but I needed my proper camera not just the phone.

It was very pretty, inspite of my stellar photography skillz. 

Today was groceries, sewing, searching and a little cleaning. Last week was supper out with KitKat, supper with The Banker, Teddy Bear, KitKat and me, then supper again on Friday with the No Cook group. I do like to eat out, can you tell?? Book club was attended and that is all that I can think of to tell. 

I did some scrapbooking today. It is no where near as fun doing it alone as it is when you have people with you but I want to get my album finished. I am still working on 2018. I just have December left to do and the year will be done. I need to get some embellishments for some of the pages I have already finished but those take time. You can only get them when you find the right ones. I need to get my printer hooked up so I can print clip art and make my own stickers. Sometimes the simple things that you think would be a walk in the park are the things you cannot find.

So that's it for me. I am going to go knit and watch some tv. Then head to bed to read or watch YouTube videos. That is my new fun thing to do. Makes me want to have an Ipad so bad but that is not going to happen anytime soon.

Toodles,

Linda

Weekend Round Up

Sunday already, St Patrick's day.... The sun has been shining, snow is going, its no longer stupid degrees below zero with a deadly wind chill. I am so happy to feel that spring is on the way. It will be glorious to say goodbye to the bleak winter. I have had to start parking in the front of the house because of the slushy snow, the water and the ice. I have no wish to land on my butt if I can help it.

I have been purging again. This time its the china cabinets. I love dishes, I love crystal, I love glass and I have a lot of it. I will never not have a lot of it but today I weeded some of it out. So here is the most dramatic change

Before

Some of it was moved out before I thought to take a picture. Trust me I had no empty spaces before I got going.

AFTER

I have filled the spaces already. I put out some of the glasses I use when I use the good china into the cabinet so I do not have to dig them out of boxes to use them.

I gave these up as well:

This is a little swan salt cellar. I actually have five of them. (I have a thing for swans). Today I kept one that was given to me by a dear friend and sent the other four to new homes. I got rid of crystal bud vases, salt and pepper shakers, sauce boats and pickle dishes. Two boxes ar packed  full, ready to do to the charity shops and that makes me happy.

Something else that makes me beyond happy is the fact that I got my sink unplugged. The kitchen sink plugged up solid at the beginning of last week and I tried everything. I have no stoppers for my sinks. I never have had, I use a dish pan. It saves water and it avoids the need for a plug. With no plug I could not plunge with any effect. I did everything. The vinegar/ baking soda, liquid plumber and plunging, all of which did nothing. Finally I jammed a rag into one drain, and with one hand and my forehead I plunged the bejebus out of the one sink and it worked!!! I have a working sink once again. My next plan was to snake the drain and if that had not worked I would have had to call a plumber. Thank goodness that did not have to happen. So to celebrate this victory I have run the dishwasher, done sink after sink full of lunch containers and pots and pans. It has been wonderful. From now on I will do the baking soda/vinegar thing regularly to keep it flowing.

I have one slipper knit and the second one started. I have block 9 of my project quilt finished and and excited to find out what the next one looks like

Its not perfect but its good enough for me. I have not worked on the memory quilt but that will happeb.

I GOT MY HAIR CUT!! OMG it has need to be cut for so long and finally I managed to get it done. I went from this

to this

I call it my old lady cut but I like it. Its easy to care for and it looks not too bad. Mostly I am beyond happy that its finally done.

Yesterday I spend some time with KitKat. She is having some eye problems and looks like she will need to have surgery done. So I drove her around to do a few errands, we went for supper and then watched a movie. I'm not sure how much she actually saw but I think she just needed some company at the moment. I am always so glad to give back for all the kind things that have been done for me . /i just hope they can do something to fix this for her. one's sight is an important thing.

Well I cannot think of anything else for now. So Happy St Patrick's day to one and all

Toodles
Linda

Daylight Savings Time............. Still Hate It After All These Years

I do not like this time change! I do not! I do not! I do not! In case I have not mentioned it I am not a fan.I will never get used to it. I haven't in all these years so I doubt it will happen. I don't mind the one in the fall but that is because my world goes back to normal but this one in the spring is crap  So now I have made my yearly rant I will move on.

I finally, finally, finally got the memory quilt started last weekend. A lady that works in our building gave me a tub of her kids baby clothes.

I was planning to start it right after Christmas and it took me until now to get going on it. I have to admit slicing up precious baby clothes was a bit intimidating. I grit my teeth and got going.

Once I got a picture in my head of what I was going to do, it came together very quickly and very easily.

I worked on it last weekend, yesterday and today and earlier today I got the top finished. Now next weekend I will get a backing put on it and get it bound. I am not sure how to quilt it. I would love to tie it but lots of people don't like the look of a tied quilt. I will think of something. I have an idea cooking in my little brain .

Speaking of quilts, Block number 8 got completed as well. This is such a fun project. Its weird to think that around 6000 people around the world are making this project. So many different materials and colour combinations, it boggles the mind.

I also finally got the yarn to knit the slippers I was going to start after Christmas as well. I made a pilgrimage to the craft store on Saturday morning. I think the fact that the weather has finally gotten a little warmer has a good deal to do with what errands I manage to get done. 

The purging and cleaning continues. It seems to be the song that never ends. Its a never ending job. I have a couple of days off next week so I am planning on doing a big purge on my closet and get my room cleaned. Its a mess. My poor closet is a death trap. It needs a serious going over.

I have some organizing plans but I need to make a Dollartree trip so I can put them in place. I need bins!! I am loving our textile recycling program. I will have a couple more bags to go this week. I could have more once I get going through my quilt scraps. I need to get brutal.

I am still not happy about my Scotland trip. The sane, sensible, practical side of me knows that I don't have the money to go. I am not mobile enough to go and even if I was I could not justify spending money on a trip when the house needs shingles, windows and so many other things. Its just not going to fly. The other part of me, the child, is so totally ticked off. I feel like its just one more thing I wanted that is not going to happen and once again I will get to watch everyone else. Oh this could go quite badly quite quickly so I am going to stop now. Enough tears have been shed over this as it is. The child side is being put in time out and the sensible one is in charge for now.

The two flat tires on the car have been fixed!! I have my CAA paid again for the year!! One catastrophe at a time. That is all I can do. The next project on the list is new glasses. I have not had new glasses in 10 years so they do need changing. I will need to find someone to come with me to pick new ones out. I can't see to do that. 

I get my hair cut on Tuesday and I cannot wait. I am in desperate need. I shall post pictures once the deed is done.

I have no news, Not much but sewing and purging going on around here. I need to up my game, I am beginning to bore myself. 

Toodles,

Linda